''Carnival Ecstasy'' (formerly ''Ecstasy'') was a operated by
Carnival Cruise Line. Built by
Kværner Masa-Yards at its
Helsinki New Shipyard in
Helsinki
Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...
, Finland, she was
floated out on January 6, 1991, and christened by
television hostess, entertainer and long time Carnival spokesperson
Kathie Lee Gifford
Kathryn Lee Gifford (Given name, née Epstein; born August 16, 1953) is an American television presenter, singer, songwriter, actress, and author. From 1985 to 2000, she and Regis Philbin hosted the talk show ''Live with Kelly and Mark, Live! wi ...
. Her inaugural voyage began on April 2, 1991. During 2007, in common with all of her ''Fantasy''-class sisters, she had the prefix ''Carnival'' added to her name. With the departure of the ''Carnival Fantasy ''in 2020, the ''Carnival Ecstasy'' became the oldest ship in the fleet until her retirement in October 2022. She was replaced by
Carnival Spirit out of Mobile, Alabama in October 2023.
Unlike her recently retired sister ships, ''Carnival Ecstasy'' offered a farewell cruise itinerary prior to her own retirement. Subsequently, the ship was beached for scrapping in Turkey on November 8, 2022.
Areas of operation
Throughout her service ''Carnival Ecstasy'' has cruised from ports in the United States to Baja Mexico, the Bahamas and the Caribbean.
After
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...
, the ship spent six months in
New Orleans
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
serving as quarters for evacuees and relief workers.
Starting in May 2019, the ship cruised from
Jacksonville, FL
Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...
's
JAXPORT Cruise Terminal to visit the
Bahamas
The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...
and
Eastern Caribbean
The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS; French: ''Organisation des États de la Caraïbe orientale'', OECO) is an inter-governmental organisation dedicated to economic harmonisation and integration, protection of human and legal ...
.
In February 2022 Carnival announced that due to uncertain times in the Australian cruise industry, Spirit would re-home from Sydney to Jacksonville, Florida. Carnival Ecstasy would move from Jacksonville to Mobile, Alabama. Carnival Sensation, which was slated to head to Mobile has been delayed.
Accidents and incidents
Fire
On the afternoon of July 20, 1998, ''Ecstasy'' departed the Port of Miami, Florida, en route to Key West, Florida, with 2,565 passengers and 916 crew members aboard. A fire started in the main laundry room and spread through the ventilation system to the aft mooring deck, where mooring lines ignited. As ''Ecstasy'' was attempting to reach an anchorage north of the Miami sea buoy, the vessel lost power and began to drift. The master then radioed the U.S. Coast Guard for assistance. Six tugboats responded to help fight the fire and tow ''Ecstasy''. The fire was brought under control by onboard firefighters and was extinguished about 9:09 PM. Fourteen crew members and eight passengers suffered minor injuries. One passenger required medical treatment as a result of a pre-existing condition and was categorized as a serious injury victim because of the length of her hospital stay. Losses from the fire and associated damages exceeded $17 million.
The
National Transportation Safety Board
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and inci ...
determined that the probable cause of fire aboard ''Ecstasy'' was the unauthorized welding by crew members in the main laundry that ignited a large accumulation of lint in the ventilation system and the failure of Carnival Cruise Lines to maintain the laundry exhaust ducts in a fire-safe condition. Contributing to the extensive fire damage on the ship was the lack of an
automatic fire suppression system on the aft mooring deck and the lack of an automatic means of mitigating the spread of smoke and fire through the ventilation ducts. Passengers received a full refund and were offered a complimentary cruise for the inconvenience.
Suicide
On July 1, 2007,
David Ritcheson, the victim of the
April 22, 2006 Harris County, Texas assault incident, jumped off the deck of ''Carnival Ecstasy'' and died.
Elevator death
During December of 2015, a crew-member of the ship was working on an elevator while on-board the Carnival Ecstasy. The ship had disabled an elevator safety mechanism whilst the elevator was in maintenance, when the elevator came down, killing the man.
A couple, Matt Davis and his partner, witnessed the scene whilst on their way to dinner, filming the occurrence.
Refits

As part of the Evolutions of Fun upgrade program, in mid-2007 the ''Ecstasy'' was renamed the ''Carnival Ecstasy'' to match with the rest of the Carnival branded ship names in the fleet. Continuing with the upgrade program, in the fall of 2009 the ship was given a 28 day dry dock and a major multi-million-dollar refit. During the refit, 98 ocean view cabins were converted into balcony cabins along the mid and aft sections of the ship, some of the suites located on the Upper deck received extended balconies, the kid's wading pool area on the lower aft area of the ship was removed and converted into an adults-only Serenity area with sun loungers and two hot tubs, the aft pool was removed and converted into the Carnival WaterWorks water park with waterslides and fountains which also replaced the original waterslide at the main pool and the original kids wading pool, the main pool area was refurbished and given a resort-style appearance, a younger teens area Circle "C" was added, and various interior renovations and enhancements were made. In January, 2017, the ship underwent a two week dry docking, at the Grand Bahama Shipyard in
Freeport, Bahamas
Freeport is a city, district and free trade zone on the island of Grand Bahama in the northwest part of The Bahamas. In 1955, Wallace Groves, a Virginian financier with lumber interests in Grand Bahama, was granted of pineyard with substant ...
. The ship underwent a further 14 day dry dock in October, 2019, adding more venues and providing maintenance. The work was done again at
Freeport, Bahamas
Freeport is a city, district and free trade zone on the island of Grand Bahama in the northwest part of The Bahamas. In 1955, Wallace Groves, a Virginian financier with lumber interests in Grand Bahama, was granted of pineyard with substant ...
.
Final season and scrapping
In February 2022, it was announced that Carnival would retire ''Carnival Ecstasy'' as well as ''
Carnival Sensation'' from the fleet. ''Sensation'' did not return to service, whereas ''Ecstasy'' resumed regular service in Mobile, Alabama from March until October 2022 and then would be retired after that point. This made ''Carnival Ecstasy'' the only ship out of the six retired ''Fantasy''-class ships to offer guests a farewell cruise season. During her first voyage since March 2020, she suffered lifeboat issues in March 2022. The final voyage took place October 10-15, 2022 from Mobile, with port calls in
Cozumel
Cozumel (; ) is an island and municipality in the Caribbean Sea off the eastern coast of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, opposite Playa del Carmen. It is separated from the mainland by the Cozumel Channel and is close to the Yucatán Channel. The ...
and
Progreso and ended in Mobile on 15 October. The iconic 1934 Rolls-Royce Saloon aboard ''Carnival Ecstasy'' was relocated to the Gateway aboard ''
Carnival Celebration'', which launched three weeks after ''Carnival Ecstasy's'' final voyage. In her 31 years of service, the ship carried nearly 5.5 million guests.
The ship left Mobile for Miami on October 15, 2022 and arrived there on October 18, 2022. The ship left Miami on October 20, 2022 for her last voyage towards
Aliağa for scrapping. On November 8, 2022, the ship arrived at the
Aliağa scrapyards in
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
to be demolished.
References
Notes
Bibliography
*
External links
Former official website
{{1998 shipwrecks
Ships built in Helsinki
Ecstasy
Ecstasy
1991 ships
Maritime incidents in 1998