Carnival Sensation review - sailed 4/15/10

[Ellanora]

Here is my review of my recent cruise on the Sensation, with a few pics thrown in.

 

My two cousins and I left the kids behind and took a "girls" cruise on the Carnival Sensation for 3 nights on 4/15/10. This was a great little getaway for all three of us.

 

 

We drove to the port and arrived just after 10:30 AM. Only one car was at the baggage gates at the same time as us, and even the interior of the terminal had few people this early. I was surprised, but as it turned out, this sailing wasn't even close to full. We checked in right away and sat down to wait for our zone, 8, to be called. They started calling zones pretty early, just after 11 AM, and we were up in the Lido restaurant by 11:30. Perfect.

 

We tried a few items from the buffet as well as had our first Funship Special (my favorite Drink of the Day). Food on the buffet was good (not outstanding, but enjoyable), and the one slice of pizza was very good, as usual. (Side note - I have been on Carnival and Disney multiple times each. I never have a problem finding good food on either line. However, pizza on Carnival is far better than Disney, while Disney buffets tend to be great instead of just good for Carnival.) Later in the cruise we tried the Asian station - made sure to get in line just before it opened so only waited about ten minutes - and it was outstanding.

 

The doors to the cabin hallways stayed closed until 1:30, so we spent the time walking around the ship and sitting at the Atrium Bar with a second Funship Special. The cabin itself was standard oceanview on Main deck, M184, with two twin beds and a pull down. I had thought the pull down would be from the ceiling, but instead, it was from a contraption that was attached to the wall over one of the twin beds. My cousin found it to be plenty comfortable. Our room steward did a great job, though we didn't actually see him until the second day, and that was only because we were running back to the cabin to gather items for a scavenger hunt, else we would have missed seeing him altogether!

 

I was lucky enough for this to be a birthday cruise for me, and my sister sent me strawberries and flowers as a birthday gift. The strawberries tasted great, and the flowers were beautiful. My sister was disappointed that I wasn't able to bring them off the ship and home - she hadn't realized that when she ordered them.

 

Strawberries (after a couple were eaten):

 

 

Flowers:

 

 

We had 6:00 PM seating in the Ecstasy dining room, and were seated at table 249 with another group of three ladies who turned out to be quite nice and fun, so one of the best tablemate matches we've had. They did leave before the dessert on the first night due to feeling a little motion sick, so we enjoyed the "Low Low Low" show ourselves with dessert. Our wait team was fantastic - Aleksander was one of the best head waiters we have ever had. Especially considering he had to put up with another table with people who consistently showed up for dinner AFTER dessert was being served. Absolutely rude. If you can't make it within 15 minutes of dinner time, go to one of the many other options available for food on the ship - no need to disturb everyone else's schedule so rudely.

 

All of our dinners were good to great throughout the cruise. The Lasagna Bolognese was a stand-out, never tried it before, but will get it again every time its offered! Panko shrimp with plum sauce was also outstanding. I enjoyed the pumpkin soup and onion soup, as well as the lobster, the warm chocolate melting cake, and the Grand Marnier souffle. The only thing I really didn't care for at all was the Veal Parmigana. Rather tough and chewy, not much sauce or flavor.

 

Lasagna Bolognese:

 

 

 

The first night's show was Far From Over - an 80s music review, and it is my favorite Carnival show so far, don't miss it! The other production during this cruise was Curves, which was good. It has more of the Vegas style thongs and dancing. There was also an adult comedy show the first night with TC Tahoe, who was amusing. The second night had a juggler-comedian who was very good and a lady comedian who was very funny, and who also did an adult comedy show the third night, which was hilarious. Definitely an adult show, not for the kiddies.

 

We dropped just a little in the casino and a little at bingo, had no luck. We participated in some of the trivia games and the scavenger hunt on the promenade deck, and two of us won ships on sticks! We watched the Hairy Chest competition which was fun, but unfortunately, the girls who were the judges got oddly confused, and when it was time to make the first cut, they gave the runner up medals to the two best guys there. When the guys left the stage, the girls got all upset when they realized they got rid of the ones they meant to keep. Kind of a shame for those two guys, they were a lot of fun and did deserve to win.

