Carnival Sensation Cruise Review
Cruise Line: Carnival Cruise Line
Cruise Ship: Carnival Sensation
Cruise Destination: New Orleans to the Western Caribbean
Cruise Dates: November 15 - November 20, 2004
Cruise Review Submitted By: Bob
We just returned from a 5 day cruise out of New Orleans which included stops in Playa del Carman and Cozumel... As a general introductory comment this was my 7th cruise and Bob's 5th so we are not novice cruisers...
This was close to being the best cruise we have taken...if not the best...
The ship is gorgeous.. I've read another review saying something different..all I can say is that either Carnival has done a major redecorating of the ship or that person and I have vastly different tastes.. Walking onboard the ship you are immediately overwhelmed with the gorgeous 5 story atrium with 2 glass elevators.. Sort of a "wow" effect...
Stateroom
We had an outside stateroom that was larger than any we remember on other ships... Two single beds we quickly moved together and a queen sized mattress placed over to turn the bed into a queen... Very very comfortable... More than adequate storage space.. We had overpacked due to the time of year... not sure if we needed warm clothing in the evenings or not... The closet space and drawers were much more than adequate. The bathroom included a separate shower, sink and toilet... Manevuring 2 people when necessary was not a problem... As on other cruises the servicing of the room was impecable..
Thanks Joseph... He went above and beyond for us and we tipped him extra...
Dining
We asked for and received a private table.. I guess they can't accomodate all such requests but they did for us.. Dinner was outstanding... The steaks were cooked to order... I like mine a bit over medium well.. Bob prefers closer to medium rare... Each time they were cooked properly... The only problem was we chose late seating and were stuffed and almost zombies for an hour or so after..lol.... We had breakfast every morning in the formal dining rooms... Hard to screw up breakfast and of course they did not... We had lunch at the Sea Breeze on the Lido deck... How anyone can complain is beyond me... We never tried the midnight buffet as we were too full from dinner and.. except for one night too busy enjoying ourselves at one of the shows or the bars...
Entertainment
The first comedy show bombed... Beyond that everything was great.. We ended every evening in the "Touch of Class" piano bar on the third floor of the main atrium... The sing-a-longs were a lot of fun... At that hour it can be quite amusing..lol... The day at sea activities were pretty lame... but maybe that is just us... so we spent time sunning and swimming and then casinoing... We did not bring our kids but from time to time we would see the kids staff along with the kids and they seemed to be having a lot of fun...
Ports
This was our first stop at Playa del Carmen...We took a taxi (only $10) to the main beach area and had a wonderful day.. I had Bob carrying our beach chairs from home so we set up in the middle of the beach and just relaxed and swam... The beach had enough people to feel the excitement but was not over crowded.. We are NOT SHOPPERS by any means so I can't comment.. There were a lot of opportunities (shops) is all I can offer.. We cruise to find places we like so as to return for an extended stay... Playa del Carmen is one of those..
Cozumel was the other stop.. Here we rented a car, loaded up on beer (non-alcholoic for Bob who drove) ice and snacks and drove over to the East side..aka the "Wild Side"... of Cozumel... For the adventuresome this is a must do... There is no electricity, 4 beach bars service the 20 plus miles of beach areas... We found a great spot and again set up camp... As far as the eye can see was unspoiled beach area.. After an hour or so another couple showed up and then 2 or 3 more but everyone stayed to themselves so your experience of it being "Your beach" was not spoiled... We spent 3 hours or so on that beach and then started bar hopping on the way back to the ship... Just a word of warning... the surf is extremely rough and the undertow in also... Don't venture too far out... While this was a uniques experience, Cozumel is not on our return list.... Nothing wrong with it... just not for us...
Page 2 > > Bob & Liz' review of the Carnival Sensation > >
Cruise Ship: Carnival Sensation
Cruise Destination: New Orleans to the Western Caribbean
Cruise Dates: November 15 - November 20, 2004
Cruise Review Submitted By: Bob
We just returned from a 5 day cruise out of New Orleans which included stops in Playa del Carman and Cozumel... As a general introductory comment this was my 7th cruise and Bob's 5th so we are not novice cruisers...
This was close to being the best cruise we have taken...if not the best...
The ship is gorgeous.. I've read another review saying something different..all I can say is that either Carnival has done a major redecorating of the ship or that person and I have vastly different tastes.. Walking onboard the ship you are immediately overwhelmed with the gorgeous 5 story atrium with 2 glass elevators.. Sort of a "wow" effect...
Stateroom
We had an outside stateroom that was larger than any we remember on other ships... Two single beds we quickly moved together and a queen sized mattress placed over to turn the bed into a queen... Very very comfortable... More than adequate storage space.. We had overpacked due to the time of year... not sure if we needed warm clothing in the evenings or not... The closet space and drawers were much more than adequate. The bathroom included a separate shower, sink and toilet... Manevuring 2 people when necessary was not a problem... As on other cruises the servicing of the room was impecable..
Thanks Joseph... He went above and beyond for us and we tipped him extra...
Dining
We asked for and received a private table.. I guess they can't accomodate all such requests but they did for us.. Dinner was outstanding... The steaks were cooked to order... I like mine a bit over medium well.. Bob prefers closer to medium rare... Each time they were cooked properly... The only problem was we chose late seating and were stuffed and almost zombies for an hour or so after..lol.... We had breakfast every morning in the formal dining rooms... Hard to screw up breakfast and of course they did not... We had lunch at the Sea Breeze on the Lido deck... How anyone can complain is beyond me... We never tried the midnight buffet as we were too full from dinner and.. except for one night too busy enjoying ourselves at one of the shows or the bars...
Entertainment
The first comedy show bombed... Beyond that everything was great.. We ended every evening in the "Touch of Class" piano bar on the third floor of the main atrium... The sing-a-longs were a lot of fun... At that hour it can be quite amusing..lol... The day at sea activities were pretty lame... but maybe that is just us... so we spent time sunning and swimming and then casinoing... We did not bring our kids but from time to time we would see the kids staff along with the kids and they seemed to be having a lot of fun...
Ports
This was our first stop at Playa del Carmen...We took a taxi (only $10) to the main beach area and had a wonderful day.. I had Bob carrying our beach chairs from home so we set up in the middle of the beach and just relaxed and swam... The beach had enough people to feel the excitement but was not over crowded.. We are NOT SHOPPERS by any means so I can't comment.. There were a lot of opportunities (shops) is all I can offer.. We cruise to find places we like so as to return for an extended stay... Playa del Carmen is one of those..
Cozumel was the other stop.. Here we rented a car, loaded up on beer (non-alcholoic for Bob who drove) ice and snacks and drove over to the East side..aka the "Wild Side"... of Cozumel... For the adventuresome this is a must do... There is no electricity, 4 beach bars service the 20 plus miles of beach areas... We found a great spot and again set up camp... As far as the eye can see was unspoiled beach area.. After an hour or so another couple showed up and then 2 or 3 more but everyone stayed to themselves so your experience of it being "Your beach" was not spoiled... We spent 3 hours or so on that beach and then started bar hopping on the way back to the ship... Just a word of warning... the surf is extremely rough and the undertow in also... Don't venture too far out... While this was a uniques experience, Cozumel is not on our return list.... Nothing wrong with it... just not for us...
Page 2 > > Bob & Liz' review of the Carnival Sensation > >
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