First International review! I have to admit I'm a little surprised there aren't more reviews for this cruise! I had the pleasure of going on this ship to visit Freeport and Nassau in the Bahamas. This was my first cruise for a birthday celebration and I have no complaints. From beginning to end the staff was extremely friendly and personable, everything ran smoothly, and holy moley the food! Before leaving port I was a little skeptical...I mean you're kinda trapped and Carnival is known for being 'entry level' in the cruising world but the entire time I felt like I really was in one of their over the top cheesy commercials with everybody smiling, dancing, and laughing! The ship reminded me of Vegas i.e. gaudy and the shows did cater more towards kids *cough* towel animal theater? are you for real? But overall the price is incredible for a week of down right fun! read more

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Sooo this was my third cruise with carnival cruise lines. I can't remember the other two ships names. They were out of Mobile, AL and Jacksonville. Don't get me wrong I absolutely LOVE cruising but this ship was by far the smallest ship I've been on causing us to feel the movement of the ship way more. Thus causing my motion sickness to act up :( ... On all 3 cruises we have chosen to stay in a suite and on the first two cruises our suites were considerably large which made us disappointed to see how small this suite was... Anddddd disappointed that we paid more for it.. The balcony wasn't all that great either... Not private at all.. The "smoking deck" was outside of our room.. I hate smelling cigarette smoke .. So.. I choose to give this ship and experience a 3... I absolutely loved my other cruise experiences through carnival though. read more

Carnival Sensation - Colten boarding the sensation - Travel Services Near Me - Cape Canaveral, Florida

This is a nice cruise if you just need to get away from it all but dont expect the luxuries available on newer vessels. For three days its ok but any longer could be a problem. If you get motion sickness than this is not your boat. The first night the winds were blowing and a large percentage of the ship had gotten ill. The food is just ok but falls short of other newer carnival ships and competing cruise lines. The staterooms were on the smaller side and more than 3 people can be challenging. The comedy club was good and cocktails very good. The casino was alot of fun especially since we were winning big time. A solid three star experience but I imagine that this work horse days are numbered and Carnival will be looking to replace it eith a modern boat. read more

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This has got to be the absolute worst cruise I've been on. The ship smelled like raw sewage the food was so so outside the dining room. Either this cruise line is really going downhill or I've just gotten older and less tolerant of this. We went to the Bahamas out of Cape Canaveral. The transfers to and from the ship were perfect. Easy to get to however we arrived in Orlando and 9:30 a.m. We had to wait until 11:00 a.m. before the bus took us to Port Canaveral. Entry onto the ship was easy and well organized. We were hoping for a fruit punch welcome or any kind of drink welcome as we arrived on the ship but all we found were the picture takers. I guess it goes with the territory they try to sell you pictures of yourself. We went up to the Lido Deck to grab a snack and tour the ship. The food was ok but the crowds were insane. People everywhere - the staff at the Lido Deck was extremely helpful. They offered to refresh our drinks since the lines were insane. They really do try hard I think the failing part of this ship is that it is very old and to be frank Carnival has abandon it's responsibilities to maintaining this vessel. It's on it's last leg - everything looks worn. Our cabin was a balcony room with no frills what so ever. I am accustomed to a small sofa and table in Balcony rooms. No, what we had was a single chair. For two adults! So we were forced to sit on our beds which is uncomfortable when you have a bad back. The normally big picture window was reduced to a small window and a glass door. Totally false advertisement because if you search the Carnival Sensation ship you will clearly see a lovely large window and a glass door in addition to the comfy looking sofa. I did not have this option and finally the room smelled of raw sewage. We made a complaint which got very little attention. We still smelled the raw sewage throughout the entire 3 days. We complained again to our cabin steward and the first desk who said they would clean it out. We do not understand what they mean as it was clear they needed a plummer. The Serenity Adult Only Retreat probably was very nice at one time but now it is dirty and in need of major overhaul. Waiting for the water down drinks to the point of drinking a glass with ice was just enough to make anyone angry. The chairs were dirty and looked horrible. Finally we booked an excursion Charm and Beauty of Nassau & Paradise Island - we were promised a 3 hour bus ride with stops along the way and a final stop at Atlantis which we were told we could get off and stay there. Reality: This is what we got a 3 hour bus tour of the trees on the island, a Fort which we were told not to go into because there was no time. While the Fort sits very high we thought we would at least go take a few scenic pictures. We were stopped at the front gate and told we were not allowed to go in unless we paid for the Fort. We didn't know it at the time but it cost $1.00 to get in. Had we known that it was only $1.00 we would have purchased the ticket and gone in for a nicer picture. So if you are on this horrible excursion go ahead and donate a $1.00 to the Fort if you plan on getting any pictures of you and your family. We were promised that we would visit a distillery which we did - also was promised a sampling of their rum. Reality was a cap full of Pina Colada. The Distillery had pictures on the walls and they were there to get you to purchase liquor. No history learned - no tour just buy my liquor and move on. The cap full of Pina Colada in my opinion is not a sampling. It's a spoon full of a drink which was useless. Someone asked for another taste and they were told to go in and purchase a glass. Very sad indeed~. Bottom line DO not I repeat DO not go on the Carnival Sensation unless you are desperate and they are giving you their best room for $100.00 a night. That's about what it's worth. read more

