Sensation Review---8/23/09 - 8/27/09

[cruisincory]

Well I am back at work after sailing the Sensation this week, so I figure I will try to give a good review of our week. This is my 1st review, so bear with me:D

 

We started our vacation on Friday, 8/21. We stayed in Daytona Beach, FL for 2 days before the cruise. We had an awesome time playing in the ocean. Hurricane Bill was producing some killer waves up next to the beach, but the rip current was pretty rough. I heard on the news that they performed 6 rescues and had 1 fatality due to the rip current. I have to highly recommend the Daytona 500 experience. It was a great behind the scenes tour of the Daytona International Speedway. I believe it was $24 pp, and included a tour of the track, entry to the museum, and an hour long IMAX 3D movie.

 

We left Daytona on Sunday morning around 9:30am. The excitement was really getting at us :Dand we about busted out of the seats when we saw this... (sorry pic is so small, still figuring out photobucket);)

 

Then we saw this..

 

more to come in next post...

[cruisincory]

We arrived at Port Canaveral around 11am. We dropped our luggage with the porters (tipped $1 per bag) and headed into the cruise terminal.

We checked in at the counter and as we were going to our seats, they announced over the PA system that it was our 1st Anniversary which was pretty cool. Nice to get recognition

 

we were seated in the terminal by zones. When your zone is about to be called, the embarkation specialists start clapping, shaking maracas, and do a little chant about the zone that is being called. It took less than 30 mins from the time we dropped our bags to the time we were on the ship. We proceeded to Lido deck for lunch. I had the pizza which was great as usual. My wife had the buffet, which was just average. (more on food coming up)

 

We then went out to the pool deck and enjoyed our 1st Fun Ships:D

 

After this, we went to the room. It was ready at 1:30. We had a porthole room, R31, on the starboard side near the bow. It was a nice room, a little noisy when the waves break on the bow, but nothing we couldnt handle. We met our Steward who was great all week. He did a really good job cleaning the room and having the bed turned down and a towel animal waiting on us every night.

 

We then went up to the Galleria where they were having a free liquor tasting at 5:30.

 

They had several different flavors of Rum. I tried the Vanilla and my wife tried the mango, both were very good. We walked away and came back for another "sample" a little later.:D

 

More to come in a little while, they are actually making me work now..:(

[teahoney]

Can't wait to read more. I go on Sunday!

[TakeMeAway1001]

Great review so far, looking forward to the rest :)

[cruisincory]

We ate in the Dining room every night. We were on anytime dining, and we loved it. Its nice being able to eat when you want and sit where you want every night. I did feel like the service was not up to par on some nights. I was brought the wrong order on the 2nd night. By the time they brought me what I had ordered, my wife had almost finished her meal. It took them almost 15mins to get my right order out. It was also hard to get a coke in there. I would tell the waiter, and I guess he would forget. I had to flag down bar staff every night and order my coke.

We have only been on 1 other cruise, but I did notice the food was no where as near as good as it was last time. The lobster tail had no taste to it and was like chewing rubber. The flat iron steak was ok, just a steak. The last night had the best food. We both had the crab cake appetizer and the veal parmesan. They were both very good. I ended up eating 3 crab cake appetizers. The rest of the time, the food was just ok. The chocolate melting cake and apple pie were very good as well.

The food on Lido deck tasted like cafeteria food. The burgers were good. The Mexican buffet was good. The breakfast on Lido was also pretty much tasteless. We were very disappointed in the quality and taste of the food on this cruise.

We went to the captains evening in the Fantasia Lounge. They are still serving free drinks, but no hors d'oeuvres anymore.

We went to both shows in the lounge during the cruise. The 1st show was a tribute to the 80's and the second show was more of a Las Vegas style show. We noticed during both shows that some of the dancers were out of sync, and most of the singing sounded like karaoke. The 1st show was the better of the 2. The second show, Curves, was definitely not for the kids due to the costumes and the provocative dancing. It didn’t keep me interested and I found myself checking my watch to see if it was over yet.

Review of the ports of call in a little while.

[gypsyrose]

Loving the pictoral review. Looking forward to the rest w/ lots more pics please:D

[cruisincory]

Our ports of call were Freeport and Nassau, Bahamas.

