Elation Spring Break 4 day review

A little about myself, my name is Wendy, I'm 39, married, but sailing this time without my Hubby. I brought along with me my DD (16), her BFF (16), DS (7) my sister, her husband and nephews (16) and (7). Yes, my sister and I have children the same age, even with that huge age gap between them, wacky, I know.

We have sailed Disney, Princess and Carnival. This was my 9th cruise total, my 7th with Carnival. We have sailed on Carnival for Spring Break before and said we would never do it again. I agreed to this because this cruise was dirt cheap, $209 per person and because the teens were begging, I still wasn't able to talk my hubby into it though, he had plenty of Spring Break the last time. I figured even if it was crazy I could spend lots of time on the top or lobby deck or in my cabin reading. There is always somewhere to get away from the crowds.

I will break my posts into subjects and post them individually. This was our 3rd time on the Elation, although we had a great time customer service has declined, but not for lack of trying (in most cases) it just seems that they don't have enough hands or time.

Please feel free to ask any questions and I will try to help as much as possible. This may take a little time for me because I am returning to work tomorrow. I hope you enjoy.

A little about myself, my name is Wendy, I'm 39, married, but sailing this time without my Hubby. I brought along with me my DD (16), her BFF (16), DS (7) my sister, her husband and nephews (16) and (7). Yes, my sister and I have children the same age, even with that huge age gap between them, wacky, I know.

 

We have sailed Disney, Princess and Carnival. This was my 9th cruise total, my 7th with Carnival. We have sailed on Carnival for Spring Break before and said we would never do it again. I agreed to this because this cruise was dirt cheap, $209 per person and because the teens were begging, I still wasn't able to talk my hubby into it though, he had plenty of Spring Break the last time. I figured even if it was crazy I could spend lots of time on the top or lobby deck or in my cabin reading. There is always somewhere to get away from the crowds.

 

I will break my posts into subjects and post them individually. This was our 3rd time on the Elation, although we had a great time customer service has declined, but not for lack of trying (in most cases) it just seems that they don't have enough hands or time.

 

Please feel free to ask any questions and I will try to help as much as possible. This may take a little time for me because I am returning to work tomorrow. I hope you enjoy.

How did the ship look? Was it still pretty dated (especially the cabin and bathroom)? In 2012, the ship looked worn.

A little about myself, my name is Wendy, I'm 39, married, but sailing this time without my Hubby. I brought along with me my DD (16), her BFF (16), DS (7) my sister, her husband and nephews (16) and (7). Yes, my sister and I have children the same age, even with that huge age gap between them, wacky, I know.

 

We have sailed Disney, Princess and Carnival. This was my 9th cruise total, my 7th with Carnival. We have sailed on Carnival for Spring Break before and said we would never do it again. I agreed to this because this cruise was dirt cheap, $209 per person and because the teens were begging, I still wasn't able to talk my hubby into it though, he had plenty of Spring Break the last time. I figured even if it was crazy I could spend lots of time on the top or lobby deck or in my cabin reading. There is always somewhere to get away from the crowds.

 

I will break my posts into subjects and post them individually. This was our 3rd time on the Elation, although we had a great time customer service has declined, but not for lack of trying (in most cases) it just seems that they don't have enough hands or time.

 

Please feel free to ask any questions and I will try to help as much as possible. This may take a little time for me because I am returning to work tomorrow. I hope you enjoy.

Looking forward to your review. My next cruise is on the Elation and is also a four day cruise.

CABIN:

We were in cabin U189 an ocean view room. Our room steward was Jonathan, he was pleasant and helpful. We asked for ice on the first afternoon and never had to ask for it again. We had a towel animal every night and Jonathan would arrange my sons toys in different ways on his bed each night. Beds were comfortable. We had four people in our room, but it actually slept five. Jonathan had no problems making up the 5th bed for us when my nephew wanted to sleep over. There were no toiletry samples or chocolates on our pillows as in the past, but it didn't effect our enjoyment of the room. Our room was perfect in every way except one.....

