Review Elation out of San Diego to Cabo

[Sangela]

Here's the rundown of our first cruise, we had fun and it went really smoothly for us.

 

This was our first cruise, so we didn't quite know what to expect. It was just my husband and I (we're both in our mid 40's AKA "Dinks"Dual Income/No Kids, lol), and we got an ocean view cabin on the Elation, Aug. 30th-Sept.3rd down to Cabo San Lucas.

This is REALLY long winded and probably a bit "scattered", but I hope it is helpful to anyone going on this cruise. We really appreciated the reviews and advice we got at CruiseCritics.com and would like to "give back" as a thank you. By the way, I did follow many of the suggestions and tips listed and they were spot on accurate and extremely helpful! Thank you, CruiseCritic. Com members!!! You helped make our first cruise a really fun experience!

Since we live in San Diego, we drove down and parked at the Aladdin parking garage, very easy and quick and we got a shuttle down to the cruise terminal within 5 minutes.

Embarkation was a breeze, we got there around 1 or so, and were on board within 20 minutes or so. Went straight to Lido Deck and got cheeseburgers and fries. Word of Warning here...Those "Welcome Aboard" drinks knock you on your butt! (we're lightweights when it comes to drinking and had one each, and then we shared one), the band was great and very loud, but it added to the "fun" atmosphere, and we were totally cool with it.

Muster drill wasn't bad and it was over pretty quickly, DH still had a pretty good buzz from the drinks and dropped the digital camera, seemed ok, but found out later it wasn't working properly so that was a major bummer, but what can you do. Thank goodness for Disposable cameras…?

The Elation is a very pretty ship, like others have said, she's showing her age a bit, but still very gracious and well maintained and the crew is constantly cleaning and polishing everything. We wandered around the ship and got our bearings then decided to go to our stateroom, we had gone there earlier to see it and it wasn't quite ready yet, but we got to meet our Room Steward, Apon and introduce ourselves to him. We liked the location on "U" deck, forward section, it was quiet, yet pretty close to the action. Apon was an excellent room steward! He was friendly and always cheerful, and kept our room immaculate and always stocked with ice, even kept our small cooler loaded up with ice. We were impressed with his attentiveness and caring attitude.

Our luggage was there by 4:00 and our room was spotlessly clean and ready for us. We unpacked and stuck our suitcases under the bed, and headed out for another snack. The buffet in Tiffany's is decent, as is the Lido Deck restaurant, yes, a bit "industrial" but for the most part it was good food and a decent variety.

I loved the cheese trays every afternoon at Tiffany's, the perfect snack for me, and they had some wonderful dessert selections, as well as fruits and salad fixings.

We went with late seating, 8:30 for dinner, as it was "casual" night, we just threw on slacks and headed up there. Our table mates were fun and we all got along great (whew! We were worried about sitting with a bunch of "stiffs"). Our headwaiter Jimmy was EXCELLENT. Can't say enough good things about him and his staff. Very attentive and responsive! The food was really good, IMO, but what made it even better was the presentation and service we got along with having fun and interesting table mates.

We opted to eat in the dining room all 4 nights and we're glad we did. Formal night was FUN. We don't dress up often, so we ended up buying a bunch of pictures. The dress on each night was varied, some people dressed up every night, but I did see some pretty casual wear, too. On formal night everyone looked great though, and I was happy to see that.

Ohh, I also enjoyed the Sushi Bar, too. That was a nice touch, IMO.

We did work out at the gym the first full day at sea. The equipment was newish and well maintained, and the views out the big windows were lovely.

Saturday was our Port Day in Cabo San Lucas. We came into the harbor on time and the tender boats were ready for us.

Cabo disembarkation was a bit chaotic at first, but I don't think anyone had to wait more than an hour to disembark, we were off the ship within ½ hour.

Be warned, Elation does stay on the same time zone and does not change to Mtn. Standard time, ships time remains PST. The crew was very emphatic about that and made sure everyone understood when they needed to be back on board.

We did not go thru Carnival for our excursion, and instead booked the ATV Candelaria tour thru Johann and Sandra's website (they're the agent). Our tour was thru Salto Tours, and they were extremely responsive when we had to change to a later time as we were not getting off the ship in time to make the original time of 8:50. They ended up giving us our own private tour at 11:30 (10:30 ships time) and got us back to the ship before our 3:30 deadline.

