Elation 5-23-04 review

[texas cruise kitty]

Have never posted a review (this is only my second cruise) so I will try to be concise. We went on this cruise with my 10 yr old daughter, 6 yr old son, and my parents. We had an absolutely fabulous time! We went to Galveston Saturday, stayed at the Holiday Inn on the Seawall (very nice and clean). We got to the terminal I guess around 11:00. At that point the most amazing thing happened. We got the upgrade of a lifetime. We had booked ocean views on Riviera and were all upgraded to Category 12 on the Upper deck!!! Private balcony, whirlpool tub, walk-in closet, mini fridge, and tons of room. We were so shocked and amazed. I kept thinking they were going to come to our rooms, tell us they made a mistake and boot us out! With the upgrade, apparently we became members of the "Skipper's Club" which seems to just mean we got a separate waiting area than everyone else, and we were the first ones on the ship after the wedding parties. The rooms were awesome, so much space which was great with the kids.

Sailing away was great, we had perfect weather for the entire cruise.

Our dining room was the Imagination, waiter and assistant were Sabby and Sergio who were excellent. Our room steward was Anthony who really went out of his way (he has been #1 room steward on the ship more than once).

 

The ship itself is breathtaking, and exceptionally clean. All of the staff were friendly. The kids enjoyed Camp Carnival although we really didn't use it all that much. After the first couple of days, we let my daughter have some freedom on the ship. She usually had a radio with her and strict instructions. My kids learned their way around the ship very quickly as did we. It was somehow very intuitive.

The food was excellent in the dining room and in Tiffany's. Bar drinks were pretty good, great bloody mary, not so impressed with the pina coladas. The entertainment I was lukewarm with. The cruise director was okay. We saw him in his variety show where he was having problems with his guitar which totally threw him off. I can imagine how that might affect a performer, unfortunately he really wasn't able to cover his discomfort at all. Assistant cruise director was pretty good, don't remember her name, but she was a short redhead from either England or Australia. Their big song and dance shows were very good, as were the comedians and the balancing act. I'm not saying the CD was bad at all, but we had Trevor and Gary on the Celebration last year and they were outstanding.

We did Chichen Itza from Progreso which was awesome. The kids and DH and I climbed the big one and we saw several iguanas which the kids loved. We went shopping in Cozumel. You definately need to go to Los Cinco Soles downtown. It's much bigger and nicer than the one at Puerta Maya. Had margaritas and chips and pico at Pancho's Backyard nearby while the mirimba (sp?) band played. We had to then hurry to Chankanab where we did the Dolphin Encounter. That was really cool. We hung out there for a while on the beach. We did get my daughter's hair braided (just the front). It cost $20 and took about 20 minutes.

Belize was the best!!! We had booked the Caye Caulker tour through Coral Breeze. We got really nervous because it took us so long to tender off the ship. We were about an hour late getting there but they were still waiting. We took about a 45 minute boat ride (pretty bumpy at times) to our first snorkeling site with the stingrays and nurse sharks in shallow water. That was incredible. We did see sharks although they didn't stay around very long. My kids loved it and we had plenty of time in the water. We then went to the coral gardens in considerably deeper water. The kids had a little harder time because you really had to keep up, but the guide was great with them. We then went to the Rainbow Restaurant for lunch. It was very good and had an excellent drink menu. Unfortunately we didn't have a lot of time to explore the island which is very quaint, laid-back and picturesque. Definately will rent a golf cart next time.

 

Sea days were good, mostly stayed around the pool. All in all, this was the best vacation I could ever imagine. I loved everything about this ship and would cruise her again in a heartbeat.

 

I'm sorry I went on so long, if anyone has any questions, will be happy to help.

 

 Elation 5-23-04

 

[texas cruise kitty]

sorry, that little smiley face talking about the CD's guitar problems was unintentional

 

 Elation 5-23-04

 

[Randy & Carmen]

Good Review..........Just think how close you were to me and we never met...We were sitting WITH the wedding party about 50 ft from you and boarded at the same time you Skipper Club people were....How funny!.....Oh well...We met other CCers.......maybe next time.

