Joie

thank you for te replies. I sure hope we don't miss sail away....it is part of the fun....lol

Have sailed from N.O. twice before and the part where the ship turns around is quite the thing to see.......beside the party attitude. No balcony this trip and that is usually where we do sail away....so have to be up on deck.

Where do they do the muster drill on the Elation? Is it in the lounges or theather or do you have to put on life jackets and go to muster area?

not to be wasteful but I like the card cuz many times I end up with watered down pop or need more ice or just forget it and walk away....nice to be able to get a fresh one without spending another $2

I like the idea of new stops and longer cruises but not that it means two different flights.....gets very expensive flying that way. Round trip same city always been cheaper.

Whew.....our November cruise on the Dream still shows our original 7 days....so happy it hasn't changed..............was really worried !!!

well we have seen ruins many times so not sure what we will do here. I have heard the beach is not a peaceful place, so maybe we will do the trip to the resort and I hate that idea....oh well it's just a short relaxing trip and cruising is the objective.

bumping back up.....

Is there a beach area in Progreso where you can parasail or kite board ?

What is the best beach for such activities?

Thank you in advance for any info

which beach excursion or area would be good to go to with a 15 yr old.....we are not wanting to do any ruins.

booked for March.....10th Carnival cruise......can't wait !!!

Doing the Dream next Nov also......hello New Orleans!!!

oh that is disappointing. It is so nice to set your luggage in the hall the last night and not see it till we get back to Chicago.......oh well guess we are lugging it this time. :(

Does Elation offer the luggage express option for Southwest Airlines out of New Orleans?

We have used it many times from Florida and it is soooooo nice.

thank you for the replies....good info

No I just meant the cruise itself....I would NEVER let them book my air........way too expensive and always usually get really bad timing for flights. It's like they take all the leftovers that nobody wants.

Just curious.......we have always booked thru Carnival, but starting to see that some offers SOUND good online.............is it better deals and any problems arise form doing this?

Always used a PVP and afraid to do it any other way.

Any info greatly appreciated.

Pictures pictures....where can we see your pictures :)

My ecig.....actually vaping items....smell like butterscotch, mint, bakery items, etc.....don't think that smell needs to be cleaned up. And it's water vapor not smoke.....no lingering smell.

I am an ex-smoker .... smoked for over 40 yrs.....but have not had a cig for over 18 months....but I cruise with smokers who book balconies, don't see any problems with that.

But my ecig will be used on my balcony next cruise.....no smoke, no smoke smell.....so I WILL use it. The vapor exhaled will disappear before you ever see it.....and if you smell butterscotch then OMG call security !!!!!!!!!

just off the Freedom.....same old cans at the bar.

and it is a winding 8 hours.....never felt a ship make so many turns :)

We were on the Conquest years back and it is quite a big ship to make those turns when there is traffic on the river.....we felt like we were at sea in a storm some times. LOL

We just had it on the freedom last week....and it was a very very good idea. Couple of times we used the service desk and got waited on in 2 min....and there were people in line for a long time cuz we stopped at the store and came back out....had hardly moved. And then paying our bill on last night we walked up ...paid and done....it all of about 3 min. There were 22 people in line.....NOPE cant stand in line that long !!! Well worth it also for getting in the cabin.....being unpacked and eating lunch without our carry-ons.

And at Grand Cayman we went to service desk and were escorted downstairs and right on to the tender.....very nice.

I am a big fan.....although next cruise is our Platinum.....so we are getting there shortly.

thank you....never tried them so not sure if I would like that taste or not, but willing to try it.

So what is in carnivals regular Caesar salad?

So many different varieties.

I have NO problem with the auto-tipping, but one has to remember that it can be seen as much more than that....for example a family of 4 pays $46 per day for tips. So that is very generous I believe. And yes I know that covers a lot of people who serve us.

My daughter works at a restaurant where they have to TIP OUT the bartender and helper at the end of the evening 3%. and that's 3% of the BILL not 3% of the tip. So if someone leaves a $15 tip and the bill is $70, she really only gets about $12 of that.....and when they get stiffed for hardly any tip, they STILL have to take the 3% out of their pocket.

yeah those sauces don't sound great to me either....I prefer a sweet sour sauce or a soy and beef broth sauce. Nothing really spicy for me.....but would like to try it in a couple weeks.

great review.....we sail on her in a few weeks....can't wait !!! 9th Carnival cruise, first on Freedom though.