Sensation Review - 10/19/06

[BettyBurrito]

My husband and I are in are mid to late 30’s and have sailed 5 times before. I am a self-proclaimed 7 night cruise snob. I had heard some things about 3 night cruises that weren’t so great. But…we had an opportunity to go without our 3 year old son (hey, I was willing to try anything!).

Anyway, I absolutely loved everything about this cruise and would not hesitate to recommend it to others.

I will be happy to answer any questions :)

EMBARKATION:

Drove to the port from Tampa and arrived around 11:30. Checked in right away but had to wait until about 12:45 to board due to the ship getting the previous cruisers off late. We were eating lunch on the Lido deck around 1pm.

CABIN:

We had cabin U39 (inside, toward the front). This was a last minute booking and all of the balconies and ocean views were booked. I have to say, for our purposes, we loved the inside cabin. Since we were sans child, we maximized our party time. The inside cabin allowed my husband (who usually wakes up as soon as the room gets light) to sleep in and take naps. We have had ocean view cabins and balconies on our past cruises and did not miss a thing with the inside. Plus, or room steward was on of the best we have ever had. I wish I remembered his name but I never saw him other than on the first day.

I was woken up when docking or taking off due to more vibration towards the front part of the ship. Oh well, ce la vie!

FOOD:

No different than any other 7 night cruise on any other cruise line I have sailed (RCI, Carnival, Princess); sometimes excellent and sometimes just OK. I never had a difficult time finding something I liked. We did skip formal night in the dining room (I just didn’t feel like lugging formal clothes on this trip).

I loved the made-to-order omelets in the morning and my chateaubriand in the dining room was excellent. If you like chain restaurants like Friday’s and Chili’s, you should not have a problem finding plenty of good food on this ship.

BTW…the lido deck wait staff was excellent. Never did I see a table just sitting with dirty dishes. When I sailed in May on the Miracle, there would literally be at least 3-4 tables filled with dirty dishes sitting for hours (yes, really). The entire staff on this ship seemed to be quite excellent.

ENTERTAINMENT:

For me it was hit and miss. My husband and I left Curves a little early because we just didn’t recognize many of the songs. We also didn’t care for the lead performers. But like my husband said, “This is much better than sitting at home watching Survivor!”

My favorite show was Friday night where there was a singer and juggler. Both were very funny and enjoyable. Saturday night was a tribute to the 80’s (I forgot what the show is called). My husband and I really enjoyed this show.

We really didn’t see any of the musicians performing around the ship. But we did see a so-so midnight comedy show.

Kaleidoscope, the disco, was really fun. There were always quite a few people which added to the party atmosphere.

The art auction was fun, too. You can’t beat free champagne!

PORT:

I loved being in Nassau overnight and not having to worry about making it back to the ship in time. We went over to Breezes all inclusive resort (no kids under 14!) for the day. We stopped by the visitor’s center for the $10 off per couple coupon. We then took the #10 jitney to Breezes. Uh, oh…when we got there the first front desk person said they were not issuing day passes. My husband then spoke to another front desk person and through the power of persuasion got us the passes.

The resort was actually overbooked that day and trying to get guests to give up their room for 2 free nights another time. So…if you plan to go to Breezes, I would try to call from the visitor’s center. They are just far enough away to be inconvenient if turned away.

Otherwise, Breezes was a nice place to be for the day. For $60/pp you get all drinks and food included. They had awesome frozen drinks! They were available in about 4 flavors. You could get them self serve without alcohol or you can have them with rum at the bar. Yummy!

The 2 pools were nice and the beach was kind of icky. I am very picky about the type of beach I like. Here, the water was clear up to about 5 feet out and then it was thick with seaweed. So, I spent most of the day by the pool. There are hot dogs, burgers and fries served by the pool and a great buffet pool level in the resort.

All in all I think it was a decent value for the money. We then caught a taxi at the resort and took an hour tour of the island. It was nice to see the different neighborhoods and such. We ended up at the straw market by the ship. After an hour of walking around, we couldn’t take it anymore and went back to the ship.

