futureCPR

More photos because I’m horrible. *note, these are from 2017... so I’m sure their procedures and what they offer have changed!

On 9/12/2018 at 6:26 PM, zip9400 said:

Wait....where is the rest of it. Don't leave us hanging.

I am so, so sorry! Ok. Reception was very fast in my opinion- when they say 2-hours, they mean 2-hours. I’ll add more photos later, however we chose little finger foods that were easy to pick up. Music was great, we had cocktail waiters passing out drinks and a bartender behind the bar. 

On 11/21/2017 at 7:47 PM, dani_elizabeth said:

Hello, If you don't mind me asking, how did you handle tipping the officiant, coordinator, bar staff, dj, etc?

I am the WORST. Years later and I happened to stumble upon my profile after booking a cruise. Not that it’s relevant anymore (since it’s been almost 4 years!) but we typically bring cash and envelopes to tip individuals. So we gave the minister, officiant, bartender, and DJ $100 each 

We just got an acceptance of our upgrade offer. We leave Sunday on the Pearl. We originally had an ocean view cabin, and in the last few days upped our offer to the max of $350.00, and got a balcony. It would have cost us approximately $1,000.00 extra for a balcony if we booked it, so I'm happy to only pay $700.00. I am a little nervous though as it's a PrivaSea balcony, and I've never had one of those, but I'm just happy to have a balcony!

Weird question- but do you happen to have any pictures of your PrivaSea balcony? My husband and I are currently booked in one on the Pearl sailing in May and I wanted to see (if a chance to bid came around) if I should bid aggressively to get out of the PrivaSea or if I would be ok bidding conservatively.

You looked beautiful! Good luck with the rest of the re-decorating!

Thank you! I promise I’ll get the reception portion posted tomorrow!

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Saturday was WEDDING DAY!

I’m fortunate to have a LOT of cousins, with some of them being very talented. So my photographer, make up artist, hairstylist, and videographer were all related to me. :)

My bridesmaids got ready in their respective cabins, my groom and groomsmen got ready in our cabin (V2) and I got ready in my parents cabin (V17, my dad had to get ready in my uncle’s cabin).

We were ready by 10:30 and took some pictures on the ship. This was tricky as our guests were either coming back from Nassau or roaming around. My husband and I decided to do a “first look”, so he wouldn’t be cooped up in the cabin the whole time.

The ceremony took place at 1:00pm in the Cole Porter Lounge. The coordinator corralled everyone (but me, i was hidden in the reception space) together for a quick 5 minute rehearsal. Then boom, it was wedding time! It was quick. I provided the hostess with my requested music on a CD the night before and they were prepping the room around 9am. (The pictures are from my relatives who were guests, not the photographer. So sorry for the cell phone quality! Also- note my mom’s purchased aisle runner taped on top of the ship’s aisle runner. My mom also bought petals from Amazon in the wedding colors). The minister was fun and sincere. We decided to write our own vows, but I believe the whole thing took 15 minutes.

(I just noticed that I didn’t save all of the photos, so I’ll add more to the end!)

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Friday was Freeport day:

We took some people to Señor Frogs and I enjoyed it. I had more fun at the Señor Frogs in Cozumel, however I loved the bar staff.

Here are some random pictures from that day.

Friday was also Elegant Night, which didn’t make sense to me since we docked from 1:00pm-7:00pm. We were back on the ship by 4:00, took a short nap, (rolled out of bed) got ready, and went to dinner. I’m filipino, so my family became quick friends with the wait staff. They put on a show and my uncles couldn’t help but join in on the fun.

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Embarkation: the usual- fun music, Guy’s burger joint (yum), taco salad (also yum. Warning: don’t be my sister’s boyfriend and eat a pepper, they are HOT), bars. I will say this- compared to cruises in the past, the bar service on the Elation was slow. I am 27 and my husband is 32, so the majority of our guests were late 20’s to early 40’s and purchased the Cheers package. Typically, I tip well beyond the included gratuity, but I only tipped an additional $1.00 per drink during this trip. The Rum Punch they served during embarkation was yummy, sweet, tropical drink.

We had dinner in the Inspiration dining room- 6:00pm dining. Food was good. Nothing spectacular, however everyone enjoyed their meals.

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Hooray!! A recent review! So looking forward to this.

Congratulations and thanks!!!

Thank you! I apologize for the breaks in between the post, we’ve decided to re-decorate our entire home (living room is complete- bathrooms tomorrow).

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Back story- my husband and I got engaged in April 2016 and chose to do a cruise wedding. Since we both reside in Jacksonville, Carnival was the easiest option. We chose a 4 day cruise so people wouldn’t have to take too much time off of work.

Wedding package- we chose the wedding package that allowed for a top-shelf open bar, 2 hour reception, and 6 hot items and 5 cold items. We also booked the ship DJ for an additional $350. From reading other weddings, I assume that the package options have changed. We also chose to get married on the third day of the cruise (Nassau). To book the package, we needed to book our cabin and pay for the initial package fee (total due was around $3700).

Communication- I’d like to start this portion off by saying I am a VERY organized and productive bride and i felt that Carnival’s wedding group could’ve been better organized. Granted, we started our wedding process in June 2016. However, I was assigned to three different planners during the entire thing. All without warning.

Word of advice: save ALL email communications. In February, I was told by “wedding planner 2” that I would be able to bring my own aisle runner but that the dimensions would have to match theirs (runner could not be longer than 30’). So my mom went online and bought an aisle runner. By August, I circled back to now “wedding planner 3” who then said I was not allowed to bring the runner. The runner was only $24, but I was upset that I was told prior that we were allowed. So I attached the email from “WP2” and said that if the runner wasn’t allowed, Carnival would have to compensate my mom for the price of the runner. WP3 apologized and said that they would allow it.

