Carnival Elation--great value, but we aren't their target audience
Written: Dec 09 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Clean ship, plenty of entertainment, plentiful food. Hard working crew.
Cons: Crowded. Many children. "extra" expenses can add up quickly.
The Bottom Line: Carnival's affordability encourages people to bring the kiddies. If that's an issue for you, find another line. If it's not, you'll get a great value for your money!
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| colz85's Full Review: Carnival Elation |
Three years ago, my husband and I cruised on Carnival's Sensation for our honeymoon. We had a really wonderful time, and overall were quite pleased with the experience. I was so pleased that from the moment we left the ship, I was trying to figure out a way to go on another cruise.
In the fall of 2004, I found a good deal on a 5 day cruise on the Ecstasy out of Galveston. And since we aren't exactly wealthy, we loved being able to make a downpayment on the cruise, then pay on it monthly. So I counted down to my cruise for almost a year and a half.
With that much anticipation, a girl is bound to be disappointed, right?
Yes and no. First of all, any place that's warm is better than Indiana in December!
After Hurricane Katrina, our original ship, Ecstasy, was taken out of service to be used for hurricane relief, and her sister ship, the Elation, was moved to take over the Ecstasy's sailings. In addition, the itinerary was changed due to hurricanes.
None of this bothered us. (See above RE: December in Indiana! :) ) We would have been quite happy to sail in circles. We are pretty easy to please and mellow travelers.
We purchased our air through Carnival....it offers some protection if your flights get delayed, etc. While our departing flight left at an UNGODLY hour (6:15am), the flights on Continental went very smoothly, and things were timed so that there wasn't any panic about missing any planes or busses or ships.
Getting to and boarding the ship
We got to Bush International in Houston with PLENTY of time before the busses ran to Galveston. Grabbed our bags, wandered a bit to find the Carnival check in, got checked in and went for breakfast. After a LONG wait with no seating, we boarded the bus and rode about an hour to the port in Galveston. There our bags were taken by the porters, and we went to stand in line.
There is a lot of standing in line. And cruise lines are good at moving people through those lines. We had our Fun Pass filled out ahead of time, but I'm not sure how much time that saved us.
After we got checked in, we picked up our Sail and Sign cards ( ours were gold, since we had sailed Carnival before), and boarded the ship. The Sail and Sign cards are how you pay for things on ship....you can "attach" it to your credit card, or use a cash deposit. The Sail and Sign is also your room key, and lists your dining time, room and table. It is also your ID on ship and for getting on and off ship. Don't leave port without it!
On Board
Our stateroom was fairly standard, and small, as rooms are on a ship. It was neat as a pin, and the twin beds were moved together into a king. The size of the room means that whoever sleeps near the window has to climb over the other person to get out of bed, since the cupboard for the life jackets takes up the corner of the room and touches the edge of the bed. Our baggage appeared shortly after we boarded, so we unpacked and went in search of food.....not a difficult thing on a cruise ship. After we ate, we walked around to get our bearings, then headed out to grab our life jackets for the lifeboat drill.
This cruise was a Red Hat Lady cruise, and they were EVERYWHERE. As we set sail, a musician led them in a parade around the pool.
This is a big ship. From the Carnival web site:
Length: 855 ft - Guest Capacity: 2052
Speed: 21 - Tonnage: 70367
It really is like being in a big hotel. The Grand Atrium is beautiful in a way that rivals any fancy hotel. This is where you can find a bar, info about shore excursions, and the purser's desk. Elevators will take you to the public areas of the ship, the casino, dining areas, library, etc.
Food
What's a cruise without food? Cruises are legendary for making sure guests are well fed, and this was no exception. There is 24 hour room service, and a 24 hour pizza counter. Ice cream is also always available. Food is available for most of the day in Tiffany's, the casual dining restaurant, and at the grill on the Lido deck, out by the pool.
There's a good variety, and most of it is fairly tasty for being served in such mass quantities. Sometimes I would taste something (like the jerk chicken) and be really impressed, other times, it was "meh". I found the salad bar to fall into the latter category. I also have to admit, salad bars (on land or sea) have a tendency to squick me out a bit, because people can be kind of, um, lax in their behavior when using them. I saw lots of finger licking and coughing and other potentially troublesome behaviors which made me a little wary. Any Carnival employee I saw handling food was doing so with all the necessary and proper precautions...their food handling is really by the book, from what I was able to see.
Dinner in the formal dining room rivaled anything at a fine restaurant. Delicious, a nice variety to the choices, and presented in a lovely way. Servers were attentive and pleasant. On lobster night, some of our tablemates requested a second lobster, and that was delivered without even a blink.
