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Carnival Sensation - Bless her Heart - Preview and Report


KmomChicago
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Hello, Sunquest, welcome!

 

Fellow Cast Member here! I too remember those super-cheap post-9-11 rates on the Magic and Wonder, and have sailed them many-a-time as a result. Sadly, the CM rates are now usually $100+ per day. which is a lot, compared to what I can find for a Carnival cruise. Sadness...

 

Carry on with your hysterical review!

 

CeleBrat

 

Hello Brat! Hysterical, that's very, very flattering. And we know what flattery gets you. More of this crap! Thank you!

 

Wow, even CM rates are more than Carnival. Well, that's okay because I am sure it all goes to the crew, right? Just like all that extra scratch they suck in at the Poly goes straight to the housekeepers. Hahahahahahaha again. That's right. We don't LOL like those trendy kids over there. We hahahahahahahaha, like we used to, back on the block.

 

At least there's the parks, if you still like that sort of thing. I certainly miss solo days in the offseason, just enjoying the place, or heading over to Epcot (fave) after work for a couple hours when I was at the Boardwalk.

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Okay, so this morning's post is a bit about the history of the people who will be traveling with us on this journey, who will be enjoying (I hope) their first cruise from their porthole stateroom down the hall. It's the back story, so you can certainly skip it if you like. Or you can see who these people are, and why they might want to bother with any of this.

 

My dad met my mom in the military in 1965. He was in the Marine Corps, she was in the Navy, and they landed in the same electronics class. He had a red Pontiac convertible, amazing blue eyes, and brilliant wit and charm. Brilliant, I tell you!

 

15 months later they were married with the most beautiful baby ever born to human people and after he returned from a year repairing aircraft near China Beach, they commenced a young American family existence. We watched the moon landing - I don't remember it, but I vividly remember my 4th birthday party the following summer, with my astronaut cake. My baby brother was there, too.

 

Dad made me watch Nixon's resignation speech and told me it was Important, and I would Remember It. Grrr, don't you hate it when they were RIGHT???? The 70's happened, with disco and gosh, well as many of you know, there was a lot going on in the 70's.

 

Unlike everyone else, who seemed to drive brand new Chevy Impalas, our family car was an old blue Studebaker for a while (not cool at the time) and then a gold van (ugly thing, but big improvement). Our first trip to Florida was in 1977 (van), where I decided (at 11) I would move upon Growing Up. In the 80's my parents called it quits, and I did exactly what I said I would.

 

For a lot of years after that, my dad had no grandchildren. My mom, also, by the way, had no grandchildren. And my stepmom, whose only child unfortunately passed away in his early 30's, had, like the others, no grandchildren. And Kmom (then neither K nor mom) was completely fine with it. They were all in Illinois, I was off Living My Life in Florida. Time marched on.

 

I passed all through my twenties with barely a thought of reproduction, as did my brother, who is childless to this day. And the thirties were rushing past and just about gone, and I figured that ship had sailed. But instead, my boat got rocked, DH entered the scene, and DD soon followed. I was 39.

 

Back to my father. Sixty-two years old, and suddenly, finally, a GRANDFATHER. Do you think this changed things for him? How about a year or so later, when one of the adorable toddler's first words was "Papa?" And my stepmom, who worked with a bunch of ladies who endlessly brought in piles of photos of their kids and grandkids passing all kinds of milestones and meanwhile she has the memory of my late stepbrother. The first time in her life that she was called "Grandma," after thinking that would never, ever happen for her, do you think this had an Effect on her?

 

I have not said much about my mother, who is not going on this trip, but who is very much in the Kmom universe. Everyone is cordial and we spend birthdays and holidays and whatnot together.

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Well that back story was a digression but it does have some purpose. Our travelling companions want to go on this cruise because of their granddaughter. Full Stop. They have never taken a cruise before. Never wanted to go on a cruise, never seemed to understand why anyone watched the Love Boat. Too many other diversions in the 70's, even when there were only 5 channels, including PBS.

