A "SENSATION"AL Review: Dec 18-22nd

[Chowder_17]

My husband and I just went on our 2nd cruise with Carnival prior to Christmas and since I rarely see reviews of the short cruises, I figured I would try to give an in-depth review. Especially, since so many 1st time cruisers take short cruises. I will give an overview in this post and then I will create a separate post for each day to make it easier.

Background: As mentioned this is our 2nd cruise together, we are both in our mid/late 20's, and we were cruising without our children.

Overview: We definitely noticed a difference in this short cruise versus the longer cruise we took last year. There were a lot more children (nearly 45%- 850 kids), which probably had more to do with Christmas break, there were a ton of 1st time cruiser and a bit more lax on elegant night. Nothing really negative, just different. We absolutely loved the ship! The lay out was fairly easy, the Serenity area was awesome, and waterworks was a blast! We would love to do another short cruise like this again and perhaps bring the kids along.

Please look for a more detailed review in the coming posts!

[Chowder_17]

We drove across country for Christmas and our children were left with their grandparents. We flew on Delta from Cleveland (lay over in ATL) to Melbourne the day prior on the 17th. For some reason, flying into Melbourne was significantly cheaper than Orlando. The airport is super small too; I believe there were around 7 gates only.

We decided to do a one-way rental from the airport and we were going to return is at Cape Canaveral the next day. We ended up getting a Corolla for $50 (including taxes) from Hertz. Even though it was “rush hour” time, traffic was super light and most likely a lot easier than trying to deal with Orlando.

We stayed on Patrick Air Force Base (about a 15min drive) for $34 a night. I highly recommend those with military affiliation to stay there! For dinner than night we at a Grill's (http://www.grillsseafood.com/) which was probably some of the best food I've had. We pick up some wine and energy drinks from the Class Six and we were set to go!

[Chowder_17]

The next morning we left the base and headed to the return center at Cape Canaveral. We could see the ships from the rental place! They were running three shuttles/vans from the rental place to the port, so we only had to wait about 2 min for the shuttle (they are free by the way, but we gave a small tip to the driver)

We arrived to the port around 10:15 or so (the driver drops those off with Carnival last, based on how the port is set up). We gave our bags to the porter (by the way, there is a sign that says that they are salaried and tips are not mandatory, but we gave a small one anyways). We were going to get ready to check in, but I realized that I left my folder with my boarding passes and other papers on a bench outside the Hertz! I was able to get in touch with them and thankfully the driver on the next shuttle brought it to us. I am forever grateful.

There was a very short wait to go through security and there were no issues with our bag. We had to wait a little bit to get our S&S cards, since there were only a few people checking everyone in. We gave them our ID info, they gave us our S&S card (gold this time :D), and we were given Zone 5 to board. We already paid our on-board credit in advance via the online certificate program.

We went and sat in the chairs and one of the Carnival representatives gave a speech about the ship, boarding procedures, and some statistics. Around 11:15 or so they started to board everyone, which included two weddings that day (both military :) ). Boarding went by quickly and our zone was called by 11:30 or so. We boarded on Deck 7 and we headed up to the Lido for lunch.

There was barely anyone there and I got to be the 1st of the day for Mongolian. It was great! By the time we finished lunch, there were a lot more people on the ship and the lunch lines were starting to get long. We headed outside to the Serenity area and grabbed a DOD, which was the "Funship Special".

In port that day, was the Disney Dream and I believe it was Explorer of the Seas. Right below our ship, we got to see several manatees and a sea turtle!

We headed to our stateroom at 1:30PM, which was an Aft balcony. It was a great room and a much bigger balcony than our last one. We got our 1st bag around 2 or so, the other didn't come until after we set sail.

We were in muster group E, which met inside in the Plaza lounge. It did take a while for everyone to show up. After our safety briefing we headed outside by the lifeboats and we finished up around 3:55 (5 min before push off).

Afterward, with a bucket of beers, we head to the deck that has the whale tail on it. We were the first of the three ships to leave. Sail away was a lot of fun and they had party music playing.

We had anytime dinning and headed there when they opened at 5:45PM, there was a decent line by the time we got there. It seems like they changed it up the last time we sailed. Last time they asked us if we would like a table to ourselves or to sit with other people. This time they automatically just gave up a table for our group, which was totally fine with us. Do note, that the tables are super close together. Food was great!

Later that night, we went and played bingo in the lounge before the welcome aboard show. Didn't win :( At the show, they had the dancers and two comedians perform.

Right after that show, we headed to the Punchliner comedy club for the adult show. In that club, they have their own bar menu and I highly recommend the "Punchliner" drink, which is the same as a long island ice tea, except for blue curacao added. The adult show was very funny!

Afterward, we headed to bed for arriving in Freeport the next morning!

[jajaga]

So far so great! Thanks for posting, keep it coming!

[ksy8384]

Leaving on the Sensation Sunday on our first cruise. Very excited to read your review. Any advice for a first timer on the Sensation?

[mamaty]

Is the review over? I was really enjoying it....

[RunsWithFlyingDolphins]

Great review. Hope it's not over. I need to get back on get Fantasy class ships

[mamaty]

My husband and I just went on our 2nd cruise with Carnival prior to Christmas and since I rarely see reviews of the short cruises, I figured I would try to give an in-depth review. Especially, since so many 1st time cruisers take short cruises. I will give an overview in this post and then I will create a separate post for each day to make it easier.

 

Background: As mentioned this is our 2nd cruise together, we are both in our mid/late 20's, and we were cruising without our children.

 

Overview: We definitely noticed a difference in this short cruise versus the longer cruise we took last year. There were a lot more children (nearly 45%- 850 kids), which probably had more to do with Christmas break, there were a ton of 1st time cruiser and a bit more lax on elegant night. Nothing really negative, just different. We absolutely loved the ship! The lay out was fairly easy, the Serenity area was awesome, and waterworks was a blast! We would love to do another short cruise like this again and perhaps bring the kids along.

 

Please look for a more detailed review in the coming posts!

 

 

Still looking.......:confused:

[gelo7]

Thanks for sharing.