"We Were Elated"...Elation Review

[cruiserkelly]

First of all, I'm sorry that there won't be any pics with this review. I only had my iPhone to take pics, and didn't end up taking many. This is my first attempt at a review, so hope you like it.

 

Background on us...I am 29 and a teacher, but have been a SAHM for the past 3 years with my 2 young children. My DH(28) is an engineer. We have been on 5 other previous cruises before this one with many different lines, including Princess, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Celebrity. My DH and I have been planning this cruise for months now. I really, really, needed/wanted a vacation and decided a cruise was the best value. Since I stay at home all day, everyday with my wonderful kiddos, I was really looking forward to some alone time with my hubby and some "kid-free" time. :-)

 

Day 1

 

We drove to Mobile the night before and stayed with a friend who dropped us off at the Port at about 10:45/11:00 Monday morning. I could see the ship from the road and got really, really excited! Our vacation was finally beginning! The drop off went smoothly. The porter grabbed our bags, we tipped him, and were off to the terminal. We each had 2 carry-on bags. Me with one small rolling suitcase and a beach bag, and DH with one small rolling suitcase and a laptop bag.

 

We entered the terminal and showed our birth certificates, photo id, and fun pass to the first worker, then proceeded to stand in the first line. We stood in that line about 4-5 minutes, then went through the security line and the metal detectors. Got through these with no problem. We did have to open up our rolling suitcases to show our soda and one bottle of wine each, but no big deal. We then went to another line where we filled out our health forms. This was the longest line, probably about 30-45 minutes long, but it wasn't too bad. Finally, we were up at the front of the line and showed all of our documents, got our gold sail n' sign cards, and were on our way to the boat! Yay!

 

(To be continued, nap time for kiddos and shower time for mommy) :)

[*Mach*]

Excellent start! Keep up the great job!

:)

[cruiserkelly]

We took the obligatory photo in front of the cheesy backdrop (with the photographers saying "kissy kissy, huggy huggy", this would be a photographer theme this week) :)

 

We went up the looooonnnnnnnggggg ramp to the boat. I didn't realize how long this uphill ramp would be and my bag (which I thought was a good thing to put on top of my rolling suitcase) kept falling off. I was amazed as a Carnival worker whizzed by me with a rather heavyset man in a wheelchair. I know that took a lot of energy.

 

We finally got on the boat and I was very impressed at the Carnival workers. They were all very friendly and showing everyone where to go for lunch. We went straight up to the Lido deck, found a table outside by the grill, and planted our stuff down. My DH waited while I went to the Mongolian grill and got us 2 plates to try. Sheschwan (know I didn't spell that one right) shrimp and some other kind of beef. It was really tasty. You get to pick out your own type of noodles and all of the veggie toppings that you want, then you tell the cook what type of meat and sauce you want. The only complaint I have is that they don't put very much meat in this at all. I even asked for more shrimp later on in the week (and they literally gave me 3 more tiny shrimp), ha. Oh well...we still enjoyed it.

 

During lunch, we enjoyed our first drink of the day. After this, I decided I would go ahead and purchase the unlimited soda card. I feel I definitely got my money's worth from this card. I would have a soda with literally every meal, plus many throughout the different clubs. I know a lot of people complain that they open a can and pour it over ice in a cup, but this didn't bother me at all. If you drink it fast enough, it tasted fine, not watery or flat.

 

After relaxing a while at our table, another couple asked to join us at our table, as the ship was getting pretty crowded. We talked with this lovely couple a while (and ended up waving to them throughout the week, as well as cheering them on during the Love and Marriage Show.)

 

By this time it was 1:30 and we knew we could get into our rooms now, although I didn't ever hear an announcement about this. (Speaking of announcements, I didn't hear very many announcements period on this cruise, which I guess is a good thing, very relaxing and laid back). We arrived at our cabin, M50. It was an inside cabin. If you remember, I was the one that started out with a porthole, and made that thread about giving up my porthole for 20 bucks for an inside, which by the way, I am sooooooooo happy I did and also ended up getting a total of 140 OBC, woohoo. So, back to the room, it was great. The bed was turned into a King, and we ended up also having 2 upper bunks, which I didn't know we'd have before coming into the room. It did have the annoying corner table/lifejacket holder, but didn't bother us any since we didn't have a window to crawl over and look out of.

 

Overall, I was very happy with the room. Not having any natural light was wonderful as it made for excellent afternoon naps. (Man, I sure do miss those naps this week) Our bags arrived right before time for Muster Drill, so we started unpacking and ended up storing all of our suitcases in the space between the bed and the fake window.

