The Carnival Sensation was a pleasant surprise! Although I’ve been on more than a dozen cruises, including 3 other Carnival cruises, I wasn’t sure what to expect on this 5-night itinerary on one of the older boats in the Carnival line. I’m happy to report that it is a great deal for your dollar if you’re looking for a low frills, high fun cruise experience. What the boat lacks in décor from this millennium, it more than makes up for in enthusiastic entertainment and customer service. Despite the dated look and feel of the ship, everything on board was clean and we did not experience any of the funky odors reported in other reviews. The onboard activities were plentiful and well run. The buffet is small and the selection is not as diverse as other similar cruises we’ve been on, but the quality is good. The Guy Fieri’s burger bar was particularly tasty. The dinner selections were also good quality, and we were happy to see some of the vintage cruise fare options like escargot and baked alaska on the menu. The waitstaff shows were entertaining, but one would have been enough. We enjoyed listening to Tequila Mockingbird after dinner each night as well as “performing” karaoke with our fellow cruisers. Deon the Cruise Director was awesome. The mega-deck party on the second to last night was a blast, as was the 80’s/90’s trivia that he emceed on the last night! Also, the embarkation and debarkation was the BEST we have ever experienced. We were on the boat within 5 minutes of arriving at the port, and in a Lyft within 10 minutes of our floor being called for debarkation. This cruise definitely exceeded my expectations and I would not hesitate to cruise on Carnival again in the future.
Bigger than similar level rooms on Norwegian and RC. Bed was very comfortable.
We took a cab to 7 mile beach. Water was nice, but the beach is narrow and it was pretty crowded (6+ ships in port the day we were there).