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Carnival Elation Review


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Carnival Elation Cruise June 28th-July 3rd

Embarkation: San Diego is an awesome city to leave from. It was so easy getting on and off of the ship. I have boarded ships in San Pedro and found the process much more difficult. San Diego also offers an incredible back drop to pull away from and come home too.

Ship Condition: Elation was a nice ship. The crew were always cleaning and trying to keep the ship looking nice. I do have to take issue with the passengers (some of them) for their disregard for the ship and her crew. I was amazed at the amount of cups/plates/glasses left lying around for the crew to pick up. People you are on vacation but that does not mean a vacation from humanity!

Fun: Cabo San Lucas was a blast. I recommend renting a wave runner it was soooo fun. Ensenada was okay. Ensenada offered more shopping than Cabo and I hate to shop. Both ports were fun in their own way.

Crew: I found the crew to be not as friendly has my past cruise experiences. The room stewards were awesome and nice but buffet and support staff seemed tired and not interested in passenger niceties. God bless them though as I could never do their jobs.

Food: This is where I have to take issue with Carnival. I will say that taste is subjective so what I found good or bad someone may disagree. The good first. Dinning room food was great, dinners were very tasty. The appetizers, mains, and desserts were top of the line in my opinion.

Buffet, oh my god! The food was terrible and I mean terrible. I am an avid fan of buffet eating and like food in general so I am not a picky eater but this stuff??? Selection was very limited for all meals, food was overly salty tasting. I think Carnival should really focus on bringing a more quality product to the buffet there was much room for improvement.

Grill, pizza and sandwiches were really good.

I have cruised on Royal Caribbean and found the food in the buffet to be much better than Carnival was on this trip.

Any questions please ask away.

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Were made-to-order omelettes and waffles available at the buffet for breakfast. Within the last 15 months I have been on Princess, HAL, and NCL. Each cruise line offered these selections at the buffet breakfast. I hope Carnival has this on their ships also. I'm glad to hear the dining room food is good.

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Nice timely review! We're heading out on the Elation in about a week. How cold was the water in Cabo? Do you recall what you paid to rent the wave runners? Were the prices negotiable? I assume you were hanging out on Medano Beach - any comments on whichever restaurant(s) you checked out there? Thanks!

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I loved Cabo the water was awesome. The weather was nice for most of our cruise with the exception of one cooler morning. Cabo weather was warm I would say hi 90's. We ate at the Office which was a resurant right on the beach in Cabo. Food was so so but the view was wonderful. The Wave Runner was 80.00 per hour and it ranged from 90.00 to 80.00 depending on the vendor. The wave runner was the trips high notes, riding up next to the cruise ship was cool.

Any questions ask away. And let me know when you retunr what you thought of the cruise.

 

Jeff

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Hey Jeff I was wondering, is this ship refurbished in any way ?

Is there a deli on this ship ?

I will be on this cruise, then on the return back to port, I will be going on Spirit. Does Spirit dock behind Elation, on the side of Spirit. How good is embarkation at this port ?

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I cruised on the elation on the 23rd of June. The deli was there in tiffany's and the sandwhiches were awesome. There was ALWAYS a line for them. Regarding refurbishments/ Evolutions of Fun Uprgrade, there is nothing yet. You will enjoy it. I had a blast.

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First time poster and cruiser here so please bear with me.

Will be traveling on the elation in November.

What was the general attire worn on the formal night dinner for both ladies and men?

What seemed to be acceptible on the other nights?

For my husband new levi's constitute dressing up. Dockers will be ok but a suit and tie probably isn't going to happen. I know there are other options for dining that night but was just curious about what seemed to be acceptable for formal night on the elation.

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As far as the remodel to the ship, it has not yet happened. The ship did look nice and had been update in 2002?? It looked great and the pool area is just fine.

 

The sandwich shop was in the buffet area near the pizza station and offered great product.

