CruizCuz

LOVE these boards! Thank you for the "heads up". I have just pre-purchased our CHEERS packages for 2 of our 2018 cruises. Every penny saved, helps!

Thank you for your review. I am so sorry that you had some bad experiences. I am sure you will have a lot of people who agree with you, and a lot that won't ;). I am sailing on the Elation again next month. I sailed on her pre-refurb in August 2017. I am looking forward to comparing. I totally agree with you about debarkation. It is the WORST of any port I have sailed. However, I thought embarkation was one of the best. And I actually thought Kevin was the best CD I have had on a ship. He was personable, and the music trivia parties in the Atrium were hilarious and fun. That's why I love these boards. It's a chance to read ALL opinions and reviews!

I logged in and saw that the boarding pass indeed has changed.

I just printed my boarding passes for my upcoming January cruise. They are indeed "new". I purchased FTTF and it shows that I did on the boarding pass. If you have your receipt of purchase, I would call Carnival and question why yours isn't showing up on the pass.

Hi Jeff and Patty! SO excited to start reading your Elation review. I thoroughly enjoyed the review of the Magic, and a B2B is on my bucket list! We live in Jacksonville, and have sailed on the Elation once, but the Fascination several times while it was here. We sailed on the Elation "pre" refurb and are VERY much looking forward to sailing her again this January for my parents' 59th wedding anniversary! It's an easy ship for them to navigate, and we don't have to travel....double bonus when traveling with my parents! Thank you so much for taking the time to detail your trip and I am loving the pictures!

I haven't sailed on the Liberty, but have been on her sister ship, the Valor. I have sailed on the Enchantment 3 times. We took our 3 kids once on the Enchantment, when two were teens. They LOVED the Enchantment and still say it was their favorite cruise ship. Of course, you can tell by my signature, that I absolutely love Carnival. For a 3 day cruise, I don't think you can go wrong with either ship.

Definitely following! We are sailing again on the Elation in January. We sailed her "pre-rehab" in August. We absolutely LOVED Kevin too and can't wait to see him again.

I have found that each port is different. When sailing out of Fort Lauderdale in May, the check-in times were strictly adhered to. When sailing out of Jax Port in August, not so much. I was there (FTTF) at 10:30, and there were people showing up with 1:00 check in times, and allowed in the terminal. Maybe because Jax Port is only one ship and much smaller?

I had the same choices to make. Spa or L room with double length balcony. The Premier fairy sent me Emails, so I booked the Spa with salt pool for February, and the big balcony in September. Both on Splendor, which I have never seen!

 

I think you will enjoy the L room with its large balcony. I have always enjoyed the different shaped rooms, just cause they are different.

Moviela, I have had one of the L-shaped rooms before, but only once on the Splendor. You will love that ship.

I️ so totally agree with you 100% on the l-shapes rooms and super long balconies. We just snagged one on an upgrade for 14-day cruise next year so excited. The deck 6 rooms are the best with 2 windows and we actually had 2 loungers in our last one on the Magic last year. [emoji16]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

WOO HOO!! I was able to change my Spa cabin for the original L-shaped room with the longer balcony. It is cabin 6344/Sunshine. I am SO excited to be able to snag this cabin once again. Thank you, thank you all for the advice and comments. I do believe I have made the best choice and will wait to stay in a Cloud 9 Spa room on a ship with the T pool. Anyone who has stayed in cabin 6344, I would appreciate any and all suggestions and comments. Thank you all again!

Here is the Elation 10-30-17 Fun Times.... Let me know if this works. If it does, I will upload the rest of the ones I have... Still looking for our last day FT.

 

Win10 is not working with several of my old programs (not apps), so I am testing and checking things out again... I will try to straighten the scans.....

I was able to download and read them! Thank you thank you!!!

It kind of depends on what you want. Keep in mind that Jacksonville is the largest city in the US, land area-wise. Are you just looking for a place to sleep or will this be an extended day of your vacation? If you are just looking for a place to lay your head, then I would suggest a hotel at the airport or the Holiday Inn Express, Jacksonville Blount Island. It is literally less than a mile northeast of the terminal. I don't know if they have park/cruise packages. If you are looking for a hotel at the beach, then I would suggest something in Atlantic/Neptune Beach, like the One Ocean Resort and Spa. This hotel is within walking distance of SEVERAL very good, local restaurants and shops. You definitely get the "Jacksonville Beach" feel there. The Ponte Vedra area hotels are also quite nice, but are further away from the port. There are also some nice hotel downtown. But there isn't as much to do downtown, unless you drive. There is a Hyatt on the river and Crown Point Plaza hotel, also on the river. I hope this helps.

I absolutely love the Radisson at the Port! We stay there every time we sail out of PC. I have been tempted to stay at other hotels, but haven't. PROS: THE STAFF! I honestly don't think I have stayed at ANY hotel (and we travel a lot) that has a nicer staff. Every time we stay there, they are so accommodating and pleasant. I also have to say that their shuttle system is good. You are assigned a time upon check in, on a first come basis for requests. It seems quite crowded at first, but they load you up quickly and the trip is comfortable in an air conditioned bus/van. We love the Tiki Bar. The drinks are quite good, and we also always have a bite to eat there. I have eaten dinner in the restaurant and it was good, but not great. I prefer the appetizers and burgers at the pool area. If you want to bring your own drinks, I suggest making them in your room, and bringing to the pool area. The POOL is awesome! It's beautiful with the waterfall and very relaxing. The rooms are comfortable and clean. Nothing too fancy, but what you are expecting. We always participate in the park/cruise package. Sorry, don't fly into PC, so can't comment on that. But our car has always been safe and it's awesome to hop in after the cruise and be on the road in minutes.

