Sensation "Booze Cruise" Pretty Good!

We just got off the Sensation a few days ago and I thought I'd share a few thoughts on our adventure.

I traveled with my husband (41 and 46), children (3, 19, 21) and our oldest son's fiance (21), and father (59). We traveled from Pennsylvania and flew in to and spent the night in Ft. Lauderdale the day before and used QLS shuttles to get to the Port of Miami the next morning.

Check In and Embarkation

This is the first time we've cruised from Miami. It was fast, but pretty inefficient in my opinion. We arrived at 10:15am and had a 10:30-11am check in time. We dropped off our luggage with the porters and went right inside. We decided to check in together since it was the first time my older children were responsible for their own paperwork, my Dad had only been on one cruise before and my daughter's fiance was a newbie. My Dad and daughter were first in line so they went first. Dad was fine and directed to the security line then lounge. They scanned my 19 year old daughter's boarding pass and told her to go through security then to check in upstairs. No explanation why. Son and his fiance went next and my son's boarding pass didn't scan on the first try so they told him he had to check in upstairs. When asked why, the rep shrugged and said next. Hubby, youngest and I all checked in fine. We asked about our daughter and son and once again the response was a shrug and next. From the time we dropped off our luggage until we were standing in line upstairs (post security) was 15 minutes.

There was no line at the upstairs check in so my oldest son went to check in by himself and his boarding pass scanned and he was checked in without issue. The only explanation for the issue downstairs was "they should have just tried to scan it again". Hubby and I went with daughter and she was also able to check in as well. This rep said that because she was under 21, a parent had to check in first. Easy peasy, but they could have just told us that downstairs and she could have been checked in right after us. After she was checked in, the four of us had our pictures taken. The rep then asked if we wanted to add a credit card which I had already done online but, for whatever reason, it wasn't showing. We added the credit card again, double checked to make sure the youngest didn't have charging privileges, and headed to the waiting lounge. Again, the whole process was less than 15 minutes.

While we were waiting we were informed of the itinerary change from Cozumel to Nassau by both announcement and a letter. We had already received emails and texts about the change as well. We had about a 20 minute wait before they started boarding and that was when we realized that we all had different boarding groups. My Dad had 5, son's fiance was given 4, and I had 2. We checked in one right after the other, all with the same person, so I have no idea why they were so different. I'm not usually a rule breaker, but when they called for group 2, I told the others to put their cards in their pockets and board with us. No one even asked for the card. Just before entering the gangway we all had our pictures taken (the second time for 4 of us) and we were on board.

Everything was fast, but we all felt a bit frazzled and a little unsure of what had just happened. We have a few Carnival cruises under our belts and travel quite a bit, but it felt like we had been rushed through and didn't get everything done. Right after we got onboard my son asked why we didn't have our sail and sign cards. I knew from here that some ships were now leaving cards at the door, but didn't realize the Sensation was one of them. I explained it to everyone and my Dad kept complaining that someone could take his card (he doesn't even like to use a debit card at the grocery store so no amount of reassurance was going to make him happy). When we were allowed to go to our cabins, all the cards were there, tucked behind the room number plates in tamper resistant envelopes (even though my Dad was still annoyed ;)).

By noon we were all checked in, onboard the ship, had lunch, and were exploring some of the ship.

Very nice start, that is strange why check-in was so different for everyone.

Muster Drill

It just sucked. There's no way around it on this one.

This was the first cruise that we've been on that the crew used iPads to scan our sail and sign cards before the muster drill. In theory, it's great. In reality, I'm not sure if some of the crew doesn't know what to do or if it's the guests that just don't want to be bothered.

Four of our party were in the Fantasia Lounge. Their experience was pretty typical. Went in, had your card scanned, find a seat, wait for the drill. Twice there was a crew member who read off a list of names of people who hadn't had their cards scanned yet. After the instructions, they made their way to the life boats and were done.

