Ceals

Age: 26:
Number of Cruises: 5
Cruise Line: Carnival
Name of Ship: Elation
Sailing Date: November 3rd, 2002
Itinerary: Mexican Riviera

My cruising experience to the Mexican Riviera was great! We departed from Los Angeles (Pier at San Pedro) and we got on board with no fuss by 12pm. There was food being served as soon as we got on. The next couple of days we spent at sea. The ship itself was quite nice with a bit of a Las Vegas style to it. The gym facilities were great...and there weren't too many people meaning the equipment you wanted was easy to get. There were a number of organized activities throughout the day such as dance classes, gym classes (but beware...there is a fee for some of these!), competitions by the pool deck, information seminar regarding the ports of call & shore excursions etc.

And for those who do not like to get involved in these activities, there's always the library, cards room, ping pong, or just simply go for a swim or relax by the pool!

The nightly entertainment was quite boring except the Magic Show...but I think it's a personal taste.

We did not attend any of the talks on the ports of call as we had discussed with our waiter (for dinner) what would be the best thing to do at each port. Also, the talk is played on TV in the evening...so we'd turn it on & listen for a few tips. The seminar is good for those who have not done their own research on each of the ports.

There were 3 of us traveling ...and we stayed in an inside cabin...there was plenty of space in the room compared to the ones on other cruise lines.

Staff & crew were quite friendly. The best part about the cruise was definately the food. I have been on 5 cruises and this one is 5-star quality in terms of food. And there was an abundance of it...you couldn't starve but were forced to go to the gym to burn off those extra kilos!!

One disappointing ting was the fact that there weren't any themed nights. There were only a couple of formal nights for our 7 night cruise. Another factor was that there weren't enough people in the 25 to 30 range. It made it difficult to meet other people who you were going to be with for 8 days.

The ports of call were great....however we chose to do our own thing rather than spend alot of money on shore excursions. From experience, we find that making your own plans is much more cheaper & more flexible. But it depends on what you like doing, and if you'd prefer to pay for an organized tour.

Our first port of call was Puerto Vallarta...it was nice but ruined. There had been a hurricane 2 weeks earlier which damaged the apparently beautiful waterfront boardwalk. But we managed to enjoy the shopping & visited Chicos Paradise...a tiny waterfall!! Definitely not worth the trip. Another option would've been to go to Paradise Village but due to time constraints we didn't get the chance to go. We also stopped off at "Senor Frogs Restaurant & Bar"...if you like the party atmosphere, then this is the place for you!

The second port was Mazatlan...this was a beautiful city. Having low expectations, I was impressed. We obtained tickets to go to a resort "El Cid" where we went swimming in there huge pool (with a slide & diving rock). Plus there was a beach behind the resort which was also good for a swim. We spent most of the day there - apart from sightseeing downtown for about an hour or so in the morning.

The final port was Cabo San Lucas...although we didn't spend a lot of time here, it was enough to visit the tourist attraction...being Land's End. A variety of rock formations at the tip of Cabo. We went snorkeling at one of the beaches near the rock formations - we had taken our own snorkeling gear. After that we returned in a water taxi back to the port where we did a bit more shopping while we waited for the queue for the tenders (to get back to the ship) to get smaller.

We sailed for the next 2 days where it did get a bit rocky ...but it's all part of the wonderful experience of cruising!

The disembarkation process was a little lengthy, but that is something to be expected especially with 2000 people trying to get off the ship at once!

But overall it was a good cruise and I don't think I'd travel on it again because of the age group but I'd definitely go back to Mexico! Hope this review helps any future Carnival Elation cruise-goers!

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