Sensation REVIEW 5/31 to Nassau...Please Take a Look (First Cruise and First Review)

[anil099]

My Review of the M.S Sensation 5/31/07 to the Bahamas

 

My first cruise ever, and after this, definitely not the last. I can easily say this was my best vacation ever, and I wouldn’t have ever thought that a family vacation could ever come close to being called that. . In this review I’ll cover most of my trip, from the high points to the lowest of the lows. Also, why seasickness can be good :-)

 

 

First off thanks to all CC members for making this trip easier for me and my family and since this was my first cruise, this is my first review. I don’t know if you will make it to the end, but if you do thanks for your time, and if you don’t, it’s quite all right I wouldn’t either.

I wrote this on the trip back to Atlanta to try to get a review up as soon as I get home. I got home looked at it and added a few things and here is the final review. Please comment on it or ask any questions you have

 

 

Anyways, like most of you mentioned, embarkation was a breeze. We tipped the porter $5, and headed into the terminal. We arrive around 12:30 pm at the terminal, and there were a surprising number of people there already, but the line for the S&S card was moving at a lightning fast pace. Once we got o board, it was about 1:00 pm and we headed straight to our rooms to check them out. We didn’t know our cabin numbers before hand, but we had looked at the porter’s list and found out we were on the Rivera deck. To our surprise, both of our cabins had been upgraded to ocean view and they were side by side. We went up to the Lido deck to grab some of that buffet. While going up to Lido, my first impression of the ship was that it didn’t seem as big from the inside as I had imagined, and the purple décor didn’t shock me at all (maybe because I was well prepared for it by all the reviews). The purple seemed to fit well for some reason.

 

The weather was great outside at port Canaveral so we sat and ate by the pool. The food was actually quite good, and the selections were plenty for a buffet. After that we headed to our cabins and to our surprise the luggage was already there, it was probably an hour or an hour and a half between us dropping the luggage off at the porter and them delivering it to our rooms. Well after the muster drill an all it was around 5 pm or so and we decided we wanted to go check out the ship. Of course I had wanted to go to the casino and had about $50 set apart for the casino just for the hell of it sine I can’t gamble while in the US. Carnival cruise lines are now responsible for making me a degenerate 19 year old gambling bum. Just kidding. My mom won like $7 here and there, she was playing the quarter slots, and my dad and brother playing the quarter slots as well. Eventually I sat down at the quarter slots too and just stuck a $20 in, after like three spins I won around $560! This was beyond anything I expected. If I sound over enthusiastic…. well $560 is a lot of money for a lazy college bum. That’s like 22 bottles of Maker’s Mark. Anyways so I decided I would spend the $60 and keep the $500. So after much browsing around, I found these wheel of fortune slots. These looked interesting so I sat down at one and stuck a $20 in. Well after 4 or 5 spins I won another $120!!!. I swear to god I thought at this point carnival was going to come out with a camera crew and say they just punk’d my ass or something. I decided to call it quits that night, plus it was dinner time anyways. I didn’t bring anything for formal night and had decided I wasn’t going to go on formal night so I thought I better go the first nigh at least to check out the dining room. Carnival does a great job of seating like many of you have already mentioned. We were seated with another family of four, and they had two cute daughters of around the same age as me and my brother. It turns out my mom and dad knew these folks indirectly through many other people. They had a lot of friends in common from Chicago and Atlanta. I thought that was fantastic. I opted for the steak, which while wasn’t disappointing, left something to be desired. I finished the steak, and around this time came desert time. And of course heard so much about it, I had to order the chocolate melting cake. I felt this was the same thing as the steak, while not disappointing, it left something to be desired. I felt the chocolate cake from room service and the one at the Sea View bar and grill on the night of the Mexican buffet were way better. No comparison.

 

Anyways, after dinner, oh I forgot to mention, we had late seating, which was perfect because I’m not an early eater, sleeper or riser. So after dinner it was around 9:30, and we were waiting for the show to begin at 10:30 so we checked out some of the shops near there. We bought a few things, and of course I told my parents (Thanks to CC) that all, if not most of the stuff will be on sale the last day. We bought a couple of t-shirts and flip flops for when we get off for the Bahamas.

