The time has lastly come for Carnival Ecstasy, and the ship is ready for its final crusing with the Enjoyable Ship fleet. As the one Fantasy-class ship to have a deliberate and pre-announced retirement, there was nice anticipation for the vessel’s final cruise.
Carnival Ecstasy‘s Final Cruise
Carnival Ecstasy will set sail from Cell, Alabama for its final journey welcoming visitors for Carnival Cruise Line on Monday, October 10, 2022. The voyage is a 5-night roundtrip Western Caribbean crusing, visiting Cozumel and Progreso, Mexico, with the primary and final nights of the journey each being days at sea.
The ship will return to Cell on Friday, October 15 to debark visitors, and no additional visitors will embark the favored, however older ship.
Carnival Ecstasy‘s retirement was introduced in early February 2022, and since that point, plans have been made for her particular ultimate voyage in October. Able to set sail are a complete of two,251 confirmed visitors, of which 605 have by no means sailed with Carnival.
Curiosity on this cruise is excessive for the 1,646 visitors onboard who’ve sailed with Carnival Cruise Line beforehand, as that is the final likelihood to expertise Carnival Ecstasy.
A few of these visitors could also be searching for to lastly take pleasure in a ship they may by no means have an opportunity to sail once more, whereas others could also be saying goodbye to a favourite ship or one which holds particular recollections from previous sailings.
Particular Occasions
Aboard the ship’s final cruise will likely be Carnival Cruise Line model ambassador John Heald, who was a cruise director for the Fantasy-class vessel in 1992, making this an particularly nostalgic voyage.
“I’m very a lot wanting ahead to internet hosting the final ever cruise of the Carnival Ecstasy,” Heald stated when asserting some plans for onboard actions.
Well-liked Carnival cruise director Alex Siegler is the ship’s present cruise director, and can also be excited for the celebrations for the ship’s retirement. “I promise we’ll make sure that she goes out with a bang!” Siegler stated.
To commemorate the voyage, Heald, Siegler, and Carnival Cruise Line have deliberate some extraordinary, once-in-a-cruise-ship’s-lifetime occasions and actions for the crusing.
“I’ve some particular occasions lined up together with a charity public sale of among the ship’s memorabilia, a Q and A session with the Captain and senior officers, and different enjoyable occasions all blended along with the same old reveals and actions the ship’s crew have instore,” Heald introduced on his Fb web page on October 6.
Different memorable moments onboard will probably embrace long-gone actions as soon as acquainted on Carnival cruise ships, in addition to present favorites like trivia contests, dance classes, deck events, atrium events, and extra. As a result of it’s October, onboard occasions may also embrace Halloween-themed festivities and spook-tacular enjoyable.
Heald may also be signing commemorative maps of the ship’s ultimate voyage, which will likely be on sale for $4.99 from the ship’s photograph gallery.
Different Fantasy-Class Retirements
Of the eight Fantasy-class ships, 5 have already left Carnival Cruise Line.
Fantasy, Fascination, Creativeness, Inspiration, and Sensation have been all scrapped through the pandemic-related shutdown. As a result of there was no cruise journey ongoing on the time and the ships have been already out of energetic service, not one of the vessels had any retirement festivities or deliberate ultimate voyages.
Carnival Ecstasy first joined the cruise line in 1991, making her the oldest remaining ship in Carnival’s fleet to nonetheless be in service.
As cruise ships age, it isn’t all the time doable to maintain them up to date with new necessities for engine effectivity, emissions, and different environmental rules. It can be troublesome to replace older vessels to fulfill visitors’ new expectations when it comes to onboard leisure, high-tech options, or common areas.
Learn Extra: How Lengthy Can the Older Carnival Cruise Ships Maintain On?
Whereas Carnival Ecstasy‘s final destiny has not been introduced, it’s probably the vessel will meet the identical destiny as her older sisters. It is usually doable, even when unlikely, that the ship may very well be offered to a smaller cruise line to be refurbished and rebranded for additional service.
Sister Ships Nonetheless in Service
The final two Fantasy-class ships, Carnival Paradise and Carnival Elation, each joined the fleet in 1998. For the time being, there have been no introduced plans to retire both vessel, and each proceed to supply visitors excellent cruise experiences.
Carnival Paradise is presently crusing 4-5 night time itineraries from Tampa, Florida, with just a few 6-night voyages out there as properly. The ship usually visits common ports of name within the Western Caribbean and The Bahamas.
Carnival Elation is homeported in Jacksonville, Florida, providing 4-5 night time sailings to The Bahamas, together with visits to Princess Cays, Carnival Cruise Line’s personal island vacation spot, on longer voyages.
With these two ships nonetheless in service, visitors who benefit from the smaller Carnival Cruise Line ships nonetheless have superb alternatives to set sail on a extra intimate, cozy-sized vessel.