 

They are at the point where, retired, they could travel as much as they want, and they show some interest, but then. . . they really don't, at least not on their own. Accompanied by their all-powerful granddaughter, however, they will throw caution to the wind and try ANYTHING.

 

You see, they have a place in Florida themselves now, and they Love It. Every day is a Vacation. Half the time they don't even know what day it is, because they don't have to Go Anywhere or Do Anything. They only need a calendar to make sure they don't miss the garage sales.

 

Now, my dad likes boats just fine. Especially military boats. Not much he likes better than visiting an old decommissioned warship, in fact. Well actually he prefers old decommissioned warplanes, if he had his druthers, and sometimes flies around in them, being a licensed private pilot. Plus he used to fix the things for a living while listening to bombs explode, once again, Da Nang. Yes we talk about it a lot.

 

Likes military museums too. Enjoyed that one in New Orleans last year, and the one in Pensacola along the way. We passed a goodly amount of time visiting Wright-Pat in my youth.

 

Dad spent his teen years speeding around on our local river in various small craft and loving every minute. So more than good with boats.

 

My stepmom, however, is a DIFFERENT STORY. Here's where it gets juicy, folks! Let's go through the facts in order:

 

1. She does not like boats

2. She does not like water

3. She does not like the ocean

4. She thinks she might have a seasickness problem, but this has never really been tested

5. She does not swim

6. She is afraid of drowning

7. She is afraid of sinking

8. She does not like ships any better than any other kind of boat

9. She does not like the beach

10. She does not like pools

Edited by KmomChicago
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Wow, I am absolutely amazed at how complicated it is to post photos here. (Cursing. . .quite a bit of that going on, both DH and Kmom the last few minutes). Nothing is the right size, and you can't actually insert anything, though it says you can, and if you attach, you have to do extra steps.

 

Is it really necessary to spend hours and hours resizing photos? Is there another way?

Edited by KmomChicago
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Wow. This is a lot easier with the app on the iPad. DH helped and here are a few pics from the Carnival Triumph cruise last March. View of the ocean from our outside cabin and walking around Uxmal. 5fe57afb7eba5ef9b157943602bb4357.jpg95d361110d1e7a043494f76f0362e951.jpg

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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Shore Excursions. Buy 'em or not? From the cruise line or not? At each port or just some? What to do?

 

We will visit, on this Carnival Sensation journey leaving Miami on January 2, 2018:

 

1. Princess Cays, discussed here, and

2. Nassau (later post)

 

Bless their Hearts, we have found the perfect portly accompaniments to one of the least popular mass-market ships on Cruise Critic.

 

I have been telling the four people travelling with me how Very Fabulous these ports will be.

 

They don't know any better.

 

They trust me, and I mean well.

 

So now I am stuck in the predicament of having to DELIVER great experiences.

 

From what I can tell, Princess Cays may be the least appealing of the cruise-managed private beach resort destinations. Not very big, not much to do there, too far away to visit that incredibly cool skinny Glass Window bridge on the north end of Eleuthera (just Google it), and Baddish, Sharpish Sand. Reviews are overall pretty much "meh" on the place, particularly when ranked against the other private islands.

 

Who wants to go to a beach with Baddish Sharpish Sand? What exactly are beaches? You need Water, okay, CHECK, they do seem to have some of that, and I loves me some of that turquoise colored tropical ocean water, and you need Sand. Which I hear is coarse and sharp at Princess Cays and you need to wear water shoes the whole time else you risk those sexy pedicured tootsies getting all shredded and not like your sexy six pack.

 

Hey, all of you readers and commenters who have been to Very Fabulous Princess Cays? Please weigh in on how Very Fabulous Princess Cays actually is, thankyouverymuch!!

 

HELP A GIRL OUT HERE PLEASE. I AM LOOKING FOR PROPAGANDA. BIASED PROPAGANDA.

