Our July Elation cruise review - better late than never!

[4ready2cruz]

Elation July 4th cruise – 7/2 – 7/7/2016

 

Our family (me (51), DH (50), and 2 DD (15 and 17) sailed on the 5-Day Elation cruise over the July 4th holiday.

 

We drove down to Jacksonville Friday night before the cruise. We stayed at the Comfort Suites Airport location. This was our second time staying here. Everything was as expected, just a place to lay our heads for the night.

 

Embarkation

We arrived at Jaxport around 10:30ish on Saturday. We have sailed out of this port once before on the Fascination and embarkation and debarkation was a breeze. This time was not as organized but not horrific either. DH dropped us at the curb with our luggage and went to park the car. It took well over 5 minutes for us to get a porter to take the bags, they just kept walking past us until I actually caught someone’s attention. No biggie since we still had to wait for hubby to return before heading in. Then we headed into the terminal, was directed to a very short check in line, then to a longer line of people taking embarkation photos. We were onboard around 11:30.

 

Rooms were of course not ready and I did not get FTTF. Fortunately, we didn’t have a lot of carryon so half of us headed to the buffet and I headed to Guest Services before things got crazy. One port of call (and the main reason for our trip) was Half Moon Cay. I had rented us a cabana for the day and wanted to get my pick. I was the first one there and secured Cabana # 10. I had also taken the wonderful advice from people on these boards and gotten several Carnival gift cards to pay for our gratuities and other inevitable incidentals. I also used this to book the cabana pre-cruise. The cabana may seem expensive, but the floats, snorkel gear, snacks, padded loungers, privacy, and shade make it all worth it. I would have loved a villa but there was only 4 of us. If it were winter I may consider it, if only for the hot tub.

 

Dining

 

We had early dining and were seated at a table for 12 with 2 other families of 4 each. This was our first time dining like this, we have usually had a private table with just our family. One family disappeared after the first 2 nights. Had some good conversations with the other family. It was their first cruise so we were able to give them some hopefully helpful tips.

Eko, our main server, was FANTASTIC. Very attentive to every detail. This was our first Carnival cruise with Cheers and I was worried we would be waiting for refills. That was never a problem, someone was always available if we needed a refill on wine.

 

Ports of Call - Nassau / Half Moon Cay with Cabana

We stayed onboard for Nassau. Been there done that. It was great having the ship to ourselves. The weather was great. It was also July 4th which also happens to be my good friend’s birthday. I had gotten an international plan for my phone which meant we were able to call her once we got to Nassau. Calls at sea are a different rate plan, I think something like $1.79 per minute vs a $40 flat rate for the entire month if calling from a foreign country. Not a whole lot going on onboard to indicate the Fourth of July (at least not much that we were interested in). There was a HUGE American flag hanging in the atrium (that was awesome!), various red, white and blue drink specials but nothing else that I can think of. It may have been different if we were at sea that day.

 

I think they should rename Half Moon to Paradise Cay. This was our second time here and I was very much looking forward to our day here. As I mentioned, we rented a cabana for this visit and after reading all the reviews had decided on # 10. We were told to come to the theatre at 8 and then were led to the first tender to the island. Arriving at the island with no one else there was awesome. We walked down the beach towards our cabana. It’s a little bit of a hike but not too bad if you walk along the water line as opposed to in the soft sand. Our Welcome sign was already written in which was a nice touch. The cabana included float mats and snorkel gear. The mats were already there and the snorkels came a little later along with the snacks and drinks. The cabana location was great, not too far from the food, not too crowded by people. The pictures we took look like we were the only ones on the island!

 

Beverage Package

My husband and I had the Cheers package, our first time doing this. It seemed like a lot of money and I am not sure I would do it again even though we did get our money’s worth. I don’t think I would have drank as much if I did not have the package. For example, dinner would consist of 2 glasses of wine and an after dinner cordial followed by a trip to the martini bar prior to going to a show or the comedy club. A specialty coffee in the morning, a couple fruity beverages by the pool and a couple glasses of wine with lunch would more or less round out my day. We never found any drink that cost the $50 max. What did start to add up were the extra tips (usually a $1 per drink) we would add to our tab. But for that small price we got superb service, especially in the dining room. I was wondering how it would work being that everything was more or less covered, but I think tipping the drink servers extra kept them definitely coming back.

 

Cabin

We had cabins E125 and E121 (oceanview Empress category 6E). This was our first time on a deck this high up. All our recent Carnival cruises were on the Riviera deck (once by choice, others were guarantee assignments). LOVED this location! May have a difficult time choosing a lower deck in the future. This cabin is located midship and is very central to everything. The Atrium bar, guest services and the excursions desk are all right down the hall. Take the stairs in the other direction and 2 flights down to get to dinner. Very convenient.

 

I was a little nervous since we were right below the main dining room but at the very front corner of it (possibly back corner of the galley). We heard no noise ever, so I worried for nothing. Others had mentioned the big box in the corner, it is not in either room anymore.

 

The cabin is a little dated. The bathroom is all pink tile and looks like it came out of the 60’s. Bed was comfy. Storage was adequate, the usual 3 closets, shelves and 4 small drawers.

 

Our cabin steward (sorry cannot remember his name) took very good care of us. We had both morning and evening service. We were not asked which we wanted, he just did both.

 

Entertainment

Loved Epic Rock! This was our second time seeing it and it still had us dancing in our seats and embarrassing our kids! Was not crazy about Divas. Walked out on one comedian, thought the other one was hilarious. The theatre and comedy clubs were always packed so get there early if possible.

 

The Ship

The ship is well maintained and the crew was constantly doing repairs. One door from the buffet to the aft outside seating appeared to be broken and was closed for the entire cruise. This was actually good for us. Some probably thought it was closed but we would just go out the other doors and head for those aft tables. It was never crowded. Great view of the wake.

The Serenity deck was right below. We walked through once. Being at the back of the ship, there is no air circulation and it just was not very inviting.

We spent most of our pool time at the little known aft pool. Yes, it is small but was not crowded before noon. There is one small pool that you need to climb into and also 2 hot tubs. Need to watch out for soot since the funnel is right there, which makes it a little noisy but not unbearable.

There is also a basketball half court and a volleyball net.

 

Debarkation

I mentioned that in the past debarkation was a breeze. Not so this time. We were one of the earlier zones after self assist (#9 I think). By the time we left, the line to get into the terminal building was very long. We had to stand outside (fortunately it was shaded but very hot) for about a half hour. What we did notice was that there were people online who did not follow debarkation instructions (i.e. we saw several with zones 16 and 24 on line ahead of us). Once inside the terminal, the line stretched to the customs desks. Once that was done, finding our luggage and a porter was relatively painless.

 

Then, sadly, our cruise vacation was over.

[cruisin4Becky]

thanks for posting your review! I will be cruising on Elation this coming Monday and i cant wait!! If you dont mind could you post a few pictures of places around the ship and of Half moon Cay? Im glad you liked your cruise and the ship,I look forward to cruising on her in a few short days

[Buckimion]

Great review. Thanks!

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[4ready2cruz]

Cruisin4Becky, this is my first time trying to upload pictures. Hopefully this works.

 

Also, I did not take a lot of pictures around the ship, at least not on my phone.

 

Enjoy your trip. Elation may be older but her staff was still top notch. The ship may not have all the 2.0 upgrades but there was still great fun to be had.

Edited September 29, 2016 by 4ready2cruz

[maldenmusic]

We've cruised on the Elation 6 times and always enjoyed it. Thanks for the review.

[easyboy]

Thanks for the review.