We arrived at port at 12:15 pm for a 1-1:30 pm boarding time. It seemed Carnival's embarkation system was in somewhat disarray. You had anxious travelers arriving via Uber, bus, and dropoffs waiting to get on board. Travelers were directed to an area where they huddled around a set of stanchions left in limbo. A couple of Carnival workers attempted to direct crowd, but without a PA system or megaphone, it was impossible. Honestly, embarkation will always be a challenge when going through customs and dealing with the sheer amount of passengers, so instead of frustrating yourself and spoiling your trip, I suggest going with the flow.

We were able to board around 2:35 pm and peruse about before departing. The vessel is aged, somewhat "Love Boatish", but you can't complain seeing what you'll pay on other cruises lines. It was like traveling on a floating time machine, but carnival did a good job refurbishing areas like the dining areas, the elevators (which were pretty fast) and the Water Works area (water slides). It seems like staff was always vacuuming and cleaning, which was a great sign.

Our Cabin was a bit dated, but it was clean. We opted for the ocean view stateroom which was small. but I figured that on this 5-day excursion to three ports of call , this cabin would not be the focal point of this trip. This trip was for my family, namely our three kids, and as long as they were happy, my wife and I would be. Our cabin was outfitted with a queen bed and a couple of Murphy beds which were mounted to the walls. Our kids loved them and they had no complaints. The bathroom was much nicer and spacious compared to other cruises we've been on--good water pressure and an abundance of warm water and toiletries. The cabin steward, Mr. Yevhen, was amazing! He kept our room constantly clean and was the nicest person you could meet. Our daughter had a fever the first night, and he kept checking in to see if we needed anything. When we came back to our room, we were always greeted with a new towel animal courtesy of Mr. Yevhen. Customer service is what Mr. Yevhen is about and if you're fortunate to have this gentleman to tend to you and your cabin consider yourself the luckiest people on the Sensation. Read more