 

Now it is time for the Muster Drill...to be continued.

[Yazoo cruiser]

Kelly, what date were you on tne Elation? We just returned on 4/28 and had a great time. We sail a lot and the weather for the whole cruise was fantastic. Looking forward to hearing the rest of your review.

[cruiserkelly]

When we heard the announcement for the Muster Drill, we turned our iPhones onto airplane mode. Even though I really wanted to talk to my kiddos everyday, I knew keeping our phones on would result in outrages charges, so to remedy my need to know that my kiddos were ok, my DH brought his laptop, set it up on the desk beside our bed, and I set up a currently onboard post. I posted to this several times a day and it worked out very nicely. I was content knowing the kiddos were fine, and my DH was happy that I could do all this from the room, not having to visit the ship's comptuer's all the time.

 

Muster drill went very smoothly. On previous cruises, we'd have to lug those stinky lifejackets around, but not anymore. We hung out in the Mikado lounge and heard the safety drill, then were filed outside and heard some more safety drill. I got scolded for holding onto the rail and looking down at the water. Supposedly that is not safe and you are supposed to move away from the rails, oh well...

 

When Muster Drill was over, we found a cozy spot at the front of the boat, with about 1000 other people and watched us leave Mobile and sailaway into to open sea.

 

After sailaway, I dragged DH to go play trivia. It was a lot of fun and we ended up winning our first gold plated ship on a stick!

 

Every night around 5:30 we would go eat sushi right before dinner. I love sushi and thought the ship's was pretty good. Some better than others, but if you liked a certain kind, you could just get that kind the next plate. We had anytime dining, and found our dining room, walked right up to the hostess, told her we'd like to sit at a table for 2, and had our first dinner on the ship. I'm sorry, but I don't remember what we ordered each night. My DH and I discussed that the food wasn't nearly as good as we remember it being in the past, however it was good just for the fact that I was being served, we were able to sit and have an adult conversation without being interrupted by "MOMMMMMYYYYYYY", and the desert, warm chocolate melting cake was divine! I probably wouldn't have even tried it, if I hadn't read about it here on CC. I really enjoyed it, however my DH not so much. To each their own.

 

After dinner, we ended up at the Karaoke Bar Every...Single...Night. If you were on this sailing, I'm sure you remember my hubby. He sang several songs each night and we had a blast. I even got up there with him the last night and we did a duet. :) The Karaoke was a lot of fun, but I do have to say that Rodrigo, the Karoke host, looked like he was very depressed the whole week. He was not friendly at all and just looked miserable. Made me feel sorry for him, but he didn't ruin our time though.

 

To be continued with day 2 At Sea

[cruiserkelly]

Kelly, what date were you on tne Elation? We just returned on 4/28 and had a great time. We sail a lot and the weather for the whole cruise was fantastic. Looking forward to hearing the rest of your review.

 

We were on the 5-2/5-7 sailing and the weather was gorgeous, except for the last sea day, where it drizzled and rained and was cloudy all day.:(

[bvreeland922]

Thank you!! Please continue.We leave out on the 30th :)

[cruiserkelly]

Thank you!! Please continue.We leave out on the 30th :)

 

You're welcome. Ya'll will have a blast. I hated reading all of the negative stuff out there, so thought I'd write my positive review. :)

[bvreeland922]

I agree. I do understand some things may not be up to standards for some. But we are not "travelers", so like you if I can get a dinner without, "mommy, mommy, mommy", spilled drinks, and kids trying to climb on the table, then I don't care if I'm dining at McDonalds :)

 

I look forward to it.

[maldenmusic]

Thank you!! Please continue.We leave out on the 30th :)

My daughter and I will be on the cruise leaving on the 30th also. We enjoyed our cruise on the Elation last year and are looking forward to this one. My hubby and I just got back from a cruise on the Triumph and I like dthe Elation better.

[KirkNC]

Good job, tell us more. Glad you had a good time.

 

Kirk

[Drava]

Looking forward to reading more!

[WAHMto5]

Thank you for the review. Can't wait to read the rest as we are sailing this ship next weekend!

[whendoweleave?]

And will sail on her again one last time before she leaves Mobile! I thought the decor was pretty and warm and we had our best ever waiter team--two lovely ladies from India! I'm friends with one of them on facebook and we still communicate to this day! :)

 

Keep up the great review!

