Just off the Sensation this morning - questions?

[crusinmama06]

I keep all of the scanned Capers here...

http://s204.photobucket.com/albums/bb196/cruisinmama06/Camp%20Carnival%20Capers/

 

So if you get a chance to scan any, I would love to see them before we leave. We'll be going on the 4 day on Sensation on the 19th.

 

If you could email me the capers I can upload them with the others...

bmediamom@comcast.net

 

Thanks!

[lupee13]

I am 24 and my cousin is 25...we are a bit older then you!! I am SOOO excited!! Who are you going with?

 

 

my family....20 year old brother, me and my parents

 

I can't wait til sunday!

[niffer03878]

OK.. I don't know if it's because I'm a crusing newbie or if I'm just totally clueless in general, but what the heck is a caper??? There is so much I have to learn about crusing terminology etc before our cruise in September.. I feel like I'm going to be totally lost when we go on the Sensation :o .

 

Help~~~~

[Knights on the Beach]

OK.. I don't know if it's because I'm a crusing newbie or if I'm just totally clueless in general, but what the heck is a caper???

The daily schedule of activities comes out in a paper called Carnival Capers.

[firsttimecruiser83]

lupee...I know I cant wait. 5 days!!! :D

[jaxxx123]

ill be on the sensation soon , I hope i enjoy it as much as you guys did.

 

 

I plan on doing the stuart cove snorkling....where did you guys book this??

 

also it says that the bus would pick up ppl from the cruises....was it on time??? where can I find the bus??

 

also what room did you guys stay at and how was it?? quite? any noises you hear??

[looneytunes31419]

Thanks for the review, We are taking the sensation on Aug 23-26. I am glad to hear that matt ross is back I read a review a couple of day ago and we heard that tory was the CD. Did not care for her much on the celebration back in Dec. She was not funny at all. We are taking our twin boys on her for their 16th birthday so glad to hear they will enjoy club O2. I am sure they will have fun regardless. ;)

 

 

 

 

 

Hi,

 

We cruised on Sensation from 8/2 - 8/5, the three-day Nassau itinerary. Other cruisers have done better reviews recently than I surely would, so I'll just post a few observations. I do have the daily capers, the capers for Camp Carnival ages 9-11 group and Club O2. I'll try to get them scanned and posted if anyone's interested.

 

Some observations:

 

Yes, it really is that purple and neon. Pictures don't do it justice. It's so very Las-Vegas-on-the-water. That was okay by us, but it really gave the whole cruise a vibe, you know?

 

Embarkation was easy. We only needed either a passport (expired less than 10 years is still accepted right now) or a certified birth certificate and official photo ID. In Nassau, we just needed our S&S card and a photo ID to get on/off the ship.

 

The food was somewhat disappointing. I only have the Pride to compare it to, and I thought the Pride much better. The things that were very well done, such as the chateaubriand and pan-seared grouper, were on a par with the best restaurants, but lots of things were only so-so. The whipped potatoes that came with the chateaubriand, for example, had a hard crust like they had sat under the heat lamp too long. I'm sure our waiter (great service) would have replaced anything I didn't like, but it didn't seem worth the effort. I wasn't going hungry, and there were things I liked about every dinner. We didn't go to formal night, since we were enjoying Nassau.

 

The food in the Seaview grill was only so-so. I know everyone raves about the pizza and the reuben sandwiches, so I tried both. The pizza was doughy and not thin and crispy, like New York-style pizza should be. The reuben had the thinnest smear of dressing and a half-slice of cheese, and the rye was toasted dry, not with butter, resulting in a really ho-hum sandwich. The sushi, on the other hand, was excellent. Breakfasts in both the dining room and the buffet were sub-par, with mealy watery eggs on the buffet and overcooked eggs in the dining room.

 

The cruise director, Matt Ross, was good. We don't do/watch things like the newlywed game, bingo or the hairy chest contest, but when we did see him he was personable and funny.

 

DH and I are not fans of Vegas-style shows, but we really enjoyed the 80's show. Definitely worth seeing. We didn't go to the Curves show or the comedy shows, so I don't know if all the shows are that good or not.

 

We saw Captain Leotta more times in three days than I'd seen the captain on a 7-day cruise. He definitely gets out there and walks around. I was impressed. In fact, ALL the staff were efficient, friendly and quick to respond to any request. We really liked our room steward, Levi.

 

Both my 11yo and my 15yo enjoyed Camp Carnival and Club O2, respectively. We barely saw the 11yo because we couldn't drag her out of there. Even my 15yo boy, who is not much of a "joiner," said the Club O2 counselors made him feel comfortable and welcome in the club. The staff in both places were very professional, and I would feel comfortable leaving a child of any age in their care.

 

If you have any specific questions, I'll do my best to answer them. Just keep in mind we're really boring cruisers; we find the quietest deck chair and chill!

[Cruise_Monkey]

Would the Sensation be a good first cruise? A co-worker of mine is sailing on this ship in October and doesn't want to go. I keep telling him to relax and enjoy. I can't think of a bad ship or a bad time to cruise but he is determined not to enjoy the vacation. His wife booked the cruise for their anniversary and is excited about the cruise.

I am tempted to tell his wife to cancel the cruise. I wouldn't want to be on a ship with anyone so negative.

 

I agree with some of the others; if you're determined to see the worst in a cruise vacation, well you probably will.