 

So Kmom, why are you going on this cruise then? You obviously research everything to the Nth degree starting at least six months in advance. You know what you're getting. Quit whining.

 

Let's break this down a little further, for the Kmom group specifically, because, frankly, it's all about us.

 

In JANUARY, right after the darkness that is the Winter Solstice hits Illinois, a time of year commences that can only be charitably described as The Dead of Winter, and BELIEVE ME. We have good reason for calling it that.

 

The roughly 8 week period after the "holidays" end and before the calendar reads "March" which sounds like "spring" - okay it does not sound like spring. It implies spring, happy? Anyway this period is the REASON Kmom lived in Florida for 16 years. That and Disney World.

 

So heck yeah we are going to this beach. Because it will be WARM, probably actually HOT. And there will be LIGHT in the SKY OVERHEAD. And whatever kind of sand they have, we will not have to BUNDLE UP to go out and check it out.

 

I hate those two words. BUNDLE UP. Take a perfectly good preposition like UP, put it behind a neither great nor terrible verb, Bundle, turning Up into an adverb, and Presto, you have created a phrase that does not inspire great happiness, or something to Look Forward To. And thanks be to the Heavens, this year, during the first week of January, we have the incredibly good fortune to completely forget about those two words, and replace them with two other, arguably far more attractive words.

 

BAD SAND. Gimme.

Edited by KmomChicago
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Perhaps you thought I was finished droning on about Princess Cays! Hahahahahaha! Whose thread are you reading? A babbler's thread, that's whose. A babbler who does not care to use proper modern texting abbreviations, because we had perfectly good ways of conveying the same thoughts, back when we used to speak to people IRL, whoops, scratch that, nobody saw that, five second rule.

 

Long before you whippersnappers invented all this Short Message Service lingo (yeah, does anyone even know what the abbreviations stand for?), memes, and 40 bajillion emoji's, we had actual words, and we had smiley faces, and frowny faces.

 

And we liked it! So Ha! or, to convey laughing (yes, out loud), hahahahahahahaha. Am I also rolling on the floor? Well that's really none of your business, now is it? Laughing my fat you know what off? Doubtful, it always seems to be there, though thankfully I don't actually have a very good view of it.

 

Princess Cays. Shore Excursion? Yes, thank you, we'll do it.

 

My mother, who is not coming on this journey, somehow one day during some birthday celebration got on the topic of glass bottom boats with the other esteemed elders who are, and all of a sudden that's what they want to do.

 

Because what better for someone worried about seasickness (stepmom) than yet another floating-on-the-water experience? Furthermore, my mother is going to buy this excursion for my little group for our Christmas Present.

 

https://www.carnival.com/shore-excursions/princess-cays/glass-bottom-boat-cruise-439006

 

Whoop de doo! We have hit the Kmom stress reduction trifecta:

 

1. Someone else decided what to do

2. Someone else paid for it

3. If they don't like it, it's not my fault

 

Now, all of a sudden, the aforementioned Baddish, Sharpish Sand, or if you prefer, simply Bad Sand, is just a Bonus. We can take it or we can leave it, since it is no longer the Primary Objective of this port call. We can slip on our swim shoes and tromp around all over that rocky stuff like we own the place.

 

Or we can use our Faster to the Fun priority to grab the next tender and get right back aboard The Carnival Sensation and, while the fools are out there getting sliced to pieces and sunburned to boot, we can enjoy places like, oh, I don't know. Guy's Burger Joint, The Blue Iguana, or possibly the Lido buffet (no I don't know what they call it on this ship but it's Carnival. They ALL HAVE A LIDO BUFFET. With FOOD. And that's all we need to know). 'Cause we like to eat, and we don't love having to stand around in a lot of long lines to do so.

 

My stepmom, depending on how the seasickness is actually affecting her, if at all, might really enjoy an opportunity to enjoy our floating resort without, you know, chronic nausea.

