cuppettmd

Hey, Ya'll; The fourth day we pulled into Nassau. I got up fairly early and just wandered around the ship for a while. This morning I did omelets for breakfast and they were great. The guy that was making them, can't remember his name but he was from India, was very friendly and was telling me about his family back home. He always remembered me from the days before and knew what DW liked on her omelet. Amazing! After all the years of coming to Nassau, this was the first time that we got the "Front Row Parking" at the docks. Usually we are way out on the end where we have to walk a long way to get to the Festival Building.

While ashore we went to the Pirate Museum. We had never been there and I did a lot of research, just checkin' it out. People had lots to say about it, some liked it and some didn't. I guess if it's not exciting with rides and such, it's not well received. I liked it! It was nothing fancy but it was a nice little museum where I learned a lot about pirates! ARRRR!

Our Buds went back to the ship leaving DW and me to do some shopping and hit the Straw Market. The "Locals" will drive you crazy if you let them, but it's all part of Nassau! I had to go by the rum cake store to verify that I got a good deal on my cakes. One would have thought that I had gotten a free cruise and not just half priced rum cakes! We then returned to the ship.

We spent the rest of the afternoon just being lazy and doing "whatever" around the ship. When I stopped by the cabin to pick up some soda, I found that the toilet wouldn't work. I called the Guest Services and reported it. They said that someone would be there shortly to check it out. The plumber was there within ten minutes! It was hard to understand him but, I think he said he would take care of it. I headed back to the Lido to deliver our drinks and report to the clan what was going on. While leaving the cabin I saw several of my neighbors and they said that their's did not work either. I blamed it on the newly weds across the hall from us, but they said they had been to busy to mess up anything! LoL. I checked back in about 30 min. and the plumbing was fixed! Now That's Customer Service! Later that day, there was a letter slipped under my door saying that they wanted to see me at Guest Services at my earliest convenience. I told DW that apparently they wanted to give me a free cruise for reporting the problem! When I stopped by the desk, to my great disappointment, they just wanted to say how sorry they were and did everything get taken care of to my satisfaction. I assured them that all was good and that this was the best display of customer service that I had ever seen.

We went to supper at six and as usual sat in Senvil's station. The food was good! We then went to the best show of the cruise! It was a Comedian Juggler, (can't remember his name, but he was from Mexico) This guy was Very Talented and Funny! Afterwards it was more Karaoke, more ice-cream then to bed. More Later! Be Blessed! Mikey:D

Hey, Ya'll; Sorry for the delay, but I've been busy booking two more cruises!

Day three was Half Moon Cay. We got up fairly early and went down to breakfast. Our Bud's had gone up to the gym as they did every morning. They said that the Elation had gotten some new equipment and was looking good! We did the usual for breakfast, burrito from blue and an omelet for DW. The rest of us had "Breakfast at Tiffany's" Lido Buffet. It all was good as usual. I would like to thank Carnival for changing the instant eggs that they use on the buffet. The last two trips on the Fascination and the Elation the eggs were pretty Bad! I didn't like them and Mikey will eat anything! This time they were actually pretty good. Not as good as when they used to crack 'em in front of you, but not bad! We just took a break and watch the first "Horse Riders" do their beach ride. We went to the tender boats about 10:00 am. No line, no wait, beautiful ride! We had no excursions booked so we just wandered around. What a Beautiful place! The Buds went to the beach while DW and I checked out the few shops and the Chapel, which they finally finished. We hung out for a couple of hours and since the Elation has Guy's we decided to return to the ship for lunch. The folks that I talked to said the jerked chicken, on the island, was yummy as usual!

The rest of the day, "I just got Plain Sorry" took a nap, did some more trivia etc. DW and I went to the Musical Cafe for cheesecake and coffee. They gave us a piece of cheesecake that had to weigh two pounds! It was Great! We then went and got ready for dinner. We went at 6:00 and there was no waiting. We sat in Senvil's station again and him and his team took Great care of us! They redid the dining rooms during the dry dock and they really were beautiful.