 

We arrived in Freeport @ 8:00 am and were off the ship at 8:15. We took a taxi ($25 each way) to Pinetree Stables. There we did a horseback eco tour. The tour took you on a trail and on to the Caribbean. Our guides Linda and Chris were awesome. They knew everything about the island. They showed us several different types of butterfly, birds, spiders, and several different herbs that grow on the island. We then proceeded to the beach. We took the horses into the water about belly high. This was absolutely one of the best things I have ever done. I highly recommend it. $85 pp and the tour took about 2 hours. (I will have pics of this later, they are on a disposable camera and we have to get it developed)

We then took a cab back to the ship. We took showers, ate, and then went back out. We did all of our shopping at the Straw Market. My wife bought a handmade purse with her initials on it. They sew your initials into the bag right in front of you. I bought a money bank that looks like a monkey and is made out of hollowed out coconut shells. The lady at the market said that her husband made it, but the sticker on the bottom said it was made in the Philippines. Oh well, I like it either way. We then got back onto the ship and waited on the next port, Nassau.

[teahoney]

I am DYING at the woman saying her husband made the bank. Priceless!

[cruisincory]

We arrived in Nassau at 7am. We decided to sleep in that morning. We disembarked around 1030am. We took the #10 jitney to the Sheraton Cable Beach. Jitney was $1.25 pp both ways. To get to the #10, you walk out of the port terminal, walk over to Bay St, then turn right, go 3 blocks to George St. They were all lined up there.

 

At the Sheraton, we rented a day room. It was $99pp and you get your own room and use off everything the Sheraton has to offer. I think you can pay $119 pp and lunch is included. We ordered off the menu at the resturant. When the food arrived, my cheeseburger was half raw. I sent it back, and it took them 20mins to get me another one. It was not worth the wait.

 

Other than the food, we had a great time there. Here are a few pics.

 

View from our room, room #177

 

 

 

We stayed here until 6:00. We took the jitney back to port, got on the ship, showered and ate.

 

We got back off the ship @ 7:30 to do some shopping. BEWARE-- if you want to do any shopping in Nassau, do it before 6pm. After that time, all the stores close. We were looking foward to doing some shopping, and were very disappointed when we got off the ship and saw everything was closed. We did manage to find 2 stores open, but both had the same things. We stopped at a small bar and had a couple of drinks, then went back to the ship. BEWARE--we were offered every type of drug you can imagine while walking around Nassau, they were not pushy, just offered it. Be ready for that.

 

 

The next day of the cruise was a fun day at sea. We layed around all day and got things packed up for debarkation.

 

We arrived in Port Canaveral around 6am the last day. We chose to do self-dembarkation. It was simple, carry your things off when your deck is called. We got stopped by Customs on the way out so that they could check out the monkey banks we bought in Freeport. It looked like we were trying to take off some coconuts, but when they saw they were hollowed out, they let us go. We were back to the truck by 8:30 am. We arrived back home about 8pm last night.

 

I will follow up with the good and bad in a little while..

[cruisincory]

The Ship- Ship layout is very simple, perfect for a 1st time cruiser. The stateroom steward was very polite and always stopped us to ask how we were doing and if we needed anything. The beds in the room were very comfy, but the A/C didn’t keep the room as cool as I would have liked. *SMOKERS*There are several smoking areas on the ship which is a plus for us. We could smoke in the Touch of Class piano lounge. There is a smoking area on Lido near the pool. You could smoke on one side of the Serenity area. You could also smoke in the disco and the lounge next to it. You could also smoke in the room. The pool on Lido is kind of small and stays full 90% of the time. It is filled with Sea Water and is drained every night, sometimes too early. We went up to swim on the 2nd night at 9pm and the pool was drained and a net was across it. They should really keep them open until at least 11pm. The hot tubs in the Serenity stayed open until around 11 every night.

 

Ports of call- The ports of call were awesome as well. The Sheraton @ Cable Beach was awesome. Pinetree Stables in Freeport is a must do. Just wished the stores in Nassau would stay open later. Unless you want to go to Senor Frogs with the party crowd, then there is nothing to do in Nassau after 6pm.

 

The Food- The food on the ship was a disappointment from what we had on the Inspiration last year. The quality and taste of the food was not up to par most of the time. We were really looking forward to pigging out on this cruise, but unfortunately, we didn’t. We did order room service one night. We had BLT's and cheesecake and both were good.

 

The Entertainment- The entertainment was a joke. The singers sounded like we were in a Karaoke lounge and the dancing looked like a high school musical. The one bright spot was the juggler that performed on the 2nd night. He was very good and was funnier than both the comics. (Comedian T.C. Tahoe was not funny at all. He did magic and comedy one night, and had an adult comedy the last night. We wished we had skipped them both.) There was a band playing in Michelangelo’s lounge. Their name was Music Power. They took requests and were pretty good. The guy in the piano lounge seemed to only know Frank Sinatra, because that was what he was playing every time we went in there.

