This was our first cruise, and I think it was good. Not sure I will do it again since I am bit restless but I have never been this relaxed after a vacation. Food: Every meal we had was warm, except the breakfast and frosted flakes in cold milk. The food was great, although going to O´Sheehans during lunch time was a bit tedious since the wait was 30-45 minutes to get food, But hey, it is busy what would you expect. Savor/Taste service was great and we got as many refills of wine we wanted. But I guess if you are obnoxuios and grumpy you get the service you deserve (as I have read many reviews stating that service is bad...) Pool area. As everywhere else in US there needs to be music at a very loud level all the time. This is why the cruise gets a 4 instead of a 5. It would be nice to be able to have a conversation without shouting. Other than that it was great. Kids club. Since mu kids do not speak English it was not that fun to be there except when it was free play and they could play Wii. Night life: Not much except, one nnight when it was Glow party and H2O rocked. Cabin, it worked since you do not spend much time in there. Lots of storage space underneath beds and other places. On shore: No excursion. Taking taxis on the islands are EXPENSIVE but it is worth getting off the ship and go to a beach. I gained 3 kg on the cruise (which is something like 7 pounds) since you eat, drink and do not do enough excersice... I guess to sum it up, if you expect to get served like royalty you will get dissappointed. If you expect to get what you pay for this is a good ship to sail on. Read Less

Having recently returned from the Eastern Caribbean aboard Norwegian Getaway, I can only say that, once again, we had another fine cruise aboard a Norwegian Cruise Line Vessel. Having sailed now on 17 cruises, 12 of them with Norwegian, one can only surmise our choice of favorite cruise line. We simply don't understand what all the "complainers" are talking about. From the easiness of the embarkation process, to the more than friendly staff, this traveler has nothing but kidos for the cruise line and the product that they offer. Having read many negative reviews of the rude staff, one has to wonder how those passengers presented themselves to that staff to feel that they were treated in less than friendly fashion. We were, and always are, treated kindly, and treat people as we would expect to be treated. Another "issue" that I read about constantly is the food, or the presentation of same. Personally, I can't put a finger on what these people are complaining about. Our experience of the restaurants is always up to , and beyond, par. With all the options available, such as the specialty restaurants, and main dining venues, one has to figure that some passengers just cannot be pleased, no matter what is offered them. Perhaps they would fend better if they just stayed home, and cooked for themselves. We experienced the likes of the Tropicana Room (main dining venue), Cagney's Steak House, Teppanyaki, La Cucina, O'Sheehans, and the Haven Restaurant, as we were afforded this experience thru our Aft Facing Penthouse booking. Each and every one of these dining experiences were above and beyond the call. All of the reservations for these venues were made on board the vessel, and considering that we were traveling with an additional 5 people in our party, it was never an issue getting a table for 7, at the time we desired. If we waited (upon our arrival time) it was always less than a few minutes. All our dinners took 2 hours, and it was expected and welcomed. I mean, where is one going that they cannot enjoy a lovely dinner with friends and family? If that dinner (time) conflicted with a booked show.....well then YOU booked the wrong show time! Don't blame your misfortune on the cruise staff because you forgot to do your homework prior to boarding. We booked shows beforehand, such as Burn the Floor, Levity, and Legally Blonde, just to make sure we had a ticket. I can assure you that we were traveling with individuals that waited to book these shows while on the vessel, and never encountered a problem acquiring the same time that we did. We also spoke with other passengers who also booked on board, without issue. I have read many reviews that the ship was "loud, overly crowded at the pools, not a deck chair to be found, and not a quiet space to be had". I tell you honestly that this is not the case. We encountered quiet a few "parties" aboard the vessel, lovely afternoons around the busy pools enjoying the music in a lounge chair, and many wonderful quiet places that abound, if one ventures around, rather than complain. We will continue to sail with Norwegian Cruise Line Ships for our future adventures, and can only hope that others can find their inner self to enjoy the same. One has to wonder.....if someone cannot enjoy a cruise vacation, how sad for them that their life is so bleak. Thank you again Norwegian Cruise Lines, as always, WE'LL BE BACK!   Read Less

