Cruise Line: Carnival Cruise Lines
Ship: Carnival Ecstasy
Date of Cruise: October 27 - October 31, 2003

Catalina and Ensenada, Mexico on the Carnival Ecstasy
By: Kim
nocturnalgirl72@aol.com

This was my first cruise( my boyfriend's second) so I really have nothing to compare it too. My boyfriend won the cruise from his work. It was 4 nights with port stops in Catalina and Ensenada we left at 6pm 10/27/03 and got back yesterday 10/31.

Overall I thought it was good, for being free. We wound up driving from Phoenix to Long Beach since the flights were cancelled due to the So Ca wildfires but we made it in plenty of time.

The ship is HUGE-9 decks and was incredibly clean and well kept. Our stateroom was kept very clean by a great cabin steward (Wijay or something) he seemed to clean it and turn down the sheets everytime we left. We were on the Main Deck. Stateroom had a good bathroom, a closet, TV with a few stations, and a double bed which was really 2 twins pushed together. The bed was so/so the sheets were not fitted so they came off easily, comforter and blanket seemed a little small for 2 people but we made it work by requesting extras. We had a spare comforter in the trunk which was dirty so we asked for another one which the steward quickly brought. The room and the ship was also chilly-no heat on board and the weather was cooling down so I was a but cold the whole time. Bring a jacket or a nice sweater!

The ship had several restaurants, a casino, video arcade, several pools, several different bars including a cool one called Stripes which plays a mix of retro and current dance music.

The ship was built in 91 but the color schemes and decor made it seem older. A lot of the decor I thought was a little loud and outdated.

You had the same table for dinner all 4 nights so you will probably be grouped with people you do not know. One of our couples we were supposed to eat with did not show for the cruise so it was kind of nice having more room at the table. The other couple was a coworker of my boyfriends and they were very nice and were a joy to dine with. Our headwaiter Richard was terrific and made sure we had everything we needed and let us order as much food as we wanted. The food was about a 3.5 on a scale of 1-5. You got a choice of appetizer, salad, main course and dessert with a different menu each night.

All the food was free but they charge 1.5 for each soda you had but you can buy drink cards for $24. However they had free lemonade, juice, coffee and hot chocolate out of the fountains anyway.

The ports of call were not that impressive, especially Ensenada. The blowhole is overrated and takes about 60 minutes to get to and you cannot even see it when the tide comes in. My aunt warned me not to go on it, so we went horseback riding for 90 minutes. Was a little expensive at $55.00 I thought plus you were asked to tip the cowboys, and the cooks (lunch was included). Otherwise all you really do in town in shop and I did not see actually alot of actual beaches, but of course a lot of ocean so I am not sure how nice the beaches are.

Catalina, same thing, was very pretty though. No real beaches but a lot of rock and mountain. A lot of shops and restaurants. We took a little Eco Coast boat tour for 2 hours on a hunt to find dolphins and to my disappointment did not see any even though we went out a few miles. We did see some sea lions though which were really cute. The boat after us though did see a huge pod of dolphins so they just were not out when we took the tour, but the guides looked and looked.

The entertainment was so-so. The variety shows did not impress me. The head singer Teresa Lombardi was awesome what a voice but overall the show did not keep much of my interest. The comedian Geechy Guy funny one night, off base another. There is a really good band "Dirt Poets" in the Chinatown Lounge that was very entertaining.

The cruise had some interesting people on it. Not the most classiest. This appears to be one of Carnivals least expensive cruises I am not sure how much the 4 night Catalina/Ensenada goes for but my guess is 400-500.00 per person which is not expensive, hence the bargain shoppers that made up a majority of the people. Some huge fat slob that had a stateroom across from us fought and yelled at his wife the whole trip. I was surprised to see alot of people in the 40/50/60 and older age group I was thinking Carnival cruises attracted a younger crowd. There were alot of younger people though but it seems the majority was 40 .

Overall it was an ok cruise for my first time experience. Both me and my boyfriend agree we would NOT take this paticular cruise again, but would maybe take Carnival on another one to better ports of call. My boyfriend went on a Carnival Mexican Riviera (the Jubilee)6 night cruise several years ago and he liked that one better as well.

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