As a last minute gift to celebrate the end of summer, I surprised my wife with a 3 day cruise on the Sensation. Typically we do 7 day and longer cruises, and we were a bit nervous about this cruise because we have heard that the shorter cruises are very much "party cruises." This is not really our style of cruising--we enjoy sitting in the Serenity area, we sip cocktails at the nicer bars, and we go to the dining room for every meal they offer.

Our first impressions of the Sensation (our first Fantasy class ship) was that it was very much like every other Carnival ship we have been on, only smaller. My wife would look at something like the Grand Atrium and say, "Oh...that's so cute!" or the main dining room (only one floor, no dividers in the way) and say, "Oh...that's so cute, too!"

The ship was clean and well-maintained. Our Grand Suite (U104) was nicely furnished. Yes, there were some stains on the carpet, but that did not detract from our enjoyment of the cabin. The only complaint with the cabin was the bathroom, which was inordinately small. It is good that we are younger--my parents would never be able to climb up and into the tub to take a shower, much less get out when they were done. It's a strange layout, and I understand why it is the way it is, but if you book a Grand Suite best be prepared for this. And by the way--for those who say that Carnival is downgrading its bedding--this is simply not true. We saw them loading new mattresses on the ship, and it was obvious that the ones on our bed were fairly new. They are still some of the most comfortable beds on land or at sea! Read more