Sensation July 10 - Short Trip Report

[Spurs Fans]

July 9th dawned sunny and warm in San Antonio. Our Southwest flight from SA to Orlando was waiting for us for our on time 10:35 departure. Flight was uneventful and on-time, the two things I luv about Southwest.

 

We arrived in Orlando and found our Budget rental car for 10 days. Loaded up the car and headed for Port Canaveral. We checked in to the Residence Inn and were informed that our one room had been upgraded to a two bedroom suite - nice! After unpacking stuff for our one night, we headed to Fish Lips to watch the one Carnival ship head out to sea. The food was very good and my wife proclaimed the crab cakes the best she had ever had. We made a not so quick trip to Ron Jon's to grab some shirts and a few other things.

 

Sunday, July 10 was bright and sunny in Port Canaveral. We had made arrangements for free parking of the vehicle at the Residence Inn as well as transport to the terminal. The cost is $8 per person round trip. The people were friendly and on-time. We left the hotel at 10:30 and arrived at the dock some 10 minutes later. (Had to wait for the intercoastal bridge to close.)

 

We were among the first at the dock and, since we had reserved one of the two Penthouse suites, we were escorted to an office for private check-in. Everything went smoothly and we had our keys in about 10 minutes. Because of the suite, we were escorted directly to our room and were the first people on board the ship.

 

Let me just say here that the Penthouse is absolutely beautiful! You can see about our complaint which materialized later in my thread from Saturday "Warning about Up Sale on Sensation Penthouse." I will not go into it here other than to say that it is directly under the jogging track and may children take advantage of it at midnight. Large living room with table with four chairs, large sofa which converts to a sleeper and large king size bed in the separate bedroom. There is a shower, jacuzzi tub, walk in closet with safe and two beautiful glass sinks. The wall length windows look out over the pool and there is a relatively small balcony on the side which overlooks the water.

 

We have never cruised Carnival before, but we found the food on all meals to be of equal or better quality than RCL. It is not up to Celebrity standards, but we had no complaints about the food. Also, it was our first experience with "any time" dining and we found this to be an excellent way to plan the evenings. We never waited more than 5 minutes for a table.

 

Monday saw us docking in the Bahamas. We signed up before the cruise for the swimming with dolphins excursion. This is not the one where you get to kiss the dolphins but do not get in the water with them. This was the full blown get in the water, swim around with them, etc. experience. It was great! We boarded a bus to Port Lucaya for the first part of the trip. It was a 15 minute ride that was delayed on the road due to a parade to celebrate Bahama independence day. From Port Lucaya, we boarded a boat for a 20 minute ride to the bay where the excursion happens. Everyone was friendly and very helpful. It was one of those "bucket list" things to get to do.

 

Tuesday saw us boarding a van in Nassau for a 10 minute ride to Atlantis. We spent the day at the water park and walking around seeing the sights of Atlantis. We really enjoyed the things to see and do at Atlantis. We walked through the casino but did not play while there, it looked very expensive. Rather spend my gambling money on the ship.

 

Just a quick note about the ship's casino. The slots were very tight, but the table games were winnable and the dealers were very nice and a lot of fun.

 

Wednesday was a relaxation day. Massages for my wife and I and a facial for my wife and daughter. Be ready for the selling at the end of the massage, but I just told them I was not interested. It was a quick end to their attempt to sell oils and creams. The gym on Sensation has all the latest equipment.

 

Thursday saw the end of the cruise. We had been told to meet in one of the lounges for early debarkation. We were up at 6 and in place at 6:55. About 7:10, we were escorted off the ship with our luggage in hand, breezed through customs and were off the ship and out the door not 10 minutes from when we got up at the lounge. The van was waiting for us as we exited the door and it was a quick trip back the Residence Inn to load up the car, eat breakfast and head to Disney.

 

I have sent an email to Carnival regarding the problem with the late night noise in the room. I will see what happens. We enjoyed the cruise, but not sure if we will sail with Carnival again depending on the response we get from management.

 

One other thing to add, on "Elegant night" in the dining room, we saw everything from tuxes to shorts. There was no limitation to what you could wear, at least nothing that was enforced. I wore slacks and a collared shirt and was right in the middle of the range of dress.

[Spurs Fans]

My deepest apologies to everyone, just noticed that I posted this on the wrong board! Mods have permission to remove it.