Trip Report - Sensation 1-29 to 2-3

We just returned from a 5 day cruise on the Sensation - had a blast! Here's a summary of our trip, I'm more than happy to answer any other questions anyone might have.

Embarkation -

We arrived at 11:30, thinking we would beat the crowds - NOT! About half the passengers beat us there, so I would definitely go no later than 11 next time around. The check-in line moved quickly and we were on board by 12:15.

The Ship -

I was pleasantly surprised. After doing the Conquest, I was hesitant to book the Sensation, since it is an older and smaller ship, and since I really didn't care for the Holiday (sorry, Cotton!) - but it's a REALLY nice ship. Very glitzy/tacky, but that doesn't bother me at all. The ship had a very "new" feel to it - everything was in great condition, very clean, and not much that showed the age of the ship (beyond the slightly outdated decor). The layout is VERY easy to get a handle on, and it's MUCH quicker to get around on this ship than on the Conquest. And when you're cruising with young kids, that makes a huge difference!

Stateroom -

We had a quad room - unfortunately, due to the way the upper berths are constructed, the two lower beds could not be put together while using both upper berths. I don't know if ALL the staterooms are like this, but M174 was. My 5 year old freaked out the first night and didn't want to sleep up high, so we ended up putting his mattress on the floor under the first upper bed, and we moved the two lowers together. The second night the steward put the mattress on a small trundle frame, and we told him he could just leave it like that for the rest of the week, since it really wasn't in our way. We felt there was enough room for the 4 of us - didn't feel crowded at all. And for the person who claimed that the mattresses on the upper bunks are the same as on the lower - THEY ARE NOT. The mattresses and bedding on the lower beds are VERY VERY comfy and nice. I was more comfortable in that bed than in my own at home. The upper mattresses are very thin, and the bedding consists of a sheet and thin blanket. This is not a complaint, just an observation. The bathroom was roomy enough and had storage space behind the mirror, which was great. The shower was a nice size (I was in there with both kids at one point, and we had enough room).

Dining -

We had dinner in the Ecstasy dining room each night, and I enjoyed just about everything I tried. I mostly stuck with the "low carb" menu items, and they were all delicious. Beware the "low carb" bread - if you're on a low carb diet, stay away from that stuff. It's delicious, but it is not low carb by any stretch of the imagination - just really good whole grain bread. We had breakfast and lunch on the Lido deck each day - I must say I REALLY like the layout and decor of the restaurant. Lines were MUCH shorter than on the Conquest. There is an international buffet, a standard buffet, salad bar, pizza station, deli, grill, and dessert station. Lots to choose from, and we always found something good to eat. On the Conquest I often skipped breakfast because the lines were too long - this time I had an omelet every morning, and I never waited more than 5 minutes. I also have to say that the service on the Lido deck was EXCELLENT - much, much better than on the Conquest.

Movement of the Ship -

Yes, the ship rocks and rolls a bit - but not any more than I noticed on our cruise on the Conquest (or Holiday or Celebration, for that matter). I wouldn't get too worried about it if you have an upcoming cruise. If you normally get seasick, bring some Bonine. If you don't normally get seasick, you probably won't on the Sensation. I got sick my last two days on the Conquest, but I wasn't bothered at ALL by the movement on the Sensation.

Activities -

What? The ship has activities? Hmmmm..... I'm sure they were nice, but I didn't participate in ANY of them!

Shows -

Okay, now you're telling me there were SHOWS? Sorry, didn't see those either :-)

Room Service -

Yes, I know the selection is "limited" - but boy was it FAST! No more than 10 minutes between ordering and receiving our food. Amazing.

Camp Carnival -

I was REALLY worried that the kids would balk at the small camp carnival room after being on the Conquest, where the children's world area is twice the size of our HOUSE! But they loved it, had a blast, liked the counselors, and never wanted to leave. The counselors were great, as always, and I was very pleased with the program. We left them on board while we shopped in Cozumel, and I wasn't at all concerned that they would be unhappy or ask for us while we were out.

