4 day Sensation Review 10/4/09 (pics too!)

[star*skecher]

Hello all! Here’s my review of the four day Sensation cruise that hubby and I just went on. I’ll start with the blahblah and follow with some pictures-give me a few minutes to paste it all in here:

EMBARKATION: Easy and painless. At curbside we had the porters take our luggage and kept a small carry-on with our swimsuits and camera. Went through x-ray machines, then to the desk for our sail and sign cards/keys. Waited in a line of chairs for special assist passengers, platinum status/VIP passengers, and two wedding parties to board before us. When our row was called we got our picture taken, flashed our passports, and boarded the ship about 30 minutes after we got dropped off.

Our rooms weren’t going to be ready till 1:30 so we ate some lunch up on the Lido, snapped some pictures, and took advantage of the Waterworks part of the ship to cool off. The four story tube slide is awesome: no matter what age you are you must try it!

CABIN: We were in U227, one of the newly refurbished balcony cabins. The room was spacious and comfy. The bed was amazing: soft sheets, fluffy pillows, and comfortable as ever. This was our first balcony room so we have nothing to compare it to as far as size...it stretched the width of the cabin and you could sit with your back against the wall and prop your feet up on the rail. It was perfect for the two of us. Two chairs (one reclining, one regular) and a little table. I spent a lot of time out here and even took some naps while watching the waves or the moon. If you want to prop the door open do yourself a favor and take the bungee cord that everyone recommends …I forgot mine and had to use a table!

DINING: We ate in the main dining room every night...we had a lovely group of couples to sit with and our waiter, Pablo, and his staff were great. The food was good. Not as fantastic as I remember the last two times with Carnival, but I was full and happy when I left the table- especially due to the Warm Chocolate Melting Cake!

Food on the Lido deck was good too although we really only ate it for breakfast. We tried the dining room for breakfast one day and it was nothing spectacular. We tried it for lunch on the day at sea as well and weren’t overly impressed. My husband says that the sushi he had was good. 24 hour pizza was nice too and we had a few sandwiches from the deli as well.

SHOWS: We only caught two of the main shows. “Far From Over” was a lot of fun… being a child of the 80’s I sang through the whole thing! The Juggling show with Victor Zuniga was good- he was pretty funny too! TC Tahoe followed him with a comedy/magic trick act and he was okay. But the best show we caught was the R-rated show by Darren Sanders. He held nothing back- we were in stitches the whole time!

OTHER: Visited the Serenity deck…very peaceful. Cushy lounge chairs, two hot tubs, and they provide in-chair / table massages for a fee. My husband went to the casino only twice. It was too smoky for me to go in. The glass elevators in the atrium were not in service the entire trip. I found no real problems with the staff and unfriendliness. No one really went above and beyond in my opinion but no one was rude or looked grumpy as I had read in some reviews.

That's all about the ship... next excursions and debarkation....

[star*skecher]

EXCURSIONS: FREEPORT: We decided to make Freeport our beach day so we booked the Viva Wyndham Fortuna trip ($90PP). You get a 25 minute bus ride to the resort and get a wristband and towel and you are on your own. I researched the excursions on Freeport to death and read good & bad reviews on almost everything, including this resort. There was some good- there was some bad, but overall we were pleased with our choice.

The best part is that it is all inclusive: breakfast and lunch buffet, use of the hotel pool, shady beach chairs, activites (snorkeling, kayaking, windsurfing, small catamaran, tennis, archery, even trapeze instruction). The bar is also included in the price so we enjoyed lots of fruity drinks by the pool. We hiked to the tent next to the resort and rented some waverunners for a bit- these were not included in the price but were a lot of fun!

The only bad part was that the resort was pretty much out in the middle of nowhere so when we had exhausted our activities and were pretty beat up by the heat there wasn’t really anywhere to go. The bus dropped us off at 10:15 and didn’t come back till 3:30 so it was a little bit long. And they are redoing one of the buildings so there was a little hammering and the occasional frontloader truck but nothing that made our trip less enjoyable.

NASSAU: Since it was our first time to Atlantis we decided to play it safe and book the Aquaventure thru Carnival. Next time we will probably save some money and do it another way. Anyhow, the resort was amazing, beautiful, and definitely worth visiting. We loved the water park and stayed there for most of the day. Rode the lazy river ride about 3 or 4 times… definitely my favorite! Took the inner tubes up to the ride called the Abyss(?) and, while it was a thrill, the ride is a bit rough on the tushy! We did the Leap of Faith-so awesome, got some air time while dropping and felt my swimsuit try to cut me in half! We both had an absolute blast! Cooled off in the evening with a stroll through the aquarium and an ice cream break.

