Friendly efficient service. Good dinners. Interesting decor. Decent entertainment.
Written: May 12 '05 (Updated May 15 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Friendly efficient service. Good dinners. Interesting decor. Decent entertainment. Lots of live music.
Cons: Poor breakfasts, antics during dinner, expensive shore excursions. Odd tipping policy.
The Bottom Line: Cruising is a great way to vacation and Carnival is good at doing it mostly right.
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| hughdm's Full Review: Carnival Elation |
The first week in May we took the Elation out of Galveston, TX, going to Progreso and Cozumel, Mexico and Belize City, Belize. This being our seventh cruise on our fourth cruise line, we are experienced cruisers. Carnival provided a great vacation and we would consider using them again and would maybe even consider this same cruise again with different excursions. I must admit that my review will be colored by the fact that Carnival upgraded us from a "good" outside cabin to a suite with a balcony! That has never happened before. Also, prospective readers should know we are in our 50's with no kids, so I can't evaluate the way kids are handled, except that they didn't annoy us!
Embarkation:
The upgrade made this the best embarkation we have ever experienced. After passing security, we were asked our cabin number. When they found out we were in a suite, we were ushered off to a private room where our check-in was handled seated at a desk one-on-one with a nice lady. We were then escorted to the gangway and were on board. I don't think we were in the terminal over 10 minutes. Five minutes later, we were eating burgers and fries around the pool!
The Ship:
The decor was interesting. A little Vegasy looking. In fact I felt like they took their decorating cues from the Cheesecake Factory! There are several lounges and a huge showroom. We never had any problem getting a place to sit for shows or events.
The cabin was roomy; queen sized bed, couch, small fridge, large dressing area. Having a balcony is GREAT. We sat out there a lot. There is probably a method to their madness (upgrading us) because we will try to afford it in the future!
There are 2 dining rooms with two evening seatings each.
The Food:
Their weak point is breakfast. This is among the worst we have had on a cruise ship. Lunch and dinner were good, average for cruise ship fare. Dining room service was very good. Of course there was also a buffet restaurant, pizza, Burgers and hot dogs. There was only one midnight buffet for the week, but we were too full after our late seating dinner to do more than take pictures. There was also an afternoon sushi bar that had a few good offerings, but no raw fish. Even the salmon on the sushi was smoked. We could have done without the nightly antics the dining room staff were forced to perform, but it usually didn't take long.
Entertainment:
There was a song and dance troupe that did three of the evening shows. They were talented, but it wore a bit thin by the end. Three comedians from fair to good, A talented fiddler, a fascinating balancing act, and Trini Lopez’s younger brother rounded out things. I’d say that it was good for a ship of this size. The plus was that they had a live orchestra and several other musical acts that played around the ship at various times every day. There was a great classical trio, ala Eroica Trio that I enjoyed. Maybe they shouldn’t have played the theme from “The Titanic” though!
The Ports and Excursions:
Our first stop was Progreso, Mexico. We elected the “Corona Beach Break”. It was OK for what it was, unlimited Coronas and Rum punches on an OK beach. We wished it was not right at the end of the causeway to the ship, though.
Next we went to Cozumel. We had an interesting excursion around the island in converted VW dune buggies, which we drove. We stopped at a rocky area and snorkeled for an hour or so. We then got back in the buggies and went on around the island (great views) to another secluded beach where we were served a pretty good buffet Mexican lunch. Then on around the island to the obligatory shopping stop, then back to town. It was a great overall trip, and we still had time to walk into downtown to shop for jewelry, as we docked right at downtown. No alcohol on this one, as we were driving!
Lastly we went to Belize City, Belize. The city is really not worth seeing, but the excursion we chose was to be taken to an out island in a motor catamaran to “power snorkel”. We had these little battery powered motor units and could really get around to get great views of the second largest barrier reef in the world. Got snockered on rum punches on the way back. A great trip over all.
The three excursions came to $435 for two. We heard that others got pretty good trips just by getting off and negotiating with the locals, but this makes us nervous.
Debarking:
Again, the suite got us “first off” privileges. Again, very little time spent in the cruise terminal. By the way, if you are driving to Galveston, we recommend “EZ Cruise Parking” (www.ezcruiseparking.com) . For $95 you park securely for a week, curbside service, and get a detail!
Carnival had an odd tipping policy that I hope is not going to become the norm in the cruise industry. We were forced to prepay the tips!. I would think this would not benefit the staff, but maybe it does. They tack on $10 per person per day. We added some cash for those we liked at the end, but I didn't see others doing so.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Couples
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Epinions.com ID:
hughdm
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Location: Humble, Tx, USA
Reviews written: 10
Trusted by: 0 members
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