Carnival Elation Review
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Let me start by saying that for me, price sells ... my husband is 35 and I'm 26, so we don't have tons of disposable income to spend on cruising. We do, however, LOVE cruising, so we time our cruises so that we can get the best price.
For example, our Jan. 6-10 family cruise on Carnival Elation was supposed to be scheduled so that it coincided with my brother's graduation from college, which was the reason to take this celebratory cruise. However, no one in my (cough, cheap, cough) family could stomach paying more than double for a cruise just because it happened to set sail in May, when my brother actually graduates. Instead, we chose to cruise during his Christmas break in January, for half the price ($230 per person).
Cast of characters for this cruise included my mom, dad, husband, brother and myself. This was my parents' and brother's first cruise, and the fourth cruise for my husband and me. We all live 20 minutes from the cruise terminal in Mobile, and my dad actually works at the cruise terminal for the Department of Homeland Security, so we were very familiar with Mobile and the terminal.
Cabin Review
Ocean View
CABINS R100, R88, R76
We reserved three cabins with large windows - one for my parents, one for my brother and one for my husband and me. The cabins were on Riviera deck, with a few cabins in between us so we weren't on top of one another constantly. The cabins were a decent size and as long as we stayed out of them, they were cleaned in the morning and at night. Closet space was very good, bathroom size was satisfactory and everything was pretty clean. The in-cabin TVs were huge and old but got a good selection of channels.
Like I noted before, I am a bit spoiled after we cruised Holland America, but I do have to note that the toiletries provided were sort of skimpy ... no moisturizer, no conditioner, etc. Next time I will remember to pack my own.
For the price of $230 per person, the cabins met all our expectations.