Carnival Cruise with George & Erin Fassett

What a blast cruising with friends, George & Erin, on their 10 year anniversary cruise on the Carnival Ecstasy.   Steve sailed with them for their wedding-at-sea on the very same Carnival ship out of Galveston in October 2004.  His memory of the ship wasn't all that positive, however, and as this was Tom's first Carnival cruise -- we both arrived at the Port of Miami with some apprehension.....but the boarding experience was very easy and concerns lifted as we boarded the Ecstasy.

Having just returned the previous weekend with Steve's son and his family from a cruise on the Disney Wonder, it was fun to see the Wonder docked behind the Ecstasy.   And sail-away from our Miami home was a special treat as we could see our condo from the ship as it turned in the basin across the street from our home - as opposed to the photos we take of departing or arriving cruise ships from our balcony nearly every day !!

Getting onboard we settled into the cabin which was very small but functional for this short cruise and we explored the Ecstasy.  According to Carnival, this ship was refurbished in 2009 and Steve found it to be nicer than he recalled from the cruise in 2004.  Still the color scheme on some decks was pretty garish, but we liked the subdued look of the dining room and other areas.

That evening we enjoyed George and Erin's company at dinner and Tom found our waitress was quite a dance partner and very personable.  And while the younger Fassett's partied into the early morning, we got a great night's sleep at sea.  Steve always finds the first night onboard ship to be very restful, as the gentle rocking motion of the ship lulls him to sleep.

Arriving the next day in Nassau, our ship found a berth next to the Disney Magic, and near another Carnival ship, the Fantasy, and soon the Royal Caribbean Enchantment of the Seas joined our ship at this busy port.    We disembarked the ship and ventured to the Atlantis Resort, where George and Erin elected to spend the day.  However, since we have previously toured Atlantis, we returned to the ship for most of the afternoon.  We found it to be quite comfortable while everyone else was ashore, especially considering the ship is very large with capacity of nearly 2,700 passengers plus crew.   You can see the pool area was nearly deserted and we had fun sunbathing and napping.

After overnighting in Nassau, we had a peaceful day at sea and we enjoyed the Chef's Table that evening.  This is a special add-on feature of Carnival where small intimate groups are given a tour of the galley where all the ship's meals are prepared, followed by dinner -- this time in the ship's library and we enjoyed a fantastic seven-course meal with each course paired with fine wine.  It was as good a meal as we've experienced on any of the cruises we've taken thus far.

At the of the day -- we were very impressed with the staff on Carnival, plus with the food quality in the dining rooms, and overall we had a good experience.  So much so that we've already booked two more short cruises this spring on Carnival haha !!  In two weeks we sail for seven days on the Carnival Conquest and then in March we sail on the Carnival Victory.  As this post is being written, here is the Carnival Victory turning around in the Port of Miami basin as it leaves on perhaps the cruise we'll be taking on her next month.  Until the next post, we'll be packing for more cruises !!