While I realize I may be a little bias having sailed on the Conquest last year (a lot larger and a lot more updated) I found the Elation to be boring. While I understand that the cruise line could not control the weather (raining), the activities throughout the day were few and far between or downright boring. Bingo seemed to be the going theme on this cruise (which of course was an extra charge.) Once again, I am comparing my opinion to the Conquest in which my favorite days were at sea because they had so much activities going on that you didn't know which activity you'd rather do. Whereas the Elation, I was ready to go home. In addition, our cleaning person was not well trained (or just not very good and needs to look at other job options.) Our room had gone without cleaning for too long of period of time and not to sound petty but we didn't have towel animals twice because he forgot to come back. Our neighbors next to us set a tray out in the hall and I KNOW it was sitting out there for at least 3 hours before it was taken away. Now, I know this is not the same experience in which our fellow cruiser had because they seemed quite happy about their service. Lastly, I realize that people are out to have fun, but there should be limitations to what is appropriate in public areas. As we were sitting in the hot tub with people we didn't know there was a drunk couple showing far to much PDA (and possibly more but not sure)in the family area (not the adults only). I really think when it gets to that point employees should step in and ask people to proceed to their room. Needless to say, my husband and I got out. Ick! Food was wonderful and so were the entertainment staff. Loved the shows! Overall I give this a C+ experience. Read Less

I just cruised on the Elation to Cozumel and was scheduled to go to Calica. We arrived in Cazumel 6 hours late because of propulsion problems. This put us in around 2:00 pm instead of 8:00 am as scheduled. This gave only a few hours of daylight to enjoy the island. We were advised that since we arrived late that the time at port would be extended until 9:30 pm instead of 6 pm. Later we were told that we were waiting on an technician to arrive to help with the propulsion problem which made us leaving port around 11:30 PM and was told that we would not be making our second port of call. The next day we got memo stating that we would be getting a credit of $50.00 a person and a $22.25 refund for taxes not having to be paid because we did not go to Calica. I am very disappointed in this as an reimbursement because of probems with the ship. If this would have been a problem because of weather causing us not to be able to make port I would understand but to say missing a port and getting only a few daylight hours is just worth $50.00 in my opinion is telling everyone that they do not care about people just making a dollar even though it was their problem. Let me say that the cruise was fun because of all our freinds that went and the food and entertainment was good and also the crew was very nice. The only problem I have is that we planned our vacation on what we were going to do when we arrived at our destinaions but because of problems with the ship we were not able to do them. Read Less

My husband and I decided to take a little trip before I head back to school this week. We debated between Vegas and other types of trips, and ultimately decided the value of a cruise was difficult to beat. We have sailed two previous times with Carnival and decided to embark from a different port other than Galveston just for fun. HOTEL AND DRIVING It was about a 10 hour drive from DFW to Mobile. We had bad weather predicted for the date of travel (01/09/11), so we cut south and stayed the night in Biloxi at the IP Casino, Resort and Spa. We got a great rate on the room, which was very nice and had a beautiful view of the bay. There was a small charge to use the "wet" facilities in the spa, which we did and enjoyed very much. However, the whole place stank of cigarette smoke and the food prices were outrageous. The gambling was uninspiring with a lot of tired, extremely elderly patrons. We skipped spending any time in the casino, got a good night sleep in our very comfortable room and headed to Mobile at a decent hour, which was less than a one hour drive away. The drive from DFW to Mobile all in all was very relaxing other than some questionable threat of ice in the initial leg. Once we got out of that, it was easy going with good roads. THE SHIP ITSELF We have cruised on the Conquest out of Galveston before this. The Elation is her sister ship, so we knew it was a smaller vessel than some and a bit older. The decor on the Elation is done in tasteful color schemes and probably looked extremely elegant at one time. Now, though, it just looks tired, well used and in need of a face lift. Paint was peeling or missing in many places. There were gouges out of the walls in the main areas, such as the elevators and hallways. Carpets are very worn and stained. In all, the whole thing just looks pretty worn around the edges. The ship itself had mechanical issues during the cruise that caused us to be dead in the water at one point, then to limp at 6 knots into port at Cozumel extremely late. The port of Calica was skipped entirely to allow ample time to get back to Mobile. The weather in January is pretty hit or miss and we had large swells, cold rain and absolutely no sun at all. We won't be sailing in January ever again. ACTIVITIES AND ENTERTAINMENT The ship activities were pretty standard fare. The Marriage Show. Guys Versus Girls show. Afternoon tea in the ship library. Hairy Chest Contest. Trivia. Casino. Etc etc etc *yawn*. We enjoy the casino, but most of the other types of activities are geared toward a personality type we just do not relate to. We are subdued people and enjoy the finer things in life, so going to stare at and cheer for someone in need of waxing just isn't our cup of tea. We did enjoy the Vegas style shows very much. This was our third cruise and we are coming to the conclusion that we probably just are not cruising types. Most of the time on ship was pretty boring. We read a lot of books. Evenings held more interest for us, with the comedian, dance clubs, live music (though it would be nice to have something other than country/western music) etc. SERVICE Service was very hit or miss this time. The steward of our room never did introduce himself to us and I personally didn't see him the entire trip long. Our