Carnival Elation June 24 - 28 Review...Lots of Pics!

[etwright]

Thanks for the review and awesome pictures!!! Loved, loved, loved the Elation. It was our first cruise ever. Wife and I are also teachers. :D

[h_blond2]

Thanks for the review and awesome pictures!!! Loved, loved, loved the Elation. It was our first cruise ever. Wife and I are also teachers. :D

 

Glad you enjoyed it! I had a blast on this cruise...I even got to use my teacher look and voice on two disrespectful boys! Those two looked terrified every time I saw them from then on! LOL!

 

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[gapearl]

Very nice review! Looks like you two had fun! I'm taking my mom on our third cruise in September. :)

[h_blond2]

Thank you! We always have a great time! But I definitely should say that mom takes me on the cruise! I pay for my part of the cruise, but then my parents usually pity me and pay for the rest for me...such as excursions and things like that. I always try to pay dad back for my part of the S&S bill, but he will rarely take it from me.

 

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[gambee]

Great review, I love cruising with my mom. I think she makes the cruise a much better experience.

 

Thank you for doing this, I know how much effort goes into making these reviews.

[h_blond2]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed!

 

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[leeleent]

Best Review I've seen in a while!! Thanks for posting the Pictures too!! You did a great job and now I am really looking forward to going on the Elation in October!! :D

[leeleent]

I loved your review.Thank you for posting. We will be on the Elation in October. How was the dining room service?

 

 

When in October will ya'll be on the Elation? We will be Sailing out on Oct 19th.

[h_blond2]

Best Review I've seen in a while!! Thanks for posting the Pictures too!! You did a great job and now I am really looking forward to going on the Elation in October!! :D

 

You are welcome! Have a great cruise!

 

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[Rocknsoul]

I loved your review.Thank you for posting. We will be on the Elation in October. How was the dining room service?

 

We were on Elation last October & had the best dining room service of any of our cruises. Mehmet and his team were awesome. We had YTD & requested his section every time, only had to wait once.

 

I doubt he'd still be there when you cruise, but overall the passengers seemed happy with the dining room.

[h_blond2]

We were on Elation last October & had the best dining room service of any of our cruises. Mehmet and his team were awesome. We had YTD & requested his section every time, only had to wait once.

 

I doubt he'd still be there when you cruise, but overall the passengers seemed happy with the dining room.

 

Thank you for posting this! I'm not much help when it comes to dining room questions :o

 

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[WellDeserved]

I want to add to the list to thank you for the great review. We will be on the Elation in just under three weeks and are reading everything Elation related.

 

 

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Future Cruise:

Carnival Elation 8/05/2013 Western Caribbean

Past Cruises:

Carnival Fantasy 10/1/2007 Western Caribbean

Holiday (ship retired) 7/3/2006 Western Caribbean

[h_blond2]

I want to add to the list to thank you for the great review. We will be on the Elation in just under three weeks and are reading everything Elation related.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Cruise Critic App.

Future Cruise:

Carnival Elation 8/05/2013 Western Caribbean

Past Cruises:

Carnival Fantasy 10/1/2007 Western Caribbean

Holiday (ship retired) 7/3/2006 Western Caribbean

 

Let me know if you have any questions. I've been on the Elation four times now and I love it!

 

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[WellDeserved]

We sailed the Fantasy on the same itinerary in 2007. The Ecstasy was parked next to us at each port and everyone we talked to said

 

how she had a better decor than the Fantasy. I was wondering if anyone has an opinion how the Elation compares?

 

We visited Progreso just after Hurricane Dean hit Costa Maya which was our original port of call in 2007. At that time Progreso had not been a regular port. How have they improved?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Cruise Critic App.

Future Cruise:

Carnival Elation 8/05/2013 Western Caribbean

Past Cruises:

Carnival Fantasy 10/1/2007 Western Caribbean

Holiday (ship retired) 7/3/2006 Western Caribbean

[h_blond2]

We sailed the Fantasy on the same itinerary in 2007. The Ecstasy was parked next to us at each port and everyone we talked to said

 

how she had a better decor than the Fantasy. I was wondering if anyone has an opinion how the Elation compares?

 

We visited Progreso just after Hurricane Dean hit Costa Maya which was our original port of call in 2007. At that time Progreso had not been a regular port. How have they improved?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Cruise Critic App.

Future Cruise:

Carnival Elation 8/05/2013 Western Caribbean

Past Cruises:

Carnival Fantasy 10/1/2007 Western Caribbean

Holiday (ship retired) 7/3/2006 Western Caribbean

 

I like the decor on the Elation. Lots of dark colors.

 

When you get off the ship in Progreso you will walk through the duty free shop and into the touristy type shopping area. There is also a bar and a small swimming pool in this area. It is a nice pier, but we really don't spend a whole lot of time there.

 

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[Rocknsoul]

Thank you for posting this! I'm not much help when it comes to dining room questions :o

 

My pleasure. Thank you for such a great review of the Elation. I kept meaning to do one when we got back, but it was marching season & I just never could find the time to get it all together.