Coffee, tea, punch and lemonade are included in the cruise price. Soda and alcohol are extra, and a 15% gratuity is added to every purchase. My husband and I purchased "fountain fun cards", which entitled us to glasses of soda from any bar. This would only be worth it if someone drinks a lot of soda, as I do. (Some people like their caffeine hot, I like mine cold, in the form of Diet Coke)
When we left the ship, our sign and sail card had about another 600 dollars, over and above the cruise price...and we are NOT drinkers. That total included maybe 5 bar drinks. We had to rent a tux for my husband for formal night, because he forgot his suit, and we also paid to use the internet cafe. We also put some items from the gift shop on our sail and sign, and paid for our shore excursion. In addition, Carnival now adds gratuities for room staff, wait staff, etc, to your sail and sign card at the beginning of the cruise. This amounted to about 100 dollars, though we did give extra to our room steward.
Atmosphere
The ship itself was CLEAN. Wood sparkled, carpets were clean, and on port days, staff worked extra hard to clean up. As for our room....we aren't that tidy, but at least twice a day, our room steward came in and tidied up. Any staff/crew members I dealt with were pleasant and efficient. The crew on Carnival really work their behinds off for the passengers.
Every evening when he did the turndown, the room steward left a copy of the "Caper", the daily newsletter which lists shipboard activities, and other information pertinent to the following day. This includes mealtimes, showtimes and any special information. There's plenty to do on board. Or nothing. Up to you.
The cruise director, Jorge Solano, is first rate, as are all the crew members involved in activities. Jorge used to be a comedian before he was a cruise director, so his presentations on shore excursions and debarkation were entertaining as well as informative.
Ashore
Our first stop was Cozumel. This used to be a very busy port, until the hurricanes of 2005. The pier was DEMOLISHED, as were some parts of the boulevard and some resort areas. It is now a tender port, meaning you have to get on a smaller boat to get from the ship to the port. Waits on the tenders were a little lengthy. It is rather sobering to think of the damage this little island sustained, and how quickly they are working to rebuild. We chose to snorkel in Cozumel...the "beach" wasn't quite what we expected, but the snorkeling was amazing. It was obvious that the tour company's facilities had been damaged, and they were working hard to get things back to normal as quickly as possible.
The next day was Progreso. A little....sedate, and not much going on right off the pier....you had to take a bus a fairly long way off to participate in the excursions. We shopped in the pier area and got back on the ship. We actually like staying on the ship on port days because it's fairly empty and quiet.
Rough Seas
Our trip back to Galveston was a rocky one...many people weren't feeling well due to the rocking and rolling of the ship, but my husband and I didn't really have an issue with it....though it did make most of the passengers walk like drunks.
What to do on board?
When the ship is in international waters, the duty free shops are open, as is the casino. There are various lounges, including one that shows monday night football. In the evening, there are shows, karaoke, comedians, bands, a disco....plenty to keep you busy, plus places to squirrel yourself away and read a book if you so choose.
The downside for us
So. What DIDN'T we care for? Well...the other passengers. People we met one on one were fantastic. Our dining partners were wonderful, and two nights we were the last ones out of the room because we were chattering away long after the dishes were cleared. We met people at the airport we'd run into now and then and exchange pleasantries with. But en masse, we found the fellow passengers a bit....much. And much of that much was due to the large number of children and teens on board. They ran around the pool area, took over the hot tub, and took over the pool. Parents ignored the "No children under 18 in the hot tub signs" and brought their diaper clad children in with them. Yuck. There was one toddler I referred to as "meltdown boy", because every time I saw he, he was melting down. Even other parents commented on hearing a crying baby "I thought we left those at home". Parents brought their children to late (8:30) seating dinners, cocktail parties, pretty much anywhere. For my husband and myself, this put a real damper on our vacation, and is the main reason we will be looking at other cruiselines when we book our next vacation.
Debarkation came all too soon. If you pay attention to the debarkation talk, the information in the Caper, and listen to the announcements, you'll be fine. Getting through customs is a pain, as it always is, simply because there are 2000 some people trying to get through at approximately the same time. Once we got through customs, we found the bus to the airport, rode back with plenty of time to make our flight, and flew home. To a blizzard.
So I am planning our next cruise!
In Summary
Overall, I think our Carnival vacation was a good value, and we have absolutely no issues with the crew....they work hard for little pay, and they do a fantastic job. But the crowd was a little raucous, and the number of toddlers and children reached a critical mass for my husband and me, and had a negative impact on our experience. And that's fine....if Carnival wants to position themselves as a family vacation, good for them. But we will seek out another vacation, and I would caution anyone for whom this might be an issue to consider a different cruise line.
www.carnival.com
888-carnival
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Families
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Epinions.com ID:
colz85
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Member: Colleen
Location: Indiana
Reviews written: 31
Trusted by: 1 member
About Me:
I'm a 39 year old married woman in the midwest.
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