[cruiserkelly]

Before I forget, our room was on the Main floor, sort of near the front of the boat, and we did feel a lot of rocking, but didn't really bother us and definitely made for a better night's sleep, being rocked to sleep.

After a wonderful, glorious, 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep (without any kids waking up crying) we decided to go up to the dining room for breakfast. We remembered from our other cruises, that the dining room was just much better for breakfast than the buffet. Turns out this is the case on this cruise too.

This morning we didn't ask for a table for 2, whoops, and ended up at a table with 3 other lovely couples. This was fine, but it was the last time we ever ate with a group on this cruise. This was a trip to just be with each other, so we made sure we got a table for 2 from then on.

For breakfast every morning, I ended up getting the eggs benedict. It was delicious! Probably one of the best meals I had on the ship. I'm not a big breakfast fan, but seriously, these were really yummy. Some days I also got french toast to go along with the eggs benedict.

 

Another reason I love cruising, is that you can order as many of anything/entree's as you want, and it doesn't matter. I love to try different things, but never eat a lot of anything, so it was perfect. Although, I do have to say one night at dinner the waiter kept asking me "you do not like???, I'll get you more of something else", just because I didn't eat much. It was funny.

 

After breakfast, we decided to get on our swimsuits and attempt to find some lounge chairs near the pool. After reading everything on CC, I was worried we wouldn't be able to find 2 chairs together anywhere on the ship, but this was not the case. Didn't really experience chairhogs on this cruise. This day, we ended up finding 2 perfect chairs, one in the shade for me, and one in the sun for DH. Sometimes it did get pretty loud where we were sitting because we were near the lido grill, but most of the time it was fine. We spent the day sliding down the water slide and hanging out in the hottub and just relaxing in our chairs.

 

We ate lunch at the Lido deck, I got a cheeseburger and some yummy chips and nacho cheese. DH LOVED the rubens from the sandwich shop, so he ate that and pizza. I thought the pizza was just okay, but I didn't really get it much since there were so many other interesting things to try.

 

After a long day outside, we went back in the room, changed and got ready for sushi. One day they didn't have it, I'm not sure if that was this day or not. Anywho, we then went to our Anytime dining, and to our favorite spot, Karaoke. After many hours spent in the Karoke club, we shut it down and went to the dance club, Jekyl and Hyde. This was a lot of fun, but it made us realize how old we were, ha. Lots of young kiddos dancing/grinding on the dancefloor. We just got out there with them and shook our groove things. :)

 

To be continued with Day 3... Cozumel and the wonders of Nachi Cocum :D

[cruiserkelly]

I forgot to add that on the 1st sea day, we went to a wine tasting. We were really looking forward to this, as we have been on several on other ships in the past. First of all, we knew what time it was supposed to be, so we got ready to go about 5 minutes before it was supposed to start. This is when we got lost on the ship. The wine tasting was in a different dining room than we had been eating in, so we weren't exactly sure how to get there. After going up several flights and down several flights and asking several CCL employees, we finally found it, paid and made our way to the table.

 

We were stuck at the table with 2 other couples that seemed very dis-interested in the wine, making conversation, or anything. I'm not really sure why they were there, but I do remember one of the guys saying their wives made them go. Anywho, we sit down and have 6 glasses of wine already poured in front of us. Now, on previous tastings, the glasses have been almost half full. On this one, it wasn't even a quarter of a glass. Maybe 2 small sips. I was disappointed. It's not that I was looking to drink a lot, but I remember it being a lot more on previous ones.

 

We also had a plate in front of us with a lemon, a strawberry, and 2 pieces of cheese.

 

And so, it begins with the "wine guy"(don't remember his name or actual title, sorry), telling us about the wines. He seemed very, very, bored and not happy at all. The "wine guy" started naming all of the wines, and when he got to the Riesling, I noticed my glass was empty. So, I looked around and everyone else had a little bit of Riesling in their glasses. So, I had to raise my hand and get them to pour me some, all the while feeling embarrassed that people may have thought I had already drank it, which I had not. I really was trying to follow the "wine guy" and do what he said in that order. A table beside us got so frustrated, they just downed all of their wine and got out of there. I think this made the "wine guy" mad, and he just basically quit talking in the middle of the tasting and just left. We didn't see him again.

 

I was very disappointed. We didn't know what foods to pair with what wine or anything. Oh well, this was only one of very few things that didn't go well the whole week, so I can't complain much.

