Carnival Elation Review

Carnival Elation - Western Caribbean

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Carnival Elation

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Sail Date: Nov 2005

This was my first cruise and the first time my husband and I had gone on vacation together without kids in our 20 years together. We loved every minute of it, with the possible exception of one day when the seas were a bit rough. I expected to get seasick, as I sometimes get carsick. My doctor is a frequent cruiser and gave me "the patch" but told me not to put it on unless I started feeling bad, as most of the time it made you feel bad to start with. I never even opened the package.

Due to Hurricane Wilma, we docked in Progreso and Vera Cruz instead of Cancun and Cozumel, which was just fine with me. My husband and I both grew up on the border of Mexico and expected it to be just like we were used to... boy were we surprised! Neither town was as dirty or "touristy" as we were expecting, and Vera Cruz is lovely. Our tour guides to Dzbilchaltun Mayan Ruins were fantastic (Progreso), and in Vera Cruz we just hired a taxi driver who drove us all over town on an impromptu tour of his own, took us to the Aquarium (and waited for us) and then returned us to the ship for $30. I'm sure it helped that we spoke Spanish. The souvenirs on the dock at Vera Cruz were reasonably priced and there was A LOT of armed Mexican Coast Guard officers patrolling to make sure the tourists were safe from pickpockets or other nuisances.

The food was good and I highly recommend the "formal" dinner option for those who don't get to try a lot of variety of foods. We're from rural Central Texas, and it was a treat to us to try new things. Our wait staff was very accommodating. We even enjoyed eating in the formal dining rooms for breakfast as we met so many new people each day at our table. Our only unpleasant experiences were with other passengers -- one lady at our breakfast table was upset that she had to sit next to a stranger -- and another lady was attempting to obtain signatures on a petition to get her money back on her ticket because she didn't get to go snorkeling due to the hurricane.

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