Carnival Sensation - Bless her Heart - Preview and Report

[KmomChicago]

 

I enjoy seeing the passengers on the other ships watching us dock, like watching our approach to the moorings, like watching the other ships come and go as well.

 

 

 

 

 

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[KmomChicago]

We got off just for an hour or so in Nassau until the shops started closing and got back onboard before it got dark shortly before 6pm.

 

 

 

DH loved the police uniforms. Said they looked “sharp.”

 

 

They are doing some work to the customs house or whatever you call the port security building these days. Trying to Disney it up like the sanitized Cozumel port shops.

 

 

Checking out Carnival Pride. She’ll be gone in an hour. Serenade of the Seas was already gone, as was Enchantment and the Riviera, when we returned from shopping.

 

 

 

 

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[KmomChicago]

Supper in the buffet. This little salad plate is all I had. Hahahahahahaha. Right.

 

 

This is what a 12 year old does on a cruise. Wear the gaudiest cap they could find in port and hide under it while attending to phone distractions over a cup of hot tea. I know, she is getting pretty in to it but she is really careful about avoiding caffeine. Gotta be herbal or decaf, please. Her rule, not ours.

 

 

Fell asleep super early again and woke up to do my traditional 3:00 a.m. cruise nightwalk. Yes it’s a thing.

 

 

Punchliner lounge, a/k/a Plaza Lounge.

 

This yacht is owned by one Sir Phillip Green, British billionaire. It was there in Nassau next to us both days. This guy owns 3 other yachts with Lion names, but this is the newest. Apparently you can find out absolutely anything on the internet. My dad said he would not want this particular yacht because it appears to have a couple of lights burned out along the waterline. So it's not quite up to our standards. Maybe if they fixed that.

 

 

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Edited January 13, 2018 by KmomChicago

[KmomChicago]

Empty Serenity Deck in the middle of the night. Still cold.

 

Crew hasn’t picked up the remains of the day yet.

Please place your towel into the hole. Oh, screw it. Close enough.

 

 

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[KmomChicago]

This is the Michelangelo Lounge and I had seen photos before the cruise. It was a bit much even for me, but I liked it much more in person.

 

Whoops someone got a little rough with the glass top tables.

 

 

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[KmomChicago]

The a Kaleidoscope Lounge looks updated, unlike most of the Sensation, but in a manner that escapes the harsh fate of beigeification.

 

 

Off the back corner of this lounge is the secret conference room which in my opinion should be a sports bar.

 

 

 

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[KmomChicago]

Oak room library with games and real books.

Apparently this is where they hold chefs table dining, not that I would ever know. Pay $75 per person on a ship with free dining. I wonder if those people walk off and leave a big pile of uneaten food?

Note: it was not in progress at 3:00 am.

 

 

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[KmomChicago]

Touch of class piano bar. We were never there when it was being used for its intended purpose but it was used fo other stuff given its convenient location on the Upper Deck (8) in the atrium just across from the Oak Room library.

Why all the hands? TOUCH of Class.

 

But don’t TOUCH the piano, thank you very much. I wonder why they had to put this intimidating sign up here?

 

 

 

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Edited January 13, 2018 by KmomChicago

[KmomChicago]

 

 

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[KmomChicago]

That’s a frame for sale made out of a stuffed animal that looks like a towel animal.

 

Another tip if you want to post your own review. When posting photos from your phone via the app, beware of auto correct which has added a lot of typos to my photo posts. I can’t figure out how to edit posts in the app and you have only a max of 30 minutes before you lose the option to edit. So I am running back and forth to the computer trying to fix them but some have become permanent before I realized they were there.

 

 

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[KmomChicago]

 

 

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[KmomChicago]

It’s the middle of the night and this dining room is open for crew to get around. They need to do better than that if they wanna keep the riff raff out.

 

Big chess board overlooking pool.

 

Mini golf is available 24/7:

Help yourself to supplies. Yes I know it's not a very good photo, blurry and not very well composed. It's 3:54 am, it's dark, cold, and windy, I'm up there all by my poor little self trying to take hundreds of photos as fast as I can.

 

 

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Edited January 13, 2018 by KmomChicago

[KmomChicago]

Shuffleboard is the ultimate proper cruise sporting type event:

 

But Kmom, nobody knows how to play it anymore. No problem!

Waah waah, this cruise was so boring, nothing to do. False!

 

 

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[newcruiser1956]

Great Review! I am on this ship in 2 days...

Was thinking I could post pictures from the middle of the night (I am like you, up at 4 am) but you beat me to it.. My review will just be to go see yours :)

Thanks for all the great pictures!!

[celinasantana561]

Hi, Celina. I am glad you had a great time overall as well. Was that first night something else or what? Holy cow.

 

Did you see what happened to the Norwegian Breakaway as it headed back from the Bahamas to New York? Heavy swaying and even flooding of the ship with waves coming up on the decks! I assume it was the same storm system but we had it easy by comparison.

