Elation Trip Report - Sept 21- Sept 26 - Day 2-3

[geoffinjersey]

Day 2 – Sea Day

I always say I’m going to sleep late – it never happens – if I don’t set the alarm –I’m usually up at 7:00 at the latest – same thing on vacation – I HATE IT. But nothing I can do – so I’m up at 7:00 – and my breakfast isn’t going to be delivered until 9:00 – so a trip to the gym for a walk on the treadmill – you would think that the windows in the gym would go floor to ceiling so people could see out without bending over – but again – I wasn’t asked my opinion when the Fantasy class was being designed – so you make due – I spent most of time looking at people on the deck below me looking up at me.

A little time in the steam room and sauna – make note – there is a button in front of the sauna that says “To raise the temperature hit this button” – this button is right next to the emergency call button – I hit the wrong button once – I hit it a 2nd time hoping that shut it off (since no one showed up – I guess that worked - either that or no one was there for an emergency)

Made it back to the room before room service showed up – I didn’t think I ordered that much food – oh wait 3 portions of melon = 3 different plates - that explains that – way to make me feel like a pig Carnival. J

This sea day was about relaxing – so I won’t bore anyone with the small details (like I did for day one). Lets just say I spent it relaxing around the pool – reading my book and listening to my IPod – I did try to get a spot on the Serenity Deck – but the same towel and bags that were on the seats at 11:00 were there at 1:00 and then again at 2:30 – hmmmm is it coincidence that I walk over at the same time 10 people decide to leave or did they just leave their stuff there at 9:00 and never really come back – I’m not saying either way – you can decide for yourself

I did have a nice spot right next to the stage –so I did have front row seats to the mixologist competition (you too can have your drink sold on the ship for a week) next time I’m going to enter and call my drink “The Flaming Mo” in honor of the Simpsons (just have to mix something that is blue and yellow and make it taste good); then it was the hairy chest competition – one female judge didn’t realize that older guys were going to enter – she didn’t want to touch them – that was funny to watch

Not much else happened on Day 2 – spent the rest of the day in the sun – with a 30 sunscreen – so I’m less tan than when I left San Diego.

So after almost 4 hours in the sun – I check out the Art Auction – same old stuff – different ship. But this auction just dragged, and dragged, and dragged. It started at 2:00 – I got out of there at 3:35. And I didn’t win any prizes (then again – I think they gave out 5 prizes – and 2 of those were a free margarita from a restaurant in Cabo) They either need to pick up the pace or give out some more prizes to keep us interested.

Went to the Captains Cocktail Party – drinks are discounted $1.00 – I hear a lot of complaints about the drinks not being free – I don’t care – I know that the past guest party is coming up and there are free drinks then.

Moving ahead to dinner – again – have a nice leisurely drink before dinner – watch the line of people waiting to get in – ok – I can forgive the wait on Day 1 because you’re not sure where to sit – what the room looks like, etc. But Day 2 – you should know where you are sitting – so why wait for 15 minutes for the doors to open – you are still going to get food if you get in at 8:20. So at 8:20 – I get up and walk right over to the table. Adrian is there to greet me – this is a first for me – I’m so used to Anytime Dining that I haven’t gotten the same waiter 2 nights in a row – I like it.

Going to have a bottle of wine tonight so no need for any Bar Service – I did notice that my folio from yesterday says that I had drinks in Dukes – I know I didn’t. But it turns out that is the bar that the Imagination Restaurant uses for their drinks – so I guess I did go to Dukes.

Lets talk about the layout of the dining room – I keep hearing that there are NO tables for 2 on the Elation – maybe 11 years ago that was true – but In the Imagination Dining Room – there are TONS of 2-tops. And some actually have a little privacy – so if anyone is looking for a 2-top – go meet the Maitre D right away and request one (or go for Your Time Dining – I counted 15 2-tops on that side of the Dining Room alone)

It’s formal night – since it was Carnival – I didn’t want to be the only person in a tux – so I went for the suit and tie. Turns out there were several tuxes on the ship – I should have gone with my gut feeling and brought the tux. The dress in the dining room went from shorts and sandals to tuxedos. I know people complain about shorts in the dining room – but to each his own as long as everyone is having a good time.

After dinner I decide to give the show a try so its off to the Mikado. Make note – if you want to see the show – GET THERE EARLY – you know when they say that there isn’t a bad seat in the house – well they weren’t talking abut the Mikado Lounge. There are MANY bad seats in the house – the sight lines were horrible – the only good balcony seats I could find were front row and last row balcony. I checked out other areas – but found myself looking at the stage overhang, looking at the back of the stage, looking at the balcony barrier – everywhere except the actual stage – and I don’t think I’m wrong – but isn’t the stage what we are all supposed to be watching during a show?? Tonight’s show – its called Rhythm. Almost every cruise show I’ve seen is laid out in the same format – A Lead Male Singer (LMS) , A Lead Female Singer(LFM), A Lead Dancer (LD) and the rest (chorus). Problem with that is if you do not like any of the leads – I liked the LFS, but the LMS had a weak voice – he moved well – but he wasn’t there to dance – so I spent the time cringing when he reached for some of the notes. IMO – the show went on a little long – there was this number called the Calendar Girls – they sang 12 different songs (1 for each month). I also don’t know why they can’t mic the dancers – Six Flags can mic their dancers – why can’t Carnival. It takes away from the show when the Dancers are mouthing the words (sometimes badly).

