Elation Birthday Cruise December 15-20, 2012 Picture Journal and Review

[athenasbyshanna]

Dinner tonight was bitter sweet. We had so much fun this night with each other and our waiters! But we knew this meant we had to leave tomorrow. :(

One more round of shots from Hua Yo Wang!

[athenasbyshanna]

Sometime before dinner we packed up our stuff and put our bags out in the hallway. . .

Dinner: there was a weird setting on the camera this night. Sorry for the weird lighting. . .

Crab cake

French Onion soup was delicious!

Seafood pasta

Asparagus soup - we weren't impressed

Tomatoes and Buffalo Mozzerella - I ate mine and the rest of Matt's. Yum!

Study in sushi - not as good as the sushi bar

[athenasbyshanna]

By the way, though I did usually order multiple apps and sometimes 2 entrees, these pictures are not all MY food! Sometimes Matt and I shared and I tried to get pictures of everyone's food when it was different from ours! For instance, Savannah ordered the asparagus soup, but we all tried it. No one really like it, btw!

Savannah's meal - I think it was chicken

Entree size seafood pasta

Mahi?

Alex was done letting me take pictures of his food. . .

Thankfully someone else got the Veal parmesan!

 

[athenasbyshanna]

Then someone couldn't keep their hands to themselves!

Hey YOU, Alex!! STOP IT!!!! :eek: :D

Finally!

 

[athenasbyshanna]

Another fun one. . . ..

Ay ay ay

Bubbly tonight!

Cheers!

Oh and Cheese plate for dessert, cause I planned to get a White chocolate cake from Musical Cafe

But they ran out!!!! I was soo sad!

[athenasbyshanna]

Pictures with our Waitstaff

This one cracks me up!!

We went to the Adult comedy show with the Cowboy Comedian tonight!

[athenasbyshanna]

This is it? the last night????

Hua Yo Wang brought me my last martini!! Spicy chipotle, I think. I missed doing the martini tasting, so i just tried this one. . .

Last towel creature

 

So that's it. I'm sure I missed some things, but that's the gist. . . Let me know if you have questions! Below in my signature is the link to ALL the pictures. Yes, I know, there are more?? yup! Thanks everyone for reading and hanging in there with me!!

[athenasbyshanna]

I'm lovin' your review - want to cruise with you girl! :D And good for you for giving those kids **** for picking on nature. :)

 

and this one cracks me up -

"okay, who cut one??""

 

Hahaha, yeah the look on his face is great! Glad you liked my review! We did have TONS of fun! Don't know when I'm cruising again, but I would love to do a group cruise! If I'm not in charge and don't have to wait on everyone all the time, that is! ;)

[smurfm69]

Very nice job on the review Shanna! So how did you like cruising? We are hooked and have #10 planned for December out of Nola on the Elation. Nice to see the sushi is available as we both love sushi! We just did a 7 day cruise on the Dream and they didn't have it like the other cruises we have been on. Glad you had a good time down here and hope y'all come back soon. Did you go to Pat o'Briens and get a hurricane to drink? Or maybe a flaming Dr. Pepper from the Goldmine? Bet you didn't know after the mixology contest that you would be on tv the rest of the cruise and sort of a celebrity. lol

[jacksmom09]

Great review!

[athenasbyshanna]

Very nice job on the review Shanna! So how did you like cruising? We are hooked and have #10 planned for December out of Nola on the Elation. Nice to see the sushi is available as we both love sushi! We just did a 7 day cruise on the Dream and they didn't have it like the other cruises we have been on. Glad you had a good time down here and hope y'all come back soon. Did you go to Pat o'Briens and get a hurricane to drink? Or maybe a flaming Dr. Pepper from the Goldmine? Bet you didn't know after the mixology contest that you would be on tv the rest of the cruise and sort of a celebrity. lol

 

I absolutely loved cruising and wish I could afford to do it more often! They did not have sushi on Elegant night, but we did get it 2 nights. We love NOLA! We started way too early, so didn't do as much partying as we usually do! I know some of the group got Hand Grenades, but no hurricanes or flaming dr. peppers! I was shocked to see myself on TV. It's funny going through everyone's pictures, as we all took pictures of me on tv! So much fun! Can't wait till I can cruise again!

[athenasbyshanna]

Great review!

Thanks!

[twiltz]

Thanks for posting the pics!! We were on the same cruise and absolutely loved it!! As a matter of fact, we were on the second double decker bus you posted a picture of. My son and his girlfriend were on the front left and sign and my husband and I were right behind them.

 

We really enjoyed the piano bar the two nights we went and the pianist was very nice.

 

I can't wait to go again!!

[DaddySteve]

Loved your review Shanna. You show such excitement, it's VERY refreshing. I'm also from Niceville (small world). I'm a little older (WAY OLDER) than you guys, my first cruise was Eastern Med. in 1967!!! I must be old now, I was 26 THEN :cool:

 

I love the Elation too......I did three trips on her last year. Another little 4 day at the end of this month. I'm taking a dear friend and it will be her FIRST cruise ever. I think I'll refer her to your review :D Her BIG worries are that the ship will sink (not likely) and/or that she will be seasick (could happen). We're in a balcony on deck 6 and I sent her some photos and she now thinks that "the water is awfully close, one of us MIGHT fall over"......ONE of US? I'm not going to stand out there with her!

 

If she's still onboard, I'm working on a plan to get some Tequila in front of Elly (your Mixology judge). Maybe I'll send a bottle to her cabin. She'll seek me out to (fake) thank me ...... THEN I can tell her that YOU should have won the contest on the Christmas voyage!!

