PaulaB52

We had E1 and E3 in December. I never heard anything from above or on the side of us. If I wouldn't have known better, I would have thought there wasn't anyone in those cabins. The fan/ac is a nice white noise conductor.

have a great trip

I have a 15 and a 14 year old boys who love to eat. Believe me, they got their money's worth at Mr. Sancho's. :) The food was really good and there's quite a bit to choose from off of the menu, plus there is a buffet. My boys went straight menu (we were on the AI side).

We didn't do any of the water toys, though they did do the snorkling for a desposit that was returned.

The trivia games were really fun. Trivia is one of my favorite things to on land, so it was a given we were going to attend as much as possible. Name that Tune was my Gold Star moment as I won a ship on stick. It now resides on my computer desk at work proving to everyone of my co-workers that my useless talent for knowing words to all songs pays off LOL.

they did have some really hard trivia, like Ancient History and this one where they give you the letters of the words. Sort of like this:

26 L I T A=26 Letters In The Alphabet

My husband loved that one.

The last sea day was almost a full day of trivia. We basically stayed and played all day because it was raining.

Unlike the majority of the reviewers here, our experience was not as pleasant as theirs. We had the unfortunate luck to be in port on Christmas Day, 13. Many of the vendors were not there. We had no plans for anything in Progresso so when an Autoprogresso agent approached us in the market, we listened to what he said.

1st off, he told us we were only paying for the Technotel. We had zero desire to see salt flats, Mayan ruins, and flamingos. All we wanted was some beach, tequila, and some food. We paid 35/pp, got the wrist band and waited for our 15 passenger van to arrive.

If you're wanting a massage, get them in the market. You can get them for 20 bucks there, more like 30-50 at Technotel.

We get in the van with a bunch of really nice people. Our tour guide was a wonderful young man named Christian. Very sweet. We begin the tour with trying to find gas on Christmas day. Not sure why that wasn't handled before hand. Finally, get gas, head out. We were under the impression we would be dropped off at Technotel and everyone else would meet up with us after the ruins, etc. Nope, we got the whole freaking kit and kaboodle. While some might thing "score", we were aggravated. It was not what I wanted and they wouldn't drop us off, I asked.

When we finally get to Technotel, it was a super let down. The beach is rather dirty looking. Think Biloxi or Galveston. The water was murky and shallow, just like Biloxi. I knew it wasn't Cozumel, but I hoped for better than Biloxi. We wanted a place with some shade, but the only shady place was some plastic tables with those cheap plastic chairs that stack. So, no reclining or sun bathing. There were some weird hard plastic chairs that sit directly on the sand closer to the beach, but they were already taken. The pool area was very nice, looked like it was bustling with waiters. We didn't see any waiters on the beach. If you wanted food, you had to go to the buffet and get it yourself. Food was not so great at all. Mr. Sancho's the next day was much better.

The bar on the beach was playing music, which was nice. It would have been nicer if I could have be sun bathing instead of sitting in a flimsy plastic stacking chair. The only beer they have is Sol, and it's in a can that they pour into a plastic cup. Of course, it was hot. The tequila was the lesser quality, what I call the rot gut. No Don Julio or even Patron.

Even though we had paid ahead of time some person came up to my sons and husband and said they needed our credit card for payment. Nope, we already paid.

Because of the rest of the tour, we were only at the Technotel for about 2 hours, but IMO, it was 2 hours too long. I hope that this poor experience was a direct result of it being Christmas day and most people just wanted to be home with their families. I doubt that I'll ever do this Technotel again.

You made a great choice.

1. All you can drink alcohol

2. All you can eat delicious Mexican food (believe me, my teen boys put a hurtin on them)

3. Attentive waiters

4. free wi-fi (just have to ask them to log you in)

5. quiet areas or party areas, your choice

6. fun water activities for the kids

7. bath house that is pretty clean

8. lockers for a 10.00 deposit that you receive back at the end of the day

9. free snorkel equipment for a 5.00 deposit you receive back

10. really cool things underwater to look at, beautiful clear water to swim in, sunshine or shade, lounging chairs or beds, swim up bars or sit down bars.

I'm so jealous, I wish I was going tomorrow!

I'm not 100% sure on the 15% gratuity up front. I'm pretty sure that it is spread out to the bartenders when you order a drink using your cheers card. Personally, I would buy it again. It was so nice not having to worry about whether or not I was burning up my account with drinks. We tried every drink of the day (but didn't get the fancy glass), ordered wine with dinner, had after dinner drinks, drinks at the pool, etc. We always tipped 1.00 to the waiter or bartender who brought our drinks to us. I think that kept me in alcohol without too much a wait, even when super busy.

We had a port hole room, which it really was like a bay window. You could sit and look outside. It was nice, but if had to choose between the extra money for the OV or getting the Cheers package, I'd get the interior room and put the $$ on the drinks!

I mean, it's nice, but it's not like you're going spend hours on that ledge looking outside.

We were on the Christmas week cruise. We did have an ice bucket in our room and we never asked for ice, it was just there. I actually saw the cleaning cart in the hall and it had an ice chest full of ice. I supposed it was for filling everyone's bucket in their room.

The MDR food is not like eating at Commander's Palace, but ya'll, with the amount of food they have to push out, I commend their efforts. The lasagna was really really good and so was the "study in sushi" and the mahi-mahi on the last night.

We had fabulous bar service anywhere we went. Orlando was a great trivia host and we had a lot of fun playing. We went to one show, the rock and roll show. It was a bit cheesy (for us), but I did feel it was entertaining. We didn't really do any of the other shows. I prefer karoke (but that's me).

I didn't care for the buffet breakfast, but the omelette bar was pretty good. Coffee was a good blend, not too weak and there was real butter and real cream (half and half), which totally shocked the heck out of me.

We're already booking next year on the Elation again.

My son is also in State football playoffs. I knew from previous years that it was a very real possibility their team would be headed that way. That's why I booked after football season but before baseball season begins!

I just keep telling myself they will be gone in 5 more years and then I can plan a vacation any ole time I want!

Good luck to your boys.

FTTF is SO worth the money...we paid for it on our Freedom Cruise in May - which was our 9th cruise....we had someone drop us off at the port....and we literally felt like we had an extra day on the ship....it seemed like we were on the ship that long......I recommend it 100% ..... everyone gets the message about don't come until..whatever time.........don't worry about that.....I am cruise in 10 days and I will be Platinum so I don't have to pay that money....my husband was so excited about this! But unfortunately he passed away of a massive heart attack while at work (never sick at all) on September 10th....I thought about cancelling the cruise...but it was nonrefundable with even the tips paid....and I knew how mad he would be if I gave up the being platinum part (we were being grandfathered in if we took the 10th cruise before December 31st) .... not sure how my first cruise will be without him..........but I know he will be sailing with me in spirit.....he loved cruising!

I'm so sorry to hear this. Have a good time knowing that your husband is watching you and celebrating your platinium cruise in spirit.

When my children were small, I was much too paranoid to even consider taking a cruise. What if they climbed up the rail and fell? What if the boat started to sink and we needed to get to the life rafts and they let go of my hand....it was just too much anxiety for me.

More power to you if you aren't a stressed out fanatic like I am. :) :p

Guess by now most who are interested in Cheers know that it's been added effective immediately on the Carnival Fantasy, Carnival Ecstasy, Carnival Elation and Carnival Paradise per John Heald.

WooHoo! I've been hoping they would put it on the Elation. We're sailing Christmas week. My hubs will be so excited!