 

CLICK HERE for "Valor Vampires" Cruise Info on Valor 10/30/05

CLICK HERE for "Partae Pirates" Cruise Info on Miracle 2/13/05

 

Randy ~ Build17@aol.com

Dallas, TX

 

Destiny-5/00, Victory-3/01, Pride-6/02,Celebration-11/02,

Conquest-3/03,Glory-9/03,

RCI Mariner-1/04,Triumph -3/04,Elation-5/04,Sensation -10/04, Miracle - 2/05, Valor - 10/05

 

 

Days til Sensation Cruise from the Bayou

Days til Miracle Partae Pirates Cruise from Tampa

Days til Valor Vampires Cruise

[texas cruise kitty]

I did meet one CCer who was also on the Coral Breeze tour, Camsolo. She was very nice and seemed to really be enjoying her solo cruise.

 

 Elation 5-23-04

 

[Pompey]

Randy,

Having seen your photos I realized that we were sitting next to you at breakfast on the last morning. We noticed your CC shirt and wondered . See, it is a small boat after all!

[Randy & Carmen]

You should have said hi Pompey.....I don't bite.....lol

 

Kitty....That was KMsolo......She met some of us CCers the first day and we saw her a few more times during the cruise....Her first one and she loved it.

 

CLICK HERE for "Valor Vampires" Cruise Info on Valor 10/30/05

CLICK HERE for "Partae Pirates" Cruise Info on Miracle 2/13/05

 

Randy ~ Build17@aol.com

Dallas, TX

 

Destiny-5/00, Victory-3/01, Pride-6/02,Celebration-11/02,

Conquest-3/03,Glory-9/03,

RCI Mariner-1/04,Triumph -3/04,Elation-5/04,Sensation -10/04, Miracle - 2/05, Valor - 10/05

 

 

Days til Sensation Cruise from the Bayou

Days til Miracle Partae Pirates Cruise from Tampa

Days til Valor Vampires Cruise

[Randy & Carmen]

Wow...Pompey.....I noticed you're from Dallas too,.....I bet you live two doors down right?......lol

 

CLICK HERE for "Valor Vampires" Cruise Info on Valor 10/30/05

CLICK HERE for "Partae Pirates" Cruise Info on Miracle 2/13/05

 

Randy ~ Build17@aol.com

Dallas, TX

 

Destiny-5/00, Victory-3/01, Pride-6/02,Celebration-11/02,

Conquest-3/03,Glory-9/03,

RCI Mariner-1/04,Triumph -3/04,Elation-5/04,Sensation -10/04, Miracle - 2/05, Valor - 10/05

 

 

Days til Sensation Cruise from the Bayou

Days til Miracle Partae Pirates Cruise from Tampa

Days til Valor Vampires Cruise

[hilltopfamily]

thanks for the review---loved reading all about your great trip. And what an upgrade!!!! You really "lucked out" didn't you! Glad your family had such a great time, thanks for posting. I think we're under 60 days now for our Elation cruise (I'll know for sure when I hit post & see our countdown clock!)

 

Penny

Disney Magic~~Eastern 7/03

Carnival Celebration~~Western 3/04

Aug 1, 2004 Carnival Elation--Yippee, Our 3rd Cruise!!!

[StaceyM]

Thanks for the review Cruise Kitty. We will be on the Elation in two weeks. Can't wait! We plan to do the Coral Breeze shrk/ray alley excursion. How was the tender situation? You said that you were a hour late. What time did you go down to tender? Just wondering.. We will have about 24 in our group so I am sure they will wait for us. Were you ever nervous that Coral Breezes wouldn't get you back to the ship in time? That's my only concern with booking with a private company ,but their excursion sounds like so much more fun than the Carnival sponsored one! Thanks again!

