Just off the Elation

We just got off the Elation about 4 hours ago. The ship was beautiful considering her age, but the experience was just not what i had expected. I will be writing a review in a couple of days, but if you have any questions i'll try to answer then to the best of my ability.

What was it that did not meet your expectations?

We just got off the Elation about 4 hours ago. The ship was beautiful considering her age, but the experience was just not what i had expected. I will be writing a review in a couple of days, but if you have any questions i'll try to answer then to the best of my ability.

This has to be one of the strangest 'reviews' I've seen. There is absolutely no information of value.

First off, when we reached the Lido for the enjoyment of our first Fun Ship of the day and the sail away party we realized that there was no Calypso band, instead we had two gentle playing for our musical enjoyment. One on an electric guitar and the other on a Casio keyboard. The sounds of the islands just wasn't the same. Next, when we finally reached our wonderful oceanview cabin, the first thing i saw when I pulled open the curtains was a window of dried salt and dirt covering the window. I understand that this is something that happens, but it was obvious that the windows were not cared for in a long time. Next, the food on the Lido deck was very bland and unseasoned. Don't get me wrong they had some very good choices, the food looked great, it's just that the taste wasn't there. ~~~ Before i go any futher, i just want to make sure you understand that i didn't feel the trip was a waste. there was PLENTY that i enjoyed. this is just my "BAD" list.~~~ The biggest disappointment was the fact that most of the activities overlapped, so I was forced to choose one activity out of 3. For example The first adult show was going on in the front of the ship, the Mid-night buffet picture-taking and eating was going on in mid-ship and they had another mid-night Mexican food buffet going on the Lido deck. Then at times there was nothing going on at all. I was the cruise director maybe 3 times the whole cruise. Once at the past guest party, once at the welcome show and okay maybe i only saw him once.

This has to be one of the strangest 'reviews' I've seen. There is absolutely no information of value.

i will write a full review with pictures and everything when i unpack. i've been home less than an hour and 1/2. Please be patient.

do u like da legends concert.i like a lot. my friend said i do good job on da concert. i sing areetha franklan in da concert. did u go to see it on da last friday nite?

We had a cool Sailboat race today here in San Diego that took us close the Elation and down to the bridge. I was checking out the Elation, she looks like she was freshly painted. She really looks good.

As far as the Salted cover windows, try hanging over the side to keep those windows cleaned, its a pain and then after 3 hours of underway sailing those windows are covered in salt deposits again. Try a Inside cabin next time then you won't have to worry about that.

Since I enjoy the Adult Comedy shows and Wendy does not, she goes and takes all of the Midnight buffet pictures and I get to see them when I get home. After you have seen a few Midnight buffets you are pretty much done with that, Wendy still likes to go look.

On most sailings I have seen the Cruise Director a few times also, don't really care for those things, infact some of them irritate me because of all the talking, I just want to get the show started so I can go up to Lido later and get my Grilled Tuna on White with extra tomatos.

One thing I need to do in November for sure is see one of those Ice Carvings up on Lido. Never seen one so I will have to keep a close eye in the Capers for when they have that.

Who is the Cruise Director this time?

Hurry up and write the review, can't wait to read it as I go again Nov 6th of this year.

Thanks

Fred

Lil Starr - I'm sorry if I originally came of as snappy (or worse), but your first post worried me as I'm sailing Elation next month. Thanks for the additional information.. I can see why some of these things disappointed. I look forward to hearing more about it so I'll know what to expect.

Cheers!

Like i mentioned before, The cruise was awesome because i made it fun. the food in the dining room was AMAzing. i was in cabin e110 it was very nice located near mid ship. The cruise director was Stuart Dunn. I've read many of these boards that said that he was incredible, but to me he really didn't do anything great. I personally feel that Jeff Bronson is the best cruise director i've ever had the chance to vacation with. If i could go on all the ships he's on i'd be satisfied. There was tons of children, but belive it or not they were pretty well behaved. Karaoke was great. The disco lively if you're into that. they have a great casino (go late at night or early, early in the morning). ~~~drinks~~~ someone told me to try a drink called the carribean breeze. If you like fruity tropical drinks, this she be your second drink on the ship ( the fun ship being your first). Cabo was a scorcher. we just got off the ship to go shopping but got approached but "tour guides" we all decided to go with a glass bottom boat from a local. it turned out to be great. it only cost $10 a person. Ensenada we did the ATV and wine country. So much fun if you want to experience the real mexico you definately should try this excursion. It takes you off the beaten path. but then you get to finish off with some very enjoyable wine. This is just a little piece of my vacation. I'll share more when i get everything in order. if you have questions ask away, so i can answer then while it's still fresh in my brain.

Like i mentioned before, The cruise was awesome because i made it fun. the food in the dining room was AMAzing. i was in cabin e110 it was very nice located near mid ship. The cruise director was Stuart Dunn. I've read many of these boards that said that he was incredible, but to me he really didn't do anything great. I personally feel that Jeff Bronson is the best cruise director i've ever had the chance to vacation with. If i could go on all the ships he's on i'd be satisfied. There was tons of children, but belive it or not they were pretty well behaved. Karaoke was great. The disco lively if you're into that. they have a great casino (go late at night or early, early in the morning). ~~~drinks~~~ someone told me to try a drink called the carribean breeze. If you like fruity tropical drinks, this she be your second drink on the ship ( the fun ship being your first). Cabo was a scorcher. we just got off the ship to go shopping but got approached but "tour guides" we all decided to go with a glass bottom boat from a local. it turned out to be great. it only cost $10 a person. Ensenada we did the ATV and wine country. So much fun if you want to experience the real mexico you definately should try this excursion. It takes you off the beaten path. but then you get to finish off with some very enjoyable wine. This is just a little piece of my vacation. I'll share more when i get everything in order. if you have questions ask away, so i can answer then while it's still fresh in my brain.