waiter and assistant waiter at the late seating were outstanding and knew our names by the second night, as well as our preferenes for bread, coffee with dessert and things about our lives. The Maitre'D was fantastic and seemed to have a mostly happy crew working for him in the dining room. We had signed up for the Chef's Table, and both the Maitre'D and the chef himself came out our table to introduce themselves and chat us up a bit, which was a nice touch. Servers on the buffet seemed very tired and cranky. Smiles were few and far between, though they did try to go the extra mile some of the time. It was not consistently bad but was not over the top good by any measure. By the end of the cruise they were dealing with some pretty unhappy customers, so I imagine it got difficult to continue to be pleasant. PORT AND EXCURSIONS The propulsion system for the ship failed and we only made one port, Cozumel, and that was made extremely late. Due to inclement weather (gale winds, cold rain, cold ambient air temps), we chose not to even get off the ship and just hit the hot tub on the adults only deck instead. It was disappointing for us but not devastating. We had hoped to see Calica/Playa del Carmen, but it was not to be. They needed the extra time to make sure we limped back to Mobile on time for scheduled cruise end. We left Cozumel late, apparently waiting for a part for the propulsion system and a mechanic who had been flown in to repair things - information gained only via gossip and impossible to verify as to the accuracy of it. Communication about the issues being had was scant, late, misleading and poorly handled. STATEROOM We were in room R203, one of the lowest levels of ocean view available. We have always been higher up in the ship previous to this trip, and the difference in the quality and size of the room shocked us. Our fault - we choose a slightly cheaper room thinking there was no difference other than where in the ship the room was located. Wrong. The room was small and cramped with a large chest designed to hold lifejackets placed in the way of access to the window, so that one had to climb over it just to get in bed. The room had a light up picture of a ship that looked remarkably like the Titanic, a decoration that made us laugh in its unfortunate choice. The room was all around shabby, in need of paint and new carpet. The drawers to the vanity were in bad shape and it took some maneuvering both to get them opened and then properly closed. Shabbiness is not the worst crime on the planet, but filth is another story. The linens on our bed when we first got into the room had many black hairs all through them, including some that looked like pubic or chest hairs. The shower as well had hairs stuck to the tiles, especially on the floor of the shower. Service for the room was prompt and it was straightened up twice daily, but we could not tell that our linens ever did get changed (I suspect they weren't changed from the occupant on the cruise previous to ours) or the shower ever washed out properly. We did get fresh ice every night and a cute towel animal as well as turn down service. Our room steward never introduced him or herself and even by the end of the sailing we had no idea who it was. The condition of the room on embarkation was pretty close to unforgivable. DINING As this was our third cruise, we had a good idea of what to expect. We would have preferred the Anytime Dining option, but understood having booked so late that we weren't able to have it. That is a program that ought to be expanded on all ships. Not everyone enjoys eating with strangers. However, we had a good mix of people at our table and enjoyed ourselves a great deal at dinner. We had late seating in the Inspiration Dining Room. Our waiter was exceptional, as was his assistant. The food was okay - not wonderful, not horrible - and absolutely nothing was ever served hot, which was disappointing. We were dismayed to see Carnival has stopped serving real butter (only margarine) and stopped providing real cream (only creamer) since our last cruise one year ago. We prefer whole, natural foods and this change was unappealing to say the least. We mostly avoided the buffet. The 24-hour pizza was served cold and this too was unappealing and less than we experienced in the past. Some of the cuts Carnival is making definitely are showing in the dining arena. Drinks were plentiful and not unreasonably priced compared to our last two cruises. Alcohol content of the mixed drinks seems to have gone down in price. Duty free shopping on this ship was quite good and we came home with seven bottles of different spirits to enjoy - one of our favorite parts of cruising. SPA I was lucky enough to win a massage from the spa and enjoyed having this done on my sea day. Maria was a good masseuse and took good care of me. The spa area itself is in desperate need of a facelift to compare at all to the spas I have been to on dry land. It seemed little more than a few temporary walls and chairs with little to no decoration and pretty measly, short, narrow sheets on the massage bed. The massage itself was so relaxing - the ship was pitching something fierce in 7-10 foot swells, but this just added to the lulling experience for me. My massage was only supposed to be 25 minutes, but Maria gave me a full 50 minute treatment. This was a high point of the trip. DISEMBARKATION Getting off the ship in Mobile was the best disembarking experience we have ever had to date. We were off the ship and in our car on the way home by 8:00 AM with no lines, no crowd, no fussy people and no complications. The port at Mobile is fantastic and Galveston could learn a thing or two from them. OVERALL SUMMARY I think we are probably done cruising