Review of ELATION. INTERIOR room. MR. Sanchos @ Coz!

[LiveLAUGHLove21]

HELLO ALL :)

 

I booked a rather last minute cruise (one month out) for me and my best friend. She's never been on a cruise and I had some extra money, just had a birthday and thought...LETS LIVE LIFE!

 

We left the Emerald Coast to head to NOLA at around 7:30. She doesn't have a passport and I must have asked her a dozen times about her documentation. We confirmed her birth certificate was from Vital Statistics and her marriage certificate was certified. I was very nervous about traveling with someone who didn't have a passport. This was a first for me. I had a "feeling" not bad, not good, just a "feeling", that something was going to be amiss with these documents! I showed up at her house and she's trying to get into her safe to get her docs...NOT GOOD SISTER!!!! There was some hysteria when we realized they were in her husbands truck, who was at work 30 minutes away, but within 15 minutes we came to found no they were actually in his briefcase which was in the kitchen. So with all proper documents we were on the road and headed to park at a friends house who lives in NOLA (I've previously used Fulton's and would use them again if needed).

 

I must say- cruising is exciting point blank. Everyone has been asking, "so how was your cruise?" I saw- great!!! it's really hard for it NOT TO be great if you ask me!!! BUT Cruising with someone who's never cruised before...it's almost like cruising for your first time again..but you know the tricks of the trade!!!

 

Parked the car, loaded everything into my friends car and off we went to the port! This was the first time I've ever been dropped off at the port. We just followed the signs to "cruise terminal parking" asked one of the nice attendants where to go once we go to them, and they point us in the right direction. Easy peasy!

 

We had NO wait to get on the ship. We went through each process with no headaches, all documentations were valid, we were ALMOST issued someone else's Sign and Sail cards- but we aren't Vicki and told her that ASAP- We got the right S&S cards and off to get our first picture..then our second (S&S pic).

 

My friend was a little scared about cruising. I told her over and over- you will really have no idea you're even on a ship (unless we're on Lido..or turning!!). On the last day we were lounging outside looking out at the water and I said "anything to be scared of?" she quickly responded "nope"!

 

Our rooms we ready. This was my first time staying in an interior. I've always done OV, but did a balcony for the first time on the Breeze in October. For those who say "once you go balcony, you never go back", I disagree. I can honestly say, unless it's only $100 bucks more to get an OV, my husband and I will be booking interiors from here on out. I had no issues with feeling "closed in" and enjoyed the savings that I received by booking an interior. Our incredible steward Lawrence was spot on the whole cruise- we tipped him extra because he was so darn sweet and accommodating to our few requests of an ice bucket and picture taking! Here is a picture of our room. This was on night two as we were leaving for lobster!

 

 

Anyways- back to DAY ONE! We go to Lido and get some Mongolian Walk and because french fries are my NUMBER ONE food, I grabbed some goodies from the grill area too. We sat down, enjoyed some delicious food and when it was time to get up, I told her "we just leave our stuff here and walk off" it was kinda funny to see her face, but she got used to it! I really wanted to catch the sail away under the bridge- but they started the muster drill late and by the time we got done w/ muster and grabbed a drink, we were long past the bridge. Not sure how that happened because seriously, the bridge was no where in site when we got to a top deck area! It was freezing (yes, I'm from the south, anything below 60° is freezing to me!) when we left NOLA, so we had sweaters and coats and were fighting the wind from the deck- but it was so beautiful, she really enjoyed watching as we sailed away, as did I. Then we busted out some dance moves at the Sailaway party :)

 

Not that any time dining was an option for us since I booked so late, but I would have picked assigned seating anyways. It's a great cruise experience. Every time we've had assigned seating, we've ALWAYS hit it off with the people we were seated with, and this time was no different. First night is always a

[ale4692]

Thanks so much for your review! My husband and I are cruising on the Elation on 4/28/14. I haven't seen many new Elation threads, so it was a nice surprise to find yours. Happy you both had a good time. :)

[The Phoenixx]

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I will be sailing on July 3rd. I created a roll call with no takers, but it is a few months away. I am excited anyway, and I am looking forward to the rest of your review.

