Negative Sensation Reviews...

[goingsomewhere2]

The following are reviews for the April (including the April 1st) sailings. I tried not to duplicate any "opinions" posted on this thread already. You can do a search and find these yourself for verification. Hope they help:

 

 

April 15th, 2006, 05:01 PM

 

just back from sensation no major problems everything was open and working cruise was rough maybe a stabilizer problem dont know for sure but even the crew was having a hard time in dining rooms

 

April 14th, 2006, 08:13 AM

 

Sensation

 

Just got back from Sensation's 4/9 sailing from Port Canaveral to Freeport and Nassau in the Bahamas. Don"t have time for a detailed review, but the ship is in great shape, service and food were great, and it was a great time. Carpeting in the cabins seems to be brand new, and the bathrooms seem to have been thoroughly cleaned/refurbished recently as well. Shows were good. Water slide, pool and hot tubs were fun. Have a great time!

 

 

 

April 9th, 2006, 01:52 PM

 

Sensation 4-6 sailing, The Switch-ER-Roo cruise

 

Just a quick note for now, will try to check back later if you have any questins

 

 

Boarded the Sensation last Thursday as part of the first sailing on the Great Switch-ER-Roo cruise day for the Sensation and Fantasy. Have been on both ships before - We love the 3 to 5 day crusies as they fit our schedules and are within an easy morning drive from our home.

 

 

The Sensation is fine, - everything seemed to be working; food was great, -- I don't use these items, - but the pools, waterslide, putt putt ect. was up and jammed with folks having a great time.

 

 

IMHO, - anyone concerned about their cruise being ruined by the switch is way way WAY over reacting. If you don't enjoy your cruise on which ever ship you are now booked on, - then you would not have enjoyed it on the other ship either.

 

 

 

 

 

April 7th, 2006, 03:22 PM

 

Sensation 4/1/06 Review

 

I don't know how needed this review is now that they are switching the Fantasy and Sensation. However since so many people have been worried I wanted to share my experience.

 

Overall it was a great cruise. This was my 9th cruise and 5th with Carnival. The embarkation went smoothly and quickly no problems. I had an inside cabin on Empress Deck. The room was clean and I experienced no problems with smells or the water. Our room steward was lightening fast. My family of 4 ( dh, myself and ds6 and dd 2) can make quite the mess of a stateroom but everytime we left we came back to a sparkling clean room.

 

We found the food to be good. It was on par with every other Carnival cruise I have taken. The waitstaff did a great job but by comparision they seemed very understaffed and seemed to be working very hard to keep everyone serviced.

 

The shows ...well I have mixed reviews. Without a doubt the entertainers were talented and their show was polished. The first show Curves was very risque in nature. It was the most sexual I have ever seen Carnival do. When they say Las Vegas style this time they really mean it. I had to leave with the kids. The second show was a tribute to the 80's and it was very entertaining and much more in line with a standard broadway style cruise show.

 

Camp Carnival's new location is up and running on the veranda deck forward. The new area is much larger. The staff was great. My kids enjoyed the little time they got to spend there.

 

The putt putt course was open and in use it is on the sports deck forward. It makes a great place for the under 2 crowd to run or crawl a bit on the astro turf.

 

The slide to the pool was finally open on the final day(our sea day) note kids must be 48 inches to use the slide.

 

I took a small blow up pool for my 2 year old on sea day. We used it on the aft kiddie pool deck. There is plenty of room and we were not in anyone's way.

 

Ports of call:

we went to Freeport, Nassau and Half moon cay

 

Freeport: We chose to take a 20 min taxi ride to Lucaya. We went out to the beach and had fun for a few hours, then wandered through the shopping that is across the street. It was a great day for $20 for a family of 4

 

Nassua: We went to the Pirate Museum. It is $12 per adult... kids under 12 are free. The pirate out front is a blast and the kids loved him. The tour is really neat and it was worth the money spent. We shopped and then took a water taxi to Atlantis. Be advised that you can no longer walk the grounds if you are not a resort guest.

