Just a little background...I am 33 and traveled with my daughter who is 16. This was our third cruise. Our first two were on the RCCL Mariner of the Seas and Sovereign of the Seas. Although I cannot compare the Sensation to the Mariner, I can do a good comparison of Sensation versus the Sovereign. Embarkation was a breeze. We arrived on a Delta flight to Orlando International. We had pre-purchased round-trip transfers to the pier. (I will probably drive next time, but time constraints were a problem. I am sure there is cheaper way to get to the pier and back to the airport, $140 round-trip for 2) We only waited a short time for our bus and the trip was fast. When we got there around 1pm there was no line and we breezed right on board. After reading the reviews of the eighties disco feel of the ship I was not surprised with the dEcor. I actually liked the bright neon colors and it got me into the spirit of vacation right away. Everything was very clean and we had very friendly greetings from all staff members. We immediately signed up for Internet usage (teen daughter, need I say more). We got 10 free minutes for signing up that day. If you wait until the 2nd day you can get 20 extra minutes. It only cost us $24 dollars for 70 minutes and it did last through the entire cruise. We also bought coke cards for $35 for the both of us. This is great compared to $1.75 per coke. I do not drink much alcohol and we are both coke-aholics. They had Coke products and Mr. Pibb was available for DD.

We went straight to the Lido deck for lunch. We went straight to the pizza station thanks to cruise critic board suggestions. It was excellent. I think that's all my DD ate the entire time except for dinner the two nights we ate in the dining room. Dinner both nights we skipped the salad and ordered two appetizers. Shrimp Cocktail, Marinated Portabella mushroom, strawberry bisque and broccoli cheddar soup. All were very good and I am very picky. I will send back anything that I feel is not good. We both had the prime rib instead of lobster the first night and it was some of the best prime rib I have ever eaten. The second night my DD loves Tilapia and ordered it but we did send it back due to the overwhelming fishy taste. I cook tilapia all the time and it should not have a fishy taste. I ordered the Beef Wellington Medium rare and got well done, but did not want to complain again. The service in the dining room was great and it was so much fun to watch them sing and dance. For desert we tried key lime pie, Grand Marnier souffle and chocolate melting cake and all were very good. We were so busy the last night we opted for the pizza and buffet. They also had a midnight feeding frenzy every night. The best was the second night with the deck party and Mexican buffet. They also have good French fries, which I liked to smother with Chili.

We had a room on the Riviera deck forward right by the elevators. The noise level was not bad. It was very convenient. We had a few partiers go by at odd hours but it would not matter where you are there are always a few of those that pass your doorway. My only problem was the morning of disembarkation when we docked the noise below us woke me up at 5am and I was not ready to get up. The room was clean and our steward was wonderful. The only complaint would be the shower floor had some mildew in one small area. Read more