 

One interesting thing that happened - We observed someone being taken to be held in some place by security! My cousins and I were walking along the top deck overlooking the pool area around 8:30 PM, when we came across a rather angry and drunk young lady in her twenties, yelling and cursing at another young lady in her twenties. We couldn't quite catch what the problem was, but the first lady was very upset and loud. As we walked by, we noticed other people stopped around the deck, watching, and we also saw security starting to surround the area, coming from different directions. We walked well away but found some chairs to look across and see what happened. The security officers spoke with the two ladies quietly, but the one lady continued to be loud and cursing and derogatory to both her companion AND the officers. Not a good choice. We heard them ask her room number, and she told them, loudly. The officers then began herding the ladies down the steps to the pool deck. The loud lady continued to curse as she came down the steps, then in front of everyone at the pool bar and everyone else who had stopped to watch, she fell down the last few steps and landed hard on her behind - causing everyone at the bar to burst out laughing. She was flustered and angry, but unhurt, and she walked with the officers inside the doors.

 

We thought that was the end of the story, but a little later we were sitting at the comedian show in the theater. The comedian made some jokes with the audience, including a bride-to-be who was there with her friends on a bachelorette cruise. During the show, the quiet girl from the altercation came in and there was a little commotion as she apparently told the bride-to-be that one of her party was being held by security, and the bride had to leave the show to go deal with her troublemaker. We felt bad for the bride-to-be. We never saw them again after that, but hopefully the foul-mouthed young lady apologized profusely for causing such a scene.

 

Continuing on, the Serenity deck is outstanding, we loved laying out in the sun, and also loved being able to sit in the shaded area once it got too hot. My only complaint was on the sea day, the FunTimes gave the hot tub opening times as 8 AM, but they didn't open until 10 AM. Same for the pool on lido deck. They really should stick with the times they print, especially on a sea day.

 

 

 

Notice the level above Serenity has very few people. We ate all of our breakfasts and lunches outside in this area every day, and the tables around us were always empty, so we often had the whole area to ourselves. They never said how many were on the sailing, but it was clearly very far from full.

 

The new Waterslides are so awesome - we did them over and over. So much better than the old pool slide on the Fantasy class ships, and I also like them better than the single twister slide on the larger ships.

 

One of my cousins had never sailed Carnival before, and felt self-concsious thinking we were using slides that were only meant for kids. We assured her they were for everyone, and once we three adults started sliding, suddenly many more adults who had been sitting around started sliding too! She felt better after that.

 

Debarkation was the usual circus, though much better than previous experiences on Carnival, probably because of so few people on board. We did have a funny moment where a huge group of self-disembark were in the hallway of the elevators on the lobby level, very slowly moving towards the exit. The elevators opened up and a lady and her husband started trying to navigate through us carrying big trays of breakfast food! Why she couldn't eat upstairs, or else get off the elevator on her own floor (because she navigated from the elevator to the staircase opposite, and descended again) I don't know. But obviously those of us stuffed like sardines in the entryway were not moving fast enough for her, because she shouted out "I need to get through!" at which point everyone started laughing, because, we ALL needed to get through. She finally made it through, and just before descending the staircase she yelled again, something to the effect of "You could leave a path for the rest of us" or some such, which caused everyone to laugh at her again.

 

Carnival should build on extra room to all their terminals so they can layout all the luggage at the same time the way Disney does. On Disney, you just walk off the ship after you're done with breakfast, no lines, no announcements, no numbers.

 

The Carnival Sensation is an older ship, but I feel that she wears well and has a great crew. The new waterslides and Serenity area are a great addition and go far in keeping the ship fun. I've seen the Sensation get low reviews, and I understand that the smaller ships can be hit or miss, especially during Spring Break or holidays when you have a larger group of people looking for an affordable and fun getaway. However, this is my second time sailing on her and I loved her just as much as I did the first.

[balcony bound]

Ellanora, so glad to hear you had a great time. Our sailing on the Sensation a couple weeks ago was sold out, even still, it felt like the ship was only about 1/2 full. Great cruise.

 

We like the Sensation and Fantasy Class ships in general - okay, okay, we like all of em ;)

[Ellanora]

We like the Sensation and Fantasy Class ships in general - okay, okay, we like all of em ;)

Yeah, I have to say, the Evolutions of Fun upgrade adding the Serenity deck, waterslides, and revamping the pool area with a "tiki hut" feel made a huge difference on this ship. I can't describe how much enjoyment I got out of these three areas this time around. Sitting in the shaded recessed alcove of the Serenity deck, staring out to sea while sipping on a fruity concoction has to be one of the best experiences possible! :p