Review: Elation 11/11/10 to 11/15/10

[2bfirsttime]

Sorry it has taken me so long to get around to posting a review of our November Elation Cruise from Mobile, AL. But alas, I have managed to get some of our photo's to finally load so I can include some pictures along with my review.

 

Our adventure was a year in the making, and I want to thank you ALL here at CC for helping out with the tips and suggestions that I can assure you were put to well use before and during our adventure.

 

We decided to leave central Mississippi a day ahead of time and take advantage of the stay and cruise package offered by Hampton. Being that it was a Hilton property we knew we would enjoy our stay, and we DID! The price was great too, around $150

 

 

Guest services was great! Upon check in we were given a welcome packet chocked full of great information about the area and what to expect with the stay and cruise package.

 

Once we got relaxed from the traveling we decided to do some exploring and enjoy the city a little, as well as get something to eat, and some drinks too... ahh vacation!

 

We started out at a small bar just outside of the Hampton, and to the right. It was your typical old style bar, but not really our scene, some neat things to look at, but some really loud drunks. We had a beer each, a order or fried mushrooms and were one our way.

 

Our next stop was just a few doors down. I wish I could remember the names of these places, I will try to update that when I get back home thsi weekend. This place was a nice little bistro where we each had a drink and a little taste of the local flare. Hubby had the gumbo and I had a fish taco.

 

Next we went exploring some more being it was still pretty early. Just in case you have left something at home, there is a store just across the street from the Hampton on the corner.

 

Next we found a really cool place to perch for a while. It was a bar that hosted 150 plus drafts, lots from micro brewery's. They start by asking you what kind of beer you were looking for, then giving you samples to taste. They made pizza and fries put into cones right in front of you. We stayed here for a while! Needless to say, the excitement of the travel and the beers were wearing on my husband so it was time to turn in. He had a headache so we stopped at the hotel pantry to see if they had something to help him out. The manager gave him a whole 10 pack of Goody's and a soda on the house. Then we retired for the night.

 

As promised, the next morning we could see the Elation from our window.

 

 

I have to say just seeing her sitting there I felt like a kid looking at Christmas presents, I could not wait to get to her! But it was still way early.

 

Keep in mind that during this time the Splendor was stranded at sea. So upon turning on the TV in the room the morning we were to get on board the news was reporting on the situation. As well as it was front page news on the USA Today news paper that was slid under our room door! What a way to start a vacation!

 

We were determined that the unfortunate situation with the Splendor was was not going to ruin our good time. Our phones were ringing like mad and buzzing from calls and texts that morning. So once we assured everyone we were going to be fine we went down stairs to the lobby area to enjoy Hampton's breakfast.

 

The breakfast Hampton offers is not bad at all. The juice was really good! Its not what I would call a typical continental, but not a buffet either. Its somewhere in between.

 

The limo service to the port is great. We were taken in a black escalade to the cruise terminal for a small fee. Our driver was very nice, and made sure that we had his card and gave us instructionson what to do when we got back to Mobile.

 

(to be cont)

[2bfirsttime]

 

The picture above was taken from the curb just outside the cruise terminal.

 

Our luggage was handed off to the porters, they were properly tipped and we were on our way to wait in line.

 

When we got to the holding pen area we were some of the first to arrive to they were not ready to start accepting passengers. They were very polite and informed those of us who were waiting that they were having a meeting and just as soon as they were done they would start the process. The wait was not long at all and in no time we were making our way through the security checks. Thsi gave us time to start chatting with some of the people who would be our cruise mates for the next four days.

 

Embarking was a breeze, nothing like I feared. Our passports had not made it in yet so we were traveling on birth certificates. I was a little scared thismight hold us up some, but it didnt at all.

 

With our sign and sail cards in hand we waited for our number to be called. This was a short wait, and we priceeded to head towards the gangway and take the first of many pictures they try to sell to you.

 

The entire process from the first security check to actually getting on the Elation took about 40 minutes...

[2bfirsttime]

 

In no time we were on the Lido where we would spend a lot of time during the next 4 days, having our first meal from the grill and a drink in hand. I have to say I did not care at all for the buns they have for their hamburgers, but the hot dog buns were much better. And they have the mongolian grill, which is GREAT!

 

 

After eating and having a DOD we decided to do some exploring until our room was ready for us to enter.

 

to be cont..

[2bfirsttime]

 

 

 

 

[2bfirsttime]

The population of our ship mates were from Alabama and Mississippi for the most part. We did meet some people from GA, FL and LA. Ths time of year there were not a lot of children onboard, and the ones we did see were well bahaved.

 

Finally the time come for us to see our room. We were in U3. Being this was our first cruise, now of many to come, we were unsure of what kind of room to pick. We LOVED the porthole room.

 

This is U3...