I'm currently on a Cruise with Carnival Sensation where there was an medical emergency and after 13 hours the boat had to turn around and head back to port. I understand events like this happens from time to time. No one from the captain or crew communicated that the ship turned around and was heading back to port. The captain only communicated the news to passengers well after we we're headed back out to our first port. The message communicated was that now instead of two port stops we'll make one stop and add another day at sea. Everyone onboard is upset about three facts. 1. The Captain never communicated we were headed back to Miami which would've at least provided an option for the customers to communicate their desire to leave the ship and skip the cruise 2. Customer Service reps said the passengers would get only a $17 refund (port charges for Grand Cayman). The port we're no longer visiting and that are first port stop Jamaica would be a day later and instead of 10-5 we would arrive from 7-3. I planned the trip to be in Jamaica on my Anniversary but instead we'll be on our 3rd straight day at sea on a 5 day cruise. 3. After standing in a long line of passengers complaining I'm told that ports aren't guaranteed. Nothing is guaranteed but there is a reasonable expectation that customers purchase cruises based upon the ports of call. To expect customers to be happy about spending two days on a boat that sped to get back to he originating port and sped to get back toward the first port (a very rocky experience) and reducing 50 percent of the itinerary without providing any exceptable considerations for passengers I've with Carnival 5 times in the last 15 years. I've even purchased an Alaskan Cruise for my Mom for this summer. I've cruised with Royal Caribbean but for the most part stayed loyal to Carnival. My prayers are with the family with the emergency evacuation however Carnival needs to step up and do right by the passengers and realize that customer have choices when they sail #Lost atSea April 29th through May 4th read more

I had a great time on the carnival sensation! I had a room with 2 portholes, it was good sized for the two of us. The room was clean and our room steward was so awesome. Other reviews were saying the sensation was terrible and smelled. It did not smell what so ever and I thought it was a nice ship. This was my first cruise so I have nothing to compare it to. It is a very small cruise ship compared to all the other ones a saw but I was fine with that. The food was good, we mainly ate on the lido deck or got a pizza because we didn't usually feel like dressing nice to go to our dining room. When we did go to the dining room however it was always fantastic! I would sail on the sensation again if I had to and I would have no complaints. read more

I really think the carnival sensation could have been better. I also wish they cater to vegan passengers better then they do, if you are vegan prepare to eat potatoes and veggie tacos the whole trip with some fruit options. The speaking barrier on ship sucks with the workers , I understand employee people from different countries but please let them be able to speak a little English. Please do some about that duck tape over the sky window at the top that's unacceptable. I had more fun off the boat then on the boat. My first cruise was horrible. read more

