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My Trip – Sensation 11/29


BSQ

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In Short. This was my first cruise, and I was using it as a trial run to get an idea if I’d actually like cruising. Important since I’ve been booked on a CC group cruise next summer, for quite some time. I wasn’t “wowed” by everything, but I liked it all well enough, that I know I will enjoy a longer cruise on a bigger (& newer) ship.

I learned (as I suspected would be the case) I enjoyed the port more than the ship. Had a bit of an issue having to be aware of the time (will use my cell phone clock more next time), and oddly never got lost on the ship (go figure).

Every Single crew member I encountered was as nice as can be. Friendly, and we always exchanged a brief hello, how are you, etc. My stateroom steward, Andrew was nothing short of excellent. (Did I mention I locked myself out on the second day?)

I didn’t notice many excessive drunks being loud n obnoxious (I do have sore throat now, could I have been loud n obnoxious???) ;) My fellow passengers, I found all pleasant enough. Yes, there were some people who got a bit loud and wobbly, but umm they’re on vacation too, right? I found the ship to be clean and well taken care of. The one thing I was dreading is some mystery odor that seems to be mentioned a lot on reviews of this ship. I noticed none of that.

Life is good.

more detail to follow ...

(I'm a glass half full kinda gal ... so keep that in mind as you read further)

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I am signed up for a CC group cruse on the Liberty next July … but I thought I should try out a short cruise just to make sure I’d actually enjoy the cruise ship vacation experience (understanding the two will be very different, but gives me a lil sample is all).

I booked this solo trip a bit last minute, for a nice relaxing birthday weekend. I got exactly that. I booked a 1A guarantee, and ended up in R60 (4A).

Carnival Ground Transportation

I arrived at MCO around 1pm. Waited around for a bit, (I don’t wear a watch so can’t tell you exactly how long), and eventually boarded the shuttle bus with a dozen or so other people. Traveling alone, taking the shuttle vs renting a car was about the same price. On board we took care of all our paperwork, and started check-in. As we approached the cruise port, the driver cranked up the party music. I could have used a froo-froo drink about then. (oh wait, I don’t like those!). Anyway, cheesy but it puts ya in vacation mode.

Embarkation

There was a bit of a line to get through the security. Seemed odd to me that they only used one machine to x-ray carry-ons and filter everyone through. After that it was upstairs to see one of the Carnival Reps from the bus ride and collect my stateroom key & sail & sign card. That was a bonus moment since I expected the whole check in to take a bit longer.

Say “cheese” for the SS picture, walk across and wow. Here I am in the Atrium of the Sensation. I was expecting some purple barney in a blender explosion. I liked it. It’s a warm purple. I guess it helped that that particular shade is one of my favorite colors. Not sure what exactly I was really expecting, but I remember thinking, “what’s all the fuss?” Remember y’all had warned that it’s a lot of purple, so I was prepared for A LOT.

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ok so the picture thing isn't going so well ... carry on ...

How cool! We’re on our way!

And the rest of day 1 is really just a blur, I spent most of the time still exploring everything, learning my way around, and finding the various bars (hey a girl needs a coke now n then). I grabbed my copy of the Capers and started to see what I might like to do that evening.

Just a few hours into my vacation and a couple lessons learned. Next time bring something warmer than a light sweater, also bring a watch.

I had requested the 8pm dinner seating, but ended up with 8:30pm. I could have changed it, but enjoyed the company of my tablemates. This first day happen to be my Birthday! (You’re not too late to send gifts). And yes, my dessert came with a candle and a birthday song.

Oh geeze! I completely forgot to mention the food in the dining room & staff! Hmmm. Maitre d’ Omur was very personable, he stopped by and visited us each night. Our head waiter was Francisco and his assistant Edy. All took excellent care of us. The food through out my dining room experiences was mostly good. The final night being a bit iffy for most at my table.

Tonight’s main show was Far from Over. Loved it! But then again, I was quite the 80’s gal. I wanted to see the midnight show, but it had been a long day of traveling and I just couldn’t stay awake. If I wasn’t in age denial, I might be inclined to say I must be getting old. But we’ll just stick with it was a long day traveling.

I LOVED having such a dark room to sleep in. I even put something over the door peep-hole and put a towel against the bottom of the door to block out the hallway light. The ship rocked me gently to sleep and I was a happy little Q.

Okay, so maybe it wasn’t all that gently. The first night the ship was rolling a bit from side to side. We felt it a lot more than I expected. A few people seemed a bit unsteady.

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Last night I fell asleep watching the shopping talk on the TV. There was some good information in it, but I was glad I didn’t take up time actually attending it.