SHIP:

I think the Sensation is in great condition (I do think the décor has been toned down over the years). Sure, there maybe nicks in the furniture here and a little worn carpet there but I have seen the same in 5 star hotels. If you go on this cruise with an attitude of having fun then you will have fun. If you go looking for every little thing to nit pick then you will find plenty and not enjoy your vacation as much as others.

DEBARKATION:

We did self debarkation and it was chaos. The cruise director was not 100% clear on where people could not wait to get off the ship. Hence, people ended up waiting where they weren’t supposed to wait and then blamed for holding up the ship.

They say do not wait in the LOBBY of deck 7. They say it will be shut off and do not cross the barriers into the lobby. Well, do yourself a favor and just avoid the entire deck 7. People were waiting outside the forbidden lobby zone and were then told to move to another deck.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

When I cruised in 1999 on the Inspiration, I thought I would never cruise Carnival again. It was a year after my first cruise (which was perfection) and I had a critical eye for everything. I recently sailed on the Miracle and had a great time and was really impressed with how nice it was sailing Carnival.

Now I am even more impressed because Carnival managed to make a 3 night cruise into such a fabulous experience. I want to go again and again!!

P.S. My husband was getting a strong cell signal well into sailing and made a few calls. We thought maybe we were still picking up a signal from land. Soon it seemed impossible so he called the pursor’s desk. He was told that 2 days prior a cell tower was installed on the ship, but not to worry because Carnival does not charge. He asked the person how much his cell company would charge and she said, “Oh, the normal rate of about $8.00 per minute.” This fact is not advertised anywhere on the ship.

We saw many people chatting away…probably not realizing how much they will be charged. Just beware when you cruise about the cell charges.

[GeekyMom]

P.S. My husband was getting a strong cell signal well into sailing and made a few calls. We thought maybe we were still picking up a signal from land. Soon it seemed impossible so he called the pursor’s desk. He was told that 2 days prior a cell tower was installed on the ship, but not to worry because Carnival does not charge. He asked the person how much his cell company would charge and she said, “Oh, the normal rate of about $8.00 per minute.” This fact is not advertised anywhere on the ship.

 

We saw many people chatting away…probably not realizing how much they will be charged. Just beware when you cruise about the cell charges.

I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise! We're going in January and it's always good to hear positive reviews.

 

May I ask what provider your husband uses for his cell phonw? Having a tower on board totally rocks!! Especially if works and it's free.

[BettyBurrito]

May I ask what provider your husband uses for his cell phonw? Having a tower on board totally rocks!! Especially if works and it's free.

 

He uses AT&T. But...I think you missed the point. It is NOT free. Your cell service provider will charge you a whopping $8.00/minute for the calls. Carnival just does not charge any fee on top of that.

 

I don't know about you, but I would rather use the .75 per minute email to communicate with my family and friends.

[GeekyMom]

LOL, I totally missed the point. My seeing what I wanted I guess.

 

Oh well its a shame too since I have a Treo and can email straight from the phone.

[BooBooMonkey]

We'll be on Sensation again in less than 4 weeks! We did a 7-day on her to the Western Carrib in November 2001 and had a great time! This time it is the 4-day to the Bahamas. Not necessarily the greatest itinerary on the newest ship, but we plan to have a blast anyway!

 

Thanks again. These reviews keep me going until my next cruise!

[SillyDee213]

Thanks for the review. I was also on this sailing. There were a few times where the announcement was made to avoid deck number seven. It could just be that you may have missed that. Oh well! I thought the self assist process went very smoothly- at least it was better than the Holiday back in the summer of 2002.

 

Did you happen to hit the "game show" or the "newlywed game"?

[BooBooMonkey]

Oh!

 

 

Io!

[BettyBurrito]

 

Did you happen to hit the "game show" or the "newlywed game"?

 

Uh, oh...are you talking about John, the crazy older guy? If so, yes, I saw both shows. He was hysterical. Did you see him in Friday night's show? And he also won the hairy chest contest (maybe he has 2 hairs on his chest)!

 

For those of you who were not on the ship, there was a 78 year old man who managed to make it into every show with audience participation. He was a star. I saw passengers stopping him in the halls. He was obviously having the time of his life!

