Elation Review

[cruzinsteve]

Where to begin? We drove down the evening before and stayed at the Harbor House, had room 301. I recommend this hotel as the room was excellant and really was a suite, two large rooms and king size bed. TV in both rooms and right on the water, cost $79.00. We ate at Willi G's, great seafood and friendly staff (its right next door to Harbor House). We awoke (I I mean I awoke) early and was able to watch the Elation come in and dock right next to the hotel. We drove over to Seawall Blvd and had breakfast at the IHOP. Parked at EZ Cruise Parking for $35.00 (booked on-line and saved $5.00), and was shuttled promptly to the ship arriving at 11:05. We waited about 10 minutes and were then boarded. Went to my cabin which was ready and was having a cup of coffee on Lido deck by 11:35 AM. Fastest boarding ever. By the way we were Platinum status, but they gave us gold cards. We went to the Purser's desk and they had new cards made up for us. After lunch we met our steward and then took a nap till just before boat drill. After muster we met several other Cruise Critics board members and had a meet and greet. Wonderful group. We kept running into them throughout the cruise. Dinner (we had late seating) the first night was great, we met all our table friends at Imagination Dining Room table 165. Two couples from Houston, Another couple from Bedford, TX and our friends who sailed with us from Fort Worth. We were the rowdy group, had a great first night. I ordered a bottle of wine and the Maitre'D seen our sail and sign card was Platinum, and asked us to have dinner the next night with the Captain, and we accepted. First time in 25 cruises. After dinner we went to the Cigar bar and met the best bar tender in the fleet, Keith, from India. He was a first rate mixologist and kept us entertained. After a few drinks, we moved on the the Piano Bar, and sang and drank to the wee hours.

 

Day Two:

Got up at 7:00 Am (sea day) and went to breakfast on the Lido, ate and watched people until 10:30. Went to the Mikado for Bingo and trivia questions. Met a couple we hung out with for lunch and finally went below for some rest. @ 2:30 went to the Newlywed not so newlywed game and laughed our heads off. More Bingo for DW. Shopping in ships store for liquor, cigarettes for friends back home, also bought souviners for office friends. Then its was Pizza snack time. Great pizza as always. rested for an hour and started preparing for Captains Dinner. I wore a Kilt and my wife had a beautiful gown on. We sat next to the captain and learned some Italian phrases. He was very gracious and invited us to tour the bridge while in port the next day. We had a picture taken with all of the officers and guests and finally finished dinner around 10:30. The captain and the Food and Beverage Manager kept ordering different wines and Champagnes for us, so we left a little tipsy. Needless to say the service was the best I've ever received on a ship. Made our way to the Piano bar and again drank and sang till the wee hours.

 

Day 3:

Calica/Playa Del Carmen. WE awakend about 9:00 and went to breakfast, decided not to go ashore as we had been there several times before and Xcaret was not open due to Hurricane Wilma damage, so we layed around the pool all day and had some luch. I know it sounds boring, but it was a great stress reliever. Took a nap from 3:00 until 6:00 PM and headed for the cigar bar and played cards and conversed with Keith again. Great person to have as a friend on board. Watched a show in the showroom at seven and went to dinner. Had fun again, and listened to everyones adventure ashore. After dinner we went to listen to the band and finally ended up in the Piano Bar, where (yep you guessed it) we drank and sang till the wee hours.

 

Day 4:

Sea day. Got up late had breakfast and watched people most of the morning. Hung out with our friends and watched some football in the cigar bar and had a friendly discussion with Keith over which is better Soccer or American Football, neither one of us convinced the other to change his opinion.

 

Last night at dinner had a lot of fun with our waiter Michael and Rachelle, both are from the Philippines, and they sang and danced for us. We thanked the Maitre'D for sitting us with the captain (Nice tip) and said fairwell to our tablemates. Early to bed as I had a long drive to Fort Worth.

 

Now for some facts. Embarkation was a dream, easiest ever. Ship was immaculent. We've sailed her twice before and she sparkled. The crew was constantly cleaning, painting and polishing. Yeah there was wear and tear here and there if you looked for it. The crew was the firendliest I've ever had, always a greeting and smile wherever you met them. The cruise Director is Jorge and he was funny, lost his voice for a couple of days, but kept everyone laughing. Shows were good, the last night was "Spin" and it was the best. If there was a negative, it was from some of the passengers who were not your regular people on a cruise. They were ugly and obviuosly not used to being in a clean enviroment. Bad language, pushy, uncultured, and full of themselves. Complaining about everything and everyone. Some claimed they were using the "FEMA" card balance to cruise, bragging about something like that really irked many of us, as its our tax dollars. That aside, we had a ball. Debarkation we received VIP treatment and was off the ship as the first color called. Shuttled to our car and on the road to Fort Worth at 9:30. We have another cruise on the 28th of January on this ship and can hardly wait. I recommend this ship to everyone. I'll be glad to answer any specific questions.

[TXParrothead]

Thanks for the review! I have got about one month to go! Did you only have one port? Also does the Elation have a coffee bar?

[bsdmhutch]

Welcome back Steve...sounds like you had a blast.:)

[cruzinsteve]

Thanks for the review! I have got about one month to go! Did you only have one port? Also does the Elation have a coffee bar?

 

Yes great coffee bar on the Promenade Deck.

[cruzinsteve]

Welcome back Steve...sounds like you had a blast.:)

 

Yes it was a great one, even if it was only for four days. Loved the ship, of course we love every ship : )

[TXParrothead]

Oh did they enforce the law of only one liter of liquor per Texan upon return?

[Cahira]

Thanks Steve for the great review!