Costa Maya -

The port area is very nice - and it wasn't very crowded at all. It was a bit chilly to swim, but that didn't stop my kids! I sat in the pool and shivered, and they had a blast. Nice shops to visit, and the local merchants have pretty much the same things as you will find in Cozumel. They start REALLY high on the pricing, so if you don't like to haggle, you might want to skip the shops. I needed some flip-flops, as I injured my foot the first day and couldn't wear the shoes I brought - I talked them down from $22 to $6. I REALLY don't like going through all that, but I needed those shoes! I didn't do any shopping after that, though. We took a van into Mahahual ($9 for us and the two kids) and spent 2 hours on the beach. The restaurant owners are VERY pushy, and when we didn't stay long enough to eat we got some really ugly looks. We were one of the only groups of people on the beach, so we were approached by about 15 locals during our two hour stay - they were selling plantain chips, hair braiding, and other things. Next time we do Costa Maya, we're just staying at the port area and letting the kids enjoy the pool!

Cozumel -

I walked off the ship, expecting to hit the Duty Free mall I've come to love. Much to my surprise, we were docked next door! I didn't like the shopping area nearly as much as the "Mini Cozumel" they have set up at Puerta Maya - even my son was disappointed, as he collects onyx dinosaurs and the only place we ever find them is the duty free mall. There is a very cheap internet station at the back left corner of the shopping area - $1 for 15 minutes. We took a taxi downtown, window-shopped, then played mini golf. It was a nice change from the "beach day" we usually have when we visit Cozumel. Next time, though, we'll try Paradise Beach.

Debarkation -

We chose to do self-assist, or "express checkout." We were told to be ready in our staterooms with the doors opened at 7:50 so we could hear the announcement. At 7:55 they began calling us down by deck - Verandah, then Empress, then Upper, Main, and Riviera. It seemed that no one was waiting, so we positioned ourselves at the elevator early and were on the Empress Deck (where you leave the ship) by 8. It took about 10 minutes to get off the ship and into the cruise terminal. We had a 10 minute walk to the parking lot and were home before 9.

I'm sure I've forgotten things, so if you have any questions, just post them! We had a really nice time, and I'll be booking another cruise on the Sensation very soon (either for May or September, most likely).

Susan

Susan! So glad you enjoyed the Sensation more the second time than I did the first, and thought that would be impossible! LOL!! I love that ship and although my next 3 cruises are on larger, newer ships, I cannot wait to get back on the Sensation!!! Sounds like you guys had a great time! Thank you for posting a review!!

Thanks for the review! I think the pier you stopped at in Cozumel is new. Did they have any duty free shops? Was there a way to walk over to the other pier? It doesn't look very far.

I'm sure you could walk over there, but I don't know how far it is. I would imagine no more than a 5 block walk from the taxi stand at that pier to the one at Peurta Maya. My main concern was checking my email, but once I found that this newer area had the same internet station, I didn't even consider making the trek.

There is a small duty free shopping area, mostly with cologne, makeup, liquor, etc - I found the prices VERY high. All around that shop are local merchants with kiosks or small stores. There was even a "99 cent" cart with jewelry and souvenirs - guess where I took the kids to shop, lol!

I truly prefer the other port, but it wasn't that big of a deal. Looks like they're letting the "BIG" ships dock there now and putting the smaller ships at the newer, smaller port. Victory and Costa Atlantica were at the bigger pier, and Sensation and Costa Allegra (very tiny ship) were docked next door. There were 3 ships at the downtown pier.

Speaking of downtown - most of the main road is under construction, so allow an extra ten minutes or so to get to and from downtown. The taxis have to use back roads, and the traffic is bad. They just sort of find a random spot and drop you off, which might be disconcerting to someone who is new to the area. We had a bit of trouble finding a taxi to take us back to the pier - I was thankful it wasn't any hotter, because we had to walk about 15 minues before we spotted an empty taxi as we wandered the side streets!

Yea! You're home! :) So, how was the Sensation? We are also in a quad room. Did you happen to get any pictures while the beds were down? How was the motion? Also, how is the view from the window? I know I'm going to miss my balcony . . . :(

I notice you said that you leave the ship from the Empress Deck. That is where our room is located. Honestly, how busy does it get? Is it really loud?

Camp Carnival ~ did your kids spend any time there while the ship was in port? What are the hours for those days? DH wants to go Scuba diving and our kids are too young. Is it possible to do an excursion (especially in Cozumel due to the extended hours) and go back to the ship and take your kids to the beach?

