Just Back from Elation

[zqvol]

Elation Review (5.14.06- 5.21.06)

 

This was my first Carnival cruise. I had a good cruise.

 

PRE CRUISE: Because of circumstances I traveled solo this week. I arrived a day early and overnighted at the Holiday Inn Port of Miami. I have been to Bayside Market Place on a number of occasions. It is a nice place to spend a few hours but certainly not anything to get real excited about. There is not anything unusual there other than the tours that depart from there. It is nice to sit out side and watch the comings and goings. It is a fine place to spend a night either pre or post cruise.

 

I checked out of the hotel as late as I could and took a cab to the ship. My porter handled their job in an efficient manner. I do need to say that sometime between leaving my bags with the porter and receiving it on the ship one of them was smashed resulting in the case for one of my dive masks being ruined. Since it was in a soft side duffle bag I have to record that as just one of those things.

 

EMBARKATION: No trouble at all. It took about 15 minutes to get through the line and then I was on my way to the ship. Of course I was stopped for the embarkation photo and then the sign and sail photo but those took maybe 30 seconds each. It took maybe 5 minutes from being checked in to being up the steps and onto the ship.

 

CABIN: I booked a midship cabin on the Riveria deck. I prefer to be on a low deck midships.

I thought the room was well laid out, though a chair other than the straight desk chair would have been nice. I really wonder if the cabin is a large as it is claimed. I did not measure it but it sure seemed smaller than advertised. There is a small closet and another area that could also be used for clothes storage. The bathroom is a nice size.

 

MUSTER DRILL: The usual muster drill without nothing out of the ordinary to report.

 

SHIP DÉCOR: It is not at all what I expected. The ship was more subdued than I expected. Plenty of elevators, and stairs were easy to navigate.

 

SHIP CLEANLINESS I know that the ship just got out of dry dock and people need to realize that a dry dock is not a remodeling. It is an opportunity to inspect and repair the mechanical parts of the ship that cannot be accessed while the ship is afloat. Everything is clean and well kept but it is not new, of course Elation is not an old ship either. Overall the ship was clean and looked fine. The deck division spent every day painting something. They really worked hard and the ship is in great shape. (The exception is the basketball court that has been discussed and is still being worked on. Maybe they will get it done soon.)

 

 

STAFF:

 

CD: Very few announcements. I expect quiet a few but they were limited to a very few, until there was something important to talk about. In other words they did a good job communicating but did not overburden us with too many ads.

 

DINING: The dinning room staff was only OK. The first couple of days they did a great job but as the week wore on you had to ask for more bread and water (these automatically appeared the first part of the cruise). The dancing and singing by the wait staff takes away any sense of formality. If you want to think that Carnival dining is formal, you lose that thought when the show starts. The atmosphere is totally ruined. It turns the dining room into an amusement park restaurant atmosphere.

 

 

STEWARD: My cabin steward did an excellent job without being intrusive which I really appreciate.

 

Bartenders: These are a great group of people. They are always willing to sit and chat with you and are happy to discuss their homes and families.

 

PASSENGERS: I saw jeans, jean shorts, jean mini's and jean capris in the dining room every night. I saw sweat shorts, shorts, and beach cover-ups in the dining room every night. In light of the posted dress code it is amazing to me that people dress this way for dinner. People on these boards refer to the Carnival dining room as formal but it is clear that the majority of the passengers do not know the definition of formal.

 

On the first formal night men were dressed in everything from tuxes to jeans and “T” shirts with sandals. Women had on everything from lovely formal wear to things that should not been seen on a TV show telling you how to dress. The other nights there were lots of jeans and shorts. On the second formal night about 25% OF THE PEOPLE DRESSED. Most men were either in a shirt and tie, a coat without a tie or a golf shirt.

 

It seems that in its zeal to attract varied styles and types of cruisers Carnival has forgotten how to enforce its own dress code. They provide alternate dining for those that want to dine casually and then turn the other way when it comes to inappropriate dress in the main dining room.

 

DINING: Assigned seating may be efficient for the ship, and is a throwback to the days of grand cruising but I find it to be too regimented. I prefer open seating.

 

Food is a very subjective thing; opinions vary on it quite a bit…so here’s my opinion. The food, was nothing special and I felt that more of it was bad than good. I will mention specific items below. All in all I thought that the food was typical of chain restaurants in the US. The food is very hearty fare but nothing special at all.

 

BREAKFAST: All that I can say about breakfast is that is was almost OK. There was nothing particularly special but there was nothing bad either. It is just the usual breakfast foods. The eggs, hash browns, pancakes, French toast and pastries are typical of fast food establishments in the U.S.

