Carnival Sensation - Bless her Heart - Preview and Report

Hello, Cruise Critic. I am called in these hallowed pages to pay it forward and provide as much info as possible on a ship that doesn't get a lot of love or attention, The Carnival Sensation, and our upcoming journey, January 2, 2018.

Unlike the spectacular Oasis of the Seas, which we're sailing later in 2018 and which based on her popularity might also be called The Prom Queen of the Seas, the ol' Sensation seems to have been relegated to "bless her heart" status. Or perhaps worse, "she means well" status. We all know what those kiss of death phrases mean. They mean, "she sucks." She doesn't get talked about a whole lot, and when she does, it's either with some disdain or with a whole lot of patience and understanding.

You see, my friends, I realized too late that I missed the chance to post a timely report from our Carnival Triumph voyage in March, 2017. I took too few photos, gave up too easily on figuring out how to post my Fun Times and kids program schedules and recorded too few notes on every scrumptious morsel consumed and every experience, well, experienced.

Eventually I posted a brief, bland, extremely biased review (the only kind I write) on the Cruise Critic main review page. What I did not know was, rather than placing recent reviews at the top, the site places them based on SAILING DATE. So my clever, brilliant words went unappreciated, unseen, unused. Worthless, really. Way to go, Kmom. Bless her heart.

I still have those March 2017 Fun Times, but nobody wants to see old, outdated schedules. Well maybe in 40 years my daughter can sell them for ten bucks, but nobody cares now.

Enter: 2018 Carnival Sensation - the Whole Entire Story.

Look forward to following this thread.

Keith

Do I think I'm funny? Do I think I am amusing? Well yes, deep down I suppose I do, thankyouverymuch.

Am I actually those things? Maybe not. Probably not. Definitely not. Maybe more snarky and sarcastic. Boorish, even. Socially awkward. Hey, I mean well!! Isn't that enough?

To make this a little easier on you, I'll try to boldface the actual useful relevant information, so you can skip my stupid babbling.

We'll be a party of 5, in two staterooms on the Empress Deck, a/k/a Deck 7. We're in an inside cabin and my dad and stepmom are in a Porthole cabin.

We have Your Time dining, not to be confused with My Time dining on Royal Caribbean. Please try to keep up. Heh. See with the snark there? Is this thing on?

Oh, so it's original snark you want, not somebody else's recycled snark. No tired cliché's for you? Fine then. We can play your game. . . and lose.

Nothing original here. Just some tired, working class, Midwestern Joes going on a tired old working class Bahamas cruise (not even the renowned Caribbean) for a few days in the dead of winter. And our opinions about the whole deal! Lucky you!

We'll visit Princess Cays, a private resort area down on the southern end of Eleuthera, one of the 700+ islands of The Bahamas. And we'll visit Nassau, where we will visit Fort Charlotte and the Fish Fry.

This will be a first time cruise for my dad and stepmom. He is a Vietnam Veteran (U.S. Marines, DaNang, 1967), and yes, he does appreciate being thanked for his service. He will be just a few months shy of his 75th birthday. His wife is a few years behind him, and she is apprehensive about seasickness. And, you know, drowning / sinking. She is mostly looking forward to "port days" when she can get off the ship. What could possibly go wrong?

Coming soon, as soon as I can figure it out: a photo. Of something.

Well, this is why my Triumph review never got here. I can post attachments, apparently, but embedding photos into the posts eludes me so far. If you care to see who Kmom is, go ahead and click. You'll see this picture is not taken aboard any cruise ship. Just a park, somewhere in the rural Illinois backwaters, on a random autumn day. Autumn being the prelude to winter. Winter being a good time to go on a cruise to The Bahamas.

I'm the cute one in the middle.

Please thank your dad for his service and sacrifice for our country!

Enjoying this thread thus far. Your writing style is great!

Thank you to the commenters so far. I am really glad you're here! CI66774, I will pass on your thanks to Dad. Keith and Scotty, I will try not to disappoint. Just wait until I figure out how to post photos!

Due to the Christmas break being scheduled oddly this year, we found ourselves able to take advantage of OFF-SEASON PRICING for DH, DD, and me, Kmom. During Christmas break!!!!!!!!! There are not enough exclamation points to convey the excitement in this turn of events!!!!!!!!!!