[cruiserkelly]

I had researched before our cruise a place we could go with a swim up bar (per hubby's requests) and a pretty beach. Nachi Cocom fit the bill. We docked in Cozumel, ate a quick breakfast in the dining room (my favorite eggs benedict and french toast), then were off the boat. We were docked right beside another boat, I believe a princess boat? It was funny to be in the dining room eating, and watching people on the other boat in their bathrobes on their balcony hanging out.

 

We got off the boat and walked a long way, through a huge shop, into some more shops and outside to where there were a ton of taxi's waiting. We grabbed a taxi and shared it with another couple that got dropped off before us at Chakkanab (bad spelling, sorry). We then drove a few more minutes and ended up at nachi. I'm glad I had read reviews before that told about the jungliness of the gate before you got in. We were dropped off, gave the lady our reservation info, paid our cash, then were obligated to take a photo. This made me skittish at first, because I thought they would make us buy it, but it was literally no pressure at all to buy it. I actually thought it was a really good picture, but DH said we didn't need it, go figure, ha.

 

We were set up at a spot near the bar, with 2 lounge chairs and a tiki hut for shade and a table. The beach was so pretty. It was a little hard to walk to get into the water with all of the seashells, but it was still nice in the water.

 

We had all we could drink, yummy daquaris, sodas, bottled water, etc. They couldn't make mojitos, so I was a little disappointed with that, but it's ok (I'll get into my mojito fiasco more on our Calica day). The hottub was nice, but not very hot. We spent a lot of time making friends at the swim up bar. We also each got a floating mat and attempted to take it into the ocean, but never could get it quite right to float on it. I am still really glad we got the mats though because they made our loungechairs really comfy.

 

We were told we could have a 3 course meal each, so when we got hungry around 11, we asked if we could just order one course now, and the other 2 later. They said that would be fine, so the first course we had was Nachos and chips and guacomole. Oh, they also bring you fresh salsa and chips before your order comes out. That was soooooooo yummy and spicy! The nachos had beans, lots of cheese, and a little scoop of guac. The guac was delicious!

 

A couple hours later we decided we'd order another course, and I ordered the chicken enchiladas with red sauce and DH had the chicken tacos. These were not as good as I was hoping. For our 3rd course, I got the seafood soup, which was tasty, and my DH got another order of nachos.

 

Sadly, after about another hour at the swim up bar, we asked the bartenders to call us a taxi. We ended up sharing it with some friends we had made that were on our same boat.

 

Overall, I loved Nachi Cocom. It was very nice, low key, and relaxing. :p

[cruiserkelly]

This evening was elegant night. My DH was worrying a little bit because I forgot to pack him a "nice" shirt to wear this evening. It was just an oversight. I remember thinking, "oh, I'll pack a night dress shirt for him at the last minute so it won't be so wrinkled", but of course, I forgot it. So, he was worried that he would have to wear a golf shirt and khaki's, like he wore every other night for dinner in the dining room, and be out of place, or even not allowed in the dining room, however everything worked out fine. I wore my purple cocktail dress. As we walked down to dinner, we saw a variety of dress. I didn't see anyone in a tux, however there were quite a few in suits, most in ties, and a few, like DH in golf shirts. Most ladies wore cocktail dresses, and a few were in pantsuits.

 

I do remember this evening we got the lobster and shrimp as our entree'. I ordered 2, and DH actually had 3 (he said they were small, ha). I believe this night the waiters sang a song, which is always entertaining.

 

After dinner and a little more karaoke, we went to the "adult" comedy show with Kenny (forgot his last name). He was just okay. We ended up not going to anymore comedy shows this week because we didn't find this show very funny.

 

Next up, Calica (Playa del Carmen)

[LBumb]

great job

[cruiserkelly]

So today is the day we stopped in Calica. This morning we decided to eat upstairs on the lido. I can't remember if we decided this because we woke up late, or just wanted a quick breakfast. Anywho, this breakfast was not very good, IMHO. DH got a made to order omlette. It was okay. I got some quiche off the buffet, and a cinnamon roll, and some cantaloupe. Definitely not as good as the dining room.

 

We discussed at length whether or not we even wanted to get off the ship today. We knew, no matter what, we'd have to get a taxi to do anything, as Calica is just basically a sand pit/mine. I wanted to do a little shopping, so asked a CCL employee if they knew of any shops right off the boat, like in Cozumel, and they said there are a few little ones. Turns out, these little shops were awful. There were about a dozen little huts of just junk that was way overpriced. I looked at a few things, tried to get my kiddos some dolls, but they wanted way too much and didn't want to haggle with me, so, that was that. No purchases made there.

