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Sensation Spring Break - March 13th-18th

tvlworm

By tvlworm,
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tvlworm

tvlworm

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Day 3 / Grand Turk

 

Had another early morning waking up before the sun! Good thing we all had an early night as everyone else work up before we arrived in port as well and we headed out for a breakfast and watched from the lido deck as we officially docked. Returned to the room to gather our beach bag and towels and set off for a fun day in Grand Turk!

 

I read so many reviews and looked at many pictures so I had high expectations and the port did not disappoint and was FANTASTIC! Was nice being off the ship early while it wasn't so busy. I knew in advance that we would be in port with Carnival Sunshine but they weren't scheduled to arrive until late morning and ended up getting in much earlier, so it ended up getting pretty full!

 

After getting our loungers set up, I walked up and rented a set of snorkeling gear and a float mat, total for both was $20 for the day. The kids immediately went into the water and reported that they were seeing a lot of fish!

 

Mom and I ventured out to check out the Margaritaville area and down the beach to the famous Jack's Shack! I had read all about how great the jerk chicken was but since it wasn't even 9a, I wasn't even hungry to try it, but I could smell it cooking and it smelled good! Didn't get to see the dog Topher but did meet a few friendly cats :)

 

Went back to our spot on the beach and went into try the snorkeling which I was surprised at how many fish there really were! I thought with so many people plus the action of the ships docking that they would have been scared away but there was a huge variety of colorful fish who weren't scared to get close to you! I almost swam directly into quite a few! The best spots I found were closer to where the ropes marked off the swimming area just before the trench from where they dug out the actual port for the ships. Mom and the kids had fun hunting for sea glass and found several green pieces, one clear and saw a few blue ones but couldn't get them before the waves did.

 

As the day went on, it got pretty warm and the kids were ready to get back onboard the ship for lunch so DH went with them and mom and I walked around the port area. I was really surprised that the prices in the shops were not so high! I figured with it being a Carnival development area, they would be much higher. We walked over to the other side of the pier to the beached whale which too was a cute little place with great views. By this point we were both hot and wanted a nice, cool drink so we headed back to the ship around 1pm.

 

After cleaning up, the DH and kids went to the movie in the plaza lounge while mom and I went and played the afternoon version of the digital scavenger hunt, which was tons of fun and definitely the mild version compared to Quest. For the day version, you get a list of 15 things to capture with your camera from around the ship in 20 minutes. We had so much fun and came in 3rd!

 

Our original plan that night was to finally try the dining room but everyone was pretty much wiped out from a day of swimming and the warm sun and not in the mood for a long dinner experience so the lido it was again. Enjoyed a bit of time relaxing outdoors and watching the sunset and called it another early night. The next day was another highly anticipated port, Half Moon Cay which was the other new to us place!

 

Here are several pictures of our day in Grand Turk followed by the Fun Times.

 

Good morning from Grand Turk! 12b0cdec082daa09d574356c0cd65c13.jpgcc406a6c202f9486c7e286d008301cca.jpg3457bf053b26c7b8172cf93153ee0b69.jpg5e197ce30648e832ae3952c5ee77039c.jpg

 

 

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tvlworm

tvlworm

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Day 4 / Half Moon Cay

 

This was the 2nd new to all of us port and for me, highly anticipated! I've read so many reviews of this being a missed port due to winds or other conditions and was very nervous in waking up to find it was a clear but very breezy morning! Everyone was up relatively early and we enjoyed our breakfast and returned to the room to get ready for the day.

 

HMC is a tender port but very different from how they handle getting off the ship compared to Grand Cayman, which also uses tenders. To get off at HMC, you had to go to the fantasy theater to get a tender sticker which had a number indicating the order of getting off. They were opening the tender stickers process at 915a and not long prior to me heading to the theater the captain made an announcement that our arrival would be delayed an hour and to compensate we would be staying and extra hour later. Whew was my reaction as I was still nervous that they were advising the port would be cancelled due to the wind speed. One important thing to note is everyone in the party must be present when you get the tender stickers and once you have them, you are to stay in the theater until your tender boarding number is called. Since we had an extra hour, returned to the cabin and let everyone know that we all would need to go up together.

 

The hour seemed to take forever but finally we were all back in the fantasy theater to get our stickers and wait to leave the ship. We were lucky and got number 2. Anyone who purchased a shore excursion went to the lower level of the theater and they were on the first tenders our followed by the number system. I think there were close to 40 numbers in total to give an idea. The process seemed very slow or I was just really excited and impatient to get there as it looked gorgeous out the windows!

 

After what felt like hours, we were on the tender and making our way across the clearest water I had ever seen! Being one of the first groups off the ship we were able to find great seats in between the area of the pirate ship bar and the pathway to the lunch pavilion area.

