Carnival Elation Cruise Reviews - Reviews

We sailed December 17, 2018. Great cruise. This is a smaller ship, but it has been refurbished so it has Guy’s burgers, the Cantina, and Rum bar. We did the early dining every night (the one at the back of the ship), and the other dining room in the middle of the ship for breakfast. I did Guy’s at least once every day for lunch and snacks. The waiters at dinner (Jimmy and Fritz) did a great job. I felt like as dinner dinner goes, the old carnival was back. We felt special and well taken care of (table 300). We generally stayed away from buffet, but did have some pizza (which was good) and ice cream. This was a pre-Christmas cruise and the ship was decorated. On the last sea day The crew broke out the Christmas hats and did some holiday music in the atrium. Nice touch! Camp Carnival (or whatever they call it now) was good. I would also recommend the build a bear thing if you have young kids. It’s not that expensive and the stuffed animals they walk away with are great quality. My daughter loves hers! Our room steward was John (M164-168). Great guy. He took care of us and made us feel special. We love that. Room was fine. The shower was huge! The tv is new and big, and faces the bed!!! The ports were Nassau (we did the dolphin trip to Bamoral Island. The excursions was great (the photo policy with Dolphin was horrible). Half-moon cay was the other port. Completely awesome. Food was good. Beach was perfect. We were the only ship that day so plenty of chairs. I recommend faster to the fun because it gets on and off the ship faster, but I will say I did not totally need it because Carnival has a pretty decent system. If you like the smaller ship feel, the Elation is good way to go. The service is great. It’s the only ship going out of Jacksonville so it’s quick in and out and shorter drive from South Carolina. There are things that are great about the older and newer ships. I think it is wonderful that there are so many options. We found what worked for us on this smaller ship and it suited our need.

Had an absolute blast on this cruise! Staff was phenomenal - actually formed some great relationships with some of the employees! Only downside was the weather on the way back wasn’t the best!

Great cruise, nice ship and friendly staff. Highly recommend.

Not happy with trip. Also had a water pipe burst in our room. Son had food poison from sushi on cruise. Every activity was a way to try sale you something

The Elation was my first Carnival cruise. While I wish I could give it more than 3 stars I can’t for the main reasons I enjoy the cruising experience. Firstly, this is an older ship and while the rooms were up to date the rest of the ship left something to be desired. Thank goodness it was Christmas time because the decorations and festive vibes helped to lend to the ambiance. Starting with my stateroom, we had an ocean view and our room steward was so nice and charming. He made sure to greet us by name every time we saw him and did an amazing job cleaning our room. The entertainment on the ship was ok. There wasn’t anything I was blown away by and I didn’t rush to go to many of the performances like I have on my other two cruises. The cruise director however was top notch and I deemed him the hardest working cruise director in the industry because he surely went over and beyond plus it was clear that he lovedddddd his job! The pool area was small of course and always crowded as with most cruises the beach chair hoarders were in full effect as was the jacuzzi hoarders so my bathing suits only got put to use on port days. The food was my least favorite part. The buffet was truly mediocre in my opinion. At times the food looked and tasted over cooked and there was so care for presentation. At night the late night snacks looked picked over and as if they had just been thrown together. There wasn’t much variety either. The pizza shouldn’t have been able to be called pizza as it was a piece of flatbread basically with a little tomato sauce and some cheese. The deli was very limited as well the few times I walked by in the evening. Main Hall dining was okay. I wasn’t blown away by anything, the brunch options were nice if I had to give some points anywhere but the service left something to be desired. One evening at dinner my bf ordered a steak that was suppose to come with vegetables and do you know it showed up with ONE piece of broccoli! Just one! I asked the waitress and she stated she was embarrassed to even serve it but had no choice. Smh. That’s when you know the kitchen staff could careless. The people on the cruise may it both fun and annoying at the same time. A couple issues happened that led to some not so enjoyable moments but overall my bf and I were able to push forward and have a great time.

