Elation Review--Lots of pics!

[bluejay555]

The beach is right by the pier

 

We stopped and got a fresh coconut on our walk back to the bus. This little boy was cutting the tops off and putting a straw in so we could try the milk, then he was chopping up the coconut to take and eat. It was only $2. The milk was N.A.S.T.Y. It was hot. I think if it was chilled it would have been much better. But hey, we can all say we tried Mexican coconut milk now! I couldn't help thinking though....what about child labor laws?? He couldn't have been more than 10 and he was all alone!

 

 

 

When we got back to the bus station, it was packed with Mexican citizens waiting for buses. We had to wait for what seemed like forever just for our bus! Buses were coming and going and I guess it was a hub for Mexicans to travel. Our bus back across the pier was UN-air conditioned, by the way, but luckily all the windows were open so we had somewhat of a breeze.

 

As soon as we got back, we jumped in the pool. The kids chose the hot tub. Can you imagine getting in a hot tub when it's humid and 95 degrees out??? I just had to laugh and shake my head at that one.

 

 

After a long afternoon in the pool, we hit the gift shop. The girls had money from their other grandma burning a hole in their pockets. There was actually some cute stuff in the ship gift shop.

 

[bluejay555]

Oh, and I totally forgot to follow up on the turd in the water story :cool: My daughter saw it and got my mom, who verified that it was human waste, and they came running out of the water. I was up at a table ordering a beer because I was told we couldn't sit there unless we were ordering at least drinks. OK fine. So when he came back he tried to charge me $13!!! For a BEER! When I said no way, he said $10 of it was for the table. Yeah, no thanks buddy. But my daughter and mom were super wigged out about the turd, so we didn't stay much longer anyway. And I did not pay the $10.

 

We were the only ship there that day, so I think everyone was trying to squeeze as much money out of us as possible. We bought some woven bracelets from a guy and he told us he'd see us tomorrow in Cozumel. He said it was a 5 hour car ride, plus a 40 min boat ride, but he followed the cruise ships like that often. I just couldn't believe he would make enough for that to be worth his while! What a life.

[jamona2311]

My mom and I did this cruise in February and we also had a great time. Glad your trip was fun also. I think Elation and Ecstasy are great ships despite being smaller and older.

 

Im also taking my daughters 19 & 22 on their first cruise in January. I wish I could get them more excited because I know they are just going to love it and I am looking forward to see them having a great new kind of vacation! :D

 

Loving your review and a the cute pics of your daughters having fun:D

[bluejay555]

My mom and I did this cruise in February and we also had a great time. Glad your trip was fun also. I think Elation and Ecstasy are great ships despite being smaller and older.

 

Im also taking my daughters 19 & 22 on their first cruise in January. I wish I could get them more excited because I know they are just going to love it and I am looking forward to see them having a great new kind of vacation! :D

 

Loving your review and a the cute pics of your daughters having fun:D

 

Thanks! I agree that the smaller ships are great. Not as crowded and chaotic in my opinion. Your girls are going to LOVE cruising!!! :)

[bluejay555]

Calm seas the whole time. I took loads of Dramamine, anti-nausea, pepto, peppermint altoids, etc, because I had no idea if my kids would get seasick. My 6 yr old, Josie, gets carsick sometimes, so I didn't know. They both ended up feeling just fine, thank goodness!

 

 

Piano Bar! The guy was really talented. My kids take piano lessons, so they liked pretend playing on the fake keys around the bar.

 

 

[bluejay555]

Dinner time!

 

Chicken noodle soup. It was OK. The broth tasted like the Campbell's condensed soup to me, but Josie loved it.

 

 

navy bean soup was delicious!

 

more dancing!

 

lime sherbet! Sara and Josie tried all the sherbet flavors and they were all good....but how can you screw up sherbet? lol

 

the apple pie was amazing! I am so particular about apple pie, too. I like lots of flavor, lots of cinnamon, and this was a perfect piece of apple pie!

 

 

Not sure why I didn't have pictures of our entrees. Josie ordered a steak every single night, without fail, but the rest of us tried different things. Hmm....where did my pics go?

Edited August 2, 2013 by bluejay555

[bluejay555]

Towel animal for the night! Our room steward, Gerard, started leaving us 2 towel animals every night, but I guess I only took a pic of one.