I might as well go ahead and confess something important right now. I Kmom, AM CHEAP. (Hangs head in shame, but the first step is admitting you have a problem. Come to think of it, that's just one in a long line of shameful problems. . . )

That veteran dad I mentioned, along with his first wife, a/k/a my mom, are both very thrifty by nature, and they passed on the genes and the penny-pinching strategies. And a good thing, because at times I've also been poor. So I knows a bargain when I sees one. This mindset is relevant to the tale, folks. Relevant, I tell you! Fifty-one years of cheap living makes you a Certain Kind of Person. What kind? A person who likes crappy stuff just fine, mostly, as long as it's cheap enough and not too extremely crappy. We're not Old money, or New money. We're Keep Your Hands Off Our money.

You should see our couch. And our kitchen, and bathrooms, which really need to be updated. I sure won't be posting any photos of those. But hey, the potty flushes, what more do you need? You need another vacation, that's what.

And so when I found this fare you see below for a 4 night cruise out of Miami, that just happened to dovetail PERFECTLY with our already planned drive to central Florida to visit the Vietnam Vet for Christmas, the inevitable happened.

Cruise Rate

$274.00 $274.00 $109.00 = total $657.00

Taxes, Fees & Port Expenses

$110.25 $110.25 $110.25 = total $330.75

$987.75 total for cruise fare, taxes, fees, and port charges.

Yes, you read that right. For less than $1000 we got a 4 night cruise with fees for 3 people. So we added the gratuities and insurance as shown below:

Optional Charges

Vacation Protection $49.00

$49.00

$49.00

Total $147.00

Prepaid Gratuities

$51.80

$51.80

$51.80

Total $155.40

Total Charges $485.05 $485.05 $320.05 $1,290.15

I realize there are cheaper cruises. For instance, my two Disney Magic cruises, a long time ago, as a Cast Member, when they couldn't fill their shiny new ship, were a lot cheaper, and those were bargains I was not going to miss. Some people travel without regard to school schedules all the time and hence are used to cheaper cruises than this. Well, life grinds on, things change, and this is the best we can do at the moment.

On the other hand, the two Premier cruises I took an even longer time ago were not cheaper than this, per person, per day. In actual dollars, not adjusted for inflation. And that was a cheap cruise in its time. Really the dirt cheapest, rock bottom, entry level cruise line. And I just loved it.

Sailing on her in 18 days. There is very limited info on her, so I am very much looking forward to your review.

DH and I have done two different cruises on her, when she was based in Port Canaveral.. One 3 day and the other a 4 day. We used these cruises as a decompression from spending time at the Mouse House and to extend our vacation. She doesn't have all the bells and whistles, but we so enjoyed our cruises on her. We also booked interior cabins on the Empress deck - love the location.

I am also very frugal and couldn't justify paying for a higher priced cabin. When I cruise, I go to relax. I sit my fanny on a lounger, read, nap and soak up the sun. it's to recharge my batteries to battle the rest of the Vermont winter. this past winter we had an opportunity to upgrade to a suite, we had 2 grandsons bunking with us. It was nice to have the extra room and balcony, but did it improve my cruising experience? Not in the least.

We found the food and service very good on the Sensation. Enjoy your time and don't listen to cruise snobs who would never cruise in an interior cabin or on an old rust bucket!!

 

Due to the Christmas break being scheduled oddly this year, we found ourselves able to take advantage of OFF-SEASON PRICING for DH, DD, and me, Kmom. During Christmas break!!!!!!!!! There are not enough exclamation points to convey the excitement in this turn of events!!!!!!!!!!

 

We were fortunate enough to be able to book the "right after New Year's" cruise 2 Christmas breaks in a row. It's great!! I'm sure you'll have a great trip! I'm looking forward to the report.

Well, I think you're funny AND amusing!

I love your writing style and had to go look for your Triumph review as I'll be sailing on her next month. It's a great review and on point. Thanks for sharing a realistic perspective.

If anyone else is interested, here's the link https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=588711

Btw, do you have a blog somewhere? I'd love to read more of your writing.

Following this review!!! While we have a larger land based vacation booked for 2018, we are thinking about sneaking in a cheap 4 day sometime next year as I'm not sure I can wait until 2019 to cruise again.....Sensation is the itinerary I'm drawn to, but I won't lie, I'm leery of the ship so this will be helpful to me!

