This was our 4th time sailing on Carnival, and we were very pleased with almost everything. We chose the Ecstasy simply because it sails out of Charleston, SC. We have several people in our family who cannot do long road trips, so close to home was a must for this cruise. We were a bit apprehensive about the size and age of the ship, but it turned out to be a non-issue for the most part.

The Port of Charleston is not really set up for cruise ships, so the drop-off and pick-up is not as smooth as it could be. The port area is cramped and busy, and hard to find your way around. We stayed at a local hotel near the airport, and took our checked luggage to the port the morning of departure, checked and dropped it off, paid for parking, and then went back to the hotel for the rest of the family. This proved to be a convenient way to do it because dropping off just people was easy. I then went to park and caught a shuttle back over to the terminal and met up with the rest of my group with no problems. Embarkation was fast and simple.

The Ecstasy is an older and smaller ship but most everything has been either re-done or kept up well. The only signs of aging we saw was some rust around doorways. All the decor and furnishings seemed to be fairly new. As for the size, the only drawback I found was cramped deck space. There was no wide promenade deck like on larger ships, so everyone was confined to the pool area or the Serenity deck, which made it crowded. On the plus side, fewer people makes for shorter lines, and shorter walking distances from one end of the ship to another! Read more