AidenandCasensMommy Posted January 24, 2012 #1 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Hi everyone, we just got home today from our wonderful 4 night cruise on the Elation today. I wanted to do a quick little review & share some pictures. I wasn't able to find much info about the Elation prior to our trip so hopefully someone will find my review helpful in some way :). We live in Alabama about 40 miles south of Birmingham. We decided to drive straight down Thursday morning. It was about a 6 hour drive to New Orleans. We had no problems until we got about a mile away from the cruise terminal. Our GPS kept sending us in the wrong direction. Once we were close enough to the terminal, there were signs pointing out the way to go. We parked in the terminal garage. It was $64 for 4 day cruise parking. We arrived in the garage at 12pm & we were on the boat by 12:30pm. It was the smoothest embarkation process! We were able to go up to Lido deck & get some lunch. They were serving burgers, chicken fingers & fries at the grill & inside Tiffany's buffet they were serving italian food. We were told that our rooms would be ready by 1:30pm. We went shortly after that & they were ready. Our room was M47 (oceanview). Here are some pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geckog Posted January 24, 2012 #2 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Awesome! I am contemplating two on the Elation this year. Can't wait to see what you think! Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMSACE6 Posted January 24, 2012 #3 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Very nice so far, looking forward to hearing more about your cruise! Thanks for posting.:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATL2LAS Posted January 24, 2012 #4 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Looks like the Elation is due for her upgrade. I forgot about the pink wardrobes:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wwwcruisers Posted January 24, 2012 #5 Share Posted January 24, 2012 We were also on this cruise and agree it was the easiest embarkation and debarkation we have ever had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeatherGeek Posted January 24, 2012 #6 Share Posted January 24, 2012 I recognize you from our roll call thread :) We were there way early and embarkation was a few minutes delayed by a USCG inspection, but other than that, I agree it was very smooth. Our disembarkation seemed a bit disorganized, but we eventually got to where we needed to be. Once I finally figured out where the debark line was snaking around to, it went smooth & fast! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzneefan Posted January 24, 2012 #7 Share Posted January 24, 2012 So glad you are posting these. You are correct in that there are very few threads about Elation. We've got a trip in June so please post more pics and details about the trip BTW we live in Ttown so not too far away! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AidenandCasensMommy Posted January 24, 2012 Author #8 Share Posted January 24, 2012 I forgot to mention that our boys went with us, ages 3 & 5. Since we were all up at 4am, we relaxed in the room until the muster drill at 3:15pm. Our muster station was in the Mikado lounge. We were seated in there for about 15 minutes. Then we were all escorted outside & lined up in 3 rows to show which life boats we would use in case of a real emergency. This was probably the worst part, holding the boys still for 15 minutes in a straight row. It was over before we knew it though. Then it was time to set sail. We sailed away at 4pm. It was pretty gloomy outside & I didn't get any good pictures but here's what it looked like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AidenandCasensMommy Posted January 24, 2012 Author #9 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Here are a few pics throughout the boat. This was my favorite spot on the boat. It was an adult only section right below Tiffany's buffet. The water looked so pretty when lounging there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser fanatic Posted January 24, 2012 #10 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Are you going to be happening to post the Funtimes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AidenandCasensMommy Posted January 24, 2012 Author #11 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Now, let's talk about the food... Here is Tiffany's buffet. I remembered to take a few pictures of the menus there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AidenandCasensMommy Posted January 24, 2012 Author #12 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Are you going to be happening to post the Funtimes? I did bring them all home with me. I wasn't sure if I should take a picture of them or scan them into the computer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser fanatic Posted January 24, 2012 #13 Share Posted January 24, 2012 I did bring them all home with me. I wasn't sure if I should take a picture of them or scan them into the computer. It would be better to scan them on to the computer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AidenandCasensMommy Posted January 24, 2012 Author #14 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Here is the type of food we ate at Tiffany's, the pool grill & the pizzeria. