First Time Cruiser Review - Sensation 11/27

[GabbyCooks]

Hello! I just returned from our first cruise and wanted to post a review. I haven't posted much, but have read here religiously everyday since we booked this cruise in April. I got a lot of great tips and feel I was well prepared for this cruise thanks to Cruise Critic. I didn't find a lot of reviews for the Sensation, so wanted to post ours. I assume because it's a shorter cruise.

 

Cruising with us were myself (34), my reluctant cruising dh (37), my two ds (19, 13), my sister (38), her dh (40 something), and her two ds (17, 12). My sister has cruised twice previously, once on Royal Caribean, once on Carnival.

 

We drove from Southwest Ohio, leaving Friday night, arriving in FL Saturday afternoon after a few minor mishaps. We actually stayed in Melbourne FL at the La Quinta Inn which was about 20 minutes from port. It was cheap, nice, and clean. No complaints there. Right next door to Wal-mart for our precruise soda and water purchases. We wanted to buy water shoes there, but they didn't have any - should have ordered them online, but turned out fine.

 

We had dinner at Charlie & Jake's BBQ on Indian Harbour Beach, very good and very well priced. We drove to the beach that night and enjoyed watching the tide, the water was very rough and this made my reluctant cruising husband pretty nervous about our cruise.

 

I woke up bright and early Sunday morning like a little kid on Christmas. We had free breakfast at the hotel and made our way to Park N Cruise. Upon arriving at Park N Cruise until we sat with our zone cards, everything was like a whirlwind! lol. Park N Cruise was fast and efficient. It cost us $37 to park for the cruise. We boarded the shuttle and were at port within 5 minutes.

 

I had read that the Port Canaveral porters were salaried and didn't ask for tips, but put a few bucks in my pocket anyways. Our porter did indeed ask for a tip, which made me a little uncomfortable, but we tipped her $1 per bag and went on.

 

We entered the terminal and were only asked for our boarding passes at the door. Our bags were scanned and we were sent up the escalators. My sister and I both had our bottle of wine, 12 waters, and 12 cans of soda. No one asked about wine or beverages, nor did they open our suitcases or anything. I was surprised, we really could of carried any kind of alcohol on, although I am a rule follower and would not have done that, lol. We knew our Bon Voyage alcohol would be waiting in our room.

 

The one and only rude person we came across during the cruise was the lady checking my family in. (My sister's lady was over the top nice and actually had to fix my ladies errors). We booked our rooms with a past guest in each room, per our PVP's advice, so check in was a little confusing as our Sail & Sign accounts had a couple people from each room. I actually told the lady that I felt she was being very rude to me, and she quickly changed her attitude and apologized. I was not nasty at all, just told her how I was feeling. It took us about 15 minutes to get everything straight and finally sat down with our Zone 4 boarding cards.

 

I had a lot of precruise anxiety over passports/birth certificates. I won't get into the debate, but 7 out of 8 of us boarded with our State Issued Birth Certificates and pictures ID's with no problem, they barely glanced at our Birth Certificates. My oldest son has a passport card, which they also barely glanced at.

 

To be continued...

[jajaga]

More please! We sail on the Sensation in January!

[tassycatt]

keep it comin! :D

[GabbyCooks]

We waited about 20 minutes before being called to board. They kept us entertained while waiting. My sister insisted on all of us having our boarding picture taken because she wanted to buy it. I just knew I wouldn't be the type to be suckered into buying pictures, but I was! lol. We both bought the photo later in the cruise.

 

We had our security picture taken and then BING! we're on! All the months of stress, research, etc and we're FINALLY here! I was beyond excited. We immediately got into the glass elevators and made our way to the Lido deck. We found 2 tables on the smoking side (yes, I know) and settled in. We took turns getting food. I volunteered to stay back first, and got my very first DOD and sat back to people watch. I ended up having Mongolian Grill for lunch and it was delicious!! This was the only time I made it there though.

