The amazing ELATION vacation 2/18-23,2013

[aVASTGrl]

Great review so far! I really loved your pre-cruise NOLA pics, someday I will make it there! :)

[jamona2311]

For dinner I had the Escargots, The pot pie and WCMC. Basically the same thing I had my first night on Ecstasy. Hha. I cant remember what mom had most nights. She always had 2-3 starters so I gave up trying to remember both of our meals. I know I took some pics so Ill point out what I can. For an ity bitty lady the girl can eat!

 

We did go to the Welcome Aboard show and after that mom went to bed. I like hanging out at night even if its by myself so I went to Jeckyll and Hyde club and played the part of the wallflower. I just love being where ppl are having fun. I did get asked to dance and we chatted for a bit but I knew my mom would worry. Once a mom always a mom. Hohum....

 

I did head out to Serenity for a bit and it was definitely getting warmer out and when we hit the gulf oh crap!!! LOL it started blowing like crazy and the Serenity chairs were rolling and flopping all over. That’s when I figured it was time to get outta there and go to bed!

 

 

MMMMMMmmm Escargots

 

 

Smoked Hudson Valley Duck Breast

 

 

Long named but very nummy vegitarian pot pie with polenta on the side

 

 

Pan seared filet of tilapia

 

 

Traveling down the Mississippi still.

 

 

Our first towel "animal"????? I know I know its a walrus or seal or something but thats not the first thing that comes to mind......

[cantwait4cruise]

 

 

 

 

 

This stuffed bear cracks me up. we found him at the riverwalk mall. This about how we felt from food and walking and travel!

 

 

Sunday 2/17/13

The hotel has a nice continental breakfast that we took advantage of. No since in filling up on hotel food since there is plenty of NOLA cuisine to indulge in.

 

If it isn't too much trouble can you give me some ideas what all is closed on sundays in NOLA we are going to be there on a friday, saturday and sunday before the monday cruise in sept.

 

you can email me at alilcntry at hotmail dot com

[jamona2311]

Tuesday 3/19/13

I was sooo glad to have 2 sea days this trip. One just isn’t enuf to get in the necessary relaxing and fun I crave.

 

Breakfast was in the Dining room today. Eating in the dining room always made mom feel special so that’s what we did when we could. I had the Eggs Benedicts with hollandaise on the side, of course. Its my very favorite breakfast of all time and Carnival does it well. :D

 

We decided to walk off our breakfast but it was a windy day and a lot of the upper decks were closed as well as the walking track. We did find that around the whale tail was open and that’s where we walked. Mom continued for a while but I thought it was a good time to hit the Serenity deck and get some sun. So that’s where I planted myself till lunch, mom joined after she had enuf walking. What a nice lazy morning.

 

Back to the dining room for lunch. I did the California Roll, finished off moms Chilled Avocado soup, the Mangolian steak salad and the Crème caramel. This and breakfast were the only time we sat at a round table with other ppl. I liked it but mom preferred to sit at a table for two.

 

 

What a beautiful day on the Carnival Elation

 

 

Ok thats it my offical cruise toes pic of this vacation. Its also now my facebook pic :D

 

 

We parted ways for a while (this was usually done when I went for a cigarette break) I went to the Carnival scheduled CC meet n greet and met Cruisegrammy and Wildberry. Yes a very small event. I was excited about it though and sooo happy to meet you ladies! Cruisegrammy we could have almost had dinner together most nights! Hha.

 

Soon mom and I were supposed to meet up for the hairy chest contest. Mom blew me off!!! LOL I saved her a seat and she never showed :/ she had turned into a Serenity deck junkie lol. We did make it to the Tea time together which was very nice. Something I wanted to try last time and didn’t have time for.

[jamona2311]

 

This is the guy that won it. Id see him in the club at night dancing up a storm. It is safe to say that he does NOT do the standard white boy dance!

 

 

 

 

Did you hear??? Santa was on our cruise and joined in the Hairy chest contest HA

 

 

Tea time! The other pic is kinda blurry but I wanted to add they serve nice deserts and finger sandwiches at tea time. Also a guy plays the piano. I really nice calm thing to do in the middle of a sea day.

