Had a great time on 5 night Elation cruise

On this trip we left out of New Orleans, navigating through the Mississippi river out to the Gulf is a cool experience.  This was a family trip with 4 families with people ranging in age from 68 to 15 years old.  There was something to do for everyone and we enjoyed the scheduled activities.  I know there are larger ships with more amenities but for the 5 night cruise the elation was very good with an affordable price.  If I was going to take a 7 night cruise I would choose a larger ship with more varied activities.   

The work out room was well equipped except a few of the treadmill touchscreens were not working properly.  The staff - our room keepers, wait staff, entertainment coordinators and others were all kind and helpful.  Onboarding and offboarding was efficient. Dining options were awesome and the food was good.

This cruise departed at the end of May and there were about 800 teenagers and kids out of the total 2000+ passengers due to the end of the school year.  I personally did not mind but something to consider if you have kids and want them to meet kids and make friends.  We also saw a lot of teenagers drinking.

I would like to see more free excercise activities/classes. I enjoy excercising and I didn't want to pay for the classes offered.

Our two stops were Cozumel and Progreso.  I would recommend a trip to Chichen Itza (Mayan ruins), it took a couple of hours to get there but it is well worth it.  Make sure you have a guide to explain the history of the place.  We did not purchase the onshore excursions from Carnival.

I have been on Carnival Triumph out of Galveston and Celebrity out of Miami.  Triumph is a larger ship with more to do on the ship which is especially good for longer cruises.  The time we cruised on Triumph they had sushi everyday before dinner, we loved that.  The food on Celebrity didn't seem as good as Carnival.