[Pompey]

Hi StaceyM,

 

The tender for us was fine. We did Cave Tubing with X-Stream. At first we went to the Cole Porter Lounge which is where they tell you that you must go if you are not taking a Carnival Excursion, but we told the girl there that we had a private tour leaving at 9 (they weren't giving us tickets until 9:30 at the earliest) so she told us to go where the Carnival cave tubers were and ask if we can get on the same tender. We did that, and although he didn't look happy about it, he got us on that tender. However, some people in our tour just went to that meeting place, didn't say anything, and got on the tender too. I don't think they really have time to check everyone's tickets.

 

With X-Stream we weren't nervous we wouldn't get back on time. Think of it this way: These people do this multiple times a week. And if they screw up, we're going to be all over these boards about it which will make people not book with them. Whenever someone would ask about time, our guide kept saying "You're on vacation. Let me do the worrying about the time. I'll get you back, no worries."

 

 

P.S. I had so much fun on the Elation. Would you like to smuggle me on in your suitcase?

[StaceyM]

Pompey,

Sure you can stow away in my suitcase..thanks for the info. It will be hard to sneak 24 people on one of the carnival sponsored tenders sowe will just have to deal with it. Where in Dallas do you live? I have been at SMU most o fthe weekend for my DD's cheer camp..fun fun fun

[Pompey]

We're in the Lewisville area...seeing as how you're from Grapevine, I'm sure you know exactly where that is.

[StaceyM]

Hey Pompey, you are our neighbor.. I shop at Vista Ridge quite a lot. My DH has an aunt that lives in Higland Village. Just meet us in Grapevine and we will fit you into our luggage!!

[texas cruise kitty]

Hey StaceyM. We went to the Cole Porter lounge for tender tickets, got on the second tender about 9:30 or so I guess. As far as worrying about getting back on time, I didn't worry much. I figured 1. Coral Breeze would move heaven and earth to get us back on time so they wouldn't damage their good reputation and 2. There were so many Elation cruisers on the tour, I figured the ship might leave without one or two people, but not two dozen.

 

 Elation 5-23-04

 

[Pompey]

Stacey M,

 

Highland Village is our city too! Some people have never heard of it so I just say Lewisville.

 

So I'll see you in the food court at Grapevine Mills about 2 weeks from now. Make sure to bring your big suitcase!!

[Randy & Carmen]

Bring two.....I live 10-15 minutes from GVM!

 

CLICK HERE for "Valor Vampires" Cruise Info on Valor 10/30/05

CLICK HERE for "Partae Pirates" Cruise Info on Miracle 2/13/05

 

Randy ~ Build17@aol.com

Dallas, TX

 

Destiny-5/00, Victory-3/01, Pride-6/02,Celebration-11/02,

Conquest-3/03,Glory-9/03,

RCI Mariner-1/04,Triumph -3/04,Elation-5/04,Sensation -10/04, Miracle - 2/05, Valor - 10/05

 

 

Days til Sensation Cruise from the Bayou

Days til Miracle Partae Pirates Cruise from Tampa

Days til Valor Vampires Cruise

[coachcruiser]

StaceyM and Pompey,

 

It is cool to see people from the same area. I teach in Highland Village and live in Little Elm. I enjoy reading all the info about the Elation. June 20th is just around the corner!!!!!!!!

[StaceyM]

Randy and Pompey, I will see ya at Grapevine Mills on June 19th and you can fight over who gets to get in my roller board!!LOL I'll be going down the night before so you better be ready!!

Coachcruiser, It's good to see you back on the boards!! I am guessing that you have been on the June 20th roll call board and that you know we are planning to meet at 4:30 by the big pool with the slide. I had another brain storm, instead of trying to find the mardi gras beads we can all go get those .50 leis at Michaels or a party store and wear those. They would be festive... And Randy and Pompey, you can meet us at the Michael's by Grapevine Mills and have the fight there.. right? I will post my idea on our roll call board. See YA In TWO WEEKS!!

[mpffls]

I have a question about the upgrade....were y'all in 2 cabins both 6As and they upgraded both of the cabins to 12s........