 

 

This was something my kids really looked forward to. Every night after dinner, they'd want to race back to the room to see what Gerard left us. It's the little things about a cruise that mean so much :)

 

Tomorrow morning we wake up in Cozumel and it's FINALLY time for our trip to the gorgeous Nachi Cocom!!!! Woohooo!

Edited August 2, 2013 by bluejay555

[bluejay555]

Cozumel!!! We woke up once again to the vibration of the ship's motors as we were docking. It was a gorgeous day and the only other ship with us that day was the Elation's sister ship, the paradise.

 

 

We got off the ship early and grabbed a taxi to Nachi Cocom. It cost $16 and took about 10 min to get there. I didn't have a working seat belt, but everyone else did, so that was OK. I was a little nervous though! Josie is still pretty small, so I brought along an inflatable booster seat, called a Bubble Bum. I got it off Amazon.com in case any of you are in the same boat. It was really easy to travel with, didn't take up much space, and made me feel much better about the drive.

 

 

the first thing they do at Nachi Cocom is plop a sombrero on your head and snap your picture. I think we paid $12 for it. They also took a pic of just the girls and wanted us to buy 2 for $20. We declined. They also sell a picture frame.

 

 

When I booked this online, I had to pay a $29 deposit. No biggie. I took my credit card to pay the balance, which was $114 (not bad for 2 adults, 2 kids, all you can drink and eat!!!) But....my credit card was denied! My tip of the day: call your credit card company before cruising and tell them you'll be out of the country! I totally dropped the ball on that one. Oh well, we had enough cash on us, so we were allowed in. Whew! (FYI, my sail and sign card quit working as well, but guest services allowed me to call my credit card company for free and explain my card hadn't been stolen and they got it activated again)

 

OK, for those of you who haven't researched Nachi Cocom, it's a gorgeous resort that only allows up to 100 guests per day. Well with only 2 ships docked that day, I bet there weren't even 40 people there. It was AMAZING!

The water was beautiful, the sand was beautiful, the grounds were beautiful...The staff was very attentive and kept the drinks flowing.

 

 

You could rent all the water toys out there for a small fee, plus they also had snorkel equipment for rent.

[bluejay555]

A while back, I had read a review that said the sand sinks under your feet like quicksand. Well....it does. As you're entering the surf, your feet sink all the way to your ankles and if you're not careful, will trip you up bigtime. It was hard work getting in and out of the water! Once in though, it was just fine, so it was not a deal. My mom fell down right there and couldn't get back up and the waves kept knocking her around and we finally had to get her to let herself be washed back into the water so she could get her footing (but remember, it's all you can drink here and someone might have been a little tipsy after a couple margaritas ;))

 

 

The pool was PERFECT. It was not a saltwater pool, which was a nice change for the kids, and it was empty for most of the time! Those two people in the pic are my kids. Where is everyone else?? Not here!!!

 

 

 

[bluejay555]

Lunch time! We could pretty much order whatever we wanted and it was all included.

 

Not sure what these are. Taquitos maybe? We ordered tacos and didn't get them, so maybe they are a rolled up kind of taco?? Whatever they were, we liked them!

 

 

Chicken soft tacos (the soft shells were on a different plate). DELICIOUS!

 

 

nachos

 

quesadillas-they were great!

 

[Hecandbec]

We set sail on conquest 8/18/13 and we booked nachi Cocum for Cozumel as well! Glad to see it is money well spent.

[bluejay555]

We had to be back on the ship by 3:30, so we left Nachi Cocom about 2pm. Didn't want to take any chances! We were sad to leave. It's truly paradise there. I can't say enough good things about it! If I ever return to Cozumel (I BETTER!!!) I will definitely go back to Nachi Cocom.

 

 

Back to the pool again! Seriously, we were in the water more than we were out. Gotta love it!

