I'm so thrilled to be back on a Fantasy class ship for a while. 10 days on Carnival Ecstasy on a Journeys cruise. One last ride before she's sent away to be scrapped, which makes me so incredibly sad.
I know that the big push now is large ships, lots of activities, mega decks. But there's something to be said for a quiet, relaxing cruise, sitting on Promenade deck and watching people go by, with a good book. The big ships don't have a promenade deck anymore, that big wide area on deck 5 with the couches under the windows and a wide walking space. They don't have the library most of the time, and they don't have all of the openness. And starting with Vista class, they didn't even have the glass elevators in the atrium! To me that's almost a sacrilege! There's something incredibly amazing, especially on your first few cruises, about stepping onto the ship and looking up into the wide open space going all the way up to the top, and seeing the glass elevator is going up and down, the bar in the center, guest services off to one side and shore excursions on the other. There's just a feeling of awe seeing that!
Then there's the weird and interesting designs that Farcus did on the older ships. Bright and colorful, sometimes weird and wonderful! Always something to talk about looking at them :-) and I especially like the theater area in front, with nice roomy chairs or benches to sit. I won't lie to you, my rear end is a little wider than the average little cutie pie, and Mardi Gras was very uncomfortable, but they sure did get a lot of people in there! I didn't feel like cattle being sent to market in the Fantasy class theaters! Yes the newer ships are beautiful, and yes there's a place for them. When I'm traveling with family and I have the kids and grandkids, they certainly enjoy Shaq's Chicken, the Hero Bar, the barbecue place... All of those are great. But for me personally, give me a Fantasy class ship any day!
So, for the next 10 days, I'm going to enjoy my cruise on Carnival Ecstasy, tell her goodbye and maybe sniffle a little at the thought this being a rarer occurrence than it used to be. Because of COVID I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to Carnival Fantasy, my favorite and best ship in the fleet. She was gone before I even knew it, and I didn't want that to happen to this ship. I'll take a few pictures here and there and post them every once in awhile. If you're a newer cruiser and you only know the Vista class and the Mardi Gras class, well I can guarantee you've had fun, because all carnival ships are fun. But hunt down one of the few remaining fantasy class ships, make up your mind that you're going to overlook a few little dingy places, a few places that might need a little touch up or paint, and prepare to just be pampered and treated like a very special guest on a ship that doesn't have you bumping into people every time you turn around.
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