This was our first cruise, so we have nothing to compare it to. However, we had a wonderful time. The ship is like a bug hotel, where all your food is planned and cooked and cleaned up for you! The staff is so hardworking and friendly. Our cabin steward Michael (M256) was very diligent and super nice. Our cabin was always spic and span! It was just my husband and I, we we're celebrating our 15th anniversary. But I want to take our two boys soon. Not sure if I would sail on the same boat again, as there was only one small pool. But it was a great starter cruise!!

Our first cruise it was awesome. My kids had the best time

This was our first cruise. The ship was beautiful and staff was wonderful. The only complaint is that our VIP Sailing excursion was canceled because of weather. The weather at HMC was very cold. The last day of cruise at sea was beautiful weather finally. But you can’t control the weather and just have to make it the best memory you can.

The ship and workers were great and the food was fine . You just couldn't use your credit card on their like we could on our first cruise could only use the room card we didn't like that but over all it was nice

Had a wonderful belated honeymoon cruise with my love! Elation staff are amazing. We had an amazing time! Rules lack around the pools & hot tubs for children for sure.

For the most it was great. A good first cruise. I wouldn’t do the Bahamas again. But I would do another one.

Sailed carnival 99% of the time.. always a great time

I really enjoyed my cruise,we celebrated our honeymoon and my husband birthday and everything was great.

Great time would travel on Carnival again always have a good time on carnival ships

We had a great time on the five day Bahamas/Half Moon Cay cruise. Embarkation was easy since we had booked a junior suite. The suite was listed as “obstructed view”, and man were they right. Lol. The balcony was too small to use, and there was always someone working around the lifeboat directly outside the window. Not a big deal, just something to consider if a view and balcony are super important to you. The food was mostly good, with the exception of the lunch buffet and dinner on formal night. Cruise director Cam was great. We loved the karaoke lounge, piano bar, and the different events in the atrium bar. Half Moon Cay was gorgeous. Tendering took two hours, not sure what the problem was. We didn’t use our priority perk since our friends didn’t have- big mistake! Oh well. We booked a tour excursion in Nassau. It was great- went to the rum factory, Atlantis, Queen’s staircase... Disembarkation was easy with the priority option. We waited in the lounge for about 30 minutes, then we were off the boat and in the car in ten minutes flat. My biggest complaint is the smoking in the middle of the ship. It saved me hundreds of dollars since I wasn’t about to sit in the casino and choke, so there is a bright side. I would have liked to listen to the bands in the midship bar, but it was far too smoky. (It’s the main reason I prefer Celebrity to the other cruise lines- they have a much more limited smoking area, and the casino is smoke free. I love me some video poker. 😂) Overall, we had a fantastic time with some great friends. It’s hard to have a bad time on a cruise!

Overall, it was a great cruise. Atlantis is nice but very expensive. If they want more people to select Atlantis for their excursion, they need to lower the price a bit. As for Half Moon Cay, the staff is not nearly as friendly as the staff on the cruise ship. The food at Half Moon Cay was horrible, and there were lots of flies in the dining area. Many of us didn't know that lunch was only for a set time. Carnival needs to make some significant improvements to their private island. The folks in the dining facility didn't seem to know what they were doing.

Had an awesome first cruise! Only downside was the automatic door to handicapped suite U69. Could not lock it. Carnival did their best to fix it, but apparently required an electronic part they did not have. They ended up disconnecting it, so we could lock the door. We just worked around it. They really did try and fix it, which I really appreciated. For myself and my daughter, the added cost of the suite was a waste. We were rarely in there, except to change and sleep. We are booked again in Feb, but in an inside stateroom. The bartenders were awesome, MDR staff was very helpful and prompt. Cam, our CD was lots of fun. I really have no complaints other than the door issue, and as I said...they tried! HalfMoon Cay was incredible! Can’t wait to go back to its pristine beauty. Nassau was a bit on the dirty side, but, had fun shopping, for sure. The ship was very clean and well kept. Can’t wait to sail again in Feb.

Any hic-ups we may have had were minor , over all it was a great cruise , with a wonderful staff.

Great. Sorry I missed the Christmas cruise by one week.

The room and room staff was great. Dining was bad.