T.J. Lafond

Age: 48
Occupation: Engineer
Number of Cruises: 4
Cruise Line: Carnival
Ship: Sensation
Sailing Date: March 29th, 2004
Itinerary: Western Caribbean

Drop off and embarkation were a breeze as both the Port of Tampa and Carnival have made vast improvements in getting people on the boat. We were dropped off by cab right at the front door of the embarkation center, met by a porter, and we were in line in a matter of minutes. After checking documents and getting our sail and sign cards, we entered the ship. Our main level, outside view cabin slept four fairly comfortably, but I don't think we will be able to get away with one room as my duaghters get older (they are 10, 12 now). We went up to the Lido Deck and had a quick bite to eat and then headed to our cabin for the lifeboat drill. The process seems to take forever, but we were done within 30 minutes and headed back down to the cabin to return our lifejackets as the ship left the mooring right on time at 4pm. Our late seating dinner (8pm Ectasy dining room) was perfect as we never felt rushed and the girls had plenty of time to shower and prepare. We had a table by ourselves stuck in the corner by the kitchen (the same as on the Elation) which makes me believe that they have a "formula" for where they place everyone for dining. We were the only family there with children that age eating at 8pm, so we got our own table I guess! My wife and daughters availed themselves for spa treatments as I checked out the ship. I was surprised that the Sensation was holding up so well. Clean, updated a bit and fairly bright it exceeded my expectations as I had expected the ship to be "showing its age". Tuesday was a day at sea and the water was calm and weather beautiful. We spent the day on deck enjoying the sun. We played cards in the casino at night as the girls either did Camp Carnival or swam/watched in room movies/played in the arcade. I want to relate one funny story. At the return cruiser cocktail party, one couple was awarded a door prise and as they came forward to meet the captain and get their certificate, the cruise director asked them if they liked the Sensation better then the Fantasy. With the captain there, they said they liked the Fantasy because you could smoke!!! I almost died laughing. The cruise director told the couple that all ships have the same smoking policy and designated areas, but you could never have convinced them. That was the biggest surprise. The ship was not smoky! Much better policing and enforcement of the designated areas. We reached Grand Cayman early Wednesday morning and we let the big crush off the boat at 7am and headed off around 8:30am. There was NO LINE to disembark! We took the tender over to the shore and unfortunately my Internet scheduled tour with Captain Crosby to go to Stingray City fell through as he did not show up at the designated locaiton/times. I hooked up with another guy at the pier who promised to get us back to the ship by 1:15pm (last tender). This was almost the biggest mistake of my life as the guy's boat was a piece of junk and he had a motor fail on the way back from the reef. We ended up needing a police (sirens/lights) escort to get back to the ship on time. Hey, what a vacation! Stingray city was awesome. After dodging that bullet, we got back on ship and headed to Cozumel. On Thursday morning again we had little trouble getting off the ship around 9:30am after the initial rush. We shopped downtown and then headed to Nachi Cocum for a snuba/snorkle adventure (www.snubacozumel.com). What a perfect trip that was. We got to go to three different reef areas and spent over 3 hours in the water. Drinks and snacks were provided. I highly recommend Gary and the crew of the Zorro. We got a bit of rain on the way in and reboarded the Sensation around 7pm and dressed for dinner. Friday was a restful day at sea. Debarkation on Saturday morning was slow. We left our cabin for breakfast at 8:25am. We walked off the ship at 11:10am. Go figure why it took so long. My only advice is have a book and snacks for kids as there is no other shortcuts when it comes to getting off the ship. I rated this cruise 4 out of 5 stars. Highlights were itinerary and affordability. Service was excellent. Food was above average. Lowlights were underage drinking and debarkation. You get what you pay for.