Carnival Sensation Review
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My boyfriend and I drove down from Cincinnati to New Orleans on Saturday the 6th of August which was about a 12 hour drive. We are both 23 years old, and this was our first real vacation together so we were both pretty excited. It was our first trip down to New Orleans so we spent the weekend in New Orleans checking out Bourbon Street,of course. Actually, we spent both nights at Pat O'Briens, which was extremely fun. Word of warning, refrain from getting too intoxicated the night before embarkation. We had a little bit too much fun on Sunday night, and had a heck of a time on Monday when it came time to get on the ship.
Embarkation: (Monday) -- This was not the most fun day for us. Like I said, the hurricanes were flowing the night before so we were not feeling our best. The first little mishap was trying to find the cruise ship parking. We drove around in a circle for about half an hour trying to find the parking garage. We actually realized that we had been circling it the entire time. We talked to our dining mates about this, and they all had a hard time finding it as well. The ramp where you are supposed to enter the parking garage is kind of hidden so it makes it a little difficult to find. Once we had parked our car, we boarded our shuttle and headed over to the Sensation. By this time, we were both pretty hot, tired, and hung over and ready to get on the ship. It took no time to check in at all, and we were on our way to the ship. They make you pose for pictures at this point, and everyone was pretty jovial about it, except of course for us. We tried really hard to force smiles on our faces, but like I said, we were ready to relax on the ship and recover from the night before. Carnival did a great job of getting our luggage and checking us in. If it hadn't been for Bourbon Street we both would have been a lot more excited.;)
On the day of embarkation the cruise ship makes you go through the muster drill. I didn't think that this was a big deal at all. It really didn't take all that long, and I realize that it is for the safety of the ship so it didn't bother me. This was our first cruise though, and I could see how if you cruised a lot it could get old. But suck it up and do it, its only a few minutes of the many that you will have on the ship.