A frequent RCCL cruiser tries a 4 day on the Elation

[jean87510]

Very impressed so far.  We booked a JS as we like the bigger rooms and price was good at the time.  I'll give a brief summary of some topics.

 

Embarkation - Our check in was 10.  We were taking a train from Savannah (husband's work conference) to Jacksonville.  Inexpensive and comfortable.  We used paper sheets with a bar code.  This was new to us as we like digital.  Then we waited in a suite room at the port.  We did have to wait a bit as there was some water damage on deck 5.  Once we did board at 1050, we went directly to our room to unpack our check in bags.  

 

Lido Buffet Embarkation - Sandwiches in the back, bar in the buffet, salads, pizza, self serve custard...  And it was pretty good.

 

Room - Balcony is about 2 feet wide.  Door to go out on it.  It's fine for 2 people alone.  Surprisingly not much storage in bathroom or room.  Per our room attendant, 1 turn down per day for suites.  No special shampoos and no conditioner.  I luckily have my own.

 

MDR - We went last night and husband got surf and turf for $23.  It was good AND cheaper than going to a specialty.  We did observe the Chefs table.  I didn't like the layout as anyone walking by can see you eating.

 

Lido -  Breakfast, lunch and dinner are pretty good.  Huge problem I have is the staff and parents not stopping kids coming into buffet barefoot, dripping wet and getting the floor wet.  I slipped as did a couple of others on the wet floor the first night.  I did ask staff to please enforce rules with this.  I truthfully don't care if you come in naked; just dry off.

 

Gym has not been crowded. I do sneak in earlier than 6 as I have a long workout and like the solitude.  I have fellow crew gym rats with me as well.

 

We were in Freeport and in Bimini today.  I have been also writing about snorkeling and will share what we did on the Bahamas forum. 

 

I am enjoying myself.  The staff is really nice, the fellow passengers are extremely polite and friendly.  

[Drazil65]

Thank you for your honest review and positive attitude especially being you are on one of the smallest and oldest ships in the fleet.  Being on a 4 day is a little different than your longer cruise crowd but it appears that you are definitely finding more good than not and enjoying the experience. 

 

Have fun and will be interested in reading the rest of  your thoughts.  

[kelkel2]

It’s nice to hear a review from someone on the “other side”. I’ve always considered trying other lines but I like carnival and am scared I won’t like the other lines as much. 

[jean87510]

Pool area, hottubs and pool itself are pretty packed.  We have a pool at home and a hottub so this thankfully doesn't affect us.  Lot's of places to sit and relax outside the pool area as in any ship.

 

The towel animals were on the pool deck this am.  I always liked this with carnival as you can just see the kids and adults start smiling when they see it.  

 

Last night at dinner, everyone was dancing to the MDR show.  People really enjoyed this.  Let me add this was by far in 25 plus cruises, the fastest service in the MDR.  

[jean87510]

1 hour ago, kelkel2 said:

It’s nice to hear a review from someone on the “other side”. I’ve always considered trying other lines but I like carnival and am scared I won’t like the other lines as much. 

I like to try different cruise lines and truthfully go for the ports.  We are actually doimg NCL from Sydney to Tahiti for my husband's 60th in April in a GTY inside.  It should be interesting going back to an inside but I don't think we will care with the amazing ports!  I've been on RCCL 17x, NCL 1x, Carnival 6x and Celebrity 6x.  I liked all of them.  Carnival will always have a special spot in my heart because it was our 1st cruise.

[Essiesmom]

If you like to try new lines, come on over to MSC. But book a cruise 8 days or more. I’m on  4/3 B2B from Port Canaveral. Very family friendly, international. EM

 

[jean87510]

24 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

If you like to try new lines, come on over to MSC. But book a cruise 8 days or more. I’m on  4/3 B2B from Port Canaveral. Very family friendly, international. EM

 

Yep.  Booked on the Divina over NYE and the Meraviglia in June with my youngest.  Both in YC.  We unfortunately had to cancel the Seascape in April to go on NCL Spirit for Tahiti so big sacrifice!!😉

[ZoeyVictoria]

We live just an hour from Tampa and would like to cruise on the Elation’s sister, the Paradise, for easy, short cruises. The last time we were on that ship, though, we did not enjoy it as much as we hoped because the ship was so loud. The theater and especially the lido deck seemed to have the volume way up compared to other ships. We missed the outdoor promenade deck and could not find a place to get away from the noise and relax. Did you find anywhere to sit outside and relax that was not noisy?

[jean87510]

1 hour ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

We live just an hour from Tampa and would like to cruise on the Elation’s sister, the Paradise, for easy, short cruises. The last time we were on that ship, though, we did not enjoy it as much as we hoped because the ship was so loud. The theater and especially the lido deck seemed to have the volume way up compared to other ships. We missed the outdoor promenade deck and could not find a place to get away from the noise and relax. Did you find anywhere to sit outside and relax that was not noisy?

 

That's a tough one.  I can probably better answer tomorrow after our sea day.  We are on deck 11 in a JS and don't really hear much.  When we are on the Lido deck I haven't really heard much music or loudspeakers.  

