This is our second cruise. The first being on the Royal Caribbean Serenade of the Seas. It's not an apples to apples comparison as the Serenade is a much bigger and newer ship than the Elation. However, some might benefit from our experiences.
Overall...we were very pleased. We were actually surprised that it was that good. We had SEVERAL people tell us that we would not be happy with Carnival after sailing on the RC line.
They were wrong.