Elation - OK, but not elated...

[ejincali]

Traveled with a group of 7 (should have been 8, had one illness).  We had to do some re-arranging of rooms, all this was done in advance on the phone with Carnival, got to the port--disaster.  Took several people and a bunch of time to do what should have already been done.  Yes, we all got on, but definitely not a good start.  Didn't like Port Canaveral.  Long drive from the airport, not much going on.  Prefer Miami or Ft. Lauderdale.

 

Bought Cheers, needed a drink after that ordeal, lobby bartenders were pretty grumpy.  Headed to the pool area for happier times, crowded, but at least the staff had their happy faces on.  

 

Our room E193 ocean view was cramped, but kept clean.  We were right under a restaurant.  Big noises in the early AM.  Why??? This restaurant only served breakfast on the last day.

 

MDR dinners were a highlight of the cruise for us.  Good service and food.  All 7 of us always got seated (anytime dining) at a round table within 10 minutes.    Buffet food was surprisingly good, lines amazingly long.  Sometimes they shut a line down with people still in it!  At least there's a bar in the buffet area--staffed by a great bartender. 

 

Comedy shows were the entertainment highlight of the cruise for us.  Both comedians were great.  Music on the ship is below average.  NCL hires better musicians.  

 

On sea day the pool was PACKED!  As in you can't even move in the pool.  Chairs near the pool all claimed by 10--but plenty of chairs one flight up.   Stayed on the ship on Nassau day, enjoyed the lack of crowds.  Freeport,  traveled by broken down taxi for $7 per person to Taino Beach.  For a $5.75 admission charge, the beach has chairs and is kept clean.  Enjoyed our beach time there.  

 

When you get back on the ship in the late afternoon, the only food available is burgers!?!  I understand the galley must prep for dinner, but can't they at least keep the salad bar open?

 

I've included some menu pics.  Happy to answer any questions.

[ProgRockCruiser]

You were on the sailing immediately following us: we did the 5-day to GT and AC.

 

Sorry you didn't enjoy your cruise as much as we enjoyed ours!

 

Pizza should have also been available in the afternoon.  And maybe the Sushi should have been open by around 4pm?  (I should check my Funtimes...)

 

We also liked the comedians (I think it was the two Joes, as they were called), as you did, although I think at least one of them would have been different: I believe one was just finishing off his tour.

 

We enjoyed the musicians, but that is a subjective thing IMHO.  And they may have rotated out like the one comedian.

 

I cannot fathom why there would have been noise from directly above your cabin in the mornings, but it is right on the edge of being under the galley - maybe that is a noisy corner of the galley?  Maybe there were other events held there in the morning, and they have to move dinner tables to prep?  That is a nice corner of the restaurant for Something To Happen.

 

In general our bartenders were all pretty friendly, including the ones at the Lobby Bar.  Did you happen to catch the name(s) of the grumpy ones in the Lobby Bar?  They move around a lot, so I am sure I would have interacted with them at some point or another...

 

I will post a review of our cruise sometime or another, just haven't had a chance to do much else - all that work that got pushed aside while I was away still needed to be done when I got back...

 

[sandi1967]

We sail on the Elation June 24th to Grand Turk and Dominica.  We are so excited.   Thank you for posting the menus, very helpful.  We are also going to purchase the cheers package.  Did it work out for you?  Any tips for us?

 

Is there a club of sorts at night for dancing?

 

Thank you,

Sandi

[puppycanducruise]

Thanks for the info.

[ShakyBeef]

47 minutes ago, sandi1967 said:

We sail on the Elation June 24th to Grand Turk and Dominica.  We are so excited.   Thank you for posting the menus, very helpful.  We are also going to purchase the cheers package.  Did it work out for you?  Any tips for us?

 

Is there a club of sorts at night for dancing?

 

Thank you,

Sandi

 

You mean the Dominican Republic.  Dominica is an entirely different country, and Elation doesn't sail there.

 

ETA: I just noticed you're also on the Eastern Shore of MD.  Hi there, neighbour!

Edited May 28, 2019 by ShakyBeef

[scpirate]

Elation was our last carnival cruise before it got 2.0 upgrades.we didn't care for that one much.the kids ate pizza everyday the burgers and hotdogs had so much soy filler in them we found them inedible.i disliked it so much we gave msc a try.not great but it was much better.we have a cruise to Cuba booked on paradise .I hope it will be better.it seems to be liked by many but then again some people think carnival is the only way to go.im just not one of them.

[sandi1967]

12 hours ago, ShakyBeef said:

 

You mean the Dominican Republic.  Dominica is an entirely different country, and Elation doesn't sail there.

 

ETA: I just noticed you're also on the Eastern Shore of MD.  Hi there, neighbour!

Oops yes I do mean DR😳. 

 

We are in Queen Anne’s County😊.  Love it on this side😊😊

[ejincali]

Concerning Cheers, we did really well with it.  If you enjoy top shelf alcohol, its the way to go.  On the hard liquor side, you can have Belvedere  Vodka, single malt scotch, nice bourbons.  All wines by the glass are included as well.  If you're a beer drinker, it will be hard to get your money's worth though.  

Yes, there is a club for dancing in the evening, but we didn't go.  I did see lots of people going in there though.

[AmberTeka]

We were   on the Elation in March.  A lot of us had a great time.  It was  crowded, but no issues  with people. Everyone was nice. Carnival needs bigger pools.   Other than that,  it was  great. 

[ShakyBeef]

4 hours ago, sandi1967 said:

Oops yes I do mean DR😳. 