It was MISERABLY hot at night. We have sailed on the Elation 2 times before this sailing and our rooms have been chilly at night, sometimes too cold (thanks to hubby). They have switched over from the old ceiling vent system to a thermostat on the wall. The first night was awful, I woke up sweating, turned on my night light to see if there was anything I could do about the heat and realized that it wasn't just me, no one in the room was using any of their covers, my 7 year old had completely kicked his off the bed. I hoped that maybe this was because we were sailing slowly down the Mississippi (you know how sometimes older cars AC doesn't work very well when they are idling, I was trying to be positive) It was cooler the next morning so I hoped I was right, unfortunately I was not. The 2nd night was worse than the first, these teens can sleep anywhere, anytime and they are miserable. I called customer service the next day, they sent a tech who measured the temp in the room and said it was within range. I agreed that it was comfortable at the moment, but it wouldn't be tonight. She said I should call back then....in the middle of the night....I asked if I could have a fan, she said no, that they only give out fans for medical emergencies or if the levels were not within range. I called customer service when the tech left anyway and was told the same thing. I asked to speak to a manager only to be told the same thing again. I finally said "We are miserable at night, we are to the point of sleeping up on deck, why would you keep a fan in storage if we need it, If you give it to us and some one has a medical need for one we will gladly give it up". She said she would see if she could do something. We also asked our room steward and he said he would talk to his manager. The last sea day while we were at breakfast someone brought a fan to our room. It was small and did not rotate, but it was defiantly better than nothing.

Does anyone have any idea why it would only get hot at night?

How did the ship look? Was it still pretty dated (especially the cabin and bathroom)? In 2012, the ship looked worn.

Yes, she is showing a lot of wear, although the crew keeps the ship spotlessly clean. I noticed most of the wear in the cabin area, most public areas were very nice. The carpet in our room could have been better and our sink had cracks in it. The Lido deck just always seemed yucky, although I can't really explain why. I suppose it just lacked something.

Yes, she is showing a lot of wear, although the crew keeps the ship spotlessly clean. I noticed most of the wear in the cabin area, most public areas were very nice. The carpet in our room could have been better and our sink had cracks in it. The Lido deck just always seemed yucky, although I can't really explain why. I suppose it just lacked something.

I was afraid of this. Some of the older Fantasy-class ships look better then the Elation because they have had a major refurbishment. Elation and Paradise have had nothing done to them. She needs a MAJOR renovation. Also, the chocolates and toiletry basket were stopped fleet wide.

How were the crowds? I know you said it was Spring Break but it wasn't Spring Break here in Louisiana so I don't think your sailing will be as crazy as next week when everyone around here is off.

I am on the Dream next week and my only worry is about Spring Break. Being on a 7 day cruise may cut down on that a little (very little) but I am expecting tons of noise and lots of people that way my expectations are met or I am pleasantly surprised.

How were the crowds? I know you said it was Spring Break but it wasn't Spring Break here in Louisiana so I don't think your sailing will be as crazy as next week when everyone around here is off.

 

I am on the Dream next week and my only worry is about Spring Break. Being on a 7 day cruise may cut down on that a little (very little) but I am expecting tons of noise and lots of people that way my expectations are met or I am pleasantly surprised.

Not the OP but we had a HORRIBLE experience with noise on the Freedom 3 weeks ago. It was Spring Break here so lots of kids on the ship. Every night, the same kids ran down the hall, screamed loudly, kept entering and leaving cabins every 5 minutes and slammed the doors very loudly. I called Security 3 times!! On the 3rd time they finally were quiet.

How were the crowds? I know you said it was Spring Break but it wasn't Spring Break here in Louisiana so I don't think your sailing will be as crazy as next week when everyone around here is off.

 

I am on the Dream next week and my only worry is about Spring Break. Being on a 7 day cruise may cut down on that a little (very little) but I am expecting tons of noise and lots of people that way my expectations are met or I am pleasantly surprised.

I will elaborate a little more about it later, but it was insane....there were 2 high school bands on board, both had 150+ members as well as siblings and parents. To top that it was a New Orleans Saints charity cruise. the fans were rowdy, it was cool to get to meet the players though.

I wouldn't take a free cruise when school is out. Cheerleaders can say what they want but there is no control on a Carnival ship. Parents let them loose for the week. No thanks. I would be livid over a hot cabin unless it was Alaska and I could leave the balcony door open.

We have sailed on Carnival for Spring Break before and said we would never do it again. I agreed to this because this cruise was dirt cheap, $209 per person and because the teens were begging,

You obviously set yourself up for disaster right off the bat. I would never call these 3 or 4 dayers cruises. They set themselves up to be a cheap escape...and consequently many who choose them are looking for a place to let their hair down and often act accordingly. Because of this the cruiselines usually provide their oldest ship, a skeleton staff, and don't really put their best foot forward because their passengers, for the most part, aren't to interested in the "experience". I wouldn't take a 3 or 4 day cruise if someone paid me...did it once eons ago and once was more than enough.