 

Around 1 PM we made our way to the purser's desk to 1) change rooms for two people. We booked my nephew in my room since he was a past guest, so needed to change him and my husband. They were issued new Sail & Sign cards with no question, no problems. 2) I was doing a cash account for my family, but had bought Fun Ship dollars in advance. I checked my balance and with the Fun Ship dollars plus Early Saver credit had around $350. I didn't add any more money, figured I would do that later, but ended the cruise without adding more - actually left $0.44 on the account, lol.

 

Our rooms were ready right at 1:30. We had a quad ocean view cabin for the 4 boys M64, my sister and her hubby had ocean view M62, and myself and hubby had oceanview M60. The rooms were just as expected and we enjoyed the location being so close to the elevators. We never heard any hallway noise.

 

We had ordered a Bon Voyage cake for 3 of the boys celebrating their bdays, and it was in the cabin when we arrived. I never even tasted it, lol, but heard it was good. I had ordered Grey Goose and Cranberry Juice for my cabin and there was a note saying call room service to have it delivered, it came within 5 minutes of calling. Our room steward Arvin came by and introduced himself and we requested him to go ahead and pull down the uppers in the boys room, he had them all set up very quickly and was very pleasant.

 

My sister and I ran to the dining room to check our table. We have 4 teenage boys and were hoping to be at a table alone, just due to the sometime inappropriateness of teenagers, to say it nicely! lol. We were happy to find a table for just us 8 right by the window. We explored the ship for a few minutes and before we knew it it was time for Muster Drill. We were in Muster Location A- went to the Fantasy Lounge, quick and painless. The ship started to sailaway during muster so as soon as it ended we sprinted all the way up to the Sports Deck and settled in on the very front of the ship. Perfect Location! Sailaway was amazing!

[GabbyCooks]

After sailaway we went to the Fantasy Lounge to register the 12, 13, and 17 yo's for Circle C and O2. The 17 yo ended up not going to O2 at all. He had fun with his 19 yo cousin and family. The 12 yo did NOT want to go to Circle C, but agreed to sign up because the 13 yo wanted to. In the end... We barely saw either of them, they spent all of their time in Circle C or hanging with their new friends, lol. We only saw them on port days and dinner.

 

Before dinner my dh and I headed to the casino with our 19 yo in tow. He can't gamble at home, so was excited to check it out. We played for about an hour, didn't win anything, and headed down to get ready for dinner.

 

We had early seating in the Ectasy dining room. Our waiters were Wich, Dario, and Putra. While they were all pleasant, we really liked Dario. He was very down to earth and personable. I'm having a hard time remembering what we ate which days, but I believe this night I had the Lasagna Bolongese as a starter - very good, flat iron steak - bland, but edible, and Warm Chocolate Melting Cake - amazing. My husband ordered a fruit appy every night and loved them all. He said they were the best grapes he's ever tasted?!? lol

 

After dinner me, dh, and 19 yo headed back to the casino. My sister and family plus my 13 went to the Gender Showdown. My 13 yo was selected as the male team leader and ended up winning a.... bottle of champagne? LOL! Now, they did tell him to give it to his parents. My dh and I are very laid back people and found this hilarious, however, I can see other parents being upset by them giving a 13 yo a bottle of champagne. It still makes me giggle though. My husband and I did enjoy the champagne though :)

 

I met up with my sister and the boys for bingo at 9:45 (didn't win boo) and the Welcome Aboard Show. Now, I should first mention that the ship was REALLY rocking the first night. The dancers were not that good, they were off and not in sync. I tossed this up to the ships movement this night and enjoyed the show. I didn't see any other shows, so am not sure how the dancers were the other nights. We left the show a few minutes early and headed to the Plaza Lounge to get seats for the Adults Only Comedy Show.

 

Percy Crews 2 was the comedian this night and he was hilarious!!! I didn't expect much going into the cruise regarding the comedians, so he was a wonderful surprise!! We LOVED him.

 

After the show we headed to the casino for a short time, then rounded up the 13 yo and headed to our cabins. We fell quickly asleep in the comfy boards and woke up in Freeport.

[GabbyCooks]

Monday - Freeport.

