Thanksgiving Elation cruise (with a 2 week return planned) 2021

[obx_fintoo]

I am going to jump in to the party and post a review for our recent Elation Thanksgiving cruise.  I have enjoyed reading a lot of the recent reviews (live and later) and @CeleBrat is doing a really nice Elation one from the week before our cruise, but I figured if there can be 47 Mardi Gras reviews going, why not 2 Elations!  😎  So follow along if you will.  We just turned Diamond on this cruise, so I will be trying to answer some recent questions I have seen.  We are casino folks, so there will be some content about that as well.  Grab a snack and beverage of choice and settle in.  Here we go...

[Jamman54]

Looking forward to it! 

[obx_fintoo]

 

Prologue:  Once upon a time (it was April 1995), I married a wonderful man who surprised me with a honeymoon cruise on the Ecstasy.  We were hooked and went again the following April for our anniversary.  We were young and not quite affluent, so took a break for a couple years then broke into a routine of 2 cruises per year, anniversary month and 2^nd week of December (my b-day month).  Sometimes, when we were lucky and got some last-minute deals, we could even squeeze in 4 a year.  Life was good.

 

Fast forward to December 2019.  We just got off the Ecstasy and were scheduled to turn Diamond on our 25^th anniversary cruise on the Pride, April 2020.   We had booked an Ocean Suite and had been counting down the days. D’oh!

Ok. We all know what happened then.  When they tentatively thought this was a temporary shutdown, we rebooked an April 2021 cruise.  No Ocean Suite, of course.  But still, we’ll try for our 26^th anniversary.  Nope.

Come springtime when vaccinations started, we got them as early as we could and were poised and ready for cruising to recommence.  First opportunity to rebook, we opted for our typical 2^nd week in December and booked 12/11 on the Elation.  Then we started getting offers like crazy.  The best one was the Plan Now, Play Later.  Hubby had a free balcony and I had a free interior.  Cool!  Let’s take the kid (17) and go over Thanksgiving.  So, we booked the Elation 11/22/21 sailing.  We started counting down and getting back onto CC to stay up-to-date, learning tips and tricks about testing, QR codes and all the other changes we were facing.

[obx_fintoo]

Testing: Even though I had read a few scary stories about CVS testing, we have a lot of locations nearby and we got our vaccines there, so I booked all of us for Saturday, 11/20 at a nearby CVS Minute Clinic.  My appt was for 10:05, hubby was 10:20 and kiddo was 10:35.  We pulled up to the designated area at 9:55 and in just a few seconds our tester was at the window.  She confirmed who we were and said, “Let me grab another swab.”  She was back in a jiffy and proceeded to do all our tests at once.  They were self-swabs while she counted down for us.  We were done and back home before 10:20. *Note – this process may vary by CVS locations. 

 

 Now, I had signed us all up individually and had used our individual cell phone #s to register, but for the kid, I had used my email, since she is just shy of 18.  Hubby and I both got confirmation texts and shortly after 11:00, we had instructions for setting up our My Health accounts, then had our results.  Both negative.  Yay!  However, kiddo had nothing. Boo! So, I called the CVS Minute clinic #.  After talking to 2 people and confirming my email, etc. I got someone to send me her results.  Also negative!  We are cruising, people!!  *I think that because she was a minor, their system would not allow them to text her.  Some HIPPA thing, maybe.  Anyway, just a heads up for any parents who plan to use CVS. Use your info for minors.

[obx_fintoo]

I am being paged to talk about dinner plans.  More to come.  Stay tuned!

[RedbirdFLCruiser]

I'm looking forward to hearing more! We were on the cruise with you! Had a great time. It wasn't perfect, but nothing is, but it was just the relaxing vacation we needed.

[obx_fintoo]

Getting there:  We do not like to fly when there is no pandemic, so we packed up the car with our luggage and plenty of snacks for the road and were on the road by 7:05am Sunday morning.  This is what it looks like when you get a teenager up that early!

[Guest BasicSailor]

Great review going, you might want to read your second line 😉

[obx_fintoo]

16 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

Looking forward to it! 

