Carnival Sensation June 30, 2016 Quick Report

[Zeta3]

I thought I would throw a quick trip report together although it might not be very exciting because I feel like we didn’t do a whole lot but relax. Along for the trip was myself, DH, and DD 13. Feel free to ask any questions and I will answer what I can.

 

We flew JetBlue from Raleigh to Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday afternoon. Very uneventful flight. I always enjoy the snacks and entertainment on JetBlue.

 

We decided to use a private car to take us to our hotel in downtown Miami so I pre-booked Go Airport Shuttle private sedan. $92 total including gratuity for a very pleasant ride.

 

We stayed at the new Homewood Suites Miami Downtown/Brickell and I liked it. The hotel is new and clean. They offer weekday breakfast and heavy hors d'oeuvres with beer and wine in the evening. I liked the location, a very short walk (1.5 blocks) to Publix/Walgreens. There is a citibike rental kiosk right on the corner by Publix where you can rent a bike and hop right on the m-path/underline to get a great ride in, do some sight-seeing, etc.

[Zeta3]

In the morning we wanted to take a taxi to the port to catch the ship so I got a chance to try out the ZabCab app. I used the app to order a van cab to Pick us up and take us to the port. The app was super simple to use, we got confirmation almost instantly that our cab was on its way, the name of the driver and cab number as well as estimated time of arrival.

 

Our cab arrived right on time, friendly driver greeted us and helped us load up and off we went. The app lets you select things like regular or large cab and if you need them to accept credit/debit cards. I am not a fan of uber so this was a great alternative for us.

 

The ride to the port from downtown is a short trip and we arrived quickly and dropped our bags off with a porter. We are platinum so the priority check in experience was a breeze. We saw the signs directing us to the priority entrance, walked straight in, through security, and over to the priority check in lounge, where there was nobody waiting in front of us. Finished quickly at the desk. We were then shown where to board the ship. Walked towards the boarding entrance, encountered one port employee with a really bad attitude (hope she is not there in September), ignored her, and proceeded to head towards the gangway. This process went so quickly I didn’t even have a chance to check how long it took. Maybe 10 minutes and only because there was a snafu with them printing two sets of sail and sign cards for us.

 

As we approached the gangway there was a line of people waiting to get on. I have no idea what was taking so long but it seemed to be a large group of new, confused, excited cruisers, taking pictures, oohs and ahhs, etc. slowing things down. No biggie, just strange :)

 

On to the ship, dropped our carry-on bags and off to explore and have some lunch. We were in an inside cabin with a trundle bed. We asked to have the beds separated into twins so we could have the 3 beds in a U formation but this didn’t happen. This made the cabin a little more cramped but it wasn’t a big deal for 4 days.

 

One thing that was new and terrible on this ship was the longest muster drill I have ever encountered. It was easily upwards of an hour. People had no clue where they were supposed to be or what they were supposed to do when they got there. There wasn’t much information given until after sitting around for about 40 minutes we were told it was time to head to our actual life boats then stood around out there in the hot for a while until everybody made it to their boats. We were finally released as one giant group and the chaotic stampede back inside began. Finally it was over.

 

I actually had some work to do before sailaway so I headed back to the cabin to get that done. I had the top tier, unlimited internet package since I had work to do and I must say the connection and speed as great both docked and at sea. I was able to conduct a full WebEx meeting onboard with voice, doc sharing, etc. didn’t try video.

 

We had an early dinner. We generally eat dinner in the buffet because we like to try a bit of each entrée, have big salads, fruit, etc. and don’t like to spend a lot of time just waiting and eating and waiting again. We generally only visit the MDR for brunch.

 

I spent a little time in the casino, lost everything quickly and ran away LOL. After that we walked around listening to the various live music offerings and called it a night.

[Zeta3]

The next day was a day at sea. We had brunch, meandered around the ship. The entertainment options weren’t that great on this short sailing. We went to the Family Comedy Show in Punchliners which started off a little slow but he got funnier as time went on. After Punchliners we called it a night.

