Not how a cruise should be..!

Item: Carnival Elation
Rating: 2.7
Author: adi04aah09

Carnival Elation Cruise Review to Caribbean - Bahamas

adi04aah09

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 19

Overall rating:

2.7 out of 5

5 Night Bahamas (Jacksonville Roundtrip)

Sail date: December 21, 2022

Ship: Carnival Elation

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: E31

Traveled as: Large Group

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

Lastly, don't be coy about charging gratuities. While booking it seems optional and up to you to tip the servers on board, it in fact is not optional. You either pay in advance or they charge you second day of your itinerary. So, just add 20% to your booking cost or your budget while planning.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5

The worst part of Elation is the food. I had opted for vegetarian option. They serve Indian vegetarian on board. But the food is pre-cooked and just reheated before it's served. No one knows how to serve Indian food. They keep papad on top of curries and by the time it comes to your table the papad is soggy and wet. No one eats a soggy papad. But chefs on board nor the servers have any clue. The so called Indian bread is in fact Mission Tortillas reheated in the oven. They get hard and stiff, taste sour and are not edible with curries. The Xmas evening dinner had Kulcha with curries. It was cooked like a pizza in a pizza oven. Again hardly eatable. I was told that they don't have equipment to cook Indian breads on board. And, believe me, North Indians do not eat rice with curries. It is always either a roti or naan or kulcha. None of the Indian vegetarian food is cooked on board. It is precooked and just reheated before it is served. Same with the breakfast items. Even coffee is served cold. I had to ask for hot coffee three out of five days. With a head chef called Bala and assistant chef Pushpak (with whom I spoke and complained with no effect of course) it's surprising that Indian vegetarian food is so bad. Why don't they offer good vegetarian food? Does not matter if it's Indian or French, Mexican or Italian. Serve good food. If you can't cook and know how to serve Indian food then please don't offer it in the first place.

Onboard Activities

2 out of 5

Elation is the smallest ship in Carnivals fleet. Compared to the two the other two ships docked at Nassau, this was the smallest one with 71500 gross tonnage. Disney Wish with 135000 GT and Independence of the Seas with 156000 GT dwarfed Elation. The size matters because smaller ship has smaller facilities and limited entertainment options. With just one pool and four whirlpools, we never got a chance to use the pool. They were always packed to the brim.

Entertainment

2 out of 5

Children's Programs

No kids

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

They always verbally stress on the aspect of customer service. IMO, it is the experience that a customer gets. Big difference in the perception.

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

The cabin is really small for a party of four.

Ship tip

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Jacksonville, Florida

4 out of 5

Bimini, Bahamas

1 out of 5

The itinerary includes Bimini in Bahamas. It's a tiny island with no facilities. It rained the day we docked there. It meant we could not do any water activities like snorkeling. And there is nothing else to do. A complete waste of time and money. It is one destination to be avoided.

Thumbs Up 0

Nassau, Bahamas

3 out of 5

Disembarkation

3 out of 5

Traveler Photos

Size matters...! Elation next to Disney Wish, next to Independence of the Seas.

Is this kulcha or pizza....neither and it's not eatable anyways.

12 Comments

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