After dinner I stopped in the shops to find something for my folks back at work. They had some rum cakes so I purchased a couple of "Six Packs". The price was $17.50 each. The sales man told me that this was the cheapest price that I would find Tortuga Rum Cakes for. (The next day, in Nassau, where they make them, this same sixpack was priced from $36 to $43. Way to go, Mikey!) We then went to the show, Heart of Soul. This was the least favorite show that we attended, it was just OK. The rest of our crew went to ice cream and I went to the Romeo & Juliet for some karaoke. They use a computerized machine now where they have a lot of music available, unlike the old cd's where they lost quite a few. This made everything go a whole lot smoother. After my rousin' version of "Sharp Dressed Man" I joined DW and the crew for a late night ice cream! More Later! Be Blessed! Mikey:D

Hey, Ya'll What are some parking options at Port Canaveral? Last year we used parking vouchers from a motel but I think they have stopped that program. Any suggestions:D would be appreciated! Thanks! Mikey

Hey, Ya'll; First a few things about our cabin that I had forgotten. They have installed new safes that take a pin number instead of the old slide cards. I really liked them, Thanks Carnival! I met our steward, Erfan, slipped him and his assistant a few bucks and he kept our Carnival cooler full of ice the whole trip. He also serviced our cabin twice a day. Kudoes to him and his team, they were great! The first night the seas were rough and you could definitely hear the waves booming on the hull of the ship. That was the only night that we heard that.

Day two. Fun Day at Sea/ Elegant Night:

Slept in. (eight o'clock is sleeping in to me) Met up with my Buds and went to breakfast. We didn't want to do "Sea Day Brunch" as I wanted a breakfast burrito from the Blue Iguana. It was Great! Don't forget to put the hash browns on them! I then went to get my DW an omelet. The service at both spots was fast and good. So far the crew of the Elation was on top of their game! Always smiling and helpful! We then just lazed around and everyone just did their own thing. I slipped off to do some trivia which was a lot of fun. I even won me my first "Elation Ship-on-a-Stick"! Lunch was Taco Salads from Blue. Love 'Em! The food on the Lido was pretty Good, from the Guy's to the Goat Cheese Pizza!

During the previous months I had joined a very active Facebook group, and we had a "Slot Pull" scheduled for that first sea day. We met up at the casino at 4:00 and there were almost fifty of us present! The cigarette smoke was just as thick as it always is. I was hoping that Carnival would have installed air scrubbers during dry dock but we got a Guy's so I guess it was a fair trade! Smoke doesn't bother me all that much because I've never been a smoker, but DW and SIL are "reformed smokers" so they can't stand it! Anyway, I digress, we all put $15 dollars in the pot and used the "Wheel of Fortune" machine. We each had five pulls and we came close to the "Big Money" but just missed it. When it was all over, we each got back $20! We decided to meet back on the last sea day and try it again. Thanks to the admins of the group for all of their hard work!

That evening was "Elegant Night" so we got all "Spiffy" for dinner. We decided that we wanted to see the PG comedy shows and eat later. The comedians were "Killer Beaz" and Tim Young. They were OK, but seemed like they were struggling to keep it clean! We then went to dinner, but had to wait for about twenty min. for a table for five. We waited in the Library with our beeper. I had my usual "Prime Rib", I always ask for the end cut as it's bigger 'n' doner, Used to be that I would also get the St. Louis ribs as I really love them, (I also used to get lobster) but I just can't handle it in my old age. Dinner was very good. Tonight we were seated in Senvil's station. This guy and his team were Great! They were very efficient and engaging. After the first night, we asked for them every night! We would see them at other places on the ship and they would always stop and talk to us. It's amazing how they can remember us from all of the folks they serve! After dinner we had a few "Purdy Pictures" taken and then went to see Divas, the show for the evening. We have seen Divas many times. On Elation it is a "Playlist" show and not a live band like on other ships. I think I like it better this way. The singers and dancers were very good and we enjoyed it. The show carried over into the Atrium with Kevin keeping the crowd going! By then it was 11:30 and time for ice cream! More Later! Be Blessed! Mikey:D

Hey, Ya'll. We sailed on the Elation Oct. 21st, 2017 (post dry-dock) and here are some thoughts:

We live about two hours West of Jax. After dropping off the pooch at the vets, we headed out. There was myself and my DW, my SIL, and my cruise buddy and his DW. There were five of us so the van was "loaded"! We had an 11:30 check in time and we arrived at the port at 11:20. I decided to drop off the luggage and the Ladies at the terminal and then went to park in the lot. The price has increased from $15 per day to $17 per day, (still better than most ports). It was 11:50 when we entered the terminal. The check-in was very smooth, even though there was a lot of people the lines kept moving. We received our Sail & Sign cards there and not in our mail box as some folks mentioned. We were onboard by 12:20.

