SpankyHamm

The casino for the Sensation is on the Promenade deck.  There is a inside walkway on this deck (starboard side) that goes past the casino (the sweets shop and the promenade bar - Mirage).  Smoking is allowed in the casino and at the Mirage bar area so while you can't completely avoid walking the past the smell, you can do things to avoid it.

But no - you do not have to walk through the casino to get anywhere on the ship.  Take a look at the deck plan for the Promenade and you'll see it should be manageable if you want to avoid it.

Hi there.  Brand new to the boards.

I was just on the Carnival Sensation from Miami (4 day, Key West, Cozumel, Day at Sea).  And yes, there are hair dryers in the room (they will either be in the closet or in one of the drawers.  There is a plug at the top of the mirror in the bathroom (usually) to plug it in.  I only note that because we only found one other plug in our room for doing stuff like charging electronics - so we used that bathroom plug for one of our phones each night.

Enjoy your upcoming cruise.