Ecstasy or Elation?

She'll probably want slide..she likes swimming also. maybe I should show her pictures see what she likes? It's essentially her birthday gift. Husband wants to go on Elation just because it will be just out of dry dock.

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Ecstasy was my very first cruise in 2013 and so far was my favorite. The crew and service was by far the best I have ever experienced. We always had something to do and had a fantastic time - it's what got us really into cruising. Since then we've been on Paradise, Legend, Victory and Conquest (not very many to be sure) and we have Magic upcoming, but I can still honestly say Ecstasy was still my favorite.

hi Aubrey's mom

apparently you had access to a nearby carnival booking engine that updated before the one we default to

so, yep today the one here shows the princess cays for ecstasy and elation both

VTG still shows freep on ec and hmc but they may never get it updated!'

last year, someone's engine nearby them had the wrong itinerary all year long as well, but we booked thru perx that time and the carnival engine here confirmed the same itinerary as well

the waterslides on ecstasy up top and at the back don't empty into a pool but a splash area, kind of a giant slip and slide area

like others say, the front pools are the same but ecstasy had the old blue slide removed, elation still has theirs, both ships have the mini golf too I think

all the forward hot tubs on both ships are open to all now, both ships have serenity aft for adults only with two hot tubs each

past guest offers get you up on empress midship for what seems like a decent dealio

while early saver gets you one the boat a bit cheaper but if you'd upgrade up to empress it might even be more!

looking at the elation pricing, only right now but I did peek at ecstasy too for just a second

we are taking my son his wife and my grandson on a cruise in august on elation, just before the drydock, pre guys, but hey we get the Mongolian wok one more time!!!:)

hi Aubrey's mom

 

apparently you had access to a nearby carnival booking engine that updated before the one we default to

 

so, yep today the one here shows the princess cays for ecstasy and elation both

 

VTG still shows freep on ec and hmc but they may never get it updated!'

 

last year, someone's engine nearby them had the wrong itinerary all year long as well, but we booked thru perx that time and the carnival engine here confirmed the same itinerary as well

 

the waterslides on ecstasy up top and at the back don't empty into a pool but a splash area, kind of a giant slip and slide area

 

like others say, the front pools are the same but ecstasy had the old blue slide removed, elation still has theirs, both ships have the mini golf too I think

 

all the forward hot tubs on both ships are open to all now, both ships have serenity aft for adults only with two hot tubs each

 

past guest offers get you up on empress midship for what seems like a decent dealio

 

while early saver gets you one the boat a bit cheaper but if you'd upgrade up to empress it might even be more!

 

looking at the elation pricing, only right now but I did peek at ecstasy too for just a second

 

we are taking my son his wife and my grandson on a cruise in august on elation, just before the drydock, pre guys, but hey we get the Mongolian wok one more time!!!:)

Is it better to book under past guest instead of early saver? I've only cruised one other time with Carnival on the Valor in October. I'm going to show my daughter the pictures of the pools and slides to see what she is more interested in. She had a blast in a plain ole pool at KOA last week. I think she was just as happy with that as she was going to Aquatica in Orlando.

now THAT is a sticky question......

it really all depends on whether you are trying to squeeze every single penny out of the deal

what I find is, that its kind of a bait and switch thing, until you go thru the booking process online about 7 different ways, and write everything down, you won't know which deal is better

OR

if you have been assigned a PVP you can just give them a call and they can check all the different deals you might be eligible for, age 55+ doubtful, but for your parents probably so, maybe, possibly sate discounts, early saver or any of a million different time sensitive deals

also, teacher discounts, military, police or other possible employee type deal

and, then vifp, which generally gives you two upgrades, sometimes more, or sometimes OBC

so, in some cases Early Saver lets you on the boat, with a choice of only certain cabin grades, sometimes ES allows best available cabin deals

so you might find with some tinkering that Es say is 499 bucks while vifp might be 529 a 30 dollar diff per person

but, if you chose to upgrade with ES to the same cabin type exactly, it might cost MORE, or the same or, maybe there is another perk that is offered on top of the price

you may find that your cabin for 3 is cheaper one way while your parents works best with another rate

shoot me an email, kellisnc@msn.com and I can put you in touch with our pvp but we aren't supposed to pass this info along on CC directly in a posting just put CC in the topic I gotta real aggressive junk filter

ALSO, the rules vary according to what rate you book so that in some cases, the penatlies for cancelling or changing a booking kick in. With ES those penaties are usually the highest! Cruise lines in general are getting more like the airlines each day!:( I ought to know it my wife has worked for the airlines for 39 years!!!

Some thoughts on your decision. We have sailed out of Charleston and Jax several times and have sailed Ecstasy and other Fantasy class ships, but never Elation. But we have Elation booked for 3 future cruises! It is usually so much cheaper to sail out of Jax just as in your case. As for my thoughts:

The Jax port is so much easier than Charleston that the extra drive is almost worth it. You will spend at least an extra 30 minutes in Charleston getting on the ship (maybe an hour). So subtract that from the extra drive.

I wouldn't put too much stock in the Waterworks. First of all, that time of year is going to be cold, especially sailing out of Charleston or Jax. Your sea days going down and back will be the best opportunity for swimimg on the ship, but those are the days you will be furthest north and will be coldest. For as much time as she is likely to be swimming, one slide is probably plenty.

I have an 11 year old daughter and she first cruised at 8. She had a blast but really did not spend much time at Waterworks. There is just too much other stuff to do. We just sailed Sunshine last week and she didn't go to Waterworks once.

I guess I am just saying that it may not be worth the $500 just for a couple of extra slides that she may not get to use much anyway.