[ninjacat123]

DH, myself and our 21 & 23 year old DDs will be on Elation this January on a 4 day!  Glad to hear positive feedback.  My DDs and I cruised on Ecstasy out of Mobile and had a great time on the sister ship!

[jean87510]

We were pretty tired from Bimini so came back around 2 and I had my first Guys burger and fries.  Not bad!  I also had my version of the burrito which is to eliminate the bread wrap which I hate and just have the pico, rice, beef, and lettuce in a bowl.  I love this at home and the worker was very accommodating.

 

We spent the afternoon cleaning our snorkeling equipment and bags to be dried for our disembarking on Monday.  We tried the balcony for a bit.  We did hear some announcements but overall pretty quiet.

 

Since we are running low on clothes (3 days on the Independence of the Seas, 3 days in Savannah, 4 days on Elation will do that!) we opted for the buffet for dinner.  My husband tried Bonsai Express pre dinner and was happy with his poke bowl and sushi.  It is formal night and we just do not have anything left other than workout clothes which of course I overpacked.  I will note I was impressed at the beautiful dresses being worn.  Much better than Celebrity and Royal.  We were definitely in the minority.  The buffet was empty at 7pm!  

 

One thing I don't like is the announcements in the cabin.  I was awakened at 4am to an Alpha Alpha Alpha on deck 6, cabin whatever.  I hope all was well but I ended up going to gym at 5am.  It is supposed to open at 6 however I can be a rebel at times!

[canes20]

14 minutes ago, jean87510 said:

We were pretty tired from Bimini so came back around 2 and I had my first Guys burger and fries.  Not bad!  I also had my version of the burrito which is to eliminate the bread wrap which I hate and just have the pico, rice, beef, and lettuce in a bowl.  I love this at home and the worker was very accommodating.

 

We spent the afternoon cleaning our snorkeling equipment and bags to be dried for our disembarking on Monday.  We tried the balcony for a bit.  We did hear some announcements but overall pretty quiet.

 

Since we are running low on clothes (3 days on the Independence of the Seas, 3 days in Savannah, 4 days on Elation will do that!) we opted for the buffet for dinner.  My husband tried Bonsai Express pre dinner and was happy with his poke bowl and sushi.  It is formal night and we just do not have anything left other than workout clothes which of course I overpacked.  I will note I was impressed at the beautiful dresses being worn.  Much better than Celebrity and Royal.  We were definitely in the minority.  The buffet was empty at 7pm!  

 

One thing I don't like is the announcements in the cabin.  I was awakened at 4am to an Alpha Alpha Alpha on deck 6, cabin whatever.  I hope all was well but I ended up going to gym at 5am.  It is supposed to open at 6 however I can be a rebel at times!

[jean87510]

it's 10am and although a sea day, area around pool is surprisingly quiet!  Have to mention I also see a lot of waiters offering drinks throughout the cruise on the pool deck.  We did not get the Cheers package.  We just get a pepsi free if needed.  

 

Sorry picture is upside down!

Edited August 20, 2023 by jean87510

[jean87510]

Last night in the atrium 2 violinists were playing Kashmir by Led Zeppelin.  Absolutely incredible.  I listened to them while husband ate the poke bowl.  

[jean87510]

About to disembark in a couple of hours as we have an early flight back to Philadelphia.  We really enjoyed ourselves on this ship.  It's not the Allure with restaurants and activities.  Things we enjoyed - food, crew, fellow passengers, music around pool (good mix of southern rock and current hits), waiters asking you for drink orders while at pool, ease of off and on ports, room attendant, entertainment around pool.

 

Things that could have been better but we were ok with - microscopic balcony, bed kept sliding around and once off, no special line for suites at GS.  As I said, these are really trivial things but wanted to point out as a heads up.  If booking again, we would probably not bother with suite as the only thing you get is bottles of water and on early.  It was a little different than Royal's suite program.  I just wasn't used to Carnivals suite program.  It's not a huge deal at all as we still had a great time.

[canes20]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise. We may try a different line one day but we are happy now.

[jean87510]

1 hour ago, canes20 said:

Glad you enjoyed your cruise. We may try a different line one day but we are happy now.

I think now we just go for the ports.  I hadn't been to Freeport since 2013 and never to Bimini.  I actually didn't really like Bimini that much but loved Freeport.  But this is coming from a snorkeling perspective.  This was a little ship which didn't overwhelm either island.  I also liked the Vision on Royal and the Summit on Celebrity.  Both little ships but both went to great ports.

[canes20]

5 minutes ago, jean87510 said:

I think now we just go for the ports.  I hadn't been to Freeport since 2013 and never to Bimini.  I actually didn't really like Bimini that much but loved Freeport.  But this is coming from a snorkeling perspective.  This was a little ship which didn't overwhelm either island.  I also liked the Vision on Royal and the Summit on Celebrity.  Both little ships but both went to great ports.

We like Fantasy class and they are about to go the way of the dinosaur. Elation and Paradise will always have a place in our heart

[MadManOfBethesda]

On 8/19/2023 at 7:33 AM, jean87510 said:

Very impressed so far.  We booked a JS as we like the bigger rooms and price was good at the time.  I'll give a brief summary of some topics.