 

 

10:30 came out of nowhere and soon people were getting ready to go inside for the show, this one was called Curves and it went on for a little longer than I wanted but it was great. The dancers were amazing, and the singer was great as well. Shame I can’t remember the name of either the male or female singer, they were terrific. I thought this was going to be the 80’s show, but I found out soon enough that the 80’s show was going to be on the last day. After the second show, it was around 11:30 and my parents decided to cal it a night there, while my brother and I went up to Lido deck to grab some pizza and come back for the late night comic. This is probably nothing to complain about, but the pizzeria guy never seemed to be there, it wasn’t that there were huge lines, this guy came out like once every 10 minutes to serve a slice. This is like with two people in line. This wasn’t a problem only that night, as I experienced this throughout the whole cruise. As a result I got pizza probably only two times as opposed to the 20 times I thought I was going to get. We just decided to grab some ice cream and head back to the comedy show.

 

I can’t recall the full name of the comedian, but it was Lewis something. He was fantastic as well. We didn’t know if they came around and checked IDs or whatever since it said 18+, but it was no problem. My brother was a little nervous as he is only 17; I made him think he was going to get taken out by security or something. The comedy show ended in about 20 to 25 minutes, and at that point we didn’t feel like heading to Lido for the buffet. We roamed around the ship some more and decided to call it a night at around 1:30 am.

 

We arrived in Nassau around 10 am and it was beautiful. The only thing I will complain about here is that the weather wasn’t great. While it wasn’t pouring by any means, it was sprinkling a little here and there just enough to set a different mood. It was cloudy, but not windy. We didn’t sign up for any excursions, which might have been a good thing because of the rain, but like I said it wasn’t that much. Apparently the day we arrived in Nassau was a holiday and most of the shops were closed; most of the shops I was interested in anyways. The prices at the port were higher than I expected for most of the things, and it got tiring after you go to 20 different places to find the same 20 things at 20 different prices. There was no variety in merchandise. Well, maybe because the big stores were closed during the holiday that’s why? Anyways I found a little internet café there that charged 10 cents per minute, as opposed to the ships 75 cents per minute. I gladly spent my $3 there for 30 minutes as opposed to giving carnival $4 activation and then paying by the minute as well.

 

Walking around the port I saw some stores I was interested in that caught my attention (Versace), but it was in a part of town that looked like it might be knockoffs? Again I’m not sure about this; I hope someone can help me out here.

 

We went back to the ship at around 2 pm, had some lunch and there wasn’t much to do around 3 pm on the ship. Everyone was either out in the port, taking a nap, or getting some pizza. We got kind of bored, so my dad said we should take the ferry to Atlantis and get some pictures taken there and stuff. To my great surprise, this was like arriving in a new part of the country. I’m so glad I didn’t get lazy and say no to the ferry idea because I would have left the Bahamas with a sour taste in my mouth. This side of town was really beautiful and the shop owners and people on the street weren’t nearly as shady. It was the last ferry, and they dropped us off on the other side of town at like 15 till 6 and said the trip will be 6. So we decided to go roam around and get a taxi back. We went up to Atlantis and took some pictures, had some ice cream there, and there were plenty of name brand stores which actually looked like they carry authentic merchandise. There was a Versace store there, but I didn’t want to waste any more time before it got dark so we just kind of strolled around for a bit. My brother checked out some Ray Bans, but didn’t see the ones he wanted so he decided to get them when we get back to the states.

 

We got back at just about the most perfect time on the ship, it was 7 pm and the casino had just opened. Yes I could slowly see myself losing all my winnings here. We had late seating so me, my brother, and my dad played around for an hour or so. After about $30 or so, I hit another $250 on one of the slot machines. This time I just took it and ran, as opposed to testing if the machine was still hot or not. I wasn’t aware of the player’s bank or anything at this point so I’m sure the cashier was annoyed every time I would bring him a bucket of coins to cash in. If he was annoyed he sure as hell didn’t show it, he nicely told me about the players bank and how you can upload your winnings to your S&S Card, which worked out well for me and him I guess. I decided to try my luck in blackjack, but I hadn’t played in a while so I chose an empty table to start off with. I only started with $40, and the minimum bet was $10. After losing all but $10, I started another winning streak, I got up to about $100 or so, but my amateur thinking got the best of me and I ended up walking away with just $5 chip.