 

As far as attire goes. Formal night I saw people wearing dress type shorts so I think it is anything goes in the dinning room.

 

The shows on the ship were entertaining enough but they were not Las Vegas style shows. My 16 year old daughter lauged several times during the shows thinking them to be dorky..

 

Overall this is a great and fun cruise experience and a very layed back feel on the ship. I think this is a total relaxation cruise.

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who is the cruise director on the Elation..? also do you know the manes of the shows? we were on the elation back in March and hope they are not repeat shows dont want to see the same ones again, they had rythem and spin I think... thanks Jeff

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Three weeks from today my daugther (10) and I will be doing a mother/daughter cruise. We only booked a few days ago on a whim. Looking forward to hearin more about this ship. I am hesitant to get off the ship in Enenada for safety... but do plan to do an excursion in Cabo.

 

Was the water rough when sailing..?

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Three weeks from today my daugther (10) and I will be doing a mother/daughter cruise. We only booked a few days ago on a whim. Looking forward to hearin more about this ship. I am hesitant to get off the ship in Enenada for safety... but do plan to do an excursion in Cabo.

 

Was the water rough when sailing..?

we also have a rollcall going for that cruise,and you are more then welcome to join us.

:D

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we also have a rollcall going for that cruise,and you are more then welcome to join us.

:D

 

 

I think that means there are others on this board cruising at the same time.. How do we join you? Is there a link I look for? My daughter is well behaved and very polite... now my son (who is not coming) ..... ?????

 

 

Laurie

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As far as the sea being rough. I did experience some rough seas and probably the size of the Elation allows us to feel them more. Elation is a smaller ship but give it a couple hours and you are used to the movement.

 

Getting off of the ship in Cabo and Ensenada should not worry anyone. The Mexican people rely on the cruisers to come into town and stimulate the local economy so there is no real danger. You have to be able to say NO as the peddlers can be aggressive. Just say no thank you and move on.

 

If I forgot anything please feel free to email me at Cannon.j@sbcglobal.net. I would be glad help anyone that is taking the Elation cruise.

Please enjoy Cabo, I found Cabo to be a great place to enjoy and the water is so warm.

 

Jeff

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Hey Jeff I was wondering, is this ship refurbished in any way ?

Is there a deli on this ship ?

I will be on this cruise, then on the return back to port, I will be going on Spirit. Does Spirit dock behind Elation, on the side of Spirit. How good is embarkation at this port ?

 

I was on the Elation June 2007 and Jan 2008. Yes it needs some reburbishing, but is clean. The Elation always parks on one particular side of the pier and the Spirit on the other. They were both there in Jan. and you would just get your luggage from the Elation and walk a few yards across the path to the spirit. Couldn't look easier. I'd take my time with breakfast and getting off or you'll have an awful long wait getting on the other ship.

We were supposed to go again in May but I ended up in the hospital. Hope to rebook for next Han. or Feb.

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Three weeks from today my daugther (10) and I will be doing a mother/daughter cruise. We only booked a few days ago on a whim. Looking forward to hearin more about this ship. I am hesitant to get off the ship in Enenada for safety... but do plan to do an excursion in Cabo.

 

Was the water rough when sailing..?

 

 

Don't be afraid to get off in Ensenada. It is just a old fishing port with alot of homemade gift shops and bars/restaraunts. We have been there many many times and have never felt for our safety.

Good luck!!!

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Yeah, Ensenada is a very safe laid back fishing port town. For tourists, it basically consists of two streets.... One is the main drag that is about 5-7 blocks with shops and small eateries linning both sides of the street.

 

The other main street east of there is more like stores and markets that mainly the natives use. I wouldn't go there, too busy, and crazy drivers, stick to the main drag.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

who is the cruise director on the Elation..now ? we were on the elation back in March and it was Stuart Dunn also do you know the nanes of any of the shows? hope they are not repeat shows dont want to see the same ones again, they had rythem and spin I think... thanks Jeff

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