 

 

I think this was the night of the past guest party. My camera battery went dead and was recharging during the party, so I have no pics, but it was pretty nice, and I was impressed that they let my family in with no questions. They barely even looked at my invitation, but welcomed all 4 of us in by giving us mardi gras beads and a cocktail (they were serving the Funship drink...it tasted like fruit punch with a splash of alcohol lol) and a fancy little bite of beef surrounded by mashed potato (??) and some fancy-schmancy pizza thing. It was in the Cole Porter Lounge. All the management staff was there, and introduced themselves, then they let the guests ask the captain questions. I thought the people were kind of rude. Someone asked him who was driving the ship and then someone else shouted, "he never drives it anyway!" and then he said he'd been a captain for 3 yrs, but had worked on a cruise ship for 30, and someone asked him why it took him 30 years to make Captain. He was light hearted though and said maybe he was a little slow. And laughed it off. Then they invited everyone to come up and line dance. My kids loved this!

 

They also talked about the Triumph, and how it's the safest ship in the fleet now because they put in new generators (?) or something so that it could never lose power like that again. They plan to do that to every ship. They also said the sunshine was going to New Orleans...now don't quote me on this....but I thought they said November through April. And the Breeze (or Dream...my mom thought they said Dream and I wasn't paying attention) is coming to New Orleans, too. They said N.O. is becoming a very popular port.

 

Oh, and I forgot to post a pic of my Gold status loot waiting for me in the cabin on the first day:

 

just a little disappointing that you have to get your drink at breakfast or lunch in the MDR. Kind of a pain in the ass if you ask me. I forgot about it and ended up never getting my drink! DAMN!!!

Edited August 2, 2013 by bluejay555

[bluejay555]

OK, I have to pause for a moment to reflect on the gorgeous bathrooms on the Elation lol Seriously, I can't recall such nice bathrooms on any other ship! They all had some sort of mural on the stalls:

 

 

And what cracked me up was the waterfalls going down to the toilets. I'd go into the bathroom and look at that and all of a sudden think I was gonna pee my pants if I didn't hurry! Haha!!!

 

 

that night at dinner was frog legs for an appetizer. Josie LOVES frog legs!

 

she ate one clean to the bone, then refused any more. I tried them and they were kind of nasty.

 

 

lobster bisque was just 'eh'

 

chateaubriand

[bluejay555]

mac and cheese with bacon and chicken breast. It was super cheesy. this was the best thing I had in the MDR, hands down. Sara, my 8 yr old, had it too, and agreed. It was excellent!!!

 

cappuccino pie--this was soooooo good!

 

 

more dancing! They always made it a point to invite Sara and Josie to go out and dance. They really worked hard to make it a good experience for the kids.

 

 

We got back to our room to find a monkey!

 

[bluejay555]

Our last day at sea, we found that the Lido deck had been invaded by towel animals! So cool!! They were left there until at least 1pm, maybe later.

 

 

We got a really late start because we let the girls sleep in after 2 busy days in port. I had wanted us to get to the towel folding class early, so we'd be sure to get a seat, but I think everyone slept in that day, and breakfast was packed. We ended up arriving at the towel folding class 5 min late....but we were pleasantly surprised to have our choice of seating. The girls were even invited to sit up on stage, where they could get one on one help. This class was so much fun!

 

 

 

Elephant! We were taught how to make an elephant and a dog.

 

Edited August 3, 2013 by bluejay555

[bluejay555]

Right after towel animal folding, was Towel Animal Theater. I snapped a picture of the set right before they said pictures/video was not allowed. Basically this was a 30 min puppet show, and the puppets were towel animals that came to life. Honestly, it was a big snoozer. I was bored out of my mind lol But hey, I'm 40 years old. They kids loved it. When the show was over, they shot streamers all over the audience.

 

 

[bluejay555]

Back to the pool!

 

 

Groove for St. Jude. Lots of participants! Hopefully they raised a lot of money for a great cause!

 

 

OK this picture cracks me up. We were swimming in the pool (big surprise) and they announced that the ice sculpting demonstration was about to begin on the lido deck. Well 25 min later, we finally drug ourselves out of the pool to see the sculpture, and this is what we found. I asked if they moved the sculpture inside somewhere, but apparently they just let it melt?? That was fast, but it was hot out there!

 

 

There was a chocolate fountain in Tiffany's that afternoon, with all kinds of cakes, marshmallows, fruit, even sugar cubes, to dip in it.

 

 

We did Tea Time again. The desserts were different this time, so they do change it up!

