Sensation 4 night Bahamas 1/17/2010 review

[DaisyGirl55]

Thanks so very much for the time you took with this review! The pictures are great, your observations are very detailed, without being over the top.

 

I am even more excited than ever to sail on the Sensation next week. My anticipation level is definitely elevated!

 

Thanks again!

[RollerCoasterLover]

We sailed on this exact itinerary back in Summer of 2006. And the Sensation is my favorite ship so far. However, I did enjoy your pics. They have changed the Sensation quite a bit since we sailed her.

[cruisingstar]

Thanks for your review. Your pictures are great. My husband and I are going to book this cruise next January. You said the water was chilly. What was the air temperature? I notice some in your group are wearing sweaters and some are not. I love your sunset (or sunrise) picture. Colors are awesome.

[MTSHQMP]

One question, did you attend the formal night? I normal bring a suit or sport coat when I am feeling a little more laid back. I was thinking this time of just a button down shirt and tie. Would you say I would be out of place without the jacket? I get tired of packing it for a whole 15 minutes of wearing it. (I usually take it off after I sit down :D)

 

Thanks for the review and pictures!

[madi54]

Thanks!

[stowawaykc]

We sailed on this exact itinerary back in Summer of 2006. And the Sensation is my favorite ship so far. However, I did enjoy your pics. They have changed the Sensation quite a bit since we sailed her.

 

We loved the ship, this was our first time on this class ship, and we found it easy to get around. I would not hesitate to book again on a fantasy class ship. Although we did not make use of the waterworks area, it sure did look great.

 

Kurt

[stowawaykc]

Thanks for your review. Your pictures are great. My husband and I are going to book this cruise next January. You said the water was chilly. What was the air temperature? I notice some in your group are wearing sweaters and some are not. I love your sunset (or sunrise) picture. Colors are awesome.

 

I am sure you will love this ship.

 

The water was chilly by the Bahamians standards, but for us northerners, it felt fine. the air temps were between 75 and 80 all week long. (which is the average for that time of year) I was in shorts and t-shirt all week.

 

Thanks for the pictures compliment. This was our 1st time using the new SLR camera. I am still trying to figure it all out. (maybe I should take a class??)

 

Enjoy your Cruise!

 

Kurt

[stowawaykc]

One question, did you attend the formal night? I normal bring a suit or sport coat when I am feeling a little more laid back. I was thinking this time of just a button down shirt and tie. Would you say I would be out of place without the jacket? I get tired of packing it for a whole 15 minutes of wearing it. (I usually take it off after I sit down :D)

 

Thanks for the review and pictures!

 

I also usually wear a suit/sport coat but did not for this trip since it was only a 4 day. I agree, I take mine off to eat dinner, and seems silly to pack it for such short usage. I wore a dress shirt and tie for the formal night, and did not feel out of place at all. We saw people wearing much more casual stuff, even on "cruise elegant" night. We also did see folks dressed up too, but we did not feel out of place at all with our "semi-nice" duds on.

 

Enjoy you cruise!

 

Kurt

[alreadypacked]

Thoroughly enjoyed your review. You are so right about Music Asia--we had them on the Fascination in 2007. They were fantastic! Glad to see they are still playing on Carnival.

[mj cruiser]

We will be on the Sensation in March w/our 13 yr old! I am happy to hear the kids club was great....thanks for the review

[DaisyGirl55]

Just got of the Sensation this morning and had a great time. The weather in Nassau was just beautiful: warm and sunny but not hot. The rest of the time it was a bit cool, and I actually spent more time in my jeans than anything else.

 

The Captain decided to sail thru the high winds last night, and the ship rocked and pitched the worst I have ever experienced in all of my cruises. Even the casino was almost empty, and that never happens on the last night! But it was definitely rough!

 

The dining room was never full, but the Lido restaurants always had quite a few people. Formal night, or whatever you want to call it now, had all gamuts of dress going on. Most people were dressed nice, not overly formal, b ut dressed up. Kind of like going to a wedding. Of course, there is always the ones who wear their jeans, just like there is always the people who come to the MDR an hour after dinner has started. Some people just don't get it.