As for the rate, ES has penalties for changes or cancelation. With past guest rate, you can cancel or change any time up to final payment. The rate is usually just a few dollars difference.

So if you want some flexibility between now and October, go with PG.

Enjoy your cruise! No matter which ship, she will have a blast.

Some thoughts on your decision. We have sailed out of Charleston and Jax several times and have sailed Ecstasy and other Fantasy class ships, but never Elation. But we have Elation booked for 3 future cruises! It is usually so much cheaper to sail out of Jax just as in your case. As for my thoughts:

 

The Jax port is so much easier than Charleston that the extra drive is almost worth it. You will spend at least an extra 30 minutes in Charleston getting on the ship (maybe an hour). So subtract that from the extra drive.

 

I wouldn't put too much stock in the Waterworks. First of all, that time of year is going to be cold, especially sailing out of Charleston or Jax. Your sea days going down and back will be the best opportunity for swimimg on the ship, but those are the days you will be furthest north and will be coldest. For as much time as she is likely to be swimming, one slide is probably plenty.

 

I have an 11 year old daughter and she first cruised at 8. She had a blast but really did not spend much time at Waterworks. There is just too much other stuff to do. We just sailed Sunshine last week and she didn't go to Waterworks once.

 

I guess I am just saying that it may not be worth the $500 just for a couple of extra slides that she may not get to use much anyway.

 

As for the rate, ES has penalties for changes or cancelation. With past guest rate, you can cancel or change any time up to final payment. The rate is usually just a few dollars difference.

So if you want some flexibility between now and October, go with PG.

 

Enjoy your cruise! No matter which ship, she will have a blast.

Thanks for the great advice. This is just the response I was hoping for. I never really thought about it being too cold on our sea days.

Any other suggestions for her age?? Even of things to bring?

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Thanks for the great advice. This is just the response I was hoping for. I never really thought about it being too cold on our sea days.

 

Any other suggestions for her age?? Even of things to bring?

 

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I am going to write back later with a more elaborate response. My daughter has journaled on a couple of our cruises, so I will go through them and put together some detailed thoughts. But I didn't want you to think I forgot about you, so here is a short response.

My daughter has sailed once at 8, once at 9, twice at 10 and once at 11. If you ask her the best thing about the cruise, she will say room service! She just loves the idea of filling out that hang tag and them delivering it to her the next morning. Sometimes it is the simple pleasures (which I would say is the key thing to remember with a child on a cruise..they are just excited about the little things sometimes.)

When you make your booking, be sure to put down that it is her birthday. They should bring a small cake and sing to her (you can also order a larger cake, but there is already so much food!) My daughter liked dressing up and going to dinner. Even that is something out of the ordinary that can excite a kid. She even likes going to sea day brunch.

More to come! Let us know which ship you decide.

I would say to check out camp on the first day. They will have a schedule for the whole cruise and she can decide if she wants to attend anything. If they have a magician coming in, that is a good one. My daughter has spent lots of time at camp on some cruises and none at all on others. It just depends on what is going on and who she meets there.

They usually have a towel folding show. Try to make that. They teach you how to make some towel animals and it is a lot of fun.

There is a Dr. Seuss breakfast for $5. We have never done it but it gets good reviews.

Don't miss the Hasbro game show. Kids love it!

My daughter's journal talks about playing life sized chess, ping pong, and mini golf (try to play mini golf on embarkation day before you set sail because it can be windy during sailing.) Her journal also mentions night golf several times! I don't remember that, but evidently we played mini golf at night and it made an impression.

Here is what her journal says, word for word, about the food she tried:

"Cool foods I ate: I ate crab cake, frog leg (tastes like chicken), lobster, duck, alligator, conch, shark, and liked most of it!"

She was proud to try all kinds of food while her boy cousins ate chicken nuggets and french fries.

Oh, and the comedy shows are another of her favorite. The PG shows are really very kid friendly. We have seen about a dozen comedians and only one has not been funny. Kids like to sit up front and comedians are good with them.

We let her get one virgin strawberry daiquiri per day and she thinks that is the bomb! This last time we got her $50 cruise cash so she could go to the arcade and the candy store and get what she wants. Sometimes these are the things that are the most memorable.

Hope this helps. If I think of anything else, I will add it. Oh, and your room will be smaller that what you likely had on valor. I have tips on how to make a room for 3 very workable. Let me know if interested.

I live right outside Charleston but my last two cruises have been from Jacksonville. Even with the drive to Jacksonville and paying to park, it is MUCH cheaper to sail from Jacksonville. They are basically the same ship with similar routes. I use the money I save to treat myself to the Cheers program.

We did Jacksonville & Elation this past November. We came in from NJ. We drove to Brunswick GA and stayed overnight. It was a breeze the next morning to get to Jacksonville. We went for an oceanview room. It was fine.

I've been on both (although it has been awhile) and I love these older ships. I haven't been on any of Carnival's newest ones, but we tried the Glory and I much prefer the fantasy class. While they are smaller they feel less crowded to me and I kind of enjoy their crazy weird decor.

Also haven't sailed out of Jacksonville but have sailed out of Charleston in Dec (didn't catch what time you're sailing) and like others have said it was chilly and choppy the first day and last night and you do feel the movement more on these smaller ships.

Wow, thanks for all the great help. I think we are going to go out of JAX. I never thought about taking her to tyne comedy shows since we always went to the late shows. I'm really looking forward to this trip.

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I finally booked Elation a few minutes ago!! Also got FTTF since we are driving overnight we may need to rest in our room for a bit.

Elation because it is cheaper, Jax is a better user friendly port, more cruises to HMC, more 5 day cruises that have 3 ports of call...

well OK good deal!

hope you and the family have a great time!

ken