 

[jamona2311]

I couldn’t hold on to mom for long the sun goddess was calling her so I went to the Beyonce Single Ladies dance class. My mom saw I had highlighted this in the funtimes. She was like “ youre not a single lady! L ” “ Nooooo mom its just a dance class. it’s a song from Beyonce with a great little dance that goes with it!!!” LOL Silly momma. Apparently the sneaky lady showed up and watched me make a fool of myself. She said I was cute but she is my mom….

 

Back in the room and having not heard about the chefs table we decided to call and it was a go!!!!! YES!!!!!!!!!! I was sooo happy. Ok time to get ready cuz we have to meet at the Atrium bar at 6:30.

 

Ok Im not going to post the whole dinner here because I did the whole thing in the Ecstasy review but I wanted to say my mom got to put on an apron and big chefs hat and help with the WCMC demonstration. She looked soooo cute but theres no picture taking in the galley.

 

Now after we were sooo happily stuffed they surprise mom with a beautiful chocolate birthday cake and everyone joins in singing. I was absolutely delighted for her. I hadnt expected this at all! I had said I hoped it would work out cause it was my treat for her birthday but I didn’t expect this. How super sweet of them. Too bad everyone was soooo full, we could have used some help with that cake! J

 

Dinner was over around 10. I needed a cigarette break and mom needed her bed. I bummed around for a bit but basically had an early night. Cozumel was the next day!

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday to mom!!!

 

 

Us. She had a wonderful time as I knew she would. It was a very special night!

 

 

 

Puppy!!!

[jamona2311]

Ok thats enuf review for the night. I hope to continue tomorrow but Ive got the 10 hour shift again so Saturday for sure. I get to be a bum that day so working on the review sound like a good plan! :D:D

[wbc12345]

I am LOVING your review. Our first cruise was on the Elation. I absolutely loved sitting in serenity on the row closest to the wake of the ship. It is the most beautiful view. Our next cruise is on the Conquest and the railing doesn't allow you to have that view. It's a real bummer.

 

I live an hour north of New Orleans and we visit a lot. Love that city & I love hearing other visitor's experiences. Can't wait to read more of your review!

[Cruisin'Doc]

Jamona - just an FYI, even with YTD, you can request the same table each night. Even if the table is already filled, you can ask for the same waitstaff. Sometimes they will offer you the cards from the table as their 'business cards.' On our next to last night on this trip, the hostess told me she really appreciated us getting their early each night to get our preferred table, but that she would have held it for us anyway - which I thought was incredibly sweet. I have also found that frequently other cruisers will also do the same, so you do often have the same table mates anyway, hah.

 

And great photos, btw! We were on Serenity during sail-away, as well. We were the dorks wrapped in the towels trying to stay warm. *THIS* dork didn't bother to bring a jacket...oops!

Edited March 8, 2013 by Cruisin'Doc

[Seago2]

Even though I've been on much grander ships since I will always look back fondly on Elation.....

[hyzinga]

Jamona thanks for doing such an informative review. NOLA is on my bucket list and its nice to see whats there. Waiting patiently for the rest of the review................:)

[melly923]

Enjoying your review! We leave for the Eleation in 2 weeks!! :D Very excited!

[lady_cruiser]

Thanks for your review. I feel so much better about our upcoming April, 4-day Carnival Elation cruise in an Ocean View Cabin.

[MelBCroozer]

We agree about the seal towel animal!! It's our inside joke that first night!!!

[Seago2]

We agree about the seal towel animal!! It's our inside joke that first night!!!

 

It's ok, it's been referred to as "towel vagina" on these boards for a long time :D.

[Yankeegirl]

 

This is the guy that won it. Id see him in the club at night dancing up a storm. It is safe to say that he does NOT do the standard white boy dance!

 

 

 

 

Did you hear??? Santa was on our cruise and joined in the Hairy chest contest HA

 

 

Tea time! The other pic is kinda blurry but I wanted to add they serve nice deserts and finger sandwiches at tea time. Also a guy plays the piano. I really nice calm thing to do in the middle of a sea day.

 

 

We went to tea time too!!! This was my first time going...this was the first cruise without my DH and DS. Hmm, may have had something to do with it!:)

[jamona2311]

We went to tea time too!!! This was my first time going...this was the first cruise without my DH and DS. Hmm, may have had something to do with it!:)

 

I was thinking that too! haha This time was with my mom and she was very interrested in going. Not so much with the hubby on the Ecstasy cruise :rolleyes::D

[jamona2311]

Ok time to get this thing going again. I finally have all my pictures ready to go! It should be smooth sailing now...hehe:rolleyes::p:D

[jamona2311]

Wednesday 02/20/13 Cozumel

Today we had Mr Sanchos all inclusive booked and since it wasn’t going to be a long day in port we wanted to get going. After a quick breakfast at Tiffanys ( haha who doesn’t say that ;p) we headed to port.

