RyG's Cruise Guide
Please Like Us On Facebook!
  • Home
  • Cruise Tips
  • Cruise Resources
    • Cruise Schedules
    • Carnival Drydock Schedule
    • Carnival Cruise Director Schedule
    • Carnival Dive In Movies Schedule
    • Galveston Cruises
    • General Cruise Blog
    • Cruise Ship Webcams
    • Just For Fun
  • Carnival Cruise Food
  • My Cruise Reviews
  • Blog
  • Contact
Carnival Elation 5 Day Caribbean Cruise Review
Day 3  Part 1            June 10, 2015                 Cozumel, Mexico                 Arrival:  7:00AM               Departure:  7:00PM          
*** The times we were in port were extended at the start of the cruise by the captain!! ***           
Click Any Photo To Make It Larger!

NOW AVAILABLE! Ask Us Your Questions On Our Facebook Wall or As A  Facebook Private Message:
 Click Here To View Our Facebook Profile
You can write directly on RyG's Cruise Guide's Facebook wall or you can private message RyG's Cruise Guide. Using Facebook is the quickest way to get a response from RyG's Cruise Guide.  Please don't let your questions go unanswered. I created this whole review to help everyone!

Arrival To Cozumel, Mexico: 
          I woke up early in the morning (about 5:50am) to get dressed in order to try to catch a glimpse of the ship's arrival at Cozumel. The Carnival Elation was scheduled to dock at Puerta Maya Pier.  This pier is affiliated with Carnival Corporation and typically Carnival ships will dock here. The Carnival Elation was scheduled to arrive at 7:00am, but we were docked well before the scheduled time. The Carnival Ecstasy was scheduled to dock alongside with us in the early afternoon.
            The sun was rising as I watched us dock in Cozumel. I went to the Verandah Observation Deck area and there were very few other people watching too. Here are some pictures of the view:
Carnival Elation Front
View From The Front of the Ship
Sunrise at Cozumel
Sunrise over Cozumel, Mexico
Puerta Maya Pier
Puerta Maya Pier
Cozumel, Mexico
Other Pier Near Puerta Maya
front of the carnival elation
Front of the Ship With Pier In Background
Construction Equipment
Construction Equipment For Pier Add On
Puerta Maya Pier
Shops Located Directly On the Pier
Pier Workers Securing The Ship
Pier Workers Securing The Ship
Carnival Elation Docked in Cozumel, Mexico
Sideview of the Ship With The Pier Below
Breakfast At Tiffany's (Lido Buffet): 
         
