Back from the Elation

[loveturtles]

I'll start off by saying it was fantastic!

Our cruise left on Sept. 3rd from Miami. We stayed in FLL 4 days prior to leaving.

We had no problems with flights so that was a good thing. The weather couldn’t have been better. Lucky us we missed the hurricane.

I’ll start with Florida. Our hotel was a half block from the beach and about 4 blocks from Los Olas Blvd. which is the heart of FLL. Our hotel was ok, we got a 2 bdrm 2 bath suite for $99 a night. Couldn’t beat the price and location. It was ran by a Cuban family very nice people. Nothing fancy, just a place to clean up and lay our head. Swam in the ocean a lot, loved the water. Our group of 7 went parasailing. Loved it. We did the night life one night, what can I say….interesting people out there. Rented a car and drove up and down the beaches, played, shopped, ate, & swam. We really liked Florida had a great time.

The cruise was fantastic, as I knew it would be. Carnival is a party ship. Always something going on. My dd was picked for the game of survivor. Out of about 40 people they choose 8 for 2 teams. Some of the things she had to do were really difficult. She made it to the final 3 and then the guys voted her out. She was the last girl on her team. :(

Half Moon Cay (private island) - the beach there was the best out of all the islands. It's so true about the blue blue waterand is crystal clear. I brought back sand to show everyone because it is so amazing. The best description is it’s like walking on baby powder. Fish all over, you didn’t need snorkel equipment. There was so many fish that youngest dd started freaking out because they were following her. It was quite funny watching her. She ended up running through the water to get out. Party on the beach for us, food and drink and music. Tons of fun! Friends did glass bottom boat and enjoyed it.

San Juan - we did a rain forest and island tour. Our driver was sooooo good. It was pretty cool being in an actual rain forest. There is a lot of poverty there. The road system is very hap hazard. 4 million live there and it is quite crowded. The poor may have a shack next to a million dollar home. I didn't dislike it, but it was my least favorite island, although it was quite interesting to see.

St. Thomas - We did a combination tour through Sunny Liston. He is a fantastic tour guide. 3 hours of shopping, tour of the city, and then beach time (he gives you a choice of beaches. We wanted Coki but he acidentally passed it, we ended up at Saphire. Pretty but probably not the best beach there.) and more shopping if you want, which of course we did. The island is very pretty. The streets are quite narrow, lots of curves and hills. They drive crazy there, at least Sunny did. :eek: All of the islands you drive on the left side. It was beautiful.

My very favorite and where I will retire is Grand Turk. We did a bus hop on off at your leisure tour. It’s a very small island. It is not commercialized at all except at the cruise port. It was just beautiful. The beaches were fantastic. Oldest DD went scuba diving and was so amazed at what she saw. The people there were so friendly and helpful. They are the world’s biggest producers of salt. They have dogs (oddly they all look alike), horses, donkeys that just roam the island. Went to the lighthouse and walked the trail. Amazingly the water is different colors from the atlantic side to the Carribbean side. At the cruise terminal they have Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville. What a fun place. Huge swimming pool with a bar in the water, great music, and fantastic drinks. I had the best margarita that I have ever had. Not a fan of tequila but had to try it, so glad I did. By the way if you printed off the free drink coupon they no longer take them.

The people on all of the islands are so friendly, a large variety of different cultures.

After the cruise we did a tour in Miami called the Art deco through Carnival because our flight didn’t leave until 9 pm. So we got to see the city, and then went to South Beach, shopped and ate Cuban food. Interesting place. I had Cuban coffee and I have to say it is soooooo good. I almost missed the tour bus because I was trying to find a place that sold it. I bought 3 bags. I have to say this is not a great tour. But it did take us to Fll airport.

When we were at the airport to fly home my df found that her bags were overweight (she bought to much alcohol I think :eek: , one was a whopping 18 lbs over and the other 5 lbs. It was hilarious to watch her frantically repack everything. She ended up borrowing my beach bag and packed it full of shoes. So funny!!:D

It all was Simply Amazing, Carnival did a great job, no problems, tons to do all the time, loved it loved it loved it!!!!!

I would be happy to answer any ??'s.

[demos]

Thank you for your review. Happy to hear the weather worked out for you. Going to Half Moon Cay in a couple of weeks and I am so excited!

[seashell36]

Glad to hear you enjoyed the ship and the ports. My family will be on the first Elation trip out of Pt Canaveral (Nassau,Grand Turk and HMC). I really hope we make it to HMC, sounds wonderful. Did you happen to see the childrens water play area when you were on the island? I've been trying to find out what they have. TIA!:D

[loveturtles]

Yes, I went on the slide in the Childrens play area. You slide into the ocean, pretty cool. Maybe only 6 or 7 feet long, but you go pretty fast. They have a play area set up in the sand with several things. I didn't get close but noticed they had a slide and bars, jungle gym type. They also had animals to climb on in the ocean and a large sprinkler type system over the sand and water. It looked like the kids were enjoying it. Not to worry they will enjoy it there.

[JacDro]

We are on the Elation on Nov. 6th. Who was the cruise director? Did you enjoy him/her? Thanks for the information.

 

Jacki

[pacerzfan]

Thank you for your review, loveturtles.

[loveturtles]

The cruise director was Jorge Solano. Yes I really liked him. Had the opportunity to see him several times and each time all of us laughed a lot!! If Stitch is on the ship when you go he also is quite funny. I never saw the Captain though, which I thought was unusual. We went to the welcome aboard show thinking he would be introduced but never was. On other cruises the Captain was out and about several times during the week but not on this one.