Sensation Review

[tomboyy]

Just back in from the June 17th sailing on the Sensation. My wife and I and my 2 daughters went along with a long time friend and his wife and their 2 sons.

 

We flew in the day before and stayed a mile or 2 from Port Canaveral at the Best Western Ocean Front Resort, that was just a average hotel or should I say a bunch of average hotels. We had to walk 2 blocks from the lobby to get to our ocean view rooms. we also stayed there for 2 days after the cruise. We had to argue (talk) with the counter help as on both check inns they tried to change the price that we had booked in advance. On the second check in they also tried to give us a parking lot view room:eek:

 

Embarkation day: Besides toting 8 suit cases 2 blocks to the lobby to catch the bus, it was Great! OOhhh the bus did stink like a pack of cats had been using it as their toliet, and I mean really bad! people were stuffing those cleasing napkins up their nose to block the smell.

 

Once at the terminal though things went smooth. V.I.P servive was sweet.They let us right in and told us to go to the V.I.P room upstairs, there was 2 nice older ladies waiting there for us and did our little bit of paper work we had not do yet and then personally took us to the cameras where they took our pics and on board we walked.15 mins from bus to ship. I don't know if I'll ever be able to get anything other than V.I.P service again.... wellllll I suppose I could ... but it sure was nice.

 

Day one: We did the usual and got a cold beverage of our choice and walked around a bit. hit the back of the ship for a rubin sandwich, it was pretty good. The waiters were really pushing the drinks but it didn't bother us as I was to damn happy to be bothered with little things. After the bite to eat we found our friends standing in the hot sun with their 6 carry-ons in one of the sunchairs looking pissed. Seems they wanted to pay cash on their sign and sail card and had to wait in line. Wellll he never wanted to do any homework and find out how things worked and at the counter he said he could not understand the lady, Said he put 2 hundred on the card and he wasn't very happy when I told him 160.00 of that would be taken for the tips.

 

I told him many times about the tips and he acted like this was the first time he had ever heard about tipping. That set the tone of the rest of the trip for them and I knew It would so I basically avoided them for the whole trip on ship except for dinner.

 

dinner day one, we had Beef Wellington. It was alittle tough but I didn't really care I was to happy and this was my tone for the whole cruise. Tried the pumpkin soup and everyone was right... it was good, same with the melting cake thing. I had shrimp and salad every night of the cruise.

 

Day two: Free Port. ate in the dining room and had eggs Benedict. The hollindaise sauce was old like some people had said but not bad and I ate it all I also had some corned beef hash and it was good.

 

We went to the Junkanew beach party 60.00 pp abit pricy but I liked it as did the wife and kids. they had activities for kids and adults like a egg toss and guys verses the girl tug of war ( girls won) I lugged all my snorkel equipment and didn't regret it. they didn't rent snokeling stuff there and there really was any place to go so I made my own fun and walked down the beack to a rock wall and snorkeled there with my buddies son we both had a great time. We came back and got a drink ans soon lunch was ready. We had cheeseburgers, hotdogs and chicken along with salads and dirty riice and french fries.

 

Got back to the ship and took alittle nap and went for a walk and came back to dress for formal night. My white dress shirt was wrinkled bad and as I had forgot to think about it until 1 hour before dinner ( 8:30 ) I was like crap! My room steward came to my rescue and took my shirt down to get pressed himself and brought it back in time for dinner.

 

We had lobster for dinner of course , I had 3. I told our waiters I was gonna get 3 the night before and he remembered and when I was finished with my first one he promptly gave me my second. Our head waiter in my own opinion wasn't as good as the Assistant waiter ( Sergio ).

 

Finished dinner and gambled abit and called it a night. I forgot I did take a gambling class before dinner. The teachers name was angie and she was from romania. She taught me the basics of craps, I ended up playing some craps and won a bit but it was to fast paced for me and too many people hollering. Angie did give me a 5 dollar card to bet with for taking the class, I doubled it on the Roulette wheel.

 

Day three: Nassua. Just like I remembered. The family and I walked the streets in the morning just looking around, hit the straw market. I left the ladies to finish shopping as I had to get my scuba stuff together for the 11:45 shark dive. The shark dive .... absolutely the best time of my life .. except for the day I got married and of course the birth of my 2 daughters. I took pics and gonna see if I can get the negitive on cd and I'll post some.

 

After a quick nap we had dinner, whick consisted of BBQ ribs.... they were excellent! melt in your mouth !

 

got my second breath and found the Texas Holdem table ... in the back of the ship... go figure. That night lasted till 4 am and started the next day at 9 am:eek:

 

Day four:had Breakfast in the Lido usually fare there eggs omeletes ,hash browns, grits ,all kinds of meat. and laid out in the sun and digested the meal. Was pretty hot so we decided to head inside and I hit the casino again, won alittle at Texas Holdem.