Thanks for following Jeff!  Fair warning... I do NOT take as many pictures as Patti! 🙂

15 hours ago, RedbirdFLCruiser said:

I'm looking forward to hearing more! We were on the cruise with you! Had a great time. It wasn't perfect, but nothing is, but it was just the relaxing vacation we needed.

Hello there!  Yes, it was relaxing, but the weather could have been better.  Ah well.  Thanks for following along! Feel free to chime in anytime with your POV. 

[obx_fintoo]

2 minutes ago, BasicSailor said:

Great review going, you might want to read your second line 😉

Thanks.  Do you mean the second line of my first post?   I'm confused.  😄

[Guest BasicSailor]

3 minutes ago, obx_fintoo said:

Thanks.  Do you mean the second line of my first post?   I'm confused.  😄

 We do not like to fly when there is no pandemic🤪

Edited December 5, 2021 by BasicSailor

[obx_fintoo]

A quick note about pictures.  All of these were taken with my phone which is a Samsung Galaxy S21 5G.  I got it brand new this year and it has many, many camera options that I have no idea how they work.  But it takes good pictures and has tons of storage!  Yay!

 

[obx_fintoo]

Just now, BasicSailor said:

 We do not like to fly when there is no pandemic

Ah, gotcha!  We do not like to fly when there  is no pandemic (omitted - so there is NO FLIPPING WAY we were flying during one!)  😄  

[obx_fintoo]

Getting there, continued: We were aiming for the Hampton Inn at Titusville, Fl.  We are Hilton Honors members and they had rooms for 24,000 pts.  Should have been 10 ½ hours or so.  Well, hello pre-Thanksgiving week traffic.  It was closer to 11 ½ hours, as we arrived at 6:21pm.  Room was typical Hampton Inn, clean and plenty of room.  The weird thing is, they have replaced their regular bathroom doors with sliding barn door things that cover the closet or the bathroom.  Those are your choices.  So not much privacy provided.  Oh well, it’s only for one night.

[obx_fintoo]

I have no idea why my door pictures are flipped on their sides.  I tried rotating them and they still attach that way.  Just tilt your head unless one of you savvy photo peeps has any advice!  🤪

[obx_fintoo]

There are several restaurants nearby the hotel, but the closest was Cracker Barrel.  We went in and ordered chicken dinners to go and waited out side in the rockers to be called.  About 20 minutes later, our food was ready.  We went back to the room and ate then watched a little TV and called it an early night.  It had been a long day.  Too tired and hungry to take food porn pics.  Sorry!

 

Getting there, part 2: The next day’s drive was much easier.  We got coffee and hot chocolate from the hotel and warmed up some leftover chicken and biscuits in the microwave.  Very good!  We were on the road just after 9 and to the port by 9:40. I will admit that I got a little misty when I caught my first glimpse of the Elation! 

[obx_fintoo]

She was parked right next to the Disney Dream.  We followed the signs to Terminal 5 and went around in circles for a bit until we made it to the parking deck.  We carry everything on, so we got our ticket, parked and walked straight over to the terminal.  We got checked in and were seated by 10:06. 

 

One note,  Carnival’s website says that is will accept the Dept of Health QR codes for vax-status, so I had those printed out, however the person checking us in said they did not have equipment that could read them.  Luckily, we also had our original vaccination cards so no worries!

 

It was a little wild when boarding started.  They called A01 and we got up and stuck behind a family that apparently had some issue.  Then they immediately called A02 and folks starting streaming around us.  We got out from behind the slow folks and went thru the facial recognition camaras, then walked up the ramp and we were on board! It had been 707 days since getting off our last cruise and stepping on board was the greatest feeling!

[obx_fintoo]

Rooms:  As I mentioned, we booked these on a Plan Now, Play Later offer.  I booked an solo interior (U175) and hubby booked himself and kiddo in an aft balcony (U228) just around the corner on 6.  We were on deck 7 at embarkation, so it was easy to walk right by the purser's desk and here we confirmed that our Diamond rooms were ready.  We walked to the back and down one flight, then to our rooms.  When we got there the doors were shut but no keys.  We barely had time to register that before the steward's assistant came over with a stack of keys.  We got both envelopes and opened the doors.

