Carnival Cruise on the Elation

The following are my memories of the cruise Trish and I were on from last Monday to Friday. We went from San Diego to Catalina, then Ensenada and back to San Diego.

Monday morning we drove Mom's car to the Nordahl station for Sprinter. Trish and the bags stayed while I took the car back and walked the half mile back to the station. We bought our $1 tickets from the machine and boarded the 10:06 Sprinter train to Oceanside. Most of the passengers on the Sprinter were apparently college students, with some getting off at the Cal State San Marcos station and most getting off at the Palomar College station. We got $3.25 machine tickets for the Coaster to the Santa Fe station, the final stop in San Diego.

From the Santa Fe station we walked the 3 blocks to the cruise terminal, with several other cruise passengers. We checked in our large suitcase and went thru the boarding process, consisting of several stops to show ids and fun passes, xray machines which required a wand check for me probably because of the metal replacement of my left upper femur, registration with our ticket numbers and credit card, and id photos with our new room key/sign and sail charge card. I shot some video as we went thru.

We were on the ship feasting at the Tiffany restaurant buffet by 1:30. We checked out our room about 3 and the suitcase, with our bottles of gin and rum, was by our door about an hour later. Trish checked out many of the facilities on the ship to see what is included and what costs extra. I walked around and took some photos during and after lunch and again during our dinner in the Imagination Dining Room, not to be confused with the Inspiration Dining Room.

Our assigned table, #229, was a round table for 10. Three fine amiable couples, all close to our ages, showed up - Darrel and Marilyn from east of San Diego, Bill and Sue from Spirit Lake, Idaho, and Michael and Pam from near Seattle. Most are still working, with occupations ranging from teacher and librarian to chemist, blacksmith and landscaper. Our waiter, Joel from the Philippines, also very nice, is a 16 year veteran with Carnival.

The Mikado showroom evening song and dance shows have all been well done, with a good sounding band. Tuesday was a sea day with numerous fun activities, including several games, music, singing and dancing. Lots of different kinds of food was available at all times. The crew are all pleasant and helpful and kept cleaning and cleaning the boat all the time. There were hand sanitizer dispensers at the entrances of all dining locations. Our stateroom steward, Paul from Trinidad, kept the room clean and neat, and made fine looking towel animals. We didn't use the pool, but found the adult-only warm whirlpool tubs very nice. The deck had numerous padded deck recliners and large towels were available for a refundable deposit.

Wednesday, we wandered around Avalon on Catalina for a few hours. The weather was very pleasant, as it was the entire cruise. Thursday, Trish stayed on the boat and I walked into Ensenada for the exercise and to take a few photos. We didn't want any souvenirs other than photos, so our only expenses during the cruise were $.50 for bottled water in Ensenada and $1.10 for 3 postcards on Catalina.

Internet connection on the boat costs $24 for 60 min., so I did not connected.