 

Half Moon Cay, everybody generally loves it here, we are not really beach people so not our favorite port but if you like beach it is great. We have been here many times and had cabanas, villas, and the Oasis on more than one occasion so this trip we decided to do something different and took the eco lagoon tour. This was different and fun.

 

We went out in a small glass bottom boat and toured the entire lagoon on the other side of the island from the beach. We saw the people doing the stingray excursion who seemed to be having a lot of fun as well as the people on the aqua trax tour. While out in the boat we got to see some fish, some coral, and jelly fish. We learned about the flora and fauna, sea depth, history of the island and the people who work there. All in all it was a nice little tour. On the way back the outboard motor died and left us drifting for a bit but no worries are tour guide had us up and running again before too long.

 

After the tour we headed back to the ship for a quiet lunch on board. Entertainment for the night was not very appealing so we again listened to some music for a while and headed off to bed.

[Zeta3]

Nassau, Bahamas. We have been here more times than I can count and done pretty much everything there is to do on the island. We have a couple more all-inclusive resorts to check out but this trip we decided on the British Colonial Hilton for the day.

 

As usual, the Hilton did not disappoint. The water was great as well as the pool. Not too crowded, plenty of beach loungers and chairs by the pool. This was our first time trying the new menu and we really liked it better than the old one. We had a grilled chicken sandwich, jerk chicken drumsticks, and the Mahi Mahi platter. A couple of the Bahama Breeze drink specials of the day, a large bottled water, and a diet coke and ended up owing about $10 at the end. We always have great service and the front desk, beach staff and servers always remember us and welcome us back. It is just a nice friendly way to spend the day in Nassau.

 

We took a cab back to the ship from the Hilton and DH managed to drop his phone in the cab which he didn’t realize until nearly back on board. With 45 minutes before all aboard time he headed back out to the taxi area and a nice driver helped him find the cab back at the Hilton, got his phone back and they made it back to the ship in time. We are very thankful for kind and honest people in the Bahamas.

[Zeta3]

Last night on board, we went to Punchliners for the last family comedy show. This guy was not funny to us at all so we left early and packed up our stuff. Got a good night’s sleep and up early for easy walk off debarkation.

 

We left the ship about 8:30 and walked right off and quickly through security. We caught the National bus, which too forever to arrive, and grabbed our rental car. As per our tradition, we grabbed lunch and a movie at the Cinemark Paradise 24 in Davie and headed back to FLL for our flight back to Raleigh.

 

Overall it was a nice little trip to getaway for the long weekend.

 

Any questions, ask away. Thanks for reading!

[disneylover89]

Thanks for the review!

 

Did they have the Hasbro Game Show, The Love and Marriage Show and trivia games?

[marksanson]

Thanks for the review, we're going on the Sensation in September. Looking forward to it.

 

 

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[Clarea]

Nice report, thanks.:)

[Zeta3]

Thanks for the review!

 

 

 

Did they have the Hasbro Game Show, The Love and Marriage Show and trivia games?

 

 

Yes they had both shows, multiple trivia sessions each day as well as a couple of big screen trivia and name that tune/singalongs in the atrium.

[Zeta3]

Thanks for the review, we're going on the Sensation in September. Looking forward to it.

 

 

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You should have a great time. The crew were all very friendly, the ship is clean, there is a lot to do. It is a fun cruise.

[cruisedup]

Do they still have the Concerts? I think they are Playlist Productions. Like the impersonator groups. Last year we had like Latin Nights and Epic Rock.

[Zeta3]

Yes they still have playlist productions. There was 88 Keys and I can't remember the other one they did. I attended the pre-show for 88 keys but neither of the actual shows.

[Zuzie1]

We were on your cruise too and enjoyed our time

 

So funny - completely agree about the muster drill - it was terribly long. I'm all for safety, but it wasn't well run.

 

We went to the Hilton as well and loved it! Highly recommend it to others.