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Carnival elation 

Norfolk

This was my 3rd carnival cruise, 2nd out of JAX... first was the ecstasy, then sunshine out of Charleston then this ship again out of JAX. The ship itself was ok, clean rooms, pretty consistent with the other 2 carnival ships I've been on. One thing I love about carnival is their customer service. Everyone is so friendly and eager to help! My son (5) was obsessed with the camp ocean team he wanted to be there all day every day and night! The entertainment was fantastic. The cruise director was definitely amazing, we went to a comedy show and the love and marriage show which was hilarious.  You're gonna have a good time on carnival, the music, events, drinks, just overall a good time. Now... let's talk about the food... was it great, amazing, best I've ever had... No. but was it disgusting, sickening didn't want to eat also no... I guess it was...Mid at best overall.  But there were some good things of course never miss is the deli, pizza and guys burgers. The desserts are always good and breakfast is good too. (Except the Cat in the Hat breakfast food was disgusting but it was so cute for my son). The lido buffet for lunch and dinner.... not that great, they do put the same items on the buffet as what is in the dining room which is good as I rather not do a sit down fancy type of meal with a 5 year old but even a I'll the food not great. I did like the lamb, ribs and ziti but for the most part guys and the deli were my go to. One tiny little complaint, the poor employees at the pizza place and deli were often alone working a long line. Pizza was never ready always had to wait 10 minutes and the lines would be so long I opted for room delivery twice as that was one of the few things my son ate. I was more willing to pay $6 for the room delivery than to wait in line. I felt so bad for those employees running it alone or with just one other person but they never let it show if they were overwhelmed. The disembarkation was affected by fog and we had to exit our rooms by 9am, but couldn't get off til almost 2pm. So we were all just sitting around but they did as best as they could by reopening the food places for us all and giving us complimentary internet access I know it was beyond their control, just wish we could stay in the room a little longer. I never understand the Carnival hate, I always have a good time, rooms are clean, the employees are nice and there's always something to do. As for the food hate I mean... it's a boat, it's ok but the food is not the reason I'm choosing one over another. But then again I have not been on any other line to compare.

Great entertainment 

Going on this cruise was a reward for one year of consistency. It was also a celebration of graduations all four of my children, and I had the most amazing time from boarding the ship to everything on the ship to even leaving the ship. It was surreal how amazing it was. The staff was amazing. The food was amazing. The shows were amazing, there was nothing that went wrong. It was like we were in a dream. The excursions were well planned well thought out and executed efficiently. The staff was always available and happy. I know it’s their job, but even talking to them off their shift they were still happy about their job , the people who work on the cruise ship are what makes the cruise ship amazing I highly recommend making sure you do the shows the excursions and the for your time dining. Be sure to get involved make memories take pictures, watch the sunrise and sunset and take all that is around you and explore and enjoy.

OMG THE BEST!

I had an wonderful time, and would love to cruise again. The food, clubs, comedy, and drinks are the all good. The staff is the best and I would prefer everyone to go try it out. The captain handle the ship very nice, and Lance the comedian had me laughing. My best part of the cruise was the app they had to help guide you with different activities going on. There was a lot of things you can do on, like the water slide and getting an massage, meeting new people, going to the club. The stateroom was always clean, with the best staff to assist you. They keep you updated and everyone including other passengers was nice to each other. I thinking everyone had a blast on the ship. The most disappointing thing about the ship was when we had to get off. I didn't want to get off.

The best trip ever is going on a cruise across sea

I read several reviews that mentioned this was a good option for a first time cruiser so we decided to try it out for our 25th anniversary.  I brought a sign to decorate my door  but it did not stick to the door so it appears they are not metal and I would suggest an adhesive hook for anyone considering door decorations.  We were fortunate that our room was kind of in a corner so we didn't have trouble finding it even without the signage though.   John was our steward and was very attentive and fast--once we were only out for about an hour and our room was still done when we got back! 

 We bought the bubbles package and probably got our money's worth but, since the only juice we would normally have had to pay for was only offered in the reservation required restaurant, we probably could have brought our own 12 pack and purchased the juice and put the extra money toward the alcoholic drinks we bought.  The reviews say this boat has 3 pools but it really only has one that has a divider and a hot tub on each end which, as mentioned, were full of children packed like sardines.  I guess they count the one at the water park as a pool as well but it's more of a splash pad.  The dinners in the restaurant were ok but portions were small and I was extremely disappointed with the quality of the prime rib.  It was kind of neat to be seated with other people and get to know them especially being at the same table each night.  The staff was very friendly and accommodating and there was a large variety of activities.   I would have liked for the 80s party to be longer abd play more songs and it would also be nice to know, ahead of time, what activities will be offered as our fun sea day didn't really have many things I was interested in and wasn't a good day to relax in the sunshine because it was raining which made it sort of a bleah day but, overall, it was  a positive experience.