 

We are in Queen Anne’s County😊.  Love it on this side😊😊

 

We're much farther down the Peninsula.  We love it, too!  We're come-heres from the Baltimore / DC area, though.  Only lived here for 20 years.

 

 

Sorry about the little hijack, y'all.  I'll stop now.

[ray98]

We were on the Elation earlier in the month and were quite pleased by the musicians.  That is normally how we end our evening, music and drinks.

[MzOhioLady]

Myself and my Wonderful Fiancée were on the same 4 night sailing as the OP. We had a BLAST!! There was one bartender in particular that was Outstanding. He works at the Blue Iguana Tequila Bar, Dadwin from Columbia. I heard many people around us say "He was the Best" and we totally agreed. There were 2 lady's who played the Violin at the platform right in front of the Lobby Bar and they were great. This is coming from someone who does not listen to a lot of music from the Violins. There were kids all over in the main pool area and the hot tubs were taken over by kids. The Serenity Area was a great place for adults to have time away from all the kiddos on the ship. The buffet did have long lines during Breakfast and Lunch but the lines moved pretty fast. The comedian's were both good. I saw their adults only shows. We had Anytime Dining and we had a great wait team, we sat in their section each night by request. The Cruise Elegant night was the only time we had to wait for a few to get into the dining room. They gave us a pager and said it would be 25 minutes but we only had to wait about 13 minutes. My Fiancée had never cruised before so it was exciting to see things from his perspective. Now he's hooked! The Muster Drill for our stateroom was held in the Main Show Lounge and it went fast but we had some staff team who made it interesting so the time went by pretty fast, and they do check your Sail and Sign Card when going to the muster drill. 

 

We did an excursion through Carnival for both Nassau and Freeport. Had a good time. We met some really nice couples from the cruise that we plan on keeping in touch with. Our Interior Cabin, U39, was good and we had a great Cabin Steward and his Assistant was really nice. They both remembered our names and would greet us each day. Carnival was aware that the cruise was to celebrate my Fiancée's Birthday and they brought out a cake and sang to him on our Sea Day. That was a nice touch. I wanted my Fiancée to get Hooked, and He did so my mission was accomplished. I would get on the Elation again in a heartbeat.

[ejincali]

On 5/28/2019 at 12:29 PM, ProgRockCruiser said:

You were on the sailing immediately following us: we did the 5-day to GT and AC.

 

Sorry you didn't enjoy your cruise as much as we enjoyed ours!

 

Pizza should have also been available in the afternoon.  And maybe the Sushi should have been open by around 4pm?  (I should check my Funtimes...)

 

We also liked the comedians (I think it was the two Joes, as they were called), as you did, although I think at least one of them would have been different: I believe one was just finishing off his tour.

 

We enjoyed the musicians, but that is a subjective thing IMHO.  And they may have rotated out like the one comedian.

 

I cannot fathom why there would have been noise from directly above your cabin in the mornings, but it is right on the edge of being under the galley - maybe that is a noisy corner of the galley?  Maybe there were other events held there in the morning, and they have to move dinner tables to prep?  That is a nice corner of the restaurant for Something To Happen.

 

In general our bartenders were all pretty friendly, including the ones at the Lobby Bar.  Did you happen to catch the name(s) of the grumpy ones in the Lobby Bar?  They move around a lot, so I am sure I would have interacted with them at some point or another...

 

I will post a review of our cruise sometime or another, just haven't had a chance to do much else - all that work that got pushed aside while I was away still needed to be done when I got back...

 

I'm not sure what the Fun Times said, but pizza and sushi were not staffed in the late afternoon.  Just the burgers.  Also, on one day the Fun Times said there would be French food on the buffet at lunch time--but in fact there was Caribbean.  I asked and was told the Fun Times was wrong.  I'm not complaining, the Caribbean food was good, but the Fun Times is not always 100% accurate. 

[MzOhioLady]

We had the Pizza several times during our cruise and there was always someone there making the Pizza's. We often ate our lunch in the back where the Pizza was and many folks walked around eating the Pizza at various points. Sometimes there was a short line but it moved fast.

[ray98]

Pizza is 24/7....ring the bell.

 

[ray98]

21 hours ago, MzOhioLady said:

There were 2 lady's who played the Violin at the platform right in front of the Lobby Bar and they were great. This is coming from someone who does not listen to a lot of music from the Violins.

 

Yup....they were a great change of pace.  Their cover of Guns and Roses was a highlight of the cruise.

[RondellMD]

On 5/28/2019 at 6:19 PM, sandi1967 said:

We sail on the Elation June 24th to Grand Turk and Dominica.  We are so excited.   Thank you for posting the menus, very helpful.  We are also going to purchase the cheers package.  Did it work out for you?  Any tips for us?

 

Is there a club of sorts at night for dancing?

 

Thank you,

Sandi

Look at you reading my mind now 🕺 😏

[kyboymom]

We just got back from the Elation 2 weeks ago.  Yes there is a club for you to shake your groove thang 🙂  They also have deck parties with a DJ that are fun as well at night.  The Cruise Director is really fun and full of energy and his 80's parties are super fun as well!

[MzOhioLady]

I really wish I was back on the Elation. I had a great time!

[RondellMD]

Who would be interested in a Elation board meet and greet?  I know a lot of people like their privacy but some of us go on cruises with friends in hand and ready to make new friend fun for the short time we're on the same boat.

 

If they'll let me post it my email is rondell21401@gmail.com... couldn't hurt to try!

 

See you all in 19 days!