My family just returned from the Carnival Sensation cruise to the Bahamas. It was my husband and my 2nd cruise. Our kid's first. They are 16 and 14. Our first cruise was on Norwegian Cruise Lines 7 day around Hawaii. Overall we had a great time. The kids especially enjoyed themselves. My husband and I both agreed we like the NCL cruise better for a few reasons. The NCL was a freestyle cruise and that seemed to fit our style more. It offered more options regarding when and where you could eat.

The Sensation cruise was fun, but it tended to be geared more to the "rah rah" party types. The overall age on this ship was much younger than the NCL cruise and the social status of the guests much lower as well. Much more kids than with NCL, and more of a rowdy crowd.

The entertainment was well done, but a little on the "adult" side. Although they warned you about the PG-13 rating of their "Curves" show, the other entertainment also had a very adult flavor to it. For instance, the "hairy chest contest" was in the middle of the afternoon by the pool and there were numerous very young children all crowded around watching it. The staff prodded and encouraged the males with the hairy chests to dance in a very suggestive sexual way to the female judges and had them come up with the best pick up line to win the prize. I thought it was a bit inappropriate for the audience that was watching. Read more