 

The beach is absolutely stunning and the sand almost feels like the toy moon sand, it is so soft and almost velvety feeling. Though near the walking paths there were a lot of burrs that were not fun to step on! We rented a set of snorkeling gear and another floating mat for they day. The prices were significantly higher than Grand Turk, $20 for the mat and $25 for snorkel gear. I could tell from the water clarity that snorkeling wouldn't be the greatest but tried it anyways and didn't see anything. The day was bright, sunny but noticeably cooler that the day prior in Grand Turk, took a few attempts to get fully in the water!

 

Since HMC is an extension of the ship, only payment they accept is your sign and sail card and there are plenty of waitstaff roaming the beach offering beer, pina coladas, daiquiris and Miami Vices, that was it for the fruity mixed drinks. They did have rum, vodka etc for standard mixed drinks and pop but that was about it.

 

The Fun team had several games and contests planned on the beach which too were all listed in the Fun Times and included a faux lifeguard run aka run in slow motion like they do during the start of Baywatch, tug-o-war was fun to watch, sand castle building and more.

 

The lunch offered was buffet style with burgers, hotdogs, chips, salads, fruit and a few different desserts. Hard to eat a regular burger after being spoiled by Guys the previous few days :)

 

They had a few small shops with a pretty limited selection in the port area, not nearly as good as Grand Turk.

 

Overall I loved HMC, thought it was so stunning but at the end of the day, I enjoyed GT much more. Glad to say I've been there, done that but not sure it would be a must go to place again. Just seemed to lack options of things to do compared to others.

 

We went back to the ship around 330p, the kids and DH went to the movie showing in the plaza lounge and mom and I went to the lido and enjoyed our favorite Pirate Punch. We to went to check out all the photos at the gallery and had some leisurely time checking out the ship. They were setting up the Chefs Table experience in the library so snapped a few pictures of that. Met up with everyone after the movie and had dinner and returned to the lido to watch the sunset which was beautiful! We must sound super boring lol but we called it another early night as we were arriving early the next day to Nassau. We had the day planned for playing at the Atlantis which with the cost, I wanted to get our money's worth :)

 

I'll post pictures from HMC followed by the Fun Times.

 

 

 

 

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tvlworm

tvlworm

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Day 5 / Nassau

 

Nassau has a reputation similar to Jamaica, its either loved or hated! This was my 3rd time to Nassau, 2nd for the kids/DH and 1st for mom. Same as our previous visits, this day was all about the Atlantis, one of my most favorite places ever! One of the things I loved best about this itinerary was the longer times in each port, with Nassau from 7a-430p.

 

Atlantis is not a cheap place to visit so I was very happy for a longer time to play and make the most of our day.

 

We went to breakfast early and many of the other early risers were decked up in green and other fun St Patricks day accessories. We headed down and off the ship a little before 8a and in a taxi headed over to the Comfort Suites Paradise Island. You might be questioning why we are going there but it's one of the best ways to save $ in Atlantis admission! Guests who stay at the Comfort Suites, have full access to all Atlantis amenities including pools, beaches and Aquaventure. Booking a night for the day your visiting works out much cheaper than the ship excursion price or even day passes through Atlantis. We arrived to the Comfort Suites, checking in and out all at the same time and made the short walk to the neighboring Atlantis Coral Tower. You show your Comfort Suites room pass at the lobby Aquaventure desk and they provide you with the wristbands.

 

The water rides don't open until 10a so until then we roamed around looking at all the beautiful details of this expansive resort. From the shops, to the ridiculously large yachts in the marina, to the beautiful lobby's and the water features and tropical landscaping there is so much to see and do here!

 

Closer to 10a we rented our locker, changed into our suits and went off to play in the pools and slides. One tip for locker rentals or any other purchases is Atlantis is also cash free and only accepts credit/debit cards and strictly requires IDs when making purchases. The resort too provides beach/lounge chair towels so no need to bring the carnival towels off the ship.

 

It wasn't exactly warm yet and there is a lot of cover from the thousands of palm trees so I was thankful that the water was heated! My favorite is the river rapids which isn't your typical lazy river but it's long and meanders through a pretty large area of the waterpark. There are sections of the river that you can choose your path, one path takes you up to the water escalators to go down a few water-coasters or the other path keeps going around the park. The kids were a bit ahead of us and took the slide route. We decided for one more loop around before trying it out and they were fun!

 

Mom and I headed back to the chairs we had our towels out at and waited for the kids to finish their loop around and headed over to the Mayan pyramid structure to do the Leap of Faith plunge slide through the shark tank. We first did the milder tube version which ends with a slower finish through the shark tank and is pretty cool! The Leap of Faith, takes maybe 7 seconds or less to get down and the whole time my eyes were squeezed shut so tight, I never would have known I made it through the shark tank tube lol! Another thing to check off the been there, done that list!

 

After the knots left my stomach we took a break from the water and ate lunch. Food around the pool areas are typical quick service with burgers, wraps and such with meals including chips and drinks averaging about $10-13 per person. One good thing is they push the save your cups and let you know you can get refills anytime you want throughout the day!

 

Kids went back to swimming and slides for a little bit and we ventured to check out the beach areas. There are two, the Atlantis beach and Cove beach. Atlantis beach is considered public so it is full of vendors and people constantly trying to get you to buy stuff. The cove beach is separate and blocked off--much more quiet and since it's a cove/crescent shaped it's much more calm.

 

It was mid afternoon at this point so we wrapped up our water fun and got out of our suits to walk through the Dig, which is their huge walk through aquarium and was really neat! We went through the shops hoping to find some souvenirs which resulted in major sticker shock! Found a shirt I really liked with the hefty price of $80..for a normal lighter weight, long sleeved shirt! A similar one in Grand Turk was $30! So I settled on and insulated cup instead [emoji23].

 

Afternoon traffic is always on the heavy side and today was no different especially when we got closer and saw there were 5 additional ships in port with us including the massive Norwegian Escape! Wow, what an amazing looking ship! Made our ship and neighboring Ecstasy look like tugboats! Made it through the port area and was back on the ship around 345p.

 

Spent the rest of the afternoon/early evening sipping on a few of the drink of the day the Frog Island Iced Tea which was really good! For it being the last night on the ship, the mood was very festive on the ship thanks to St Patrick's day and many were in the party spirit which was pretty entertaining! Reality for us hit was when we finally made it to the cabins to see that they had placed to baggage tags and disembarkation instructions in the room. Our wonderful trip was quickly coming to an end and at this point I was again really missing not having a 2nd sea day.

 

Overall we had a GREAT time! The kids yes, missed some of the bells and whistles that they were spoiled with on our previous cruises but the Sensation is a beautiful ship and the new updates are huge enhancements. We had warm, sunny days, smooth seas for sailing and visited 3 very fun and postcard perfect places. The best thing for me is even though it is super affordable, buying internet packages does not happen and I love the completely disconnected, uninterrupted time with my family. The only thing that could have been better would have to be the overall quality of the food, it wasn't up to par with our prior experience with Carnival but we didn't starve and some of us probably walked off the ship a few pounds heavier [emoji4]

 

Disembarkation the next day went very smooth and from the time they announced our deck number to the final ding of the key card kiosk took maybe 10 minutes. Longest part of the wait was for the elevator. Customs took a little longer but we were in the parking garage loading up the rental car well before 10a.

 

Thanks for reading! I'll add pictures of our Nassau day, followed by the Fun Times. I too have pictures of the port maps for GT, Half Moon Cay and Atlantis if anyone is interested, I can post those as well!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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#55worktoplay

#55worktoplay

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Thanks for taking the time to complete this.

 

I have sailed on the sensation years ago and your review and pictures were so awesome it makes me think I should once again sail on her.

 

I've always wanted to do what you did by booking Comfort Inn for Atlantis but each time I have looked into it it was either too much or booked. I will try again though

 

Your pictures are fabulous.

 

Thanks Again

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tvlworm

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following along. If i may ask what type of camera did you use? those pictures are just fabulous. I'm sorry if you posted it before.

 

 

Thank you [emoji4]! Shockingly, I did not use a "real" camera for any pictures. All were taken on my iPhone and no filters were used on any.

 

 

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BeachLoverstoo

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tvlworm, thanks for the info. We enjoyed our Sensation cruise too. I'm trying to get more info on the hotel stay that gets you passes to Atlantis. Our son and his family will visit Nassau on the Ectasy with three kids and I wondered if you had to book two rooms to get five wristbands. I think it would still be a savings, but thought I'd ask how you did this.TIA.

.

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tvlworm

tvlworm

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tvlworm, thanks for the info. We enjoyed our Sensation cruise too. I'm trying to get more info on the hotel stay that gets you passes to Atlantis. Our son and his family will visit Nassau on the Ectasy with three kids and I wondered if you had to book two rooms to get five wristbands. I think it would still be a savings, but thought I'd ask how you did this.TIA.

.

 

 

We booked directly on their website, choicehotels.com. The hotel max occupancy is 4 per room--my husband doesn't swim and didn't go with us so we only needed one room. For 5, they would need to book two rooms.

 

 

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