As soon as we were aboard we went up to the Lido for the first of many Guy's Burgers! I wish I had one now! My first impression was that Carnival did a fantastic job at re-fitting the Elation! Everything was so clean the crew was on the job making it spotless. While waiting for our cabins to be ready, I wandered around checking things out. First thing I noticed was that the Deli didn't have the new menu although they did add hot dogs. Now the hotdogs were served on white-bread but since I was raised in the South, it was just like the Good-Ol-Days! They had the Water Works, but I didn't partake, though it was "Purdy"! I think that they were still working on the Grand Deck, since I never saw an opportunity to book one of the cabins up there.

At 1:30 our rooms were ready so we went to check them out. We had three "Port Hole Cabins" on Main deck. The cabins were very nice! No longer did they have the big storage cabinets that always seemed to be in the way. There was a large, (I would guess 32 in) flat screen in the corner and a minifridge. Carnival got wise and put vents in the cabinet so that the fridge could "breathe" and we didn't need to leave the door open to get it to cool! There is also a second electrical outlet and several USB charging plugs! Yah Carnival! The cabins also looked nice. We just took a break for a few minutes until it was time for the "Muster Drill". Our station was in the Mikado (main) Theater. It was "painless" and only took like thirty min. We didn't even have to go out on deck like before, which was Great! After that I decided to go to a kiosk and put my gift cards in my account. Not! The sucker wouldn't recognize what I was wanting to do and told me to try another card, which I did. After trying three different cards, I figured I had better try another machine. The line at customer service was around the block, so I went to the machine by the coffee shop. This one told me that there was a "Zero Balance" on my cards! All I could think of was that this stupid machine had jacked my money! Off I went to wait in that loooong line at CS. After waiting for what was actually not a long time, a very nice young lady, said that she would be happy to help me, and she did! Took just a minute and all was "Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy" again. The morale of the story is, don't use the kiosks on the first day! My luggage beat me to the cabin, so we got dressed for supper.

We have "Anytime Dining" and we like to go about 6:00 pm so that we can do the shows after supper. The dining room was not crowded, so we were seated immediately. The new "American" menu was actually pretty good. It did not bother me to have no table cloth and the service was great. I like the "Port of Call" selections. I had the swordfish and it was very good. After dinner I went and did some Karaoke. Daniella is an Awesome DJ and was a lot of fun. After that we went to the Welcome Aboard Show which was pretty good. Cruise Director Kevin is a "Hoot"! After that we hit the ice cream, (We carried crunched up Oreos) then we hit the bed! More Later! Be Blessed! Mikey:D

Hey, All; Is the Player's Club something that you sign up for or is it based on how much you spend in the casino? Cruising next week and wanted to have my ducks in a row. Thanks!

Hey, All; Has Carnival started the new deli menu yet? JH had said that it would be fleet wide this week. Thanks! Mikey:D

Another question, They have always used your card to "Ding" you on board. Do they not worry about who gets on the ship? How do this now? Thanks!:confused:

I tried the Crab Cake Sliders, on the Liberty, and thought they were pretty good, The only problem that I had with them is that there is a gratuity added to them. I always tip extra so my $8 sliders ended up costing $12. They were good enough for $8 but I don't think they were worth $12. I ll try the Shack again.

Thanks for all of the input so far! I've been checking for the opportunity to choose my check in time twice a day for almost two months. It was not listed last night but it was this morning. I don't think that I was beat out by many folks, I think that Carnival just didn't list any earlier times. This is my 12th cruise out of Jax and there has never been a problem boarding (we usually arrive about 11:00). Our scheduled sail time is 4:00 pm and we usually have muster about 3:00 pm. FTTF is still available, so unless they are having a Diamond Reunion or a Mass Wedding, I don't know what the problem is.:D

Hey, All; Carnival has just provided the chance to choose an arrival time for our Oct. cruise on the Elation. This is the first day they have posted the selections and the earliest time available is 1:00 pm. Is this normal? We have always boarded 11:00 - 11:30. Are they saving the early times for FTTF or priority boarders or is this just like the old e-mails to arrive latter to spread out the amount of people boarding? Carnival is the one to make this a "Big Deal" so you would think that they would just have it first come, first served. Thanks for any input. Mikey

Hey All; Can gift cards be applied to your Sail & Sign by using the kiosks, or do you have to wait in line at guest services? Thanks!

