bluejay555

Nice! Happy birthday, enjoy your cruise!!!

Love your review so far!!!

Yes, but at 11, they should be thinking all their drinks are free!

No, they need to be aware of how much those drinks are costing mom and dad! :) Makes them appreciative. I bought my kids soda cards, then they wanted smoothies all the time! I bought some here and there of course, but they definitely understood that smoothies were not "free"!

Loved your review!

I wonder how often they change the movies they play on the big screen?

Great review! Looks like a fun time!!!

Thanks James!! The cove balcony looks so close to the water. I can't wait! Is that a hammock in the last pic? where is that found on the ship?

I am leaving out on the Dream on Saturday on the 9-day repositioning cruise. I will be doing a photo review when I return so be sure to check back for it

Very cool! I can't wait!! :D

Awesome, thanks!

Pics of drinks, food, swimming, playing at the waterworks, deck activities, ANYTHING!!! oh, and pics of a cove balcony/cabin would be great too :)

We have cruise fever at this house and can't soak up enough info about this ship!!!

Awesome! So excited the Dream is coming to NOLA!!!

So excited to be on the 6/8 sailing!!!

When I first read about this deal, I freaked out because I just booked a cruise with 2 adults, 2 kids!!! Aagh!!!! I price checked to see how much money I had screwed myself out of by missing out on this promo.... but was pleasantly surprised that I only would have saved a grand total of $38. Really??? yes, I know Carnival isn't 'lying' but it sure is a misleading promo. I love Carnival, but it makes me mad that they're saying "kids sail free". Kids sail free if they overcharge the adults!!!

MDR fave was the mac and cheese with bacon and chicken, followed by the pork steak. Mongolian wok was awesome--loved the sezchuan sauce the best. And for breakfast, nothing beat the good ol omelet bar.

You mentioned how you want to try new things on this cruise... that's what we did, but we'd order it as extra food. We would get our main entrées, then order an additional entrée to share. It was always something none of us had ever tried before. It was fun, especially for the kids :)

Thank you so much bluejay555 for sharing your review on here!! I just got done reading and looking at your pictures, your girls are very lovely!

We have Elation booked in APril of next year:D so plenty of time to plan. ON this trip I will be taking my mother and sister both of thems first time to cruise any ship as well as my bestfriend who has cruise twice before! We plan on going on an excusion is Progresso to one of the mayan ruins sites. And im loving your photos of Nachi Cocom for Cozumel!! Did you book that with carnival or elsewhere? Thank you for any help!

Thank you! :) I booked nachi directly from their website.

Loved the Elation!!! My kids are younger, but here's my review from last summer:)

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1890337

Here's my review from our Elation cruise last summer. We loved it!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1890337

Yes, you just have to ask :)

My sail and sign card was over $200+ thanks to the tips, and having to get on the slow internet in the cafe, due to some personal business I had to take care of for a couple of nights. They comped us a couple of nights due to our room smelling like vomit for a short period of time, but after the dust settled, it was around $200.

Ew! That sounds unpleasant :eek: Yeah, I forgot about internet cafe...that racked up some charges on the card. When we have our girls' cruise, I keep in touch with the husband through email.

Death on cruise ships is a Common occurance. They just don't have an obituary column in the fun times.

Wait. Deaths are a common occurrence on cruise ships?? I know it's bound to happen occasionally, because death happens everywhere, but just how "common" is it? yikes.

How many of you have been on a cruise where someone passed away? I don't think I ever have... and rumors travel fast, so I think I would have known. We always get wind of accidents/emergencies somehow.

I just booked a cove balcony on the Dream (Magic has coves too) after reading wonderful things about them. Look up cove balconies and see if it's something you would like! You are closer to the water and they are more private :)

When my husband goes, we spend over 1,000 on drinks and excursions, etc. Last summer I cruised with my mom and my two girls, and it was more like $800 for me and my two girls...I get them soda cards plus buy them virgin daiquiris, let them buy souvenirs in the gift shop, plus I drink my fair share of cocktails ;)

How do you do this? Is this through Carnival?

Yes, it's an excursion through carnival. http://www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/417084

The beach is nice, but overcrowded. I wish we would have ventured out a bit. I saw pictures of a place called Little French Key and it looked amazing. Look it up! :)

Anyone know exactly when it will debut on the dream? I see the Dream is one due to get it in 2014. I think it sounds neat and hope my family can take advantage!

Wait. What??? what do you mean, "getting seussed"? That sounds so neat! I hope the Dream gets seussed before June!

This is the only port I have ever cruised from. Love going down the Mississippi! Just thinking back though, 3 times out of 5 we had delays/problems. Once, the river was at flood stage and the ship couldn't fit under the power lines and we had to get shuttled to and depart from Gulfport, MS. I heard that the power lines were changed somehow and that can't happen anymore. OK great. Another time, the river was closed due to a tropical storm being in the gulf and we couldn't leave until the next morning. Yet another time, we woke up on our first sea day still on the river. We were told the pilot didn't show up on time so we had to stop and wait. 3 out of 5 times there have been troubles! And let me tell you, I'm not complaining, because spending that first sea day watching the ship leave the Mississippi and enter the gulf is spectacular. Just a really cool experience! (this is supposed to happen in the wee hours while we're all sleeping). So my question is... how often does this happen? How many of you have had some sort of delay or problem leaving NO? I imagine it's not an easy port to navigate, with 8 hours of a twisting and turning narrow river!