Carnival Elation Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Great! All went well! Nice getaway. Ship was nice, cabin was nice also. Dinner in the dining room was really good. Wait staff and housekeeper were excellent

I would do this cruise again. Food, staff, service and ports were great. The ship is older and noticeable in some places; chipped furniture, missing or mismatched paint, water faucets flopping around on sinks, doors not shutting, etc. The 'fit and finish' is suffering in some places. The entertainment is not what we'd expected, lots of trivia contests, same man singing every nite in atrium, one show in the stage. The life preserver box at the end of the bad required me to step over it to get to the window side of the bed, extremely inconvenient.

That said, it's always good to cruise, the food was excellent, the gym had new equipment and was amazing and the steam room was very nice. It's a 'party' and fun, relaxed atmosphere which is good. Actually sailed with people that walked around in pajamas and house shoes. There were more smokers than we'd seen before.

Room was clean, staff was awesome. I'd do it again. But we look forward to trying a newer Carnival ship next time.

This was our 6th Carnival Cruise. Overall experience was very good.  We found the food to be less tasty than in previous cruises and the staff not as friendly as previous cruises.  The ship was clean and there were adequate supplies and activtities.  We just love cruises and will continue to go on them, but just overall we noticed a difference, that they have cut back on expenses.  

For a first ever cruise, I learned a lot.  #1 - don't let them take your bags unless you pay the exorbitant insurance rates.  They don't give claim checks and they just leave your bags in the hallway outside of your room so anyone can take.  We had a laptop bag filled with electrical and phone cords disappear and we are just out of luck because we did not take the insurance.  I think someone walked off with it because it was small and just laying in the hallway and someone might have thought it had a laptop in it.

Food was OK and entertainment was minimal.  There were only 2 stops and 2 full days at sea. for my next cruise, i would like more stops.  Cozumel was very nice and many excursions to pick from. Progreso was not very nice unless you wanted to visit ruins.  it was NOT a place to just roam around in.

Our intent for this cruise was a family get together and that went very well so all in all, a successful first cruise.  Almost every worker we encountered or walked past on the cruise gave a cheerful greeting every time.

This was our first cruise, so I have nothing to compare our experience to. We enjoyed several things about our trip, and also found ourselves disappointed by stuff. Good: Most of the staff was friendly, ship was clean, pizza and deli were good, serenity deck for adults was appreciated (but crowded), comedy club was entertaining. Bad: Food overall was underwhelming, poor service (and food) in the dining room, pool area was small and packed, not a lot of amenities. Honestly, we probably will not pick a Carnival cruise in the future, but for a first cruise experience, we enjoyed ourselves for the most part.

This was my 4th cruise, and 2nd time on Carnival. I feel that all ships and cruise lines are different. I didn't feel that this one had as much entertainment as the other ones in the past. For example, it had a nightly comedy show, but it didn't really have the variety shows. My last cruise had a comedian/magician that was hilarious. And I was expecting more battle of the sexes games. 

As for the food, the dining room experience every night had amazing food options. The buffets open throughout the day didn't have as much options. They would chose a theme for the day and that was your only options besides the main grill (hamburgers, chicken strips), deli, or pizza. For example, it would be only French food, and was the same on both lines. On a past cruise, they had several options  every day, such as Chinese, Italian, American, etc.

As for the cruise itself, in terms of destination, I loved being able to stop at different Mexican cities. One thing I wish I would've know before, was that at these ports you basically have to sign up for an excursion in order to do something. The beaches are not near the ports, and would need to take a taxi for both. For Cozumel, there were more shops and restruaunts you could walk to from the ship. We didn't do an excursion here, so we walked around the city for a little bit, going into different shops. But that was basically all we could do. For Progresso, we did the Dzibilchaltun Ruins with Beach option excursion and was very happy we did this. It was a quick ride, compared to the other ruins, and wasn't too long. After the ruins, they brought us back to the beach for drinks and chips. Again not too long, but just enough time to enjoy the water and some food. So if you do the Mexican ones, I would highly recommend doing excursions at both stops as otherwise you can't do much. On my other cruises (Bahamas, and Alaska), I was able to walk off the ship at all ports and find something to do and pay for on land that was cheaper and just as fun as the excursions. On this Mexican cruise, you can't do that :(.

Overall, it was a fun experience. I would recommend doing this at least once!! Of course, my next cruise will be different destinations, as I want to see different places :).  

