Carnival Elation

Just got off this piece of junk today from the first cruise after dry dock. This ship needs to go to the boneyard. Didn't get to board til about 11pm first day. Total nightmare, poor communication!! Ship was completely filthy. Cold showers. Had the stuff closed half the time. Last day our room flooded from the bathroom and we had to grab up all our stuff and get our before everything got soaked. We did get moved but had to split up into 2 rooms for 2. Awful!! Just an awful.

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Sorry you had such an awful time. The first few cruises out of dry dock are notorious for being full of glitches, crew learning the ropes, unfinished work, and operational bugs in general.

We're cruising Elation November 4, and I really hope they have all of the post dry dock bugs worked out before we board.

Sorry that the cruise was not up to what you expected. Since it just came out of dry dock, there are always things that need to be finished.

How did the remodeling look? New cabins, dining rooms, new bars, overall appearance of the new decor.

I know you said it was filthy but look beyond that knowing that those issues will be taken care of quickly.

We are sailing the Elation in a month and can't wait to see what it looks like.

Thanks!

First, I have to say I am very sorry to hear this and hear what you had to go through, it was totally uncalled for Carnival to allow passengers on a ship that isn't ready....surely, the first two sailings are known at times to have problems but not to this severity!

On another note, I avoid all ships that will be placed in dry dock within a years time.

OP, have you addressed these issues when you were onboard and did you call Carnival about them when you got back?

Yes. I did. For sure!!

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Write a letter to customer service also, they should get back to you.

What cabin were you in ?

Just got off this piece of junk today from the first cruise after dry dock. This ship needs to go to the boneyard. Didn't get to board til about 11pm first day. Total nightmare, poor communication!! Ship was completely filthy. Cold showers. Had the stuff closed half the time. Last day our room flooded from the bathroom and we had to grab up all our stuff and get our before everything got soaked. We did get moved but had to split up into 2 rooms for 2. Awful!! Just an awful.

Sounds like a disaster...it appears you knew right from the start (or within a very short time) that things were not going right and ship not ready for passengers with late boarding and dirty ship overall...did you think of invoking the vacation guarantee and stopping the disaster from the get go?

I was also on this sailing and can confirm that the ship wasn't ready. Yes, we were glad we could sail after Irma, and yes, the ship had some huge improvements, but the ship (and this sailing) had some problems. For context, we were on this same ship last december, so we have a basis for comparison:

THE GOOD:

• Guys Burgers, Blue Iguana Cantina and Bar, Waterworks park and Red Frog were all up and running throughout the cruise
  
• Our remodelled cabin was lovely, and we appreciated all of the power outlet options (four USB ports, two 110v outlets).
  
• Overall crew service in the dining rooms and cabins was exceptional
  
• The shops and main dining rooms were also remodelled (and looked brand new), which we weren't expecting and weren't listed in any press releases we saw.
  

THE NOT-SO-GOOD:

• Plumbing issues - although our cabin didn't flood (on Empress deck), one down the hall did. Lido buffet bathroom apparently overflowed more than once, as evidenced all of the water flooding the hallway. The ship's one and only pool was out of commission for an entire day because the pump didn't work (not great on a sailing with hundreds of kids). Even the juice / coffee machines were down for a bit.
  
• The tiled floor of the lido deck remained filthy throughout the cruise. I've been on 33 cruises, all with Carnival, and have never previously seen anything this bad.
  
• Soft serve ice cream was only available after we'd visited Nassau on the next-to-last day of the cruise. Kids definitely noticed. (We're guessing that someone didn't order the mix in time for the first day.)
  
• Dozens of contractors running throughout the ship to finish up the balconies, new sun deck, and miscellaneous whatnot.
  
• Piles of post-drydock debris here and there, including the serenity deck. (This got somewhat better as the cruise went on.)
  

