Just got off of 6/5 Elation sailing...Any Questions?

[longhornfs23]

Hey guys, I just got off this morning, and I highly recommend taking your own luggage off of the ship if you can carry it all! We got off of the ship at 7:30 am! So if you have any questions, just post them here and I will get back to you.

For about a day and a half there were 8-9ft swells. It didn't bother me, but you could feel it going back and forth. We also had to sail back faster, because a passenger was very sick. We kicked up from 18 knots to 20 knots. Got back into Galveston at 3am.

-Kevin

[debihen]

Did you have the new bedding in your cabin? We sail in December, and cannot wait!!!!!

[islandlittleleague]

Hey guys, I just got off this morning, and I highly recommend taking your own luggage off of the ship if you can carry it all! We got off of the ship at 7:30 am! So if you have any questions, just post them here and I will get back to you.

For about a day and a half there were 8-9ft swells. It didn't bother me, but you could feel it going back and forth. We also had to sail back faster, because a passenger was very sick. We kicked up from 18 knots to 20 knots. Got back into Galveston at 3am.

-Kevin

 

Can you tell me if there is access to the internet for email? I am going on a cruise and leaving the same day my children are returning so i would like to know if I will be able to communicate through email or instant messaging on the computer.

[momof4boys]

Thanks for answering questions! Did you have fun? What deck were you on?What excursions, if any, did you enjoy? How about new bedding? I am also curious to know how you found out about the ill passenger. :)

[longhornfs23]

Hi...

debihen- Yes! There were comforters and new everything! They were very soft.

 

Islandlittleleague- Yes they have internet access and email. You can also probably do the instant messaging.

 

momof4boys- I had a pretty good time, the only bad thing I had was getting the sunburn in Belize! Wear Sunscreen! We were on Deck 5 Main Deck Room M66, which was close to the elevators and stairs! VERY QUIET!. I thought getting around was quite easy. The way I found out is my family was talking to this other family, and we started talking about the ill man. The guy said he had penecidis, and thats why we were driving so fast to get back to Galveston

 

Excursions: We booked all of our excursions outside of Carnival, because it is cheaper, and the same thing that Carnival offers.

 

Progreso- Well, in Progreso we didn't have anything planned. We got there and walked down the pier to the free bus ride into to town. When we got to town there was a little flea market, and some excursions to go on. So we decided to go to the Mayan Ruins($30 per adult, and $15 per child 12 and under) Our guide was very nice and funny. The ruins were nice, and you can climb them. After you are done looking at the ruins, there is a sinkhole of water, which is pretty much a pond that you can go swimming in.

 

Cozumel- In Cozumel we went scuba diving. That was very fun and saw lots of fish. We booked with "Aqua Safari". This is our second time to book with them because they are very good at what they do, and they take time for doing each skill you have to pass. If you want to know anything else about this excursion, let me know.

 

Belize- Oh! What can I say about Belize, it was beautiful! It is very very hot there so make sure you wear lots of sun tan lotion, I learned the hard way! So we took the tender into Belize, and we booked with "Coral Breeze" the Shark and Stingray Snorkel, and we saw them right away(next to the gate) holding up a sign. There are also some small shops there. There is a Diamonds International store too. Anyways, we got in the boat and it was an about 45 min boat ride to where we were going. They stopped when there were dolphins, because the water is shallow and they get very close. Also if you don't have your own mask, fins, or snorkel they will provide that for you. We drove out to where we were snorkeling, and got out. It was the 2nd biggest reef in the world! Lots of fish, and coral. After that we drove to the sharks and stingrays, there were lots. The nurse sharks were about 5-6ft. After we got out there was a Barracuda! It was about 5ft! EEEEkkkkk! They drove us back to Caye Caulker, and they served us lunch, the lunch came with the trip. Then you can shop around toen for about 1 1/2 hours. There aren't very many towns, and it gets really hot when waling through the town. I reccomend the bakery, it was good! After that we drove back to Belize, and took the tender back!

 

 

 

If you have any more questions about the excursions or anything else let me know!

[christhree]

I am also curious to know how you found out about the ill passenger. :)

 

I am too...

 

BTW...The' ILL' passenger's name is RUTH...she is in a coma at UTMB....all prayers accepted, but we fear she will not make it.... She had a stroke and they could do nothing for her onboard but get her to Galveston:mad: hence your speedy arrival back.

[Cybele]

We were on the 6/5 sailing of the Elation as well. I was SO happy to see those lovely white duvet covers on the beds, instead of the Pepto Bismol pink ones in the pictures on the Carnival site! We were very happy with our cabin and the cabin service.