 

It was looking a bit like rain and sure enuf as soon as we made it though the Dufry shop it started to pour! Now Im not afraid of a little rain but mom wasn’t budging. We waited and it soon died down enuf for us to make our way to the taxi stands. It was the standard $16 fare to Mr Sanchos.

 

Edgar (Elvis) was our guy for the day we started out with some drinks (yeah mom at 10am, see it didn’t take long to corrupt her lol) and guac and hung out at our table on the umbrella because it was still raining a bit. Soon it cleared up and I was off to rent some snorkeling equipment (incl w/AI) and headed into the water. This whole planning time I was soooo curious about what the water would be like this time of year and it was a bit chilly to start but once you got in it was great! Time to snorkel! I fell in love with this back in September on the Ecstasy cruise and although Mr Sanchos beach isn’t exactly a primo snorkeling spot they do put little statues and bolders and stuff in the water that so attract some fish so I was happy. The water is very clear too so with my cheapy underwater camera I was very happy with the shots I got this time. Yay!!!

 

 

Looking like a cloudy day in Cozumel as we got off the ship

 

 

As you enter Mr Sanchos there are some shops

 

 

 

 

Hmmmm packer stuff!? I took this for my DH haha some guy passing mentioned something about probably not being licenced....ya think?

 

 

Our table for the day

 

 

Yup that my mom with her first drink at 10AM!! Have I corrupted her????

[jamona2311]

 

My mango Daq with a chili lime rim Mmmmmm and some yummy chips and guac

 

 

They put statues and stuff in the water to attract the fishies

 

 

Mom worshiping the sun god

 

 

I just cant get enuf of the water and snorkling. Its new to me and I know this isnt the best place for snorkling but I had sooo much fun getting these shots. Trust me when I say I spared you some hha

 

 

 

[jamona2311]

 

 

 

Little fish, big fish swimming in the water...

 

 

Mom enjoying whats turning out to be a beautiful day in Cozumel

 

 

All that snorkling made me thirty......

 

 

...and hungry. Mom had chicken fajitas and coconut shrimp and I had coconut shrimp and sea food cerviche. Everything was really good! mmmmmm

 

[jamona2311]

Great review - keep the photos coming!

 

Thank you. Im having fun doing it too! More to come:)

[jamona2311]

 

I held these Macaws.....

 

 

....and this Iguana too. They take your picture and then try to sell it to you but I didnt want to do that so I just held them and then took pictures of them with other people hha

 

 

Edgar (Elvis) and I. A really great guy and very attentive too. He was always magically around when we needed something.

 

 

The hanging cabana/bed things were right behind us

 

 

Edgar always brought us our drinks but if we wanted to we could have got them here. I think Ill try those swings when I go with my girls in January.

 

 

Hammocks are right next to the cabana/beds

 

We ordered some lunch and mom made her self comfortable in a beach chair. She did kinda try to snorkel but decided soon that it wasn’t her thing.

 

I was just about to settle in with her when lunch came. Mom had the chicken fajitas and coconut shrimp, I had Seafood cerviche and coconut shrimp. The food was really good and fresh tasting. They do give small servings probably to cut down on waste. That’s fine. If I had time I would have liked to try the nachos but the water was calling.

 

Mom went for a walk to check everything out. I think we left about 130. Too short of a day but we enjoyed every moment. We did want some time to check out the port. Taxis were waiting at Mr Sanchos to take us back. We dropped off our bags in our room and went back out to do some shopping.

[jamona2311]

 

The swim up side of the bar and pool with water fall walk way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The restaurant

 

 

Ok I know this is soooo blurry but I had to get a picture of it. Its a Wisconsin Rapids PD patch hanging on the ceiling of the cab we took back to port:D

[jamona2311]

 

 

 

A trip to Mexico wouldnt be complete with out seeing some Mariachis, but thats just me

 

 

Some port shots and mom being a good sport when I want to take a goofy picture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Elation and Imagination....sisters hanging out in Cozumel. Maybe getting the latest Fantasy family gossip..