CONS: Can't really think of any at this moment. We always try and request a room closest to the lobby. We have also stayed at the further most building. We haven't found noise levels to be noticeable. If you can't think of any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Thank you all for the responses! For clarification purposes, the balcony isn't "L shaped", it's the room. The balcony is slightly longer. The Spa room also has a balcony, which is larger than the aft one, and also the room is larger. After MUCH consideration, I realized we probably wouldn't use the T pool. We WOULD however enjoy the different saunas and quiet areas. Especially since this is our anniversary. We are also within steps to the Serenity deck. We have booked the spa room, but since it's not "early saver", we can always change our minds.

Ok, for about the same pricing (spa room a little more), we can get either an L-shaped aft balcony cabin or a Cloud 9 Spa balcony cabin. Both are on the Sunshine for a cruise in August 2018. It is for our 25th wedding anniversary, and we have never had a Spa room. But we were also really looking forward to the special thalassotherapy pool, and realize that the Sunshine doesn't have that. What are some of the other benefits to having a Spa room? The L-shaped cabin would be aft, have a larger balcony and closer to activities. But the Spa room would be quiet and closer to the Serenity deck. What would you choose and why?

I saw that one of my favorite champagnes is $45 for 1/2 bottle. Does anyone know if that is included on the CHEERS package? I know the limit is $50 for a "glass", but don't know if 1/2 bottles are included. Thanks for posting the Serenity menus! I love it!

Thank you for the awesome review! It makes me look forward to our January trip even more!

Guest services? Before I started prepaying for it I would just tell a bartender I wanted to buy Cheers and they would do it for me.

That's good to know. Thank you for correcting me. I always purchase FTTF, so going to GS's hasn't been an issue, but it's good to know that CHEERS can also be purchased at the bars.

I agree that Kevin is the BEST cruise director! We sailed on the Elation in August 2017, prior to dry dock. The crew and Kevin made this a wonderful cruise. We will be on the Elation in January and I am looking forward to the rest of your review!

If you purchase CHEERS prior to boarding for your cruise, then you will be able to start using immediately. Go to any bar, and they will look up your name, and place the CHEERS sticker on your S&S card. I always save and bring my receipt, just in case. If you wait for boarding to purchase, then go straight to Guest Services and buy. It will be roughly $5 more per day if you don't pre-purchase.

I live in Florida, and we know to layer, layer, layer! It can start out in the 40's and by noon, be 80. I have been in Orlando in December and it's been in the 80's and I've also been when the high was only 40. If you are going to Disney, keep in mind that it's surrounded by lots of water and little lakes. The wind whips off of the water, and it can get quite cool in the evenings. Of course, it will be much milder weather than what you are used to!;p

Hey!

 

I have a question about the Port Entry Security Guards?

 

Did you arrive at the port at your assigned check in time, or did you have PL/DI/FTTF Priority on your board passes?

 

There have been issues with the Port entry guards not being aware of anything but the arrival time on the boarding pass? Priority guests.....no clue what it meant?

Not trying to "hijack" the post, but I can answer this question, as we sailed on the Elation this past August. Our boarding time was 2:30, but we had FTTF and arrived at the port at 10:30. We were allowed in immediately by the guard at the gate, and were first in line to get into the terminal. There were very few Diamonds or Platinum guests, and no weddings. We were literally some of the first cruisers to board. We had no issues, and I was glad, as I had also read that the security peeps didn't understand FTTF. On this particular day, they did.

I have to admit, when I first read the question, I thought to myself "WHO wouldn't want to go on a 3 day cruise"?! After all, to me, ANY cruise is worth it. And still is. I've read the responses, and I'm sure there are plenty of opinions. So here's mine: I would go on a 3 day cruise in a heartbeat, and always will! I have cruised out of Port Canaveral and Jax for 3 days and loved each one. We aren't boozers, but enjoy relaxing with a few drinks. For us, this was a way to affordably purchase the Cheers package, to try different drinks and relax. I haven't found my 3 day cruises to be "booze cruises". In fact, some of the nicest people I've met have been on these shorter cruises. The ONLY booze cruise I ever experienced was on a 7 day cruise, during a spring break situation. And I still had a great time, but avoided the groups that I came to recognize as the rowdier ones. We also chose to NOT leave the ship. We took advantage of the port days to get discounts on massages, read books, nap in the serenity areas (where on port days have more available seating) and relax.

Also, if you haven't already, pre-pay for it in your carnival.com cruise manager and you'll save $5/day on it.

Another cost saving piece of advice for the Cheers program, is to purchase a Carnival gift card from AARP or another site, and save 10%. In other words, I purchased CCL GC's valued at $100 and paid only $90. I used those to pre-purchase Cheers for our upcoming cruise. So I not only saved $5/day, I also saved 10% on top of that by purchasing the GC's.

Re: adding it to the reservation

 

My Cruise Manager > Cruise Details > My Guests > Click Modify under their names > Anniversary.

 

Congrats to them on so many happy years!

It won't let me do it. I get all the way to "My Guests", but there is no modify to click on. I see where it says "special occasion" and under their names it says "none". I guess I could contact our TA?

Thank you all for the responses. I have gotten some really ideas to use! Since this is their 59th anniversary, it's a very special time and we are blessed to still have them cruising with us!