Breakfast was served earlier today because of the ship's early arrival in Cozumel. The scheduled breakfast time for Tiffany's was 6:30 - 10:30am. For cruisers that did not want to eat in the buffet the Imagination Dining Room had an open breakfast seating time from 7:00am - 9:00am. The buffet served a similar selection to the first day with a few exceptions. 
             I got in the general buffet line first to get some food.  The first plate in the row of pictures below was mine. Some of the bacon was crispy, but other pieces were very greasy.  All of the meats available in the breakfast buffet are served behind the counter by crew members. However, you may ask for as much as you wish. The goal of this is to decrease food waste.
Carnival Elation Breakfast
Bacon, Hash Browns, & Sausage
Carnival Elation Breakfast
Hash Browns, French Toast, and Bacon
Carnival Elation Omelet Station
Omelet Cooking
                   After eating a plate of food from the general breakfast buffet line, I got in line for an omelet. This omelet was delicious!  There are multiple omelet stations onboard, but I liked the omelet station that was open where the deli is normally located.
Carnival Elation Omelet
Omelet
Carnival Elation Breakfast
Hash Brown, Eggs, and Bacon
Carnival Elation Breakfast
Muffin and Fruit
Carnival Elation
On Lido Deck - A Look At the Pier Construction
Pullmantur Monarch
Pullmanur's ship Monarch In the Distance
Cozumel, Mexico
View of Cozumel From the Back of the Ship
Getting Off The Ship To Tour Cozumel: 
               In the early morning, we got off the ship.  There was no line at the gangway because many of the cruisers planning to go on shore excursions had already gotten off to go ashore. Once our Sail & Sign cards were scanned, we were able to proceed down the gangway.  The ship's photographers were waiting at the bottom of the gangway to take pictures of each cruiser. While you can decline getting your photo taken, you are under no obligation to buy the photo. After taking your photo or bypassing the photographers, you are free to proceed down the pier.
               Here are some pictures I took while walking down the pier to get to Cozumel:
Puerta Maya Pier
On the Pier - Looking Towards The Back of the Ship
Puerta Maya Pier Construction
View of New Leg of the Pier Being Constructed
Carnival Elation
Front of the Carnival Elation & Other Ship In The Back
Pullmantur Monarch
Pullmantur Monarch - Former Royal Caribbean Ship
Carnival Elation
Carnival Elation
Puerta Maya Pier Construction
Area Roped Off For Pier Construction
                 Before being allowed to exit the pier, all cruisers must walk through a building filled with shops. This building can become very crowded as cruisers are trying to shop and others are walking through the building in order to exit the pier.
Cozumel, Mexico
View of Cozumel From The Pier
Shops at Puerta Maya Pier
Entrance Into Shops That All Passengers Had To Walk Into
Three Amigos at Puerta Maya Pier
Three Amigos At Puerta Maya Pier
              Once exiting the pier, there are a variety of bars, restaurants, and shops for cruisers at Puerta Maya. We did not visit any shops here at Puerta Maya because we wanted to take a taxi ride to Punta Langosta. Punta Langosta is where we docked during our first cruise before Puerta Maya was reopened following hurricane damage. On my walk to the taxi station here are some pictures I took of the area around Puerta Maya Pier:
Three Amigos at Puerta Maya Pier
Another View of Three Amigos at Puerta Maya
Puerta Maya Pier
Walkway At Puerta Maya Pier
Bars at Puerta Maya Pier
One of Many Bars
Beach Area At Puerta Maya Pier
Looking Towards The Beach Area
Carnival Elation
View of the Carnival Elation From Beach Area
Puerta Maya Pier Beach Area
Beach Area At Puerta Maya Pier
Puerta Maya Pier
Walkway at Puerta Maya Pier
Puerta Maya Pier
Shops and Large Covered Area
Puerta Maya Pier
Walkway
Taxi Ride To Punta Langosta:  At the back area of Puerta Maya, you will find a taxi station. There are a variety of places you can pay to ride a taxi. A ride to Punta Langosta cost $16.00 for a van. The ride was about 4 km (I would put this number in miles, but in Mexico they use kilometers). I did not get to take very many pictures of the ride to Punta Langosta, but here are some pictures I did take:
Leaving Puerta Maya Pier
View From Taxi As We Left Puerta Maya Pier
Cozumel Mexico
View of One Of Many Side Streets
Cozumel International Cruise Terminal Building
International Cruise Terminal Building
Arriving At the Area Surrounding Punta Langosta:  
              Once our taxi van dropped us off, we walked around and stopped in a few shops. Punta Langosta has its own pier for cruise ships to dock, but today no ships were scheduled to use this dock. Some shops were closed because of no cruise ship being docked at Punta Langosta, but most were open. 
Punta Langosta
Punta Langosta
Cozumel, Mexico
A Glimpse Down A Sidestreet
Cozumel, Mexico
Street That Runs Parallel To the Water
Cozumel Mexico Shops
Shops Along The Street That Runs Parallel To Water
Cozumel, Mexico Water
View of Water
Cozumel, Mexico Plaza
Plaza Area
