How is cruising on ELATION?
 

I see several posts on many of Carnival's ships and I wanted to know experiences from you on ELATION. I know all the basic info from websites but I want to know the do's and don'ts and the best things about the cruise ship. We will be going to Grand Turk, Nassau and Half Moon Cay. Anyone have any suggestions/personal experiences on those ports, feel free to comment. Thanks in advance!

The Carnival forum on cruisecritic.com is very active and I suggest you post there.

Hi hayjax:

You did not say if you've cruise before. If this is a first cruise you'll have fun learning about the cruise experience on this ship.

If you sail on the most basic or the highest end line, most of what you experience is the same (granted... the more you pay, the higher the quality, etc). But regardless of the line or the ship, the day to day life from ship to ship and line to line does not vary a lot. On every ship you will have to go through life boat drills, learn where things are, what places to go to eat, when to eat, how to dress, how shore excursions work, how to get your picture taken a million times etc. Again, life on board all ships has many similarities.

This is one of Carnivals older and smaller ships, but you'll still find plenty to do. It's an entry level (short) cruise and if you have any specific questions please feel free to post them. I have not been to these ports so I can't give any advice on them.

I too recommend going to cruisecritic.com for lots of info on Carnival and this ship.

Have fun and enjoy the Elation.
:)

When we stopped at Half Moon Cay, we didn't bother to get off the ship (tender). It was a beach.

Grand Turk is very pretty but very untouched. DO NOT take the overpriced sightseeing tour - it was NOT at all worth it. Get a taxi out to the lighthouse, which was lovely.

I sailed the sister ship, the Sensation, and I wasn't crazy about it. The gym was terrible, the decor was ancient, it had a bad sewage smell and like many of the cheap short cruises, it wasn't the best clientele. Call me a snob, but our tablemate showed up at formal night wearing a t-shirt. At least he took his Nascar cap off. IMO, the best short cruise is RCCL Enchantment, which has been refurbished and upgraded.

Unless there is an itinerary that is great, I avoid older ships. It matters little what line, the older ships seem to have this sewage smell.

I would suggest looking into another cruise line. My husband and I took a cruise with carnival this past May and the service we received was absouletly horrible. They do your gratituties when you first walk onboard so be prepared to have a charge on your account before you even start. The crew members are able to eat and swim with the guest when they are off duty. This was the first time we had ever seen that.

It is not appropriate for the crew to mingle with the passengers, unless they are CD level and above; the crew is not paid to have fun and this surely makes passengers uncomfortable.

I also avoid older ships in general but really dislike the mega ships that crowd too many people into a crowded space. Conquest class on Carnival was the worst experience ever in this regard.

I have cruised on 3 different Carnival ships of varying ages (one new) and they are not my cup of tea.