After the show – I took a walk on deck – its getting warm out there – I’m thinking its going to be hot in Cabo.

Day 3 – Port Day in Cabo

Today I decide to have breakfast in Tiffany’s Restaurant – turns out it was the best breakfast of the week – nothing is better than a custom made omelet. The two lines inside have the same things as the 2 lines outside – (except omelets are outside). Just go to the shortest line.

This is going to be a glorified sea day for me. Just going to sit around the pool and read my book until about 11:00 – then take a tender to shore and have a nice lunch.

It was HOT and HUMID – I took a walk downtown (lots of construction – which made crossing the streets easier than normal). Made my way down to the supermarket – bought a couple of bottles of water – then walked around the mall to get out of the heat. They added a new upscale section to the mall in the last year. Some really nice jewelry stores but a little out of my price range (who am I kidding – A LOT out of my price range). But the air conditioning was cold so I was happy.

Hit the marina and made a trek over to Solomon’s Landing Restaurant – the closer I got to the restaurant – the less I wanted to eat – for me – it was too hot and humid to drink and have a heavy Mexican Meal. No big deal – I’ll head back to the ship and see what’s going on there.

Walked right onto a tender (well almost walked on the tender – I was last on the line and people didn’t want to squeeze together to let one more on (If everyone had moved over – we would have fit another 4 people on the tender) So I got to wait for the next tender – 20 minutes later the full tender pulled away.

Dropped off my backpack and headed to the buffet for lunch (the restaurants are closed for lunch to give the staff a well deserved couple of hours off). Hmmm – corn bread focaccia (not good), salmon (not good), pasta (not good) – I see a pattern forming here. I think I’m getting a burger – oh look – they have grilled chicken – that’s what I’ll get. I’ll be back in 6 minutes – I find the smallest chicken breast I have ever seen – and its ice cold – wow – I’m about zero for seven items for lunch. Only thing left is the Mongolian Bar-B-Que – that was good last time.

Remember that warning way in the beginning of this report about watching the tray placement on the Bar-B-Que – well I forgot about that. I have my plate full of veggies – I reach for something and I hear a CRASH – ha ha – some idiot must have dropped their food – hey look – people are pointing and laughing at the idiot – oh look they are pointing in my direction – the idiot must be near me – that’s strange – I don’t see anyone near me – and why is my leg wet? OH!!!

At least I don’t have to clean it up myself – two guys with brooms show up and put me out of my misery (in my defense – I did see 4 other people drop their trays in this same spot – maybe its time to reconfigure the shelf here)

Lunch turns out to be good – but if it wasn’t for the Mongolian – I would have given the lunch buffet a big thumbs down.

A little more time in the sun and then I’m going to hit the television trivia contest at the Drama Bar. Trivia was listed as a 3:30 start – so I got there around 3:40 and guess what – for the first time in history something on a cruise ship started on time – so I missed the first 4 questions – I sat there and listened in – and the geek in me knew the answers to all 16 questions. When they started the answer session – I also knew the answers to the all 20 questions – DAMN – I would have gotten my ship on a stick. I hung around for sports trivia – there were hard questions there – then scattergories – they should rethink that one. The question part was simple enough – but it took forever to go through the answer portion of the program.

Went to the past guest party (I’m pretty sure it was on Wednesday – might have been Thursday though). The Hors d' oeuvres were good and the drinks actually had some liquor in them. My friends laugh at me because I tip everyone I see – when I have a drink at the bar I tip a buck or two per round (and the drinks get stronger and sometimes the top shelf stuff comes out too). I do the same thing at the parties – the drinks keep coming when you give a dollar or two – the people sharing our booth couldn’t believe how many times the bartenders were bypassing other booths and hitting our booth first. You’re Welcome!!

Showtime for late dinner was early tonight – it was the hypnotist show. I loved this show. I’ve seen many hypnotist shows here in Las Vegas – and the quality of the show doesn’t just depend on the hypnotist but also on the audience. I’m glad this guy had some good participants – because he wasn’t the most personable hypnotist I’ve seen. He also needs to work on his music cues with the sound engineer – there were many times where the hypnotist would look up and you could see the look on his face wondering what was happening in the sound booth. They should also stop serving drinks during the induction stage – sometimes someone from the audience goes under during this stage – and that person is usually hysterical on stage. Since the wait staff is walking around talking – it doesn’t allow an audience member to go under.

The show was good – he had a couple of good people up on stage (especially the guy playing Michael Jackson) so everything worked (looking forward to the adult show tomorrow night)

It felt strange going to dinner after the show – but it works for me (I’m usually too tired after dinner to see a show). Again – people waiting online to get into the dining room. I forgot to mention the singing and dancing waiters every night. It is fun to see your waiter and assistant waiter dancing and singing after dinner. The waiter from the next section over was such a HAM – you could tell he loved the attention and everyone loved watching him perform for our section.

I went to Karaoke after dinner – many drunks getting up and singing (badly). There were two girls who admitted to being totally wasted. At least they warned us they were going to be bad. After a duet of Baby Got Back – they walked off (and one of them was talking about getting to the rest room because she might throw up). I stayed for about 6-7 “singers”. Not one was any good – maybe if I had gotten there earlier (before everyone was drinking). I don’t know who the finalists are going to be for Carnival Idol – but I know it isn’t going to be any of these people from tonight.

Another sea day tomorrow.