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Our Fun Day at Sea is in between our Princess Cays day and our Nassau day. I am hoping this means we will more or less drop the anchor and sit still on that day. Because the two ports ain't very far apart and it doesn't take very long to make the trip. And an anchored ship in shallow water doesn't sway all that much. Stepmom.

 

On my second Disney cruise years ago there was some storm that completely jacked up our short 3 night itinerary. We sailed out from Port Canaveral on a Friday, past that 3 mile line or whatever you need to gamble and let children get drunk. No casino aboard, but, drunk.

 

Then we went south along the coast of Florida a while, and spent a sea day anchored in view of Miami. The Disney Magic was chock full of great Fun Stuff to Do on a Sea Day, but the polluted, dark gray Atlantic water in view of grungy old South Florida did not have that certain, "you are in a beautiful environment far from home" vibe.

 

This was supposed to be our Nassau day, which we ended up having on Sunday, which was supposed to be our Castaway Cay day. Hardly anything was open on a Sunday morning in Nassau so it was weird, but exactly the kind of weirdness I like so it was pretty cool wandering around the abandoned streets, and as a Cast Member I had paid peanuts for the privilege, so I really didn't care.

 

As I recall some of the paying guests were pretty ticked off about missing Castaway Cay, arguably more Fabulous than Princess Cays. Also factually more Fabulous than Princess Cays, which I haven't yet visited, but I can already tell, easily, that it ain't no Castaway Cay, which I have. Because I have researched Princess Cays to the Nth degree. Because I am Kmom.

Edited by KmomChicago
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If you think Princess Cays is going to be a Fabulous Cruise Destination, just wait 'til you see Nassau!

 

My father, who did not want to go to Mexico, for reasons known only to himself, is pretty excited about The Bahamas.

 

Is The Bahamas (or do you have to say ARE The Bahamas) a better destination(s?) than Mexico?

 

I really don't think so. But apparently I am WRONG. But I also don't care, because both of these non U.S.A. countries are HOT AND SUNNY compared to ILLINOIS, particularly in The Dead of Winter.

 

Dad likes military stuff. So Kmom, with the help of some very wise and generous Cruise Critic members on another thread, has planned a special, self-led, custom shore excursion for: DAD. And yes, you will get to read all about it.

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Kmom, this is great! My 12 yo daughter and I are doing a solo trip on the sensation in February, but going to Jamaica and grand Cayman. It's our first cruise, and we figured we'd start small. We are Disney fanatics, traveling there every year since she was three, and thought we'd try something different. Our first stays we're the Poly, WL, and AKL. Our last stay was at pop century and we hated every minute of it. Once you stay at the best, it's hard to go value. Which is why we are starting with the sensation first for cruising. I look forward to hearing all about it and seeing your pictures. I am enjoying your story so far :D

Edited by Chickenlover8
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Just can't compare the 2.

 

Hi, riclop. . . I read your post and thought. . . I am not as clever as I assume, because what can't we compare? I was thinking: drive to Miami during rush hour while, well, rushing to get aboard a cruise ship and driving to Miami on a holiday well in advance of said embarkation? not sure???

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Kmom, this is great! My 12 yo daughter and I are doing a solo trip on the sensation in February, but going to Jamaica and grand Cayman. It's our first cruise, and we figured we'd start small. We are Disney fanatics, traveling there every year since she was three, and thought we'd try something different. Our first stays we're the Poly, WL, and AKL. Our last stay was at pop century and we hated every minute of it. Once you stay at the best, it's hard to go value. Which is why we are starting with the sensation first for cruising. I look forward to hearing all about it and seeing your pictures. I am enjoying your story so far :D

 

Hello Chicken! I hope our info will be helpful to you due to our similar demographics and I promise to post as much detailed info as possible, along with pics, after we sail.

 

Smart Strategy to begin at the humble end of things and upgrade from there. I should warn you, however, that I have vacationed in 5* joints and also in no* joints and everything in between - hotels, cruises, flights, restaurants - over my 51 years, and have enjoyed almost all of it. As Maxwell noted above, Carnival's Fantasy class vessels are in fact old, and also rode hard with plenty of laugh lines and crow's feet to show for it. Her clientele are people who didn't have to spend a fortune to come along with you.

