A Winter Escape on Elation

[jpm1973]

Shaun, excellent review and writing style.

 

 

 

I suspect two guys shoving their beds together didn't set well with your steward. It happened to us once, their loss $$ wise because we were given the same poor service.

 

 

That would be too bad if that was the reason. My partner and I have been on two cruises where we asked our steward to push our beds together and both times we had excellent service.

[elainmir]

I felt absolutely horrible for you and your partner on your excursion to the ruins.. I'd have been more than furious. I try to be very nice and when people get pushy I sure can push back. I detest that get in your face stuff ...I'd be more inclined to shop/browse without people pushing me to. Carnival should be ashamed to be doing business with those people. They should be ashamed for only returning 12$ of your money.

[Indytraveler83]

I detest that get in your face stuff ...I'd be more inclined to shop/browse without people pushing me to.

 

After the cruise we looked at what we spent and realized the same thing. We shopped in Cozumel and each bought more than we anticipated, plus the expensive photos from Dolphinaris. But in Progreso we were so upset by it all that we didn't spend a dime extra.

[Indytraveler83]

That would be too bad if that was the reason. My partner and I have been on two cruises where we asked our steward to push our beds together and both times we had excellent service.

 

While I'm not certain (and never will be) why he was such a bad steward, I think he was going to be that way no matter what he thought of us. We pushed out beds together long after it was apparent he wasn't going to visit our room, and he made no attempt even before that to introduce himself. Regardless of how he felt about us, I got the impression he was a disgruntled worker anyways.

[iloverags2]

Enjoyed your review tremendously! Sorry you had some down points with the cabin steward and with the tour guide. However, it sounds like overall you had an awesome cruise!

 

My husband and I are always the same way about leaving the plates, glasses, etc. behind for someone to clean-up. LOL My husband said they should have an evening where guests serve the crew...I think that would be totally fun!

 

Keep us posted on which cruise you do end up booking next...can't wait for that review!

[marshhawk]

Thank you Thank you for posting this review. I am so glad i wsn't at work when I read it, cause I wouldn't have worked at all, I had the day off and was looking for a review on either the Fascination or the Elation, and I realize I have been in front of the computer for over an hour, lost in your story. Yes, I am going to Chichen Itza, it is and has been on my bucket list for years (I am 60) so finally getting there-will fulfill a dream for me.

 

That said, about the calendars. Last year we did the Uxmal and Hacienda tour. Which was fabulous by the way. But once we got the bus through Progreso proper, there was the sales pitch. DH and I completely ignored it, we travel on the cheap, and we pre-plan what we will purchase, so the ears shut down, and the eyes opened for where we were driving. I truly hope that your guide was dumped, because we only got 3 pitches, (yes our friends bought one) , but we couldn't have cared less.

 

We also ended up with a wonderful guide, once we were on site, so much so that during our free time, I watched and listened to other guides, and they couldn't match ours. So maybe it is the tour company themselves that stress the sales thing.

 

Now, about your cabin steward. We too stayed on the Empress deck (hmmm?) and we had requested on our order the "king", but when we checked in, there were twins. Now we had paid for FTTF, and our cabin wasn't ready, he was in the cabin when we got there, and he seemed confused that we wanted a king (husband and wife, but with different last names). I told him we wanted the king, and where we wanted it, he said, no I have to put it this way, and I said whatever, left the cabin and went and got lunch.

 

There was a box built into the floor for the life jackets, and he had that bed cornered right to the box, so that you had to climb over the bed to get to the other side, and if you got up in the middle of the night, you had to climb back over your mate, or over the box. I heard a lot of "ouch" from my DH in the middle of the night. The bed was never completely made=all 5 days, the bottom corners were never tucked in, we even pulled all the sheets up on that side so that he could think about making the bed, and it never happened.

 

So while we loved the restaurant staff, we were not too happy with the steward either. We got a 50 dollar credit back from Carnival because we complained that our cabin was supposed to have been ready and it wasn't, which ticked off the steward, and that first day, was the only time we saw him. When we did call for ice, we were told to call someone else. I hope that you and I had the same steward, and that behavior is not the norm for the Empress deck. Thank you again, marshhawk

[roxierox]

Great review. Thoroughly enjoyed reading it! Thank you!