Our cruise was excellent from the time we boarded the ship. The service we received was excellent.

The menu was excellent every night with excellent choices Our server Ariyana was excellent with his suggestions for dinner and wine. (excuse the spelling of his name if incorrect)

The room was always kept up to par and clean.

The choices of food at all the locations was varied and enjoyable.

Overall, we give the cruise a 10+ rating out of 10.

Thanks for the memories.

I spent my 30th birthday with family on the carnival elation and it was awesome. The staff was great, the cabin was small but very nice and clean. The food was good. My only issue was that it wasn't very much for my child to do. I wasn't interested in leaving her in the camp carnival play area alone so my husband and I was going to take her for a little while, when arrived we were told that the parent's weren't allowed to stay unless it was family time which wouldn't be again until that next day..late evening. The day that we were in Progreso was a bummer..my daughter uses a wheelchair which was no surprise to carnival nor the travel agency however I wasn't told that we would have to take a shuttle from the pier to get to the main area in progreso. The shuttle was not wheelchair accessible so we weren't able to go. Overall it was a great experience and I'm looking forward to going on another cruise on another ship. 

This was my first cruise. Luckily, I'm not someone prone to motion sickness.  I was told ahead of time by past cruisers that you didn't even feel the boat moving.  So not the case!  Two and a half days of the trip, it was nonstop.  Not just slight movement either.  The kind that makes you stumble sideways, and you watch the liquid in your drinking glass sloshing back and forth.  On a good note, the food and entertainment was great.  There's never a lack of something to eat or entertainment to watch.

Overall the cruise was ok and worth going on. I have been on several other cruises and other cruise lines and have found both of these items to be of higher quality. Leaving out of New Orleans was not my favorite. The ride down the Mississippi River takes quite a bit of time and the water is really pretty nasty. Some people were very interested in seeing all the factories....just didn't do much for us. The stateroom layout was a pleasant surprise...very roomy and the bathroom was large enough and very functional. The shows were very good and the venues where they were held were very clean and setup nicely. The buffet was clean, but the food was on and off...some things were good and others just seemed way off. I'm not overly picky about food but a few things were just not good and I hate how you could not reach the back pans to serve yourself. The omelet bar, fruit bar, and sandwich bar were good. The salad bar was just flat weird and really had nothing on it to put on your lettuce. We loved the outside lunch bar by the pool. They had the same basic items everyday...burgers, chicken planks, fries, slaw, potato salad and was pretty darn good. Most of the staff was friendly and pretty helpful. When you first get on the boat they offer you a drink package....it's really not a good deal and I think you would be better served by paying for your drinks individually. They limit you to 15 drinks a day and the structure of it was just ridiculous. One....water wasn't included, however you can bring water on with you so that is kind of our mistake. Two.....they make both parties buy the package which is $575 for both parties. I get why the do that but it my wife primarily drank lemonade which is free. Three.....you can't get a double shot tall drink because it puts over 10 dollars and then u have to pay for that amount. So I spent most of my time running back and forth to the bar...really just dumb and aggrevating. If I want a double tall it should just count as two drinks toward my total. Just a lot different than other cruise lines and a worse difference for sure. Had some nice things for the kids to do on the ship. However, the main pool is ridiculously small and very old and dirty looking.......we never even got in cause u have to watch for flying kids from the slide. Cozumel was a nice stop. They had many good excursions to do and we were very pleased. Progresso was not too impressive. ..if you like the historical part of the Mayan ruins then you would enjoy. Otherwise I think you will have the same perception as us.....dirty and a bunch of junk. The armed guards watching the boat says about all that needs to be said. Overall a memorable experience but definitely not my favorite port or cruise line.

What we liked:

The food was great.  Not only was there plenty, but the quality was great too.  The service in the Inspiration was just about the best I've experienced anywhere.  The maitre d was very considerate and even helped us get something off the menu.  Our waiter was always prompt and seemed to be able to know exactly what we wanted before we did.

The highlight of our cruise experience was the Chef's Table.  The food was beautiful and delicious.  About the only think I would change is that people should know up front that it is a loooong dinner (2.5-3 hours).  We didn't mind the length, but it would be been more enjoyable if we had been mentally prepared for the duration.

We enjoyed the jazz music when we could find it.  We also enjoyed the PG comedy shows.

We loved seeing the paintings on the cruise.