 

The Staff- The cruise director was Stephanie Meads. She seemed to do a pretty good job. Other staff members on the ship were not so polite. We were almost run over by several crew members while we were walking around. It was almost like they didn’t see us. One crew member almost knocked a tray of food out of my hands when he ran into me. Didn’t even get an apology.

 

One thing that annoyed me was the last day. When they give you the comment cards and BEG you to put "exceeded expectations" in every box. In my opinion, if you put this every time, then how do they know where they need to improve? I told the truth on my comment card, even though according to the CD, that means they have failed. I don’t sugar coat things like that. If you need improvement, then I will tell you that.

 

 

Overall, we had a good time on the cruise. Like a wise cruise critic poster said one time, "A bad day on a cruise is better than a great day at work"

 

I will try to have some other assorted pics from the cruise later. I don’t have access to all the pics while I am at work, but I will try to post some later when I get home.

 

Hope you have enjoyed my review. If you have any questions, let me know and I will try to answer them

:D

[mkluvs2cruise]

We are cruising soon with our kids and were wondering what movies they were showing on the tv's?

[cruisincory]

I will have to check the Capers when I get home from work. The ones I remember seeing were The Departed, 300, and Watchmen.

[Breucklin]

awesome review..and pics are great...im craving that DOD you and wife are holding..LOL

 

question?? you mentioned a straw market at freeport...was this market right on the dock of freeport??..i hope so, cause when i went 3 years ago it was closed...

 

thanks!!!

[cruisincory]

awesome review..and pics are great...im craving that DOD you and wife are holding..LOL

 

question?? you mentioned a straw market at freeport...was this market right on the dock of freeport??..i hope so, cause when i went 3 years ago it was closed...

 

thanks!!!

 

Yes, you can see it as soon as you get off the ship. Once off the ship, you turn right to go to the end of the fence then turn back to your left. The straw market is there on the right. There is a sign at the entrance that says Straw Market. There are a couple of enclosed stores near the straw market..I remember one of them was a drug store because I bought a pepsi there..(I am a pepsi addict and Carnival only serves Coke, so every chance I saw to get a ice cold pepsi, I got one.

[Breucklin]

kewl..thanks for the info...and i will be trying those crab cakes you mentioned...LOL

[Poomah]

Thanks for a forthright review.

[auntkaty]

Do you think the Carnival execs read these posts? It would be nice if they did and took measures to improve. I am on the Sensation in November with trepidation. Sounds like I shouldn't expect much in the way of food, entertainment or courtesy

[xitappers2bx]

We are cruising soon with our kids and were wondering what movies they were showing on the tv's?

 

 

I just cruised the Sensation in July and I wouldn't bank on childrens movies. The TV's had cartoon network and nickelodeon, but half the time they were in Spanish. it was way weird. I ended up using my laptop as a dvd player for her... its easier and it was a lot less of a hassle of having to flip channels back and forthing hoping the upcoming show is in english... we were in a Cat 12 and didnt get a DVD player so I'm assuming none of the cabins come with them.

 

really though, she was so busy doing camp carnival, she really didnt want to sit around and watch tv. even when we went back to the stateroom to just relax and chill out we sat onthe balcony and talked about stuff. it was nice... really nice.

 

and just a note... if your kids are picky, just let the server know what they like... our guy (Merwin) was amazing and had grape jelly sandwiches and milk waiting for her every night. (even though its not on the menu)

[xitappers2bx]

Do you think the Carnival execs read these posts? It would be nice if they did and took measures to improve. I am on the Sensation in November with trepidation. Sounds like I shouldn't expect much in the way of food, entertainment or courtesy

 

 

I just was on her, and she was a great ship... totally loved her... and i think 99% of it is attitude... its going to be what you make it. we had some wicked storms the last night, but i didnt let it ruin my trip... the food was outstanding, the service was great, our room steward was fantastic, the drinks were strong, and the atmosphere light and airy. Can't really ask for much more... with that said, I had a great time... my parnets who are more expieriance cruisers (on RCCL online) went with a closed mind and with trepidation regarding it, and my mom did nothing but complain and nitpick. just relax and have fun and you will have fun.:) i promise.

[sk8rpatty]

The guy in the piano lounge seemed to only know Frank Sinatra, because that was what he was playing every time we went in there.

:D

 

That is too funny...he probably knows over 1,000 songs. Did you bother to make a request??