[pawsue521]

:D Yes, THANK YOU! Not much on Elation on here and we're booked for March 8! Can't wait! Always appreciate people taking the time to provide the info for the rest of us!

[cask2393]

Thanks for the review! Almost no one posts about elation and I couldn't be more thrilled to be on her in December. Hope you guys had a great trip!

 

 

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[SmittyCo]

I only see part of the review ... but we love the Elation and Mr. Sanchos!

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[jjdshoe]

Look forward to reading more:)

[Always beach bound]

Can't wait to hear about your experience at Mr. Sancho's!

[Pyxie]

Looking forward to the rest of your review. I'm also sailing the Elation in August and don't see a lot of posts about her.

 

Question- I've never been on a cruise. What is the thing in your room picture that looks like a window with a curtain? It's an interior so no window, right?

[onewildrice]

Looking forward to the rest of your review. I'm also sailing the Elation in August and don't see a lot of posts about her.

 

Question- I've never been on a cruise. What is the thing in your room picture that looks like a window with a curtain? It's an interior so no window, right?

 

 

 

Yeah,it's just an illusion to make you feel like you have a window, lol! Nothing there but a wall.

[LiveLAUGHLove21]

yes! it is a fake window,but I think the illusion is what helped me out! LOL

 

-I also couldn't find anything about Elation which is why I'm posting this now!

 

-feel free to ask any questions that may come up, I'm happy to help!

 

and WOOPS- I left part of a "passage" I shouldn't have left that, we'll revisit that in just a few...

 

 

After gettin' our groove thang' back on, walked around checking things out. All of our walking this whole trip was done via the stairs. She didn't go into the elevator once and the only time I did was after returning from Mr. Sanchos...the stairs just didn't seem safe by myself HAHA!

 

I'm showing her all the different areas, galleria, show room, comedy area, the two different dining rooms, more of the lido & Tiffanys, the front and back of the ship, the putt-putt/goof golf area. I noticed this time the balls/putters were in the same area now, you no longer have to get it from an attendant. Showed her where all the pictures are displayed, and the casino (where I'll be visiting later dear friend!). We probably ordered another drink at some point too.

 

We got ready for dinners, and now yes, on to meeting our lovely table mates! So yes again, I feel like assigned seating is a great cruise experience, if you've never done it, you really should. I'm an outgoing person, but I'm very shy at first. So while the outward idea doesn't seem appealing to me really, all times I've done it resulted in great memories created! This time was no different. It was an all girl table (7 ladies) and only two guys the first two nights. They were great sports though and dealt with our woman chatter happily :) Dinner the first night is always a little quieter as you feel people out, but we all enjoyed WARM, delicious food. I had the flat iron steak, which I've previously had and enjoyed, and tonight was no different. But it was a trend, our food was always warm, maybe cause we had late seating?? Warm Chocolate Melting cake was enjoyed this evening :)

 

Our wait staff was awesome, our head waiter Luis was always smiling and goofing around. He and his assistance all really were excellent. Everyone at the table tipped them extra. My birthday was a good week before the cruise so I was surprised that they sang me happy birthday, brought me a piece of orange cake w/ a candle, and gave me a napkin bow for my head ;) We kept laughing, because seriously, every 10 minutes or so you could hear "happy birthday" coming from somewhere in the dining room. Then it was at our table! You know the staff must have been OVA the birthday song! LOL

 

