Elation Review July 3-7 Woohoo

[The Phoenixx]

I hope I get the pictures right :)

 

Hey Yawl!!! I was excited about my cruise to Cozumel on the Elation and I am still a little hyped. I had a wonderful time. Sooo, here I go.

I, 46 from Phoenix, cruised with my BFF from college 45 from Atlanta. We met in New Orleans on Wednesday. I flew Southwest and she flew Air Tran. Since the Essence Festival was in town the same weekend, my flight was packed, but arrived on time. Her flight was early, so after hugs and kisses we headed to the Holiday Inn Superdome. They charged a flat rate of $33 to take us to the hotel, I am not sure if it was because the festival was in town, or if that was the typical flat rate, but the hotel suggested we take a taxi since it would be cheaper than the shuttle.

We were checked in quickly and you needed a key card to get to the floor you were staying on. Felt pretty safe with that added feature. The room was nice, and we had a great view.

We were starving so we followed the crowd to Bourbon Street to get some grub. My BFF loves me because we ate at a Tex Mex restaurant in New Orleans!!! Whhhaaaattt!!! I have a seafood allergy and she was nothing less than concerned for what I could eat. I love her!! I’m not gonna cry… Ok so we ate at The Tequila House and I had the burrito and she had the fajitas and we got a side of Yucca fries. We weren't sure what they were when we received them. They came with garlic, oil, but we had to get the ketchup. Still very good, and the margaritas were 2 for 1. So not bad.

We walked Bourbon Street, got souvenirs for the kids, got our wine, and headed back to the hotel. Cruise day tomorrow… Woohooo!

[Mutumbojimbo]

Can't wait for the rest of the story! We're on the Elation in December. Did people dress up for Elegant night?

[The Phoenixx]

Can't wait for the rest of the story! We're on the Elation in December. Did people dress up for Elegant night?

 

Yes they did. Some couples were really sharp!!

[PathfinderEss]

Great report, looking forward to the rest of it.

[The Phoenixx]

We didn't have to check out until noon, so we ate breakfast at the hotel restaurant, The Trolley Car. It was good, as well as the service. Cost about 12 bucks. We went back to the room, chilled out and got ready to head to the port. We asked the front desk for a taxi and before they could pick us up, someone stole our cab(s). A couple of Essence Festival goers called for a cab and allowed us to hijack their ride. Another couple was going to the port, so we all squeezed in (6) people and paid $7/pp for the ride. The cabbie was very entertaining and told jokes, I think he knew the ladies that allowed us to hijack their cab. We arrived at the port about 11:50 and were on board by 12:20. Our room was ready so what did we do? Yep, headed to the lido. We got some grub and explored the ship. I found the serenity deck and we chilled there until the muster drill. The muster started late, so we were still standing outside waiting to be dismissed when we left port. Boo. But it was all good, we were on vacation!!! Wooohoo!!!

We explored some more before dinner, and by the time dinner came around we were hungry. We had early dining and was assigned the Imagination dining room and our table was live! We laughed every night, told jokes and literally looked forward to dinner just to hang out with each other. We went to the liquor tasting, and purchased the Hennessy White. YUM. BFF is not a Hennessy drinker but it was smooth and delish, so we went half on a 4 pack. @ $179 plus 10% off. (check your statements when you make a purchase at the shops. They didn't apply our discount, but happily corrected it once we brought it to their attention. We attended karaoke, and I thought BFF was going to sign up, but we had so much fun watching other people, there was no need to embarrass ourselves. We went to bed about midnight. It was a long fun day.

 

http://s34.photobucket.com/user/thephoenixx2/slideshow/cruise

 

I cant seem to get my pictures to upload. Even the link doesn't hyperlink. So I will post the review and work on the pics. Sorry about that.

 

July 4, 2014 Sea Day

My BFF runs the family business and isn’t used to relaxing or sleeping in. So that is all we did. We ate, went to bed, played bingo (I didn’t want to go, but wanted her to have fun) won the $200 pot, but had to share with another winner. Needless to say BFF was a little salty because I won, and she let everyone know, but all in good fun tho. Oh, we went back to bed. Browsed the shops, and you got it.. went back to bed, until dinner. It was elegent night and the 4th of July celebration on the Lido. We got gussied up and had a fabulous time at dinner. BFF even joined the dining staff in their performance. It was good to see her enjoy herself. I think one of the guys was sweet on her. Or her chi-chi’s. We were not sure. We went to hang out on the Lido until the party. We knew if we went back to the room, we would what? Go to bed. We danced and laughed and had a great time. We did the chicken dance, the cha cha slide, the cupid shuffle and other random acts of dancing. They gave away clappers, flags and fans for the celebration. By the time they started the conga line, we were done. Headed to the room to get ready for Cozumel.

 

http://s34.photobucket.com/user/thephoenixx2/slideshow/cruise/cruise2

 

July 5, 2014

We put on our suits, grabbed our cash and headed to the shopping area. We docked at Punta Langosta, although we were not scheduled to. I didn't mind. That is where I wanted to be anyway. We both have kids, and we love turtles, so it wasn't long before we were shopped out. We had to go back to the ship to drop off our goodies so we could eat and go to the beach. We had coupons for a free margarita at Margaritaville so we went there. We thought there would be some sort of beach front to dip into, but it was a big drop off, and BFF hasn't been in the water in a long while and wasn't comfortable. I thought we were going to snorkel also, but no since in stressing out if BFF wasn’t comfortable. We got wings, shrimp tacos, fries and two margaritas, it was $60! A little over priced for me, but I should have expected that. The menus were in pesos and I couldn’t remember the conversion rate to figure it out. Anywho, we ate and went looking for a beach. We walked but couldn’t find one. We passed Hooters and Senior Frogs and asked a cab driver where was the closest beach. We didn’t have much time so we went to a little beach about 7 minutes away. I can’t remember the name, but it was free. I looked to be close to a hotel resort. We spent a half hour at the beach and made it back to the ship by 3:30. Next time we will forego the shopping and head straight to the beach. But we got to get in for a little while at least.