Bamboozled In Cozumel At A Shop:   In one shop we stopped to take a look because we saw a blanket that was nice. The lady working the shop seized the opportunity to hound us into buying the item. Her original price was $60.00 for this blanket (that was definitely not worth this price). When we told her no she dropped the price to $50.00 and told us that was as low as her boss would allow her to go. Once again, we told her we did not want the item for that price. She asked what we were willing to pay and we told her $20.00. She laughed at us and told us her sister made the item. We offered her $30.00, she then turned her head in all directions, and then put her finger to her lips as if to silence us. This was to make us think her boss would be mad. She sold the item for $30.00. She was her own boss.
               After walking away from this store, we saw an identical blanket for $10.00. We saw many more of the same blankets throughout the day. How could this lady's sister make hundreds of blankets for these shops? The lady was probably telling us this to try to get us to pay more. 
LESSON:  Always shop around before buying something.  Many ports of call have shops that sell similar (if not identical) items at different prices.
Cozumel, Mexico
Building Labeled "Plaza Del Sol"
Cozumel, Mexico Plaza
Another View of Plaza
McDonalds in Cozumel
A Closed McDonald's In Cozumel
Parked Taxis in Cozumel
Taxis Parked
Cozumel, Mexico
Cozumel, Mexico
Cozumel, Mexico
Blue Waters of Cozumel, Mexico
The Punta Langosta shopping area is something cruisers would first see if their ship docked at Punta Langosta. Here are some pictures I took of the Punta Langosta shopping area:
Punta Langosta
Area Back at Punta Langosta
Punta Langosta
Punta Langosta Logo
Punta Langosta Shops
A Shop At Punta Langosta
Shops at Punta Langosta
Other Shops at Punta Langosta
Punta Langosta Shops
Punta Langosta
Punta Langosta
Punta Langosta
Shops at Punta Langosta
More Shops At Punta Langosta
Punta Langosta Shops
Shops
Directory
Directory at Punta Langosta Pier
Taxi Ride Back to Puerta Maya:      It was $16.00 to ride back to Puerta Maya. This driver drove quicker than the other one and we were back at Puerta Maya within a few minutes. I had a chance to get some better pictures on the ride back to Puerta Maya.  Here are some pictures:
Taxi Ride Back to Puerta Maya
View of Punta Langosta From Our Taxi
Cozumel Supermarket
Supermarket in Cozumel Mexico
Streets of Cozumel Mexico
View of a Sidestreet
Hard Rock Cafe in Cozumel
Hard Rock Cafe in Cozumel
Puerta Maya Pier Cozumel
Puerta Maya Letters At Entrance
Puerta Maya Peir
Puerta Maya
Carnival Elation
View of the Carnival Elation From Puerta Maya Beach Area
Pullmantur Monarch
Monarch Docked - View From Puerta Maya's Beach
Picture
Walkway at Puerta Maya Pier
Here are some pictures taken as I walked on the pier back to the ship:
Carnival Elation
View of the Carnival Elation
Front of the Carnival Elation
Front of the Carnival Elation
Gangway of the Carnival Elation
Carnival Elation's Gangway
Lunch Onboard At Tiffany's (Lido Deck Buffet): 
               Today's lunch at Tiffany's was very relaxed because most of the other cruisers were still ashore in Cozumel. There were many of the upper level crew members getting some food at the buffet. A few buffet lines were closed due to a lack of passengers onboard, but there was virtually no wait at any of the open buffet lines. The Chef's Choice buffet line was serving French food today.
                My first stop on the buffet today was the grill. I wanted a hamburger, fries, and some chicken tenders. The chips & pico de gallo that the grill serves are also good. Here are some pictures of the grill's buffet line:
Carnival Elation Grill
Chips and Hamburger Toppings at the Grill
Carnival Elation Grill
French Fries and Chicken Tenders
Carnival Elation Grill
Variety of Toppings
Carnival Elation Grill
Hotdog Buns
Carnival Elation Grill
Hotdogs and Some Toppings
Carnival Elation Food From the Grill
Plate Of Food From The Grill
Here are some pictures I took of the buffet's dessert station:
Assorted Foods From The Dessert Station
Assorted Foods From The Dessert Station
Assorted Foods From The Dessert Station
Assorted Foods From The Dessert Station
Assorted Foods From The Dessert Station
Assorted Foods From The Dessert Station
As I mentioned earlier, the Chef's Choice buffet line was serving French food. Here are some pictures I managed to take of this buffet line:
Menu
Chef's Choice French Buffet Line Menu
Assorted Food In the Chef's Choice Buffet Line
Assorted Food In the Chef's Choice Buffet Line
Assorted Food In the Chef's Choice Buffet Line
Assorted Food In the Chef's Choice Buffet Line
           The deli, Mongolian Wok, and salad bar were also open. Here are some assorted food pictures:
Carnival Elation Salad Bar
Salad Bar Food
Salad Bar Fruit
Fruit From The Salad Bar
Carnival Elation Mongolian Wok
Food Dish From the Mongolian Wok
Please Like RyG's Cruise Guide On Facebook!  
 Click Here For Our Facebook Page
I will be sharing review updates, cruise tips, and more!  
You can also like us using this button provided by Facebook:
Continue To Today Review's Second Part:
click here for day 3 part 2
click here to return to the review's mainpage
Home        About Us        Contact Us        Privacy Policy & Disclaimer

www.embarkandaway.com     Thank you for visiting RyG's Cruise Guide!
RyG's Cruise Guide is not affiliated with any cruise line or travel organization. Any information is subject to change at any time given that the cruise industry is always changing. Due to the Covid pandemic, crew staffing shortages, and supply chain issues information could change without updates being made here. I always recommend checking with your cruise line for the latest information related to onboard amenities and Covid protocols. 

Connect With Us!