A wonderful time overall for a family of 5.

Background

Let me introduce myself so you’ll get some perspective on where I’m coming from as you read this review. I’m a 44 yr. old male living in Wisconsin working as a customer service manager. This was my third cruise. The first with a family of 5. My wife is my age and my children are 7, 9 and 15. I borrowed the format of this review from another review on the ship so thanks to that lovely lady for making this easier for me.

Arrival in Tampa, February 21

We decided to arrive in Tampa the day before so we would be rested and ready to go. This turned out to be a good idea as the weather on the East Coast was terrible and a number of people were delayed getting to the ship. Our departure from Tampa was almost 3 hours late due to the need to wait for passengers still coming in from around the country. While I planned our trip well in advance I found Tampa to be quite expensive in hotel prices. Even rooms in lower level hotel/motels were around $100 a night. The upper tier properties were averaging around $200. Being on a budget this was an important cost for us. I did find that most Days Inn properties offered free shuttles to and from the airport and cruise port. This saved us around $100 in taxi costs. I’m still not sure this savings made up for the poor rooms the two properties we stayed at offered.

Embarkation at Port of Tampa, February 22

We arrived a the terminal a little before 2 p.m. and really had no problem with boarding. Remember to fill out the documents Carnival sends you before hand. The first floor of the terminal was full of people completing the forms prior to being let upstairs for check-in. I also found out that there is a difference between an original birth certificate and a certified copy. I did manage to get on board with my certified copies, but the lady checking us in made a bit of a fuss that I only had certified copies. Check-in is when you get you Sail and Sign card. My first idea was to pay cash (no surprise bills later), but on board Carnival allows no cash (except gambling). Everything is put on your Sail and Sign card which is linked to one of your credit cards. They do offer a cash deposit option, but I am not sure of the specifics on that program. See my comments on debarkation for more about the Sail and Sign card (not good).

Our cabin was E40 which was quite an upgrade from our original purchase of a cabin on the lowest deck. When I booked the cruise I went with the guarantee option. This basically means you don’t pick your room at time of booking. Carnival assigns you a room just prior to sailing. I was told by the Carnival rep who I booked the cruise with that “usually” Carnival will upgrade early bookers to better cabins still open and then sell the lower priced cabins at last minute discounts to ensure a full ship. They would rather give a better room to a full paying guest than one shopping for last minute discounts. You are guaranteed a room at least on your original floor, but you have a chance to be upgraded. The gamble worked for us very well. Since I was at the lowest level/price room I had no where to go, but up. And up we did 5 floors. A nice surpise.

The cabin seemed small even though I was expecting as much, but we all fit in well with out any bumping into each other. My wife and I had our beds put together to make one big one. My two little ones slept on beds that folded down from the wall and my oldest son had a roll away. If you are to spend a lot of time in the cabin this may be too little for too long. However for us we only used the cabin to sleep, shower and change clothes.

After checking out our cabin, we headed up to the Lido Deck where lunch was offered for boarding passengers in the Seaview Bar & Grill. The food was what you would expect. It had the basic hamburgers, hot dogs, salads, etc… During lunch hours they also served two other entrée options of a little more substance. The Seaview Bar & Grill also offers pizza 24 hours a day. While there was always some sort of line it went quickly. My kids loved this option as well as the 24 hour ice cream.

It took almost a full day to get used to the layout of the ship. Once we did, however, it was pretty easy to get around. I’ve read reviews that tore apart the décor of the ship. I personally didn’t see the problem. Yes it is loud (colorful) in places and yes the main atrium is a bit tacky, but this is a cruise ship not a Four Seasons hotel. It is meant to be fun, loud and exciting.

The Ship

I’ve also read that the Sensation showing its age a bit at nearly ten years old. I also didn’t find this to be true. I don’t recall seeing any trash at all in the public places. I got up each morning for sunrise and each time the entire ship was being scrubbed from top to bottom by an army of cleaning staff. For a ship that has probably seen more than 1.5 million people come through its doors I think it is in remarkable shape.

Being with kids I didn’t have a problem, like others have mentioned, with the number of children on the cruise. There were quite a few children on board, but the Lido deck was patrolled by a couple of nice security men who reminded people not to run or not to bring glass near the pool.

Camp Carnival

This is a program offered to kids aged 2 to 15. To be honest my kids weren’t too interested in attending full time. They went to certain programs that catered to their likes (arts and crafts) and sense of adventure (treasure hunt). I know the counselors were great every time we stopped in. They were very friendly and helpful. My kids just preferred to spend their time in the pool or with us participating in shipboard activities.

