Elation

[Pull My Finger]

Has anyone been on the Elation if so how was it?
Also what city did you fly into?

[redryder75]

Haven't been yet--but getting close. I have spent a lot of time on these boards getting familiar with cruising tips. Under reviews you will find a good many reviews on the Elation. Some very recent, some farther back. You may have to page back a time or two to see them, or try the search function. Lots of info here. I live locally so will drive, but most everyone flies into Houston Hobby (the closest major airport). Good Luck

Jun 13 '04 Elation
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[Catch Cormier]

Last week was my first voyage ever aboard a cruise ship, so I don't know if I'm qualified to answer your question from a "comparative" standpoint. However, let me share a few things.

I'm the guy who would never, ever book a cruise. In fact, I didn't. This was a gift from my older son to me and my wife. Now I can't wait to go back. In fact, it's "how soon can I go back?". I would definitely take Elation again. Other ships might be better, but according to Carnival's rating system, Elation has been one of the top 3 for all this year in their fleet. I heard many other guests who've taken other cruises, other lines, tell me that while Elation wasn't as classy as RC or Norwegian, the service was much more friendly and down to Earth. In fact, that was the biggest surprise of all for me. I left the ship having two new close friends - my dining room waiter and waitress!

The food was awesome, both in the main dining room and Tiffany's (the casual dining buffet facility). Tiffanys is open 24 hours, but only Pizza is available after 1am. That's no problem in my book, after all, it's simply resting up for the next feeding frenzy which kicks off at 6am.

One trick I learned during the voyage. We had 8pm seating in the Inspiration dining room. The dinner menu is posted each morning. Often I'd see several items on the entree that looked great, but wanted to choose one (you can choose two, if you wish, just ask your waiter). SO .. I'd head to Tiffany's at 5pm when it opened for dinner, and sometimes 1 or 2 of the dining room entrees were in Tiffany's buffet. I could then sample them. I'd also peek at the dining room tables during the 6am seating to see how the other entrees looked. IMHO, there are too many great choices, and all the food was terrific. So often I went the "adventuresome" route.

Every night we spent listening to the "Dirt Poets", IMHO, the absolute best rock band I've ever heard. And being from south Louisiana and a part of the music scene down here, that's saying one hellava lot!! Made good friends with those guys as well.

I spent a lot of time around the pool, the gym, and the galleria. Some great buys on board. Crown Royal is as cheap as any of the POCs, but you can't drink any purchased alcohol on board (must buy drinks from ship). The art auction was probably my biggest surprise. I'm not an art fanatic by any means, but found this educational and even exciting. There were some very rare works on board, by Peter Max, Thomas Kincaid, Salvador Dali, Nikita, Rockwell, and others. There was even an original sculpture by Dali that was bought. The prices were awesome, better than anything you'll find on land. The art folks were extremely knowledgable and very friendly as well. Like I said, I'm not one of the "arts and croissants" crowd, but on this trip I enjoyed both very much!

But the most important part of this trip was the great friends we made, and all the fun we had with our new friends. Nearly all of them shared some of our interests, not hard to do when there's 2500 folks on one ship. At the end, we exchanged addresses. I guess this is one aspect of a cruise that few people mention, but for me it was a major reason why I'm ready to go back.

Rock and roll is not dead; it sleeps waiting for the Chosen One.

[Pull My Finger]

Boy that does sound fun. Did you fly or drive?

[JJS2K3]

Thanks for the 'first-timer' perspective C.C.!

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Elation!

[txadmin2]

Thanks for your "first timer" thoughts. Glad you had such a good time.

On the beach in Cozumel in...
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Elated to be on the Elation on 11/14
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[travel girl23]

We were on the Elation over Thanksgiving last November. We drove to Galveston and spent the night prior to boarding. We did the Merida Shopping Tour in Progreso and enjoyed it very much, especially visiting the oldest cathedral on the North American continent. In Cozumel we went to Chankanaab Park on our own and spent the afternoon there Did a little shopping downtown, too. This was our fourth time to Cozumel and had previously done the Tulum and Passion Island tours. We loved it. In Belize, we did the Altun Ha/River Wallace trip and thoroughly enjoyed it, too. Our son did the Biking in Belize. Look for my Thanksgiving Elation Review for all the details. Joan

Celebration - 9/99
Inspiration - 12/00
Jubilee - 10/02
Elation - 11/03