I was worried at first that we made a mistake going thru an independent booking, but it really worked out well and I would definitely recommend Johann and Sandra's Cabo San Lucas Tours based on our experience with them.

Embarkation back on the Elation went smoothly, not a huge line and we were back on the boat before 3:30. I just wish we had more time in Cabo, it would have been nice to do another tour and more wandering around, but we simply did not have the time. Many people also felt that way, it would have been nice to have a few more hours, but we had a great time there and the people were very nice and helpful. DH is also fluent in Spanish, which is always a good thing, too. ;) Next word of warning…when they say be ON the boat by 4, they mean it! Elation pulled out at 4:05. We were very glad to be on board!

Spa services seemed overpriced to me, but I ended up getting a seaweed wrap and massage on Sunday afternoon…Wow, those therapists know their stuff, I can honestly say it was THE best massage I have ever had. I was quite relaxed and happy when I walked out of there, despite the price…LOL!

The activities on board were varied and plentiful, we saw some shows after dinner and stayed up for the "R" rated comedians. Spin was "eh", which was too bad as the dancers were good, but we still enjoyed it for the most part, Russ, the comedian afterwards was a SCREAM, he was very funny and I laughed myself hoarse.

Loved the band "Kolorz" on the Lido deck every afternoon and enjoyed the piano man in Duke's Piano bar. The classical trio was excellent as well as "John" in the Drama Bar and the band in Romeo and Juliet's lounge was REALLY good, played a lot of 80's rock and dance music.

I really loved all the live music available on the ship!

We're not gamblers, but we played a few dollars just for the heck of it, and didn't play bingo either, so can't tell you much about that. Camp Carnival for the kiddies seemed to be a really cool experience from what we could see. We do not have kids, but we saw them doing activities and they all seemed to be enjoying themselves. For the most part, the kids were well behaved and there were not too many on this particular cruise. We found the other pax to be quite polite and considerate for the most part, though I was amazed at how "piggy" some people were regarding trash disposal (or rather lack thereof) and generally not picking up after themselves after eating at the buffet and leaving a disgusting mess at the table. The crew was constantly cleaning up after them, and I give major kudos to them for keeping everything as nice and neat as possible. Overall it was a GREAT time, and we are already talking about where we want to go on our next cruise! We couldn't have asked for a better first time cruise experience, for us, everything went smoothly and it exceeded our expectations by far! I think we're hooked….

[Boatdrill]

That's great that you had a good first-time experience. I hope you'll cruise again some day, and try different lines and ships.

 

Cruising is a wonderful way to travel and see many parts of the world !

[Payd]

Here's the rundown of our first cruise, we had fun and it went really smoothly for us.

 

This was our first cruise, so we didn't quite know what to expect. It was just my husband and I (we're both in our mid 40's AKA "Dinks"Dual Income/No Kids, lol), and we got an ocean view cabin on the Elation, Aug. 30th-Sept.3rd down to Cabo San Lucas.

This is REALLY long winded and probably a bit "scattered", but I hope it is helpful to anyone going on this cruise. We really appreciated the reviews and advice we got at CruiseCritics.com and would like to "give back" as a thank you. By the way, I did follow many of the suggestions and tips listed and they were spot on accurate and extremely helpful! Thank you, CruiseCritic. Com members!!! You helped make our first cruise a really fun experience!

Since we live in San Diego, we drove down and parked at the Aladdin parking garage, very easy and quick and we got a shuttle down to the cruise terminal within 5 minutes.

Embarkation was a breeze, we got there around 1 or so, and were on board within 20 minutes or so. Went straight to Lido Deck and got cheeseburgers and fries. Word of Warning here...Those "Welcome Aboard" drinks knock you on your butt! (we're lightweights when it comes to drinking and had one each, and then we shared one), the band was great and very loud, but it added to the "fun" atmosphere, and we were totally cool with it.

Muster drill wasn't bad and it was over pretty quickly, DH still had a pretty good buzz from the drinks and dropped the digital camera, seemed ok, but found out later it wasn't working properly so that was a major bummer, but what can you do. Thank goodness for Disposable cameras…?