Food, Glorious Food

We ate most of our meals in our assigned dining room. We figured we could get a buffet anytime, anywhere. We wanted to let our waiter pamper us for the full five days. Some of the food was outstanding, especially the soups and deserts. Some of the food was good, most main courses. Some of the food was just ok, salads, but none of the food was bad. Every meal offered at least something to truly enjoy. My teenager tried a variety of foods from escargot to mussels to soufflé. The wait staff was great. He made a note of every request our first night and we didn’t have to ask for “special” items ever again. He knew what type ice cream to bring for the kids, how I liked my ice tea and when to bring coffee for my wife. If there was anything on the ship that merits 4 stars the dining room service does.

Service

Our cabin steward did a great job. His name was Aneesh. The ice bucket was filled twice a day, and our beds were turned down in the evening with a chocolate on the pillow. Every night when we came in he had made a different towel animal. The first night it was a cobra. On the last day we asked him to stop by and teach my daughter how to make a towel animal. He did so graciously and this was one of the highlights of the trip for her.

Activities

The Cruise Director, Lenny Halliday, was upbeat and energetic. Part of it was his dry, British delivery that made simple things sound funny. Everything he was involved in was very funny especially one night when he had to fill in for a comedian. He told a story with a great deal of audience participation that had people literally rolling in the aisles.

We attended 2 evening shows in the Fantasy Lounge and thought that “Hey Mambo!” was the best. I was very surprised to see how much production they were able to put into a “cruise ship” show. The house band at the shows was outstanding. They were able to perform everything from Sinatra standards to modern Latin jazz effortlessly. There was also a magic act with was just ok and a midnight “R” rated comedian that I thought was more “X” rated. I am not usually put off by things like this, but there was something unnecessary about his language and subject matter. Maybe it was the fact there was plenty of early teens in the audience of maybe he just wasn’t good enough to pull it off, but this comedian seemed to be pushing to far.

We watched and participated in a number of other activities such as bingo, the casino, a game show, trivia contests. I even won first place in the hairy chest contest. I still don’t know if the medal and bottle of champagne was worth the humiliation of my shirtless dance in front of a hundred plus people, but I can’t say it wasn’t a little bit fun.

The staff photographers got to be too much after a while. Once coming out of dinner there was a long line to exit. It turned out one by one we had to pose with a "show girl" as we left the restaurant. Leaving the ship in Cozumel we had 5 photos to take. I finally just wouldn't stop anymore. But, I will recommend the photo lab on the ship the cost for 24 exposure was $8 for same day developing and the developing was as good as professional camera shops I usually go to. I tried the ship developing once to ensure some pictures came out and decided to let them to all the work from then on rather than carry my undeveloped film through airport screening.

Ports of Call

Our first stop in Grand Cayman was canceled due to high waves. The tenders couldn’t get in to shuttle us to and from the island. I guess this happens quite a bit so I am not sure what Carnival keeps in on its itinerary. Could it be because we are all trapped onboard for another day which means more bar bills, casino play and shopping? Carnival was nice enough to credit $25 per person for the missed port so we ended up with $125 credit.

Cozumel was beautiful as I expected. We were there all day (7 a.m. to 9 p.m.). We spent the morning at Chankanaab Park snorkeling and exploring. This was the best. The water was great and full of fish that come right up to you. The park is full of iguanas. On a walking tour through the jungle which was full of examples of Mayan ruins we came across a older man and woman who were making tortillas in a replica of a Mayan house. They shared these with us explaining their nine children were all grown so now they volunteer at the park so they can show their culture to visitors. We went back to the ship for late lunch and a break from the sun. That evening we hit downtown Cozumel for some shopping and a beer at the town center (La Plaza). One down note would be that Cozumel seemed to be the drinking stop for most people. That night returning to the ship and on the ship we saw more drunken behavior than I can describe fully. Again I am not a easily offended, but the language and obnoxious behavior (fights, crying, groping and throwing up) was too much. It was embarrassing because the shop keepers at the dock watch it all and this is not the kind of impression I like for others to have of the U.S.

Debarkation

We got our copy of our Sail and Sign bill on the last night. I was very disappointed to see several incorrect charges on it. While it was relatively easy to get corrected it was still disturbing. When you use your card they don’t swipe it they simply right down the number. On a busy ship like this there is way too much chance for error and that held true. We probably had $40 in incorrect charges on our bill, including a charge for soda in our room that we didn’t touch.

Like I said the purser’s desk took the charges right off, at least I hope so since I haven’t seen my charge card bill, but the fact there was incorrect charges was disheartening. From the looks of the line full of people holding bills I don’t think I was the only person with this trouble. I had a relatively small bill and every charge is itemized so it was easy for me to spot a problem. I can’t imagine how some of the big drinkers with 5 or more pages of charges were able to decipher it all. Debarkation was orderly. You are assigned a color code and then a waiting area. When your color is called off you go. We picked up our color-coded bags in the terminal and turned in our declarations to Customs. Customs asked no questions and didn’t seem too interested in our debarkation. It took all of 5 minutes to get off the ship once we were called.

All in all this was a great cruise. My kids want to go back immediately.