 

We woke up and had breakfast on the Lido Deck. They had normal breakfast items. The bacon police were in full force. Everything was good except for the eggs. Not tasty at all. Hot Chocolate was great! We packed up and quickly got off the ship, no lines.

 

We took a taxi to Our Lucaya. Now, I had read on Cruise Critic about some cab drivers asking for you to pay for the return trip at the same time. Our cab driver asked us to pay for both, and I was very hesitant. He assured us that their company has taxi's that leave every hour and we would have no problem getting back. I reluctantly paid $40 for 4 people, and it ended up being no problem.

 

We went to the public beach using the walkway next to the police station. The walkway was a little sketchy, but we had no problems.

 

The plan for Freeport was parasailing... this was not to be though thanks to the high tide. You couldn't even get on the beach and there were no water sports today, bummer! There were a lot of locals on the beach selling tshirts, wanting to braid hair, etc. A simple no thanks worked. We watched the water for awhile, then decided to head back to Our Lucaya. Our water dreams weren't meant to be today. Oh well, we still had Nassau. Me, dh, and 19 yo went to the Treasure Bay Casino. We signed up for Player's Cards and received free $10 play. We played the $10, plus another $20 each. Didn't win, but we like visiting different casinos and collecting the Player's Cards.

 

My sister, her family, and the 13 yo explored the shops at Our Lucaya. The had friend conch fritters and bought a few little soveniers. We met back up at 1 PM and quickly find a taxi that we had previously paid for and made our way back to the port. Although Freeport was not what we expected, we were still satisfied with our day. This was my families first experience outside of the USA. So we made the best of it.

[GabbyCooks]

We boarded the ship and went up to Lido for lunch. DH and I had the buffett, which was Caribean. We had jerked chicken which was VERY spicy. Good, but spicy. I forget what else we ate. After lunch the hubby went for a nap. I believe this is when my sister and I bought our boarding pictures, then my sister, me, and the 4 boys headed to Mirage Bar for the Gender Showdown. They ended up asking a lot of questions that were the same as the previous day. We watched a few people "walking briskly" around 4:30 when it was time to reboard. We had a few giggles. Then it was time to get ready for elegant night.

 

This is another thing I had precuise anxiety about. My family does not dress up very often. We ended up being fine. My dh and sons all wore polo shirts with black or khaki slacks and dress shoes. I wore a nice blouse, black dress pants, and black dress shoes. We didn't feel over or under dressed. We did see a few tuxedos, gowns, plus we saw jeans and sparkly shirts. I saw two people in shorts that were quickly told they needed to go put on long pants. One of them came back and jeans, and this was ok.

 

We had hoped to go to the Family Comedy Show at 7:45 tonight, but service was slllooooowwwwww. We are not the type to complain, so just said oh well and enjoyed our dinners. I had been waiting for tonight for so long... I ordered TWO appys and TWO dinners :/ I had shrimp cocktail - yummy! stuffed mushrooms - good, but not what I expected, lobster/shrimp - yummy, and prime rib - yummy! I ordered warm chocolate melting cake, but could barely eat it, I was stuffed. The waiters tonight did "Low Low Low" and we laughed so much. Some of the waiters were REAALLLLYYY into it.

 

We saw Percy Crews 2 again tonight and he did not disasspoint. His show was totally different from the first night. We skipped the other comedian and headed to the casino, then bed (after again rounding up the 13 yo).

[GabbyCooks]

Tuesday - Nassau.

 

Woke up in Nassau next to the Majesty of the Seas and Carnival Ectasy and dark dark clouds headed our way. We had breakfast on the Lido deck and made our way off the ship.

 

Our plan for today was the Sheraton resort on Cable beach. We easily found the #10 jitney using directions we found in the Bahamas port of call board. We paid $5 for family of 4 and made our way to the Sheraton. It really started pouring about half way there, but we were determined to make the best of it. We paid $75 for our family of 4 for day passes, the 13 yo was half price AND they only charged me half price for the 19 yo, cha-ching lol. The Sheraton grounds were beautiful even in the rain. The ocean was on a red flag, so we first enjoyed the pools in the rain. DH and I hung out under the covered swim up bar while the kids explored. We also got in the hot tub as the rain eased up. Eventually the skies cleared and we headed over to the beach.