First time cruiser

Loved the smaller ship the Elation. Wasn’t. Crowded at all and hardly any lines for food etc and was told it was at capacity. Perfect time of year also because children are in school. Jacksonville port was smaller and easy to navigate and you park right beside the ship. Half Moon Cay was the first stop and was the perfect low key beach day. Nassau was the second stop and was nice to see and had some really good shopping and local food. We didn’t do an excursion and just stayed somewhat close outside the port. There were 6 different ships in port that day and it wasn’t super crowded either as they embarked at different times. We never really felt unsafe but like anywhere else you want to always be aware of your surroundings. Highly recommended the Straw Market and bartering. Would probably stay away from local taxis. Was my favorite cruise so far.

My favorite so far!

A few good things first: We had a suite, so boarding and disembarking were quick, no problems. The staff at the port are wonderful! We were able to go to our room immediately upon boarding. The suite was quite large. No problems there other than the big pole in the middle of the room right by the bed--made getting up at night hazardous. The walls also seemed very thin. We could hear crying children in rooms around us, understand what was showing on the TV in the room next door, and the corridor we walked through regularly was FULL of cigarette smoke--constantly, so obviously nothing was being done about it. The room attendant was wonderful, although there was a large piece of broken glass on the floor of the room when we arrived which his vac must have managed to miss. The bed was comfortable, and the A/C and fridge worked fine. Definitely worth getting a suite, although it seemed a little worn (last refurbished 2017, I believe). Guy's, pizza, the omelet station, and the deli were great.

Some of the bad things were  "champagne problems"-- annoying, but not life threatening: very difficult to get an elevator the first day (I'm using a rollator due to surgery, and I could not get an elevator from 6 to 12 for a scheduled spa appointment. The spa changed our appointment time, but nobody told us! Lots of small "technical glitches: link to the electronic boarding pass sent to us didn't work, QR code info provided in the room was unreadable due to being copied too often, announcements cut in and out so it was hard to tell what they were saying, Carnival Hub glitches not always timely.

The "larger" bad things included my husband becoming very ill (gastro), and THEN we saw that the week before there was a large outbreak of same on the sailing. We are of the few who still mask and wash hands frequently, but he is immune compromised and it still got him. Read the news before sailing to see if there have been more recent problems! 

We found most of the food inedible. We've been on numerous cruise lines, and this had to be the worst for the dining room and the lido buffet. We ate a lot of salads, deli, pizza and burgers! Also, this ship does a very poor job with offerings for room service. You can get pizza and other snack foods, but not the full meals, breakfast to dinner, offered on other ships. There are no specialty restaurants. We always enjoyed dressing up for dinner, but there seemed to be no such thing here, as long as you weren't in flip flops and cutoffs. There also is no designated benefits to suites such as champagne or flowers, welcomes or special invites, binoculars, mini bar, private lounge, coffee machine in room. A larger space was nice, but for the price I expected something besides a very small bath tub and cheap bathrobes. 

Overall, the ship seems very dated and worn, even though it was mostly clean and had been updated in 2017. We enjoy small ship cruising, but there seemed to be a lot of very loud individuals and screaming children on board who had no sense of appropriate public behavior. I guess that's the definition of a "Fun Ship."

A Two at Best

I went on this cruise as part of a group. I flew into Jacksonville and was disappointed that they don’t have transportation to the port.

Embarking was the usual maze but the walk up several planks to the ship was exhausting!

Luckily a kind employee saw me struggling and allowed me to ride his scooter.

The ship is old but well maintained.

The food is nothing like it used to be years ago. I felt like I was eating school cafeteria meals.

Entertainment in the theater was middle school performance.

The dining room waiters were wonderful but we couldn’t eat there after the second disappointing meal.

I would say that the best part was my cabin steward. Although English is not his native language, he was able to attend to my every request and make me comfortable in a small  cabin that rocked violently for two days. 

So No. Never again Elation! And Carnival, even the free cruise offers(not actually free) are making me consider cruising with you again any time in the near future.

I’m almost speechless 

Took 5 day cruise to Bahamas on Elation. It is a Fun Ship! Everyone in our group including adults and children had a great time.  Very nice staff. We loved Gabe, our cruise director, who was overflowing with energy and smiles! A few things to know about the Elation. It seems like an entry level cruise ship. Smallish and needing updating. Two hot tubs full of children <10 yrs old, plus two hot tubs on adult-only deck. Only 1 of the 4 tubs was actually hot. One level above the pool is the smoking deck and no barriers to keep the smoke contained so it comes right down to the pool and food areas. LOTS of smokers and LOTS of smoke.  They  need to put up plastic barriers to redirect or contain the cigarette smoke. Cabins - The walls and doors between rooms are thin. We could hear normal volume conversations of our neighbors and even hear the urine hit the toilet water. Comfortable bed. There are soap and shampoo dispensers in the shower but no cream rinse. Forgot shaving cream but the only store on board was out of stock and had very limited sundries.  There is a ping pong table but no timer so a few people monopolize it for hours at a time. The evening shows were great and I was impressed with the talented performers.  Food was fine, but nothing to write home about.  Boarding was a breeze. Disembarking took forever. Once off the ship, they do not allow you to be in the terminal.  You have to wait for your ride in the parking lot even in bad weather. So be prepared for that.  Overall we had a good time but it helps to do your homework before choosing a ship.