I’m not much into doing touristy things, and really enjoy walking the streets (not in THAT way), and absorbing all the sites & sounds of every new place I visit. I had printed off the Frommer’s walking tour and set out. I am directionally challenged, so I got a bit more of a scenic tour than others who have done this tour may have gotten. I walked n walked my little flowered crocs off. (Which I did not wear into the dining room, you may be happy to hear). Oddly, one of my most memorable moments was lunch (not on the ship).

By now its 3pm and I gots me some shopping to do (I’m a retailer … shopping is a bit of a sport for me). I really didn’t care for the haggling that you have to go through to get a real price at the jewelry stores I went into. I’m used to haggling at open air markets, not in places with safes and real doors. Now I may not have cared for it, but I still did it.

Ok. It’s 5 now and I’ve walked my little crocs completely off. So I grab an ice cold beer from a shop, and sit drinking it out of a paper bag, listening to the guy near the moped rentals playing Amazing Grace. Hmmm, before I grow roots to this bench, I best get back to the ship and take a shower.

Whew! Cleaned up now, it’s time to head back out to Senor Frogs. I did say I didn’t like touristy stuff, right? Well I had to go just to say I’ve been. Danced a bit, had an overpriced drink, and then headed on to Atlantis for just a bit. I don’t gamble so I walked around a bit, saw a bit of the aquarium, and then headed back to the ship. It’s formal night after all and I packed a dang dress, so I’m gonna wear it.

I missed the Captains Cocktail party. I wasn’t ready in time. No watch remember. I heard it was quite nice.

So I am running a bit late, and head to the dining room ready to apologize to my tablemates for my late arrival. There’s no one there. So here I am ….. sitting all alone ….. at a table for 10. Everyone else showed up eventually.

The show tonight was comedienne Tia Thompson, and a juggler. (Not together, separate). Tia was OK; the three guys she pulled up from the audience were hilarious. I liked her R-Rated show the next night better. The juggler was good I guess, just not my kinda thing.

OK. Time to get out of these heels. A quick change then back out on deck to check out the deck party and all the festivities up there. I was a bit surprised at how few people were still out n about. It wasn’t even 1am. Headed to one of the bars and had a margarita (or two) on the rocks with salt

1am, things seem to be winding down, so I’m heading to bed.

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I was sound asleep when we left Nassau. Hmmm. I just realized I’ve not written anything about Breakfast or Lunch on the ship. I had breakfast at the lido buffet one morning. It was alright. I’m not a big fan of buffets, so we’ll leave it at that. On this day, I had a few leisurely cups of coffee on deck and lounged about the pools. (Plenty of chairs available everywhere). As soon as the deli opened I ordered a bagel with lox and a shmear. Or as it says on the menu, Bagel, Smoked Salmon, Cream Cheese (hold the onion please). Now that’s breakfast. Yes, I could have ordered this off of room service, but I was hesitant to order room service for breakfast because that would commit me to a waking up time. I preferred spending today around the aft pool. It was a bit less chaotic than the main pool. To me the daytime activities were a bit cheesy so it was my choice to avoid them. I think I tried the pizza for lunch. It was ok, but I wasn’t over the moon for it. I think it’s a better choice at 1am. : ) the soft serve ice cream … that’s ice milk, right? It was a bit grainy and not much flavor. Bummer for sure.

I’d missed a couple activities I did want to do today so around mid-day I finally got the idea to start setting the alarm on my cell phone. Wish I would have thought about that on Day 1.

Midday I caught the Newlywed Not so Newlywed show. What can I say, it was cute and it kept my sunburned nose in the shade.

Now what? Pictures. I’d really wanted one of the pictures I took while in Nassau. I couldn’t find it to save my soul. Bummer. I never realized how hard it would be to pick myself out of a sea of photos. I mean I thought that my eye would instantly be drawn to myself. Nope.

OK. Casino time! Me and my $20, head on in there. I’m prepared for smoke to be billowing out of the casino. Nah. Yes it was noticeable when I first walked in, but once I got away from the tables, it was not much worse than any other place that allows smoking. Cigarette smoke and I don’t get along, makes me wheeze. I won $20 on the quarter machines (spent $2), and oddly $20 on the penny machine (maybe it was a 2 cent machine I don’t know). In between I played roulette, dollar machines, and more quarter & penny machines. Walked away with more than I walked in with, so all was well. I like the penny machines because they make so much noise … all for winning 37 cents. Nap time.

Time to get ready for dinner. Listened to the debarkation talk on the TV while getting ready. Good information, but again glad I didn’t spend time sitting through it. Decisions Decisions, pack now, or wait till after dinner. I waited.

After dinner, I rushed back to my stateroom to get my suitcase packed. I always felt rushed to finish dinner if I wanted to make the start of the late shows. I’d probably try for an 8pm seating next time. I got my suitcase all packed up except for the few things I needed the next morning, and set it outside my door. Rushed upstairs to the Fantasia Lounge to catch the evening show, Curves.