 

Edited August 3, 2013 by bluejay555

[bluejay555]

The kids wanted to drink out of a pineapple, so I got them a virgin daiquiri. That sucker was $10!!! Oh well, totally worth it....we weren't on vacation to save money:p

 

 

Not sure why my goofball is wearing a life jacket in the hot tub lol

 

 

Our last night on the ship. SAD!!!!!!!!

 

 

Crab cake. It was NASTY, but we were all trying to be adventurous and try new things.

 

 

Veal Parmesan. This was soooooo good!

 

[bluejay555]

Goodbye Carnival Elation! We loved every minute of you!!! We were on the Riviera Deck, and did not check our bags so we could do self assist. We were off the ship and in the car by 9:40. We were hoping it would have been faster, but Riviera Deck was the last to be "dismissed".

 

 

We loved everything about this cruise (well, we could have skipped Progreso, but it's all an experience!). I would highly recommend sailing on the Elation :D

 

Hope you enjoyed the review, thanks for looking!

[Philly Steve]

Thanks for the review and the pics! We spent a New Year's eve on Elation. :)

[bluejay555]

We set sail on conquest 8/18/13 and we booked nachi Cocum for Cozumel as well! Glad to see it is money well spent.

 

Yes, definitely money well spent! You're going to love it. We thought it was paradise :)

[cruse2loose]

We had to be back on the ship by 3:30, so we left Nachi Cocom about 2pm. Didn't want to take any chances! We were sad to leave. It's truly paradise there. I can't say enough good things about it! If I ever return to Cozumel (I BETTER!!!) I will definitely go back to Nachi Cocom.

 

 

Back to the pool again! Seriously, we were in the water more than we were out. Gotta love it!

 

 

I think this was the night of the past guest party. My camera battery went dead and was recharging during the party, so I have no pics, but it was pretty nice, and I was impressed that they let my family in with no questions. They barely even looked at my invitation, but welcomed all 4 of us in by giving us mardi gras beads and a cocktail (they were serving the Funship drink...it tasted like fruit punch with a splash of alcohol lol) and a fancy little bite of beef surrounded by mashed potato (??) and some fancy-schmancy pizza thing. It was in the Cole Porter Lounge. All the management staff was there, and introduced themselves, then they let the guests ask the captain questions. I thought the people were kind of rude. Someone asked him who was driving the ship and then someone else shouted, "he never drives it anyway!" and then he said he'd been a captain for 3 yrs, but had worked on a cruise ship for 30, and someone asked him why it took him 30 years to make Captain. He was light hearted though and said maybe he was a little slow. And laughed it off. Then they invited everyone to come up and line dance. My kids loved this!

 

They also talked about the Triumph, and how it's the safest ship in the fleet now because they put in new generators (?) or something so that it could never lose power like that again. They plan to do that to every ship. They also said the sunshine was going to New Orleans...now don't quote me on this....but I thought they said November through April. And the Breeze (or Dream...my mom thought they said Dream and I wasn't paying attention) is coming to New Orleans, too. They said N.O. is becoming a very popular port.

 

Oh, and I forgot to post a pic of my Gold status loot waiting for me in the cabin on the first day:

 

just a little disappointing that you have to get your drink at breakfast or lunch in the MDR. Kind of a pain in the ass if you ask me. I forgot about it and ended up never getting my drink! DAMN!!!

Myself & 2 friends are going on the Conquest 9-1-13. Two of us have been on cruise before so will have invite to the past guest party, so are you saying we can take our newbie friend with us, and they will let her in?? Thanks so much for your review.

[bluejay555]

Myself & 2 friends are going on the Conquest 9-1-13. Two of us have been on cruise before so will have invite to the past guest party, so are you saying we can take our newbie friend with us, and they will let her in?? Thanks so much for your review.

 

Based on my experience, your friend should have no problem tagging along! I took 3 uninvited guests with no questions asked :) Have fun on the Conquest, we were on it last summer!

[Coolcruise02]

Great review and pictures! Your daughters are so cute and I luv their age appropriate outfits! They look adorable. :)

[bluejay555]

Great review and pictures! Your daughters are so cute and I luv their age appropriate outfits! They look adorable. :)

 

Thanks so much!