Carnival Elation June 15-20, 2013

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 13

Review summary

Overall better than I expected! Have cruised numerous times on just about every cruise line out there. We booked last minute, less than a month in advance, deciding on a quick, inexpensive trip. Carnival is the only line going out of NOLA this time of year so we had no other choice! The food was actually good, much better than my last Carnival cruise 3 years ago. I still think Carnival overbooks the cabins by allowing too many children/people per cabin. My last cruise on Disney limits the amount of children per boat which makes for a much more pleasant experience. Tiffany's, the buffet on Lido, was always a madhouse so we ate every meal including breakfast in the dining room. Service was always friendly and reliable. The overall crowd on the ship was very diverse. The fist day at sea I felt like I was at a night club when I sat near the pool. I am late 30's and love to go out and have fun, but after a couple hours I had to relocate to a quieter location after learning how to "Dougie" and other songs I felt were not family appropriate. There were older people on the boat and I actually cringed at a few of the song selections envisioning my mother running straight for guest relations. This was the first cruise I have been on that did not have your typical calypso band near the pool, but had an actual DJ....not even piped in music! There must have been several complaints as the second at sea day had a much more tame "Top 40" theme with some 80's and popular country songs mixed in. However, the recent graduates and family reunion groups seemed to really enjoy both days! The room was standard, clean and comfortable beds. Plenty of towels and anything else that was needed. We weren't in the room that often, but do typically enjoy watching the daily movie while getting ready for dinner. They showed the same movie on 3 days....The Guilt Trip...which we had unfortunately seen. The other movie was Oz. Room was quiet and no disturbances. The itinerary was fine for what we were looking for. In Progreso we went to Uxmal which was great and very much worth seeing. I had not been there before. This port the only thing to do is really to go see the ruins. I personally am very tired of Cozumel and could skip it, but I can always have a beach day. We really wanted to do a tour that was on the mainland, but it wasn't offered during our sailing due to time constraints. The entertainment on board was OK. They only did 2 stage shows on our 5 night cruise. They were both good and worth going to. One night was a passenger talent show which was entertaining. The comedians on the boat were fantastic!!! The dancers will soon be replaced with comedy shows if they don't watch out. Mutzie was absolutely hilarious and we made to most of his shows. The best thing we did on this cruise was the Behind the Fun tour. They only have so many spots available per sailing and I really wanted to sleep in, but SO glad I didn't! We saw areas and learned things we never would have. It was $55 per person, but we each got a hat, lanyard and 8x10 photo of us with the captain on the bridge. The chef also sent a plate of sweet goodies to our room - which were awesome. It was a 3 hour tour but we got to see just about everything including the meat cooler, crew lounge and laundry room.....did you know there are machines that fold the sheets and towels?!?!? For the price we paid for this cruise, we couldn't have gotten more for our money anywhere else. I will definitely consider Carnival Cruise Line again in the future as a contender when cruise shopping and not cringe when I tell people I went on a Carnival cruise.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

Onboard Activities

Entertainment

Service and Staff

Ship Quality

Cabin / Stateroom

Ports of call

New Orleans, Louisiana

Progreso (Merida), Mexico

Cozumel, Mexico

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