 

LUNCH: When I ate lunch on the ship I ate on the Lido deck. The hamburgers and cheeseburgers were nice but overcooked. The fries were good. The one day I tried the taste of nations they had Greek food, which was simply put not like any Greek food that I have ever tasted, and I grew up eating Greek food. The Deli was OK, as was the pizza. I did not think that the pizza was as good as some others have said but it was certainly not bad. Clearly it was not made on board, but was frozen. It had a nice flavor and the crust was just right. I had sushi almost every night. It was good but not real sushi, in that all the fish is cooked. I think carnival is concerned about someone getting sick from raw fish so they use cooked things. It tasted great, but it would have been nice to have some raw fish available.

 

DINNER was hit or miss for me. No matter what fancy name you put on the dishes a lot of them were just not very good.

 

Sunday night: I had both steak and lamb. The waiter insisted that the steak which I ordered rare was correctly cooked. It was closer to medium than it was to rare. (Over the course of the week my tablemates and I decided that the passengers did not really know what rare, medium rare, etc. actually are and the kitchen staff sent out food like the people expected, not like they ordered.) The flavor was bland but a bit of salt and pepper fixed that. The lamb portion was tiny and fatty. The sides all had a nice flavor.

 

Monday night: I had roast beef with a nice sauce and flavor. The salad was advertised as fresh mixed greens. In reality it was iceberg lettuce with a few carrots and a single tomato wedge. If it is going to be called mixed greens they should serve mixed greens, or if they are going to serve lettuce call it a tossed salad.

 

Tuesday night: prime rib and lobster were just OK The only way to get the prime rib was medium rare. The lobster was stringy and overcooked.

 

Wednesday night: Tried langustino, which was just bad. It was completely lacking in flavor, as if it had been boiled without any seasoning. The beefsteak tomatoes and mozzarella were also flavorless. The filet that I had was the best piece of meat that I ate all week. It was prepared in an acceptable manner though I still was unable to get it cooked rare. It was a quality cut of beef.

 

Thursday night: Beef Wellington was nicely prepared and well presented. A good job.

 

Friday night: The prime rib was better tonight than earlier in the week. The shrimp that I also had was marinated in mint and vermouth among other things and tasted terrible. The marinade ruined the flavor. Baked Alaska was nothing more than cake and ice crème.

 

Saturday night: Watch out for the Seafood Newberg, it is like no Newberg that I have ever had before.

 

Desserts were pretty tasteless. None of them tasted very sweet to me at all. After a couple of days I decided to stick to sherbet for desert.

 

Overall the ambience was lacking in the dining room every night. There was no elegance or quietness. The dancing waiters, the songs and the games cheapen the experience so much that it makes the dining room experience seem like a cafeteria.

 

PORTS-and EXCURSIONS:

 

Half Moon Cay: Two nice excursions here. A dive followed by a snorkel trip. The dive was great but was not as advertised. The excursion list says this is a shallow dive between 12 and 18 feet. The dive actually went to 43 feet. That did not detract at all but is something to be aware of. When we asked the dive operator about it he said that they did not have any dives that shallow, they shallowest was about 25 feet. The reef was in good shape with an abundance of fish including some nice barracuda.

 

The snorkel trip was also good. We went to a nice reef where I say a number of species of fish that are uncommon. These are tow good excursions. The sand is some of the cleanest and whitest that I’ve seen in a long time, it rivals Provo in the Turks and Caicos for beauty.

 

St. Thomas: I spent the morning at Coki Beach where the snorkeling was pretty good. Took a cab back to the ship, ate lunch on the Lido deck and then shopping and did the skyway tram.

 

San Juan: I did a walking tour of Old San Juan on my own. There is nothing to report on this.

 

Grand Turk: Went snorkeling. The water in the Turks and Caicos as usual are beautiful but the fish must have been on vacation. there were just not a lot of them around. The beach at the end of the pier is easy to get to. I used that beach and the pool at the pier prior to my tour.

 

The ocean floor though seems to have sustained a lot of damage, which is caused by the ships using thrusters when docking. There was no coral to be seen, but in examining the area from the deck of the ship there was never any coral in this area anyway.

 

The main terminal is open with a single tenant. The locals are out in there straw market type places and there is Margaritaville.

 

SHOWS/ACTIVITIES: I thought Carnival did a so so job with the evening shows. I found the day time activities on board to be lacking. I finished three books on the cruise, so I definitely read a lot. I felt that there was a lack of diversity in entertainment. Mini golf was fun and a good addition to the ship.