 

Dinner for me was Chateaubriand and was very good. wife didn't feel well and wanted to hang out in the room with the girls after dinner so I hit the Texas Holdem table again (lost alittle ) won alittle at the carribean stud poker table and caught the last half of the comedian show. This guy was great ... had me laughing the whole time and wishing I had got there on time.

 

Overall: I had a Fantabulus time:D Only one thing took me for suprise and that was after dinner one night we went the Lido deck and the whole deck was closed for a employee party,

 

We tipped our Steward and his assistant ( girlfriend ) the first night 10.00 and the last morning 20.00.. hehe caught them kissing in the hallway one day. We were sitting on the balcony on the last day while they were freshening up our room and spotted dolphins riding the waves and called buy-you ( incorrect spelling of our stewards name ) and he called his girlfriend and watched with us for a good 5 minutes before the dolphins lost the waves an started to go further and further back. he told us that was his first time ever seeing the dolphins.

 

Tipped the waiters 20 a piece, wished I could have given the assistant waiter more as I though he was more friendly, but being alittle more friendlier isn't a cause for tipping the asst. more than the head waiter.

 

The Casino staff was alittle stuffy and really should have had a better additude, I mean I deal with patients all day long everday too and I always have a smile and friendly conversation for them even if my day isn't going great. They weren't mean or anything and I did manage to draw them outta their shell ( cept for one guy)

 

If I had to pick on one thing it would be that carnival needs to give some of their employees a lesson in smileing and atleast acting like they are happy.

 

Now I know this was long, but one more thing. Before anyone picks a sentence out and says something smart a** know this.... I had a great cruise ! I was happy every minute on the ship ( unlike my friends ) I told my wife if this was a good cruise , we were gonna do it again next year. Well I might be here for awhile as we are starting to plan our next cruise as I type this:D

 

One more thing... you can only order 5 sandwiches at a time from room service. had me my wife , 2 daughters and 2 friends they made on the ship and my friends son and was gonna order 9 sandwichs and the woman said no only 5... oh well the girls wouldn't eat the sandwiches anyway as they wanted to go back dancing... they did eat the 5 pieces of choclate cake I ordered for them:D

 

any questions??

 

Tom

[Ms Belvedere]

any questions??

Tom

Thanks for the review, I'm glad you had a great time. Your review covered everything!

Ms B

[jpmaximus]

Great review. I was on the June 3rd sailing of the Sensation. I had a great time also. The 4 day Bahamas cruise is a great itinerary. Too quick though!! I want to go again.

[Jersey_Girl3180]

What a great review. Thanks

 

When they redid the ship last year did they add a mini fridge to the rooms?

[niffer03878]

Thanks for the review. We are doing this cruise in September and it's always great to hear other people's experiences! This will be our very first cruise and it's nice to know ahead of time what to expect and what to avoid. I plan on going with a very happy and relaxed attitude. I think that's half the key to having a great vacation.

 

Only 11 more weeks to go... still seems too far away :(

[pacerzfan]

Thanks for the review, tomboyy.

[tomboyy]

What a great review. Thanks

 

When they redid the ship last year did they add a mini fridge to the rooms?

 

I was in a Cat 12 room and yes they did have a mini-fridge,but, like others have posted these mini-fridges won't keep anything cold , atleast my wouldn't. so my rolling soft-sided cooler came in very handy.

 

Tom

[Knights on the Beach]

Thanks for your review! We were on Senstion for a seven night cruise in '99 and are looking forward to seeing her again in December. (Actually, we have to drive over to Brevard County this afternoon, so we just may drive by the port for a peek at her.)

[ClassyChelle]

Thanks for sharing your review. I too just sailed on June 10th, and I had a wonderful time. This was my first cruise and I am looking forwarded to planning my next. The Bahamas was very nice and the sights were well worth it. :)

[rebeljohn]

Thanks for posting your review...........the Sensation was the first cruise ship for our daughters........they loved her...........

[Curt Jerome Wild]

I was in a Cat 12 room and yes they did have a mini-fridge,but, like others have posted these mini-fridges won't keep anything cold , atleast my wouldn't. so my rolling soft-sided cooler came in very handy. Tom

any questions??

First of all thanks for the great and detailed review! Good Job!

 

Secondly when you have some time...

Please, please, please, do a review of the Category 12 Cabin/Balcony/VIP on this thread (click on the link below):

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=6392925

All information and pictures especially will be greatly appreciated and help future Cruise Critics!

 

Again, great review, and thanks in advance.

CJW

[mermaid40]

Great Review, Thanks Tom!

 

I have a few questions regarding the shark dive....did you book with Stuarts Cove and was it a 2 tank dive? How deep were the dives. And did you take your reg and bc? Thanks for any information!!

[Honeybear]

Thanks for the review, Tom.

SENSATION was my first cruise, several years ago. I'll never forget when I first walked in, I teared, I thought it was the most beautiful place I had ever seen! I just stood there with my mouth open. :D So of course the SENSATION will always be close to my heart.