Not a fan of Sensation

[Tapi]

I LOVE Carnival and I just returned from my tenth cruise on them. However, of all the Carnival cruises I've taken, the Sensation was definitely at the bottom of my list.

 

The decoration is definitely one of the uglier ones in the entire fleet. I personally like to be surrounded by pleasing surroundings, and the Sensation didn't provide that.

 

As far as service goes, we also encountered a somewhat lackluster performance from our cabin steward and waiter. It wasn't bad, just not what we had experienced before.

 

Debarkation was slow and unorganized and even with self-assist debarkation, we couldn't get off the ship until 10am.

 

Finally, many fellow passengers left a lot to be desired. We shared the ship with many who just didn't know quite how to behave in public places.

 

The cruise was not a horrible experience, just not great...

[Drew's Wife]

We'll meet one day!!

 

We are considering a B2B on the Sensation for our 25th anniversary in late October of this year.

 

I look forward to hearing how you like the modifications - w/new balconies and all!!!

 

Tom

 

Well congratulations on the upcoming 25th! That's a milestone. We'll be celebrating number eight on the Sensation on October 1 2009.

 

I'm sure the ship will be so nice with all the refurbishments. Doubt our cabin will get any new upgrades. We always pick the same cabin, and even though I looked and noticed some of the newer extended balconies, are larger than ours, we like the fact that there is no on one across from us and only a cabin on one side. I looked and couldn't find the same set up with any of the newer balconies. And we love the fact that where our cabin is, it is so quiet. We really do hope to meet you one day.

[LindaLa]

We have been on several cruises, and I would say that our cruise on the

Sensation was our least favorite. Our last few cruises have been on NCL and I am now certain that I prefer the freestyle - so you can eat when you prefer. I also had two spa treatments on the ship and the spa was not as nice as the others. It was also a shorter cruise than we are used to, so that might have had something to do with it. Disembarkation took forever. That is another thing I like about Freestyle. You can disembark yourself first if you can carry your bags. The ship was clean and the service was ok. I can't exactly pinpoint why I did not like the cruise, but it was just ok. I have several friends who prefer Carnival to all others, I guess that I am just not too convinced.

[Lgarth]

We just sailed on the Sensation for Thanksgiving. Our 1st time on Carnival and we thought it was great. We were prepared for the decor and I personally like purple. It was not over decorated for Christmas either, which sometimes can be even more tackier than the decor itself. The ship was very clean too. We did not eat in the dining room at all, but chose to eat when we wanted. The buffet always had plenty when we were there, at any time of the day. We were off the ship by 9 am. It is what you make of it and research is a great resource. We would sail on her again in an instant.

Sorry you were disapointed.

[beach410]

What a shame you didnt enjoy the Sensation, you probably would have enjoyed her better after she comes out of dry dock, shes gettting her evolutions of fun upgrades this month. I was a little disappointed when I first saw the condition of the rooms, and public restrooms, the rest of the ship was lovely, as just prior we were on the Imagination and everything was redone beautifully. But our wait staff and the food was fantastic and I soon forgot the degraded condition of some of the areas on board. Our experience on the Sensation was much opposite. You would probably enjoy the Imagination or Ispiration, however, the food is very similar, which I have no problem with, although, wasnt as good on the Imagination, but we always found something satisfying to eat. We are going on the Sensation again in June, hoping for a repeat performance of our great experience last time.

[Knights on the Beach]

We have been on several cruises, and I would say that our cruise on the

Sensation was our least favorite. Our last few cruises have been on NCL and I am now certain that I prefer the freestyle - so you can eat when you prefer. I also had two spa treatments on the ship and the spa was not as nice as the others. It was also a shorter cruise than we are used to, so that might have had something to do with it. Disembarkation took forever. That is another thing I like about Freestyle. You can disembark yourself first if you can carry your bags. The ship was clean and the service was ok. I can't exactly pinpoint why I did not like the cruise, but it was just ok. I have several friends who prefer Carnival to all others, I guess that I am just not too convinced.

Most Carnival ships also allow you to debark early by carrying off your own luggage. We weren't offered that option when we were on Sensation in December 2007. I don't know if that's always the case or just sometimes, but I'd read comments from other cruisers around that same time that said they couldn't do self-assist either.

[shargurl]

We were on the Sensation last September and had a good time. Service was excellent, our waitstaff and room steward were very accommodating. I'm sorry you had a bad experience!

[canuck_cruiser]

I have been actively "googling" the Carnival Sensation recently as this will be my first cruise. I have seen some pictures and look forward to its refurbishment as we will be sailing February 22, 2009. I am a bit hesitant - not because of the cruiseship but because I suffer from seasickness. This is the reason why I have waited so long to take a cruise.

 

Has anyone asked for a crib in the past? I am taking my one-year old and he'll need one. Other family members will be housed in other cabins.

 

It's been great reading the past threads on these boards. Lots of great information! :)

[bobsfamily]

I have been actively "googling" the Carnival Sensation recently as this will be my first cruise. I have seen some pictures and look forward to its refurbishment as we will be sailing February 22, 2009. I am a bit hesitant - not because of the cruiseship but because I suffer from seasickness. This is the reason why I have waited so long to take a cruise.

 

Has anyone asked for a crib in the past? I am taking my one-year old and he'll need one. Other family members will be housed in other cabins.

