Carnival Sensation Review
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My best friend and I went on this cruise together, it was the first cruise for both of us. She is living in North Carolina, I am in Orlando, so she flew in the day before the cruise and we stayed at my house. We had planned to leave my house at about 10 am as the port is about a 45 minute drive from my house. We got on the road right on time, and got to the off-site parking facility about 10:45. It was very easy, there were lots of people parking there for all of the cruises that were leaving that day. We waited in line for the shuttle bus to take us to the ship, about 1/2 hr in total. got to the ship about 15 minutes after kgetting on the shuttle.
As they were getting people off the shuttle, the porters were loading luggage onto the luggage carriers, we watched as ours was loaded and made our way to the terminal. It was bitterly cold that morning, and we had to stand outside waiting to get in for about 45 minutes. By the time we got in the door I could barely feel my fingers. Once we got inside the building, it was so quick to get checked in and get onto the boat. The lady took our names, issued our sail and sign cards and sent us to embark! We made our way to the area where they take your photo for both the sail and sign card and to the photos for purchase as you embark. We did buy that photo because it was humorous to see ourselves in winter gear to get on a cruise!.
Once on board the Sensation, we were pleasantly surprised at the decor. We had heard that it was tacky, but it wasn't... kinda reminded me of a Vegas Hotel, just a bit flashy!. We made our way up to the Lido deck to gather ourselves a cocktail, we got the welcome aboard d-o-d! What a great way to start our cruise! About 1:30, they announced that rooms were ready and we made our way to Upper deck room U10. It was perfect for us, the value was great. We paid same price as if we had an interior room, but we had this great little alcove with the 2 portholes and a little seat to sit in to look out the portholes. Yes, it was right in the front of the ship, and we could hear the thrusters and anchor, but hey, we needed to get up in the morning anyway. It didn't bother us at all.