Pay Toilets!:)

Hey, All; This is my first time dealing with "staggered check in". Where on the Carnival web site will they post the selection times? I have completed my online check-in and it was not available then. We're under six months now and when I check it, I'm not sure that I'm looking in the right place. I'm checking where it says edit check in, is this the right place? Any insight would be Greatly Appreciated! Thanks, and Be Blessed! Mikey:)

We were on the Elation in Oct. and the service was Great as usual, twice a day. I always tip extra on the first day, tell the steward what I want such as ice for my cooler, leave the towel critters until the end etc. Then we went on the Liberty in Jan, This was completely different. I didn't see our steward until that evening. He introduced himself and that was it. I gave him a tip, he asked our names and nothing else. No mention of service times. We went out and about and when we returned to the room we found nothing had been done except the Fun Times was on the bed. I figured that since it was the first night that they were just busy. The next morning when we returned from breakfast, our room had been serviced and there was a towel animal on the bed. I thought this was to make up for forgetting me the night before. Kinda strange! There was also a light that was constantly going off an on, driving me crazy, that I tried calling maintenance four times about and could never get through too. I know that my steward had to see this as it did it constantly. There was no steward to be seen until later that evening when I saw him servicing some other cabins. I again asked him for ice for my cooler. He looked as if I had asked for his first born child, but said that he would take care of it. I also told him about the flashing light. That evening we returned to an un-serviced room and our Fun Times was in a mailbox by the door. No ice and our light still looked like a disco! It then dawned on me that this was the once a day service that I had read about on these threads.(and it only took me two days) The next morning the room was serviced, towel animal on bed, light repaired, and a small bucket of ice sitting beside my Carnival cooler. Well its a start! Then I realized that we had not received our only "Gold Perks", our pins and our water. I decided to go to customer service instead of waiting until later to round up the steward.After standing in line, they took good care of me. I have only had one other cruise where I had any problems with our steward. That was on the Inspiration but in fairness to him, I don't think that he understood English as he was new. I know this has been long, but I feel that my problems was due to a combination of the steward and Corporate. He should have asked when we wanted service or just defaulted to both instead of morning. And Carnival in that if their service staff is "gratuity driven" why not hire more staff?

Hey, our last two cruises were on these ships. We were on the Elation in Oct and the Liberty in Jan. This was our first time for both. While I really liked the Guy's and the Blue Iguana on the Liberty, there were a few things that I didn't like as much. Our cabin was only serviced once a day. There seemed to be a lot of congestion around the public areas. (Lido restaurants) and I'm still not sure about the American Table. The Elation had better shows even though the Liberty had a live band. The Liberty seemed to be more of a "party ship" if that matters to you. All of that being said, I just booked the Elation for Oct.. (after Drydock). We just like the Fantasy class! Be Blessed! Mikey

I tried the crab sliders last week on the Liberty. They were pretty good but I couldn't understand why they added the extra gratuity to them.:eek: It just seems excessive.

I have been on eleven Carnival cruises, but all were on Fantasy Class ships.I booked the Valor just to try something different. We were switched to the Liberty because of propulsion problems. This caused some concerns as we had aft cabins and I was worried about vibration and noise. There was no need to worry as the cabins were GREAT! More on the cabins later.

We live four hours away from Port Canaveral and have never sailed from there. I booked a motel room thru TripAdvisor for the day before our sail date. It was the Quality Inn Kennedy Space Center in Titusville. I booked it because it had parking vouchers for 40% off of the $20 per day charge at the port. I was informed by the desk clerk that Port Canaveral was no longer going to issue these, so I got there just in time. The motel was about twenty miles from the port and was very good for the price. The room was nice. It had a fridge, coffee maker, flat screen TV and was clean. They also had a free breakfast included, which was pretty good. I feel that I got a Great deal booking thru TA.

On to the port! Sunday the wind was howling! When we arrived and first saw the ship, I remember thinking how much larger it looked that the Fantasy class ones.It's only one hundred feet longer, but it sure looked much bigger. I dropped off my DW and SIL and went to park. Used my voucher, saved that money, and was soon it the terminal. Port Canaveral has got their Stuff Together! Very easy embarkation! We went straight to Lido for my first Guy's Burger. It was just as good as I'd heard! This was the first of many, and now will be a factor in determining future cruises.(how Pitiful is that?) The Liberty is a Beautiful ship! The color scheme is really gorgeous. The lay-out, not so much. When our cabins were ready, we went to check them out. We had 2470 and 2462, the odd shaped cabins at the back of the ship. Talk about some Great Cabins! Mine and DW's which was 2470 was twice the size of what we were used to. It had two windows, an interactive TV, a minifridge and three full closets. My Wife absolutely Loved This Room! The SIL had cabin 2462. This was an "L Shaped" cabin. It also had two windows and all the other amenities that our cabin had.