Hubby, youngest and I were on the Lido deck. Here's where I reiterate, it sucked! People kept going up a deck even after multiple announcements that you had to be on the Lido deck, not up above. Kids and even a few adults were in the pool despite multiple staff members telling them they had to get out of the pool before the muster drill could begin. After the third announcement, the pool was finally empty. There were a few announcements saying we still have X number of people that need to have their sail and sign cards scanned. I believe the last announcement was 50 people. But eventually, the muster drill started. Tons of people were eating and had drinks, lots of phones were out, multiple conversations were going on, kids were running all over the place. It was pretty much chaos. Normally, I don't care what anyone else does, especially on a cruise. But we are trying to raise a respectful young man. It's really hard to make a 3 year old stay quiet, pay attention to the crew (within reason) and stay in one place when half the people around him are talking, eating, and goofing off. Although it's hard to blame the guests for doing it when the crew on stage are chatting away among themselves. At one point, two of the camp carnival staff were practicing some sort of dance. During the muster drill. I know, I know, I'm a crotchity old woman, but I remember a time when you had to put your life vest on, stand packed like sardines by the life boat, and get yelled at for making a noise during the muster drill. We've made progress. But there's got to be a better way to do it.

Enough complaining! Muster drill was done and sailaway was not far behind!

Booze Cruise Atmosphere

I know after the last two posts, you're probably prepared for complaints. I know I'm a bit of a grump and even a prude at times!

Honestly, my only complaint here was a group of boys (probably 8 or 9 years old) who had the run of the ship. They were constantly running, bumping into people, climbing up and jumping off furniture and railings and just being brats! I saw crew members talk to them on two separate occasions, but even on the last morning, they were still running around unsupervised.

There were, I believe, 2 wedding parties, a number of girls' weekends, bachelor/bachelorette parties, birthdays, groups, etc. and there was definitely some partying going on! There was the typical Hairy Chest contest, twerking on the Lido deck, swimsuits and bare feet at the buffet and all that Carnival jazz but it was easy enough to find a quiet place when you needed a break or something going on when you wanted some fun. This trip was no boozier than a cruise to Canada from New York in my opinion. From my Dad down to my youngest, everyone had a great time! I wouldn't hesitate to book another quick trip like this.

glad to hear you enjoyed your cruise.

I know the Sensation doesn't get many reviews and I don't want to spend too much time here, but here's a quick synopsis.

The Ship

It's an older, smaller ship. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the Vista, but it's clean and in good condition. The purple is a bit.... purple! And the decor is outdated in my opinion. But as long as you go into it knowing it's not the Ritz, you'll be happy!

The Crew

Helpful and friendly as we've always experienced. Of course you will encounter the occasional unhappy crew member, but no one is chipper every second of every day. This is our youngest son's second cruise and we once again found the crew members went out of their way to interact with him. A bartender sword fighting him while he waited for a smoothie, lots of high fives and people remembering his name, a waiter tucking his napkin into his shirt and a room steward asking about bedtime to make sure turn down service would be done early enough. We tipped quite a bit this trip because crew members really anticipated his needs.

Entertainment

This was the first cruise I didn't have a face to face interaction with the cruise director. We had Steve from Canada and I have no complaints, but I don't really feel like I had enough interaction with him to form an opinion either way.

We took part in our share of trivia of karaoke, saw two shows: 88 Keys and Studio VIP, and enjoyed some time at deck parties. Nothing in particular stood out as amazing but I don't have any complaints either. The shows were OK. Not bad, but not quite as good as others we've seen on Carnival. They really reminded me of a high school production to be honest. I'm not sure if I'm becoming more jaded as I get older or they are declining in the wow factor.

Casino

This is the first time I actually spent some time in the casino. The smoke smell bothers me so I usually avoid it. It's a small casino, but there were a few times that it was nearly empty that I could at least tolerate spending some time in there. There were a number of slot machines not working but I pretty much stayed with those. I ended the trip up $1. Woo Hoo!

Food

Food is subjective so I won't say too much here.

We typically ate breakfast on the Lido deck because I love the Blue Iguana Cantina breakfast burritos!

Lunch was in port two days and Lido the other two days. Throughout our group we hit Guys's Burgers, Blue Iguana, the Deli, Pizza Pirate and the Lido deck. There was something for everyone and even though there were a few misses, for the most part we were pleased.

We had dinner in the dining room each night. We like YTD but ended up eating at 6 every night. We had different wait staff each night which made tipping at the end of the cruise a bit of a pain, but we never had to wait for a table. Three nights service was great, food was good, and we were all pleased. The last night was the worst service I've ever had on a cruise ship. There was so much time between courses, our orders were wrong, food was cold, and the head waiter was sweating bullets.