 

If you have a bad attitude, I suppose there's plenty of things that'll feed into it; crowding at the pool, lines at the buffet, too many kids (if you're traveling without kids of your own), small rooms (compared to land hotels), etc.

 

If on the other hand you go into it with an open mind, a "I'll give anything a chance" attitude, most people are very pleasantly surprised at how great it is (I know I was)!

 

BTW, we were on the 4-day Sensation trip immediately before the OP's 3-day trip, and had a wonderful time!

[bguppies]

No, I didn't. Isn't Carnival still taking reservations for the Sensation out of Canaveral well into 2008?

 

That doesn't matter at all.

 

All Carnival does is cancel reservations made for the dates after the repositioning and try to rebook people on the ship that replaces the Sensation.

 

The same thing happened when the Sensation was moved to Port Canaveral and when the Elation was moved from Port Canaveral to the West Coast.

 

Whenever Carnival is ready to announce the sale of the Celebration and the Holiday (the relics) and the moves of ships into those ports and then the succesive moves to fill those spots, there will be alot of reservation juggling. (I can't imagine the rumor about the Sensation replacing the Celebration in Jacksonville, not being true. After the sales are done, the Sensation will be the 3rd oldest ship in the fleet)

 

They just added Freedom, Splendor next year, then the next two MEGA ships, the following 3 years.

There are only so many islands to sail to....

Some older ships have to go.

 

Bill

[Ellanora]

Always glad to see a good review of my favorite ship so far, Sensation. Glad you had a good time. For those of you about to sail her, congrats! I can't wait to read your reviews as well. :)

[kapeavey]

Thanks for the review!

 

To Looneytunes31419: my husband and I are sailing on 8/23 as well! We'll look for you!

 

Is Matt Ross a good cruise director? I thought it was Tory as well and I had also read that she's only so-so. I hope Matt is a good one!

[Ellanora]

Matt Ross was the cruise director when I was on the Sensation last September - I really liked him. The only other one I have been exposed to was Marscallah Stanton on the Fantasy; I liked Matt Ross better.

[jaxxx123]

Ill be on the sensation 8/23 as well:)

[urbabie2]

Matt Ross was the cruise director when I was on the Sensation last September - I really liked him. The only other one I have been exposed to was Marscallah Stanton on the Fantasy; I liked Matt Ross better.

 

 

how was the weather last september when you went? =)

[bguppies]

how was the weather last september when you went? =)

 

Hot and hotter....

It is basically whatever the weather is in Port Canaveral when you leave.

(rains just like Florida too. A quick shower almost every day then back to sunny day)

 

Just some ocean breezes to break some of the heat and humidity.

 

If you want to do anything exerting at all (walking tour, etc...) do it as early in the morning as possible.

 

Use the hot afternoons to lounge poolside or at the beach.

 

Bill

[TMEF]

What night is formal night on the 3 day sailing of the Sensation?

 

Also, do they do a past guest party on this ship?

[sns101]

The formal night is on day two (port day in Nassau). There was no past-guest reception to my knowledge. If there was, I did not receive an invitation nor was it listed in the capers.

[Ellanora]

how was the weather last september when you went? =)

 

As bguppies said, it is pretty warm, especially in port. The breeze onboard while the ship is moving is very nice. We only had rain on part of one day during our 4 night cruise.

[TMEF]

Thank You for the info! Do you know what time the latest you need to be back on the ship when leaving Nassau???

[crusinmama06]

I have a question, why is everyone going on the 23rd and not the 19? :D

 

I'll be sooooo alone. ;) I wonder if there is a group booked that week or something?

[TMEF]

Anyone have capers for the Sensation??

[niffer03878]

I have a question, why is everyone going on the 23rd and not the 19? :D

 

I'll be sooooo alone. ;) I wonder if there is a group booked that week or something?

 

My DH and I are starting to think we are the only ones going on the Sensation on Sept 9th :( Oh well, more room on the ship for us :D

 

Enjoy your trip. We are excited/nervous for ours as we've never been on a ship before. So many unknowns. As long as the weather is beautiful we'll be happy!

[crusinmama06]

My DH and I are starting to think we are the only ones going on the Sensation on Sept 9th :( Oh well, more room on the ship for us :D

 

Enjoy your trip. We are excited/nervous for ours as we've never been on a ship before. So many unknowns. As long as the weather is beautiful we'll be happy!

 

You're right, I just checked and there is no active roll call for that date either. Well at least we'll get a deck chair. ;)

 

And I was on the sister ship (Elation) in December...we had such a good time that I had to try Sensation. Three cruises in one year...it's gotta be good. ;)

[Knights on the Beach]

Anyone have capers for the Sensation??

 

I found these online from May:

 

http://travel.webshots.com/album/559207646lmyBHY

[MaryZ]

Hi,

 

 

Some observations:

 

Yes, it really is that purple and neon. Pictures don't do it justice. It's so very Las-Vegas-on-the-water. That was okay by us, but it really gave the whole cruise a vibe, you know?

 

 

LOL, that was our favorite ship. We sailed on her 3 times back in the 90's. I loved how "las vegas glitzy" it was.

In fact, now that they are going to redo the whole fantasy class, I was telling my husband and we might go back on the sensation again.

The sensation was the first ship we took our kids on. It was the ship that made us love cruising as a family vacation, so I have a very soft spot in my heart for her.