 

We then decided we wanted to go to Senor Frogs. We have been to the one in Cancun a long time ago and enjoyed ourselves so we decided to ask about going to the one in Playa Del Carmen. We bought our "taxi ticket", at a little hut where you tell the worker where you want to go, they write it on a ticket and tell you the price. No negotiations here either...seemed very official.

 

We got in the taxi and drove, and drove, and drove, seemed like forever. The taxi driver finally dropped us off in town and we said, "Where's Senor Frog's?" The taxi driver said just one block up, you'll have to walk. Well, we walked and walked and walked. We ended up in a tourist trap shop, and I bought the kiddos some toy souveniers and kept walking, looking for Senor Frogs.

 

Eventually, after getting a map, we finally found it. It was right on the beach and so nice! We didn't know it was on the beach, or we would have worn our bathing suits. The beach looked sooooooo pretty, even prettier than Nachi's beach. We stayed there an hour or 2, then decided to head to Carlo's and Charlie's for a few more hours of fun...this is where the mojito's were flowing, and we made great friends with the bartender and waiters. :)

 

We walked back to where we got a taxi, drove back to the ship, and got onboard. Let's just say after this day, we went straight to bed without dinner, ha.

 

I woke up around midnight and decided to try room service for the first time. It was yummy. I got the chicken tortilla wrap, a blt, and the cheesecake. The cheesecake wasn't very good, but everything else was. Back to bed...until tomorrow for the next Sea Day.

[bvreeland922]

How much did ya'll pay for the taxi ride out to Carlos n Charlies? Also do you know the name of the beach? Was there any fun things to do on it such as snorekling, massages, ect?

[cruiserkelly]

How much did ya'll pay for the taxi ride out to Carlos n Charlies? Also do you know the name of the beach? Was there any fun things to do on it such as snorekling, massages, ect?

 

I believe the taxi was 15 each way. I don't know the name of the beach, but it said it was right by the ferry terminal. I'm sure there were a ton of things to do there. We saw several parasailers, and I'm sure there was snorkeling and massages, just didn't actually go out to the beach to see them. We could see the water from where we were sitting inside Senor Frogs, but they also had tables and "beds" on the actual beach you could sit at as well. It was neat.

[thescot123]

Good review, I was on the same boat as you. Like you, I had a wonderful time, the first time with Carnival. The only problem that I had was with the worn out fittings in the room, handles coming of the drawers. It was not a big deal since, I don't spend much time in the room. I was on the same deck just down from you in M67. Like you I did feel the boat rocking which did bother me a little since I am a very light sleeper. Might go back on this boat for my 50th in Jan from N.O. It all depends on money since I have another longer cruise in Oct. For me, I met a lot of very nice couples to share excursions with. In Cozumel, went to a place called "The Money Bar" which had excellent snorkeling. Only a $8 per taxi cost and no entrance fee. Didn't know what to do in Calica, so did the shopping and beach trip in Playa Carmen. This was okay but the snorkeling was bad as I only saw three fish. I wonder if we crossed paths on the boat and didn't now it. I was assigned late dining in Inspiration as was at table 304 near the window. I went solo on this cruise and met some wonderful people to share activities with.

[elcuchio24]

LOL. I don't know why but your title cracks me up:).

[cruiserkelly]

Good review, I was on the same boat as you. Like you, I had a wonderful time, the first time with Carnival. The only problem that I had was with the worn out fittings in the room, handles coming of the drawers. It was not a big deal since, I don't spend much time in the room. I was on the same deck just down from you in M67. Like you I did feel the boat rocking which did bother me a little since I am a very light sleeper. Might go back on this boat for my 50th in Jan from N.O. It all depends on money since I have another longer cruise in Oct. For me, I met a lot of very nice couples to share excursions with. In Cozumel, went to a place called "The Money Bar" which had excellent snorkeling. Only a $8 per taxi cost and no entrance fee. Didn't know what to do in Calica, so did the shopping and beach trip in Playa Carmen. This was okay but the snorkeling was bad as I only saw three fish. I wonder if we crossed paths on the boat and didn't now it. I was assigned late dining in Inspiration as was at table 304 near the window. I went solo on this cruise and met some wonderful people to share activities with.

 

Glad you had a great time also! I didn't really notice the rooms being worn out, but I was just excited to get some well needed uninterrupted sleep. :)

I would love to go back on her, even from N.O. We are talking about going next summer with some friends. I'm sure we probably did cross paths at some point. We had anytime dining, so we were in the other dining room. We also met a lot of nice people on this ship.