What to expect on
the ship?
As a first timer, I was so excited to get on the ship and check out all the
things as soon I cleared the security and check-in process. Even before I need
to tell you about the ship. I was bit disappointed seeing the ship at first
glance from outside. The reason being, I was told by a Cruise veteran(goes
cruise every other month) that these ships are bigger than Titanic. He may be
right but I guess not all of them are bigger than titanic. Especially Carnival
Ecstasy might be small compared to the Titanic I saw in the movie.
Anyway, I didn't see the real Titanic so I can't really compare like apples to
apples. Who knows how big Titanic was really? The movie guys exaggrate the
things bigger than normal. But the ship was big enough to excite me and bring
out the thrill after seeing all the ammenties inside. As soon we boarded the
ship which is one end of the ship, I saw the Atrim view. It took me away
immediately. It was like viewing a 7-8 mall from the ground floor with all the
colorful things in the background. Here is the Top view of the Atrim.
Cabins:
Don't expect a big Hotel Rooms with all the comfy space to move around. The
Interior cabins we got was just 12 X 6 ft sqft including the bathroom with King
size bed. Don't get disappointed because you are not going to staying in the
room anyways. Luxury Suites are much bigger than these normal interior rooms.
Swimming
Pools: I was looking for a big YMCA type swimming pool with nice
treated water with mild warmness. But I assumed it wrong again. They had 3
pools in Carnival Ecstasy. One on the main Lido Deck, another one below that
deck for Kids and another above Lido Deck next to Baseball court. All are
filled with cold Salt water and not treated with chlorine. I heard that
Carnival and Royal Carribean only fill it with Salt water. Also all the pools
are just 4ft tall and may be 4-5ft wide. Anyways, you are not going to lapping
in cruise. You can just stay cool and feel the sun. They had lot of beach
chairs which you can see on the below pictures.
So my take, don't get your expectation hyped up too much. There might be things
which might disappoint you but there are lot of things sure to make you excited
and have fun. Every Ship is different but they are going to always big and big
in size to surprise you.
If you still have question on this topic, check out the firsttimecruising.com forum and ask away.