 

My hubby had his laptop and bought a chunk of internet access for 55 cents a minute. Simple by-the-minute pricing is 75 cents a minute. They have about 10 terminals you can use to check your mail if you don't have a laptop. There are two separate plans for laptop-internet access versus internet-access using Elation's terminals, so be sure you sign up for the right one as you can't split the time. All you need to remember is to sign up from your laptop if you want the laptop plan or sign up from their terminals if you want to use their terminals. I hardly ever saw any one using them...at most one person at a time.

 

If you have a bunch of luggage and will be checking it when you get back to Galveston, be sure it is outside of your room by the time stated. Some people down the hall from us put their luggage outside their room at about 11:00, and it was never collected. We had ours ready about 10:55 and caught the last collection of bags from our hall. The stated times were 9:30 to 11:00. They mean it. We were in no big hurry to get off the ship, and hung around in our cabin the next morning until they started shooing people out, then had breakfast and coffee on the deck behind Tiffany's while we waited. We were in our car by 11:00.

 

It was funny watching how many people never got their sealegs, learning to adjust their center of gravity while walking a straight line. My kids and I were giggling at some teenage boys bouncing off the walls like billiard balls!

 

Be sure to go to the area fore of the jogging track late at night on a cloudless night on your way down and do some stargazing. When you get far enough south you can see the southern cross. This area is also a hang-out for teenagers watching the submarine races at night...

 

The quietest place on deck is on the Lido deck behind the bridge...lovely to listen to the water breaking on the hull of the ship and watch for flying fish in the gulf. The privatest place on deck is outside the aft dining room. You have to either take the door next to the conference room at the back of the Inspiration dining room or walk down from the deck above. The top of the stair is swing-gated, but you can just walk through. The port half of this deck is for passengers; the starboard half is for crew. This little deck is the closest to a secret place I found.

 

Our shore excurions:

 

Progreso: We went to UXMAL. We loved it and got lots of great pics. Kids (6 and 7) climbed up and down some pretty scary steep pyramids. It was hot, but they gave us water bottles plus we had our own. Our guide, Armando, was jovial and knowledgeable. The bus ride was cool, and I enjoyed watching the scenery. Uxmal is similar to Chichen Itza, but a little smaller, and a lot fewer visitors. The bathrooms there were spotless. We bought some cool t-shirts for the kids (2 for $5) and adults ($3 for 10). At the pier in Progreso we bought some great trinkets off the dollar cart, inclusing maracas and cheap recorder pipes for the boys, and a great little lanyard purse for myself. The shops on the pier have pretty decent prices.

 

Cozumel: Diving through ship's excurions. Click on my user name to see my posts of earlier today on this. Next time I will arrange a dive trip on my own, altho the next time I go there will probably be on a dedicated dive trip for 4-5 days, not a cruise.

 

Belize: Diving, which I arranged through Sea Sports, Belize. The staff there ROCKED and the dives were very enjoyable, altho the vis was only 30 ft that day with a current we had to swim against on our way away from the boat. There were only 3 of us divers on a 6-pack, and they usually go out with a minimum of 4 people. I arranged it ahead of time and paid thru PayPal. It's pricier than diving in Cozumel, but we got our money's worth as it wasn't a cattle drive. The dive shop let us leave our dive gear at the shop while we went out for a couple local brews afterwards (Belikin stout, yeah!). Belize City is a little rough, so try not to look too much like a tourist if you go wandering outside the gated tourist zone. Be firm with panhandlers, or just bring a few dollar bills along to pay them not to talk to you. (They react in horror to dollar coins.) The local newspaper is kind of interesting. Lots of traffic deaths, recreational deaths, and murders reported. Still, I enjoyed Belize City more than Cozumel. Maybe I'm weird, but Cozumel just seems so touristy!

 

longhornfs23, you should have seen these two big remoras (a good 2' long each, but skinny) who were in love with me on my first dive! They startled the heck out of me because they pumped into me from behind, then started frantically swimming around me looking for a place to latch on. I was divin gin a swim suit, so they were fascinated with my skin, I think. At first I thought they were little reef sharks until I noticed the attachment ports on the tops of their heads and their fins are oriented differently than sharks' fins. When we went up for our safety stop they latched onto the hull of the boat, and were there for quite a while. I read that there are totally harmless even if they latch onto you. You just need to remember to detach them in a forward motion. They're sort of like velcro.

 

I'll probably post a full trip report in a day or two.

[momof4boys]

Awesome review! Thanks so much. Glad you had fun. Will keep Ruth in my prayers!

[Decali]

I am too...

 

BTW...The' ILL' passenger's name is RUTH...she is in a coma at UTMB....all prayers accepted, but we fear she will not make it.... She had a stroke and they could do nothing for her onboard but get her to Galveston:mad: hence your speedy arrival back.

 

How is Ruth? Are you the one who wanted to toast her with the drink of the day? That's very nice of you and I understand.

 

This whole situation is very sad but I hope that I go on to the next world right after a cruise. I can't think of a better way to go.