The Carnival Sensation is a great mini-family get away vacation. This is my husband and my 2nd cruise (both with Carnival). We were traveling with our three children (ages 6-5-3). Cruising in September, we were expecting a smaller crowd, but it really was perfect...not too many crazy people and all the children on board were well behaved. The weather was great-warm weather and warm water, no hurricane issues. We stayed in a Cat. 12 Penthouse Suite because of the kids. Most people don't spend too much time in their cabins, but because of our children we really did (with naps, snack time and down time). The upgrade was worth the $$$ to our family situation. The larger tub was perfect for the three children to take a tub together, plus there were fun jets for them to enjoy! The water pressure was great for the shower and the water temp was perfect. I did not like to drink the water from the bathroom tap, it was even a little hard to brush my teeth without a little gag. If you get water from the dining room at dinner though, it works out great! The cabin was very spacious and the beds and pillows were incredible. Carnival brags about their bedding and they earned the right (we're ordering pillows for ourselves for Christmas). The balcony was great, nice size. However, it was a straight shot down to the ocean...a little scary with the children. I was very anxious everytime they were out there. Our rule was no children on the balcony without Mom or Dad. We loved our room and enjoyed the in-suite movies (be sure to adjust your TV for a better picture-it tilts). Although we were in the Bahamas, we received Denver stations (strange!). Overall, the suite was very elegant and worth the extra money-very recommended! Embarkation was great. We had VIP embarkation and as soon as we got to the port, we went through a different line and waited in a private room to be checked in. The Carnival ground crew gave our children coloring books and crayons and they felt like it was Christmas (especially after the 3 hour flight and the 45 minute bus ride to port). We used the transfers offered through Carnival, but research it, I heard of less expensive ways to get to port (Call the cab companies in FL). After a short wait, we boarded the ship and went straight to our cabin. After taking in the room, our family headed for the lunch buffet for a long awaited lunch. It was great! So much to choose from and the sun and music fueled the excitement. The children even ate ice cream before lunch. Our luggage was at our room, in perfect condition, by the time we were done with lunch. The pools were great (although beware-they are saltwater). There was a kids only and an adult only hot tub (lots of chlorine to cancel out the saltwater). Be sure to find the kids swimming pool as well. It was not crowded and the kids felt like royalty there. The dinning room staff was great with our family. Our children are, after all children, and they were very accommodating. Being we had 5 in our family, we were able to have our own private table (no pressure to act perfect during dinner). The food was excellent. We experienced both the buffet and the dinning room for dinner and both are great, it just depends on what your mood is for the dinner atmosphere. Breakfast was also good at the buffet. We never made it to the dining room for that meal. We brought water bottles to fill for our shore excursions and filled them from the dinning room (along with propel powder). My husband gained 15 pounds in 4 days...he ate breakfast, a snack, lunch, a snack, a snack, dinner, desert, and another snack. He couldn't get enough. There was a midnight buffet (Mexican theme), but we did not attend. Mexican food at midnight is asking for problems. Two months later, my husband still has 7 pounds left (it was his souvenir). They have free Tums and Pepcid in the suite, by the end of the cruise, you'll understand why. Be careful what you eat, it is good at the time, but it will catch up with you! Don't forget the mini-golf. Get the putters and balls on the pool deck and walk up to the mini-golf. It was our kids favorite activity! The area gets very crowded on the "Day At Sea", so get there early. They also loved Camp Carnival. We don't leave our kids very often, but they were begging to go to Camp Carnival. You'll get a schedule of events after you register on the first day (head there as soon as you embark, after lunch...you'll beat the crowds). We were very picky at what they could do. We didn't let them do any activities when the group left the Camp Carnival room (I was nervous about a group of young kids walking around the ship, outnumbering the adults). The staff was wonderful and very kind. Our children had a nice combination of kids activities with Camp Carnival and with Mom and Dad. Plus, we had a couple of nice evenings to