 

The water trikes were not working, but the boys used the kayaks and snorkling equipment. Soon the life guard appeared and they brought our the water trampoline. The boys really enjoyed that! After a few hours dh, me, and 19 yo got dressed in the restrooms there and headed to the casino - I cannot think of the name, but you have access to it between the Sheraton and Wyndham. We signed up for the Players Club and got $5 free play. We played that plus another $20 each. We didn't win, but again we just enjoy exploring various casinos. We headed back out after about an hour and met up with everyone. We took the #10 jitney back to town.

 

We had passed McDonalds on the way with a sign about Chicken Macs... lol. I know, I know, I know, we're in the Bahamas, but we made our way walking back to McDonalds and had Chicken Macs, lol!!! We walked back to port and stopped at a few shops along the way. We reboarded the ship, showered and got ready for dinner.

 

Tonight service was faster. I had fried shrimp appy - delicious! Chicken Fettucini - good, and warm chocolate melting cake - ok, but not as good as the first night.

 

After dinner, we headed back off the ship to Atlantis. We paid $4 per person there for a taxi, plus $1 to get on the island. We explored the digs for free since it was evening and spent some time in the casino. We got Players Cards here, but no free play boo...guess Atlantis doesn't need to attract attention by using free play lol. We played around $30 each and didn't win. We took a taxi back to the ship and reboarded. We paid a little more on the way back because the taxi wasn't full. He said we could wait or pay $15 for the 3 of us. We paid the $15 because we were ready to go back.

 

Tonight we went to Adult Comedy Piano Bar hour with Barry. This was not what we expected at all, but we had a great time. That was really fun! I have never been to a piano bar or anything like that.

 

We played awhile and the casino and again rounded up the 13 yo and headed to bed.

[GabbyCooks]

Weds - Sea Day - Last Day :(

 

Today we slept in a little. We had hoped to make it to the dining room for breakfast, but that didn't happen. We had breakfast on the lido, which was good. I went and dropped off my bingo card for the second chance drawing. Then headed to the casino for the slot tournament.

 

DH and I obviously like casinos, but have never been in a slot tourney. It's vacation, so what the heck, right. We signed up. I ended up being the top qualifier! That was so exciting. I got to pick my machine first in the finals, and chose the same machine. I ended up 3rd in the finals, but got a carnival tshirt - go me!

 

DH also did the black jack tourney, but didn't make the finals. It was fun too though!

 

After the tourneys we went to the Love & Marriage show, which was really funny! We had some good laughs, but it did end on the Hooker in Missionary answer that I've read about on here lots of times. Still funny though.

 

I stayed in the Fantasy Lounge for the second chance drawing bingo (didn't win) and $5000 powerball bingo, also didn't win, lol!

 

Headed up to the Lido for lunch. Was hoping for Mongolion grill, but it was already closed. So I had a hamburger AND hot dog :p I wanted to go to the Fun Farewell party since I knew there would be free drinks, but decided to go pack our rooms before dinner since I wanted to go to the Comedy shows after dinner.

 

Tonight, service was again slow, but whatever I'm still on vacation. I had the fruit cocktail appy- good, meatloaf - ok, and apple pie - yummy! The waiters did another show which we enjoyed.

 

After dinner all 8 of us went to the Family Comedy Show, which was funny. Both comedians Percy Crews 2 and Jim Brick (I think) performed. The younger boys enjoyed it.

 

I headed back down to the cabins and put all our luggage out in the hallway, boo. Then went to the casino for awhile before catching Percy's last Adult Comedy Show, which again was different and hilarious! We just really loved him.

