We started our New Year's adventure here at the Westin Gas Lamp (Horton Plaza) in San Diego.  This is where we stayed for New Year's Eve before we left for the cruise.

San Diego was not as fun as Las Vegas or New York for New Year's Eve, but they do have a Hooters in the Gas Lamp.  We just went to a variety of places in the Gas Lamp that night.

This is the Carnival ship, Elation, in San Diego, CA.  We boarded the ship on January 1, 2009 for our adventure to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

Here is our group of revelers having lunch on the Lido Deck of the Elation.  The food was really good throughout the cruise.  They also kept bringing us glasses of champagne.

This is a picture from our dinner on the 1st night.  The food was delicious!  The service was very good too.

Here is a picture from the welcome show with the Elation dancers.  They had hot dancers!  We got to see 2 Vegas style shows, a comedy show, and a hyptonist show.

Carnival usually has 1 formal night during a cruise.  Everyone dresses up for the "captain's dinner" and also there is a nice Vegas style show afterwards.

They had Maine Lobster on the menu for the formal night!

I am signifying how I just ordered three lobster tails!  All the food is included, and you can eat as much as you want!

The ship had a buffet also for breakfast, lunch, and dinner as well as a late night Mexican buffet one night also.  Of course, you can also eat in the dining rooms where there is table service.  The buffet also has a 24 hour Pizzeria and 24 hour ice cream/yogurt service.  Here are some of the desserts available during the buffets.  The buffet also has a grill and made to order omlettes.

We attended the wine tasting demonstration also.  They had three whites and two reds for us to try.  They also gave us food pairing suggestions with each wine.

Carnival also served "High Tea" at 4:00 PM.  A butler went around with fine teas, and they served pastries and cucumber sandwiches too.

I drink green tea.

The cabin steward provided us with excellent service.  They had nightly turn down service, and they left a towel animal and mint on our bed.  Moreover, they put ice in the ice bucket daily.

We also got 24 hour free room service.  The chocolate cake was so good!

The waterslide was really fun!  The 3 pools were filled with ocean water.  There was also a mini golf course and jacuzzis.