 

At this time my brother and dad went up to change for the formal, which I didn’t plan on attending so I hung around the casino a little while till it was time for Bingo and Game Show Mania. I went alone to the game show mania, but didn’t leave there alone. I sat down and they had the trivia with the sound bits on stage, which I got to admit I didn’t know half the answers to. I put my name in the box, but I’m glad I didn’t get picked. Turns out there were more single people on the ship than I thought, I happened to be sitting beside a very beautiful lady who happened to be from Atlanta as well. The game show had some funny moments, but we were all just waiting for the big bingo game. For some reason I think I either missed who wants to be a millionaire and deal or no deal, or was mistaken about the game show mania containing them. But all in all Bingo came, and well someone hit bingo (straight line) in the first 7 balls. I also tried out the $750 without luck, at which point I was going to get up and go to the casino again because I had heard the juggler was nothing special.

I have to say, the juggler was a pleasant surprise. He was funny, energetic, and quite a good juggler. I had heard a lot of people say that they didn’t think much of the guy, maybe this was a different guy? He was a Mexican guy, short hair? Anyways don’t miss out on him; his show isn’t that long so if you hate it, it doesn’t take away much time. Go see it.

Next came probably the best part of the cruise (Besides winning at the casino). Say hello to Miss Tia Thompson. She was funny, racy, talented, and had the whole lounge on the floor. And this was the PG 13 show, at the end of the show when she said “Be sure to check out my R-rated show tomorrow night”, I thought she was joking. There’s no way to describe her, except that if there’s one thing you don’t want to miss out on its Tia Thompson. She combines music, dancing, and comedy in a very entertaining way. She isn’t a comic or a musician, she is an entertainer, and she entertains.

 

The Mexican buffet was great on the second night. The tacos were awesome, as were the enchiladas. The pastry was great and the chocolate cake was way better than the one in the dining room. This was a buffet I’m glad I came to, I’m not a huge fan of Mexican food but I know good food when I see it.

 

Now comes the most interesting day: day three. I woke up around 2 pm, and I did miss out on the trivia and bingo. The seas were really rough this third day, and at first I didn’t know if this was normal since this was my first cruise, but it was really moving left and right. I think the trivia might have been cancelled on the Lido but I’m not sure. Like I said I woke up relatively early for me, 2 pm, but I did miss out on the newly wed game, hairy chest contest, and of course the big Bingo game. I also missed the slots tournament, thought I would try out my luck against other players. But I headed down to the casino nonetheless to try my luck on the last day. I came back to the Wheel of Fortune slots that have been so good to me, and after $30 or $40, guess again ladies and gentlemen, I won the $1000 prize, which was the biggest on the wheel!!! So I had about $1100 and decided to see if the machine was still hot and wasted the $100 but cashed out the $1000 and left as soon as possible. I can see my self now back at the casino coming in every day, winning, cashing out, and quickly literally running away. Hah. So my total winnings were around $2000 for the casino, and the little money that I did spend to get that came from a Visa gift card which was linked to my S&S card. Even when I was sitting on the slots, I could feel the ship move. A lot. Anyways my brother began to feel a little queasy and (thanks to CC) I remembered that the pursuer’s desk had some pills so he got some and felt better after a while. About 20 minutes later, I began to feel a little uneasy as well, and my brother gave me a pill, apparently they give you two, or two come in a pack or something. I went and laid in my bed till about 8 pm, when I woke up I felt a lot better and we headed upstairs to take some pictures with the carnival background props or whatever. The reason I say sea sickness was good was well, if I hadn’t been feeling uneasy, I’m sure I would have gone back to the casino and spent about $400 or so of that $1000 that I had just recently won.

 

Later on that night was the 80’s show. This was the show that everyone has been talking about, and for good reason. Shame on me again for not remembering the two singers’ names, they were terrific yet again. The two break dancers were outstanding as well. Although I didn’t grow up in the 80’s, I’m a 90’s child, I did appreciate the show. Obviously people who grew up with that music and those songs had a better appreciation for the show, but I guess it didn’t click with me. Like I said, I still loved it, but probably not as much as someone who grew up in the 80’s. Before going to see Tia Thompson’s R-rated show, we decided to grab some late night bistro. Just the regular cheeseburger and fries, and of course the pizza, but then again the guy never shows up at the counter when your standing there. After the little pre midnight cheeseburger, we headed to the Tia Thompson show. Let me just say I’m glad my parents didn’t come with me and my brother. I couldn’t imagine watching this show with my parents; it would really really be awkward. With that said, this was a great show. I felt her show from the previous night was funnier because it involved the audience more directly.