 

Ya just gotta know that going in, and be able to look in the mirror and ask: Am I okay with that, or am I absolutely, at any price, not at all okay with that? I personally loved Pop Century but it is not for everyone. I will try to take a balanced approach and cover the pros and cons of our choices so others can run it all through their own "are we okay with this?" algorithm.

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Thanks for the links. Also, I didn't realize I sail before you. Guess that's what I get for checking CC during working hours & only reading the title before I post. :')

 

 

Hi, Ace. This review on the boards from last spring has been helpful to me and includes great photos. Unlike my posts so far, this review is from after the cruise.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2473392

 

This next one is more recent, shorter, and also insightful.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2556318

 

You're ahead of me on sailing dates, but I'll do my best to share what I know so far. Enjoy your cruise!!

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  • 2 weeks later...

The Planning Continues: NASSAU

 

Believe it or not, my dear CruiseCritic fellow sailor friends, not everyone runs around spending every waking moment angling for opportunities to cram more travel into their lives.

 

Some people, for instance my father and my husband, expend a lot of that same daydreamy hobby energy into things like: MILITARY HISTORY! My dad is, as I may have mentioned, a USMC Vietnam veteran. My husband mostly watches that American Heroes channel on TV, and then fills me in on important details about terrible dictators who tried to make German the official language of these 50 states while committing unspeakable atrocities on the lands they already had in their clutches.

 

Sorry for these gory details. But folks, you need to know what Kmom is dealing with here.

 

If I want these folks to go on a cruise to the Bahamas and be excited about it, I need to offer them something to DROOL OVER. That way Kmom, DD and stepmom get to go enjoy a beach, some shopping, maybe a trivia game or three, and several evenings of nice dinners and stage shows.

 

At the mention of visiting Nassau, The Bahamas, DH's eyes lit up as he started on the famous tale of that one battle where these good guys on our side were up against those bad guys on the other side. . . okay I did not listen to it at all. But I realized this military connection was key to talking this guy into a discount cruise crammed on to the end of our already planned drive to Florida.

 

Forts, you see. They have these forts there, you know, that you can visit.

 

Permission granted. Cruise booked. Once the parents were on board (ha, I did it again), they expressed a desire for Authentic Bahamian Food. I found McKenzie's Fish highly ranked on TripAdvisor, but had no idea if this was a good idea. Who would know? Why, CruiseCritic's experienced helpers, of course.

 

I posted this thread a few months ago.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2539285

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Thanks to CruisinCrow and scubagirrl, we may be able to save a metric ton of pain-in-the-butt scuttling all over New Providence Island.

 

There are 3 forts you can visit in Nassau. The oldest is Fort Montagu, and this is the one that would have been around during that great Battle for Nassau that my husband was on about, known as the first mission for the United States Marine Corps, which of course, Papa served in. The Corps, not the first mission.

 

But, it's pretty tiny, so it is not our top priority. The next option is Fort Fincastle, but you have to go up a lot of stairs, and the whole point is for these people to ENJOY this vacation, so they want to go on MORE CRUISES. And possibly pay for my family to go along with them.

 

OOOOOOOOHHH, did you catch that? Are you all following me now, folks? Yes, Kmom has a decent job and so does DH, and we have just the one kid to spend it all on. But let's put the facts right here on the table, shall we?

 

My dad taught me about thriftiness, and the thriftiest way to do anything is to get someone else to pay for it.

 

Said dad lives part time in Florida now, and enjoys precious time with his only grandchild. And he has also offered to pay for flights as a bribe to visit them (which we have turned down in favor of driving to visit them anyway and paying for our own gas, thankyouverymuch).

 

So it is not out of the realm of possibility that if he likes this little boat ride, he might get to surfing around on that interweb for some deals when his fast-growing only 2nd generation spawn is out of school, say, oh, summertime 2018, for instance.

