A cruise is better than any day at work! We weren’t impressed with the Elation as she rocked way more than we expected but maybe that’s the norm. We sailed previously from Tampa on the Paradise and didn’t have any issues! I recommend either staying in port or doing a paid excursion when in the DR. Grand Turk was great all around.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Embarkation was a breeze. Arrived early and was able to board early. There were very minimal lines. I recently got married and the name on my license didn’t match my passport but I brought all required documents and Carnival Staff assisted without any complications.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
I attempted to eat in the main dining room the first night but had to leave within 10 minutes due to the rocking of the boat. From my short experience I can say that we were seated fairly quickly but had to wait a while for our waiter. There were a ton of people eating in the dining room. By the time he brought some bread and took our order, I had to leave. The waiter did offer to box our food up for us but we declined.
We did attend Tea Time on the last sea day in the dining room and it was great. Very clean. Minimal people attended so the noise was low. We were served tea and pastries. I tasted each one, there were about 5. Nothing I can brag about.
The Chef’s Table was a blast! We are our dinner in the Library. The menu was well rounded with lots of different varieties and flavors. It was well worth the fee. The staff went above and beyond for us.
We mostly ate on the Lido Deck in the main buffet hall. The food was mediocre but edible. Most of the time it was cold. I would taste test many different items. The fruit, ice cream, and pizza were always divine!
Guys Burgers was great! I ate one almost everyday. The Blue Iguana wasn’t bad. We only ate it once, it had funny hours. The tacos were good except the fish one, it was just a piece of a fried fish fillet on a tortilla. I had a shrimp burrito which I highly recommend. They stuffed the burrito full!
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
Comedy show, water slides, Rock show, trivia in the atrium and at the drama bar. Fitness center was clean and well maintained. We enjoyed all the shows.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
The comedy wasn’t the funniest we’ve seen but it was good. The Rock Show in the Merkado Lounge was fantastic! The performers were great, had awesome energy and phenomenal voices. There were 2 violinists that played in the atrium bar, they were awesome!
Children's Programs
No children.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Our room stewards were great. Always greeted us by name and with a smile. Could have been because we tipped them at the start of the trip but either way, they were great! We ordered room service almost every night and they were always very pleasant and cheerful. The bar staff were great. Absolutely no complaints about any Carnival staff!
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
The layout was normal, like I would expect. Easy to access all areas. We took the stairs everywhere and it would get confusing at times since the stairs in one location didn’t lead to every floor but we managed. It was fun exploring the ship and trying to find each floor. The common areas were clean and I didn’t notice any smell that I had heard about previously.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
We enjoyed our cabin. It was only my husband and myself. There was enough room to hang items in the closet, there was plenty of storage in the cabin if needed. We could walk around the bed with ease. We didn’t expect to spend so much time in the cabin but we did (seasick).
Ship tip
It was very rocky so just come prepared. I took Dramamine and was still nauseous. Even took motion sickness pills on top of the Dramamine. During the day it wasn’t so bad because you were busy and you could see the horizon, at night you did a lot more sitting and it was more noticeable.
Embarkation and Debarkation were a breeze. Arrived back early and they let us off early. There’s a lot of walking to get you back to land but it was not complicated and there was no waiting.
We used Rigo Taxi and went and saw different places around the island. Personally I wasn’t impressed. Our driver, Jesus, was a delight and he was very knowledgeable, I just didn’t enjoy being pestered for money every time we stopped or everywhere we went. And the prices were crazy! I would go back but I would do a Carnival excursion next time. We didn’t eat any food while on the island because it didn’t look very trustworthy. We boarded the boat early and ate and drank.
We did the power snorkel, lunch, sting ray excursion and it was AWESOME! We had never been snorkeling before and loved the idea of using a motor to go through the water. It was so much fun! We got to see the edge of the reef and lots of fish and turtles. We left there and went to another beach and tried Conch (sp?) from a shell that the diver had gotten when we were snorkeling. After tasting it, we got to feed the rest to the stingrays. There were so many of them that would just swim up to you at the beach. We got to hold one, kiss it, and it swam on our back. After that we went back to the main beach and had lunch and rum. We got a small cup of rum, which was strong and tasted just okay, and we got some rice and jerk chicken. Everyone was served the same thing in a small to go box. It wasn’t that great. We fed ours to the local dogs. I wouldn’t do the excursion again for the food but I would for the power snorkeling! We ended up at Margaritaville where we ate lunch and enjoyed the party.
Great! Arrived early and we were allowed to get off the boat early. Walked through the maze to get out and didn’t have to wait in line for customs. He looked at our passports and waved us through. Easy peasy!
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