Philip Delgado

Age: 32
Occupation: Professional
Number of Cruises: 1
Cruise Line: Carnival
Name of Ship: Ecstasy
Sailing Date: July 5th, 2003
Itinerary: Long Beach - Catalina - Ensenada - Long Beach

Ok, our first cruise. My wife and I planned this for about 3 months. We were excited about the cruise and wanted to go to a more exotic place for our first cruise but since money and time were a factor, we readily decided to go to Ensenada.

The Ship

Built in 1991, the Ecstasy used to cruise out of Miami but was moved to Long Beach. It shows its wear. Even though the ship is impeccably clean, it is decorated in sort of a "Miami Vice" deco that has since gone out of style.

The Room

An upper level, window stateroom in the center-aft of the ship. Very nice, good size and in a nice part of the ship.

The Service

Jelena was our Stewardess and did not disappoint. Our room was made up every time we entered it; activities were left on our bed and she was there when we needed information. Very reliable.

The Food.

Good. Whether its the formal dining area (we ate in the WindSong Dining Room), or the Panorama Grill (by the pool), the food is good and always satisfied. Our waiter, I Newmon, was a little hard to understand and stuck by the rules pretty diligently, but was good.

Activities and things to Do.

The Ecstasy is an older ship and, as such, smaller than the new giant sized cruise ships but there are things to do for all ages. We were afraid that we would have nothing to do or be caught in the middle between "teen" things and then "senior" things. Fortunately, we weren't disappointed. There's a casino which is pretty friendly in terms of winning (I won $68 bucks), a dance club, Stripes, for people between 18 - 35 (hip hop, R & B, Rap, Old School music), and adult comedy shows.

General Experience

Favorable. Next time we're going to get a balcony but we enjoyed every minute of our cruise. There wasn't allot of noise or movement in our cabin due to engines or seas; the port calls to Catalina and Ensenada were very nice. Try snorkeling in Lovers Cove in Catalina ($25 bucks per person). The Blowhole Tour (La Bufadora) was also nice although we expected a little more. We skipped dinner and went to Hussongs Cantina (a must!) for dinner.....tacos and beers, (cruise ship people tell you to go to Papas and Beer but we decided against that cuz we wanted to do our own thing). We ran back to the ship that night to get back on the ship.

All in all, I would recommend it. We will do it again, if the same ship if we have to but with a balcony. For first time cruisers, start with a window cuz you're rarely in your stateroom with all the excitement of touring the ship and eating.

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