After dinner we headed over to the Welcome Aboard Show. I thought it'd be nice for her to have a little "briefing" of what was in store for us! I really enjoyed Steve the cruise director. He was full of energy and had a cheerful personality. I wasn't as impressed w/ the assistance CD, but who cares, I was cruising, and having a fineeee timmmeee in deed!!!!! Anyways, towards the end of the show we got to meet the "piano guy" who plays in Dukes. This is a very exciting thing for me, because, last year my cousin and I went on the Elation and practically lived in that place. The guy playing was AMAZING- provided a great atmosphere & really played the crowed well. I've yet to find this again since that cruise. My husband and I tried the piano bar on the Breeze in Oct, No.Go. Young, cheesy guy, just wasn't our cup of tea- but others really loved him because it was always crowded, as it was this time on the Elation. So back to the English piano guy we're now getting to see at the Welcome Aboard Show. He came out and started talking about how he'd be in the Phantom of the Opera 5 (or something along those lines) in England and he was going to sing us a song from that. Well at this point, I needed some club music to get me going, it's like 11pm, I've been up since 6, had emotions all over the place (I've come to realize I get slightly anxious going on vacation, leaving my pooches (my furbabies!!) behind (they were with the hubbs), etc,- so anyways, I'm waxed by now!) and basically- this song was not what we wanted to hear. It was beautiful, really, he's very good at what he does. Because we are respectful people, we waited until his bit ended, then slipped out the back... We checked out the first couple of photos that they took of us- the one by the Elation Ship when you first get on and one they took at dinner. Not for us so we headed for the...Piano Bar :) LOL

 

I thought lets go check it out. I mean it's a must, we seriously had so much fun that one time, I will never be able to NOT check out the Piano bar! We mosey on in, find a seat (not at the fun piano unfortunately, but no biggie we wouldn't be staying long...) no sooner do we find a seat that he starts talking about how "If you are sitting in here then you must not have been at the welcome aboard show and so he went on about the Phantom of the Opera thing again, and then started singing the same song- well sorry Charlie, but I can't sit through this again, I'm working on steam here. So off we went. At this point I can't remember where we went- we probably went back to the room where I was sure I was going to pass right out.

 

Here is where I'll insert my INTERIOR ROOM REVIEW since I'm about to briefly talk about how I didn't sleep AT ALL This cruise ;) I even brought my portable fan (yes, I'm one of those people!! I can't help it!, I bought one from Walmart for our October cruise on the Breeze, this is the second time I've brought it and had no troubles, packed it in my suitcase this time). The best was comfortable, the sheet/blanket combo as always, was way HOT if you got yourself completely under there, but generally speaking- I should have slept like a damn baby!!!!!!!!! but I didn't! POO, oh well, didn't stop me from having a blast, just had me EXTREMELY exhausted by the time I got home Monday afternoon! So here it is- ROOM REVIEW, I was/am so pleasantly surprised by the interior room deal. I felt like we had SO MUCH space! The room was designed differently than I'm used to, and the closet areas were slightly separated which was GREAT when two women were trying to get ready. I was lucky to grab the bed by the vanity area, so I always had somewhere to sit the alarm clock (so I could check it every time I woke up and found that I was sleeping in 30 minute increments- I said screw it after the first night and didn't check the clock anymore) and leave a glass of water. There was still Old Tube TV's with a crazy volume issue. If you were on "7" volume it was too quiet, if you put it on "8" volume, you were scared you'd wake the neighbors! It was slightly annoying (again, who cares though?!). My friend was bummed when she woke up the morning after the Monkey Towel animal to find I had dismantled him trying to cover the speaker portion of the TV so as not awake her w/ volume "8"- no worries though our super awesome steward Lawrence re-created the Monkey, and sensing my hostility towards the speakers, hung him from a hook on our 'window' drape! Needless to say my friend LOVEDDDDD the towel animals every night, esp. when the "seal" was wearing her glasses and when Lawrence re-made the Monkey! I need to mention to her that Disney doesn't do towel animals... ;)

 

UpNext: ELATION REVIEW

[cruse2loose]

I am so enjoying your review of the Elation. I am within driving distance to New Orleans. I have never been on the Elation, but have seen some of the solo pricings and I may just up and go. I am retired. Looking forward to more. I always book interior, more money to spend on other things :)

[LiveLAUGHLove21]

This was my 4th cruise on Elation, and I'll most likely be back on her... here is my quick review of the ELATION:

 

So, yes, this was my 4th cruise on Elation. My very first cruise in 2010 was on the Elation. I love her. I've been on the Fascination also, and much prefer Elation.

