B4May

Embarkation at the Port of New Orleans went really smoothly with the new staggered check in times. We selected 10:30-11 am but were late getting to the port because we sat for 30 minutes in the car waiting for a train to move at Henderson Street. :/ Once we got parked ($90 for 5 days in the Carnival garage) and got into the actual port, things moved quickly and we were on the ship before noon. There was a line but there seemed to be plenty of agents working so we waited maybe 15 minutes tops. We were happy to see our rooms on the Verandah deck were already ready for us so we dropped our bags and went straight to the Lido for lunch. I really preferred getting there a little later - on our last cruise we were on ship by 11 but had to lug our carry on bags for about an hour, which was inconvenient.

We had two inside rooms on the Verandah deck, V24 & V28. This is my favorite deck and the only place we've ever cruised. The proximity to everything is awesome. Just one deck above the Lido, one deck below Camp Carnival, and on the same level as the children's pool. Being inside doesn't bother us at all because you are just steps from two outside decks. We did book rooms a little farther aft for this cruise, to make sure we were under the spa and not the gym. The cabins are worn but still in good shape and clean. Ours (V24) had a flat screen TV (sitting in the box that once held the tube TV) and my mom's (V28) still had the old tube TV. I was pleasantly surprised to see they had more channel options than when we last cruised three years ago. It was nice to have some cartoon channels when the little ones needed a few minutes break from the action.

We are just back from our cruise on the Elation with my husband, our two boys, ages 7 & 2 and my mom. Had a great time! Happy to answer any questions anyone might have.

I'll post in this thread with some details of the cruise, and specifically those that pertained to having kids onboard because I didn't find any other recent reviews that had this info. :)

I just got back yesterday and the shops closed in the middle of our cruise. They had "Pardon Our Dust" signs on both of them. The jewelry shop and liquor shop remained open.

We have the exact same situation for our cruise leaving on Monday. It's weird, because at the time I booked online, both cabins were confirmed for Your Time. I've emailed to find out if we can switch the Late Dining cabin to Your Time but I haven't heard back yet. If I don't, I'll try to get it straightened out on the ship and hope for the best. We have two small children with us so eating at 8:15pm isn't an option! (I know we can eat on the Lido too, but we much prefer the dining room's food.)

Thanks for your review! We're cruising in two weeks and have an interior on the Verandah deck also. My favorite location! Curious if you got VIP check in? We last cruised three years ago and were surprised with VIP apparently because of our cabin being on the Verandah deck even though it was an interior. May have just been a mistake too but we sure enjoyed the quick boarding, especially traveling with a small child. It might not make much difference now though with the staggered boarding times.

Also, I know you said you had all adults in your party, but did you notice any of the Dr. Suess stuff? Was there a show?

Thanks again!