Very disappointing
Carnival Elation Cruise Review to Caribbean - Bahamas
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 1 cruise (first)
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 39
5 Night Bahamas (Jacksonville Roundtrip)
Sail date: October 07, 2017
Ship: Carnival Elation
Cabin type: Inside
Cabin number: R2
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 6 years ago
Review summary
This cruise was not a good experience, and I regret spending our honeymoon on this ship. I wanted this cruise to be a special gift to my new husband, but instead it was a source of frustration and disappointment.Embarkation
The ship was postponed twice due to dry dock. It was an unfortunate start to a mediocre, unorganized cruise experience. My husband and I waited nearly four hours to board the ship, standing in a line in the heat, with hundreds of grouchy people. Once we boarded we had to sit for an hour for the crew to unsuccessfully attempt to put together their presentation, and then wait for another hour for food at only two open stands. We were exhausted, hungry and irritable. But we weren't able to put on pajamas and get into bed because our luggage didn't arrive in our staterooms for another hour and a half.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
In one word: lackluster. The overall impression of this cruise was that of a cheap, cafeteria buffet. The food stands (Guy Fieri burgers) and a Taco/Burrito hut were only open for a couple of hours during peak lunch and dinner times. If you didn't make it to the stands before 2:00 or 6:30 pm, you missed out. Also, there were no menus, only large baking sheets of cheeseburger patties and old French fries, or three different choices of meats at the Taco hut. The two "restaurants" inside the dining area were never open at the same time, and only served a literal buffet of disjointed, generic offerings of bland food that all tasted very similar. To be fair, if you were hungry outside of the narrow window of time the other stands were actually open, there was a pizzeria (using this term VERY loosely) that was open late. They offered premade frozen pizzas of four varieties, nothing more. The Imagination restaurant was open in the evenings and the food was an improvement, if you were able to get a table in your allotted window of time. However, if you wished to eat lobster, prime rib etc. it was a $20 upcharge, per plate. Overall, we were very disappointed with the food on this cruise, as our expectations were set high from friends/family who had previously cruised with other companies.
Onboard Activities
The one positive aspect of this cruise, Kevin the Director was very engaging, enthusiastic and imaginative. We thoroughly enjoyed the games, activities and parties he hosted while onboard. Our favorite activity was the "Love and Marriage" game. It was hilarious, solely due to Kevin's influence. I would rate this aspect of the review at 5/5 except for the other crew members directing activities.
Entertainment
The entertainment seemed great from the doorway where we, along with a dozen other guests were standing because there was not nearly enough seating in the crowded rooms they were performing in.
Service and Staff
The servers in the Imagination restaurant were very kind, competent and accommodating. The bartenders were overextended, making them slightly irritable and causing a very long wait for drinks each time we ordered. The staff serving food in the other venues rarely made eye contact and were impatient as they herded guests through their lines like cattle.
Ship Quality
The clubs, commons areas and entertainment rooms were decorated very well, often unique and appropriate to represent that venue; however, the rooms were much too small to accommodate the volume of passengers onboard. I was shocked to find only one small pool for a ship that hosts over 1500 guests, which was always filled to the brim with children and teenagers. The serenity deck was a welcome safe haven, though there was no pool and the two hot tubs were lukewarm at best, not exactly optimal for relaxation.
Cabin / Stateroom
The cabin was fine, though I did not appreciate opting for a king bed, and finding myself falling into the crack between two twin beds on my first night.
Ship tip
Don't.
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
The only experience with this port was waiting in line to board a ship that has possibly ruined me on the idea of cruises in the future. Thankfully we did not do an excursion.
Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (Private Island)
The island was beautiful, and the sand was soft beneath our feet. There weren't many activites ( we opted out of an excursion). While we did snorkel, there weren't many fish to see and we were ready to board the ship again by 1:00 pm.
Nassau was the highlight of our trip, though we were very disappointed with the snuba excursion. The entire experience was extremely disorganized and we feel we were taken advantage of. We paid extra for the "5 hour experience" versus the 3 hour, due to the shorter excursion being sold out. We spent the majority of the time on a bus uncomfortably filled to capacity, driving to and from the dock. We spent 30 MINUTES of actual snuba, from entering the water to climbing back onto the boat. When we questioned the crew, explaining that we paid for the 5 hour experience, the crew were confused and told us that every snuba experience was 30 minutes only. Fortunately, we were combined with another tour who were snorkeling with reef sharks, so we were able to share in that experience, but it seems rather unfair and it is bad business to charge unsuspecting guests extra money for services not delivered.
Disembarkation
We could not get off of this ship fast enough and thankfully we were harassed by border patrol/customs, and were therefore able to skip the slow moving lines, exiting the ship earlier in the process.