David Carroll

Age: 69 with son 44
Occupation: Research Scientist
Number of Cruises: First
Cruise Line: Carnival
Ship: Sensation
Sailing Date: December 27th, 2003
Itinerary: Western Caribbean

EMBARKATION
Carry-on luggage has to be extremely small. I especially bought a roll-on that had a cross-section of 11"X17", and I had to check it because Carnival personnel outside the passenger entrance (Tampa Terminal) said it was too large. I noticed that back packs generally made it through with no problems. Before you go into the terminal, have a Carnival employee check your baggage tag with your cabin number on it. He will check your name off a passenger list and stamp your baggage tag. Then hand your luggage to a porter (tip for each bag) and it will be delivered to security and hours later to your cabin. Fill out your Fun Pass paperwork on-line before you get to the Port of Tampa. My cabin partner didn't do that so we had to wait in a much longer line; make sure your entire party fills out the Fun Pass information and brings the information sheets to the passenger terminal. The next thing will be to show your picture ID and a credit card to a very efficient and friendly Carnival embarkation officer. A Sail and Sign card will then be issued to you showing your name, dining table number in a specific dining room and time of seating. It will show your cabin number, ship name and sailing date. The next thing will be a stop where your photo will be taken and entered into a computer along with your Sail and Sign card. This card is your credit card for on-ship purchases and your pass to leave and return to the ship at the ports of call. We left the Port of Tampa on schedule, and the trip out to the Gulf of Mexico was beautiful.

THE SENSATION SHIP
It is a huge ship and takes some time to get the layout down. I took the steps (16 between each of the 11 levels) most of the time and got lots of exercise. An important thing to do is look at the ship diagram given to each passenger and take the correct stairway or elevator leading to the part of the deck you want to go to. Passengers can't walk from one end of the ship to the other (bow to stern) on any given level, so you have to walk down the hallway on the level you are on to an elevator that goes to the section of the level you want to go to. Lots of walking is available and usually necessary if you are an active passenger as I was. One suggestion I have for Carnival is to mark the various levels more clearly for passengers who use the stairs. Also name the various levels from bottom to top with names in alphabetical order, A to K; many passengers remarked that the present system was confusing. Take your motion sickness pills; that huge ship moves quite a bit, but doesn't disturb the great experience.

CABIN R-164 ON THE RIVIERA DECK, THE LOWEST ONE
Our cabin steward, Collin from India, had a genuine friendly smile and manner and made us very welcome. His staff did an excellent job cleaning the cabin and preparing it each day for the night's sleep. The cabin is roomy enough for two, not too cold or noisy if your cabin partner doesn't open the roof top vent too much, and has a very nice toilet, sink, and shower. The shower controls were the best and it had a very nice hand held shower head on flex-tubing. Hot water was plentiful, but the pressure was low. The bed was absolutely wonderful. I slept better there than I do in my king-sized bed at home. I only regret I didn't tear it apart to see what mattress they use. Since we had an inside cabin I thought I would need a flashlight for those trips to the head when the lights were off. There is enough light coming under the door to allow walking with no main cabin light on, then you need to turn on the bath light.

GRAND CAYMAN ISLE
We anchored close to shore and transferred to the shore on motor launches. It was more fun than just walking down a gang plank. Six huge cruise ships were in the harbor along with us, very interesting. Watch for the left-hand-side drivers there. It's a good place to buy alcoholic beverages at bargain prices. At the good beverage stores they will take your ship name and cabin number and see to it that the goods are delivered to your cabin the night before arrival back at Tampa. You will have no access to the booze before that time.

COZUMEL, MEXICO
We landed here at a pier, no launches needed, just walk off the ship. There is a very clean, modern shopping area directly adjacent to the port. Take a taxi to town for $6.00 per load for more genuine Mexican shopping and cuisine. We ate at Pancho's, and shopped in the adjacent shop; both were very good. You can do the bargaining thing at most of the other smaller shops; 50% of the first price is where you must start. I liked Cozumel better than Grand Cayman. We didn't do any commercial excursions in either place.

I noticed a fairly large gunboat cruising in the harbor, but since it had no obvious flag I didn't know whether it was Mexican or American. I took a picture of it.

FUN DAYS AT SEA
These actually are not boring at all. There is plenty to do, and it is interesting to just find a quiet place on the ship and watch people or the beautiful sea, and we were filled to capacity (2500 passengers including 600 children and 900 crew). People were well behaved, and to my surprise the percentage of out-of-shape persons was well below that experienced elsewhere, perhaps less than 1%. I have a high cholesterol problem and had a heck of a time keeping to my diet. In fact I dumped the diet for 5 days and loved it. The on-stage entertainment was family oriented and enjoyable. The singing and dancing acts were competent G-rated Las Vegas type shows. I personally liked the magician the best of all the entertainment and would liked to have it greatly expanded to perhaps 1 1/2 hours.

FOOD
The Ecstasy dining room was beautiful. The waiters were fabulous, and the food was usually very good. Our table companions were very nice people. These were people that in the real world would be numbered among our friends. The formal night was just beautiful, and I was happy they didn't dump overboard those of us who wore a sport coat because we don't own a dark suit. I guess one could have rented a tux, but I gave up uniforms after leaving the Army. The food in the Seaview Bar & Grill was usually excellent also. It was an excellent place to eat breakfast and lunch or snack any time of the day. The vege pizza was good at the Pizzeria. I probably ate 3 times as many calories on that cruise as at home and maybe gained only 1 pound due to the amount of walking and stair climbing. I am glad I didn't have my cholesterol checked at the end of the cruise. Many reviews mentioned the fat-free frozen yogurt. I ate my share, but rate it for quality as follows. The Costco stores have a fat-free yogurt sold in their snack bars that is absolutely the best; it's a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10. The Carnival fat-free yogurt is a 3; maybe they can work out a deal with Costco.

DEBARKATION
This was efficiently handled by Carnival, on time and no problems .

BOTTOM LINE
I guess I can sum it up by saying that I am homesick for the Sensation ship and crew and will always remember the cruise as a pleasant experience. One of the most important considerations when considering a cruise is to base it on the ports of call and know that the basics on the ship (food and cabin) are top notch.