We all went to the Green Eggs and Ham breakfast and I have to say that it was a waste of $5 per person. Hubby, youngest and I took part on the Pride and I would have rated it right up there with a Disney character breakfast. But this definitely was not up to par! We were taken to a table that was already full, then to a table that had room for 4 (there were 7 of us) then finally put at a table in the back. The hostess kept saying that we shouldn't have brought more people than we reserved for. All 7 of us had reservations and paid. I even showed her the letter confirming our reservation and her only response was "it isn't my fault". Interesting, considering none of us even complained. We were all patient and took it in stride. Because we were at a table in the back, we apparently didn't have wait staff assigned. Others were eating their parfaits before we even had menus. Juice and bread never came. Coffee finally arrived at the end of the meal and half of us were served breakfast a good 10 minutes before the other half. The character interaction was super rushed! Thing 1 and 2 come around to every table but your table is called by number for the Cat in the Hat and Sam I Am. We pretty much had time for a picture and a quick high five and that was it. While we were eating, someone came around with stampers to "autograph" our son's menu. For comparison's sake, on the Pride, a crew member put the stamper in each character's hand so he/she could "autograph" the menu after our interaction with them. We also had a lot more time with each character and weren't called up by table number. I'm not sure if I would give it another try or not. I know it's only $5, but even if it had been included in the price of the cruise I don't think it would have been worth it.

Speaking of weird upcharges, the Taste Bar is now a Sushi Bar that charges between $1.50 and $5. I don't remember that before.

We only used room service once and were pleased with the food and speed of service. We didn't have any of the new upcharge items but we had tried a few on the Pride.

We never had to visit guest services this trip, but every time we went past, there seemed to be a line.

Debarkation

It was slow. Uneventful but slow. Having long lines going through hallways, we did see a number of people yelling at others for cutting in line only to have to offender say they were just trying to get out of their rooms. Lots of crew members were standing around looking at their phones during debarkation, as well. I don't remember seeing crew using phones before this trip. My daughter and Dad had a 12:05pm flight from Ft. Lauderdale so we did self debarkation and I was worried they weren't going to make it on time. It was just under an hour from the time our self debarkation group was called until we were actually able to go through customs. Thankfully, QLS Shuttle was waiting for us and got us to the airport in just the knick of time for their flight. The rest of us weren't due to leave until 12:50pm so we were fine.

Overall, a great vacation, fun cruise, and being rerouted to Nassau wasn't a big deal!

Thanks for your review!! I was looking for a recent one as I'm cruising the sensation January 20! 100 days today I can't wait:cool:

Thanks for review I leave on October 23rd 2017

Thank you for your review ! We leave 11/11/17 [emoji4] would you say this is a good cruise for 1st timers? Me and my mom have been on plenty ,but my sisters, aunt and cousin is 1st time. Is there highs and lows ,things we should definitely show them? I've been on different ships and this will be the smallest & older, but I'm going in with a great attitude with out disappointment [emoji6]

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Thank you for your review ! We leave 11/11/17 [emoji4] would you say this is a good cruise for 1st timers? Me and my mom have been on plenty ,but my sisters, aunt and cousin is 1st time. Is there highs and lows ,things we should definitely show them? I've been on different ships and this will be the smallest & older, but I'm going in with a great attitude with out disappointment [emoji6]

 

 

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We are on that same 11/11 sailing. I’m glad that the OP reminded us about the S&S cards being in the rooms now. I read that awhile back but had forgotten.

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We are on that same 11/11 sailing. I’m glad that the OP reminded us about the S&S cards being in the rooms now. I read that awhile back but had forgotten.

 

 

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I've never had my S&S left in the room that's new to me. So how do you get drinks when you board and rooms aren't ready yet? Last time we went you couldn't even get in the areas of the room? Trust me I'm going to need a drink asap .. lol [emoji23] we have a early boarding time too.

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Oops

I've never had my S&S left in the room that's new to me. So how do you get drinks when you board and rooms aren't ready yet? Last time we went you couldn't even get in the areas of the room? Trust me I'm going to need a drink asap .. lol [emoji23] we have a early boarding time too.

 

 

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They said that they use your boarding pass and ID until you get your card.

I’m trying to arrange a private cocktail party on board. We have 8 people cruising. Would your group be interested? It’s open bar with snacks for 2 hours.

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Speaking of weird upcharges, the Taste Bar is now a Sushi Bar that charges between $1.50 and $5. I don't remember that before.

I'm wondering if they are doing away with the Taste Bar, I just looked on Carnival's website and it used to list Taste Bar under dining options, now it doesn't. :confused: