May 2015 - 5 Night Western Caribbean (New Orleans Roundtrip) Cruise on Carnival Elation
Definitely worth going once
slove89
Third Mate
Joined 05/2015
1
Cruise1
Review52
Helpful VotesPast cruises
Carnival Elation
Sail date: May 02, 2015
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 :).
Cruise tips
Definitely need to do an excursion. This one you can't even walk to the beach because the pier is for driving only.
Definitely need to do an excursion. This port, you can actually walk to the shops and a few restaurants, the beach you need to take a taxi.
Landry's and Oceana had amazing food! Also, the City Diner at the Wydham hotel on Barone st was very good!
Carnival Elation
If you plan on drinking more than 6 alcoholic drinks a day, definitely get the drink package. This also allows you to get pop, ect. Know that in US waters, you still have tax though on each drink, but that's only the 1st 8 hours.
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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 :).