This show was really just great. The costumes were again great, the dancers good and entertaining. I really liked it. Shortly after this show was Tia’s Adult comedy show. Pretty sparse crowd, but oh my gosh, I laughed so hard. It was a nice way to end the evening. It was going to be an early morning, so I turned in for the night shortly afterwards.

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I was in group 9. I took my time waking up and gathering up everything, exiting my room at about 7:30am. Enjoyed a nice breakfast in the dining room … I would have thought there would have been way more people dining in here on the last morning. Shortly after I was done with breakfast my group was called so I headed down and out. This went fairly quickly. When it came time to find my luggage way too many people commented on how light I must pack because my suitcase was so small. I’ll have to think about this, and decide if I didn’t pack enough. I wore everything I brought and had just enough of clean everything. I dunno.

Showed my passport, handed over my customs form and BSQ has exited the building, it’s barely 8:30 am. Walked across the lot to the ground transportation area, and waited for Hertz to come get me.

Hertz: Loved these folks near the cruise port, not so much at the airport. I had booked using the #1 Gold whatever member rate, and they included a GPS system at no charge to me. My first stop was Kennedy Space Center at just past 9am. Let me just say, if you have the time, this is very much worth a stop. I loved loved loved this part of my vacation. With a launch later this week, I was fortunate enough to be able to get pictures of Atlantis on the launch pad. Everything about the space center was just beyond cool. I wore myself out and was getting cold. Reluctantly I left at 5pm … still having things I would have liked to have seen and done.

Off to Orlando Airport. I arrived back in Charlotte at a few minutes before Midnight.

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a gee thank y'all.

 

I'm about to attempt some pictures now. LOL I think if you click on any of the pictures it will take you to the whole photo album. Sorry but I didn't take a lot of the ship.

 

sail Away

 

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Thanks for posting your review very well written and I enjoy the read!!! The Sensation has a special place for us as she was our first ship and our last. Although we like the bigger ships something cozy about the Sensation and her sisters!!!! :)

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Thanks for the review. Very enjoyable.

 

I've done 3 consecutive cruises on Fantasy class ships and really like them. And I love the inside cabins! Had to chuckle about putting a towel across the bottom of the door! I did exactly the same thing. And I stuck a post-it over the peephole! Could've slept the entire cruise!

 

We're also going to do a walking tour of Nassau this time. Hope we don't get lost.

 

Where did you have lunch in Nassau? I'd love to find some local food.

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We're also going to do a walking tour of Nassau this time. Hope we don't get lost.

 

Where did you have lunch in Nassau? I'd love to find some local food.

 

Oh, you probably won't get lost. Some things are signed, I just ummm well :oit was the scenic tour is all. I think I was just having such a nice time my brain shorted out a bit.

 

I was going to hire a taxi and go to Travelers Rest, which was a bit out of the way, but came highly recommended. I was heading back to the ship to clean up a bit before heading over there and that's where my plans changed. At the very far end of the terminal ... farthest little stall away from where you enter/exit back to the ships, is a lunch lady stand. (right next to the bathrooms). She had a line 10 deep and every person was either a crew member from one of the ships or a local business person. (an indicator of good food in my book)

 

$5 for a small plate, $7 for a large. You had a choice of meat (jerk chicken, jerk pork, BBQ ribs, and a couple others I don't remember), then choose rice & peas or rice & beans, and a side (macaroni, coleslaw, potato salad, and a couple more I don't remember). I had a small plate and was stuffed didn't even have room for dessert ... which there was a stand behind this one selling desserts. I really wanted to try the guava duff (cause I was told I should!) but thought I'd pop! I discovered I really like jerk chicken. I always thought it would be super spicy hot, but it was just super flavorful with subtle heat undertones.

 

What made my lunch memorable, aside from the food being really good, was that while waiting in line I met a gal who works at a local shop and her friends. We were birthday twins and bonded immediately. We walked over to Rawsons Square, Circle, Triangle or whatever and had a really nice lunch. :)

 

Although the restaurant that was my original destination had a great menu, I really wanted to try something from one of the lunch carts ... but everyone I passed seem to be doing hotdogs. :mad: Lunch carts all dotted through out the walking tour places.

 

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here's something I thought I'd pass along to you all. The prices on the ship for the 6-pack of small tortuga rumcakes is cheaper by a couple of dollars. But the individual small one I purchased at the store for a few dollars more was WAY WAY WAY better than the ones I bought on the ship which need to be revived.

 

The ones that came from the ship's store are dry and flavorless. the one I bought at the store, moist, and flavorful. Lesson learned. I don't know if the difference was because I bought an individual one vs a box of 6, but the more I thought about it, I kind of wondered how old the ones on the ship were.

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