We are first time cruisers, and, we booked the Carnival Sensation. Carnival, our friends, everyone told us how we would love the cruise. Three days was a good jumping off point. My husband, sister, and, myself went on this cruise. We are in our early 50s. We stayed at the Radisson in Port Canaveral. Just an ok hotel, but, they had shuttle service to the port and allowed you to park your car there for free with a nights lodging. This was a good experience and I would do this part, again. Dropping off luggage with the porters was easy. Embarkation was easy. All lines moved fast. We knew the cabin would be small, and were surprised it wasn't too small. The beds were horrible. None of us slept at all. I felt like I was sleeping on a cement bed. I still can't get over how uncomfortable the beds were. Now, the food. Awful. Where was the delicious food everyone raved about. Not on our ship. I felt like I was at the Cracker Barrel. One night we had a Mexican Buffet. What a joke. It was held outside on the pool deck, and, it was soggy and very unappealing. There was a beautiful looking cheese tray but I was afraid to try it because it sat out in the heat with no ice under it and the cheeses looked melted. The ice cream and frozen yogurt had ice crystals in it. It tasted like had melted and re-frozen. The spectacular desserts- no where to be found. Friday night we were suppose to have a lobster dinner. The lobster was a 2 bite rock lobster and tasteless. The food in the Fantasy Dining Room had no presentation to it and was bland. Between the beds and the food, I was already getting depressed. The pool is very small and I didn't notice many people exiting to pee. I decided it would be safe to stay out of the pool. The entertainment was a joke. We got excited and thought-bingo! let's go. They charge $5 for one bingo card and then the game is over in 3 minutes. The entertainer who played Name That Tune in the piano bar should be fired. He had no personality and we could hardly hear what he was saying in the microphone. We did a snorkel trip through Carnival and that was very good. The attendants of the boat provided excellent customer service. It was a very short snorkel trip and we were only in the water about 1 hour. I felt very bad for the crew because people seemed oblivious that they should tip the crew at the end of the trip. They truly deserved a tip. We karaoked and that was fun, but, the line was so long, that we lost interest after 20 minutes. Overall, I felt the boat was too crowded, lines for activities and food were too long, food was tasteless and bland. We attended the Captain's Cocktail Party and were shocked that the captain didn't appear for 20 minutes after it started. Then, he introduced himself and a few of the crew and LEFT! We thought he would socialize for a little bit. The free cocktails were good. The appetizers at the cocktail party were, again, awful. A piece of bread with bean dip on it, meatballs that I would never serve a guest, and, somekind of wonton wrapper that had nothing in it. Overall, if you are a first time cruiser, DON'T TAKE THIS CRUISE. There was no luxury, no good food, no even slightly scumptious desserts, and too little activities to join in. THIS WAS A BOOZE CRUISE. I like to drink, but, I can't stay drunk for 3 days. I was so disappointed in my first experience, I won't cruise, again.