Thanks for your quick summary review, I don't know Stuart Dunn or have not read anything about him. I will wait to read your detailed review, I would like to read about the shows you watched, mainly the comedy and hypnoist if any.

Fred

make sure you post a link to your review i go on this trip in 22 days

did you have early dinner or late just woundering because we asked for the early hoping that would make it so we could see the early and late show/ buffet

Thanks for your review I go Oct 31. I didn't care for Stuart Dunn either when I went last year.

Candi

wondering if there is a walgreens by ship

marge57: Just went to Walgreens.com and did a store locator search. Don't see anything close. Maybe Fred knows of one.

To answer the question on Walgreens. No there is not a Walgreens near the cruise terminal but there is a Longs Drugs at Horton Plaza a short walk from the terminal.

As far as the cruise review. I was on the Elation 06/28 (boy feels like a long time ago). And I found the food at the buffet to be somewhat on the horrible side. The selection was so so and the food did not seem fresh. For dinner the dessert choices were slim to none. That was the worst part of the cruise. Dinning room the food was great but stay away from that buffet. And dont get me started on the brekafast in there (Dennys would have been better).

I'll be on her 9/6, just a couple of weeks, ..yay!! Thanks for the heads up on the buffet. Does anyone know if they have Texas Hold'em in the casino, or any poker whatsoever other than video poker? Also, do they have roulette? Thanks so much :)

We're on the Elation right now and just got off in Ensenada. The ports had to be changed around due to Tropical Storm Julio. We'll be in Cabo San Lucas on Tuesday and then a day at sea on Wednesday heading back. This was the first morning for breakfast. Many people complained about the omelette line in some previous reviews, but there were two lines and it was short. The buffet line was longer for breakfast at 10am. We brought wine bottles in checked baggage and 4 bottles of champagne, no problems getting wine through. In fact, I could have brought the limit on carry-on, then in our checked bags as well. At dinner, we borrowed wine glasses and so we can bring my champagne or wine without the corking fee anywhere on the ship. We took Amtrak, arrived in San Diego at 10:10 and were at the terminal by 10:30. It's all within walking distance. Once you check-in with Carnival and get your cabin keys, you're free to go roaming around San Diego again until they start boarding. We chose to wait an hour until boarding at 11:30 and they had a buffet waiting for passengers. On the Lido deck with the buffet, you can also watch the pirate ship battles with a table outside. I almost brought an iron, but forgot. The passengers were complaining about their irons being taken away. In the $2.00 laundry area, there are irons to use, but you can't take them any where. The city is very clean, but I think many vendors got thrown off schedule because the ship changed days. There's an Internet Cafe on the main street in an orange colored strip center near the "Malecon" off the ship. At the corner, there is a liquor store. There was a $2 shuttle into town, very professional company, $1 to return to the ship. I think the ship was charging $10 or $12 for this. The internet cafe rate is $1 per hour for those that need to communicate back home. Next door is an artisan shop with real silver jewelry. I bought a beautiful bracelet for $20. There is another street in town that runs parallel to the main street. There's a Thrifty's with ice cream. Next door is a cafe-latte, also very professional and clean. We're headed back to ship for lunch. Everything is great so far.

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Wow, thank you so much for taking time to post about your trip so far. We are sailing next Monday. Have fun!

Thinking about this ship for January or February 5 dayer. I'd rather do that than the 4 day on Paradise, but the Paradise will be retrofitted by this time and the Elation won't be. How is the ship looking? Worn down, or still looking clean, if dated?

Any info would be appreciated. We're trying to decide!

I'll be on her 9/6, just a couple of weeks, ..yay!! Thanks for the heads up on the buffet. Does anyone know if they have Texas Hold'em in the casino, or any poker whatsoever other than video poker? Also, do they have roulette? Thanks so much :)

Yes, they have the PokerPro table that DH played several times on our Elation cruise in March. Some people don't like those tables, but some do. And they have one roulette table.

Thinking about this ship for January or February 5 dayer. I'd rather do that than the 4 day on Paradise, but the Paradise will be retrofitted by this time and the Elation won't be. How is the ship looking? Worn down, or still looking clean, if dated?

 

Any info would be appreciated. We're trying to decide!

Has to be booked before April because Elation is taking the Paradise itinerary here in San Diego and no more Cabo. 3 and 4 day cruises only to Ensenada and Catalina.

Fred

Wow, thank you so much for taking time to post about your trip so far. We are sailing next Monday. Have fun!

We will be on there next Monday with you :D

Hmmm, the other poster said they took Amtrak. While I'm not a big fan in dredging down to downtown L.A., I'm wondering what type of fare they paid ? And how far in SD will the train drop you off from the port ?

thanks

I can not remember what I paid for amtrack, But the station is less than 3 blocks from the cruise terminal. I live in Long Beach, But I took the train from Fullerton, (not L.A.) because it was the next stop and much cheaper.

Look on the amtrack website for prices alternative stations. It was a nice train ride. and I also had a great time on Elation

Tom in Long Beach

I personally feel that Jeff Bronson is the best cruise director i've ever had the chance to vacation with. If i could go on all the ships he's on i'd be satisfied.

We just got off the Pride this morning after 7-day Mexican Riviera. Jeff was our cruise director and I agree ... he is the BEST and SOOOOO funny !! I would love to sail again with him. I've been on Princess 3 times, NCL once, and this is our 2nd with Carnival.