[lilchief27]

Day Two/Part Two:

 

After the taxi took us back to the port, we shopped around for a while at the port's entrance looking for something unique and interesting, rather than just the typical trinkets. We struck gold when we found a local artist painting tiles and ceramic skulls. He does most of his work with his finger, then uses a finishing brush for the details. To show us, he took a business card sized piece of paper and created a painting in about 15 seconds and handed it to us for free. We selected a few pieces we really liked and the pricing seemed reasonable for artwork, and happily paid him. These were the only souvenirs we bought the whole trip. We really don't shop much on vacations, except when there is something really cool we feel we can add to our home, and this was one of those exceptions.

 

Coming up: Mayan Calanders, Progreso, Chichen Itza, Mayan Calanders, comedians, Mayan Calanders, a long bus ride, Mayan Calanders, an odd encounter with our cabin steward... oh, and did I mention Mayan Calanders?

 

I have enjoyed your review. We'll be taking this same cruise for Fall Break.

 

We, too, do not get into souvenir shopping but I do want something from one of the ports that represents the location, culture or artwork. The artist you found - do you know his name or if he looked like he was a regular at the Cozumel port? I usually try to find something I can hang on my Christmas tree even if the object isn't really an ornament. --any add'l info about that vendor/artist would be helpful :)

 

Chichen Itza - we were going to book that excursion. Guess it's back to researching the other Mayan ruin options at Progresso. On a previous cruise, we visited ruins in Belize that were amazing (complete with machine gun toting soldiers to keep us safe & Guatemalan illegals away from the tourists) so the bar is set pretty high for our family. Sorry your excursion wasn't what you had hoped.

 

Once again thanks for the trip report!

[FStriptych]

Thanks for such a comprehensive review.

 

We'll be sailing on this our first cruise in September, and are only using Progreso to get to Merida. Your review sealed that deal for us.

 

Next time you do New Orleans, avoid Bourbon Street and aim for Frenchmen. But if you do stay in the French Quarter, see Preservation Jazz Band. So worth the line.

 

Sorry about the whole bed drama. I hope it was just an oversight, and not a malicious steward. Maybe you should start another thread to see who all has had that problem.

 

Anyway, thanks again.

[pohlerbear]

We were at a large table for 12 and a couple of women were already seated. We

While many of you don't have to think about it, those of us who are in the LGBT community sometimes get nervous when we enter unfamiliar territory as we aren't sure how good everyone will be when they find out about us.

 

 

 

This makes me sad. It's still hard for me to wrap my head around it it being 2015 and this still being a worry. I tell my kids that by the time they are our age, they will look back at the treatment of the LGBT community how we look back at the treatment of blacks and women.

 

 

Love the review so far. Great job.

[cruiseclues]

Very Nice review,,,and unusually interesting photos...lots of info. :):):):)

[Disneygirl80]

 

The only problem that was reoccurring in this city was the homeless population. Many of them were either under the influence of something or had conditions that caused them to act very strangely.

 

I can't stop laughing at this! I live just outside of New Orleans and this is a great way of describing what is usually seen on Bourbon after dark!

[Indytraveler83]

Lol, fun to see that folks are still looking at my review from last year!

 

Sorry to anyone whose questions I missed. I'm not allowed to get into "cruise mode" for most of the year, and didn't start logging back in until a month or so ab when we booked our trip in the Dream. If you still have any questions just ask again!

[LaCal]

Thanks for the Great review and photos

 

Your like me in the sense that a few things bad on a cruise doesn't make it a full disaster and you always had fun at the end of the day

 

Thx again

[Indytraveler83]

Thanks for the Great review and photos

 

Your like me in the sense that a few things bad on a cruise doesn't make it a full disaster and you always had fun at the end of the day

 

Thx again

 

You know it's funny that you mention that. Looking back about 10 months later we really don't even recall any of the small negatives onboard.

 

The only thing negative that sticks with us is Progesso. I have no idea why Carnival still stops there. Carnival is the only line that stops there with any regularity, so I wonder what pulls them there. We wish Carnival did a 2 day stop in Cozumel instead.

 

This year instead of booking the Elation we decided to take the longer trip on the Dream. It's going to be fun comparing the ships as well as revisiting Cozumel and seeing Belize and Roatan for the first time. I'll be sure to complete another review on that one too.