Post again! Post again!

I will be floating on her very soon!!!!

Sailing on her in 18 days. There is very limited info on her, so I am very much looking forward to your review.

Hi, Ace. This review on the boards from last spring has been helpful to me and includes great photos. Unlike my posts so far, this review is from after the cruise.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2473392

This next one is more recent, shorter, and also insightful.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2556318

You're ahead of me on sailing dates, but I'll do my best to share what I know so far. Enjoy your cruise!!

Well, I think you're funny AND amusing!

I love your writing style and had to go look for your Triumph review as I'll be sailing on her next month. It's a great review and on point. Thanks for sharing a realistic perspective.

If anyone else is interested, here's the link https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=588711

 

Btw, do you have a blog somewhere? I'd love to read more of your writing.

Thank you Joanie. Enjoy the Triumph as much as we did!! I do not currently have a blog. Started one, had an unforeseen move that ate up a lot of free time, couldn't keep up with it, copped out, let it expire and the SimpleSite people eventually deleted all my collective wisdom. Maybe will try again one day.

Thank you kind readers for all your comments, and welcome to my humble thread!! It's great to find other laid back types, willing to consider the rust buckets of the seas, LPYR, HolySpearit, MomoftheBoy. Hi Mutumbo and Anonomiss!

Last year when we sailed on Carnival Triumph, The Veteran and His Wife drove over to New Orleans to see us off. They spent a few nights in a city they otherwise would not have bothered with, and had a nice time. I tried to get them to join us on the cruise, but Mexico did not call to my father. I think maybe he spent the next few months regretting that decision, because late this summer when I told him we had booked this one, he whipped out his credit card like a quick draw sharpshooter and before you know it, his travel agent (Kmom) had them all set up in a porthole cabin just down the hall from his beloved family.

You see, my almost 12 year old daughter is his one and only grandchild, and it's going to stay that way. The one grandchild part, not the 12 year old part. I know she is not going to stay twelve. AND THAT IS THE PROBLEM. She's an only child to two doting parents, an only grandchild to three doting grandparents, and we all know she is going to be grown up really very soon. And then, what? Freedom? Pfft. Loneliness. Despair. Oh yeah, freedom, I guess. :( So yeah, she's spoiled. And yeah, we all want to spend as many quality experiences with her as humanly possible. And yeah, she likes cruises. So here we are.

We'll be heading down to Miami on New Year's Day and spend the night before departure. We have Faster to the Fun and so we plan to be parked and through security as early as possible, say 9 am. (If anyone can confirm whether this is feasible please let us know).

If it's like New Orleans, we won't be able to check in that early, but we will be at the proverbial Front of the Line. Also the literal Front of the Line. Once I figure out how to post photos, I'd like to show you my family at the very front of the FTTF group in NOLA, right at the boarding gate, and then the turnaround picture of the rest of the terminal, swarming with masses of Further Back in the Line passengers. We love those people, but we don't want to be those people.

The drive from Central Florida to Miami on NYD, the day before the cruise, is going to be about 4 hours. We could really probably swing it on embarkation day, but why the heck would we want to? We can afford a couple of hotel rooms and January 2 is going to be a back-to-business-as-usual Tuesday. Imagine the rush hour nightmares in a city where traffic never is and never was, ever, a picnic. More like food poisoning. We'll enjoy the relatively leisurely pace of cruising down (see what I did there?) on a holiday.

Just can't compare the 2.

I like this preview idea you are doing. Fun.

And very wise driving choice on the 1st instead of the 2nd. And with it being midweek, the hotel rates probably won't be quite so high.

Like the style of your review.

My main beef with Fantasy-class is people get a huge chip on their shoulder about them. You should see the social media groups; if someone asks about these relics 99% reply it was the best ship ever, best, best, best. If you say well, not so much, they don't measure up, people jump on you. I could see how people have a good time on them, but I can also see how people without other experience on better ships would hype them up. I think people need to recommend these older ships with really big asterisks and BUTS attached to it since they are older, smaller, and lack many of todays important features and amenities. Once people understand the differences they can decide what is important.

