Valentine's Day on the Elation - w/pics and Chef's Table

[chasinraynbowz]

Hi all. My name is Pam (56) and I cruised with my DH Greg (58) on the Carnival Elation. This was our 3rd time on her. Back in July I saw that we had a great rate of $100 per person, so I booked this as a Valentine’s Day cruise for us.

 

Fast forward to Tuesday, Feb 10. Our house sitter was already at our house, so we got on the road around 8 am. We stopped for gas and breakfast and then headed south. We made great time and pulled up in front of Harrah’s (comp’d room) before 3pm. We got out of our car and started getting our bags together when the valet guy asked us if we were going to self-park or valet park. I told him valet and he explained that there would be a resort fee (approx. $40) unless we were Diamond or Seven Star status. When I told him we were Diamond, he welcomed us immediately, took our name and helped us get our luggage from the car.

 

Once inside the lobby, we were welcomed (with open arms…lol) and shown to the front desk to get checked in. She told us they were putting us in a suite (sweet!!) on the 17th floor. We got our keys and took the elevator on up. Once to our room, we opened the door and WOW!!! what a nice surprise!! We had a 3 room corner suite with beautiful views of the river (and cruise port!!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[chasinraynbowz]

 

Once we were finished oohing and ahhhing about our suite, we headed out for the evening. Greg and I were married in New Orleans and love the city, but we were tired from our drive so we didn’t do much. We gambled a bit, walked around a bit and then had dinner at Manning’s. We headed back to our sweet suite, showered and got ready for the next day!

 

 

 

 

 

[mrsblarge]

Can't wait to hear more about the chefs table!

 

 

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[chasinraynbowz]

Can't wait to hear more about the chefs table!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

 

We had a great time and I got some great pictures!!!

[Keith1010]

Thank you for sharing these.

 

Keith

[chasinraynbowz]

Thursday, February 11

 

Around 5am, my wonderful hubby woke me up at and told me to look out the window. There she was! The Elation coming into port. I said yay and went back to bed… haha!! I woke up for good around 7am and looked out the window to see this -

 

 

 

I decided to order room service and once it arrived it was my turn to wake up my wonderful hubby!!!

 

 

 

Around 10am we headed downstairs to check out, put our luggage tags onto our suitcases and get our car from valet. Greg asked for quick directions and we were off. As we got close to the port, traffic became heavier. We were at the end of the street needing to turn left when finally a nice man let us in. I would say it took us about 20 minutes to get thru that congestion and to the parking area. They need a better way to handle parking. I can only imagine how bad it is when 2 ships are in port.

 

We paid to park ($72 for the 4 days) and headed up the ramp to drop off our luggage and were told to drive to the 4th floor to park. We found parking with no problem at all and once we got our carry on’s (with wine) out of the car, we headed down elevator to get checked in for our cruise. (By the way, I had my wine in my carry on and they never looked at it or checked it)

 

Before we were allowed to enter the building, we had to show what time our check in was. I arranged for us to check in between 10 and 1030, so we were allowed right in and headed upstairs. We were VIFP and we were able to go directly to an agent and get checked in. After getting our sign and sail cards, the agent told us where to go to sit for VIFP. The chair police woman told us where to sit (‘sit right next to that person and don’t skip a seat’). One poor man tried sitting across from his family and was immediately told to move back to where the rest of his party was sitting. Unfortunately, the man next to me insisted on sitting with his legs spread apart so he was taking up some of my space (I am not a small person, so it made it even more uncomfortable). Thank goodness it was my hubby sitting on the other side of me since I was halfway sitting in his lap!! At 1130 on the nose, they started boarding the VIP’s and then the VIFPs. We were on the ship within minutes and headed to our home for the next 4 days.

 

[chasinraynbowz]

Thank you for sharing these.

 

Keith

 

 

Your welcome! I will be posting more later this afternoon.

[diesteldorf]

Your welcome! I will be posting more later this afternoon.

 

Thanks for sharing. Please also post anything related to what you ate, food you shared etc.

 

I am trying to confirm whether the Elation currently has the new American menu or the old menu, complete with tablecloths etc.

 

I am also curious what type of food was available at the Chef's Table. I'll be doing this shortly and I know they have a couple of different menus.

