ANOTHER Elation 9/03 review

[tess2cruz]

Sadly, just off the Elation, and I had the time of my life. Yes, a couple of things may not have been the best, but nothing could take away from the incredible time we had. We were a family/friend group of 20, (somehow the number of people grew???:confused: ) so there was never a moment I wasn't having fun. I also met a couple of CC members, and glad I did, felt like I knew half the passangers on the ship LOL. Here are the highlights.

Arrived Sat night, and visited Bubba Gump Shrimp, with most of our large group. Our server, Jon, was amazing!!! He hit us with Tom Hanks and Forrest Gump trivia all through dinner. He had us going, laughing and having a great time. Food and drink was great as well, and a visit from the manger also made it a 4 star dining experience, but very casual.

Left the Hotel at 10:30am and was on the ship eating lunch by noon, went suprisingly smooth considering the group we had!! This is the first cruise I took my son, 15, with me. I had always said if I did, I would probably never see him, and that was almost the truth!! After getting on board, the adults, of course stopped at the first bar, Atrium. I told my son the pizza and food were on the lido deck, and he was gone. I think my son did more than I did on the ship. He never signed up for Camp Carnival activities, being kind of a loner, but he did come out of his shell enough to participate in a lot of ship activities. It turned out we went to a lot of shows and events at the same time, but just not together, lol. His review of the pizza was "best he ever had", but may have been because he could have all he wanted. Told us he hugged the pizza chef good bye, and wrote on the comment card he wanted to take the guy home.

My family moaned and groaned about eating in the dining room before the cruise. They ended up eating there every night but one, St Thomas, too late back on ship. We had fun with our waiter, Image. He, is heading home to Indonesia right now, to see his family after 7 1/2 months. Most of us thought the food was great. My son did try escargot, didn't care for it, but he did try. Actually it wasn't the best I ever had either. The crew in Tiffanies was great, if you asked for something up by the buffet, they asked where you were sitting and would bring it to you. One beat my brother back to the table!! We had breakfast in the DR once, and except for me who ordered the egg special, (salmon and eggs) no one was real impressed, same stuff in Tiffanies, just didn't have to get up to get it yourself. I did gain 7 pounds, so yes, it was good eating!!!!

I never met our room steward until the second to the last day, but everyone else did, and he did a good job. Have had more attentive stewards on prior cruises, but nothing to complain about. We had 4 to an inside cabin, so I was only there to sleep, and didn't seem to do a whole lot of that. Won't do 4 to a cabin again, but it was ok.

The only negative on the activities, is there is too much to do and can't do all you want to. The passanger age range seemed very young on this cruise, mainly 30-50 age group. Only 118 children was nice, even though one was mine. Social hosts, Cat and Stitch were so energetic and fun. Battle of the sexes is a must. The night life was interesting and good variety. Jeckal and Hyde club did hip hop and rap for the young and young at heart crowd. Romeo and Juliet was great, went a few times, band was good. Crowd was a bit quiet most of the time though. Spent most nights at the Dukes, piano bar, with Sir Nicholas. That was the best time. A group of regulars formed and he entertained us, and us him too actually. Last night in Dukes got so loud, my son heard us singing American Pie during the talent show in the Mikado lounge. Good spot for having fun, however he leaves to the Glory in a couple of weeks.

Ports:

Half Moon Cay: Beautiful beach, fine baby powder sand, clean clear water. We practiced snorkeling some, saw very little, but most of us were new to snorkeling and had to get ready for St Thomas. A couple went horseback riding, had fun. Parasailing was canceled due to wind, happens a lot I guess. Great beach day. But best part is my son proposed to his girlfriend on the island, so we had a celebration, besides my brothers 50th birthday, for the entire cruise. Lunch was ok, long lines, food was like lunch on the ship.