Fun ship - some info for you

We used to cruise a lot before Covid. We are gold card members on Carnival. Our kids are 8 and 9 and this was their 6th Carnival cruise. We recently went on a Royal Caribbean cruise on the Independence of the Seas and had a great time, but we loved the Carnival kids club and had fond memories of cruising when our kids were much younger. They hadn’t been on a cruise since 2019 when they were 5 and 6, so they barely remembered, but we told them how much more fun they always had in the Carnival kids club. Lately, they seem to be slipping. The Elation is already a small ship with only 1 pool and 2 very small all ages hot tubs and only one hot tub is functional. The pool was freezing cold the entire cruise (not their fault), but they had absolutely no urgency fixing the other hot tub. We spoke to a crew member who informed us that it hasn’t worked in months. We usually spend a lot of our time in the water on cruises, but because of their lack of maintenance 10-15 kids were jam packed into the only tolerable body of water on the entire ship at all times, so we were lucky if our kids could even get in there occasionally. Besides that, everything was decent, but Carnival is definitely falling behind their competition. A big storm hit on day 3 of 5 and because the ship was so small, it was rocking like nothing we had ever experienced. Cupboards were opening, glasses were breaking and they issued puke bags to everyone all over the ship. My 8 year old daughter got nauseated and informed the kids club manager that she was getting seasick. They have no way to contact parents, so when we picked her up 2 hours later they gave us a medical form and informed us that she could not come back to the kid’s club until their doctor signed off on her. He said “no big deal, just protocol. If you can’t go tonight, just go in the morning and they’ll evaluate her and sign”. That was not the case. The doctor explained that the kids club manager filled out the form incorrectly and because he checked the wrong box, she could not sign off for 24 hours from the time he handed us the form and of course, 24 hours from 9pm is 9pm and the medical bay closes at 5pm. They both acknowledged that the form was filled out incorrectly, but apparently even if they make an error they cannot “override the computer system”. There went our plans for the evening comedy show and casino. Suddenly, we realized that we enjoyed Royal Caribbean much more and looking at all the new ships such as Allure and Star of the Seas. We probably just sailed on our last Carnival cruise.

Becoming rundown 

Took my first Carnival cruise on the Elation from Jacksonville, FL - Nassau Bahamas 11/13~11/18/23 with myself and my teenager son. This was my second cruise overall, the first having been on Royal Caribbean in 2021. 

Worst mistake ever.

Boarding was pretty smooth. Zero complaints. Upon boarding, went to Guy's burger place on deck 10 and it was rather delicious. Sailing out was everything I expected it to be: Happy, loud music, excited people on board.

Everything was great, up to the point of that evening and going to the buffet for dinner. Everything, and I mean everything, was absolutely disgusting. I tried it though because it looked like it'd be good. The desert was a German chocolate cake that looked like it had rice stuffed in between two layers of cake. I had taken my prescribed medicine to help with the nausea but suffice it to say --- the cake came up in the hallway. That isn't Carnival's fault. 

Every single day of that cruise, at every meal, it was unbearable. With the exception of the burgers and the fruit, nothing was edible. 

The cruise itself was mediocre, at best. The staff were all irritable and unwilling to help (I had gone to guest services twice to complain about the taste of various foods that were purchased, thinking it'd be better than the buffet and was wrong --- surprise, surprise). The most that I got were drink vouchers even though I can't drink due to medications. So not only could I not eat but then I was also forced to drink and if I chose not to, too bad. 

The cabin was surprisingly nice. Very spacious, steps from guest services on deck 7 and wasn't too noisy. The refrigerator didn't work. The AC was cool enough. That was about the only thing worth it on the cruise but who goes on a cruise to be locked in their room? Not me.

There was only one pool on board and two hot tubs. The drink package (the sodas) was a scam: In order to get the soda, you had to fight your way through a bar to get a can of soda. This was shocking to me as Royal Caribbean gave you the unlimited refillable cups and you could refill at your leisure. Definitely not worth the price. 

If I had to do it again, I wouldn't and I definitely won't be telling anybody I know to go on a Carnival cruise.

Horrendous

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