The first, I guess you would call it a disappointment, was our room steward. It wasn't really the steward himself, but more the cutbacks from the company. We weren't asked about the service times, they just serviced the room early in the day. No turn-down service. Our next day Fun-Times were left in our mailbox by the door. It was strange getting our towel critters in the morning! I had tipped him well the first night but he looked surprised when I asked for ice. I guess that since I had a fridge, I didn't get ice. I also had to go to customer service to get our pins. This was no big deal except that the lines, for the first two days, were ridiculous!

After hearing about how bad the food was on the Liberty and with the "American Table", I was a little apprehensive about dinner. I can truthfully say that I didn't have a single thing that was a disappointment! I tried lots of new things and they were all very Good! I really enjoyed the "Port Selections". We had any time dining and never had to wait to be seated. We even requested our same wait staff every night! Rizal, (Over Easy) and his team took Great Care of us the whole trip.

I would like to commend all of the crew of the Liberty for the Great Service and Great Attitude that we received on this trip! The Captain did a very good job of thinking about the passengers comfort and safety. First He changed the itinerary because of weather concerns. It was forecast to be raining and have 30 mph winds for Freeport, so we had a "Sea Day" the first day. You could tell that the Captain was dodging the bad weather to keep us comfortable! Thank You For That!

The Liberty has the Vegas style shows. I really enjoyed the first one, "Wonderful World" it had music from all around the world. The second one, "Just Rock" was good but I liked the first better. The theater is three levels and is beautiful as is all of the ship.

The debarkation was flawless! We were on the road by 9:00 am headed home!

My reflections on this cruise are; Port Canaveral is a great port to sail from. It's too bad that they are going to stop the parking voucher program as this was a good incentive to stay in an area motel. Embarkation and debarkation is the smoothest I've seen. The liberty is a Beautiful ship. It has a very friendly staff and crew and the food is very good. Guy's burgers and the Blue Iguana burritos are a BIG plus. Our cabins were the best I've seen with no vibration except for the docking thrusters. The lay-out of the ship is "A horse of a different color" I didn't particularly care for it! It seems like the passengers are all to concentrated in certain areas. I guess I'm just partial to the smaller ships. I love the location of our cabins as we could take the elevators straight up to the Lido. Over all we Loved the Liberty and we really enjoyed this cruise! Be Blessed! Mikey:)

Thanks So Much For The Input! I'm feeling much better about the Liberty! Ten days to go! Thanks!:D

Hey, Ya'll; Does Port Canaveral have valet parking available? We are sailing on the Liberty, Jan 22nd. Thanks!:)

The reason I ask is, I have mobility issues and Tampa had Valet parking which was Great! Just pulled up to the door, paid the parking and that was it. Very easy! Thanks for any info.

Love this ship one of our fav's (next to the Magic)! Just make sure you get the cabin you want, the location you want as these are the things you can typically control upfront. Then you start the cruise in a place of "ahead of the game" and have the advantage of being happy with your choices. From that point on its attitude and being flexible but if you start in a good place you will have a great cruise.

We have two of the "funny shaped cabins" on Main deck. They are the ones with two windows near the back of the ship. I'm hoping that there is not much vibration considering the propulsion problems Liberty has had of late. This will be our eleventh cruise and I'm really looking forward to it! Thanks so much for everyone's' comments! Feeling Better 'n' Better!:)

Thanks! You're making me feel Better already!:D

Hey, Ya'll; Does Port Canaveral have valet parking available? We are sailing on the Liberty, Jan 22nd. Thanks!:)

Hey, Ya'll; we are sailing on the Liberty the 22nd. All of the recent reviews have been so negative. Does anyone have a good word about her? Folks used to really like this ship. Help! I need encouragement! Thanks!:confused:

Thanks So Much! I was hoping for the rear MD as our cabin is in the rear and I have some mobility problems. O-Well, a man's got to eat!:)