Maxine N.

Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Number of Cruises: 1
Cruise Line: Carnival
Ship: Sensation
Sailing Date: July 5th, 2004
Itinerary: 5-day Western Caribbean

This long-winded review is for first-time cruisers.

I recently returned from my very first cruise, and I can honestly say that I had a great time. I had read a number of reviews which made me feel a little uneasy, but I was pleasantly surprised with my experience. I traveled with 3 members of my family, along with 25 other people who were friends of the family. We stayed in the aft of the Riviera deck, in one of the very last rooms at the end of the ship.

Embarkation: Embarkation was simpler than I had thought it would be. We flew into TPA airport around 9am and took a taxi to the port. Taxi ride was about 15 minutes and $25. We arrived relatively early, so we saw hoards of people disembarking from the previous week's cruise. We stood in a line outside for about an hour or so before we were able to start the process of embarking. The line wound its way inside the port, where you are greeted by Carnival welcome staff. They give you your boarding passes and group you into a boarding category: 1, 2, or 3, based on the order in which you arrived. We were group 1. Since we arrived so early, we had to wait about an hour or two before we were actually able to get onboard. Once we did, we were greeted by a number of staff, informing us that lunch was being served on the Lido Deck.

After we got onboard and ate lunch, we walked around the ship and explored. Despite being 11 years old, she was in very good condition. Everything was clean. The inside looks like a casino, with loud carpet and bright lights. Staff members are located everywhere, and we were always greeted with a smile or a "hello." You should know that Carnival photographers are located all over the ship, trying to get you to pose for a photo. Once you take one, there is no obligation to purchase it. They post all the photos in the photo room on the Empress Deck, and if you like it, you can purchase it. They are pretty expensive, though: the 8X10's are $19.99. At 4pm is the mandatory boat drill, where all cruisers are forced to look ridiculous in bulky orange life jackets. The drill lasts for about 15 minutes and then it’s time to set sail.

Rooms: Like I mentioned, we were on the Riviera deck, in R239. The room was expectedly small. It was a tight fit, but bearable for 4 people. Since most people don't spend much time in the rooms anyways, it doesn't even matter. Our steward was Joaod. He was very friendly and courteous. It seemed like our room was cleaned every time we left. I had read previous reviews which mentioned a slight sewage smell in the rooms. During the times which I was in the room, I did not notice this. I would imagine that if there was a smell, it would be slight.

Food: Food was better than I thought it was. It was ubiquitous. There is a breakfast buffet, a lunch buffet, a sit-down lunch, a dinner buffet, a sit-down dinner, and a midnight buffet. The food a the sit-down dinner was the best. Our entire group of 29 was served at the Early Seating time in the Ecstasy Dining Room. I'm not used to formal dining, so I thought the food was great. Every night there is a good variety of dishes to choose from, including beef tenderloin, pasta, fish, seafood, and vegetarian dishes. On the Captain's Dinner formal night, we had lobster tails. Our waiters were Park and Bianca and they were excellent. They were extremely warm and friendly, and they did a very good job.

Entertainment/Activities: There are a number of activities during the day and night. The comedian our first night was Happy Cole, a former contestant on "Last Comic Standing." After reading some of the previous comic reviews, I wasn't really expecting much, but Happy tore the house down. He was hilarious. His adult show was even better. If you don't like comedy then you can watch one of the many shows they have or go to the casino. There were two shows during our trip, and they were both pretty good. I don't know the names of the singers, but the female singer was excellent. There were also some magic shows, which were pretty good too. Or if you just want to get a tan, you can just go to one of the decks and grab a chair and relax. You should get there before lunch ends, or else they’ll all be taken.

Ports of call: On day 3, we visited the Cayman Islands and on day 4, Cozumel. On the day you embark, there are forms for you to book tours through Carnival. If you want one, you have to fill it out the first day or else they will fill up quickly. My family chose the Stingray City and Sandbar tour in CI. The tours are pretty expensive. You can probably get them cheaper once you arrive, but the advantage of booking through Carnival is that their tours make sure you get back to the boat on time. Stingray City was a lot of fun, one of my favorite parts of the cruise. If you've never been to CI and don't know what to do, I would definitely recommend seeing the stingrays. You get to swim with and feed them. They are extremely friendly, as you will see when you arrive. There is more to do in Cozumel. There we took an underwater boat tour. We went to the coral reefs and were able to see a lot of different fish and oceanlife. It was a pretty good tour, although it was easy to get a little seasick. The rest of the day was spent going downtown and shopping and visiting Carlos N’ Charlie’s.

Debarkation: Debarkation was relatively simple. Your order of debarkation is based upon the color of your luggage tag. Since there are a multitude of colors, it can take many hours to debark. Luckily, we were the third group, so we didn’t have to wait too long. If you’re one of the later groups, then you’ll just have to sit in your designated waiting area and wait. We didn’t have much to declare, so customs was a breeze. After we got our luggage and made it past customs, it was 10am.

Overall: I had a wonderful time. Go to the shows, go to the buffets, go to the parties and don’t forget to relax. Take advantage of everything Carnival provides you, and the experience will well be worth it.