 

The ship is beautiful, not too big but not too small. We will definitely go back on this ship!

[okwriter]

Kurt,

 

I was on that cruise, and it was heaven!! VERY nice review, and your photos are awesome! I agree...January was a perfect time to go and feel the warm sun.

 

I will "pile on" if that's okay with a few more photos---though not nearly as nice as yours. I cruised with two gal pals, and all of us were first-time cruisers.

 

We kept intending to do the slide but never got around to it! Those people with trays of drinks kept getting in our way.

 

 

Our "not so tidy" penthouse suite.

 

 

 

After a few hours at the Straw Market, we did a Nassau Carnival excursion at the last minute. Snorkeled and went to a beach. Very affordable (about $50 each?) but the snorkeling only lasted about 30 minutes and we were only at the beach about 30 minutes. Even so, the catamaran crew was a HOOT, and the water was pristine!

 

 

Returning to the ship after a few hours at Atlantis. The casino there was not nearly as friendly as the one on board!

 

 

We had a beautiful sunset our last night at sea...

 

 

I would definitely do this cruise again during cold weather, but I will probably never be in a penthouse suite again! It was a "once in a lifetime" thing for us girls. I'll introduce my husband to cruising later this year probably...we'll have a balcony but NOT a suite!

[tomsgirl3]

Thank you so much for the Blue Lagoon pictures! We are going on our first cruise in May aboard the Pride. Kissing the dolphins is the only thing my girls, 7 & 5, talk about. You should have seen their faces when I showed them your pictures of it. Priceless!!!

 

Unfortunately, we will not be going to Blue Lagoon in Nassua. The beach is closed on our port day (Thursdays) and I feel our time would be better spent elsewhere. They do however operate in Freeport and we will be doing the Dolphin Encounter at Blue Lagoon there.

[mj cruiser]

I hope the weather is better in March! I dont mind the waves but hubby gets a little sick when they are big!

[Tenga1899]

Great review, I still can't get over how different the ship looks from the last time I was there. Makes me think I should revisit when I get a chance. I had a great time on the Sensation a few years ago, glad she is still holding true... :D

[Joshy_1289]

I totally remember you guys..

 

Tell Anthony I said hey!!! Yeah I remember that the two 17 year olds never came and Anthony was the only one who hung out with us in club o2.

 

I am the club o2 director. Its really great to read these reviews. Im glad to hear you had an over all good experiences with us!

[Sandpiper10]

They schedule your “encounter” and ask that you come to the dolphin training center about ½ hour before. During this ½ hour, the trainers talk about how the dolphins are trained and where they came from and what to expect during the encounter and swim.

 

 

 

When the ½ hour was over, my Wife and my Nephews Girlfriend had decided that they wanted to do the swim instead, based on what they had seen so far. They allowed them to upgrade, and they paid with a credit card right there. Now the cost was $149.00 (instead of the $175 advertised) Still a bargain as far as I was concerned.

 

 

 

They offer wetsuits (optional) and life jackets (mandatory) and take groups of 10 people to these large enclosures that are in the lagoon. There are 4 of 5 of these enclosures, and when I say large, I mean about 2 acres of open water in each. Everyone sits on a dock and the trainers (I think there were 4 of them for each group) give instructions and direct the dolphins. After a few minutes, everyone (except the trainers) gets in the water and kinda floats in a straight line about 15 feet from the dock. The dolphins swim by for petting and the come up to each person and give kisses and hugs. They also will dance on their tails while you hold their fins. One of the dolphins went to the bottom of the lagoon and brought my wife a present (a rock) and gave it to her. Then each person swims off to the side and sort of lays in the water with their feet behind them, and 2 dolphins come up and push them by the feet across the lagoon. (approx. 100 yds) you are like flying with half or body out of the water as they push you. This was very cool.

 

 

 

 

 

The whole swim took about an hour, and was well worth the $$. This is something I know my wife will never forget, and one of the few birthday gifts I have given her that she won’t return.