You obviously set yourself up for disaster right off the bat. I would never call these 3 or 4 dayers cruises. They set themselves up to be a cheap escape...and consequently many who choose them are looking for a place to let their hair down and often act accordingly. Because of this the cruiselines usually provide their oldest ship, a skeleton staff, and don't really put their best foot forward because their passengers, for the most part, aren't to interested in the "experience". I wouldn't take a 3 or 4 day cruise if someone paid me...did it once eons ago and once was more than enough.

Do you think my 7 day over Spring Break will be so bad? I don't mind the kids as I usually spend my time in the casino or on my balcony. The one thing I wont handle well is kids running up and down the halls the entire time banging and screaming. Hopefully we get lucky with our location.

Do you think my 7 day over Spring Break will be so bad? I don't mind the kids as I usually spend my time in the casino or on my balcony. The one thing I wont handle well is kids running up and down the halls the entire time banging and screaming. Hopefully we get lucky with our location.

I love spring break cruises...gone are all the walkers and wheel chairs and entitled passengers who think the cruise should revolve around them. Instead, on 7 dayers, you have lots of families who are participating in a very special vacation for them and a treat for their kids and teens. I have been on 50 years worth of cruises and have yet to see children behave as badly as many adults do. Carnival's newer ships provides eons of things to keep kids busy...they are large enough to provide areas where the kids can blow off their excess energy.

My experience for 7 day spring break cruises have all been positive...but the fact that I think kids are wonderful and can fully remember being one probably help my perceptions. And I think parents do a great job with their kids and are great at keeping tabs on them.

CROWDS:

Since there is much discussion of this I will start there. Yes, it was crazy rowdy. I only witnessed one child being unsupervised and mischievous, so this could happen on any cruise. The children, high school and college kids were surprisingly well behaved, there were just so many of them. The hot tubs and pools were overflowing with children, there was never any space at Serenity or room in the hot tub. There were 17 college age kids in the hot tub at one point and they stayed there for the entire 2 hours that I was there. It wasn't a big issue for me, I was there to read and they were having fun and not being too loud.

The only issue that I think is rude on Serenity are the chair hogs, but not your normal chair hogs. My sister and I were sharing a lounger until another one opened up. I watched 4 chairs that had towels on them for around 20 minutes. I walked over to the lady sitting closest to them to ask if anyone had been there in awhile. as I asked a woman came over to tell me, in a very aggressive voice, that she and her friends were sitting there, but had gone to the back to sit in chairs to cool off under the roof. My sister and I finally gave up and went to the top deck, after about an hour we came down again and saw that they were STILL in the shade and not using their chairs. No big issue, it's just rude.

The Saints fans were there to PARTY and were fun to watch most of the time. They would get a little rowdy in the halls at night. We were close to the players rooms so I think that added to the noise. They were MUCH louder and prone to trouble than the kids. Again, I knew what I was getting onto, but if this is something you would have a problem with make sure to avoid The Saints Charity Cruise, it's an annual event.

If you think of any questions just let me know.

Food:

Everyone's favorite! I didn't take any pictures because we were just so laid back on this cruise. The food was was pretty great, I've had better, but I've also had much worse. Any meal where my children can have anything they want and I don't have to cook it or clean up is a win for me.

Lido Buffet:

We never ate there except on debarkation morning, I stuck to cottage cheese, sliced cheese, fruit and sliced ham/turkey so I can't really comment on the hot items. My children seemed to enjoy them.

Room Service:

Very popular with my children, the seven year old learned to order his own food this time. He used his manners well, they always gushed over him and let him sign the room service slip himself. He was excited to give out tips for the first time. Room service was super fast, faster than I ever remember, even when we returned from port. I expected a long wait and was shocked when food arrived in around 10 mins! I love the vegetable sticks, it's such a treat for this mom to have someone else cut up my veggies...corny I know, but I love the variety. I would never take the time to cut up that many different veggies for the same meal at home.

Deli:

Great, fresh, long line but it moved pretty fast.

Grill:

LONG lines, but great nachos and don't miss the mac and cheese!

Sea Day Brunch:

Nice and so fancy. Bagel breakfast, combination omelet with cranberry juice are my go to. If you like cereal make sure to order it, it's just so cute the way they present it, the little boys loved that they got to pour their own milk from the tiny milk pitchers. Service was fast and elegant.

Tea Time:

There are lots of fancy desserts and sandwiches here, but don't miss out on the chocolate cake! It's nothing like the chocolate cake from room service. This is homemade, home-style chocolate cake and it's spectacular. I also enjoy the strawberries and fresh cream.