 

I will saw, Bless her little heart, because she is slightly showing her wear. Our drawers refused to pull our properly and they were worn looking. ON our ceiling they painted over rust spots w/ what I'm assuming was the closet paint match they could get. BUT, as ALWAYS, it was clean :) People constantly cleaning everywhere. I'm really not one to complain, so the minor wear I saw, didn't bother me. I was just H A P P Y not to be at W O R K :) and also to be spending some QT with my bestie! So yes, she is showing her wear, but I believe she's going into dry dock soon?? So she should like spiffy in no time!

 

DAY 2:

We woke up did a mile on the track, yay us! It was a bit chilly still and it was cloudy, but oh so beautiful right in the middle of the Gulf. Went back changed and off to Sea Day Brunch! We enjoyed this on the Breeze and I knew we'd be going so I could order the caeser w/ jerk bacon- YUMO! My friend got it on the second sea day brunch but it was way over dressed (the second day brunch just sucked all together, service was almost non existent & I don't think she got what she ordered but ate it anyways so we didn't waist anymore time!). Right away they sat the pastry basket on our table, usually they just let you pick from the basket..wish they wouldn't have left those delicious treats on my table... LOL Additionally I ordered an omelet with some taters as the side. Coffee & water flowed quickly the whole time and we were sat next to some nice folks we enjoyed speaking with while we were there!

 

After breakfast..we needed a nap :) but we powered through and got ready to go find a spot on Lido for the fun! Hairy Chest Contest (which, by the way, they told us at the Welcome Aboard show they had done away with but due to popular demand, brought back!) & Mixologist contest. Yeah yeah yeah, so cheesy, but I totally had to make sure she got to see both. We ended up ordering the drink that won the contest- me no likey :( I didn't even drink it! I should have listened to what was in it! I had malibu rum-ek!

 

We walked around and around trying to find two loungers. There were most def. chair hogs in full force. IN fact where we did find seats, there were two chairs saved next to us for over an HOUR. Finally someone asked again "are these seats available?" and we said- they've been saved for over an hour. One of the people who was doing the saving got a lil 'tude and said "well just move the stuff then"...well ma'am, considering it belongs to someone you know- how about you move it?

 

The Hairy Chest contest was not what it used to be. I think it could do w/ the crowd though. She asked for 8 men, and only ended up with 5. But we all had fun with it anyways. Two of the men really hammed it up, and I appreciated that so my friend could see how crazy it was lol. We both enjoyed it immensely and got some sun while we were at it!

 

We enjoyed some hot tub time after this and started talking with a couple there. I don't know what started us on it, but we ended up finding out this lady had a HEART ATTACK at 23, she ate healthy, exercised, had no family history. She was probably in her mid 30's now and she'd had 3 stints put in. Blessed be- I took my fish oil pills that night ;) I love the Serenity area, wish we would have spent more time there. For anyone looking- you enter through the doors in the Comedy Area (can't remember the name sorry!). Really strange entrance, but we used the doors on the right.. I think there is another way to get in too from a deck above or something? I remember seeing stairs that went up as we walked back into the comedy club to leave.

 

So after we'd had enough sun and hot water (was pleasantly warm/hot!) we went back and changed. I decided I'd go try my hand at some roulette, one of my favs. The stars must have been aligned perfectly, or my friend really was my good luck charm, because I ended up winning $235 in the 40 minutes I played. I just kept hitting my numbers, one time I even doubled up on a number (oh, I'm such a risk taker!!) and won, played 14 since it was my SIL bday on the 14th and it was the 14th, and hit that. I looked at my friend and said "this does not normally happen" and she said "glad you said that because I was about to go get some money". I did go back on the last sea day, but there was NO good JU JU in my air and I walked away after losing $40. Do people know you should tip the dealer?? I tipped him $2 every time I won..and like I always say- when you GIVE, you GET BACK... :) Anyways, I saw many people winning and not tipping...meanies!

 

k- back to work I go- day TWO...to be continued

[ale4692]

Great Review! Looking forward to the rest. :)

[splash_in_the_water]

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I will be sailing on July 3rd. I created a roll call with no takers, but it is a few months away. I am excited anyway, and I am looking forward to the rest of your review.

 

Thanks for the review! Almost no one posts about elation and I couldn't be more thrilled to be on her in December. Hope you guys had a great trip!