Thanks for your review and I'm glad you enjoyed it! I'll be pestering you with questions for the next few days! LOL

We were in an inside stateroom, so NO view for us lol! I didn't get a photo of the room with both beds set up, sorry! The lower beds were in an L formation and the upper beds were on the side walls, parallel to each other. The ladders go down from the sides of the bed, so if you push the lower beds together you will need to remove the ladder on the bed on the right wall. An older child could easily hop down onto the lower bed if s/he needed to get down during the night.

Camp Carnival was open from 7 AM until 4:45 PM in Cozumel. If you're on the ship, they ask that you pick them up for lunch from 12 to 1. If you're out, they will take them to eat on the Lido Deck. You could definitely do an early morning tour, then pick them up and hit the beach.

The staterooms very near the atrium on Empress seem like they would be a bit noisy - but as long as you're 8 or 10 rooms away, you should have no problem. You'll be on the right floor for debarkation, and you also get to Camp Carnival from the Empress Deck (aft), so that's another convenient aspect of being on Empress. You're also just one deck below the dining rooms! We're planning an oceanview stateroom on the Empress deck for our next Sensation cruise.

just curious but by a chance did you visit the hot tubs located in the gym/spa area?

We sure didn't. We talked about it early on, but we never made it to the Spa. My husband isn't big on water of any kind, so he just never wanted to do it. On the Conquest our stateroom was NEXT DOOR to the spa and we never even walked in to look around. How can we spend so much time on a ship and not see everything? Silly, I know!

The reason I asked is because when I sailed on the Sensation I went to the gym/sp every night to sit in the hot tub half hour before I got ready for dinner. No matter what time of day I was there...no one ever was there and no one ever came in. I think its one of the places no one knows about. It was such a relaxing experince...one I never had time to do on any other cruise.

I am glad to hear from someone who has been on all 3 ships (Conquest, Holiday and Sensation). I've been on the Holiday and Conquest and will be on the Sensation in 28 days. Did the Sensation seem larger than the Holiday? I do remember the long lines at the breakfast buffet on the Conquest . . . glad to hear that this one is shorter. What time did the ship leave N.O.? What day was the past guest party? Thanks. Glad that you had a great cruise.

I've been on the Conquest and Holiday and was on this Sensation cruise as well. It's much larger than the Holiday and somewhat smaller than the Conquest.

Did you get out at Costa Maya? If so, how are the beaches? Are they rocky or sandy? My feet can't handle rocky beaches ~ too used to the beach here in Destin. :) I might have to dig out my water shoes . . .

You have me so excited to go! :)

The layout of the Sensation reminds me of the Holiday, but it is MUCH larger. I felt almost claustrophobic on the Holiday, particularly in the lobby and the Lido restaurant. The Sensation has a very airy and open feel, even though you don't have the high ceilings as the Conquest has in many areas. I really feel like the Sensation has MORE space than the Conquest, since the Conquest has so many more passengers. The Lido restaurant lines were always shorter than the lines in the Conquest were, and also shorter than the lines on the Holiday!

The past guest party was Tuesday night at 7:15. This was on the Saturday to Thursday itinerary, and it was the day we were in Cozumel. I believe the ship left New Orleans shortly after 4 PM, and we arrived back at New Orleans at 3:45 AM this morning.

I wanted to add, just in case there is anyone else out there who is worried (as I was) that the Sensation might not live up to your previous experience on the Conquest -- we intended to cruise again this fall, and we were planning to do the 7 day Conquest cruise. We had SUCH a nice time on the Sensation and liked the ship so much that we're scratching that plan and booking the Sensation to do the same 5 day itinerary again this October. And I LOVE the Conquest - so that's a loudly ringing endorsement for our experience on the Sensation :-)

THANK YOU for adding that! :) We have been worried since our first cruise was on the Conquest. Makes me even MORE ready to go!

I'm trying to think of the things that I prefer on the Conquest - and it's really hard! Let's see...

I really liked the aft pool on the Lido Deck on Conquest, and the sliding glass ceiling over it. After all this babies in the swimming pool stuff in the other thread, though, I'm not feeling inclined to let my kids use the pool anyway!!!

I also enjoyed attending the karaoke nights on the Conquest - when we cruised, they started karaoke early, around 7:30 or so, and the bar was nice and comfortable. It was an amusing way to pass some time while the kids were in Capm Carnival. On the Sensation they had karaoke on the promenade deck on a stage, rather than in one of the lounges. They listed karaoke in other spots at 9:30 PM, but we never actually saw it taking place (must have started late, and we picked up the kids each night at 10).

