The Elation is a grand lady in every sense of the word! She is beautiful, clean, and very stately.

Pre-cruise - we drove from Augusta, GA to Cocoa Beach on Mar 30 and spent the night at the La Quinta Inn. It is not a 5 star hotel, but was clean and affordable.

Embarkation day - We placed our luggage in front of the hotel and parked our car in the long term parking area and waited for the shuttle. The shuttle cost us $16.00 round trip vs. $60.00 parking at the port. Once we got to the port the line to enter the terminal was very long. My DW noticed the VIP sign and we went down that line since we had VIP boarding. They verified our status and took us to the head of the line. I told the screener that one of the items was a cooler and they placed it in a container. I told them that we had Pepsi and bottled water in the cooler and they did not seem to care. Then we went upstairs and followed the VIP sign on the right. We were met by a very nice lady who took our tickets, passport, Fun Pass, and credit card information. Then we were escorted to the front of the picture line and then on to the boat. We went to Tiffany's for lunch, dropped off our bags, and explored the ship. We had a meeting with the Cruise Critic members from the roll call at 2:30. Next were the muster drill and the sail away. First night out was a little bumpy but the rest of the cruise was very nice and smooth and the weather was great. Read more