 

It was the 6th cruise for DH & me, but our kids' first. We went with a family we always vacation with, and somehow all four parents managed to keep it secret from our kids for 8 months! I'm sure, as a teacher, you can imagine how that was! The kids had an incredible time, of course, and the two youngest girls still miss Mehmet and talk about wanting to see him.

 

We sailed the Fantasy on the same itinerary in 2007. The Ecstasy was parked next to us at each port and everyone we talked to said how she had a better decor than the Fantasy. I was wondering if anyone has an opinion how the Elation compares?

 

We visited Progreso just after Hurricane Dean hit Costa Maya which was our original port of call in 2007. At that time Progreso had not been a regular port. How have they improved?

 

Isn't that funny? Our first Fantasy cruise was the same way. I was so disappointed after spending months researching Costa Maya...that first trip we went to Dzibilchaltún on a whim. The next, we took the double decker bus and sat on the beach, but that day it was too cold & windy to enjoy it much. On the Elation, we took the kids to the beach & we all had a fantastic time. The water isn't as pretty, but it's warm and very pleasant to swim in. The main thing I noticed was the frequency of the buses going back & forth down the pier.

 

As far as the decor of Elation vs Fantasy, it's night and day. We loved the Fantasy, but Elation is a prettier ship. It doesn't have the upgrades that Fantasy has, but we didn't really miss them--and you won't either if you were last on Fantasy in 2007:p. There is also the annoying box in the corner of the cabin on Elation.

Edited July 18, 2013 by Rocknsoul

[jbh1993]

When in October will ya'll be on the Elation? We will be Sailing out on Oct 19th.

 

We go out on the 5th of October. Looks like we will miss each other:(

[WellDeserved]

Isn't that funny? Our first Fantasy cruise was the same way. I was so disappointed after spending months researching Costa Maya...that first trip we went to Dzibilchaltún on a whim. The next, we took the double decker bus and sat on the beach, but that day it was too cold & windy to enjoy it much. On the Elation, we took the kids to the beach & we all had a fantastic time. The water isn't as pretty, but it's warm and very pleasant to swim in. The main thing I noticed was the frequency of the buses going back & forth down the pier.

 

As far as the decor of Elation vs Fantasy, it's night and day. We loved the Fantasy, but Elation is a prettier ship. It doesn't have the upgrades that Fantasy has, but we didn't really miss them--and you won't either if you were last on Fantasy in 2007:p. There is also the annoying box in the corner of the cabin on Elation.

 

My SIL has booked an excursion for the six of us to Dzibilchaltun and Merida. Last time we spent the day in Merida taking in the sights and shopping. We bought hats at the shops in town and when we got back to the Malecon the hawkers started trying to sells us and noticed we had "Real" hats. They left us alone after that. The church in Merida was beautiful. The museums were fascinating. At the time Progreso was still a sleepy little port town. I hope it has gotten better.

 

 

 

 

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Future Cruise:

Carnival Elation 8/05/2013 Western Caribbean

Past Cruises:

Carnival Fantasy 10/1/2007 Western Caribbean

Holiday (ship retired) 7/3/2006 Western Caribbean

[h_blond2]

My SIL has booked an excursion for the six of us to Dzibilchaltun and Merida. Last time we spent the day in Merida taking in the sights and shopping. We bought hats at the shops in town and when we got back to the Malecon the hawkers started trying to sells us and noticed we had "Real" hats. They left us alone after that. The church in Merida was beautiful. The museums were fascinating. At the time Progreso was still a sleepy little port town. I hope it has gotten better.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Cruise Critic App.

Future Cruise:

Carnival Elation 8/05/2013 Western Caribbean

Past Cruises:

Carnival Fantasy 10/1/2007 Western Caribbean

Holiday (ship retired) 7/3/2006 Western Caribbean

 

Progreso still is a sleepy little town and I kind of hope it stays that way. When I walk down the street I'm not constantly being yelled out to come in some store. It's definitely not Cozumel or Cancun....more like the real Mexico.

 

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[h_blond2]

Great review, I love cruising with my mom. I think she makes the cruise a much better experience.

 

Thank you for doing this, I know how much effort goes into making these reviews.

 

Thank you for your kind words! I always have a great time with Mom!

[2bthereagain]

Elation was the ship that started it all for me! It will always be my special, favorite ship!

 

Lisa

[h_blond2]

Elation was the ship that started it all for me! It will always be my special, favorite ship!

 

Lisa

 

I love the Elation! I hope it stays in NOLA for a long time!

 

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[sailawaybellaluna]

Thank you for posting your review in my Elation thread! I really enjoyed reading it!

 

We will be U18 - right next to where you were!

 

Loved your photos, especially the one of the beach chairs overlooking the ships from post #27. Can you tell me where this was taken?

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[h_blond2]

Thank you for posting your review in my Elation thread! I really enjoyed reading it!

 

We will be U18 - right next to where you were!

 

Loved your photos, especially the one of the beach chairs overlooking the ships from post #27. Can you tell me where this was taken?

 

That's awesome! The picture that you're talking about was taken at the Puerta Maya pier in Cozumel. As you walk off the pier, it will be to your left.