As exhausting as it’s for many people to think about, Carnival Ecstasy has made one final passenger journey earlier than exiting the Carnival Cruise Line fleet.
Carnival Ecstasy Specs
- 12 months constructed: 1991
- Size: 855 ft
- Beam: 103 ft
- Gross tonnage: 70,067
- Double occupancy: 2,052
- Most capability: 2,675
Saying Farewell to Carnival Ecstasy
Carnival Cruise Line introduced in February 2022 that Carnival Ecstasy can be leaving the fleet after a 31-year run as some of the standard and versatile vessels within the “Enjoyable Ship” fleet.
Initially scheduled to be the primary cruise ship to renew service from Jacksonville post-COVID, Carnival Ecstasy’s last voyage underneath the Carnival Cruise Line banner is on October 10, 2022 — a five-day crusing from Cell, Alabama, to Cozumel and Progresso, Mexico.
Along with her manageable 70,000-ton measurement, quick cruise itineraries and a big selection of venues made her the proper venue for charters and particular sailings such because the Carnival LIVE live performance collection. However what made Carnival Ecstasy such a preferred “Enjoyable Ship” was her uniquely progressive interiors that modified the way in which friends thought of cruising – as soon as on board, they instantly knew this was no strange cruise ship.
Let’s check out what made Carnival Ecstasy so particular.
Carnival Ecstasy: The Encore to Carnival Fantasy
When Carnival Fantasy debuted to a lot fanfare in 1990, introducing some never-before-seen improvements, the plain query can be, “what are you able to do for an encore?”
Enter Carnival Ecstasy, the second within the Fantasy-class debuting in 1991, quick changing into a fan-favorite for her over-the-top Joe Farcus-designed interiors, together with an actual Rolls Royce positioned alongside the promenade.
In early 2022, the Rolls Royce was faraway from Ecstasy and shipped to Carnival Celebration, the place it is going to debut on the upcoming LNG-powered ship on November 6.
Though not recognized on the time, six further Fantasy-class ships would be a part of Carnival Ecstasy and the namesake Carnival Fantasy to create the biggest variety of ships launched from a single class — with eight Fantasy-class ships at one level plying the waters of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and the West Coast.
Like her predecessor Carnival Fantasy, Carnival Ecstasy featured all kinds of onboard options – a hovering seven-deck-high glass enclosed atrium with an ever-changing expanse of adjusting lights, a 12,000-square-foot spa, an enormous on line casino, acres of teak-planked decks highlighted by a 114-foot-long corkscrew water slide, and a number of eating areas, together with an expansive poolside Lido restaurant.
However what actually set Carnival Ecstasy aside was her unforgettable décor, a trademark of world-renowned designer Joe Farcus who employed the time period “leisure structure” to explain his thought course of in designing what some have proclaimed as “Las Vegas at sea.”
Residing as much as Farcus’ motto of “It’s no place like house,” his vivid creativeness was on full show with memorable areas just like the clubby Explorers Membership library that includes an enormous globe, and the aforementioned Rolls Royce Café that includes a 1934 Rolls-Royce Saloon that he discovered scouring the English countryside, in addition to the Neon Bar, a veritable museum of classic neon indicators, a lounge impressed by a Chinatown avenue full with crimson lanterns dangling with gold tassels and lion-headed sculptures, and the aptly named Stripes Disco, a monument to daring simplicity.
Enjoyable Info about Carnival Ecstasy
- Carnival Ecstasy made headlines for all of the flawed causes in July 1998 when the aft of the ship caught fireplace as she was departing PortMiami, with in depth protection throughout the globe, even within the pre-Web period.
- Carnival Ecstasy’s godmother is Kathie Lee Gifford, who starred within the cruise business’s first nationwide TV marketing campaign within the Eighties. This was Gifford’s second stint as godmother, serving on this position for the since-retired Celebration in 1987.
- With the retirement of Carnival Fantasy, Carnival Ecstasy had the excellence of being the “most mature” ship within the Carnival fleet at 31 years.
- Like different Fantasy-class ships, Carnival Ecstasy as soon as had a topless deck sometimes utilized by European friends with distinguished “No Cameras Allowed” indicators displayed as friends ventured up the steps.