 

Do you remember if the room service menus included some of the new added items that you could purchase for a fee?

 

You're suite looked awesome.

[gatorinark]

Going on Elation Feb. 25th. Looking forward to more of your review.

 

 

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[chasinraynbowz]

Thanks for sharing. Please also post anything related to what you ate, food you shared etc.

 

I am trying to confirm whether the Elation currently has the new American menu or the old menu, complete with tablecloths etc.

 

I am also curious what type of food was available at the Chef's Table. I'll be doing this shortly and I know they have a couple of different menus.

 

Do you remember if the room service menus included some of the new added items that you could purchase for a fee?

 

You're suite looked awesome.

 

Currently, they have the old menu complete with table cloths and cloth napkins.

 

Chef's table - I posted the actual menu on another post but will be posting it again here along with pictures of the food.

 

We did room service daily. Coffee and pastries still free in the morning. Some sandwiches free during the day and night. Some you had to pay for. For example the tuna sandwich was free, but the philly cheesestake cost a few $$$.

[diesteldorf]

Currently, they have the old menu complete with table cloths and cloth napkins.

 

Chef's table - I posted the actual menu on another post but will be posting it again here along with pictures of the food.

 

We did room service daily. Coffee and pastries still free in the morning. Some sandwiches free during the day and night. Some you had to pay for. For example the tuna sandwich was free, but the philly cheesestake cost a few $$$.

 

Thanks for answering my questions. I'll be anxious to try the cheesesteak, as I've heard it's pretty good and the price seems reasonable.

 

I'm looking forward to the chef's table, so I'll be anxious to see your review.

 

I don't know if the Elation MDR menus are similar to this:

 

https://www.zydecocruiser.net/CarnivalElation/menus/dinner.htm

 

It may seem petty, but I know they know longer serve lobster in the MDR. However, I really like the nights when they have prime rib, duck, and/or chateaubriand, so I am hoping the Chef's Table won't cause me to make the sacrifice.

[chasinraynbowz]

Thanks for answering my questions. I'll be anxious to try the cheesesteak, as I've heard it's pretty good and the price seems reasonable.

 

I'm looking forward to the chef's table, so I'll be anxious to see your review.

 

I don't know if the Elation MDR menus are similar to this:

 

https://www.zydecocruiser.net/CarnivalElation/menus/dinner.htm

 

It may seem petty, but I know they know longer serve lobster in the MDR. However, I really like the nights when they have prime rib, duck, and/or chateaubriand, so I am hoping the Chef's Table won't cause me to make the sacrifice.

 

It shouldn't. We were on the 4 day and the Chef's table was on 2 nights - Cozumel night (Saturday night) and again on Sunday night. Elegant night was Friday night.

[chasinraynbowz]

Here are some pictures of our cabin and some that were taken around the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[chasinraynbowz]

Here are some pictures of the casino. We spent some time in here. I actually did pretty good on slots and roulette! I will tell you more about that later in the review.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the picture above, you 88 Fortune slots. They were installing these during our cruise but they were not working.

[chasinraynbowz]

Here are a few of our favorites!

 

 

 

 

See the Howling Wolf machine on the left? That became my favorite machine!!!

 

We headed over to the buffet to get something to eat. We never had a problem finding seats or finding something to eat. We sat outside while we ate once finished, we headed back to our cabin to unpack. (Our bags beat us onto the ship and were waiting for us at our cabin when we boarded.)

 

After unpacking and muster, we watched sail away for a few minutes and then headed to the Drama bar to meet up with some folks from our roll call. We only met one other couple and chatted with them for a while before deciding we had better clean up for dinner. We had early dinner.

 

I never took pictures of our food or menus. I did, however, take pictures of our meal at the Chef's Table. Stay tuned for that.

[chasinraynbowz]

Here are some misc pictures from sail away

 

 

The black mark in the picture shows where our room was at Harrah's.

 

 

 

St Louis Cathedral. Greg and I were married on the steps across from the Cathedral in Jackson Square.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After dinner and some time in the casino, it was time to get some sleep. A full day at sea tomorrow!!

