Today Carnival Cruise Line announced major changes to the Carnival Fascination's itinerary schedule. The Carnival Fascination will be charted by the US government's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) until January 2018. According to plans released by Carnival, the Carnival Fascination will be sent to the US Virgin Islands to house relief workers.
            Earlier this week Carnival announced the Carnival Fascination would begin cruising out of San Juan, Puerto Rico. However, today's announcements mean all cruises for the Carnival Fascination from October 15, 2017, until January 28, 2018 have been cancelled. Carnival's announcement states it will be contacting people on the cancelled cruises.  Carnival's current goal is to have the ship sailing normal year round cruises from San Juan beginning February 18, 2018. 
                 This is not the first time a Carnival ship has been used by FEMA for disaster relief. Following Hurricane Katrina, the M/S Ecstasy (now Carnival Ecstasy), M/S Holiday (no longer in the fleet), and M/S Sensation (now Carnival Sensation) were used for relief efforts. 

For more information:  Click Here To Go To Carnival's Website
                

         ​The Carnival Elation recently underwent a major dry-dock that added an additional deck to the ship, brand new staterooms, balconies to several existing staterooms, and many of Carnival's Fun Ship 2.0 enhancements. Originally, the Carnival Elation's dry-dock was scheduled to last for about 4 weeks, but Hurricane Irma forced the ship to evacuate the dry-dock facility in Freeport, Bahamas. This resulted in the ship being out of service longer than planned. However, the Carnival Elation will resume 4 & 5 night cruises out of Jacksonville, Florida, on October 7, 2017. Here are some of the features added to the ship during its major 2017 dry-dock:

Guy's Burger Joint -  This is a popular Fun Ship 2.0 feature that Carnival has been expanding to its ships. Guy's Burger Joint serves free hamburgers and french fries at lunchtime. Prior to getting Guy's Burger Joint, the Carnival Elation had a generic hamburger grill on its Lido Deck. The Carnival Elation's Guy's Burger Joint is located on the Lido Deck, which is Deck 10.

Blue Iguana Cantina -  The Blue Iguana Cantina is another feature Carnival added to the Carnival Elation's Lido Deck. The Blue Iguana Cantina serves burritos and tacos at lunch. Usually, the Blue Iguana Cantina also has some breakfast options too. To compliment tacos and burritos, Carnival's Blue Iguana Cantina also has a salsa bar. The salsa bar has a multitude of options available for cruisers. The Blue Iguana Cantina is complimentary!

Red Frog Rum Bar -  The Red Frog Rum Bar serves frozen drinks and beer for cruisers to purchase. This new Caribbean themed bar will be located on the Lido Deck (10) near the pool. 

Blue Iguana Tequila Bar - The Blue Iguana Cantina Bar serves frozen drinks and beer for cruisers to purchase. This new Mexican themed bar will be located on the Lido Deck (10)  near the pool. 

Camp Ocean -  Camp Ocean is the official replacement to Camp Carnival. Camp Ocean is a youth program that consists of three age groups. Each age group has different activities and is represented by a different sea animal. Ages 2-5 are Penguins, ages 6-8 are Stingrays, and 9-11 are Sharks. Typically, as Carnival implements Camp Ocean the youth program lounges that were previously used by Camp Carnival are upgraded to reflect the this brand new youth program. The Carnival Elation's main Camp Ocean facilities are located on the Sports Deck (12).  

WaterWorks -  The Carnival Elation's WaterWorks is located on the Verandah Deck (11).  Carnival's press release notes the ship received an enclosed 300 foot twister waterslide as well as two 82 foot racing slides. In addition, a splash pad area was added too. The entrance to the slides is located on Deck 12 by the ship's funnel.  Prior to having the WaterWorks, the Carnival Elation had an aft pool. 

New Staterooms:   38 new staterooms were added to the Carnival Elation during dry-dock on Deck 14. Previously this area was home to the Sun Deck (14). However, now this deck is known as the Grand Deck. Two of these new staterooms are known as Grand Vista suites that have floor to ceiling windows. Another 22 of these staterooms are junior suites, two are scenic ocean view rooms, and twelve of the staterooms are interior.  

Balcony Staterooms:   Carnival converted 98 staterooms to have balconies during this dry-dock. These staterooms previously were ocean view rooms (with only a window). Many of these staterooms can be found on the Main Deck, Upper Deck, and Empress Deck in various sections of the ship. 

Total Stateroom Renovation:  Carnival's press release notes all of the Carnival Elation's staterooms received an interior upgrade to now have a tropical feel. 

Mini Golf Course -  The Carnival Elation's Mini Golf Course did not change decks, but it did change location. The mini golf course is on the Grand Deck in a place that overlooks the pool. It is unclear if the ship has a jogging track. 

On a side note, the new highest deck on the ship is now Deck 15. This deck is called the Sun Deck, which was the previous name of Deck 14. 

For more information on the Carnival Elation I recommend you check out Carnival's official press release (click here) or visit Carnival's website (click here). Both of these places are my sources of information and can provide you with more detail than I gave here. Each link will open in a new window. 
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