Carnival Elation
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Carnival Elation
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Cruises availables
The Carnival Elation is a Carnival Cruise Line cruise ship offering a resort-style onboard experience focused on leisure, entertainment and family-friendly activities at sea. It features a water park area with pools and hot tubs, along with a spa and an adults-only Serenity space designed for relaxation. The onboard experience also includes a gym, casino, live shows, a theatre and cinema-style entertainment, as well as sports and recreation options such as mini-golf, a ropes course, bowling and multi-sport courts. Family and youth programs include Camp Ocean for children, Circle C for pre-teens and Club O2 for teenagers, complemented by themed bars and dining venues, with Wi-Fi available throughout the ship. This ship is suited to families and groups seeking a casual cruise experience combining entertainment, activities and relaxation in a resort-style environment at sea.
Itineraries of the Carnival Elation
Price and Availability Notice
Prices displayed are provided for informational purposes only. They reflect the rates in effect at the time of their most recent update and are shown in Canadian dollars, per person, based on double occupancy, unless otherwise specified.
Supplier rates, exchange rates, taxes and fees, room or cabin categories, and promotions are subject to change at any time. The applicable price is the one confirmed by a travel advisor at the time of booking, subject to availability. Only the confirmed price shall be considered valid.
It is the traveler's responsibility to confirm the price, inclusions, and applicable terms and conditions before making a reservation. While every effort is made to keep our content up to date, transmission, display, or pricing errors may occur. In such cases, the correct price will be communicated to the traveler before any booking is confirmed. Certain terms, restrictions, and exclusions may apply.
decks plans
Deck - 15
Sun
Deck - 14
Grand
Deck - 12
Sports
Deck - 11
Verandah
Deck - 10
Lido
Deck - 9
Promenade
Deck - 8
Atlantic
Deck - 7
Empress
Deck - 6
Upper
Deck - 5
Main
Deck - 4
Riviera
Deck - 3
Deck - 2
Deck - 1
Ship's attributes
Services And Amenities
- Elevators
- Self-service laundry room
- Casino
- Jacuzzi
- Pool
- Beauty salon
- Spa & body care
Specific needs
- Wheelchair accessible staterooms
Technical specifications
- Classe: Fantasy Class
- Tonnage: 71909
- Speed: 21.0 knots
- Passengers: 2190
- Decks: 14
- Length: 261 m
- Width: 31 m
History
- 1998: Année de construction
- 10 mars 1998: Année d'inauguration
- 2020: Année de rénovation
- 10 février 2023: Année de rénovation
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Carnival confirmed in October 2025 that Carnival Elation keeps Jacksonville as its homeport for the 2027-2028 season, running four- and five-day sailings. The ship has been based there without interruption since April 2022, and no redeployment has been announced. Booking flights into Jacksonville for 2026 or 2027 carries no homeport risk, which is not something you can say about every Carnival ship right now.
Two numbers exist and they mean different things. Carnival Elation carries 2,190 guests at double occupancy, meaning two per cabin, but capacity climbs to roughly 2,626 once upper berths and sofa beds are filled. Add 900 crew. School holidays and summer weeks sail at the higher figure, so the pool deck and buffet feel very different depending on when you go.
Carnival Elation came out of the Kvaerner Masa-Yards shipyard in Helsinki, Finland, and entered service on 20 March 1998. Her IMO number is 9118721. She measures 260 metres long by 31 metres wide, registers 71,909 gross tons, and holds 1,094 cabins across 11 passenger decks. She belongs to the Fantasy class, a generation Carnival has almost entirely retired.
She did, between 16 January and 9 February 2026 at Grand Bahama Shipyard in Freeport. Carnival Elation was the first vessel ever floated into the yard's new East End dock. The work was technical and regulatory rather than cosmetic, covering hull, machinery and classification surveys. The 15 January departure was cancelled to make room. Nothing further is on the dry dock calendar through 2027.
There is no easy way, only a connecting one. No airline flies non-stop between Montreal-Trudeau and Jacksonville, so you route through Toronto, Newark, Philadelphia, Charlotte or Atlanta depending on the carrier, and you spend most of a day travelling. Jacksonville International sits about 20 kilometres from the cruise terminal on August Drive, roughly a 25-minute drive.
Plan on one. Carnival Elation sails in the afternoon, but connecting itineraries out of Montreal leave little slack and a missed link means a missed ship. The St. Johns River also fogs in: boarding was pushed back three hours in March 2026 for exactly that reason. A night near the airport removes the whole category of problem.
Yes, and it is the ship's most practical drawback. Carnival Elation was designed in 1998, before balconies became standard, and the 2017 dry dock added them to only 98 cabins out of 1,094. Those rooms sell out early in the booking cycle. If a balcony is non-negotiable for your trip, book far ahead or look at a newer hull.
It depends what you want. Carnival Elation is 28 years old, the interiors read as 1990s, specialty dining is thin, and there is no ropes course or large modern waterpark. What she offers instead is a compact layout you can learn in an hour, short lines, and freshly overhauled machinery. For a four-night Bahamas run, that trade is reasonable.
Carnival Elation sails the Bahamas only, out of Jacksonville: Celebration Key on Grand Bahama, Nassau, RelaxAway Half Moon Cay, Princess Cays and Freeport, depending on length. Sailings run four to six nights. Celebration Key doubled its berths in July 2026 and now handles up to four ships in a single day, which noticeably changes how busy the island feels.
Yes. The private island has been RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay since December 2024, and it now sits in Carnival's Paradise Collection alongside Celebration Key and Isla Tropicale. The change that actually matters to a Carnival Elation guest is the new pier on the island's north side, opened 1 June 2026, which ends tendering and the weather cancellations that came with it.
Mostly a technical pedigree and a fresher hull. Carnival Elation was the first cruise ship in the world fitted with Azipod propulsion, which gives her better handling than her twin. She also gained 30 cabins and the Alchemy Bar in the 2019 dry dock, and came out of a full technical overhaul in February 2026. Beyond that, the two ships are close cousins.
More than on a modern ship, yes. At 71,909 gross tons Carnival Elation is roughly half the size of today's builds, and reviewers regularly mention motion, particularly in forward cabins. Book midship on a lower deck if you are prone to seasickness. The Atlantic off northern Florida kicks up easily between December and March, which is when most complaints appear.
No, and this catches people out. Carnival Rewards replaces the VIFP Club on 1 September 2026, but status does not migrate automatically. You have to sign in to your Carnival account and click Enroll & Accept before 31 August 2026 at 11:59 p.m. Point earning under the old program stops at that moment. Skip the step and your sailing history is gone.
Dated décor leads almost every review: boxed-in interiors, carpeting and lighting that give away the build year. Balcony scarcity and cabins smaller than today's norm come next. Guests also flag congestion at the buffet and around the pool during peak hours, despite the ship's modest size. Crew and service, by contrast, consistently score well.
A few documented incidents. In January 2018 a passenger died after being pushed overboard, a case that led to criminal charges. In July 2023 a man went into the water off Melbourne, Florida. On the other side of the ledger, Carnival Elation rescued a person at sea during Hurricane Irma in September 2017. None of it reflects on the ship's condition.
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