You know, that's ALL I can think of! I can say that the decor of the Conquest is more beautiful, and that Camp Carnival is much larger and more technologically advanced - but bottom line is, those things didn't make the experience any better than our experience on the Sensation.

So unless you really LOVED that aft pool and plan to do karaoke nightly, you should enjoy the Sensation every bit as much as the Conquest :-)

The Sensation is by far my most favorite sailing. As you can see from my signuture I have even sailed Roayls Voger of the Seas.. still love Sensation.

I feel so much better after reading your review! I've been on the Holiday and Conquest and now booked for the Sensation in April and was a little aprehensive about it. After reading this thread, I think the only problem I will most likely have is not wanting to get off after just 4 days! Was all we could do due to DH's job right now. Planning a longer one later in the year though!

Did you happen to run across the Piano Bar while on the ship? How was it? How was the singer/entertainer? I absolutely LOVED the one on the Conquest and we were usually there every night ~ and they usually had to chase us out! :) I just hope it's that good . . . or better. ;)

This is a great thread......we sailed the Conquest last June and booked the Sensation for this July, 2005. This thread is a big help to us and very informative.

Guess a person always wonders (if they have sailed a big ship the first time and then books a smaller ship the 2nd time) whether or not the smaller ship will be impressive at all. The Sensation sounds like a nifty little ship....we kind of enjoy the tacky & glitzy sometimes just for a change of pace. After all, we spent our once-a-year vacation in Vegas a couple years ago......what an escape from reality...LOL! Can't wait to sail the Sensation. A little glitz, a little pampering and alot of ocean breeze........aaaaaaahhhhh.

Did you happen to run across the Piano Bar while on the ship? How was it? How was the singer/entertainer? I absolutely LOVED the one on the Conquest and we were usually there every night ~ and they usually had to chase us out! :) I just hope it's that good . . . or better. ;)

The piano bar is on the Atlantic Deck, I believe - you can see it from the atrium. It has the most....unique.....decor of any lounge I've ever seen. We never went in, but there was a crowd in there several times we walked by, I'm sure they have a talented performer on duty.

Hey, found it!:)

Glad y'all had such a great cruise on the Sensation. I also had the Ectasy dining room, and it was a lonnnnnnnng way from cabin E-1, as you can imagine, and also a bit difficult to get to, I thought. However, the food and service were wonderful once I did get there. Somehow, I just can't 'do' lines, so have all meals in the dining room, so I haven't experienced the long lines on any ship.

The piano bar - that IS rather unique, isn't it? I'm not a large person by any means, but those bar stools were very tight. A person of size would NOT be able to squeeze in. Unique and a bit eerie.;)

You didn't mention your parking. How did that turn out?

We were on M174, so the Ecstasy dining room was a very short walk to the elevator, then right there when we got off the elevator on the Atlantic Deck. There's also a "secret exit" that takes you right to Camp Carnival, which was awesome!

My dad parked in the Whale lot about 5:30 am on Thursday, and I called him Thursday when I woke up to confirm the car was there. You can ONLY exit the cruise terminal from that one set of doors where you enter, so we had to walk down the long two-lane street along the side of the terminal. The kids were freezing and terrified of walking "in the street" with the buses passing by, but we made it to the car with no major trauma and were home before 8:45 AM. The only bad thing was that the wheel on my large suitcase was broken when they delivered it to the ship, and since they were unable to fix it, we pretty much DRAGGED the suitcase off the ship and the 4 or so blocks to the parking lot. So the plastic casing where the wheel goes is pretty much GONE, and the bottom of the luggage is just about worn through. I need to check my luggage more carefully next time - had I noticed the problem sooner, they might have been able to fix it for me.

It was $9 for the 2.5 hour stay in the parking lot - sickening, but a LOT cheaper than $60 for the whole 5 days!

Glad it all worked out well for you. Yep, $9 as opposed to $60......:)

I also want to say that I would use the whale lot again and walk to it after the cruise. After seeing the masses of people cramming onto a full sized bus to head to Fulton and the Cruise terminal lot, I want NO part of that chaos. The kids didn't like the walk, but they would REALLY hate sitting on that overcrowded bus waiting who knows how long to leave for the short drive to the parking area. The whale lot has the same $12 per day rate for cruise passengers, and it's NOT a bad walk, especially if you pack light and don't have a 3 and 5 year old running alongside you. :)