 

(Still trying voodoo on this countdown clock to make it run a little faster :D )

[cruzinsteve]

Oh did they enforce the law of only one liter of liquor per Texan upon return?

 

No, and I brought back 4 liters. We were sweating because the Box we carried it off in said "Liquor 4" in big letters, but went through customs zip zap and no Texas Rangers in sight. All my friends are smiling this morning with their bottles of cheap hootch.

[Sablerose]

Woo hoo! Congrats on the great cruise, and congrats on dining with the captain! We did the same thing on Conquest a few weeks ago and it was a great experience (including the wine that just kept coming, and coming, and coming).

 

It's neat to meet someone else who did that, too!

 

Did you get to take your tour of the Bridge?

[TXParrothead]

Thanks! After I read the TABC brochure I was disappointed but now I am not! Thanks!

[cruzinsteve]

Did you get to take your tour of the Bridge?

 

Yes, and it was quite interesting, we also got to see the captain's cabin, and he had his family with him, so we met his wife, who was avery nice lady. The "flying bridge" sits out over both of the ship with a glass floor, which was kind of neat.

[cruzinsteve]

Thanks! After I read the TABC brochure I was disappointed but now I am not! Thanks!

 

Also we learned that Baily's, Kahlua and other low alcohol Liquor's do not count against the 1 liter rule.

[TXParrothead]

Was there a briefing on the ship about that? (liquor content) I appreciate all of the information.

[1okie]

Thanks for the review. I will be sailing Elation December 3rd:D

[cheshyrkat]

Great review!

 

I'll be leaving on Elation on the 12th...Any suggestions from anyone about what the "good" times for embarkation are? Trying to sew up the last details these days and that's one of the things I need to figure out. With all the troubles that Conquest has been having and reports that people have to really wait until the announced boarding time it makes me a little apprehensive planning to arrive too early. My feet still hurt from the 3 hour long line I stood in back in September (lol) and I don't know if my mom (who I'm going with) will be able to stand for that long to begin with!

[joegeneli]

We just got off the Elation on the Nov 5-10 cruise. We arrived at the port at 11:00, but it took one hour for my husband to return the car at Enterprise. We got in line at 12:00 and waited 45 minutes in line for our turn. When we left at 12:45, the line looked even shorter than when we had gotten there (maybe 1/2 hour wait at that point). Hope this helps.

[cruzinsteve]

Great review!

 

I'll be leaving on Elation on the 12th...Any suggestions from anyone about what the "good" times for embarkation are? Trying to sew up the last details these days and that's one of the things I need to figure out. With all the troubles that Conquest has been having and reports that people have to really wait until the announced boarding time it makes me a little apprehensive planning to arrive too early. My feet still hurt from the 3 hour long line I stood in back in September (lol) and I don't know if my mom (who I'm going with) will be able to stand for that long to begin with!

 

We didn't stand in line at all, only at the counter for maybe three minutes as we had our "Fun Pass" filled out, gave the credit card and got our Sail and Sign cards. We were ushered to the other side of the room where chairs were waiting for all. A little tip, they board from the back of the room first. We sttod in line for maybe five minutes while waiting to have the "picture" taken by the photographers. We were on the ship from the time we got to the terminal to in our cabin in less than 25 minutes. We arrived at 11:00 AM. No hassle at all.

 

No briefing on Liquor law by the ship, I learned of this by friends on board and previous experience.

[big_duck]

Welcome back Amigo, glad you had a great time. :D

[cruzinsteve]

Welcome back Amigo, glad you had a great time. :D

 

Thanks DUCK and the Kilt was a hit with the ladies. I thought I was in GQ magazine with all the cameras snapping my mug. One even tried to take a flick under the Kilt but DW put the Kaboosh on that.

[bachstrad]

Great review. Thanks!

[mamiamjo]

We'll be sailing on the Elation this Saturday! I plan on being at the terminal at 11:00 and hope to duplicate your quick embarkation.

 

Have they decorated the ship for Christmas yet? Do the Gold S&S Card holders get priority debarkation as well, or only the Plats?

 

Mike:D

[cruzinsteve]

We'll be sailing on the Elation this Saturday! I plan on being at the terminal at 11:00 and hope to duplicate your quick embarkation.

 

Have they decorated the ship for Christmas yet? Do the Gold S&S Card holders get priority debarkation as well, or only the Plats?

 

Mike:D

 

Sorry I haven't answered sooner came down with the crud. Ship was not decorated for holidays and no gold perks that we were aware of. Fastest way off ship is to wrestle your own baggage off, those doing this get to debark first. My suggestion is if you don't want to hassle with it, go to Duke's bar and tell them you have an early flight, they don't check and leave with the first group of VIP's and early flight crowd, no its not fair to those waiting but if you must, you must. We had several people get off with us that were driving but were not going to wait an hour or two to get off the ship.

 

Our bags were waiting for us in the color area of our tags, so it was not a hassle, to leave early, just more bags to go through to find yours.

[cheshyrkat]

We'll be sailing on the Elation this Saturday! I plan on being at the terminal at 11:00 and hope to duplicate your quick embarkation.

 

Have they decorated the ship for Christmas yet? Do the Gold S&S Card holders get priority debarkation as well, or only the Plats?

 

Mike:D

 

The priority debark is for Platinum status, not for Gold...I now have made it my mission to one day hold that silvery card! lol

[Hot Hockett]

What does it take to receive Gold or Platinum status? December 17th (Elation) will only be our 4th cruise so I am sure that I am a long way from it....but we must have goals!

[big_duck]

What does it take to receive Gold or Platinum status? December 17th (Elation) will only be our 4th cruise so I am sure that I am a long way from it....but we must have goals!

 

Gold 2nd Cruise

 

Platinum 10th Cruise.