 

The rest of the group that did not swim got to stand close by and take pictures and watch.

 

 

 

 

 

The only thing that I was a little disappointed in was that the last ferry back to Paradise Island leaves at around 4:00. If I had known that, I would have tried to get there sooner to enjoy a longer stay at the beach after the swim. (I should have researched a little more, as this info is on the web site)

 

The ferry will take you right back to the ship after a short stop at the terminal near Atlantis, thus saving you a cab fare back. (there is a ferry terminal right at the dock, which I also missed when planning this. I think you can pick up the ferry right there and save all cab fares, but I am still not positive about this)

 

We got back to the ship around 5:30ish and cleaned up, grabbed some dinner on the Lido and then went to Atlantis. (another cab, $4.00 per person) The taxis run all night, and you don’t have to be back on the ship until 5:00 am. We stayed at Atlantis until around midnight, checked out the aquarium and did a little gambling in the casino and taxied back to the ship. I think there was a Mexican deck party that night, and we did hang out and enjoy some of the great food, spent some time in the ship casino, then headed to bed.

 

We have been to Nassau before, and said that if we ever go back, we would probably stay on the ship. I am glad we found the Blue Lagoon and will definitely go back there to enjoy the beach on our next stop in Nassau.

Some times pictures on a web site look really great, then when you get there, you find the place is nothing like the pictures. In this case, the pictures on the web site do not do justice to the real thing. This place is much better in real life than the pictures indicate.

 

More to come.......

 

 

 

I have been researching blue lagoon for my family for our cruise in may...Our girls are 3 and 6. Would you suggest the encounter for them because of their age, as either 1 of them are strong swimmers. Did you book thru the ship or did you just pay when you got there? The site says you can book before you arrive, but i wasn't sure how you did your trip...please let me know......thanks! :)

Jolene

[stowawaykc]

Hi Jolene, You will get MUCH better pricing doing this on your own, rather than through the ship. As I said in the review, we ended up getting a better price than the website showed because there was a special going the week we were there. I don't know if this is always the case, but I would wait and book it yourself when you arrive in Nassau.

 

We took a cab to the Ferry terminal on Paradise island. It was about a 10 minute ride and cost around $4.00 each person, 1 way. It was very easy and safe. There will be a bunch of taxi drivers right outside the building you have to walk through when youu get off the ship. just ask one of them to take you to the Ferry terminal on Paradise Island.

Once you get to the terminal, follow the signs to the Blue Lagoon office. Again this is a very nice area, right across the street from Atlantis.

 

As I mentioned in the review, you may be able to pick up the ferry right at the ship, we were dropped off at the ship after the trip, so I would ask around . you may be able to save the cab fare to the terminal.

 

As far as the age requirements, I am not sure. I believe that both of your girls are probably too young to do the swim, but should be OK for the encounter. For the encounter, everyone stands on a submerged dock, and the Dolphins swim up to you. If I remember correctly, there is an 800 number on the website you can can and ask for sure.

 

I hope you can go and enjoy this as much as we did. The bonus is the beach and surroundings are beautiful. Well worth the $$.

 

have Fun!

Kurt

[Sandpiper10]

Hi Kurt,

Thanks so much for responding, and yes, looks like i did ask you a couple things that you did state in your review...sorry :o

I appreicate your imput on taking our daughters to Blue Lagoon. This will be our 3rd Carnival cruise and our daughters 1st. We had to get the whole cruising thing figured out before taking them ;). My dh and i did spent a day in Nassau 2 years ago when we went on the Fascination (our 5yr anniversary cruise), definately ok with hoping on a shuttle and heading over to where you mentioned to buy the tickets for the the dolphin encounter! We just wanna do something fun w/the girls since Nassau will be our last port before heading home...Grand Turk and Half moon cay will be beach days, as they love the beach and I thought that Blue Lagoon with the dolphins and sea Lions would add some excitement for them to enjoy! Your pictures were great!

Thanks so much for your response!

Jolene