RobinKY Posted May 4, 2015 #1 Share Posted May 4, 2015 This was our 3rd cruise in just over a year (RC Brilliance, Carni Sensation) and we chose the Elation b/c of value and we enjoyed its sister ship the Sensation. We used this cruise as a low-key R&R trip and only got off the ship briefly in Cozumel. Here's a summary: Parking - parked at Fulton street and got discount by prepaying on line. Easy and they had a guy to help with luggage waiting for us on our level. I rushed things since he was ready for us to unload and forgot my carnival gift card:mad:. It is a short trip to the port. Embarkation - I thought we would have to wait b/c it said check in was 1:30 but we were processed around 12. Very smooth process. There was a weather issue on the gangway which delayed us a bit. I think we got onboard by 1. Ship/Room Décor-- I thought the common areas were very nice given the ship's age. It was much more appealing than the Sensation's pink and purple theme :eek:. Our room was nice. We had R6 which is on the lowest floor. We signed up for interior value saver (where they assign your room) but our room had two portholes. The bathroom is spacious but the tile, sink is very dated - pink & lavender tiles, pink sink. The weather was absolutely terrible the first night and we heard many loud noises during the storm - I assume waves crashing against the hull. Waves were coming up over our portholes. Another thing about this room is we heard the "no wake" (?) engine in our room to the point it was difficult to sleep. They used this engine while on the Miss River (6-8 hours departure and arrival days) and arriving and departing into the Mexican ports. Also the rope docking system would rattle our room terribly so on port days we got a nice wake up around 830. Pool Deck - we spent as much time as possible at the pool area. Pool is small and a little sketchy if you ask me but I get weirded out easily. I wish we would have tried the serenity now area. Even on sea days we were able to get chairs fairly easily. The pool bar and poolside wait service is very good and there always seemed to be a waiter asking if we were ready for another drink. I did notice I would have a few frozen drinks and not really feel any effects so I usually would switch to beer. Food - MDR is the route to go IMO. I am just not a feed the masses with heaps of food buffet type. Breakfast & dinner in the MDR is one of my favorite aspects of a cruise. Best meals were steak and eggs for sea day brunch and chateau briand (sp?) and I really enjoyed the meat loaf too. Worst meals were the flat iron steak (just not good quality steak) and the prime rib which I asked for medium and it came out very over cooked and tough to eat. Service in the MDR is just outstanding. We were assigned the early dinner but requested to be switched to my time and were accommodated after some initial confusion. I didn't eat much at the Lido dining options. The grill burgers & dogs didn't look too appealing. I did have the pizza a couple times which was really good and I got a hot Panini at the deli station. Conclusion The staff is beyond friendly and helpful and one of the best things about Carnival. You will meet all sorts of people on this ship and we enjoyed getting to know different people. That being said and I am not trying to be too snotty, but this is a discount cruise and at times you will get a certain walmart feel to the cruise environment. So if you're the BMW driving country club type you might not enjoy this cruise. We did this for the price and opportunity to get away on another cruise. Next time I will probably prefer a larger new ship since my kids will be with us and trying some nicer amenities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vemnox Posted May 5, 2015 #2 Share Posted May 5, 2015 Thank you for the review - we sail on the 11th. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bemarshall Posted May 5, 2015 #3 Share Posted May 5, 2015 Enjoyed your review, thank you! How were the wait times for my time dining? We didn't have any issues when we sailed on the Conquest a while back, but I've heard that the smaller ships might have some longer wait times? We will be on the Elation May 16 :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GulfCoaster Posted May 5, 2015 #4 Share Posted May 5, 2015 Thanks for your review. May 21st is our date. Can't wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LanaD1 Posted May 6, 2015 #5 Share Posted May 6, 2015 Thank you for the review. We sail on Elation in July. Last sailed on Elation in 2013. Will be glad to see the upgrades since then. We sailed Dream last year, but this year, Elation worked best with our schedule. It won't be the Dream, but we will have a blast regardless! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinKY Posted May 6, 2015 Author #6 Share Posted May 6, 2015 Enjoyed your review, thank you! How were the wait times for my time dining? We didn't have any issues when we sailed on the Conquest a while back, but I've heard that the smaller ships might have some longer wait times? We will be on the Elation May 16 :D We only had an issue the first dinner in which we switched to my time as there was some confusion on their side. We ended up waiting about 20 minutes. All the other dinners we were seating right away. Enjoy your cruise.:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinKY Posted May 6, 2015 Author #7 Share Posted May 6, 2015 Thank you for the review. We sail on Elation in July. Last sailed on Elation in 2013. Will be glad to see the upgrades since then. We sailed Dream last year, but this year, Elation worked best with our schedule. It won't be the Dream, but we will have a blast regardless! I am looking at the Dream for our next one. This time with the kids. It looks like the Dream is much kid oriented. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinKY Posted May 6, 2015 Author #8 Share Posted May 6, 2015 One thing I forgot to mention was the smoke odor. I recall see a reviewing on here with a compliant about the smoke smell. Well we smelled smoke in our room as well, usually in the evenings. I wasn't terrible but we still said something to our CS and he sprayed some freshener which helped. The last night was the worst and bothered me but eventually cleared up. I never said anything since it was our last night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhrnrcpa Posted May 9, 2015 #9 Share Posted May 9, 2015 We were on the same cruise and had a great time. You did miss out on the burgers and hot dogs- they are quite good. We were room M11, and that first night was a rough one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinKY Posted May 11, 2015 Author #10 Share Posted May 11, 2015 We were on the same cruise and had a great time. You did miss out on the burgers and hot dogs- they are quite good. I had a couple burgers on Sensation and they are decent. Maybe I hit the grill at the wrong time and saw people with the burger, fries and the cheese sauce dumped on top of the fries. It just turned me off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maldenmusic Posted May 11, 2015 #11 Share Posted May 11, 2015 Parking - parked at Fulton street and got discount by prepaying on line. Easy and they had a guy to help with luggage waiting for us on our level. I rushed things since he was ready for us to unload and forgot my carnival gift card. It is a short trip to the port. Do you mind telling me the website you used to book Fulton ahead of time? When I google quite a few places come up that mention it. Also, how much did you pay for daily parking? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinKY Posted May 11, 2015 Author #12 Share Posted May 11, 2015 Do you mind telling me the website you used to book Fulton ahead of time? When I google quite a few places come up that mention it. Also, how much did you pay for daily parking? https://www.neworleansparking.com/ $8/day + taxes & fees. I paid a total of $49.80 for 5-day cruise. Their service is good and it is a short ride to the port. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiseclues Posted May 16, 2015 #13 Share Posted May 16, 2015 Enjoyed your review...thanks. :):):):) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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