[chasinraynbowz]

Friday, February 12

 

I had room service scheduled to arrive between 730 and 8am, but I woke up before they knocked. I was startled because there was absolutely NO movement. I woke up Greg and asked him to look out the window because I thought we had docked back in New Orleans. We both looked out and saw…..

 

 

 

 

The water was smooth as glass.

 

Room service arrived right on time with our coffee, so as soon as we drank that and got up and dressed, we headed out to explore some more.

 

 

 

 

About this time we were getting hungry, so we headed to the dining room for brunch. I preorder my meals due to a peanut allergy, so I was looking forward to my steak and eggs this morning!! We were seated at a table with some brand new cruisers, some very seasoned cruisers and a Carnival employee who was sailing/working. Tough job, but someone has to do it... lol.

 

 

My steak and eggs. No sooner than our server placed this plate in front of me, he put another plate next to it. Seems Christian, our night waiter, ordered both for me... haha!!! Below are the Huevos Rancheros. VERY good, but a bit spicy for me that early.

 

[jbhcw]

Enjoying your review! Great pictures...we are thinking of another cruise on the Elation since she is coming to Jacksonville:)

 

Looking forward to your review of the Chef's Table.....we've done it on the Pride and the Dream..and might want to try it again on the Elation.

[chasinraynbowz]

Enjoying your review! Great pictures...we are thinking of another cruise on the Elation since she is coming to Jacksonville:)

 

Looking forward to your review of the Chef's Table.....we've done it on the Pride and the Dream..and might want to try it again on the Elation.

 

Thanks so much. I will get the Chef's table pictures posted today. We had a great time!

[momonthego17]

Thanks so much. I will get the Chef's table pictures posted today. We had a great time!

 

Great! DH and I are doing Chef's Table on Conquest in May. Did you have the newest menu? One with a beet blanket, or something like that?

Thanks!

[h_blond2]

Great review so far!

[chasinraynbowz]

Great! DH and I are doing Chef's Table on Conquest in May. Did you have the newest menu? One with a beet blanket, or something like that?

Thanks!

 

 

I sure do! I will post that also. The beet blanket was interesting... lol.

[chasinraynbowz]

Great review so far!

 

Thanks!!

[chasinraynbowz]

After breakfast, we headed to our cabin to change into our suits and then headed to the Serenity Deck. There were no loungers available in the sun, but plenty in the shade. Greg sat while I got into the hot tub.

 

I watched several people come and then leave because of no seats. One couple, who had been sitting on loungers in the shade, had kept an eye on two loungers in the sun that were being reserved with books. According to them, after an hour they went and got the attendant who removed the books so they could use the loungers. I got out of the hot tub and grabbed on of their loungers in the shade. Not 5 minutes later, another lounger in the sun became free, so I moved up there. That was the only time we had problems with seating.

 

Once I had enough sun (and was dry) we went back to the cabin to change and then headed to the casino. This is when I discovered my new favorite - Howling Wolf!! Oh my goodness was it fun!!! Greg played thru his money and wanted to take a nap, so he headed back to the cabin. I hit $1000 on the and didn't want to leave.... lol.... but I did. I took my $1000 and headed up to the cabin to show DH who said woo hoo and went back to sleep. It was still 2 hours before dinner (Elegant night), so I took $100 back to the casino with me. Believe it or not, after several more bonus rounds, I cashed out another $1000!!! I was HOT!!!! We are not ones to take formal pictures, so after dinner we changed and went back to the casino for a couple of hours (hubby was hot now) and then to the cabin for some sleep.

 

We had been told that the Chefs Table would be held on Cozumel night, so I fully expected something in our cabin when we returned to our cabin that evening. But there was nothing there. So I went to Guest Services and while I had been confirmed for the CT, they had to add another night due to so many people being signed up. They would be having dinner on Cozumel night and again on Valentine's night, the last night of the cruise. We would be receiving our confirmation for the Valentine's night CT the next day.

 

Back to the cabin to fill out the room service tag and get some sleep for our day in Cozumel!!

 

This was taken from the Serenity Deck this morning:

 

 

 

And this was taken before dinner:

 

 

 

As you can tell, the seas were still fairly calm. That was about to change!!!

Edited February 21, 2016 by chasinraynbowz

[momonthego17]

What kind of game is "Howling Wolf"? Slots, cards, dice? Sounds like you made out!