We've been on over 20 cruises with several cruise lines but never on Carnival. To be honest, we haven't seen all that much that is good when reading most reviews about this ship. It's older, has less than 100 balcony rooms and they mostly cater (because of it's age?) to the local clientele. We live in Orlando so that what we were. They keep to a 3 or 4 night schedule and only go to Nassau, which for us, we mostly don't get off the boat while in port there. Been there, did it, seen it. Check in went smoothly and was uneventful. It's always good to get onboard as early as you can and start enjoying the amenities and the food/beverage. Just keep in mind that while you may get onboard early; 11ish, you won't be able to get into your room until 1:30pm so make sure you decide early on whether to check you luggage in at the dock instead of having to drag it around with you till you can get into your room to drop everything off. That and be sure to bring your pool closes with you to get in the water right away if that's what you want to do. As we are used to sailing on larger, more modern styled ships we were a little taken back at the size initially but quickly came to appreciate the smaller and cozier size and the ease at which we were able to get around the boat. The elevators were of a decent size and there are 3 areas where they are located. Forward, midship and Aft. The ship underwent a major refit in 2009 and the interior was completely updated. Every space from the rooms to the public areas looked fresh and renewed to us. Some complain about the dated "neon" styled lighting in some of the public areas. It's now done with fiber optics and LED lighting. It didn't bother us. Our room was of ample size, ocean-view with a large rectangular sized window. The bathroom was larger than on RCI's Monarch of the Seas (YEA!). We found the food to be very good to excellent with a good choice of entrees. I was very happy to see that they still have a Lobster dinner offered. Disney never did, and most other lines don't anymore. It was tender, juicy and was delicious! They have a pizza bar with 24hr service. It's fresh made (dough too!) and the varieties offered were delicious. I'd rate their pie a close 2nd behind Princess. Disney and RCI's pizza is disgusting, both using pre made crusts. The buffet offered a pretty good variety and all of we had there for lunch and one dinner were good and hot. The grille by the pool had fresh made burgers, dogs, nachos, fries, chicken fingers, etc. I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the live entertainment in the showroom and it was GREAT that they still use live musicians; it's not all on a soundtrack like Disney. I used the sauna and the steam room in the Spa (no charge for these) Wonderful! The ship only goes to Nassau and then puts around the ocean on the 3rd day. It's a shame they don't have a private island to spend the 3rd day at. It's definitely something that RCI and Disney have a HUGE advantage over Carnival. The lack of a private island visit should be reflected in their prices though I don't think it's factored in enough. That and no video wall on the pool deck are two things that kinda keep this boat locked in the past.Gratuities are automatic on this ship, not sure if that's a Carnival wide thing or just specific to the Sensation. This is good and bad. It's good for the crew because they're going to get paid. The bad part is the crew knows that they are going to get paid and as such, the effeciency of service was lacking a little, both in the dining room and bar staffs and the room stewards. One final note. The tap water on this ship is quite likely the most disgusting tasting water I have ever consumed. It's so bad, you can and should bring your own. They charge $3.95 for a bottle of water on the boat. It's so bad, they don't even use it on soda dispencers in the restaurants and lounges. The only sell canned sodas @$1.95 plus 15% grat. A soda package runs $6/per day so 3 night cruise it's $18 plus 15% grat for unlimited soda. BRING YOUR OWN WATER! It's allowed. However, to sum it up, we set the bar low when we booked this as the reviews had been so, so. Only seeing the ship since the rehab, we thought it was actually a very good experience, enough so that we would not hesitate to go with them again.