Carnival Elation


Carnival Elation was the smallest ship we have cruised on but it wasn't bad at all. 
The unfortunate part of the trip was the weather. A few days before we left, Arctic air blasted its way well into the heart of Florida, and it lingered until after we returned.


      Can you spot our truck               Cold weather kept people        Our first time going out of                                                                          off Lido Deck                           Jacksonville
     
Boarding the ship on Jan. 6 was done under cloudy skies and chilly air.




This bridge is why Jacksonville cannot have
 a ship larger than the Elation ported there
Day two was the first sea day. Normally, it is a day for laying out, soaking up the sunshine, and listening to the melodic, tropical sound of steel drums emanating from the Lido deck. Not this time - cloudy skies and cool temperatures had the decks nearly empty.
The hot tubs stayed disgustingly full and a few kids braved the pool. 
The next day, we woke up to warmer weather in the Bahamas. We spent a day in Nassau, walking around the city, doing a little shopping, and seeing the sights. 

I know a lot of people don't like Nassau but honestly, I don't mind it too much but we do like getting out of the port area. This time, however, it was CROWDED. We did get to see one pretty cool thing. Jan. 8 was the Opening of the Legal Year for 2025. It was celebrated with members of the legal fraternity gathering at the Christ Church Cathedral for a special service of prayer and thanksgiving.

                                                                The band was playing and
                                                                the court members were heavily guarded



The Nassau Straw Market is always a lot of fun. Lots of handmade Bahamian crafts -- a lot of junk too, but still kind of a fun place

                                                One thing we did buy -- and Yes! I liked it!



After wandering downtown for a while we headed over to the Queen's Staircase. The Queen's Staircase is a walkway of 66 steps, which was carved out of solid limestone rock by 600 slaves between 1793 and 1794 to create an escape route from the fort above and is a major landmark of Nassau. Today, Fort Fincastle also has a marketplace with vendors selling an assortment of Bahamian goods.


                                                The base of the staircase is a                The 66 stairs have been reduced
                                                beautiful spot with exotic plants           to 64 
                                                plants and a waterfall

When we were leaving Nassau, we found out why it was so crowded. We knew there were two other ships in port that day. We saw the Disney ship and another Carnival -- what we didn't know was there were five! 

The next day woke up to cloudy skies but comfortable temperatures for a day at Princess Cay. 


                                    Blue Jellyfish                                Starfish, it was alive so we 
                                                                                            let it alone
We walked along the beach and found a few cool things. Just as we were about to head back to the ship the clouds broke and the sun came out. So, we stayed on the beach for another couple of hours before it was time to catch the tender back to the ship



This was our second cruise as platinum guests. We decided to check out the Diamon and Platinum gathering -- it was ok, nothing too special. 

The final day on board was much nicer. There was a breeze and some clouds but at least we could hang out on the deck without shivering.




 


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