 

BTW...if I missed the full deck 7 announcement, it's Carnival's fault. Too much champagne at the art auction on top of the delicious Pina Coladas :p

[SillyDee213]

Hey Boo boo! GO BUCKS! lol

 

Yes, Betty, I was refering to John and Mary. A whole 59 years of marriage. They were the sweetest couple! I spoke with him the morning after the newlywed game up on Lido deck and he told me his dream since they were originally married was to sing that song to her on stage.

 

He was famous on that cruise, and I was happy to be able to talk to him. He has a wonderful sense of humor and is loving every moment of his life!!!

 

I didn't attend the art auction. I was enjoying the spa at the time while dear boyfriend was test out the jogging track!

[Goofy63]

That's great you had a good time! We are sailing on Sunday this week (Oct 29th departure) I wanted to ask about the Breezes trip. We really want to do that, is it something you would recommend we get to early, and is it very often that you can be turn away?

 

Also someone mentioned they were at the spa. I really want to get a massage and maybe something else. Is there something you would reecommend? Thanks!!

[pryd]

Getting back to the Cell service. On the Valor 9/10 I got service everywhere we went since there was also a cell tower on the ship. I anxiously awaited my phone bill and the charge (Cingular Wireless) was very low less than 99 cents per minute. I was really surprised how low the cost was. I think that Cingular and ATT are now owned by the same company so the charges should be the same.

[BettyBurrito]

Goofy63:

I would definately recommend getting there early. Once they fill, they stop giving out passes. I am not sure how often people are turned away but we almost were. We were the only ones there with wrist bands that day. We were surprised considering Oct is a slow time for Nassau.

 

As for the spa, I did not have anything done there. However, one of my tablemates did. She and her husband both had a massage. They were quite relaxed and happy at dinner! I am not sure what type of massage they got, but they were really happy with the service.

 

Pryd:

Whew...I hope that is the case! The pursor's desk didn't seem too knowledgable about the whole thing. I guess we will have to wait and see what the bill says.

[pryd]

Betty: I double checked and I was off by $1.00 it was charged as a roaming (International I think) and was only $1.99 per minute. An FYI that is only for placed calls you make on the ship not for messages left or call recieved they seem to be charged at the regular rate.

[cruzkrazy]

Was it Saturday that you went to Breezes? My husband and I were turned away. We went to Wyndham and had a great time. We were on the Fantasy.

[polly57]

Betty: I double checked and I was off by $1.00 it was charged as a roaming (International I think) and was only $1.99 per minute. An FYI that is only for placed calls you make on the ship not for messages left or call recieved they seem to be charged at the regular rate.

 

My daughter just started working on the ship so cell phone costs are something I just looked into. From what I understand, the tower on the ship is thru cingular so their rates are the cheapest. T-mobile charges $4.99 per minute, and test messaging costs are: 35 cents to send a text message, 10 cents to receive a text.

[legalmom]

Hi Deana and Gary:

 

Hope you all got home safely! We were on the same cruise with our grandson and all of us had a great time. From the time we boarded to the time we left the ship, was nothing but a wonderful experience for all. Those of you who are cruising on the Sensation, have a wonderful time!

 

Ben, Lois and Richard:)

[GreytRacer]

Thanks for the great review. Glad you enjoyed yourself. We are sailing on the Sensation on Nov 19, 2006 (same as BooBooMonkey) and I'm glad to read such a positive review form a recent passenger!

[BettyBurrito]

Was it Saturday that you went to Breezes? My husband and I were turned away. We went to Wyndham and had a great time. We were on the Fantasy.

 

We were in Nassau on Friday. I am glad you found the Wyndham and had such a good time!

[SillyDee213]

I was the one who went to the spa. I did their facial special the first night... it was very relaxing and I still have the effects of better looking and feeling skin. The first night I also won a session of their Iontheramie slimming treatment. I would highly suggest that, if you wanted to pay for that expense. Since mine was free, I didn't mind... obviously.

 

Many people I talked to raved about the scalp massages.

[PlanningToCruise]

Anyway, I absolutely loved everything about this cruise and would not hesitate to recommend it to others.

 

.

Thanks for the review, I just booked the sensation this morning for end of Nov. last minute decision, lol