We just got back from our 5 day cruise and I wanted to share the experience before it fades away or I'm too busy to care. This ship is old and should be either updated or retired by now. Looks dirty and neglected. There is only 1 little pool for hundreds of people, needless to say I never even got in the pool. I've taken a Carnival Cruise before and had a much better experience, but that was a few years back. Unfortunately I booked another Carnival Cruise for New Year's before going on this trip and if I cancel it now they will charge me $1000, so I guess I'm stuck with them for one more trip. The food is horrendous, breakfast always super packed and they are constantly running out of everything, they can't keep up with the demand, not sure if it's lack of space or shortage of personnel. Lunch always the same; Burgers, fries and hot dogs or you could stand in line for sandwiches which is what we did, although we only had lunch on the ship a couple of times. Dinner was a little better but again not what you would expect on a Cruise. The service was hit or miss, first night we had a bad server who was rude, but the other nights we had better luck and better servers. Edwin was our bartender at a couple of different bars, he was nice and attentive. The girl who attended our room was also very nice, her name was Cristina, she made sure we had ice for our water every night and always asking if we needed anything. I paid about $75 for Premium Internet Service on board and it was a joke, couldn't even check my email. I finally had to log into one of their computers to check my work email and it was like a slow death!! Sat there for 20 minutes just trying to read my emails. I gave up and didn't even bother again, I figure it was only 5 days and I would check it when I got back. A lot of other cruisers were talking about the same thing. If they are going to give you crappy signal, at least let's have it for free or make it cheaper, I went to guest services several times thinking I was doing something wrong, but always the same, they couldn't do anything about the signal, well don't charge me $75 if you can't deliver! Lastly, we paid for the Drink Package which is $55 per person per day so that we could drink worry free during the trip. I guess they've done the Math and they have it figured out, you get off the ship every day and buy drinks elsewhere, when you get back and shower and go to dinner you end up having only a few drinks every day. When you visit their private island Half Moon Cay, the drinks are not included and you have to pay for them, but it's their Island! I was on a Royal Caribbean Cruise recently and although there were some issues as well, they did have good internet signal, I paid for it but at least I could use it! When we visited their private island the drinks were included if you had paid for the Drink package. Carnival needs to step up and take better care of their customers or they will start losing us to other Cruise Lines. Do yourself a favor, if you are going on a Carnival Cruise DO NOT BOOK THE SENSATION! It's ugly, old, smells badly, and it wasn't even cheap! I'm paying almost the same for 7 days on another ship for New Year's so that is not the issue. I definitely did not get what I paid for! We are not picky people and we are not hard to please, so believe me when I tell you it was not good. Hopefully the New Year's Cruise will be better. read more

Please save your money. This is a floating Wal-mart. The food was terrible with the exception of the food we paid "premiums" for. That's right, if you want better food you have to pay more. Even desserts. We had amazing cheesecake that we paid extra for just so we could have a decent dessert. Even in the dining room you have to pay an extra 20.00 for a better meal. I will admit, the beds and pillows were comfortable. But our AC didn't work and their solution was to give us a fan. The only outlet in our room burned my phone charger. When I went to guest services I was told they are samsung people. No help there. Everyone I spoke to said it was the worst cruise they have ever been on. key west was great and we were rerouted to Bahamas instead of Cozumel because of a tropical storm. We dealt with it and had a good time. The staff had no desire to solve any problem and appeared like they didn't care at all. I have cruised with carnival years ago and also Norwegian. Things for carnival have gone down hill in a big way. The one small pool was so packed you literally couldn't get in at all. We hung out in the over 21 area but it had no pool so we cooled off in the outdoor shower. It was my friends first cruise and she said she would never cruise again because of the bad experience. Sorry to say I won't either. read more