 

[obx_fintoo]

Ugh... Some of these are still on their sides.  Any one?  Bueller?

 

The interior room looks huge where there is only one bed made.  The balcony is a good size with one standard chair and one that reclines.

[obx_fintoo]

Hubby had the Cheers package as one of his perks and kiddo wanted a milkshake.  First stop, Java Blue for a Neopolitan!  Yimyam was always there and always happy to make whatever you wanted.
 

[obx_fintoo]

Next, we hit guest services again to get keys made so that I could access the balcony and the kiddo could access her private suite.  This was a first for us and she really enjoyed the extra space and her own bathroom! Funny note, they gave us the new keys on blue cards and we spent the rest of the cruise trying to make sure the other ones were on top! 🙂

 

We were ready for lunch, so headed up to lido.  Kiddo hit the deli while hubby and I opted for Blue Iguana.  The grill was not working, so Rueben's weren't an option.  She ended up with the Tomato and Mozzerella on Foccia.  All was good, except the weather!

[obx_fintoo]

I realized I skipped our Mustard details.  Believe it or not, even though the rooms were within 20 feet of each other, we were in different muster stations by cabin. U175 is Romeo & Juliet Lounge. U228 is on Serenity deck on 9.  Now, if you are familiar with Elation, then forget all you know about getting to this area.  You actually walk through the halls beside the new cabins.

 

Elation came out of drydock right before the pandemic shutdown started.  They did some nice and needed upgrades to the restrooms and elevator areas, but the biggest changes are the new cabins.

 

So, a quick summation:

Gone is the Cole Porter Club where they used to have comedy, big screen movies and the platinum/diamond parties.

Replaced by 14 new balcony cabins and 16 new interior cabins.

Gatsby's Bar is now the Alchemy Bar.

Jekyll & Hyde Dance club has transformed into the Limelight Lounge for comedy.

The old coffee bar is now a Java Blue and they added a small Cherry on Top across from it.  Overall, it all looks really nice and seems to be a good use of space, but everytime I came around the corner and saw hallways where Cole Porter used to be, I was a bit taken aback.  I did not get good pics of the new cabin areas, but will try to catch some on our return.

[obx_fintoo]

Some pics of the Limelight.
 

[obx_fintoo]

After unpacking, chatting with family and just chilling for a bit, it was time for sailaway.  The sun had come out and it was warmer.  Paully is the CD and young and energetic!  I did not interact with him much, but kiddo said he was nice and always funny.    Here are some sailaway party pics.  Note the new bride and the girl with the crutches.  Let me tell you, she did a pretty good job considering, even left stomping her crutch on cue!  😄

[Guest BasicSailor]

4 hours ago, obx_fintoo said:

I realized I skipped our Mustard details.  Believe it or not, even though the rooms were within 20 feet of each other, we were in different muster stations by cabin. U175 is Romeo & Juliet Lounge. U228 is on Serenity deck on 9.  Now, if you are familiar with Elation, then forget all you know about getting to this area.  You actually walk through the halls beside the new cabins.

 

Elation came out of drydock right before the pandemic shutdown started.  They did some nice and needed upgrades to the restrooms and elevator areas, but the biggest changes are the new cabins.

 

So, a quick summation:

Gone is the Cole Porter Club where they used to have comedy, big screen movies and the platinum/diamond parties.

Replaced by 14 new balcony cabins and 16 new interior cabins.

Gatsby's Bar is now the Alchemy Bar.

Jekyll & Hyde Dance club has transformed into the Limelight Lounge for comedy.

The old coffee bar is now a Java Blue and they added a small Cherry on Top across from it.  Overall, it all looks really nice and seems to be a good use of space, but everytime I came around the corner and saw hallways where Cole Porter used to be, I was a bit taken aback.  I did not get good pics of the new cabin areas, but will try to catch some on our return.

Well, that's a change I missed somewhere down the line . Where are they showing movies now ???

Edited December 7, 2021 by BasicSailor