My first cruise and a horrible experience. We couldn’t dock on 2 ports. The engine went up and we were stuck on the sea, it made the national news. 95% of its customers left feeling the same way. Some of the captains staff wasn’t polite

Item: Carnival Elation
Rating: 2.1
Author: ncwomanofpurpos

Carnival Elation Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

ncwomanofpurpos

Contributor Level: Deck Hand

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 53

Overall rating:

2.1 out of 5

Verified Review

5 Night Eastern Caribbean (Port Canaveral Roundtrip)

Sail date: January 11, 2020

Ship: Carnival Elation

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: E30

Traveled as: Large Group

Reviewed: 4 years ago

Review summary

My very first cruise and a horrible overall experience. There were many other passengers there who informed a lot of us not to be discouraged as they are regular cruises and this experience was the worse for them as well. I have never been in one location with so many unhappy customers! We are definitely due some sort of refund I will be officially complaining at another time

Embarkation

1 out of 5

Just horrible. The cruise made very loud strange noises when traveling on the sea. We were stuck on the water for awhile and had no idea that the engine went up ! (Until afterwards)... they rode us around on one engine. The majority of us were sick due to motion the first couple of days due to the lack of stability that cruise provided. It made national news while we were there because many passengers were publicly complaining. The captains staff (dressed in captain uniform) were not pleasant at all. We also were not able to go to two different port for excursion activities. They had to substitute a port so basically we were expecting 3 stops as we paid for and they only were able to do ONE Due to the malfunction of this boat! Only gave us a 50$ credit onboard! Just horrible experience. We actually reviewed reviews of this ship while onboard and on YouTube and their Facebook page customers been having the same issues and complaints for some time now. This boat has ONE engine and it rides like a very old old old car that makes a lot of major sounds , and major vibrations. Just avoid elation! In fact I’m discouraged about CCL altogether.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

The food were delicious and the drinks was awesome

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Service and Staff

1 out of 5

The waiters were wonderful. The ship personnel can definitely use some professionalism continuing educational coursework. The captain staff walked around as if they were military. I spoke to one of them and he didn’t even speak back after looking at me. I was so shocked.

Ship Quality

1 out of 5

Common areas are very clean. Housekeeping did great job. The structural of the ship is horrible. Frightening. It’s like taking a chance with your life riding on this boat in this condition! It sounds like it will break down at any moment. 75% of the time the boat was shaking as well.

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

I was completely satisfied with the upkeep of the cabin. Except for feeling all the major bumps, cranky noises and loud engine issues

Ship tip

Choose another cruise line or different carnival ship

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Port Canaveral, Florida

2 out of 5

Disembarkation

2 out of 5

It was completely disorganized. Ppl was everywhere. The elevators took forever to gain usage

5 Comments

WilsonFam2003 4 years ago

I too was on this cruise and it was the worse cruise experience I have ever had. 4 out of the 6 in our party had to take nausea meds for sea sickness. We didn’t get to go into either planned port. (Dominican & Grand Turk) we did however receive $50 credit per person and the $20.10 port fee for Dominican and $50 per person for grandturk. We did not receive port fees for Grandturk but I’m thinking that is because they took us to the Bahamas unplanned since we didn’t go to the planned ports. I will NEVER travel with CCL again. This last cruise was the 8th cruise I have taken and they continue to get worse.

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

Dutch3901 4 years ago

Where did you get 95%? Debarkation is typically a zoo on any cruise line. Where embarkation provides 4-5 hours to get thousands of guests aboard (arriving at different times), everyone is trying to leave the ship in a compressed time (1-1 1/2 hour). I’m sorry that this cruise was a disappointment for you and many others.

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

kimber17 4 years ago

I agree with JT1962, I went on the Elation in September and had the same engine trouble. We missed Amber Cove but went to Nassau instead. I will never cruise on the Elation again but I will be cruising on the bigger ships this year.

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

Cruiserike0322 4 years ago

Sorry for your experience hope you try again

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

CruzeFan 4 years ago

Sorry you had a bad experience. I wouldn’t judge an entire cruise line based on one cruise on an older ship that had engine issues, Things can and do happen on all cruise lines. As stated in the contract everyone agrees to when booking, the ports or itinerary are not guaranteed. The only legal obligation the ship has is to refund any port charges already paid for ports that were missed. Hopefully you had a good comprehensive travel insurance policy that will at least compensate you for the missed ports / itinerary change.

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

Other reviews of this sailing

First and WORST cruise EVER!!

Worst experience ever

Worst cruise ever