Unrelated to the drydock but a reflection of Carnival's more recent service and attitude towards their customers: boarding began exceptionally late (7 hours later than usual), and luggage wasn't delivered to some until the next morning. Communication and instructions for the late boarding were untimely and poor. We basically lost one day of a five-day cruise and gained a day of frustration and anxiety; for this, Carnival only provided a credit of $50 per cabin and an additional $15 per person for lunch for the day we missed. We believe that we should be credited for the amount of a full day, minimum, and $80 doesn't come close to the cost of a day plus additional goodwill for the poor start to the cruise.

Here is a link to some post-drydock pics:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/BtmTtQZPfPNfUuXJ2

We will sail Carnival and this ship again, but we will never knowingly book a cruise so close after drydock again. We do wish that Carnival would place a larger emphasis on their brand and customer satisfaction than their bottom line.

How very disappointing, sorry you all had to have that experience, nobody who goes on a cruise deserves all that.

...

Here is a link to some post-drydock pics:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/BtmTtQZPfPNfUuXJ2

...

The pics are great, thank you! We're not going on the Elation for a while still, but I was looking forward to seeing post dry dock pics. Is the big open area on top at the front of the ship supposed to be something that's not done yet?

The pics are great, thank you! We're not going on the Elation for a while still, but I was looking forward to seeing post dry dock pics. Is the big open area on top at the front of the ship supposed to be something that's not done yet?

Yep, Not done yet. It's above the new cabin floor. I don't think I was supposed to be up there as it was roped off for most of the cruise, but one early morning I found a back entrance that wasn't roped off and grabbed the chance to check it out. It was blocked again later that day.

Yep, Not done yet. It's above the new cabin floor. I don't think I was supposed to be up there as it was roped off for most of the cruise, but one early morning I found a back entrance that wasn't roped off and grabbed the chance to check it out. It was blocked again later that day.

thank you for the pics.

I was there too. It was my hubs & kids first sailing. It was a bumpy ride to say the least. We made the most of it & did have fun. However, I was a bit disappointed for my family. They didn't realize just how much was wrong.

What I will say, despite the cluster of boarding, rude employees, Atrium constantly smelling of puke, fumes from God only knows what, they do want to cruise again. We felt a ton of vibration on E deck, aft.

Any potato dish we had was delicious. Never got ice cream Bc all but once the machine was down when I passed. Room service was good. Kevin was awesome as a cruise director. We did make Half Moon Cay & had perfect weather. So there's that.

I learned a lot about cruising w 2 kids.

I also will hopefully never be on a ship within a month of dry dock. Giving CCL another chance in Jan. If that sailing is a mess, we'll be trying another cruiseline.

Our fellow passengers could have chosen to all be miserable, but they didn't. They are what made it a great time. We took care of each other.

I would have taken advantage of Carnival vacation guarantee and had them me home at the first port.

That doesn't make much sense, don't you have to get off at the very first port, then you have to buy airline tickets and such and get home? I find that too costly, unless Carnival pays my flight home?

Carnival Vacation Guarantee

Notify them within 24 hours and they’ll get you home.

https://www.carnival.com/about-carnival/vacation-guarantee.aspx

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Thanks!! I guess the OP should of done that but maybe it took longer than a day to realize everything?

Now that I'm back from my trip (we went to Disney World for a couple of days after the cruise), I've had time to add more pictures of the Elation's first cruise after dry dock. They're basically more of the same...

https://photos.app.goo.gl/BtmTtQZPfPNfUuXJ2

Now that I'm back from my trip (we went to Disney World for a couple of days after the cruise), I've had time to add more pictures of the Elation's first cruise after dry dock. They're basically more of the same...

 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/BtmTtQZPfPNfUuXJ2

Loved the photos!

I do wish they would get the ships completely finished before they put them back into service after dry dock though. I'm really hoping they get all of the kinks worked out by November 4th when we leave, but even if there are still some hiccups I plan to have a great cruise! With any luck I can put everything together and maybe put up a review when I get back.