 

 

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It's a great ship. It was our first cruise. It's smallish, compared to some of carnival's other larger ships but it makes up for it with a good layout and holding less passengers. We've been on a couple larger ships, but they sort of ended up feeling more crowded than larger, if that makes any sense.

 

Either way, the elation is a great ship, you'll have a great time!

[CI66774]

OP - actually Disney DOES do towel animals - every night.

[cask2393]

It's a great ship. It was our first cruise. It's smallish, compared to some of carnival's other larger ships but it makes up for it with a good layout and holding less passengers. We've been on a couple larger ships, but they sort of ended up feeling more crowded than larger, if that makes any sense.

 

 

 

Either way, the elation is a great ship, you'll have a great time!

 

 

This will be our first family cruise and I think it will be a great ship. Mom and her bf just got off their 4th one and we finally booked one for the 4 kids with mom lol.

 

Elation is supposed to be dry docked for 2 weeks in September I believe and is getting a few 2.0 upgrades I think/hope :)

 

 

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[ale4692]

This will be our first family cruise and I think it will be a great ship. Mom and her bf just got off their 4th one and we finally booked one for the 4 kids with mom lol.

 

Elation is supposed to be dry docked for 2 weeks in September I believe and is getting a few 2.0 upgrades I think/hope :)

 

 

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Cask2393, do you know if another ship will replace Elation while she is dry docked?

[cask2393]

Cask2393, do you know if another ship will replace Elation while she is dry docked?

 

Carnivals booking site shows that only Dream will be out of NOLA during the time that Elation is dry docked

[LiveLAUGHLove21]

Sorry for the hiatus & thank you for all the kind words.

 

Re: towels on Disney- woops! thanks for the correction, I've never been on one and I know better about assuming things! ;)

 

::::::Okay REVIEW continued:::::

 

We always ate lunch at Tiffanys or the Lido deck. & we did enjoy the Taste Bar twice. Both were delicious!!! I had two one night. I would say.. I don't miss the sushi since it wasn't that great to me anyways (although I always ate it happily lol), either way I'm H A P P Y!

 

We checked out photos- laughed at some, saved them for later review, and threw away others. We of course talked about why they don't just lower the costs a bit and they'd sell so much more- they are already printed! BUT I figure they are a major corporation, surely they are saving money somehow! I was really surprised at how easily our table mates took their own photo of the professional photo, in fact they said they did all of them! They'd just make them delete them off their cameras if they were caught. I enjoy the photo part really. We had fun taking them & had laughs while reviewing them- we did buy two at the end once we had decided which ones were the best!

 

Day 2 Evening::::

This was elegant night & Valentine's night! It was a delight. All women received red carnations. I was thinking about it later that night and it warmed my heart. Carnival made special arrangements to be sure all women had a red flower this evening...and I love flowers:D so I was again H A P P Y. We enjoyed another fun evening with our table mates & enjoyed lobster&shrimp. I'm not sure if it was this night or a previous night- one of the apps was a beet carpaccio, I ordered it. I like beets and I like "carpaccio"..but tonight in my mind I was reading "carpaccio" but thinking "gazpacho" so when my plate was placed in front of me I got confused LOL then giggled to myself when I realized what had happened. It was good though, nice and light. I'd get it again.

 

Tonight for dessert they had a heart shaped decadent chocolate cake. It was so cute we all ordered it HOWEVER half of us changed once we realized it was like..i dunno fudge?? it was not so much cake and lots of decadent chocolate!! My friend says, oh no, I don't even like chocolate, I just wanted to get a picture it's so pretty! So we were able to get her a picture with someone else and she got something else. I got the WCMC. Love it, love it so dearly and I miss it right this very moment!! Here is the heart shaped decadent chocolate "cake"!

