Activities on the Carnival Ecstasy – Something for All Ages!

If you’re anything like me, you enjoy travelling and are looking for both relaxation and seeing new places in the world. One of our favourite ways to travel is to take a cruise. I’ve written many articles about Going on a Cruise which you can see by clicking that link and today I’m going to talk specifically about our latest cruise which was on Carnival Ecstasy which is a smaller ship in the Carnival Cruise Line’s fleet.

5 Day Bahamas Cruise from Charleston

We had been chatting with friends who have never taken a cruise before and we all decided that we’d take a 15 hour road trip from Toronto to Charleston, South Carolina and get on the Ecstasy for a 5 Day cruise to the Bahamas. The ship is lovely, at 855 feet long it has a guest capacity of 2056 and 920 crew aboard.

There have been many upgrades, including the new upgraded Internet Plan which had me using a solid connection for social media for the entire cruise!

Planning a holiday for a multi-family group who range in age from 5 years to 43 years old can be a nightmare! Finding something for everyone can often be challenging but in our case it wasn’t. That’s the beauty of cruising; there really is something for everyone!

Activities on the Carnival Ecstasy

Atrium

At the heart of the ship is the Atrium which is where you board the ship. This is where you’ll find the Customer Service desk, the Excursions desk, a bar and usually a band. With it’s high ceilings you can head up to another deck and look down upon the hustle and bustle or sit on one of the loungers and enjoy the action. There are nightly entertainers and a lot of fun.

Waterworks

What does one do on a cruise ship during the days at sea when the sun is beating down? Head out to the water slides of course!

Carnival Ecstasy Waterworks has 1 large waterslide and 2 racing slides for the older kids. Don’t worry…for the younger kids there are 2 mini slides that they will love!

The loungers are in just the perfect spot to keep an eye on the kids and there were enough so that we were always able to find vacant spots.

Lido Deck

If you’re looking for sun, pool, bars and activities the Lido deck is where it’s at. This area has 2 hot tubs, a pool, a stage, 2 bars, music and lots of fun!

There’s a chess set on the stage which our crew enjoyed, we spent more than a few highly-competitive hours challenging each other.

Serenity

With 5 children in our group we were busy most of the time but when the kids went to kids activities we very much appreciated using the Serenity adults-only area.

Serenity is an area on the boat where you won’t find children. It has loungers, a hot tub and towel service. It’s located on the aft of the boat, behind the restaurants and bar so everything is in close proximity to just plain chill out.

Towel Animals

Each day of the cruise we would return to our cabin to find a new towel animal on our bed. They were all different kinds from monkeys to swans…we loved them all. On certain days we’d find the Lido deck pool surrounded by these towel animals, these were the days when we could take a class and learn how to make them!

There are many different learning opportunities on the Ecstasy and our gaggle of travellers LOVED learning how to make towel animals!

City Sports Park

At the very top of the ship you’ll find the City Sports Park which quickly became a highlight for our group. We really enjoyed playing mini-putt together!

There is also a walking/jogging track on the Ecstasy for those who would like to run with a view.

Camp Ocean

One of the beauties of cruising with Carnival is Camp Ocean. This is a FREE supervised camp for kids where they get to hang out with FUN staff and children their own ages.

Campers are put into age-based groups which have marine-related names. The littlest little ones — ages 2 to 5 —join the Penguin colony and engage in activities like Musical Icebergs and Ocean Bingo and Wii U.  Ages 6 to 8, are the way-cool Stingrays, who might be found enjoying Pirate Game Night, making sea salt art or even designing their own aquarium. The big fish are the Sharks — ages 9 to 11 — who really sink their teeth into playing Marine Life Trivia, creating a giant ocean mural, and scoring big with sea-themed volleyball or soccer. Each counsellor has education in childcare and are there to make sure that each and every child has a great time!

Green Eggs and Ham Breakfast

We had the opportunity to go to the Dr. Seuss Green Eggs and Ham Breakfast with the Cat in the Hat and friends! This breakfast is available for very little cost and it’s truly imaginative. The food is all based upon the amazing books; we enjoyed “Moose Juice”, “Gravity-Defying Stacks of Pancakes”, and “Funky French Toast”. We also met some of our Dr. Seuss characters and just enjoyed being together which for tweens doesn’t always happen!

These are just some of the amazing activities on the Carnival Ecstasy, frankly it could take me ages to tell you everything! I hope I’ve provided some insight if you’re considering a cruise and please feel free to reach out to the Carnival reps as they truly are the ones who have the most up-to-date information to help plan your cruise! I will also be sharing our 2 beach excursions so be sure to check back again soon!