I think the ships are just old, look old, lack features, and aren't worth paying prices comparable to RCI or NCL. But some people like smaller ships with less people, and the new waterparks are nice and there are usually a lot of food options, so those are plusses.

Like the style of your review.

 

My main beef with Fantasy-class is people get a huge chip on their shoulder about them. You should see the social media groups; if someone asks about these relics 99% reply it was the best ship ever, best, best, best. If you say well, not so much, they don't measure up, people jump on you. I could see how people have a good time on them, but I can also see how people without other experience on better ships would hype them up. I think people need to recommend these older ships with really big asterisks and BUTS attached to it since they are older, smaller, and lack many of todays important features and amenities. Once people understand the differences they can decide what is important.

 

I think the ships are just old, look old, lack features, and aren't worth paying prices comparable to RCI or NCL. But some people like smaller ships with less people, and the new waterparks are nice and there are usually a lot of food options, so those are plusses.

Hi Maxwell! I understand your perspective! It's often hard to tell where reviewers are coming from. Who are these people? What is their normal life like? Do they live in mansions with butlers all over the place and therefore expect them on a ship? Conversely, is a nice clean tent with sleeping bags an upgrade from their actual home?

I do not want any butlers in my business, not at home and certainly not on any vacation, even if I could afford such a thing, which I obviously can't. As a kid, we had to drive in the car and stay in tents if we wanted to travel, and that was not better than my nice clean bed in a climate controlled home with a dishwasher and a television. Comparatively speaking, it was terrible. But it got us out of Illinois, and taught me what I could and could not put up with. I have not slept in a tent in thirty years nor do I really want to ever again. But I can, if I need to, and who knows? For the right travel experience at the right price, I just might.

For me it really comes down to that value - to - dollar ratio. The Triumph was bigger and newer than a Fantasy-class ship, but she was not the most immaculate floating palace on the seas. From our humble viewpoint, she was everything we needed. To more discerning folk, she is a dump. I have accordingly realistic expectations for the Sensation.

However as a reviewer I should admit, I try to avoid out-and-out bashing anyone or anything. I've done that on a couple of restaurant reviews years ago and regretted it. It's bad karma. If I don't have something nice to say I try to either not say anything, or say the not-so-nice thing, well, nicely. Which is why I wanted to write about the poor old Carnival Sensation. Since no one is saying much, perhaps that's because they don't have anything nice to say. I will find nice things to say, and probably not say much about things that I find subpar. Readers should know this upfront.

Thank you readers and commenters for joining the party and sharing more tips as we go!

I like this preview idea you are doing. Fun.

 

And very wise driving choice on the 1st instead of the 2nd. And with it being midweek, the hotel rates probably won't be quite so high.

My Dad the Veteran is using hotel reward points for both rooms. So when I say we can afford the rooms, that may be true, but it does not mean we are actually paying for them.

We don't always get off so dirt cheap on everything, though. We are staying 2 nights, 2 rooms at Disney World, the week prior, and no points are going to cover that, my friends. This is a Christmas gift from me to my dad. He has always wanted to stay at the Polynesian. Hahahahahahahahaha. I need to spend a few weeks laughing at the idea of paying holiday season rates at that resort, even for a disabled Veteran of a Foreign War who spent most of the first year of my life serving in a conflict nobody wanted, only to come back to a country where nobody, for a very long time, even bothered to say thank you. The thing is, this man spent the next several years teaching me much of what I know about being cheap, and he would actually kill me if I paid those prices anyway, so please don't hate too much on me.

Even using Kmom's secret Iusedtoworkhere and Ihaveafewtricksupmysleeve tactics, we are paying far too much to stay at Port Orleans - Riverside for those 2 nights, but I already know it will be well worth it.

 

I realize there are cheaper cruises. For instance, my two Disney Magic cruises, a long time ago, as a Cast Member, when they couldn't fill their shiny new ship, were a lot cheaper, and those were bargains I was not going to miss.

Fellow Cast Member here! I too remember those super-cheap post-9-11 rates on the Magic and Wonder, and have sailed them many-a-time as a result. Sadly, the CM rates are now usually $100+ per day. which is a lot, compared to what I can find for a Carnival cruise. Sadness...

Carry on with your hysterical review!

CeleBrat

Love your writing style, I'll tag along. . .