[LiveLAUGHLove21]

After dinner it was time to see the comedian. We saw the women first, then we picked up a man in Coz. We got a glimpse of the lady comedian at the Welcome Aboard Show. She was okay. She was okay the night we went too. Most entertaining was how she spent a good five minutes calling out a young lady (early-mid twenties) sitting directly in the front row, who apparently was talking the entire show. I didn't hear her, but assume she must have been because the comedian pretty much ripped her a new one!!! Talking about how "do you know what the good thing about this room is?" ... "it has a lot of doors, you can go find one"... holy SMOKES lol. Orlando, the host of the comedy, asked before the show started to please take conversations outside so you don't disturb your neighbors. So then watching that play it was like yikes! haha I remember on our first cruise, my husband and I were in those same sits and I was terrified of being called out lol- it's just somn comedians do ya know, they tend to mess with the people closest to the stage.

 

Cozumel was the next day with us arriving at 9 and needing to be back on board by 3:30. Unfortunately this night was no different than the others with my constant tossing and turning. and tonight was probably amped up by the fact that I wanted to be sure we were up early enough to grab a little breakfast and be some of the first out. This was her first time out of the good ol' USA and I wanted her to get to see and experience as much as she could! All went exactly how I had hoped and we were off and set out on foot to do some shopping!!!!!!! I explained to her in advance that you don't take what they tell you it costs, you haggle with em', you go back and forth. She was having a hell of a time partaking in this...until AFTER Mr. Sanchos :p

 

We parked at the pier where when we got off, if you went LEFT you would be at the pier that has the "big" shopping area, i.e. escalator, two stories, etc. So we walked passed the taxi stands on our left where they have locations and prices posted for you to see- and passed the water fountain (paused for photo!) and then we crossed the street and started walking towards the left. This is where me and my husband came on our first cruise, because I remembered this area when I started walking- which was why I felt comfortable enough to walk down the road, which is what we did.

 

We stopped at some different vendors along the way. It can be overwhelming if you've never experienced something like that. Some constantly asking what it is you want, it's hard to think. I always enjoy dealing with the more relaxed ones that allow me to just check out what they have. We bought some ceramics & jewelry from these two guys and some shirts, a ring & a childs toy from this other lady- they were very welcoming and accommodating but not overly so. Anyways- again- I was H A P P Y. We shopped for..hmm close to an hour I'd say, just walking down the road. We spent some time any different booths, so it wasn't what I'd say was a lot of walking. We caught a cab at the very last place we shopped, it was perfect timing. It was like okay, I think I'm about done here, she's like I'm ready girl you ready? and then the guy was like do you need a taxi (I don't even think he heard us either!) we looked up and BOOM there was a bunch of taxi's lol. At this spot I'm about 97% sure that I saw the bigger shopping area. So now we're off to MR. SANCHOS... what a freakin cab ride-there were moments when I thought, you have got to be kidding me to, where's the o'SHI* bars, to what if we get in a wreck- what is their health care like will we be safe!?!, this guy was FLYINGGG the whole way, it didn't take us barely 10 minutes to get there. He was going a good 140km, which is what, 85mph or something?!?! (I just goolged that LOL) But my friend catches a glimpse of the 140 on the speedometer and grabs my leg and then realizes it's in KM, calms down lol. But like I said, he was flyingggg through those streets. I said a prayer...

 

We arrived at BEAUTIFUL Mr. Sanchos in rapid speed- and since the final outcome was safe I was H A P P Y because more time at this place! I had booked online on a site I had found on this site and paid $5 to book and $45 when we arrived. I could cancel at anytime with no penalties. I printed out my stuff and showed it to them, we got our wristbands and just like that it was time to have fun! I'd like to say here there are shops as soon as you walk into Mr. Sanchos. We had just finished shopping when we arrived so we walked right passed them- I think they had a couple more vendors on the right side opposed to the left (we shopped here later).

 

Upon paying we walked to the right (left side is what I believe to be the a la carte side). There were about 4-6 loungers or so on the right side and then you walk over the cool rocks that have water flowing between them and the pool is directly to the left of the walk way (so in front of the loungers). Walking passed the loungers to the right was a locker area and the bathrooms (no flushing zhe toilet papa!). If you went passed the loungers to the left you are BAMB right at the swim up pool. This area was awesomeee. We immediately sat on the swings at the bar and ordered our first of many drinks. We had been very good this cruise as far as drinking went, not too much, but Mr. Sanchos was all inclusive..and we were in Mexico, at the beach, with a SWIM UP bar. We got our drinks and a photo at the bar/swings taken and we were off to find a lounger at the beach!:D