The Elation is a very pretty ship, like others have said, she's showing her age a bit, but still very gracious and well maintained and the crew is constantly cleaning and polishing everything. We wandered around the ship and got our bearings then decided to go to our stateroom, we had gone there earlier to see it and it wasn't quite ready yet, but we got to meet our Room Steward, Apon and introduce ourselves to him. We liked the location on "U" deck, forward section, it was quiet, yet pretty close to the action. Apon was an excellent room steward! He was friendly and always cheerful, and kept our room immaculate and always stocked with ice, even kept our small cooler loaded up with ice. We were impressed with his attentiveness and caring attitude.

Our luggage was there by 4:00 and our room was spotlessly clean and ready for us. We unpacked and stuck our suitcases under the bed, and headed out for another snack. The buffet in Tiffany's is decent, as is the Lido Deck restaurant, yes, a bit "industrial" but for the most part it was good food and a decent variety.

I loved the cheese trays every afternoon at Tiffany's, the perfect snack for me, and they had some wonderful dessert selections, as well as fruits and salad fixings.

We went with late seating, 8:30 for dinner, as it was "casual" night, we just threw on slacks and headed up there. Our table mates were fun and we all got along great (whew! We were worried about sitting with a bunch of "stiffs"). Our headwaiter Jimmy was EXCELLENT. Can't say enough good things about him and his staff. Very attentive and responsive! The food was really good, IMO, but what made it even better was the presentation and service we got along with having fun and interesting table mates.

We opted to eat in the dining room all 4 nights and we're glad we did. Formal night was FUN. We don't dress up often, so we ended up buying a bunch of pictures. The dress on each night was varied, some people dressed up every night, but I did see some pretty casual wear, too. On formal night everyone looked great though, and I was happy to see that.

Ohh, I also enjoyed the Sushi Bar, too. That was a nice touch, IMO.

We did work out at the gym the first full day at sea. The equipment was newish and well maintained, and the views out the big windows were lovely.

Saturday was our Port Day in Cabo San Lucas. We came into the harbor on time and the tender boats were ready for us.

Cabo disembarkation was a bit chaotic at first, but I don't think anyone had to wait more than an hour to disembark, we were off the ship within ½ hour.

Be warned, Elation does stay on the same time zone and does not change to Mtn. Standard time, ships time remains PST. The crew was very emphatic about that and made sure everyone understood when they needed to be back on board.

We did not go thru Carnival for our excursion, and instead booked the ATV Candelaria tour thru Johann and Sandra's website (they're the agent). Our tour was thru Salto Tours, and they were extremely responsive when we had to change to a later time as we were not getting off the ship in time to make the original time of 8:50. They ended up giving us our own private tour at 11:30 (10:30 ships time) and got us back to the ship before our 3:30 deadline.

I was worried at first that we made a mistake going thru an independent booking, but it really worked out well and I would definitely recommend Johann and Sandra's Cabo San Lucas Tours based on our experience with them.

Embarkation back on the Elation went smoothly, not a huge line and we were back on the boat before 3:30. I just wish we had more time in Cabo, it would have been nice to do another tour and more wandering around, but we simply did not have the time. Many people also felt that way, it would have been nice to have a few more hours, but we had a great time there and the people were very nice and helpful. DH is also fluent in Spanish, which is always a good thing, too. ;) Next word of warning…when they say be ON the boat by 4, they mean it! Elation pulled out at 4:05. We were very glad to be on board!

Spa services seemed overpriced to me, but I ended up getting a seaweed wrap and massage on Sunday afternoon…Wow, those therapists know their stuff, I can honestly say it was THE best massage I have ever had. I was quite relaxed and happy when I walked out of there, despite the price…LOL!

The activities on board were varied and plentiful, we saw some shows after dinner and stayed up for the "R" rated comedians. Spin was "eh", which was too bad as the dancers were good, but we still enjoyed it for the most part, Russ, the comedian afterwards was a SCREAM, he was very funny and I laughed myself hoarse.

Loved the band "Kolorz" on the Lido deck every afternoon and enjoyed the piano man in Duke's Piano bar. The classical trio was excellent as well as "John" in the Drama Bar and the band in Romeo and Juliet's lounge was REALLY good, played a lot of 80's rock and dance music.