 

After Tia Thompson I kind of forgot what happened, all 3 nights seemed so crammed together. It seemed that you need at least 2 or 3 nights to figure the ship out and make your own way without any deck plans on the elevator walls.

 

This was a great cruise on a great ship to a great destination. The only cons I would list are the ones I already mentioned which is the pizzeria was slow, really slow, the weather could have been better in the Bahamas but that was beyond Carnival’s or anyone’s control, and it wasn’t that bad. Third I felt the ship was smaller than I imagined for some reason. Is that just me or is the sensation a smaller ship compared to the others? Fourth complaint I had was that there was an awkward smell in the bathrooms, both ours and our parents. I don’t know if this is common or not since this was my first cruise, it was bearable I guess. The fifth complain I have, is something carnival can do something about, and that would be the internet. I get it that internet is hard to get in the middle of the ocean, but their fees were too high. 50 cents a minute if you purchase a plan? And 75 cents if you go pay as you go? In this day and age where everything is done by computer and internet, and people need to check back with home, work, or just the world outside, they should be able to do so at a better price than this. I also felt that the internet café wasn’t well equipped; you couldn’t save stuff to the desktop or do any other normal features. Good thing there was an internet café in the port at the Bahamas.

All in all these are very minor complaints in a cruise with way more pros than just 4 or 5 minor cons.

 

Debarkation was quite easy. They don’t have the self debarkation in port Canaveral for some reason, so they just called us by tag color and deck. The cruise director made a big deal out of the customs declaration form, so we paid a lot of attention to it. I gave my winnings to my mom, dad, and brother, and I held some so we would all have $800 or so. But no one checked that. I just wish, and maybe this is the lazy college bum in me, that we didn’t have to get up at 7 to debark the ship. I’m not saying 12 pm or 1 pm, but 10 am would be a lot better. I’m sure the cruise lines have their reasons, probably traffic and flights and everything.

In the end, I would like to say that this was my first cruise, and my first review, and I don’t know if it’s too long or too short but if you made it this far thanks for doing so and please leave your thoughts here and any and all questions you have. I’ll try my best to answer them. Lastly, I could not have imagined taking this cruise without CC. So thank you to all the members who answered all my newbie posts and stupid questions that I now realize I was over thinking and could be found in any and all FAQs..

 

 

Anil from Atlanta

PS: I know there are typos, I just wanted to get this up ASAP. Thanks for understanding.

 

l'll try to get pictures up soon, don't know how many of you will be interested in that

[niffer03878]

Thanks for the review.. My DH and I are going on the Sensation in September and it's great to read a new review on it. It's helping to ease my nervousness about taking this cruise. This weekend we were thinking about cancelling our cruise and going on another cruise line (found it $150 cheaper then what we paid). I feel better now about staying with Carnival.

[golf43]

So glad you had fun on the Sensation. We were on her in April of 2007. We had fun too. I know what you mean by the pizza station. I stopped there one time to get a ceasar salad. It took the guy awhile to come out of his hiding place. Then to actually get the salad was another few minutes. When I finially got the salad and started to eat it, it was horrible. The dressing tasted bad. So I threw it away. Our son waited a few minutes to get pizza too.

 

Now I know where all of my money went in the casino.LOL I had some fun in there too. Not as a good time as you did. You really had good luck. I never did win anything. The last night I played video poker. I had a machine that I was able to sit and play for a few hours. No big winners for me. I'm not a big gambler, but enjoy the quarter slots or poker machines.

 

Our chocolate melting cake in the dining room was so good. The ice cream with it was great. I would get a spoon and take a small bit of ice cream, then a spoonful of melting cake. It would melt in our mouths.:)

 

We enjoyed seeing Atlantis too. Wish we had more time over there. It was our first time actually seeing the place. We took a tour over there. If we ever come back to Nassau on a cruise ship, we will go to Atlantis for the day.

[bthorn1108]

Anil,

Thanks for the very detailed review. I have sailed on the Sensation, but it's been awhile and on a different itinerary. I am sailing with a group of 50+ people the end of August on this same trip, so it's nice to have specific info to share with them. I hope that Tia is still there, when we go, but they change entertainers alot. BTW, good job in the casino, but don't think it will always turn out that way :) I have had my share of good and bad cruises in the casino, but the bad out number the good :( Thanks again.