I over did it in Cozumel so I went to dinner and was laid up with a swollen knee for the rest of the night. I told BFF about a secret that no one knows about if they haven’t sailed with Carnival. I told her to order dessert off the kids menu. She wanted a banana split, and everyone at the table was like Whaaaaatttt!! So it was banana splits all around. They also didn’t know you could order more than one entrée. So on elegant night we had a couple rounds of lobster go around the table.

BFF hit the casino and won $400!! I was sooo happy for her. And yes, she stopped talking about my measly $100 bingo win after that. LOL

 

http://s34.photobucket.com/user/thephoenixx2/slideshow/cruise/cruise2/Cozumel

 

July 6, 2014

We were kinda sad it was all ending tomorrow, but we didn’t let that deter us from having fun. We went to breakfast at the crack of dawn, and went back to bed. We got up for brunch, but I didn’t want brunch, I wanted lunch. So I asked the server to bring me a plate of bacon, toast, and lettuce and tomato. Guess what I made? Yup a BLT. Turns out the server was the same server from my trip on the Inspiration last year with my girls. Got my free drink and hung out on deck for a while. We went to Family Feud, Bingo, missed tea time, but we saw the last woman standing competition. It was a blast. We just chilled, waited for our liquor so we could pack. We went to the early comedy show, the adult show and it was hilarious!! The comedian opted for audience participation in his act and boy, I tell you, it was fun-nee!

 

July 7th

We arrived in New Orleans around 7 am. We went to breakfast around 8. We didn’t do the self assist, but the other one where we put our bags out between 9-11. We both had late flights out of NOLA so we were in no rush to get off the ship. We found a nice spot and ended up being some of the last off the ship. We started to debark around 9:30 and were in a taxi by 10. Trip to the airport was a flat $33 from the port for two people, and I think $14 for each additional person.

We laughed, smiled a lot, rested, relaxed and plan to do it all again. She has sailed with Royal Caribbean before, but she said Carnival was more fun. My youngest daughter will graduate high school next year, and she originally wanted to go to Disneyland, but after talking about this cruise, and seeing the pics, we are going again next year!! Woohoo!!! Can’t wait to start my countdown again!!

Have a great trip everyone!! The Phoenixx is out.

 

 

http://s34.photobucket.com/user/thephoenixx2/slideshow/cruise/cruise2/Cozumel/funtimes

[Mutumbojimbo]

Yes they did. Some couples were really sharp!!

 

 

Thanks!

 

Paradise Beach was a good option for us in Cozumel, it's not all inclusive but we had our boys and they never get out of the water, so pay as you go is perfect for them. Right at the waterline it's a little rocky, so water shoes are helpful.

 

Thanks for your review.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[Layla and Beaux]

Thank you so much for your recap! Looks like the two of you had such a great time...and the pictures are SO cute!! We are looking forward to our trip this next week!! :D

[cruzinlisa]

Thanks for the review. I am going on Elation in a few months, so I always like to hear about it.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[The Phoenixx]

Thank you so much for your recap! Looks like the two of you had such a great time...and the pictures are SO cute!! We are looking forward to our trip this next week!! :D

 

Thanks. You will have a great time. Wish I were going with you. All in good time tho. :)

[The Phoenixx]

Just a little about the ship:

The Serenity area is nice and there were no chair hogs. It was so hot in July, no one used the hot tubs (there were two). It was nice to see the adults share.

 

Karaoke was fun and everyone participated. They call for the kids to leave at a certain time, but it wasn't enforced.

 

The adult comedy show is truly adult. A mother at the show saw her daughter and escorted her out in the middle of the show. The comedian had fun with that, but just a note to say that teenagers will be allowed in, mom and dad get you kids.

 

When you purchase a beverage off the classic cocktail list you get a $5 credit coupon from the casino. You can only use them at certain tables and you have to play $5 on top of the coupon.

 

When you make a purchase in the shops and you are promised a discount, check your account to make sure you were properly charged.

 

Dinner: Meatloaf was bland, steak was good. Order two desserts. Get as much lobster you can eat on elegant night, which is the first sea day (night). You can get tea or lemon aide during dinner. You don't have to drink water or order from the bar.

 

24 hour pizza the guys stay in the back so ring the bell. Ask for chicken on your Caesar Caesar salad if you want it.

 

The chef dinner was held in the library it think, unless there was a special event. I think it was the chef dinner.

 

Once you tip a drink server, they will take care of you the entire cruise.

 

Embarkation and debarkation was quick and easy. Only took 30-40 minutes from beginning to end.

 

Cozumel- don't be afraid to walk away when a deal is not good enough for you. We were chased down sometimes. I didn't mind because I paid what I wanted for what I got.

 

Mongolian Wok-BFF said was awesome. I didn't eat there because they cook with shrimp it is no bueno for me.

 

The kids were well behaved and it is cute to watch them on their scavenger hunt. They may ask you to sign their sheet or take a pic.

 

Taste Bar yummy. Be careful you don't get full before dinner.

 

I think that is all, I just wanted to give some input on the ship since she played a role in my fabulous time.