 

As a side note: Watch out for the art auction. Make sure that you know your stuff before you even think about buying anything. I felt like everything was really overpriced and thought that I had seen some of the pieces elsewhere for much less than the reserve amount. All I am saying is if you really want a piece of art do your homework before you bid on anything. I will say that the champagne at the auction made watching all the more fun.

 

LIQUOR AT DEBARKATION: Liquor was delivered on Saturday afternoon. Someone got the message bout having to go get your own on Sunday morning.

 

DEBARKATION: I used the self assist option, which worked out great. Carnival is urging everyone to do this and in fact is calling it by deck, from the top down, when this finished they do VIP and special assist and then general debarkation in a free for all. The only time decks were called was for self debarkation.

 

OVERALL: On a scale of 1 to 10 I give the cruise a 5 to 6. I was unimpressed and disappointed with the food but surprisingly pleased with just about everything else. The shows were fine, the crew was more than friendly and helpful and the ship was clean and sparkling.

 

In the right circumstance I would cruise Carnival again, but it would not be my first choice because the Elation was simply too big for my tastes, and it is one of Carnival’s smaller ships.

[Jabee]

Fantastic Review...

It was so nice and orderly that it let me find the things I was interested..

and I have not interest in cruising the Elation...

 

Second...I did a check on your profile and found you posted over 250 times just in preparation for this trip. I am very impressed that you researched as much as you did looking at destination sites, roll calls, and other message sites.

 

I feel this is a very honest review, and well written.

 

Oh...BTW....try the Celebration from Jacksonville or the Holiday in Mobile...

they are both older but in great shape...

and smaller holding only about 1500 guests at a time...

I think you would find them more apealing!!

 

thanks...

 

JB

[shipty2]

Thanks for the review and your honest opions. I would like to correct one misconception though. Sushi is not raw fish. Sushi is a kind of rice prepared with vinegar. What you are referring to is sashimi. This is the raw fish that often tops off the sushi. So you did indeed have "real" sushi.

[salty dingo]

Best review I have seen in a long time. Many thanks for your carefully thought-out comments!

 

Food was well reviewed and I am not surprised at any of the comments. Food on a Carnival cruise is pretty good in my experience. Not great, not something I will cherish forever, but pretty good. And that's good enough for me.

 

Considering the insanely low price for a week on the Elation this fall, I will be 100% content if they serve me peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner! Anything better is just a bonus to me.

[vwgirl23]

Great review! We were on the elation the first cruise out of drydock 4/22. I do agree with alot you said. The food was OK but I was happy that I didn't have to cook it & clean up. Our asst. waiter got sick the second night so needless to say the service became very slow. Our poor waiter pretty much had to do everything himself. The activities did lack alittle. One thing that was different for me was the size. It was too small for me. I love the BIG ships. For the past few years i've been on the golden princess, legend, and voyager of the seas all big ships. So going to the elation you can see how I would think she was small. I had a good time & getting away from everyday life & having somebody wait on ME for a change. What more can I ask for? We also couldn't pass up the price we got for an 8-day (little over $1700 for 4 people).

Joanne

[seashell36]

Thanks for the review, it was nice to read you honest opinions of the ship, activities and food. My family will be on the Elation this fall and I would rather read about the good and bad than read an all out "everything was great!".

 

I read somewhere about some broken glass on the beach next to the pier in Gran Turk, did you notice any? I guess it was left when the pier construction was going on.

 

Again, thanks for the review!:)

[cruizinrican]

I enjoyed your review very much, thank you for taking the time to post such a lenghthy and detailed review.

 

I know exactly what you are talking about when it comes to the dress and food in dining room. I hate the fact that not only Carnival but no lines seem to ever enforce the dress code in the dining rooms and that lately the food has been just ok. I would like to make a suggestion about order your steak rare next time, for some reason we have had the same problem before and have spent half the dining experience sending over cooked steak back that has been ordered rare. We have found that if you order your steak Blue, they seem to understand this better in the kitchen and it comes back rare! Try this word next time and don't give up on your cruise experience yet, there are many ships to choose from and lines.

[michigan tim]

I think the dress guidlines must vary from ship to ship. The first night of the Sensation's 4/1 sailing it was announced in the dining room, "No shorts or tank tops during dinner in the dining room".

[kkorman]

If you have dancing in the dining room and fairly average food, why shouold you dress up. I would not wear a suit for the quality of food and service received on a cruise at home, why should I on vacation. Carnival (and most other mass cruise lines) has a very casual feel to it and a suit just does not seem appropriate. Most lines will not enforce the denim issue, but most do enforce the shorts issue.

