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

[athenasbyshanna]

Some fun Ruins pictures:

Alex is ready to sacrifice himself. . . .

[athenasbyshanna]

More of the ruins

The cross was put there by the Spanish

[athenasbyshanna]

And more Ruins pics!

Pretty Palm tree within the site

View from above

Time to go eat, drink and be merry!

 

[athenasbyshanna]

Headed back to TechnoHotel where there was a small buffet of food, unlimited drinks (Sol beer and well drinks). Lots of Margaritas of course!!!

There were 2 pools and 2 bars we could use. One bar by one of the pools and one by the beach

Since we live about 7 minutes from Destin, FL, I am spoiled by our beaches! I put my feet in for a sec, but decided I was fine just sunbathing and drinking! I was going to get a massage but it was 25 for 30 minutes or something and that sounded high compared to what I had read on here. Oh well, will have to go back for my $15 hour massage on the beach!

But Alex and Lauren loved it!

[athenasbyshanna]

Some kids found a huge hermit crab!!

Lauren and Alex went to the bar for more Margaritas. They yelled "More More More tequila!!" and the bartenders obliged!!

Double fisting on my beach lounger

More of the beach. lots of shells that hurt your feet but they were pretty!

After a while, we didn't even have to get up to go to the bar! This nice guy came over and talked (to me speaking in Spanglish lol) and bring us drinks! How nice! We tipped all our bartenders and our server accordingly of course!

[athenasbyshanna]

It was time to go way too soon!!

But we still had a bus ride back! Apparently all the other people were taking straight shots and had us wondering if we had done it all wrong. They were all very HAPPY on the bus! There was6 a dance party started. . .

We were in the back while Lauren and Alex were way up front!

This girl stood up to dance, hit her head and fell back down!

Great view on the way back

Aww, time to say bye bye! Here's a tip for your excellent work today, Mario Lopez!! And about 4 people puked on the bus. Ew! Good thing we didn't do all those shots!!

The bus took us all the way back to the end of the pier where the boat was docked. We did a little t-shirt shopping, got a couple of beers and then I had my monkey experience before getting back on the boat. I loved Progreso and would love to go back and actually see more of the city , eat at the restaurants, get a cheap massage on the beach, etc.

Edited December 31, 2012 by athenasbyshanna

[athenasbyshanna]

When we got back, we decided to spend some time at the pool and Lauren and I wanted to go down the slide!!

Here I go!! Birthday crown and all!

So much fun!!

Hahahaha!

Lauren's turn!

Hehehe! Woah!

Once down the slide was enough! The water was still a bit cold!!

Got some deli sandwiches to snack on before dinner later.

These were Lauren's and Alex's. They were going to the Thriller dance lesson instead of dinner so they had 2 each. we just got one each since we were just snacking! They were quite good and we did go back to the deli again another day. . I had corn beef and pastrami this day

[PathfinderEss]

Really enjoying your review. Looks like you all had an awesome time on this cruise.

[athenasbyshanna]

Got my camera charged, maybe took a nap and got ready for the night. . .

We went to Guest Services for something, maybe for Matt to put money on his account, and they were all in Carnival robes. So cute!

Drink of the Day was a Blue Margarita in a Funnel cup! Yay! I love margaritas and we both wanted a funnel cup!

And then, FINALLY, Sushi!!!

 

[athenasbyshanna]

Sushi, Sushi Sushi!! Wooo!!

AND they had spicy mayonnaise!!! I was in heaven. I was tempted to go back for more, but I really didn't want to spoil dinner!!!

Speaking of dinner - tonight's menu

Sorry it's not very clear!

Just the 4 of us tonight!

Birthday shots from Dawna, I think, even before we eat anything! Hua Yo Wang took our picture after talking us into shots yet again!

Edited December 31, 2012 by athenasbyshanna

[athenasbyshanna]

I don't know why that last picture is not showig up . . Let's try another

And now for the food porn!

Crispy shrimp - these were delicious

Dawna had the shrimp cocktail several nights and she shared. It was good

I think Savannah got the spring rolls

Smoked salmon with dill sauce. Yummy

Edited December 31, 2012 by athenasbyshanna

[athenasbyshanna]

You'll notice I still have my Funnel cup margarita through dinner. It is not empty, nowhere near it! That drink was sooo darn strong!!! I kept filling it with ice cause it would get warm cause I was drinking so slow! I didn't complain cause that's what a good margarita is supposed to taste! You gotta taste that Tequila, Elly (the middle judge)!!

I didn't put full makeup on this night and had gotten some sun, so I look a little red and weird here. ..

Ok, back to the food porn!

Turkey! It was a bit cold if I remember. . . but tasty. I think I had the same turkey at the buffet by the pool and it was also good.

Chile Relleno - Not as good as my real Mexican restaurant I used to go to in Atlanta. . Not bad, not great. I do remember there was corn inside which was weird to me.

This was Matt's. I believe it was Mahi

Edited December 31, 2012 by athenasbyshanna

[athenasbyshanna]

Matt also got the Jerk Pork. It was delicious! But quite spicy!

Either Savannah or Dawna got grilled chicken.

Tonight the waiters danced! This lady was hilarious! She was having fun dancing with her waiter!

Kenneth, Ricardo and Jovito dancing with the kids at that big round table

Cheese plate - should have gotten this every night! I wanted it as an appetizer, but it didn't come out till dessert. No biggie, still delicious

And Tiramisu yum!