Main Dining Room:

I saved the worst for last.

Anytime dining, how I love you so.....but you and I, we just aren't working out. We have enjoyed anytime dining on our last 3 cruises and have gotten spoiled with choosing our own time, but it just keeps getting slower and slower. The servers are working as hard as they possibly can, but there were many times we sat with plates in front of us, or waiting for the next course for 30 minutes or more. There were many empty water glasses, appetizers or extra entrees that were forgotten. Dinner routinely took 3 hours, we missed many shows that we wanted to see because dinner was too late. I have no problem with dinner taking 2 hours, but 3 is pushing it. Traditional timed dining is much more choreographed and efficient.

The food itself was great, but I'm excited to try the new menu on our December Dream cruise.

The bar service is the main dining room was a joke. I asked for the bar waiter 3 times, and no one ever sent anyone. Finally my waiter said he would be happy to take the order to him. It took an hour and half to get our drinks there. For the remainder of the cruise I just walked down to the atrium bar if we wanted drinks, it was much faster.

If you have any specific questions about the food, just let me know.

I love spring break cruises...gone are all the walkers and wheel chairs and entitled passengers who think the cruise should revolve around them. Instead, on 7 dayers, you have lots of families who are participating in a very special vacation for them and a treat for their kids and teens. I have been on 50 years worth of cruises and have yet to see children behave as badly as many adults do. Carnival's newer ships provides eons of things to keep kids busy...they are large enough to provide areas where the kids can blow off their excess energy.

 

 

 

My experience for 7 day spring break cruises have all been positive...but the fact that I think kids are wonderful and can fully remember being one probably help my perceptions. And I think parents do a great job with their kids and are great at keeping tabs on them.

I so agree!!

 

If you think of any questions just let me know.

MexicanMama, I hope that you have more items to share from your cruise.

1) So from your MDR review, does that mean you prefer the set time for dinner than "Anytime dinning"? And that the MDR would be a better experience that way?

2) Eagerly waiting to see if you have any thoughts on about kid / teen activities. Specifically, if your 16 yr olds did the teen club or their own thing. We'll be on the Elation this Fall Break - Oct 3 and my 16 DD is already asking if I think there will be people to make friends with & hang out with.

Thanks! I have enjoyed your review so far.

enjoying your review. We be on this Ship this July

We too are sailing in July. I'm not thrilled to hear about the cabin temperature issue (we are going to be a few doors down from whe you were). Enjoying your review.

Having just sailed Elation twice, once during Louisiana spring break when the ship was PACKED with families sailing five to a room, just like us, I would add:

Anytime dining looked awful. Long lines to enter at peak hours. We loved our set dining time wait staff and think it's worth giving up a little flexibility.

When the buffet was packed for lunch on Easter Sunday, the brunch was nearly empty and absolutely wonderful. Good food, good service, peaceful.

If you're cruising that time of year, especially on a small ship, you need to like kids, although the Serenity was a peaceful escape and I always found a place to sit there. On Lido, I personally preferred the hot tubs and dance floor packed with kids rather than drunk adults, but I can see that would be a problem for some. Also, all the times we got on an elevator and all the buttons had been pushed. A sense of humor helped.

One good thing about sailing with two billion children was that the gold/platinum/diamond party was relatively sparsely attended and there were more than enough free drinks.

We had no issues with cabin temps, but I tend to be cold so my perception may be off.

My kids liked Camp Carnival on the last day. The towel puppet show pulled them in and then they stayed for hours. My teen had no interest in the club, but there were basically kids hanging out everywhere on decks 10 (lido) and 11 (sports). When I sailed in Feb, there were still kids and teens at the basketball and volleyball courts and ping pong tables, just not nearly as many, plus the club I think might be more popular with girls than boys. They held evening dance parties in the adult disco club for only certain age ranges. They looked fun; my son is just not a dancer.

I love spring break cruises...gone are all the walkers and wheel chairs and entitled passengers who think the cruise should revolve around them.

Sweet Dutch Girl and XeroxMe, I am a first-time cruiser (on The Elation in September), and I was wondering what is wrong with people on walkers and in wheelchairs, and if they are the "entitled" ones, or if that's another subgroup of its own.

I wouldn't take a free cruise when school is out. Cheerleaders can say what they want but there is no control on a Carnival ship. Parents let them loose for the week. No thanks. I would be livid over a hot cabin unless it was Alaska and I could leave the balcony door open.

I am with you. Never, when school is out.

Glad to see you enjoyed yourself...thanks for the review. :):):):)