 

 

 

[2bfirsttime]

The muster drill was painless. We spent more time waiting for everyone to get into place than the process took.

 

After the drill, the horns sounded and we were off... Mexico bound...

 

 

 

[2bfirsttime]

It wasnt long and we had all our luggage and we were ready to enjoy our first night in the dinning room. Were seated at a 10 top table. One of the couples never showed for dinner the entire time, one couple made it through the first night and never come back. We, along with one other couple decided to change tables. I wont get into that too much. I will just say we had one couple, the male portion of the couple was just not that enjoyable for ANYONE at the table. Now dont get me wrong I love to meet new people and get to know them, but I dont enjoy talking shop over dinner and being asked WHY I do the job I do. OK Enough said about that.

 

I did not care much for the food in the MDR at dinner. But for breakfast and lunch... you cant beat it. Dinners in the MDR were cold, and not really what I expected. I ordered the fillet minon one night, it had some kind of sauce on it that was not to my taste. Being from the south I like my beef grilled with some seasonings. Another night I had the prime rib. It toowas cold, very thin and tough. It had a grey color to it. Not like any prime rib I have ever consumed, and I have had my fair share of it so I think I know how it should look, taste and how the texture should be.

 

Even though I did not care much for dinners in te MDR I will not let this detour me from going again, and again, and again!

 

The sushi, which was only offered for a small portion of time each night was decent. Not gourmet, but if you are into fresh california rolls, they are pretty good. You get into a line like you would at the buffet, and are given a desert size plate with three pieces. You can ask for more than one plate, I DID! At the end of the prep area you can dress your sushi if you desire to. They have some soy sauce, and some wasabe paste (sp?)

 

Down in the lido area is where the grill and the buffets are. The main place on the lido offers hamburgers and hot dogs for lunch and dinner on one side and a mongolian grill on the other side. I loved the mongolian. You fill your bowl with your choice of veggies then choose your meat and sides. The line gets pretty long, but moves pretty fast.

 

The pizza I thought was pretty nasty. Kinda reminded me of those take and bake pizzas from wally. But the salads were great! I did not try any of the sandwich stations, but did get a little from one of the buffets one day. It was jerk chicken and not too shabby.

 

Room Service... Ahh what a luxury to have. I am one who just can not function until I have a cup of coffee in the morning. And I am a late riser too. While here in the real world I work nights, so this being awake in the daytime bit was a little hard on me.

 

Each night before I went to bed I filled out my card to have my coffee and some fruit in the morning, this delivery also served as my alarm clock! On our port day I had some bread products added to the tray. It was a great start and saved us time in getting ready too.

 

The TV situation is horrible on the Elation. I never could get anything on the TV other than the closed circut Carnival stations pimping more wares. Although, osme of the information is great. It really did help with things like getting off the ship when it was time to go back home. NowI know, I was on vacation and TV should not have been on my mind, but I like to go to sleep watching it.

[2bfirsttime]

You could tell we were getting closer to palm tree's... As the 2nd day the water was looking way different than the water we were in just the day before. In Mobile the water was dark... Now it looks like this....

 

 

Reality is setting in... Were REALLY going somewhere!! Somewhere NICE!!

 

 

 

It was time to start enjoying some sun. So out on te decks we went.

 

 

We spotted this... We did not know at first what it was... But we now know its a water spout.

 

[2bfirsttime]

 

We had ordered a little something from Bon Voyage. It was delivered the very next morning. This stuff really come in handy too being the drinks were a little on the high side. Just a word of caution, now this really is my own fault... Those cute little heads you see... They WILL cost YOU... I never asked the price, just signed my slip. It was later that I see I had paid somewhere around $35 for the two drinks. If you are a serious drinkerI think the best bang for your buck from the bar is a long island, they run right at $10 a pop and are decent sized.

 

We did manage to smuggle. Dont bash... It was fun just seeing if we could do it. So what we had, added to this, really helped cut our bar bill which was still $300. We actually expected it to be more, so we feel like we did pretty good.

 

Just a few more pics, then were off to Cozumel Mexico.....

 

 

 

 

The robot above... It really cool. At random times the screen in hisbelly starts showing the dance floor in the disco and he moves. If your not aware he does that it can scare you at first, then you start waiting for it to do it. Its awesome.

[2bfirsttime]

MEXICO Baby!!!

 

 

 

 

We arrived in Cozumel on a Saturday. We had decided months ahead of time we were going to go to Playa UVAS. I reserved in Feb to make sure they did not fill up.

 

Once we were at the pier it was a short walk to behind the main shopping area where the cabs were waiting to take you anywhere you wanted to go. $12 and a few minutes later we were at the front door of UVAS.

 

 

 

We were greeted HOLA by this wonderfull hostess, who knew just who we were.

 

 

And the party began...