 

Embarkation - Our check in was 10.  We were taking a train from Savannah (husband's work conference) to Jacksonville.  Inexpensive and comfortable.  We used paper sheets with a bar code.  This was new to us as we like digital.  Then we waited in a suite room at the port.  We did have to wait a bit as there was some water damage on deck 5.  Once we did board at 1050, we went directly to our room to unpack our check in bags.  

 

This won't be of interest to many here, but would you mind going into a bit more detail about your train experience? We moved to Savannah from Miami last year and we're looking for alternative ways to get to embarkation ports. Last Thanksgiving we drove to Port Canaveral, but the parking situation was horrendous. There were 4 ships in port and they ran out of regular parking and eventually opened an employee surface lot for us and many others to use. Then in April we chose to fly to Tampa, but there were no direct flights from Savannah and we had to change planes in Atlanta. It would have been quicker to drive! Then, due to a bad experience last month when we again had to go through Atlanta for a (non-cruise) trip to Montreal (we ended up sleeping in the airport when our delayed flight was finally cancelled at 1:00am & rescheduled for 8:00am), we decided to drive the 600 miles to Baltimore to board our current cruise on Legend.

 

We love living in Savannah now but miss the easy access to nonstop flights to almost anywhere from Miami's international airport, not to mention the close proximity to the cruise ports. I'd be interested to learn more about your experience taking a train out of Savannah to nearby ports such as Jacksonville (and perhaps others on the East Coast).

[jean87510]

15 minutes ago, MadManOfBethesda said:

This won't be of interest to many here, but would you mind going into a bit more detail about your train experience? We moved to Savannah from Miami last year and we're looking for alternative ways to get to embarkation ports. Last Thanksgiving we drove to Port Canaveral, but the parking situation was horrendous. There were 4 ships in port and they ran out of regular parking and eventually opened an employee surface lot for us and many others to use. Then in April we chose to fly to Tampa, but there were no direct flights from Savannah and we had to change planes in Atlanta. It would have been quicker to drive! Then, due to a bad experience last month when we again had to go through Atlanta for a (non-cruise) trip to Montreal (we ended up sleeping in the airport when our delayed flight was finally cancelled at 1:00am & rescheduled for 8:00am), we decided to drive the 600 miles to Baltimore to board our current cruise on Legend.

 

We love living in Savannah now but miss the easy access to nonstop flights to almost anywhere from Miami's international airport, not to mention the close proximity to the cruise ports. I'd be interested to learn more about your experience taking a train out of Savannah to nearby ports such as Jacksonville (and perhaps others on the East Coast).

Sure. We booked online with Amtrak a few months ago when we were pricing flights, rental cars and trains.  The one we chose was the 638 am train from Savannah to Jacksonville.  It was about 2 hours.  They load the big suitcases and we brought our carryons on the train.  We were in coach.  The seats were comfortable.  There was good wifi.  When we got off we got a Lyft to the cruise port which was about $20.  We are actually doing a similar scenario in Baltimore in October where we are taking a train from Wilmington DE to Baltimore for a cruise.

[jean87510]

Disembarking was very easy with facial recognition.  We had to carry our bags from the 11th floor to the 8th and of course people were sitting on steps which happens on a lot of my cruises.  Woman had all her booze boxes lined up on the steps and gave an eye roll with a heavy sigh when my husband said excuse me.  She said no one's getting off and he replied, we are!  You just have to laugh sometimes!

[Stick93]

Those old clunkers are my favorite 

[DarthGrady]

On 8/19/2023 at 1:06 PM, ZoeyVictoria said:

We live just an hour from Tampa and would like to cruise on the Elation’s sister, the Paradise, for easy, short cruises. The last time we were on that ship, though, we did not enjoy it as much as we hoped because the ship was so loud. The theater and especially the lido deck seemed to have the volume way up compared to other ships. We missed the outdoor promenade deck and could not find a place to get away from the noise and relax. Did you find anywhere to sit outside and relax that was not noisy?

On the Fantasy class ships I find that the best outdoor place to get some quiet is either the Serenity area (Promenade deck aft) or the the sun deck around the water slides. I know that seems strange with all the kids, but there's no band or music back there. The deck that wraps around the funnel is also pretty out of the way, and mostly quiet. 

[wemjam]

We always loved the "ATION" ships!  We often preferred cruising on them as the service always seemed more personable to us then the bigger ships.  With a bunch of them gone, the Elation is the last of a dying breed.

 

 

[ZoeyVictoria]

18 minutes ago, DarthGrady said:

On the Fantasy class ships I find that the best outdoor place to get some quiet is either the Serenity area (Promenade deck aft) or the the sun deck around the water slides. I know that seems strange with all the kids, but there's no band or music back there. The deck that wraps around the funnel is also pretty out of the way, and mostly quiet. 

Thank you!  That would make a difference for us.  The one-hour drive to Tampa is so easy, and we can even stop at Busch Gardens for a couple of hours on the way home.