What we would change:

The guitarist who played at the Atrium Bar got annoying quickly.  While he played plenty of crowd pleasers and was very personable, his music was repetitive and boring and his pitch was flat.  We had enough of him after a couple of hours, but because he was in the middle of the ship we couldn't avoid him.  It was especially jarring to hear his racket while we were at the Chef's table, which took place in the Library.  

While there were good musicians on the cruise, it was hard to find.  Because the first (and loudest) exposure to music on the cruise was the Atrium guitarist, we mistakenly assumed that most of the music on the ship would be of a similar low quality.  The itineraries and schedules didn't help to determine where jazz would be played, so it wasn't until the end of the cruise that we found and heard some good sets by a quintet and the pianist in the piano bar. 

The art auction was annoying, probably because it was dumbed down to make it "fun" for the low brow.

The arcade was lame.  I don't know why they even bothered to leave it on the boat.  There was also no laser tag.

Most of the Promenade reeked of cigarette smoke.

Booze and gambling don't interest us, so it was disappointing that so much of the ship's focus was on those activities.  I'm sure many people come on the boat specifically for these things. They probably loved it.  Not for us, and that's probably the biggest reason we most likely won't go with Carnival again.

We had a good time but it seemed on a smaller ship there was much less to do.  There were never enough bar tenders so getting a drink was difficult.  Everything was clean and the food was outstanding.  Meal service was great.  We enjoyed Cozumel but Progreso left something to be desired.  Overall Carnival did a good job and we are ready to go again.

The trip all around was great. Good staff, nice boat, excellent excursions. I would recommend this cruise to anyone who is looking for a great cruise for a reasonable price.

The overall experience was great being that it was my very first cruise.  I think the option for food could have been more varieties. I enjoyed our housekeeper.  He was very polite and remember our names.  He really made you feel at home.  The entertainment was excellent.  I just wish we could have had more time in Cozumel.

This was a nice quick cruise. We were part of a church group and enjoyed spending time with them. Our only complaint was the lack of dancing venues open. The last 2 nights, due to teenage parties, the disco was closed. This left no place for adults to dance, other than the casino area.  Might want to rethink this option in the future. 

the worst part of the cruise was the comedy show, all made up by Mario or whatever his name was, the whole show was offensive. 

the cowboy comedian was great !!!!

we were a little late into port and had to be towed however that was not really a big issue for me, we were not that far out of port.. may have been difficult if we were in the middle of the ocean but thankfully we were not and all was good

Our travel agent put our family at three different tables scattered throughout the ship.  We had to speak with the maitred" and beg him to put us together.  He at first even explained that there wasn't anything he could do because it was all planned out.  We further explained that this cruise was with our 87 year old mother/grandmother and the entire purpose was for family gatherings with her.  He did fix it - which made the cruise great.  Other wise it would have been a disaster due to the travel agent.

Book direct with Carnival!

This cruise was for my husband and I to celebrate my birthday. It wasn't what we booked or planned on. I  booked this cruise through . I DO NOT RECOMMEND USING THEM!!!

First, I booked a king bed. We were given the bed in the picture. It had two twin beds that could not be pushed together to make a king bed due to the pole in the middle of the room.

Second, I was also supposed to have an onboard credit. I did not get it.

Carnival was nice enough to let me use their phone to call CheapCruise. They told me that since I was already on my cruise there was nothing they could do to fix the problems. And I quote, "Any and all changes have to be made at least 21 days before the cruise." SO... if you have a problem while on your trip, too bad! They will do NOTHING to fix the problem!!

The Carnival ship was nice and very clean. The Carnival staff was very friendly. The food was what you would expect from a buffet, not bad but not great. Besides the problems with CheapCruise, it was an ok vacation.

This was my first experience with Carnival and compared to their competitors, the food was not up to par. Otherwise, very fun. Good price. Good ship for teenagers. Lots of activities for them.

First, the positives: the service was friendly, attentive, and professional; the selection of adult beverages was better than I had anticipated; embarkation and disembarkation went quite smoothly.

Now, the not-so-positives: the food in the dining room was sub-standard compared to what I've had in the past, though the buffet was about what one would expect; secondly, the public spaces were quite loud.

If your intent in selecting a cruise is simply to party at a decent price, then this one is probably for you. For myself and my family, our goal was to relax, and that was difficult to do, except on our balcony or on the Serenity deck. I can see how some would really like this cruise, but for us, it may have been our last Carnival cruise.