 

Rounded up the 13 yo for the last time and headed to bed :(

[GabbyCooks]

Woke up to Cold Cold Cold Port Canaveral. Showered and packed up our carry on and headed to Lido for breakfast. We went back inside and waited for our Zone 14 to be called. I want to say it was around 8:40 when our zone was called. Small line to exit. We quickly found our luggage and headed to customs. He asked for ID's for adults only, no birth certificates, and asked if we had any alcohol or tobacco, we told him tobacco, he asked how many cartons, we said 2 and he said have a nice day. That was it. They didn't even check our bags! Not that I had anything to hide, just expected a much more complicated procedure than that.

 

We did have a small wait for Park N Cruise, but no more than 30 minutes. Soon enough we were in our car headed back to cold Ohio :(

 

In closing...

 

I have wanted to cruise for a long time, but my dh is not a water person at all. He has some water fears, plus had no desire to travel out of the USA. After some coaxing he agreed to a short cruise after several years of me bringing it up, lol. By the end... he had the time of his life, as did we all, and he is ready to start planning our next LONGER cruise. Definitely had the times of our lives. I'm so happy we decided to do this and look forward to many more cruises.

 

I also want to thank everyone here. I spent many many many hours here just observing and reading and feel that I was well prepared for this trip.

 

Thanks for reading!

[jajaga]

Thanks for posting Gabby! Sounds like everyone had a great time. I wish I could just sleep until about a week before our cruise!

Where are you going on your next one?

[GabbyCooks]

Thanks for reading! I know what you mean about waiting. We booked this cruise in April. But my kid's football season helped make time go by. It snuck up on me quickly at the end, lol.

 

I have no idea where we want to go next. There are so many options! I've been looking all day though.

[stay_or_go]

Thanks for the review!

 

We are on the Sensation Jan 1, 2012 and can't wait!

[chuckwagon52]

Thank you for your great review.

[gimpysfamily2]

We will be sailing her on Christmas and will be our Platinum Cruise. Nice review!

[SE NC]

Great review! Your DH is now hooked! Have fun planning (which is almost as fun as the cruise:p) and future cruising!:D

[Lv2Camp&Cruise]

Thanks for the great review. I am so glad that you enjoyed your first cruise. You will now become addicted like we are.

I was happy to hear that you enjoyed the Sensation. We board her in 4 days for my DD's sweet 16. I loved the idea of going back off the ship in the evening to explore the dig at Atlantis. We too will be at the Sheraton and had not planned to go back off for the evening. Any idea how late you can enter the dig?

[GabbyCooks]

Thanks again for reading everyone! We are definitely hooked!

 

I'm not sure how late you can get into the Digs. I want to say we were down there between 8:30-9:30. We only ran into one other group while we were down there. We walked around outside for awhile too and looked at the shark tank with no problems.

[babyblue78]

Nice review! I am glad that you had a fun first cruise! :)

 

We like to check out casinos too, we went to the Sheraton at Cable Beach too. Great resort, we were a little bummed that the table games didn't open until 5pm so we missed those. I think that you were pretty adventurous to take the jitney on your first cruise, we thought it was a cheap way to get there while getting some local flavor.

[WinnipegCruiser]

We had our security picture taken and then BING! we're on! All the months of stress, research, etc and we're FINALLY here!

 

This is the moment I am addicted to the most.

[GabbyCooks]

Yes, I have to admit that I was leery at first about the jitney, but thanks to Cruise Critic we went for it. I spent a lot of time reading the Bahamas board here and felt safe to do so. We all agreed that we were glad we did, it definitely gave us some local flavor. That was an experience in itself. I have never in my life been on any kind of public transportation. We live in the suburbs, lol!

[ACSoCarCruiser]

Yes, I have to admit that I was leery at first about the jitney, but thanks to Cruise Critic we went for it. I spent a lot of time reading the Bahamas board here and felt safe to do so. We all agreed that we were glad we did, it definitely gave us some local flavor. That was an experience in itself. I have never in my life been on any kind of public transportation. We live in the suburbs, lol!

 

We were on this cruise, also. It was my platinum cruise. Sounds as if you had as much fun as we did and did not let the weather affect you time. We were also on the Main Deck like you were but we were in M261 with the kids in M259.