Things we brought onboard for the wedding- our favors were gift bags containing the following: glass coasters, a wine stopper with a glass starfish on top, a picture frame, and a nifty luggage tag. We placed those in a carry-on sized rolling bag. I also purchased silk flowers (cascading bouquet for me, 4 bridesmaid bouquets, 2 corsages for the moms, and 7 boutonnières) so those were carried on in a box. (I paid about $300 for the flowers in total if anyone wants the person’s name. I’ll provide pictures when I’m done with the review). My wedding dress was also a carry on, along with the bridesmaid gowns, mother of the bride gown, and suits. The aisle runner and this sign my mom insisted on bringing were also carry ons.

So “how did you get everything onboard?” Well, of the 30 cabins, we had about 5 Junior suites. So some of us had priority boarding. My cabin and my uncle’s cabin we’re ready upon boarding. The steward allowed my mom to place the bulky items in her cabin while they finished getting it ready. Boarding took us about 10 minutes from start to finish, so it was great.

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I wanted to give a review (from beginning to end) of our Carnival wedding aboard the newly renovated Elation!

Brief overview before I get into the details: the Elation sailed out of Jacksonville, FL on Thursday, November 9th, 2017. We had about 30 cabins in our group (73 people total) and my suite was V2.

I’m putting together as many pictures as I can do my review isn’t just a bunch of words but I found that reviews were helpful to my preparation and I wanted to do the same :)

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TWO MORE DAYS!!

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Does the internet package work? My grandma is afraid of being in open water, so she isn’t attending the wedding and we were hoping to fblive the ceremony (I’m her first born grandchild and first to get married).

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I hope they’ve fixed the hot water situation. We’re sailing next Thursday and, I hate to admit this, I’m a big baby when it comes to a bathroom not working well.

Was the ship clean? Did you find that the adult:kid ratio was pleasant? I’m traveling with a large group (75 people) and 8 are children, so it would be nice for them to find some friends on the ship- but I know the adults would rather the kid count be fairly low.

Thank you for this review!

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Back story: I’ve never had to pay attention to the WiFi or texting feature CCL offers. However, we are traveling with a group of 75 people next week and feel it will be convenient for keeping in touch. Especially because we’re getting married on the ship and it would be helpful the day of the wedding.

Question: can someone explain the difference between the WiFi package and the texting feature? Are both a “per day” charge? Also, can multiple devices work at the same time in the same cabin? Can we just add everyone to a large group chat?

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Thank you! We were able to get fresh flowers on the cake (I’m a big fan of pops of color so I was debating on getting some fake flowers if they couldn’t do it).

My coordinator said she was sending me the final details last week but I haven’t seen them yet... emailed her twice with no response. Did you run into that towards the end of the countdown?

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Are there cabins being installed aft on deck 9 (Promenade), in the Cole Porter Lounge? Getting this info from Housekeeping and other officers on Paradise and Glory. Like a big secret?! Even from Epherim, Miami, with a wink! Yes or No?

I don’t think cabins were added in the place of the Cole Porter Lounge- mainly because they have our wedding ceremony scheduled for the lounge next Saturday.

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Congratulations! I got married on the Conquest and Carnival did a wonderful job! You are in for a treat!

Thank you! I’m so excited. We’re traveling as a group of 75, so it was kind of hectic getting things together but it all worked out. I even got my real flowers on the cake.

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Has anyone seen pictures of the updated suites?

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8 days until we set sail- 10 days until I get married (on the Elation)!!

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I’m getting married on the November 9th sailing to the Bahamas and your review was exactly what I needed to read. We’re also doing the “bigger” celebration (although we are getting married on the ship) and I’m relieved that you enjoyed the food. My fiancé and I are like you- we are focusing more on the party aspect and less on the wedding traditions.

For those who are reading- even if you get married on the ship, you will have to deal with the vendor on the island. I figured it would all go through Carnival, however I soon found otherwise.

How was the cake? Our family friend has offered to take photos, so I’m a little less worried about the photography aspect of it.

Thank you again for the review!

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Thank you for posting pictures! I’m having my wedding aboard during the November 9th sailing and was wondering what it would look like. I hope they fix all of the hiccups by then!

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Yes, if you look a little further down the threads, you will see a couple where people have discussed this. Right now it is just the next couple, not out until November.

 

She had to sail back out to see to avoid the hurricane and this delayed her dry dock.

 

I would 'guess' but November you should be fine.

Thank you! We have a ship tour coming up (Oct. 7th). I'm assuming that will be cancelled. I appreciate the info!

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I'm set to get married on the Elation during the November 9th sailing, but my uncle just sent me an article saying that due to Hurricane Irma delaying the Elation's dry-dock, the Fascination would take over some of the cruises.

Has anyone else heard this/ can verify the dates?

Thank you all!

Was anything mentioned about what upgrades she will be getting in dry dock?

 

 

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Per the email my PVP sent me, the dry dock will consist of the below:

- Routine hotel maintenance and cosmetic enhancements

- Cherry on Top (to replace Special Occasions)

- Blue Iguana Cantina (replace food service, Mongolian Wok)

- Guy's Burger Joint (replace food service, Off the Grill and Rotisserie)

- Blue Iguana Tequila Bar (replace pool bar)

- Red Frog Rum Bar (replace pool bar)

- Camp Ocean (replace Camp Carnival)

- WaterWorks- (here's the note they put on the WaterWorks) Please note that WaterWorks will not be completed during dry dock; it will open sometime after dry dock (date: to be determined).

The dry dock will take place 8/31/17-9/27/17.