Carnival Sensation
Sail date: November 23, 2006
Since this was our first cruise, we were very excited to go on this vacation. Walking onto the ship was great as it felt as if you were walking into a luxury hotel. The staff was great, exceptionally nice and accommodating. If you like to eat, then this cruise is for you. I honestly thought that the "buffets" and casual restaurants that they have open throughout the day would be basic and generic food but I was wrong. Fresh, delicious and four star fruits, salads, main courses and endless desserts were served constantly, from sushi to NY deli sandwiches, delicious! The camp carnival was dissappointing. We booked this cruise based on our kids having just as much fun as we could have by doing their own thing, being 13yrs and 15yrs old. The teen camp (12-14yrs) hardly had any activities that were inviting. One example is the "teen disco". The camp closed the disco for just the teens for about 2hrs. Not all kids like disco or dancing. I felt that they could've at least brought in some board games, or organized something else at the same time at the other end of the disco so that while the whole group was together, there was more of a choice to keep all of the teens involved. The next was their casino night. Rather than play with plastic chips to make it seem a little bit real-casino-like, they played cards for sugar. This would go over well for kids 8 and under maybe, but not for 13 and 14yr olds.. I felt badly since my son spent most of his time on the ship walking around and trying to find things to do. He couldn't play the many bingo games (since the cost was $20 per game), etc. My 15yr old daughter had an OK time but not with any organized "camps". I just feel that for the money spent, the customer should get a little more than what they get besides just great food. At least 2 or 3 times during the day we felt as if we had been "pressed" to spend money, whether it was for Bingo, any of the other activities, or for shopping. We liked the idea of paying ahead for an almost "all-inclusive" vacation, but wound up owing a lot of extra money once the cruise was over. I am not trying to sound unsatiable or anyting just wanted to express why I have a little bit of a bad taste in my mouth from this cruise as there were a few discrepancies from the description of the cruise when you book it, to what you actually get once onboard.