Carnival Elation to South & Central America

I booked this short cruise as an add on to a west coast trip to the USA. Elation is one of the original, nine ship 'Fantasy' class vessels that they company now mostly employs on shorter, three to five day long cruises from both coasts of the USA.

To be clear: Carnival Elations lacks the bells and whistles of the newer ships. At 70,000 tons and carrying around 2,500 passengers, she's a bright, breezy, slightly brash way to enjoy an extended weekend run down to Mexico and back. There are no shortage of bars and lounges to play in, most of them centred along one vast, interior boulevard. They offer up cocktails with calypso, mint juleps with jazz, and margaritas  to go with the Macarena. Quite literally, Elation offers something for every taste.

Up top, a large, upper deck pool and hot tub are flanked by hundreds of sun loungers. There are a pair of bars here, as well as the entrance to the Lido Buffet. It's the focus of life on sea days, and it soon gets quite loud and busy. But then, that's a recurring theme on most large mega ships these days.

In the evenings, restaurant waiters danced on special podiums in the dining rooms, gyrating to 'Hot, Hot, Hot' as we dined on lobster and crème brulee. It was as much about theatre as tucking into good food that revolved mainly around down home American favourites. Quite literally, you could eat as much as you want. I saw one woman put away three desserts; nobody even batted an eyelid.

Carnival Elation has some really swish penthouse suites, carved into both sides of the hull. They have huge, covered terraces, and I should imagine they are wonderful.

In the main, the ship offered a range of outside and inside cabins that were, essentially, the same except for the window. They were surprisingly large, with really good bedding and a bathroom with a good shower. And plenty of wardrobe space, too, though the dress code on board is essentially smart casual.