[EggDropErin]

Wow! Thank you for the very detailed review. :)

[rebeljohn]

VERY detailed review..........are you sure this is your first?!?! Nice job. Thanks for taking the time to post it...........

[pacerzfan]

Thanks for a great review, Anil.

[boobnme]

Wonderful review. We are going on Fascination9sister ship) in August and there are several newbies going with me, I am going to have them read this review I am sure it will be very helpful.

[Ellanora]

Great review. Glad you had a great time. I loved the Sensation last September, and hope to sail her again. Congrats on your winnings! :D

[Honeybear]

My Review of the M.S Sensation 5/31/07 to the Bahamas I just wish, and maybe this is the lazy college bum in me, that we didn't have to get up at 7 to debark the ship. I'm not saying 12 PM or 1 PM, but 10 am would be a lot better. I'm sure the cruise lines have their reasons,

Anil, that was a wonderful review! It was one of the best I have ever read. It sure made me want to go "again" on the SENSATION. I can hardly wait to see your pics!

BTW, we have to get off the ship early because the stewards need time to clean the cabins for the ones getting on at 1:00 and leaving at 4:00. It doesn't hurt so bad having to get up early if you have a reason,right? Lol Great review!

[crusinmama06]

Great review. We are going on Sensation in August. In Nassau, we are staying at Atlantis (booked a room). So I knew we are going to have a great time.

 

Congrats on your first cruise and welcome back to the real world. :D

[anil099]

Thanks for the review.. My DH and I are going on the Sensation in September and it's great to read a new review on it. It's helping to ease my nervousness about taking this cruise. This weekend we were thinking about cancelling our cruise and going on another cruise line (found it $150 cheaper then what we paid). I feel better now about staying with Carnival.

 

I was nervous before the cruise as well, but I soon found out I was probably over prepared...just hang around this site and you won't have anything to worry about

 

VERY detailed review..........are you sure this is your first?!?! Nice job. Thanks for taking the time to post it...........

 

Hey thanks a lot, yeah te 8 hour trip from port canaveral to Rome, GA gave me lots of time hehe

 

 

seriously folks thanks for taking the time to read it...I felt it was only right to give back to these boards in any way I could

[tomboyy]

That really was a great review! Lucky bum!:D I love the casino and just hope to break even.

 

Tom

[anil099]

yeah now the casino is the deal breaker for me on a cruise....i wouldn't call my self a big gambler by any means but it sure is fun to blow off some steam whether its $10 or $100......but yeah all that money is going into a savings account though...nothing I can think of to spend on...except another cruise!

[DGP1111]

Wow!! Thanks for the fun-to-read review, and big kudos to you for finding the most perfect souvenir of any cruise. . . cold hard cash from the casino!!

[anil099]

Hey thanks a lot for reading it, I see your doing the sensation later this year....and yes this was the perfect souvenier!

[rzyjzq]

Thanks for the review! I'll be on the Sensation on Sunday and was wanting some feedback from someone that has sailed recently. Glad to hear that you enjoyed it and things went really well for you.:)

Susan

[anil099]

Hey Susan, glad to hear your gonna be on the sensaiton...you will love it no doubt!

 

thanks for taking the time to read my review!

[ata1976]

Thanks for the review. We are sailing Sensation in September and am looking forward to it.

[jim+4]

We will be on the Sensation 6/24 ( 16 of us) for a family reunion cruise, and are looking forward to great time.

Thanks for the info..

[lindanick]

THAT WAS A GREAT REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!

LINDA:) :)

[anil099]

Thanks a lot guys...btw this review is also posted on the member reviews portion of carnivan now...I remmeber a few posts up someone said they wanted their goup to read it....thought it might be easier

[jennbill]

Wow!! You got lucky in the casino did you get....I'd better not go there. LOL. Let's just say a hookup with a homegirl. Can't beat that.

[AmberMarie]

Good review! Congratulations on your Casino winnings. I won quite a bit on my first cruise and first night at the Casino playing Caribbean Stud Poker... but, alas, I lost it all (and a little more) trying to play it again the next night. Send me some of your good luck! :)

 

It's fun reading a first timer's review because I remember the excitement I had on my first cruise last year!

[anil099]

Hey thanks a lot Amber...yeah it was really exciting... I can't imagine not taking a cruise at least once a year now....btw your second cruise is coming up fast! hope you have fun...ill be in school :-(