Carnival Elation December 11th-16th

Here is a small review of our cruise this past week on the Elation .Embarkation was ok ,but for the fact that we had to wait for customs to clear the ship ,no big deal .Overall the ship was no big deal even with the new additions of guys ,new bars etc ..The new cabins that they put up on the top of the ship that requires anyone who books a cabin up there beware because the elevator only goes up to deck 12 which means once you get off the elevator on deck 12 ,you will have to go up two flights of stairs .The Cruise director and his fun team were average at best ,the past guest party was rushed ,they did the usual movie ,intro of officers and all ,but kevin only stayed long enough to do that ,around 20 mins then took off to host an ugly sweater contest .Casino manager Ivan Stoianov on the Elation ,supervisors Alton ,Mark and pretty much the whole casino staff on the Elation need to take education classes on how to treat guests in the casino that they work in .There were a few dealers that were very outgoing and smiling ,but the rest looked like they had been sucking on a bag of lemons .Ivan and Alton had the personalities of a three bean salad and makes you really wonder how they got to be in the position that they are in.The beards as John Heald refers to , need to visit these casinos, un announced and really see for themselves how awful the casino on that ship and others are being run before they start losing a lot of business. I can say for certain I will not cruise on the Elation again for not only reasons mentioned above but for the overall experience ,and the cd kevin and his fun team were less than fun , very disappointed indeed.I will be giving the proper credit to the crew members who went above and beyond the scope of their job and yes these non-caring ppl who work in the casino's will also get the proper attention once I receive the survey from Carnival .The debarkation process in Jacksonville is the worst I have ever experienced .To call it a comedy of error's wouldn't do it justice .The people in charge need to rethink a lot of changes that has been made because it is ridiculous to say the least .Having guests go up to deck 8 -9 forward and wait until after 8 am before they release the elevator's that take over 2000 guests down to deck 3 to disembark is a bunch of crap .

Thanks for the feedback!

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Thanks for the review.

Appreciate the feedback, sorry the cruise was disappointing.

Thank you for sharing your experience and sorry the cruise didn't work out.

Keith

Thanks for your review. I have been on the Elation 11 times mostly when in sailed from Mobile, Al. Have not sailed on it recently. Jacksonville is one of my lease favorite embarkation ports, unfortunately it is the third closest port to my home.

We were on this sailing and found nothing to complain about except excessive announcements by the CD, Kevin. But it was the worst debarkation of my five or six at JAX. Would we sail her again? Certainly, we sail anyone who sails from JAX as it is just a two hour drive. EM

We were also on this sailing and had a great time. Can't really comment about the casino because other than the slot pull we attended we didn't spend any time there. I did have major issues with the Hub App but they did refund the $20 I prepaid for the social plan.

I agree, Kevin does make a lot of announcements but we just tuned him out - lol. I think him and his staff did an excellent job.

I know debarkation was a nightmare (I have heard stories from others on the cruise) but we were very lucky. Had FTTF and were taken downstairs around 9:20 and we were through customs and off the ship by 9:45. Glad we missed all the issues!

Jacksonville is an easy port for us and would sail the Elation again.

Kim

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Thank you for your review. I am so sorry that you had some bad experiences. I am sure you will have a lot of people who agree with you, and a lot that won't ;). I am sailing on the Elation again next month. I sailed on her pre-refurb in August 2017. I am looking forward to comparing. I totally agree with you about debarkation. It is the WORST of any port I have sailed. However, I thought embarkation was one of the best. And I actually thought Kevin was the best CD I have had on a ship. He was personable, and the music trivia parties in the Atrium were hilarious and fun. That's why I love these boards. It's a chance to read ALL opinions and reviews!

I am sailing on her for the first time January 22nd. I do have FTTF, but they did just change my boarding pass to an hour later. Any clue why?

I am sailing on her for the first time January 22nd. I do have FTTF, but they did just change my boarding pass to an hour later. Any clue why?

With FTTF, you show up whenever you want. Don't worry about the boarding time, you get priority to board right after diamond, platinum, and suite guests.

I am sailing on her for the first time January 22nd. I do have FTTF, but they did just change my boarding pass to an hour later. Any clue why?

But with FTTF, it doesn't make any difference unless they have changed. With FTTF, one can arrive at the terminal at any time.

We just got off the Elation today, so right after the OP. We also sailed it on Oct 16th, right after dry dock. Spent a lot of time in the casino, and did notice this time that there was not a lot of excitement, compared to our oct cruise. They just had a staff change and a lot of the crew were brand new starting Dec 2nd. Including the entertainment team and casino guys. Kevin is a hoot and is one of the best CDs in my opinion. Jaxport is always a nightmare, but with FTTF, we were in the Mikadoi lounge at 855am and off the boat and in our car at 932 am. We check our luggage and then grab a porter in the luggage area. You get to go around the lines and straight through customs.

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