I really loved all the live music available on the ship!

We're not gamblers, but we played a few dollars just for the heck of it, and didn't play bingo either, so can't tell you much about that. Camp Carnival for the kiddies seemed to be a really cool experience from what we could see. We do not have kids, but we saw them doing activities and they all seemed to be enjoying themselves. For the most part, the kids were well behaved and there were not too many on this particular cruise. We found the other pax to be quite polite and considerate for the most part, though I was amazed at how "piggy" some people were regarding trash disposal (or rather lack thereof) and generally not picking up after themselves after eating at the buffet and leaving a disgusting mess at the table. The crew was constantly cleaning up after them, and I give major kudos to them for keeping everything as nice and neat as possible. Overall it was a GREAT time, and we are already talking about where we want to go on our next cruise! We couldn't have asked for a better first time cruise experience, for us, everything went smoothly and it exceeded our expectations by far! I think we're hooked….

 

Hooked...like the rest of us.

 

Glad you had so much fun on your first cruise!!

 

Payd:)

[KAW]

Thanks for the review! Going on the Elation on Saturday and am really looking forward to it. Did not have many reviews of this ship to read and I am glad to have a positive one.

[joe&mike]

we can relate to having a great time on the elation:) ...it was our 1st cruise ship in 2004- we booked it last minute and expected very little, but got a great price under $900 for the 2 of us in an ov room:D , 7 days:D , 3 ports:D . well we were shocked at how much we enjoyed it...we're about to take our 6th cruise (fantasy):D , but can't wait to sail on the elation again...maybe 2008.:cool:

[caribbean dreams]

Thanks for the great review, i'll be sailing on the Elation 5 day in January.

[NeptunesGoddess]

My Sister, Brother in Law and Niece were on this cruise with you. It was also their first cruise. It sounds like everything went off without a hitch. I am going to be calling her tomorrow to see what they thought of cruising. I have been trying to get them hooked for a few years now, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that they, like you, became cruisers for life. :)

 

Thank you for sharing you experience!

[eileen11]

Your review was great!

Eileen

[SAPMAN]

Great review. My wife and I will be on the 9 Oct cruise - just booked today. Our first "party cruise", but travel extensively.

 

Some questions (Probably elsewhere in the forum, I will look, but hard to find details sometimes):

 

1. How prompt is the parking shutte to the dock? For others than the OP, what other parking is good?

 

2. How long after the scheduled return docking time should one wait until booking a flight from San Diego airport (figure I will need 90 min. to check bags and security).? Do they disembark pax based on their departing flight times, by deck, random, or what. I would guess it would take 2 hr. to off load everyone and get through immigration before one could head to airport.

 

(I am unsure if I will drive to San D. or fly)

 

3. If you book a later dinner time, do you miss (or get in late and bad seats) the shows?

 

4. I have read lots of tips on this board, Thanks everyone.

 

I know there is a Roll Call board. I will add us to it.

[SDPadreFan]

Great review. My wife and I will be on the 9 Oct cruise - just booked today. Our first "party cruise", but travel extensively.

 

Some questions (Probably elsewhere in the forum, I will look, but hard to find details sometimes):

 

1. How prompt is the parking shutte to the dock? For others than the OP, what other parking is good?

 

2. How long after the scheduled return docking time should one wait until booking a flight from San Diego airport (figure I will need 90 min. to check bags and security).? Do they disembark pax based on their departing flight times, by deck, random, or what. I would guess it would take 2 hr. to off load everyone and get through immigration before one could head to airport.

 

(I am unsure if I will drive to San D. or fly)

 

3. If you book a later dinner time, do you miss (or get in late and bad seats) the shows?

 

4. I have read lots of tips on this board, Thanks everyone.

 

I know there is a Roll Call board. I will add us to it.

 

Welcome to a fellow 9 Oct, Elation cruiser. Hope you join our roll call.

 

As far as alternative parking goes, there is a lot directly across from the cruise ship terminal that I think charges $15 a day. It is walking distance close.

[TucsonDeb]

Thanks for this great review! I will be doing the same trip on Jan 17, and am really looking forward to it, especially now. Thanks again!