 

And when I explain the travel budget has run dry for the time being, due to Kmom's reckless overspending on the Great Holiday Road Trip of 2017-2018, culminating in none other than this actual cruise followed by the drive back to Chicago in January, followed less than 3 months later by a Spring Break journey on Oasis of the Seas. . . . Well, who knows what offers might be tossed out?

 

Conversely, if the skies are gray, the seas are choppy, the ports unwelcoming, the meat tough, the lines long, and basically this cruise is No Fun. At All, well then. . . .

 

So Fort Charlotte is Kmom's offering to these fine gentlemen. And it's easy to get to from the port by jitney bus or by taxi. And the Fish Fry, a little collection of dive joints serving local food, is right next to it.

 

A shore excursion is born, led by none other than Kmom!! If we have any gumption left after stuffing ourselves with conch salad and fritters, we can taxi all the way over to Fort Montagu (really not very far).

 

Please remember to tip your guide. Preferably with an entire additional cruise in July 2018 sailing out of a port convenient to Central Florida, such as Jacksonville or Port Canaveral.

 

Oh go ahead and hate on me and my golddigging ways. That guy has done enough for me and frankly I feel we are owed nothing. I just want him to enjoy the trip.

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News Flash: Parents have taken a cabin upgrade.

 

Last night, I received a call. My dad and stepmom were being enticed to move from their porthole cabin on Deck 7 to an outside cabin.

 

Since helping them with their booking months ago, I have had two possible concerns about the location:

 

1. Their chosen room was right below the main showroom - noise?

2. Their chosen room was a pretty decent walk from the forward elevators.

 

Benefits to their chosen room were:

 

1. Portholes for the price of an inside cabin.

2. If the deck plans are accurate, the room looked really big compared to the others nearby.

 

For a small fee, they accepted the option to upgrade to an outside cabin, with a nice large window, but more important, I thought after fretting about it for quite a while, a location just a couple doors from the midship elevators.

 

At 51, Kmom is pretty out of shape, but still an enthusiastic walker. I can go for hours along city streets or forest trails. Not only does this not cause me physical pain, it alleviates the creaks and inflammation that have seeped into my old bones. In short, I crave the opportunity to walk.

 

Alas it's easy to forget that some people start to hurt and tire after a rather small number of steps. And after said humans have already spent the day struggling along some rocky beach in the scorching winter sun, or climbing in and out of ancient fort dungeons, they might just want to get to the stupid room, without yet another long miserable trek.

 

I realize there will be more foot traffic by these busy elevators, but they were right under the main showroom previously, which could have been pretty loud at night. Down on the Riviera Deck they will have staterooms overhead and crew decks below, so we hope it won't be any louder overall than their first room.

 

I have also seen many comments that midship, lower deck rooms are better for seasickness, another possible concern.

 

Did we make the right choice? Should we have consulted The Experts on These Boards before deciding? Go ahead and weigh in on our wisdom or foolishness, we can take it!

Edited by KmomChicago
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You've got me hooked and I am definitely following along! I am a fellow Disney nerd, who also pledged at a young age to move away from cold, dark, New England to sunny Florida as soon as I was able! I headed down to Florida for college and grad school, and lived there through my early 30s, when we sadly had to move away because of DH's job. I never had the pleasure of being a cast member, but I was an AP holder, and would spend at least one weekend a month in Disney (oh the days of being double income, no kids!).

 

I also, love a bargain, and don't have a problem with Fantasy-class ships, we're stepping up in the world with the Liberty in April, but we'll be back with the Paradise in Dec, and will likely do the Elation in 2019. We live in SC now, and its a pretty easy drive down to the Florida ports, but I still really, really wish I was living in Florida!

 

Your plans sound great, and I can't wait to hear about how it all plays out especially your Nassau day! My DH is a Navy veteran, so he also shares a love of all things military history, so I might be borrowing your ideas for our next cruise day in Nassau!

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