[LiveLAUGHLove21]

[attach]303583[/attach]

 

We walked down the beach to the right and were at the very end when we found some loungers that seemed fitting. The pic above was taken from my seat...it was beautiful!!! we had great weather! We did not really go swimming. We laid out for about an hour and enjoyed watching the amateur jet skiers who were sinking jet skis left and right LOL. The lil mexican worker guy was like going to town on his wistle trying to call this one guy back so he could use his jet ski to go get the person that had flipped the jet ski. The guy pulls up and apparently, did not get off the jet ski fast enough, because the worker just jumped on behind and they both drove off to the rescue! LOL then at some point after the one got flipped up right, another had flipped over. It was something, all of us on the beach were getting quiet the show!

 

While lounging we reviewed the menu, I had decided I was going to order the coconut shrimp when I was ready to eat. We walked up to the buffet to see what it was all about and ended up each eating a taco and some chips. I had some ceviche it was all good! I made a chicken and she made a fish taco. I even had a small piece of pizza lol- I was really wanting some carbs! After checking this spot out we went back and laid out a little while longer before moving over to the pools, it was getting warm and we wanted to check it out. We really enjoyed this area. We got one of the tables that were in the water. I thought those were so cool! Little table and bar stools in the water there for ya ! Then you could just swim up to the bar where there were more bar stools (harder to get though!). The servers were so nice. We tipped them a buck per order. At one point he already had a margarita for me before I had even asked... isn't that so sweet of him?? LOL :rolleyes:

 

We met a couple at the pool and chatted with them for a while before we left. It was a great time all day long. So yes, like I was saying, we hadn't drank much on the cruise, but this place was all inclusive. The drinks were not weak. I tasted the alcohol in all my drinks. I drank mainly margaritas and long island's and kept them flowing the whole trip. I don't drink often as it is, the steady flow of drinks, paired with the fact that the water was leading me to believe I was not "feeling" any of this alcohol all made the drinking of the deliciousness that much easier! Needless to say when we got up to go and decided to shop at some of the little shops there, we realized just how much alcohol we had enjoyed LOL. The prices there were reasonable, we found some things slightly cheaper there than we did a the shops on the main road by the pier. We bought some stuff there including some jewelry, in fact he quickly made me matching earrings for a necklace I picked out. They were all so nice. I was H A P P Y!

 

Everything flowed nicely, we quickly grabbed a drink to go (BAD IDEA!!!!) and jumped right into a cab and off we went! OH the ride there or back is $16 we tipped a couple bucks each way too. I have no idea if we were driving as fast on the way back nor do I have any idea whatsoever how long it took us. We were cracking up and taking pictures the whole way back. We have some FANTASTICALLY funny photos from that car ride. :D Makes me smile big thinking about it! Once we got dropped off at the taxi area and were headed back to the boat we ran into some of our table mates (five ladies, we're two ladies, so now 7 drunk ladies in Cozumel...what's new though right? LOL). We headed back towards the boat flaying about. Grabbed a drink at 3 Amigos which is right outside the entrance back to the boat. Again- WHY? why did I think another drink was a good idear?! Well it wasn't...I drank some didn't like it because it was a margarita that tasted like it had OJ in it and I didn't think we were allowed to bring open containers back so I dumped mine (BUT table mate friend brought her drink on without a problem ) that was the best thing I could have done ;) back on board and disperse from our new friends and go to our rooms, drop off our stuff & change and then decide to head back out. I felt like, by the grace of God, we found our table mates again at the their cabins- we went lookin' but only knew they were on the floor below us and we found them with a quickness LOL- we hung out with them for a few and then headed to Lido to wander..or eat..or something!

