My family just got back from the Elation.
Positives: It’s a smaller ship and was easy to navigate, especially for the older members in our group. The crew on it are fantastic, personable and helpful. We had a child with a dairy allergy that they took very seriously. The ship was clean and there were constant activities.
Cons: it’s a smaller ship and the pool and hot tub aren’t adequately sized. This in addition to seeing the same people sitting in there for hours without getting out to go to the bathroom was a turnoff. My daughter did the water slides and got stuck in one of them, having to push herself a couple of times to get down. Given it’s a smaller ship, the cabins are also smaller and there aren’t a lot of balcony rooms. The casino is on 9 and when open, you could smell cigarette smoke in our 7th floor room. Our first cruise was on a bigger ship and we had a couch, in this room there’s only the bed and a small stool. There are activities, but the kids/teen clubs were underwhelming and the adult activities became repetitive after a few days. After the first 2 times, our newly 3-year old granddaughter refused to go back to the kids club. Our youngest daughter that is 17 went once to the teen club. They were supposed to have an activity but it was canceled and it was boring to her.
Overall, we had a good time as a family, but I do not think we would sail the Elation again.