Carnival Sensation Review

Sensational Spring Break

Review for the Bahamas Cruise on Carnival Sensation
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umpalumpa14588
First Time Cruiser • Age 40s

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Sail Date: Mar 2008

BACKGROUND: This was the first cruise for my mom (56) and I (27). We live in Upstate NY so we flew from Rochester to Orlando the day before sailing. HOTEL: We stayed at the Ramada Airport because of the price. Despite horrible reviews, our room was clean and the hotel was much nicer than we expected. The only problems we had was having to go to the front desk and ask for pool towels, and we found a cockroach (!) the morning we left. We took the free Ramada shuttle to and from the hotel back to the airport in the am. TRAVEL TO PORT: Locating the Carnival shuttle (Mears) at OIA was easy as can be. The bus we took to the port was comfortable & the driver was great. THE SHIP: The ship does show some signs of wear, but what do you expect on a ship that is 15 years old with thousands of passengers on it every day? It was clean, in great repair, and when something needed fixing, they were right there fixing it. ie: they replaced the carpet in the Atrium on the lido deck while we were on board. Being our first cruise, we were amazed at the sheer size of the ship, but it was easy to find our way around. We booked the 4 day on the Sensation because the price was so reasonable. Because of specials, we ended up with a $50 OBC, and because of issues prior to sailing regarding service, a wonderful manager in the Fly Aweigh Department arranged for us to receive a bottle of wine, cork screw, a $15 photo credit and a plate of chocolates and chocolate covered strawberries on embarkation. Everything was fantastic! I had also arranged to have a cake delivered to our cabin for my mom. Everything was beautiful, delicious and waiting when we entered our cabin. STATEROOM: Our cabin was a Cat D #E79. I was totally happy with this and relieved that we booked an OV (for only $10pp extra!). Our steward was Carter from Jamaica. He was funny, and encouraging when we needed a little pick me up- We were very tired the night we were in Nassau. We had told him we were headed to Atlantis, but then thought we'd stay in & go to bed. He encouraged us to go, reminding us that we would regret it if we didn't go. We were really glad we went after all! We loved having our beds made in the morn and turned down at night. The towel animals were fun (whale,seal,elephant & swan) and the choc mints were yummy! The shower has shampoo & body wash & the bowl on the sink contained razors (2), Pepcid AC (2), Motrin, toothpaste (2), and shampoo/conditioner/treatment samples. There was a medicine cabinet that had more than enough room for all of our stuff. We never had a problem with odors, noise or anything else. ACTIVITIES: We went to the tail end of the shop talk, and I won a pendant. We went to a game of BINGO, but we were strictly donators. We went to the Curves show (awesome!) and Far from Over (great!). We saw the Adult comedy show; that was really funny! Of course we went to the Captain's Cocktail Party before the formal dinner. Fine, but no need to stay the whole time. SERVICE: Service from one end of the ship to the other was top notch! I felt really weird leaving my dishes on the table the first time I ate. I really felt like AI should have been cleaning up after myself but that feeling went away quickly. SHORE EXCURSIONS: In Freeport we had booked the snorkeling excursion, but it was too rough for us. Watching people being dragged back onto the boat gasping and exhausted wasn't our cup of tea. In Nassau we went on the glass bottom boat. Really fun, and beautiful. When in Nassau, first thing in the AM we went on the walking tour. It was great, but I got messed up with the directions so we missed some of it. (Does left mean left or right?) DINING: We were in the Fantasy dining room for the 8:30 seating. Oscar was our head waiter & Yo was the asstnt. Funny, funny guys! Every bite of everything we ate was fantastic! We ate in the dining room, the Seaview grill, the Lido buffet. Never got room service though. **The highlight of our trip was the "party" we has at Senor Frogs. I had arranged for a cake to be presented to my mom, but they gave us so much more. The cake was big,yummy & beautiful. We ended up with beads, balloon hats and the notorious free shots. Then the bartender sent us each a "blow job" and I am still trying to figure out what was in it. We had lunch and Miami Vices & we were on our way. What an awesome experience! DISEMBARKATION: Easy as can be. A bit annoyed that they told us to go to the Touch of Class bar at 7:30 because we were #3, but then we waited almost an hour anyway. However, all & all a quick painless experience and we were on our way to the airport by about 9am. If I missed anything, or if anyone has any questions, please let me know!

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