This was our first ever cruise and after the experience that we had we will definitely be booking a lot more in the future. Words just cannot describe the amount of joy, fun, and happiness this cruise gave to our family. Our children really enjoyed the ability to not have to be stuck with us the whole entire time, they had their clubs (Circle C and Club O2), as they always call them, to go to anytime they wanted to. They clubs had all kinds of different activities they children could go and do. It was great to have family time and couple time all in the same vacation. I will be recommending a carnival cruise to all of my friends and family and anyone that will listen. I will definitely a repeat customer for sure.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
This was a pretty smooth process for the most part, of course the waiting in lines always stinks but you will have that with as many people that are on the ship.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
A super variety of food options, there was something available that the whole family would eat. They even had late night snacks and meals for the night owls to grab something. I didn't not get a chance to check out the specialty restaurants but it seemed they were pretty busy and people really liked them. I want to recognize our waitresses for the outstanding, amazing and truly unforgettable experience they gave us, Oana and Mary Joy (from Inspiration). Also we had really great service at all of the bars on board, and would like to recognize Wayan and Made at the Redfrod for their outstanding jobs, they always knew even before we got waited on what we wanted (as long as we didn't change it up on them)
Tiffany's Lido Restaurant
5 out of 5
Was so glad to see that the dinning for breakfast and lunch allowed us a great deal of options and loved the Carnival app would tell use what was open and what was being served and where to go. It was great.
Pool Bar
5 out of 5
great service, loved the fact that waiters would also come to us to see if we needed anything too. They was fast and friendly and made the drinks very well.
Inspiration Dining Room
5 out of 5
Great atmosphere here, friendly staff and even sang to everyone on the last night of the cruise. We really enjoyed being treated so special and loved the experience.
Drama Bar
5 out of 5
Great place to enjoy a drink while watching sports. The staff was super fast and always recognized us when we would go there. They were super friendly and the drinks they made were outstanding.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
There were no shortages of things to do on the ship whether it was early morning or late evening. We played bingo, the kids loved the pool (however so did everyone else it was always full of people), we went to the casino, played a little in the arcade, and also enjoyed a few games of jumbo chess. It was utterly the best vacation we have been on so far.
Pool
4 out of 5
The pool was good, it surprised us that it was a salt water pool though because we weren't expecting that. There always seemed like there was plenty of lounge chairs for people to sit. The only downfall was the fact that the pool was always a popular hangout so it was jam packed most of them time. But overall was great.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
I didn't see many shows but my daughter said they were amazing. The performers were great and she absolutely loved watching them.
Children's Programs
5 out of 5
We ultimately loved the fact that our kids could head to their age based clubs whenever they wanted (Ages 16 & 12) and did not have to hang out with us parents all day long. They clubs had so many great activities for them it was sometimes hard to even get them to leave for family time :)
Club O2
5 out of 5
My daughter loved having this option for when she wanted to get away and enjoy meeting new friends. She also loved the club staff and friendliness.
Circle C
5 out of 5
My son loved being able to make new friends and have other things to do on the ship.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
They staff was incredible. After the first day, the staff had our names memorized and always greeted us by our names. They staff also had incredible customer service skills, and made us feel like royalty the whole time that we were on the cruise. I have never had such great customer service before, it blew my mind on how happy and friendly everyone on the cruise was.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
I was shocked at how the staff was able to keep up with all the people on board. During all the meals, they would go around and clean up the empty tables and make sure there was always a clean place to sit and eat, however sometimes they were too good at their jobs and would be cleaning our dishes and drinks away as we when back up for more food or ice cream.
The layout of the ship was good, it had different activities on each level and made for a crowded cruise ship to NOT feel crowded at all. There were so many places and things for people to do that it spaces people out enough to where it didn't feel overwhelming.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
The size of the cabin was to be expected, they are small but even with the size it was still comfortable. We had a room that would sleep 4 of us, so 2 of the beds pulled down from the wall. My husband and I were also still able to sleep together in the same bed with the way in which we had the beds set up. It was great, because when we first booked the room we had thought we would all have separate beds. We also had a balcony room and the view from there amazing and it allowed us fresh air without having to even leave our room, if we didn't want to. The staff kept our room spotless with their daily housekeeping of our room. It was great. Our housekeeping steward did such an amazing job with our room and even changed his normal routine to make the beds how we had laid them out even though it was abnormal. He was there whenever we needed something and if we were in the room when he came it didn't mind waiting to be able to get into our room. Agus was an exceptional steward and always had a smile on his face, was so kind and friendly, it was utterly amazing.
Ship tip
I definitely recommend buying the drink packages a head of time if you want more than what they offer with the food. Unlimited bubbles and Cheers packages were well worth it.
We had a jetboat tour while we were here which was really nice but other than that we didnt stay on the island that long. The beaches were not very close to go walk to and we weren't sure about using a transportation service on the island. This was our first time there and will probably book more excursions next time to see more of the sites.
This island was so beautiful and even though we could not dock the cruise ship on the island the means of transportation to get people back and forth was great, they really had that down as far as the most efficient and convent way of doing it. I didn't have any excursions on this island but the beach was outstanding and we just enjoyed being in the water. It was very clean and big enough for everyone.
Now this is a great review. I love it when people explain why they rated the cruise the way they did, good or bad. We will be sailing the Elation in February 2020 and I have sailed on several Fantasy class ships and love them. I've sailed on teh Ecstasy, Fantasy, Imagination, and Paradise. Upcoming will be another trip on the Paradise in October 2018 for Halloween and then Elation in February 2020
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