with Carnival. Part of this is due to our finding ourselves very bored at sea, which is likely to be the case with any cruise line if we aren't "joiners" in the social activities held on board. But much of it is also due to a steady decline in the quality of the experience on the whole, with ships getting shabbier, staff getting more brusque and less friendly and the quality of the food taking an absolute nosedive. Combine these things with a distinct lack of good, prompt, accurate communication about the troubles the Elation was having with its propulsion system and a pretty uninspiring on ship credit of $50 for the loss of Calica and the gain of much worry (after having seen what happened with the Splendor, people were seriously concerned and not much info was forthcoming about our status for hours at a time), we are unlikely to sail with Carnival again. The rates are low and tempting, but I think we have learned our lesson - that you definitely are getting what you pay for. If we ever cruise again, we will likely go with a luxury cruise line, which would hopefully meet our expectations for quality and serenity better than Carnival. I am not unhappy that we went. But I am unlikely to want to go again. Read Less

It was my husband and myself, this was our second cruise the first being on the Carnival Holiday, so we kinda knew what to expect. We left out of Mobile on a Saturday and it was raining so that really put a damper on things but you can't control mother nature!! The sailaway was not pretty and it rained off and on the rest of the day, so we found a bucket of beers and a table outside and tried to enjoy the sailaway, we just watched the people in the hot tubs and pools the weather didn't seem to slow anyone down!! After the first day things got better, we had cloudy skies the next day and then after that it was sunny days!! Since we had been on a cruise before we really just kicked back and relaxed!! The food, I thought was great, sure there was things that I didn't like but I wouldn't have liked it if I was in a place back home. I ate every two hours and then some. Really liked the deli station and that's where my husband would get his made to order omlett every morning, he said they were very good. The pizza was tasty and I always found something on the buffet to fill me up, no problems there. The MDR, we had the anytime seating and I will never go back to the early or late seating, it was so nice to just go whenever you felt like it. I had something different every night and I thought it was all good, my husband had a steak every night and some nites he said it was better than others, but my feelings on that is "how hungry are you", when your eating every two hours and your not really hungry you may think things aren't as good!! Not me though....I love to eat!! The Serenity Area was awesome, it is VERY quiet except for the relaxing music they are playing, the day we went we had no problems getting a chair, but the next time we went we didn't get one, we did go one nite and just get in the hot tub around 8pm and we were the only ones back there but the hot tub was SO HOT, I couldn't stand it and had to get out!!! If you want a seat you should go really early (8-9) or later on like 4pm. Very nice addition! The shows....we went to the Universal Lounge every nite, and they were all entertaining to me, one nite was a juggler a comedian, and a night club show and the last nite was the Beatles tribute, all were good, I thought!! We played bingo one night before the shows and almost won!!! It was fun The past guest party was top of my list, I was so happy to see our invitation and they had the drinks flowing, that was the best part, they had little crackers with tuna or something on them, I didn't really eat those, I just drank the free drinks, I think we had at least 7-8, they just kept giving them to me, I tried one of each!! The ship rocked more on this one than on the Holiday but I think we had rougher waters, it didn't make me sick or anything I just felt it more than I remember on the last cruise!! But hey, your on a ship in the water!!! The slides were a blast and we felt just like the kids going down them, there was not a wait and you should really go down them if your able! Some other thoughts....I did see a woman win 500 dollars in the casino on the penny slots, dont know how long she had played but she won!! I like the layout of the ship it was very to learn and know where you were going. We had a inside room and I think they are big enough for two people, we had plenty of room for everything we needed and the room stewards were GREAT, our room was spotless and if we ever needed anything they were right there. Awesome people. We did take all the pictures we could on formal nite and then bought a couple, those people that take the pictures are good at putting you in poses and they do turn out good!! We didn't have any children with us so I can't comment on the kid clubs but we did talk to a couple that had a 9 and 13 year old and said they had a good time when they went. I would go again on the Fantasy or any other Fantasy Class, I think they are great ships. We stopped at Progresso and Cozumel. In Progresso we went to Buddy's and had a few drinks and I got a $15 massage for one hour and it was AWESOME, right there on the beach!! In Cozumel we just did a lap around the shops and got back on the ship and had it to ourselves for the rest of the day, that was really nice too! We have been to Cozumel before so we didn't feel like we missed out on anything. All in all this was a great time, this ship is big enough that I wasnt running into the same people all the time but not so big that I got lost or couldn't find something!! Just book it and go, you will love it!! Read Less