4/30/2007

By Peddler

• May 6, 2007

Carnival's Ecstasy 5 day from Galveston to Progreso and Cozumel;

Embarkation went smoothly as we had all paperwork filled out and we were on board by 12:15 or so.

We had originally booked a guaranteed inside cabin and received an upgrade to an ocean view although it had only two port holes at the forward part of the ship on the starboard side. The room was a fair size and I really enjoyed it as the seas were calm and there was no rolling of the ship.

This cruise was a relaxation cruise so we really didn't plan a lot of excursions or planned on doing a lot on board. I was able to read a novel during the cruise and the wife did her fair amount of shopping (relaxation??? I guess).

We sailed from Galveston On Monday. That evening when it was getting time for dinner (which was early seating 5:45) I still had not received my luggage. (The wife had hers by 2:30.) I had boarded in shorts and a polo and made up my mind that we were going to dinner in the main dinning room or not, made no difference. We approached the main dinning room and I asked the Maitre'De if my state of dress was OK, if not we would go else where. He said OK and enjoy., so I wore shorts to the main dinning room.

Tuesday was a sea day and we did very little. We had breakfast and lunch in the Panorama Bar and Grill as we did all week long. The buffet style food was, in comparison with RCCL's Rhapsody, equal quality but was lacking in variety. The Main dinning room, on the other hand, was equal or exceeded and the food was excellent in both taste, tenderness and presentation.

Wednesday we were at Progreso. I decided on a shore excursion to Dzibilchaltun (tzee-BEEL-chahl-toon) and was not disappointed. I had a ship's sponsored tour through Total Gusto tours and had two well informed tour guides and a very component bus driver. The tour lasted about 4 1/2 hours for $55 per person.

Thursday was on to Cozumel....This is where my wife likes to go shopping. We docked at the Puerto Langusto pier and there is a very nice shopping area at the end of the pier. We almost bought more than we could carry. We were back on board in time for lunch and then relaxed and watched the late comers rushing to re board.

Friday was another sea day and the last full day for the on board shops to be open (you guessed right, more shopping, ouch).

Debarkation on Saturday went as smooth as possible. We were up early and went to breakfast and watched docking at 7am. We went to the Blue Sapphire Room to wait on our color tag to be called and we were through customs and on the curb by 10:15.

We met some very nice people on this cruise and had some of the best table mates we have ever had on our four cruises. We did not attend any shows on this cruise, but it was by our choice and not by their quality. Overall, I would sail Ecstasy any time. Their crew was great, the sailing couldn't have been smoother, and the food was as good if not better than any of our previous cruises.