 

We started our day off with a couples massage. One hour long, full body, just off the beach. It was the perfect thing to wash away the stress of work and a memory never to be fogotten about a day in Mexico.

 

If your thinkingof visiting Cozumel and looking for a nice place to go UVAS is a place you need to check out. They offer snorkeling.. We chose not to portake in but rather in some other activities.

 

The water was very salty... The drinks were COLD!

 

 

 

[2bfirsttime]

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sad part about the whole experience is it WASNT LONG ENOUGH!!

[2bfirsttime]

Before we made it back home we were already dreaming of our next trip. I cant say for sure at this point in time if our next sailing will be with Carnival, but we will sail Carnival again.

 

This was our first cruise and were hooked, line and sinker included! Were actually thinking of making this into a yearly thing, sailing every year in November. The temps seemed just right, the ship was not over ran with children. Not that there is anything wrong with children, but this was an adult vacation for us so being around mostly adults was great for us.

[deeluvs2cruise]

Thanks for the review, Love your pics!!!!

[nana6]

Glad you had such a good time. We are booked for this ship in May...thanks for the review and pics.

[live.love.cruise]

thanks for the review...great pics!

[Cruise, J.D.]

Great review and pics!

[ddloml]

The population of our ship mates were from Alabama and Mississippi for the most part. We did meet some people from GA, FL and LA. Ths time of year there were not a lot of children onboard, and the ones we did see were well bahaved.

 

Finally the time come for us to see our room. We were in U3. Being this was our first cruise, now of many to come, we were unsure of what kind of room to pick. We LOVED the porthole room.

 

This is U3...

 

 

 

 

Thank you for the pics of U3.:) Our family is going on the Elation in March, and we'll be in U5 & U7. DW is concerned about the PT room; she's been spoiled with balcony rooms on our last two cruises. However Elation doesn't have any reasonably priced balconies. And we're taking our college-aged kids along during spring break, so the prices for our cruise are generally higher. Our compromise was to get PT rooms in order to get outdoor light, but at a slightly reduced Interior cost. Based on what I've read on other posts, did you find the room to be noisy, especially when maneuvering in port? Also, did you have rough seas? If so, was the room rocking since it was so far forward?

 

Great review so far!:D:)

[Purplesaurus]

Thanks for this awesome review, I'm wanting to start packing now! Nice pic's, too.

[whendoweleave?]

Thanks for your review and pics! Still not for sure what we are doing....have been to playa uvas and LOVED it, but my cousin wants to go to an all-inclusive day in Playa Del Carmen (the city next to Calica), so we will see. We are also doing the Chef's Table! Did you do that? Did you hear about it and what night it was on?

[MikyMous]

Thanks for the pictures! Hubby and I are sailing in 19 days!!

[2bfirsttime]

Thank you for the pics of U3.:) Our family is going on the Elation in March, and we'll be in U5 & U7. DW is concerned about the PT room; she's been spoiled with balcony rooms on our last two cruises. However Elation doesn't have any reasonably priced balconies. And we're taking our college-aged kids along during spring break, so the prices for our cruise are generally higher. Our compromise was to get PT rooms in order to get outdoor light, but at a slightly reduced Interior cost. Based on what I've read on other posts, did you find the room to be noisy, especially when maneuvering in port? Also, did you have rough seas? If so, was the room rocking since it was so far forward?

 

Great review so far!:D:)

 

The noise really was not so bad. Being so far forward, noise from passengers and crew was very little. As far as port day, we could hear the anchors going down, it lasted for about 3-5 minutes. Not that bad. We were up anyway getting ready to go, so it wasnt like it woke us upor anything. We were in some rough seas, but I noticed it more when we were at the rear of the ship, than when we were in the room at the front of the ship.

[2bfirsttime]

Thanks for your review and pics! Still not for sure what we are doing....have been to playa uvas and LOVED it, but my cousin wants to go to an all-inclusive day in Playa Del Carmen (the city next to Calica), so we will see. We are also doing the Chef's Table! Did you do that? Did you hear about it and what night it was on?

 

We did not do the chefs table. We were offered almost as soon as we were on board. The cost was $150 per couple, I think it was for night #2. The price also included 2 bottles of wine, that were delivered on the last night. It looked really nice, and fills up fast. We wished we would have done it, and will on our next cruise if it is offered.

[marshhawk]

Thanks for the review, I loved the pictures. I kept reading how this ship is less decadent than her sisters, and everyone was right on! Beautiful ship! Can't wait til we cruise her.:)

[Purplesaurus]

Hi, thanks for the review. Very nice, can't wait until we leave next Monday. Your review was quite good and your pictures were nice. Glad that you enjoyed yourself.

[Purplesaurus]

Just wanted to move this back to the top, I have re-read this since we leave Monday. YYYeeeaaaahhhh, it's our turn!