 

Half Moon Cay: All I can say is Awesome!! This Island is wonderful. It is a great addition to the Carnival itinerary. The sand is sugar fine and white. The water is waist deep all the way to the bouys so it is great for kids. They have 2 water slides, a giant spraying fountain, large floatable creatures in the water to play on sea snake, crab, shark, and turtle. The clam shells to cover the chairs a nice. The island has tons of activities horseback riding, fishing, stingray encounter etc.. The snorkeling from the shore is very lacking. There isn't anything to see. I wouldn't waist the money on a rental. I would guess the snorkeling boat tour would be a better idea. It was our favorite day.

 

The only complaint I have of the cruise is the carnival capers were consistently wrong. I don't know if this was a result of the itinerary change or just poor editing.

 

It seems they have worked out most of the kinks. It was a great cruise. If you are scheduled you can look forward to having fun.

 

I hope this is helpful..feel free to ask any specfic questions..

 

DH

 

 

 

April 7th, 2006, 10:32 AM

 

Just back from 4/1 Sensation Cruise

 

This was our first cruise. I'm glad I didn't know about Sensations' previous problems before we left - I'm sure it would have jaded my view of the cruise. We found out the day that we left that we weren't going to Grand Turk - instead went to Freeport - which was a really crappy place, the boat docked in a desolate, isolated area - we complained - as did everyone we talked with, and Carnival did nothing about it. The ship was supposed to depart at 4:30 - we ended up leaving port around 8pm - there were rumors that a passenger had a heart attack, but others said it was because they had problems with the luggage loading process. The water slide was closed for all but the last half day of the cruise - there were no updates or news about the slide from anyone. At least one of the pools was closed (they seemed to rotate) every day of the cruise - the main pool was closed and emptied every night at 10pm - kind of a drag. The wait staff and cabin staff was fantastic - they were ready, willing and able to answer questions and provide great service. My daughter got a stomach virus (later found out several others were sick as well) and the infirmary staff was very helpful - but gave no indication that others had this same virus as well. The shows weren't too terribly great. There was one guy who balanced things like swords and knives on various parts of his body - very good, and a comedian who couldn't buy a laugh. Food was good - but at breakfast, fresh fruit wasn't very plentiful. On the first day of the cruise, there were lots of good quality bananas, by the last day, they were all ripe or over ripe and bruised. I was hoping for a selection of oranges, pineapples, watermelon, etc....none of which were available. Desserts were ho hum...The main dining was really good - and the shows put on each night by the wait staff were hilarious! Our room (Main Deck, ocean view) was very nice. Unfortunately, with my sick daughter, we spent one entire day in the cabin - tv channel selection was horrible. 4 channels. 3 in English. Beds were comfortable - there was no literature on room service, ship's available services, information about the ship - nothing in the cabin. We plan to make cruising an annual vacation for our family. We may pick Carnival again - not for the next cruise - looking at Disney?, but we will not pick Sensation again.

 

 

On the Cruise Critic Reviews:

 

We sailed April 1 on the Sensation. After reading some of the reviews, we were a little worried.. We worried for nothing, we had a wonderful time.

Our rooms were larger than on other ships we have sailed on. They were clean and the crew went out of their way to be good to us!

We were traveling with 3 children and they had a blast with the Club Carnival activities. They met friends and had the time of their lives. We were placed at a table with another family of 5 with children of similar ages which helped the children get acquainted.

The shows were very good,. They pre-warned us several times that one was a "PG" rating due to the costumes. We decided to let the kids go anyway. Some of the girls had on "thong" type costumes, my boys probably saw that much by the pool! We weren't offended and were plenty warned!! The costumes were amazing, I would love to see it again! The other shows were impressive as well. (We skipped the talent show!)

The food was very good and the crew was great. They encouraged us to try different things and gave us another item on the menu if we weren't thrilled!!

We were disappointed we didn't go to Grand Turks, however our day at Freeport was among our favorite day. We went on a beach excursion and had a blast!

 

 

We were very pleased with our cruise experience. I hate I spent time worrying from others comments. We are ready to go back!!!

 

Publication Date: 04/19/06

 

Thank you for all of those reviews. They did help!