This was our 11th cruise and 2nd on Carnival. The first time we had taken 24 family members on a 5 day cruise on the Carnival Ecstasy out of Galveston and all had a great time with no problems. Since we were planning a visit with our granddaughter attending college in New Orleans, we found this cruise offering a "Junior Suite." In the past we had chosen inside cabins, ocean view cabins and balcony cabins, so we saw this as an opportunity to experience a suite.

Perception is often tainted by expectation. Well our expectation was quite high because we had experienced most other arrangements so believed this suite would be above the others. There were no real balconies on the Elation so there were a few Grand Suites and 41 "Junior Suites" on the 11th deck, the highest of the cabin decks. We were able to get a suite with an unobstructed view.

There were only a few perks associated with the suite but the most appealing was priority embarkation/disembarkation. Embarkation was easy and went well except no directions were given as to where to go after check in except "out those double doors." Then you just get back in line with everyone else. Read more