We arrived in San Diego a few days prior to our cruise to Catalina Island and Ensenada MX. In April the weather can be chilly in San Diego and Ensenada - which can be multiplied by two (2) when on the ocean. We packed warm clothes and I am glad we did because there were a number of people sporting $35.00 Carnival coats which after feeling the quality of material were not worth more than $8 - 10 bucks. We stayed at the Hotel Del Coronado which is a fine hotel. The hotel is what people call 'quaint'. We just call it old. The furnishings in the rooms appeared to be antiques but were just 'yuck'. Prior to the Sunday embarkation of the Elation we went for breakfast at the Hotel Del - for only $75.00 per person you too can have eggs and bacon!! No thanks, we just walked down the street to a greasy spoon.

Embarkation: We wanted to try a balcony suite (Penthouse Suite) number U73. The ship had just got out of dry dock so we had expectations of grandeur. With our room we got VIP luggage tags. With this in mind we arrived at the docks around 12:30 and we had to state our VIP status to get into another line that had priority over other guests. The lines were moving so quick that it did not matter as we were helped just as quickly as the next person. (Don't forget to tip the baggage handlers $5.00 per bag). From start to finish it took us 10 minutes to get out of the taxi and get onto the ship. We got our luggage around 4:00 due to VIP status - as I was told. Only one person had a lost bag as was indicated on the lost luggage memo which we received that night. That would be terrible.

Room: The Penthouse Suite (U73) had earth colored tiles in the bathroom, dark wood in the main room and a small flat screen TV installed during dry dock - this is an assumption. The primary colors are not what are pictured on the website. The picture must have been a rendering as it was kind of rough. Try mauve (dark pink) and red and tan carpet which was new (Good). Okay, I do not care about this at all as the bed and foam pillows were so comfortable and the refrigerator worked. Most of the surfaces like doors and windows and other nightstands were grimy with old dirt build up - the kind of dirt that will build up after years of use and lack of a good cleaning, kind of like a black tar. The Jacuzzi tub - gross - who in their right mind would sit in this thing? May have been a cool option in 1987 but now it just drains slowly and is grimy. Sorry for this news - I am not trying to bring you down as I too was very excited about the trip but you have to know this stuff as it can really have an impact on your day to day attitude. We thought that we would be surrounded by families and couples as we were in a Suite - wrong!! Our neighbor across the 5 ft hallway was drunk and loud, and we had no where to go to escape the WhoooWeee getter' done screaming - picture a Frat Party in a $250 dollar room......ours was $1480 - this was only for one night and then they recovered. However the occasional freak would holler up and down the hall (what a Party Hall, this level 'U' is the party level!!) - Yuck - I mean isn't there like 50 bars on the ship - leave it there!! I know that we sound like snobs - but I expect and deserve as much satisfaction as the drunks. Read more