First Family Cruise

Carnival Elation Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 34

Overall rating:

4.2 out of 5
Carnival Elation

5 Night Eastern Caribbean (Port Canaveral Roundtrip)

Sail date: July 22, 2019

Ship: Carnival Elation

Cabin type: Balcony

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 4 years ago

Review summary

All in all it was a great first cruise. So good in fact, we have already booked one for next year. We all had a good time and the smaller cruise ship was perfect for novice cruises like us. It was never crowded, we never felt overwhelmed.

Embarkation

5 out of 5
Quick and efficient

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5
Our waiter ,Yusuf was fabulous. Food was tasty and plentiful. There was enough options that everyone in our family was happy.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5
There was plenty to do and enough quiet places to do nothing. We spent most free time on serenity deck, was rarely crowded. The kids (9,13,16) were constantly doing something. No one was bored, unless we wanted to be.

Entertainment

3 out of 5
Kinda disappointed in the Diva performance. The dancing was not very technical. But overall it was entertaining.

Children's Programs

3 out of 5
It was nice to have someplace that the kids could have their own space and meet new friends. That being said, none of the 3 were super excited about the programming or so they say. It seemed like they kept asking to go back, so take it for what for what it’s worth.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
We couldn’t be more happy with the service. Ibarra , our steward was attentive and quickly learned our preferences. Our waitstaff team, lead by Yusuf, became “friends”. I was seriously sad that we Had to leave them.

Ship Quality

4 out of 5
I loved the way the ship was laid out. It seemed like if you found the atrium you could navigate to anywhere from there. There was ALWAYS someone in the hallways sweeping and cleaning up.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5
Everything was as advertised. Nothing special, but more than adequate.

Ship tip

When sailing with a family, pay the $5 per person for the text plan. We did an awful lot of walking around trying to find everyone from our party.

Ports of call

Port Canaveral, Florida

4 out of 5
Parking garage was uncrowded and easy to navigate

Grand Turk Island

5 out of 5
High light of the cruise. Exclusive Excursions put on an amazing tour to Gibs Cay. Just two families, as opposed to the hoards of people on the cruise sponsored excursion.

Amber Cove (Puerto Plata), Dominican Republic

3 out of 5
The Island of Dominican Republic was economically poor, but rich in culture. We went to the Ranch for horse back riding and a atv excursion. At the top of the mountain, the views were incredible. It was an eye opening experience for the kids to learn how other people live.

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
If you haven’t, buy the Faster to the Fun. With this item, about 200 people were among the first ones off the ship. There was very little wait and no stress.
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