[athenasbyshanna]

Dawna loved the apple pie so much but couldn't finish it. She asked Jovito to grab her a tray to bring it back to the room and he brought her a whole new slice with a room service cover!

When I got up from the table, I noticed my feet and lower legs were hurting pretty bad. It was hard to walk back to the room. I then realized my ankles and feet were super swollen!! This has never happened to me, so I have no idea why it did. . .

Went back to the room and found a monkey hanging from the TV

Rested a little with my legs up on pillows to try and make the swelling go down!

Big cruise toes!

We really wanted to go to the adult comedy so I changed out of my skinny jeans into a skirt to hopefully release some of the pressure and we headed down to Cole Porter lounge for the show

[athenasbyshanna]

I think we stopped by the casino this night for a while, but I don't remember if it was before dinner or before the show. We spent some time at the damn quarter machines. Hate to love these! I also put $20 in a slot machine and somehow lost it on 3 plays. I was confused! Needless to say I did not play the slots again!

The first guy, Kenny Miller was ok. Matt liked him more than I did. We had heard the Cowboy Comedian do a little skit at the Welcome Aboard show and weren't too impressed. Then we met him on the shuttle down the pier in Progresso and he was hilarious and very friendly! And I also really enjoyed his set at the adult comedy! Oh, one more note. Middle Judge Elly was the MC at the comedy shows. I was bad and when she was onstage, I yelled "Somebody buy that girl a tequila shot!" Then she tried to tell a joke and it sucked. Almost no one laughed and I booed her. . . I know, mean but it was funny. She seemed a little miffed...

This was the night Hua saw us and recognized me. After dinner, he's a cocktail server in Cole Porter lounge.

I decided on a Giddy Up Martini (Matt owed me a drink ;) )

Couldn't take pictures of the actual comedy acts due to copyright or something

Us with the Cowboy Comedian!

 

That's the end of Day 3! I think we headed to bed after the show.

[athenasbyshanna]

I'm having fun reading your review! I can't wait to see the different ports. I go on the Pride in 77 days. Here's hoping my fiancee loves it because I want to cruise for our Honeymoon. :D

 

We had a blast!!! I'm sure you all will too! Matt isn't one to show excitement and I could tell he had a great time.

[athenasbyshanna]

Still with ya n loving your review. Best elation review ive seen n trust me I'm an infomaniac when it come to searching my cruises;):D:p lol

 

Thank you sooo much!! I was determined to make it at least picture heavy if not a lot of reviewing. I searched and searched before our cruise and couldn't find as much on the Elation or Progreso as I would have liked. I'm so glad people are enjoying it!:cool:

[athenasbyshanna]

Really enjoying your review. Looks like you all had an awesome time on this cruise.

 

Thanks so much! We really did! It was the best vacation I've ever had!

[athenasbyshanna]

December 18 - Cozumel

 

Funtimes

Bloody Mary from the awesome bartender at the pool. I forgot her name but we saw her a couple times andshe was awesome.

The original plan for Cozumel was to swim with dolphins at Chankanaab. Things happened and I couldn't afford to book ahead of time, so we decided to kind of wing it in Cozumel. We got off the boat at Punta Langosta.

Matt put the blowfish in the window so we could see which room was ours!

Everyone but Savannah hung out in Cozumel together. Vanna had made some friends and hung out with them for the day. later she told us she wished she had come with us.

I think this was Cozumel. Matt liked this pic so I bought it.

Cozumel!

 

[athenasbyshanna]

Oops, I think the B&W pic is from Progreso!

Costa ship in port with us

This cute little bridge just begged for a picture!

Punta Langosta

It was raining in Cozumel before we got off the boat, but the weather cleared up

We did a little shopping at the mall thing right in port and then decided to take a cab to Chankanaab to snorkel, see the sea lions, etc.

[athenasbyshanna]

We got beers while shopping and were pleasantly surprised when the cab driver let us in with them!

The cab ride to Chankanaab was $20. So $4 a person with 5 of us and we each gave him $1 for tip, so $25 total each way.

Alex and I partaking in a beverage

We got a free t-shirt with our entrance fee and had to go pick it up at one of the shops. This is the shop

We were looking at the jewelry and the guy pulled Lauren and Alex into the back for "Mexican Breakfast". They were a little scared, but then he comes out with a Tequila bottle and a bunch of shot glasses! We did a bunch of free shots with him! This was some sort of Creme de Tequila and it was delicious and smooth!

This is what the bottle looked like. .

Shots shots shots shots shots!

And more shots.. . .

 

[athenasbyshanna]

More shots!!

 

I bought my mom handpainted ornament in this store; it is so pretty. Lauren found a ring she liked and so did I. I decided against mine cause I am not buying myself a ring like that and Matt was ready. :rolleyes:

Lauren gave the guy $5 to hold the ring till after we snorkeled so she could decide.

Picture pitstop

 

[athenasbyshanna]

More cute pictures

 

Sea Lions!!

Edited December 31, 2012 by athenasbyshanna

[athenasbyshanna]

And dolphin swims :(

Time to Snorkel!

 

Edited December 31, 2012 by athenasbyshanna

[athenasbyshanna]

Dawna stayed on shore and had drinks, got some sun and took some pictures of us!

Lauren also had an underwater case for her phone so she took some fun underwater pics. Lots of pics from snorkeling coming up!