 

Steve O :)

[athenasbyshanna]

Thanks for posting the pics!! We were on the same cruise and absolutely loved it!! As a matter of fact, we were on the second double decker bus you posted a picture of. My son and his girlfriend were on the front left and sign and my husband and I were right behind them.

 

We really enjoyed the piano bar the two nights we went and the pianist was very nice.

 

I can't wait to go again!!

 

Aww too bad we couldn't get the roll call together and do a meet and greet!! Hope you had as much fun as us!!!

[athenasbyshanna]

Loved your review Shanna. You show such excitement, it's VERY refreshing. I'm also from Niceville (small world). I'm a little older (WAY OLDER) than you guys, my first cruise was Eastern Med. in 1967!!! I must be old now, I was 26 THEN :cool:

 

I love the Elation too......I did three trips on her last year. Another little 4 day at the end of this month. I'm taking a dear friend and it will be her FIRST cruise ever. I think I'll refer her to your review :D Her BIG worries are that the ship will sink (not likely) and/or that she will be seasick (could happen). We're in a balcony on deck 6 and I sent her some photos and she now thinks that "the water is awfully close, one of us MIGHT fall over"......ONE of US? I'm not going to stand out there with her!

 

If she's still onboard, I'm working on a plan to get some Tequila in front of Elly (your Mixology judge). Maybe I'll send a bottle to her cabin. She'll seek me out to (fake) thank me ...... THEN I can tell her that YOU should have won the contest on the Christmas voyage!!

 

Steve O :)

 

Sooooo funny!! One of my close friends wouldn't cruise with us because she is sure the boat is going to SINK!!!!! Haha!

I ALMOST sent Elly a bottle of tequila. I really did. But, I didn't want to waste the tequila on her!!! She knew she was wrong; anytime one of the boys saw her anywhere, words were said!

I can't believe you are from Niceville. I always almost say I am from Destin cause it is so much more glamorous! The truth is, I am not FROM either. I just live here. . . . And, really. . we live in Seminole!! But our address is still Niceville!

[athenasbyshanna]

I keep feeling like I forgot something. . . . So I am going to add some pictures for you all! :D

Lauren's Monkey Head the last sea day. I wanted to get one! But I just ran out of time!

Did you see this one? NOLA before we walked to CVS. Love us!

You got this one, right? Man, I'm a dork! I don't usually take straight shots - Thanks Mexico!

My birthday sadface!

 

Edited January 4, 2013 by athenasbyshanna

[athenasbyshanna]

Sometimes CC lets me do 6 pictures and sometimes it thinks 5 or 6 pics = 7. . . I don't get it .. .

Oh yeah, we had an awesome chicken salad sandwich from the food court in the Canal Shops connected to our hotel while waiting for Lauren and Alex the day we shipped out!

 

OH YEAH! Debarkation day. . .We were in Zone 24 or something equally as LAST. So we had to wait after breakfast in Tiffany's until about 11:30 if I remember correctly. We were not happy about being kicked off the boat!

Can you tell I ate and drank whatever I wanted? So bloated!!!

Somehow Lauren lost weight!!! ***!? What a B!

But she is still sad to leave. . .

 

I think it really might be over this time. . . Believe me whan I say I am as sad as you! I wish I could go live on that dang boat!:(

[athenasbyshanna]

Oh, does anyone know what this is?? Its not just Tequila, I'm sure. . . . It was kinda sweet.

 

[athenasbyshanna]

Oh, does anyone know what this is?? Its not just Tequila, I'm sure. . . . It was kinda sweet.

 

 

And PS Matt's face in this picture is HILARIOUS!!! No idea what he could possibly be doing! :confused:

[DaddySteve]

I can't believe you are from Niceville. I always almost say I am from Destin cause it is so much more glamorous! The truth is, I am not FROM either. I just live here. . . . And, really. . we live in Seminole!! But our address is still Niceville!

 

I understand about saying we live in "Niceville, FL". I start out with "I'm from Northern Florida"....then "near Pensacola".....if they give a darn I might add, "about 50 miles East of Pensacola near Destin".......I did this with a couple (from Clovis, NM) I met last year (on the Elation) and they responded that they owned a home in Niceville!! He's in the AF and they rented the house while he's stationed in Clovis (again, small world) :D

 

I think Elly will get a couple of those tiny bottles of cheap Tequila (OMG, I'll have to smuggle it onboard) along with a card saying I understand she LOVES IT!! I'll let you know what I come up with. It's my "MISSION" to avenge your 2nd place finish :cool:

[4hunters]

Thanks for that great review! Looks like you guys had a blast. :D

[HeatherC430]

Where did you get your patriotic bikini? I love it!

 

Great Review!

[athenasbyshanna]

I understand about saying we live in "Niceville, FL". I start out with "I'm from Northern Florida"....then "near Pensacola".....if they give a darn I might add, "about 50 miles East of Pensacola near Destin".......I did this with a couple (from Clovis, NM) I met last year (on the Elation) and they responded that they owned a home in Niceville!! He's in the AF and they rented the house while he's stationed in Clovis (again, small world) :D

 

I think Elly will get a couple of those tiny bottles of cheap Tequila (OMG, I'll have to smuggle it onboard) along with a card saying I understand she LOVES IT!! I'll let you know what I come up with. It's my "MISSION" to avenge your 2nd place finish :cool:

 

Aww thanks so much!! LOL! :D

[athenasbyshanna]

Where did you get your patriotic bikini? I love it!

 

Great Review!

 

I got it at Target. I think its on clearance or sold out now. I almost didn't buy it because it looked so "patriotic', almost cheesy, but the stars were actually black and do you know how hard it is to find an affordable bathing suit that fits decent in winter - even in a beach town!!! :eek: Bathing suit shopping sucked! The one I really wanted was over $100!!! That's insane for that small amount of fabric!