ourselves! The kids can eat there, but we chose not to let the kids do that. They even have a kids formal night. We did not buy any formal portraits. They were very expensive. But, there were plenty of pictures of our family! Someone from Carnival was always taking our picture. We did buy the fountain card. It was $65 for 2 adult fountain cards. We had soda whenever we wanted, even for breakfast. Our family is addicted to pop and we definitely got our money's worth! The shops on Sensation were small. They did not have too many unique souvenirs for our kids. Which was Okay...they each got a $5 blow up cruise ship. They were happy with that, and so were we. We did not really go to any shows. The magic show we did go to was more for adults and the kids were bored. They did like the balance show (it was the same people from our honeymoon cruise, so that was neat). We did not use the fitness areas and we stayed out of most public rooms. Not enough for the kids to do in those areas. We did a lot of relaxing on this vacation-just what the Dr. ordered! Debarkation was just as easy as Embarkation. Everyone must put their luggage outside their suite the night before, with a numbered tag. On the morning of Debarkation, we ate breakfast and went to the pool area to wait for our number to be called. We were number 1, but saw people with as high of a number as 25. When our number was called, we left the ship and headed toward the port. We found our luggage on the numbered table in the building. Our family skated through customs and we were loaded onto the transfer bus. We waited for about 30 minuted before leaving for the airport and the people that we saw on the bus, were number 25 for Debarkation, so the process is fast and smooth, no matter what your number is. You wait on the ship, or you wait on the bus. The only negative we saw on the cruise was the fact that you can clearly tell that the ship is one of the older in the fleet. People have complained about a "sewer smell" on the ship. We did smell an odor, but it was not sewer. If you have ever spent time on a boat, you know the smell of it when it is just opened up-musty and damp, almost waterlogged. That is the smell. It is not always present on the ship, but it is there occasionally. The crew did a great job with cleanliness. This cruise is perfect for a family with small children-not too long, with simple Ports of Call for the kids and lots of family fun. If you are a self-proclaimed "cruise snob", stay away. This is not a cruise of perfection. But if you are looking for a great family get away, Carnival Sensation is sensational. We tried to go on less expensive shore excursions, since we upgraded to the suite on board. I really researched what we wanted to do. For our stop in Freeport, Bahamas, all we wanted to do is spend the morning at the beach. I looked at the bahamas web site and choose the best looking beach and read the reviews. We visited the Our Lucayan Marketplace beach. It is right outside the Sheraton and Westin Hotels. We just had to pay for the cab ride there and back ($25-with tip-each way for a family of 5). The beach was free and we even stole a swim in the never-ending pool at the Westin Hotel. Very cool! Be sure to rinse off the saltwater before returning to the ship-it was caked on our skin and you could wipe away the salt after you dried off, really gross! We took snacks and beach toys with us we brought from home. We left the beach toys there with some other family so that we did not have to take them with us. A memorable morning at the beach with our family. For our stop in Nassau, Bahamas, we booked our own room at Atlantis instead of taking the shore excursion. It was cheaper by more than half, and we had a room to go back to for showers, snacks and naps. This was the best idea I found in my research. We were off the ship as soon as it was docked, so we were one of the first ones to the resort. We got to look around before most of the guests were up and about. The cab ride was only $25-with tip-for our family of five. We checked in, took tons of beautiful pictures and were exploring before 9AM. It was great! We walked around and sampled all the pools, but spent most of our time at Splashers, the kid's pool. It was great fun for us and the kids! Be sure to check out The Dig! Such amazing sealife in spectacular exhibits. Look at the daily schedule for the feeding times and try to attend a feeding session-what a rush. The only negative about Atlantis is the food. A lot of the less expensive dining areas were closed for the season. Lunch for our family was not good and it cost $65, plus a long wait. That is definitely the down-fall of the resort. Be sure to have lots of memory in your cameras. The picture opportunities are abundant (and memory cards for cameras at $90 for the smallest one at the gift shops).