[1sttimerhere]

What is the problem with the dancing in the dining room? To me, its just entertainment, nothing more. I could take it or leave it. I enjoyed it on the Celebration, but I also had excellent service and food there.

[nick0danger]

Thanks for the review and your honest opions. I would like to correct one misconception though. Sushi is not raw fish. Sushi is a kind of rice prepared with vinegar. What you are referring to is sashimi. This is the raw fish that often tops off the sushi. So you did indeed have "real" sushi.

 

Some else that know Sushi, and yea like the OP said im sure they dont need anyone getting sick cause of raw fish. Cruise lines are having enough bad publisity as it is.

[marty30907]

Thank you for your review. My wife and I will be sailing on the Elation in Mar 07.

[cruisetmc]

Thanks for the review.

 

Which tour did you do in Grand Turk?

[zqvol]

Thanks for the review.

 

Which tour did you do in Grand Turk?

I did the ultimate snorkeling, which meets at the end of the pier. I was on the 12:30 excursion (there is also a 3:15 version). The excursion was fine, but I was a bit disappointed in the number and variety of fish that were present.

 

It was a two stop excursion, neither of which was really protected. There was a bit of a swell at the first stop and an even bigger swell and current at the second stop.

 

I would not hesitate to do this excursion again, but I might do a dive next time or do the Gibbs Cay Beach and Stingray Adventure, just for some variety. Just a note the first stop was at the same place where the SNUBA and Helmet Dive took place.

 

I would not suggest this if you are a weak swimmer as it is in open water, though you are required to wear a vest.

[bogforce]

We found the food for diner better on the Lido deck than in the dining room. Plus we could sit where we wanted and didn't have to wait for our meals.

[cruisetmc]

Thanks for the snorkeling information.

 

One time in Key West the swells were so bad we didn't spend much time in the water. We are both strong swimmers but couldn't take the rough water.

[LMPego]

I was on the same cruise, but maybe not the same cruise - it's all subjective. I'll post my full review later, but I mostly agree with you but found the shows to be cheesy and the daytime activities to be fun. I took 5 books and read only 2.

We were on the same ultimate snorkeling excursion in Grand Turk and I agree. It was really rough and I was exhausted from fighting the waves. I thought there was a pretty decent variety of fish, but not very many of any one species. I tried to get away from where all the people were, because it seemed like all the fish took off when 30 people jumped off a snorkel boat. I was disappointed in the snorkeling there because I've heard that the Turks & Caicos is one of the best places to dive. We snorkeled at Trunk Bay in St. John this trip and it was much better.

[comfortcruises]

We leave 6/4 on the Elation. From everything I've read, it looks like you need to Scuba Dive to see the best of Grand Turk. The best reefs are too deep for most snorkeling. I'll post a detailed review once we're back.

[p0mpey]

Sorry to hear about the swells. We were in Grand Turks the week before you (12th) and had perfect seas....thankfully because my DH is not a strong swimmer. I thought the reefs were beautiful and the water soooo clear but like you, did not see many fish.

[kchesneylover]

I will have to agree with this 100%. It really does ruin the whole ambiance. They should stop this practice. Your comment about this is making me think twice about taking the Valor cruise. I may just have to reinvest in the NCL cruise I wanted to take.

 

The dancing and singing by the wait staff takes away any sense of formality. If you want to think that Carnival dining is formal, you lose that thought when the show starts. The atmosphere is totally ruined. It turns the dining room into an amusement park restaurant atmosphere.

[silentbob007]

I will have to agree with this 100%. It really does ruin the whole ambiance. They should stop this practice. Your comment about this is making me think twice about taking the Valor cruise. I may just have to reinvest in the NCL cruise I wanted to take.

 

Wow, I don't particularly like the dancing either, but that one thing would not deter me from the trip .... I guess if it is that bothersome, then go to NCL by all means because you know the dancing is going to happen.

[kchesneylover]

Wow, I don't particularly like the dancing either, but that one thing would not deter me from the trip .... I guess if it is that bothersome, then go to NCL by all means because you know the dancing is going to happen.

 

Well, I can't transfer my trip. I got a really great rate on the Valor and the Valor is a great ship. I may, however, give NCL a try in the future. I really like the idea of freestyle dining.

 

Back to the dancing, It really is bothersome to me - we will get up and leave when they start doing this. I just hope it is after dessert. We didn't eat in the Main Dining Room on our first cruise - except for one time. And they did ruin a nice evening with the dancing.