For my birthday I decided to go on a cruise with my husband, my mom, and my aunt. We found an extremely affordable 5 day cruise on the Carnival Ecstasy. The only downside was that one of the stop was the Bahamas, which I've been to numerous times before. However, the good thing about the Bahamas is that you can always discover something new to do.
My husband and I stayed in a typical outside cabin. It was cozy and enough room for us.
I loved coming back to my room each night to a folded animal. By the end of the cruise, I had my own zoo.
Their theater room provided a lot of seating, but I always thought that from the 2nd level, there were many seats that had obstructed views.
There weren't many dining options to choose from. You had a waitstaff breakfast (but we could never wake-up in time for that), buffet breakfast, buffet lunch, and seated dining. Carnival adopted Norwegian's freestyle dining option, which I liked. I don't like having to rush or wait around to eat, and freestyle enabled us to have dinner on our own watch.
The first port that the cruise stopped at was Key West, Florida. Key West was unique in the fact that it had an island vibe, but without the phone roaming charges. :) Key West was walkable--but it was a lot of walking. There were plenty to see and do. We decided to check out The Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory. It was interesting and fun to see the butterflies everywhere...however it was only fun for about 20minutes, since it was a small enclosed area. There was only so much you could do there.
Our next stop was Freeport, Bahamas. We took a group taxi to the Straw Market and did a little shopping there. Afterwards we crossed the road in order to get to the public beach.
Our final stop was Nassau, Bahamas. This is the main tourist island. It is alive with shopping and many things to do. We decided to visit the Ardastra Zoo, Gardens & Conservation Centre. In order to get there, we walked about 5minutes from our boat and got on a Jitney bus to the zoo-- which cost about $1.50 per person. From there we walked for another 10 minutues. My personal favorite was feeding the lory parrots and watching the march of the flamingos. The zoo is small but had a good variety of animals there.
Overall, the entertainment was decent and the food was good. A honorable mention is that they had stand-up shows which I absolutely loved. The pool area was average and at times it even felt lacking. However, you can't expect the Ecstasy to knock your socks off, especially at such an excellent price. The staff and crew were extremely nice and we felt well provided for. I had no complaints. Just remember, you get what you paid for.
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