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AidenandCasensMommy Posted January 24, 2012 Author #15 Share Posted January 24, 2012 And the desserts at Tiffany's... I seriously over-ate on this cruise. To the point that I felt sick the last 2 nights. There were some days that I had 3 desserts :o. Honestly, the food was not that great. I did enjoy the chicken fingers from the pool grill & all of the desserts were delicious!! That is why I over-indulged on them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AidenandCasensMommy Posted January 24, 2012 Author #16 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Here is some food from the MDR. We had any time dining & we only ate in here 2 times. Again, the food was not great. I am not hard to please. I guess I just expected it to be better. Now the chocolate melting cake was great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AidenandCasensMommy Posted January 24, 2012 Author #17 Share Posted January 24, 2012 We decided not to do any shore excursions. Instead we just got off the boat & did a little shopping near the dock. We were back on the boat by 12pm & practically had it all to ourselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AidenandCasensMommy Posted January 24, 2012 Author #18 Share Posted January 24, 2012 We left Cozumel at 5pm headed back towards New Orleans. We watched a beautiful sunset as we sailed away. The water was a little rougher coming back from Cozumel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AidenandCasensMommy Posted January 24, 2012 Author #19 Share Posted January 24, 2012 We went to 2 shows while we were onboard, "Just Rock" & "Win". Both were great shows. The last show "Win" was a little too late at night for those with small children. It didn't start until 10:35pm. My youngest son was asleep before the show started. We let the boys go to camp carnival several times & they loved it. The girls taking care of them did a great job. We spent some time watching people gamble in the casino. We also watched multiple people try to win a ipad & money in this vending machine called "the vault". We never saw anyone win anything from it though. We did however see a woman that won $10,000 in the casino. The ship does tend to do a lot of sales pitches but if you are prepared, you know ahead of time to avoid them. They didn't bother me much. Overall, we had a great cruise! I love cruising & hope to do it again in the near future. I thought the Elation was very nice & clean. All of the staff was very friendly. I guess the most unfriendly was the MDR wait staff. For some reason, they were not as cheerful as everyone else on the ship. Everyone made a point to stop & talk to my kids. They loved that. For those that don't like kids, there were never many around. Camp Carnival did a great job keeping them corralled. We didn't really participate in any of the night life so I can't comment on that. In our stateroom, our beds were comfy & the room was nice & dark. On disembarkation, we were the last group called off the ship. It was a little longer process than getting on the ship. It probably took 45 minutes. Still not too bad. We would definitely recommend this ship to anyone wanting to cruise to Cozumel. I really wish we had done more exploring of Cozumel. I'm sure it's very beautiful! I'm going to try to scan the funtimes papers & I will add them to the first post. Hope you enjoyed my review. Let me know if you have any questions. I may be able to answer them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sukyrin Posted January 24, 2012 #20 Share Posted January 24, 2012 I cannot thank you enough for your review and the pictures. I have been on forums since my husband first told me about our cruise. I was and have been dissapointed that I cannot find very much about the Elation. So thank you and please keep posting !!!!! I want to know anything and everything. This is my first cruise, super excited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slugman Posted January 24, 2012 #21 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Great review. We will be sailing on her May 5 of this year. Was on her sister Excstasy last October out of NOLA. Have seen both good and bad reviews, but from the pics and your summary I can see we made a good choice. Either way tho, a bad day on a boat beats a good day at work anyday. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcrx Posted January 24, 2012 #22 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Thanks for review..this upcoming cruise next month will be our 3rd time on the Elation..once out of Cape Canaveral, Mobile and now NOLA..Mardis Gras weekend at that! Can't wait..doing the 4 day cruise as well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gelo7 Posted January 24, 2012 #23 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Excellent review and photos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M&MGirl1 Posted January 24, 2012 #24 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Thanks for the great review and wonderful photos! We're going on the Elation in June and I can't hardly wait! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrotser Posted January 24, 2012 #25 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Thanks for the info! We sail out this Saturday and are so excited. If you have the daily activities, I'd love to see them! Thanks for the review and pictures! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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