St Thomas: I had a friend that lives there give a couple of us the dime tour, it was great. We then went to Coki Point to snorkel, LOVED IT. Beach and water was great. Son went to Megans Bay first and said it was not as nice as Coki, but I believe the prior storm may have something to do with that. A few did BOB adventure and loved that as well. Crew for that company was very impressive. My brother got an extra trun cause his first scooter broke. On the way back to the ship, we went to Greentree Restaurant downtown. We had a blast, what a great atmosphere, and it was still early. Wish I could be there when the party really starts. If you go tell Doug, the manager Teri says hi!!!! By the way, it was raining when we docked, and started raining again when we left, but in between the weather was perfect!!! Had a great thunderstorm to send us off though.

San Juan: I only shopped a bit and enjoyed old town and Senor Frogs. Some of our group did the city tour, and were very impressed and enjoyed it a lot. Wish now I would have done that. I think it needs to be a longer stay.

Grand Turk: Margaritaville, need I say more?????:rolleyes: We had a blast just hanging at the pool bar. The beach was very rocky so most of us moved to the pool early. However, some did snorkel off the beach and it was pretty good. Son saw squid and barracuda, and a good varity of fish. I was seeing things too, but that had something to do with the Margaritas :D

We had a blast, I wish I was back on the ship. We did do self assist debarkation, some of our group had early flights, and we were actually off the ship by 8am. All got to the airport on time, us actually way too early, had 4 hours to kill. But it was a breeze getting off the ship that way. The only hard part was trying to drag my 15 year old off the ship along with the luggage;)

All you heading for the Elation, have a drink for me and say hi to Sir Nicholas in the piano bar!!!!

[LHP]

Great...just what we need...another person addicted to cruising...I will never get Carnival to give us our Interline discounts back! (just kidding)

Glad you had a great time and we have a new cruiser (even at the age of 15) to add to our list of addicted folk!

[poptart]

Spent most nights at the Dukes, piano bar, with Sir Nicholas. That was the best time. A group of regulars formed and he entertained us, and us him too actually. Last night in Dukes got so loud, my son heard us singing American Pie during the talent show in the Mikado lounge. Good spot for having fun, however he leaves to the Glory in a couple of weeks.

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enjoyed your report. sounds like fun.

 

Do you know how long is Sir Nicholas staying on the Glory? I hope thru November!! :) since there have been so many bad reports on Glory's piano bar. This sounds promising!

 

Was it your 15 year old son who got engaged? Or did I miss something????

[DebbyCruiser]

Thank you thank you!!!

I only hope that whoever replaces Sir Nicolas in the Piano Bar is just as good!! DH and I are really looking forward to singing there!!!!!

Good review! Thank you so much!

[tess2cruz]

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Do you know how long is Sir Nicholas staying on the Glory? I hope thru November!! :) since there have been so many bad reports on Glory's piano bar. This sounds promising!

 

Was it your 15 year old son who got engaged? Or did I miss something????

 

No, 15 year old did not get engaged:o My older son, 26, was also on the cruise with his girlfriend, now fiancee.

 

I guess even the entertainers themselves don't know where and how long they have a gig, I know Sir Nicholas found out Thurs he only had a couple more weeks on the Elation. Hopefully he does well and they keep him there on the Glory for awhile.

 

We can also add more addicts to the list, my mom and brother both have stopped by today asking when and where is the next cruise!!!!:D

[earlethepearl]

Great review! Leaving in 13 Days myself. One question. I know they are currently installing cell service on the Elation, but is it operatinal yet? I know WMS's website now has 4 ships as completed, but some are working partially that aren't showing completed yet.

 

I KNOW, leave them at home!! Unfortunately due to a family member at home I can't! If not, I am renting a satellite phone. Thanks in advance.

[tess2cruz]

Great review! Leaving in 13 Days myself. One question. I know they are currently installing cell service on the Elation, but is it operatinal yet? I know WMS's website now has 4 ships as completed, but some are working partially that aren't showing completed yet.

 

I KNOW, leave them at home!! Unfortunately due to a family member at home I can't! If not, I am renting a satellite phone. Thanks in advance.

 

It was not operational for our cruise, and I heard nothing about it either, but it may be by then. Some of us did have service in St Thomas and San Juan, but nobody had checked ahead of time and were afraid of roaming charges and didn't use the cell phones. If you don't need it more than those two islands, maybe that will work.