 

It's been great reading the past threads on these boards. Lots of great information! :)

 

For the seasickness check the threads about ginger... I don't get that but the comments have made me think about taking it just in case.

[GottaLuvCruising]

We've sailed the Sensation twice (once Caribbean, once Bahamas) and enjoyed both very much. The decor is a typical Fantasy-class gawdy, but hopefully with the upcoming refurbishment will see much improvement. For those who haven't seen this way-too-much-purple ship, here's a link to pictures from almost two years ago:

 

http://www.kodakgallery.com:80/ShareLanding.action?c=10q6e9zr.21jyztsz&x=0&y=-t83bfw&localeid=en_US&cm_mmc=site_email-_-site_share-_-core-_-view_photos_button

[Cptnkirky]

Yeah she will be refurbed this month, suppose to be adding flat screens to every room, something like 86 balconies, new carpet, fresh paint, etc.

 

We were going to sail her in April for our Honeymoon but decided the 4 day was too short for a honeymoon so we are going with a 7 day on the Libtery! Whoo hoo can't wait! :):D:p:cool::D

 

Hey Pyrotec...where r u getting married?? Just curious...we live in Orlando now (formerly MD and NJ) and are getting married a week or so behind you in St Pete!

[Seaquestor]

We just returned from our first cruise aboard the Carnival Sensation. My wife and two children, ages 8 and 11 departed Port Canaveral on Jan 04 for the 4 day Bahamas cruise. As this was our first cruise we sought out lots of advice from friends who had experience. There are a lot of things in life that you just have to stop and say WOW!! This trip was one of those.

Now let me explain the "WOW" part, pulling into the port was so cool we were all excited to see all the ships and the kids quickly pointed out the Sensation, we pulled right up and proceeded to the unload zone where I dropped of the Family and luggage, I then proceeded to the parking lot.

$15.00 per day, "WOW" that seems a bit steep. I caught up with everyone and the line moved very quickly, the Carnival personnel were very perky and helpful. It took only a few minutes and we were heading on board.

The Sensation is old and very dated but I liked the 70's and 80's and Purple so it was fine with us, the ship appeared to be very clean despite the age.

 

We went up to the lido deck for our first meal onboard and stopped off to get soda cards for everyone. $100.00 + for four people, "WOW" just for soda I thought. The food at the buffet was good and the staff was polite.

My waif had a meeting to attend at 17:00 so after we found our cabin we settled in, took a walk around the ship and then headed our seperate ways for while. I would like to say that we were supposed to depart at 16:00 but we did not, this played total havoc with our schedule for the evening.

We planned to attend the on deck departures festivities but we were still docked, check in for the Camp carnival was at 17:15 and dinner was at 18:00, the circle C check in was at 20:15. Need less to say we were going to miss something and that was the departure festivities. I was at camp Carnival, with my Daughter and my wife was in her meeting at about 17:40 I noticed we were moving. time to all regroup for Dinner. Dinner was great, the staff was excellent as was the food.

I don't want to detail the entire trip but I do want to point out that this combined with what appeared to be some type of allergic reaction to something my wife ate that resulted in two seperate trips to the Infimary which was nearly $200.00 ("WOW") and the onboard deconstruction of the Basketball and Golf netting while we were in the adjacent hot tub was making this a less than enjoyable trip. The complaints were flying at the pursers desk and customer service for those complaints was non existent.

Now I understand corporate America where somebody who gets paid way too much to do their job tells all the little minions to "get as much done as soon as possible" mentallity but telling everyone to leave the Basketball court so they can dismantle it really goes beyond what a guest should be expected to put up with!!:mad: I was amazed at the fact that the only reason I had to turn in the rum I purchased in Nassau was because I walked over and turned it in.

I watched people just walk right by who I know bought something. "WOW"

 

So we were not totally pleased with our trip, but we are looking forward to our next one, we are looking at taking the same cruise aboard the same ship in August, this will be after the refit and we are hopeful that this was just a series of unfortunate events that made for a less than stellar first time.

 

P.S.

I should note that the soda cards were charged based on Sun-Thurs, Either Sun. or Thurs. should have been free, esp. Thurs. we docked at 06:45 and never used them on that day.

 

Happy Cruising!!:D

[rock59]

I was also on the Sensation Thanksgiving weekend, and although I had a great time with my daughter, it wasn't my favorite of 7 previous Carnival Cruises (I've also cruised RCI 2x and NCL). I really don't care about the decor, but I do think the Dining Room Service and Dining Time really has a lot to do with the cruise experience. This was our first cruise where we were assigned late seating (not our requested time) and we really didn't like it and we were seated with 3 couples in their late 20's (I am 49 and my daughter 19...not the best match). On top of that, this was the first time we really had a horrible waiter and assistant waiter. He totally forgot to take my daughters order one night and only realized it when he brought the rest of our appetizers and she was still sitting with the menu in front of her. Also, once we got our food, we would never see either of them again until the plates were ready to be cleared, so if you needed something, forget it. Had I been a 1st time cruiser, I probably would have been surprised and a little dissapointed.

 

I was on the Sensation before out of New Orleans and it was one of our favorite trips, even though it turned out to be a 5 day cruise to nowhere due to hurricanes! So, you just never know...

 

I will always have fun on a cruise...its just some are definately better and more memorable than others. In fact, I'm headed to the Glory this Saturday!