 

Hi Kmom - yes...that first night was something else...I've been on 6 cruises and it was my first experience of motion sickness. My two daughters and I had to leave at mid-dinner and head back to the cabin to sleep it off for a few hours. We felt better at 10 pm. I also went to the pharmacy to buy medicine which was a huge help for all of us. Other then that we had a great time. Back home (South Florida) was experiencing really cold weather and we couldn't have picked the best week to leave..lol.

Also about Norwegian Breakaway... i did not see the videos until a few days later and I could not believe that they went thru' the ocean storm. OMG! I would of been really scared!:eek: I just really hope that Norwegian, Carnival, RCL and every other cruise ship line think twice to NEVER do that again. The sounds of the wind and rain reminded me of the hurricanes I have experienced. crazy! Either way.. i'm looking forward to my June cruise on "Carnival Conquest". Hope you had a nice time!

[KmomChicago]

I talked a lot in the preview portion of this thread about my family and our plans for this trip. My dad was very excited to try cruising and my stepmom looked forward to it with some concern.

 

Neither of them had any seasickness issues. My dad is a licensed private pilot and has never had any motion sickness in any conveyance, even doing some aerobatic moves in various planes. My stepmom normally takes an antihistamine. For the cruise she replaced it with one Bonine per day (also an antihistamine) and used sea bands on both wrists. Even on the rough first night and next morning, she did not become seasick.

 

I spent far too much time worrying those first couple of days about making everyone happy. I was convinced they were not, when in fact, they were. They didn't really understand what to expect from Princess Cays, having never been anywhere tropical or out of the U.S. (except Viet Nam in 1967 of course, which doesn't really compare, does it?) so they were not very bothered that we missed it.

 

I will be telling about our visit to Nassau in more detail in some upcoming posts. We did visit Fort Charlotte early on our full day in port as planned but did not visit any other forts nor did we eat at the Fish Fry. The one fort was enough of an excursion, and I am glad we took a taxi and paid the driver to wait while we toured the fort, rather than messing around with the buses or trying to get a 2nd cab later. The walk to get from the ship all the way down the pier, through the border entry, and out to where you can get any kind of ride, was plenty for them. A cane would have helped. We had walked too much at Disney the previous week and he really hadn't gotten rested up from that before we sailed.

 

We chose not to eat at the Fish Fry per our original plans because we were just so ridiculously overfed by this point - this was the last full day of the cruise - that it just didn't seem all that great an idea anymore. I walked dad and my kiddo back to the ship before lunch time and they were more than happy to help themselves to the buffet which I think they were starting to look at as their own personal pantry.

 

My dad really likes soft serve ice cream. I don't think I really understood the significance of this. I think he had the following daily servings:

 

Early morning soft serve

Pre-coffee soft serve

Post-coffee soft serve

Breakfast soft serve

Mid-morning soft serve

Post lunch soft serve

Afternoon tea soft serve

Pre dinner soft serve

Evening soft serve

Bedtime soft serve

 

The experience was a rousing success. They absolutely loved it.

 

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[KmomChicago]

Great Review! I am on this ship in 2 days...

Was thinking I could post pictures from the middle of the night (I am like you, up at 4 am) but you beat me to it.. My review will just be to go see yours :)

Thanks for all the great pictures!!

 

 

 

Enjoy the cruise and please post more pics!! There are nooks and crannies all over and there is still plenty to photograph and share.

 

Everyone’s experience is unique, even on the same sailing. Please tell your story too - it really can help people trying to plan their own voyage.

 

 

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[KmomChicago]

Just a quick one here. We went to dinner on elegant night in the MDR right when they opened at 5:45 for your time dining. I put on a black cocktail length dress (you’re welcome, fancy people), DD had on a dress, DH put on a nice blue plaid dress shirt with a tie and khaki slacks. We were about average for the evening. A couple came in wearing a tux and an evening gown and over a few tables was the family in jeans and hoodies which would probably have been athletic shorts and flip flops except for the chilly weather. Who the heck cares? I sure don’t.

 

 

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[KmomChicago]

 

 

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[KmomChicago]

 

Sun’s finally coming up and ooh, here comes a ship. Who could it be?

 

Wow! It’s the brand spankin’ new MSC Seaside!

 

 

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[KmomChicago]

Yep, it’s rope.

 

In our taxi heading to Fort Charlotte.

And here we are.

 

 

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[KmomChicago]

Ooh, from the fort we have a fine view of the harbor. Who’s coming? Could it be Carnival Liberty?

 

She’s not the only one. Norwegian Epic is there now.!

 

 

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[KmomChicago]

 

 

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[KmomChicago]

Parts of the fort were carved out of limestone bedrock rather than built per se. So it’s held up pretty well.

 

 

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[Daphne'sMom]

Your review is very entertaining. Thank you so much for taking the time to pay it forward.