- Carnival Ecstasy was initially constructed with an enormous 10-ton interactive artwork sculpture known as Double Helix that rose 24 ft within the ship’s atrium rotating clockwise and counter-clockwise. It was changed within the early 2000s with a raised foyer bar following the great reputation of the primary atrium foyer bar that debuted aboard Carnival Elation in 1998.
Carnival Ecstasy’s Upgrades By means of the Years
Contemplating that Carnival Ecstasy joined the fleet in 1991, it ought to come as no shock that she has seen her share of dry docks through the years, all a part of Carnival’s efforts to modernize its fleet, equipping vessels with standard options like sprawling water parks which have develop into normal within the business.
Most of the firm’s signature options have been integrated into the Fantasy-class earlier than making their debut – albeit on a grander scale – aboard newer, bigger ships going ahead.
The ship’s most up-to-date dry dock, which happened in 2019 at Grand Bahama shipyard in Freeport, added such standard options as Bonsai Sushi Categorical, the Warehouse video arcade, and the Goals Studio, together with ongoing routine upkeep anticipated for a decades-old vessel.
One other large-scale refurbishment happened in January 2017 when a number of poolside shops, together with Man’s Burger Joint and BlueIguana Cantina, have been added, together with the favored Cherry on Prime sweets store and the cocktail pharmacy-themed Alchemy Bar on Promenade Deck.
Three years earlier than that, two poolside watering holes, the RedFrog Rum Bar and BlueIguana Tequila Bar, have been added as a part of a significant dry dock that additionally noticed the upgrading of ClubO2 and a bunch of beauty enhancements.
One of many ship’s largest renovation tasks happened in 2009, a part of the Evolutions of Enjoyable enhancement program for the Fantasy-class, which set the usual for different dry dock tasks going ahead and launched a number of top-deck options have been expanded for different ships.
These included a WaterWorks aqua park with a 300-foot-long water slide, twin racing slides, and a kiddie splash space.
Different new options have been the first-ever Serenity adults-only retreats, a brand new resort-style pool highlighted by thatched huts and pretend palm timber, new Circle “C” tween services, 98 new balconies added to current oceanview staterooms, refurbished homeowners’ suites, new elevator lobbies and renovated public restrooms and two new eating choices – Mongolian Wok and Rotisserie – throughout the Lido restaurant.
In 2006, the open-air Metropolis Sports activities Park that includes a mini-golf course, together with an expanded play space known as Youngsters’s World, and a convention room (a groundbreaking idea on the time) have been added as effectively.
Fantasy-Class Cruise Ships:
- Carnival Fantasy, which joined the fleet in 1990
- Carnival Ecstasy, which joined the fleet in 1991
- Carnival Sensation, which joined the fleet in 1993
- Carnival Fascination, which joined the fleet in 1994
- Carnival Creativeness, which joined the fleet in 1995
- Carnival Inspiration, which joined the fleet in 1996
- Carnival Elation, which joined the fleet in 1998
- Carnival Paradise, which joined the fleet in 1998
Saying Goodbye to Carnival Ecstasy
Wanting again over a 30-plus yr run for any cruise ship is a visit by way of historical past, however Carnival Ecstasy was actually a groundbreaking ship, working each shorter cruises and longer size voyages from a wide range of North American homeports, together with Charleston, Jacksonville, Miami, Port Canaveral, and Galveston, introducing Farcus’ imaginative and prescient of leisure structure to over 5.5 million cruise passengers throughout the globe.
Regardless of a number of dry docks that added a bunch of latest options, ultimately, Carnival Ecstasy’s demise was the results of newer, bigger ships with extra bells and whistles that customers count on out a trip.
In what is alleged to be a package deal deal to the scrapyard, Carnival Sensation was additionally retired from the fleet in early 2022, leaving simply Carnival Elation and Carnival Paradise, each of which entered service in 1998, because the remaining Fantasy-class ships — a considerably unhappy commentary on probably the most profitable collection of ships ever launched.
They are saying all good issues come to an finish, and that’s definitely the case with Carnival Ecstasy, which made an indelible mark on cruising, bringing a way of enjoyable and whimsy not often seen in at present’s mega-liners.
For those who didn’t get to sail her earlier than the decommissioning, there are at all times Carnival Ecstasy ship fashions, and Christmas ornaments on eBay to maintain the reminiscences alive.
Different ships in our Final Look collection:
