Carnival Sensation
Sail date:
It was our first cruise and the weather was uncooperative so it may have tainted my experience somewhat. I found the staff to be friendly and the ship clean for the most part but it showed its age. The decor was a little "tacky". The pillows and linens were substandard and the comforters needed a good cleaning. The food was good and well presented but the servings were surprisingly small. We never felt "overfull" at the end of a meal, just pleasantly full. Despite our requesting an early seating, we were given a late seating and spent 5 days, just the two of us, at a table of 11. The pools were very small and seemed to be closed more than they were open. The water slide was fun, but again, not open very often. Our room steward did a good job of cleaning our room, however, we never received a cleaning on the morning of our last day, and consequently didn't receive the all important debarkation/customs paperwork. We assumed it would be given that night, however, it never arrived. When we called the information desk, we were told that no one could bring it to us, that we would have to come get it from them. The debarkation process took too long and left a lingering bad memory.Overall, I don't know if cruising in general was not my cup of tea, or if Carnival didn't meet my expectations. I'll have to try another cruise line in the future.