 

and when did you find out...when you checked in...you mentioned the skippers club...but if you found out after standing in line and reaching the check in desk...the "thrill" of the skippers club is pretty much lost except for the jumping ahead of the photo line and haveing the personel escort to your cabins...

 

our cruise is not filling up very well......and there are alot of 11 and 12s available...I can hope...and hey I am not greedy...I would take an 11!!!!!!!!!!!

 

can't wait......

 

trish

 

 

 

till the ELATION on Margaret's 21st B-day

 

 

 

[therainbows1999]

Did you do the Dolphin Encounter with the ship or book outside? We are going in less than 3 Weeks. Yeah!

 

Elation 6/04

[aggieastrosfan]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by mpffls:

I have a question about the upgrade....were y'all in 2 cabins both 6As and they upgraded both of the cabins to 12s........

 

and when did you find out...when you checked in...you mentioned the skippers club...but if you found out after standing in line and reaching the check in desk...the "thrill" of the skippers club is pretty much lost except for the jumping ahead of the photo line and haveing the personel escort to your cabins...

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

Personal escort to your cabin? We didn't get that! We did get to cut in the photo line though .

 

Try checking your booking online at carnival.com. They have a picture there of your stateroom category. When ours changed from oceanview room to suite stateroom, that's how we knew we had an upgrade. That way we knew to request the perks beforehand! It's a good thing we did, too, because our S&S cards were with Skipper's Club check-in, not the regular check-in. Had we not known, we might've waited in line only to be told we had to go to the Skipper's Club check-in anyway.

 

If all else fails you can always check with the guys who hand out extra luggage tags!

 

'Till the Grand Princess 12/4/04

 

Holiday 12/00 - Baja

Elation 05/02 - Mexican Riviera

Elation 05/04 - W. Carribbean

Grand Princess 12/04 - W. Carribbean

 

See my pictures!

[mpffls]

On our 1st carnival cruise we were actually dumb enough to pay for a cat 12.....we were in Miami and went to the skippers club which was this room with a desk like in an office and wing chairs where we sat and the carnival rep filled out all of our stuff....then this litte man came and escorted us thru the x-ray machine, past all of the other lines, to the front of the photo line....on to the ship....opened our cabin door...got our steward and he and the steward gave us the tour of the cabin....

 

So you looked on line before you left and they had upgraded you......hmmmmm..I will have to try that....thanx

 

 

 

till the ELATION on Margaret's 21st B-day

 

 

 

[texas cruise kitty]

We had both booked 6As, side by side and were both upgraded to 12s, still side by side. We didn't have to wait in line at all. We got to the terminal early and went straight to the desk. Now keep in mind, the "skipper's club" was just a separate waiting area which was right outside the photo area. We did not get an escort to our rooms which technically we weren't supposed to go to yet, but we did anyway. We were the first ones on the ship besides the wedding parties though which was kind of cool. We got to tour the ship before it got crowded. On our initial look around, there was NO ONE around.

What I do find interesting though is that I had called our TA the Friday before we left to check for any upgrade and she said there wasn't one, and when we checked booking on Carnival's site, they showed a category 12. I assumed that was incorrect as I have heard many people having incorrect rooms show up. We were just extremely lucky, MPFFLS, I hope you get lucky too!!!!!!

 

 Elation 5-23-04

 

[texas cruise kitty]

therainbows,

 

We had booked the dolphin encounter online several months in advance. I understand as the space is limited, it is hard to get reservations. However, if you can get one through Carnival, go for it, it was really cool!!

 

 Elation 5-23-04

 

[texas cruise kitty]

By the way, as far as the knowing about your upgrade ahead of time, especially when it's really good, I would almost opt for not knowing early. It was soooooo exciting to learn about it at the terminal. It was like a really good Christmas morning. Our only worry for my parents and for us is that we weren't all getting the upgrade as they were down the counter from us. They were afraid if they got it and we didn't, we would be in their room all the time.

 

 Elation 5-23-04