Elation - as bad as recent reviews say?

[SpongeRob]

Two recent reviews posted here, and another posted to CCL's stock website on Yahoo make the Elation sound pretty terrible. Is the ship as bad as what has been reported, or did these people just get on the wrong ship for them?

 

[mitch]

i read those last two also, if u read close,u can tell they where together,they use the same discriptions(words) in there comments. they wrent happy with all the kids....rule of thumb,dont go on a cruse on a school break....ive been on a cruise with the little darlings knocking on my door and running......leave food trays out side my door.
i agree,carnival breakfasts are "cafeterias style"..they allways have been,but dinners ae usually good

 

[Connie Cebee]

I have not been on Carnivals older ships, most of the complaints that I have heard was due to the decor of the older ones. The two ships that I was on were the triumph and the Destiny, no problems at all. The people were friendly, the crew was helpful, and the food was very good.

 

[Maria Diaz]

We were on board August, 2001, and had a wonderful time. The food was not that good, but it was still better than my cooking. lol
We have taken Carnival 7 times, their entertaiment is the best. We wanted to do that itinerary, now that Princess is also doing it, I would rather go with Princess.

 

[Starrr]

The Elation reviews turned me off too. I wanted to save air fare by cruising near home but now I am planning to fly to New Orleans and have fun for a few days there. Then I plan to take my two teens on the Conquest just because they have a Teen center and a TEEN CAFE. My girl teen will have fun hanging out at the Cafe and make lots of friends and flirt with the boys. My boy teen will most likely be playing basketball.

I read lots of cruise reviews of the Conquest and have come to the conclusion not to eat at the traditional dinning area but at all the other food places around the ship. They say the food is better in those areas.

Plus, I read that the Conquest isn't that stable, and that it moves sideways a lot when the ocean is choppy. Could it be because it may be too top heavy??

I am not a Carnival fan but my teens want to visit New Orleans and I am a cruise addict and will go on any ship that has some redeeming qualities. The ports it goes to Suck but the Conquest is the only ship in New Orleans.

 

[nimiq]

Was on the Elation 1 year ago and i think it was a nice ship older but very nice and one on the cleaness i have been on.

sea ya

Eric

 

[cruiseaway]

FYI! We just got off the Conquest last Sunday and heard this week that the ship was not able to pull into the New Orleans port because the river was too high. I guess this is a problem they have had since they started sailing out of this port. We were lucky enough to have no problems and just loved New Orleans and will go back for a long weekend just to visit again. As to someone mentioning all the rocking that the Conquest does, it does rock a bit and we were in calm waters. Our cabin was on the 2nd deck and we had no problems there, it just got more noticeable the higher up one would get on the ship. The ship is drop-dead gorgeous, but of course I love the Impressionist Art era which the whole ship's decor is themed around.

As for the person stating to eat at the other restaurants because the food in the main dining room wasn't good, I didn't find that. In fact, the food one can get at the other restaurants was just like eating at a help yourself cafeteria which I wouldn't want to do every night. We only ate in these areas when we were hungry after not having lunch to hold us over until dinner. One absolutely has to go at least once to the reservation's only restaurant, The Point. The food and service was spectacular and well worth the extra $25 a person.

Hope this helps!

Cruiseaway

 

[cruisekitty]

I went on the Elation 7 day Mexican Riviera itinerary,
Nov. 17th 2002, then Jan 12th 2003
( you can tell I really liked it!!!)
Of course, this wasn't during school breaks.

These reviews are so subjective....

I'm not fond of screaming, running kids all over the ship, babies in the adult jacuzzi, etc.
I'm not a kid-hater (got one of my one, which I adore, of course)
also am a career teacher, campfire leader, etc.
Just like to enjoy what I paid for.

Seems like some people go on a cruise thinking they can just let their kids go cause it's relatively safe.

Really liked Paul, the cruise director, the spa, the people I met in the dining room, etc.
Yes, there were nights where the food was better than others.
But the service was always good and some nights were superb.
I thought the decor was fine given the PRICE of the cruise!!

and am going on my 3rd carnival cruise in 3 months at the end of March.....

 

[BrendaBarberee]

I read somewhere yesterday that Elation was in drydock. Hopefully this is to refurbish before it moves to Galveston in late September.

 

[Cruzman]

Starrr, I hope that the Conquest is not the only ship sailing from New Orleans since I am booked on the Grandeur of the Seas 4/12/03 sailing from there. I'll betcha that if you click on the New Orleans Port webcam most anytime next Sat., you will see her moored at the Julia St. Pier.

 

[kkorman]

The Elation was in drydock the past 2 weeks and started sailing again this past Sunday. Saw it in LA when returning on the Star Princess.

 

[cruisekitty]

Elation docked at the new Carnival pier by the Queen Mary on friday, but no one debarked.

There was only crew aboard.

Drove over to the new Carnival pier in Long Beach, crawled beyond the no trepassing signs and snooped around on sunday

(how pathetic is that?)

I'm sailing the 3-31-03 Ecstasy 4 day out of San Pedro so will be one of the last out of LA Harbor.

(If there's no "red alert" by then)

good news for me- I live in LB and can go aboard the QM and daydream when I'm not cruising...

bad news- heard ports are a terrorist target

So while I'm loading up on water and batteries,

I'm bubble-wrapping champagne

and drinking coffee out of my cruise@ddict thermomug .....