 

Up here we ran into the couple we met at MR. Sanchos (which by the way, if you didn't get from my comments was AWESOME, I WILL be back to Mr. Sanchos, it was very worth the $50 for all the drinks and the food we ate and access to such a beautiful spot!) we hung with them for awhile- everyone munched on food but me..why didn't I eat? I LOVE FOOD..but I didn't and I should have LOL. We hung out up there about 30-40 minutes before heading back. Once we arrived at the room to crash, as quickly as I'd laid down, I got up. I knew what this meant...I drank too much and only time is going to sober me up- and I can't lay down. So now I got food. This is the one time I used the elevator to take me to Tiffanys! I had a Ruben made (delicious, I had two this cruise, both were great!) had some pizza & a coke. Having a coke is a "treat" (if you can call it that, soda is SO bad for you!!) and I like the carbonation to help settle my stomach so I drank one of those while I munched on the pizza and sandwich, and of course it was delish! After eating I went and laid down myself and set the alarm for dinner.

 

When it was time to wake up for dinner...I was not having any of that. My friend jumped in the shower and when she got out I said no way jose, I ain't having none of this dinner stuff and she went on without me. BUT I worried, if I don't leave we don't get our room made and our fun times & spa flyer thing put in and we were talking about doing a spa treatment and I really wanted to see that flyer!!! So I got up, took a hot shower, put on clothes- did not do my hair or makeup- put on my accessories and off I very slowly went to dinner. Everyone was surprised to see me as I was surprised myself to be there. I had a killleerrr headache. I used one of the;);) extra glasses at the table and had our wonderful waiters fill up to glasses for me and my friend did the same (she was feeling great at this point btw, the nap did her good!). I ordered the fruit dish from both sides of the menu. It was all I could eat. The longer I sat at dinner, the more difficult it became. The headache stayed but then nausea started to accompany it. I had to get outta there and went back to the cabin and laid down with my travel fan blowing on me and flipped through the channels. My friend came in later and we both were sleeping by 12 I'd say. Cozumel, like in the past, kicked my booty! I love that little island and I've had a great time all four times I've visited (twice we did the Bar Hop (it's great!), once I went to Money Bar and did a package with massage/snorkeling/food/drink & now Mr. Sanchos (there is massage here for extra $$).

 

Our FINAL day- Sea Day 4!

We woke up, did our mile around the track. Changed and went to the Sea Day brunch again. side note: On the first Sea Day brunch I used my free drink coupon at the bloody mary bar right outside of the brunch! Brunch was slightly "meh" all around, my food was good but I don't know that my friend got the omelet she ordered but the pastries were amazing again! yum!!!!!

 

We laid out again this day. I had commented that I'd never really seen sea life on any of my cruises and I wanted to. So I decided to just stare at the water and sure enough I got to see something!! Dolphins, a good 5-6 of them. It was so awesome. They looked so small with us so high up, a couple other people watched them with us and my friend was able to get a photo of them! I was so H A P P Y!!!!!! I got the tip to toe spa treatment, I got it on last cruise and really enjoyed it and I enjoyed it this time too.

 

Stopped at the casino again, lost, didn't stay long, and then we ran into our table mates who were going to play a game, so we joined them until it was time to get ready for dinner.

 

Our last dinner was excellent as were all our others, not the food so much this night, but the company. I tried the salmon which I never like but wanted to try anyways, but still no bueno, didn't like it. This night I had the amaretto cake which was "okay".

 

We watched the second comedy show and he was okay, better than the chick I thought. It was about midnight when that ended and we had already packed and were ready for self assist in the morning, so we came back to the room and went to bed!

 

Disembarkation was SO FAST, we left our room at around ...ehh maybe 8:15? and pretty much walked right off the boat, had a slight wait in one of the hall ways and off we went! Our friend picked us up about 30 minutes after we got off.

 

Of COURSE we had an excellent cruise!! It was excellent sailing on the Elation again and with a new cruise to boot!

 

I'll be cruising on the Elation again, will be booking an interior cabin again and will be going to Cozumel, again!

 

HAPPY CRUISING EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!:D

[cask2393]

Fantastic review!!! I have been looking at mr Sanchos and it sounds great. We haven't even thought of what to do on port days lol then again our cruise on Elation isn't until Christmas lol. Thanks again for the review :)

 

 

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[billys5764]

Great review.

 

If anyone wants to see pictures of Mr. Sanchos, check out my review at

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1869166

 

We were there on the Dream and had a great time.