On a side note, while we were there we got to see a film crew shooting scenes from the TV show “Ugly Betty.” The scene we caught was an argument between America Ferrera and Becki Newton. It was pretty cool to watch except that they had to close down the area they were shooting in for 4 hours and that included 3 of the water slides. I will include a few pics below.

We did the excursion with the lunch voucher but really didn’t need to. There were plenty of little restaurants scattered everywhere and, while the food is expensive, there was no need for us to pay the extra $30.00 for the voucher when the meal we ate only would have cost us about $18.00.

DEBARKATION: Pretty painless as well. We put our luggage outside our cabin the night before and had time to get up and eat breakfast. They called our zone at about 9:00AM. We got off the ship, headed thru customs, grabbed our luggage, and were off the ship waiting to be picked up by 9:15AM.

All and all, we had a great time! Loved our balcony room- one of our tablemates from dinner let us peek at their aft balcony and DH said, "That's next!" I knew I'd make a balcony snob outta him yet!

Next is my pictoral review...

[star*skecher]

The ship herself:

I can see our balcony!

Lido deck:


Waterworks:

Mini-golf:






More to come…..

[star*skecher]

Our cabin:

Another view:

Used the over the door shoe holder thing- thank you to everyone here who recommended it!

Why not? Here’s the bathroom….


More coming...wish I could do more than 6 pics at a time...

[star*skecher]

And voila- my favorite part of the trip:


Saw some beautiful sunrises and sunsets from here:


We had a full moon for the trip as well:

Favorite thing to do:

Still a few more coming…..

[star*skecher]

Viva Wyndham Fortuna Beach Resort excursion




My first waverunner ride!

Next up…Atlantis!

[star*skecher]

Atlantis outside:




Atlantis inside:



Few more Atlantis....

[star*skecher]

Leap of faith…what a rush!

Scenes being filmed for “Ugly Betty” …America Ferrara & Becki Newton:




Few more….

[star*skecher]

And we’ll close with some Random stuff………
Ahhh The Serenity Deck:

My hubby would kill me if he knew I posted a pic of him….Shhhhh! He's asleep here!

Putting my feet up, waiting to leave port:

My cutest towel animal…a koala

See ya'll! Thanks for reading!

[sthrnbll]

Awsome you got to see Ugly Betty

[Dalton5]

Thanks for the great review and pics....we are on The Sensation 12/3. First time on Carnival

[WES143]

You have some great pictures. They have really upgraded the sensation rooms. Are these new balcony rooms sold as cat 11 now?

[star*skecher]

Originally Posted by WES143

You have some great pictures. They have really upgraded the sensation rooms. Are these new balcony rooms sold as cat 11 now?

Nope...this room was an 8B.

[njmomof2]

Thanks for your review. We're doing the 3 night in just about 4 weeks so I like to hear current reviews of the ship. This is my first time back on Carnival in 14 years and my boys' first time with Carnival.

Can't see your pictures through the office so will look again when I get home tonight.

[Indianamale]

Great review, we were on the Sensation last year before it's upgrade. The ship looks great can't wait to go again.

[JMeans13]

I love this picture! You have made me so excited for my upcoming Sensation trip. Thank you so much for the review. It looks like y'all had a blast! I was also wondering if you could tell me which night was formal night. I am trying to plan my outfits out in advance to reduce the un-needed clothes. Thanks!

[MGinCO]

Awesome pictures and review! Thanks!

I'm T-30 on this exact ship, for my very FIRST cruise.
I'm excited and a little jittery, at the same time.

Never been on a cruise nor never been out of the country.
More jitters.

[beemergal]

Were the glass elevators in the Atrium working?

[playmaker]

Great pictures looks like you had a great time. i was on the Sensation last yr on a 3 days cruise. I had a great time on it. The Sensation is a nice ship. My girlfriend and I went on the Destiny on Sept 21 for a 5 day cruise. We had a fanastic time on the Destiny. I have been on 2 cruises from Carnival and I have enjoyed them all.

[star*skecher]

Originally Posted by JMeans13

I love this picture! You have made me so excited for my upcoming Sensation trip. Thank you so much for the review. It looks like y'all had a blast! I was also wondering if you could tell me which night was formal night. I am trying to plan my outfits out in advance to reduce the un-needed clothes. Thanks!

Thank you! I love watching the sun/moon rise and fall on the water. It's so peaceful.

Our formal night was on the 2nd night (Monday) the day you're in Freeport. I brought that wrinkle release spray stuff for my hubby's shirt, spritzed it right out of the suitcase Sunday night, hung it up and it was perfect on Monday. Enjoy your cruise!