Fabulous First Cruise

We had a terrific time on our cruise.  The ship was clean and the staff super friendly.  I have dietary restrictions and the Fantasy chefs did not fail to deliver wonderful meals  made just for me.  I would advise.... make sure if you have dietary restrictions, to stop by the desk and pre-order daily before 3pm (if you did not do so the night before).  This was an issue on day 2 when I was made to believe there would be no problem with me ordering the chef's choice nightly.  Following that snafu, they were more than accomodating.  

There is food galore, there are not quite as many restaurants as they would like you to believe, the dessert area, pizza place, deli, salad bar and dinner buffet are all in the same room creating more of a Golden Corral type setting.  That being said, it was all very good.  Do not miss the cookies on the late night buffet!!

Embarkation was a breeze.  You get on the boat and you can't go to your room for a while so the first thing we did was grab a bite to eat.  Then we toured each floor to see where things were.  By the time we were done with this, we could get into our room.  Luggage didn't come at the same time, we had one bag waiting for us when we got to the room and the others didn't get there until after 6.

Disembarkation was chaotic.  They call you by floors and we were on the bottom so were last.  The line is long and while it moves quickly, it is long,  Did I mention it was long?  We were afraid of not being able to get an elevator when our floor was called, so went to the main floor (7) to wait.  As a result we saw nearly all 2000 people disembark before we did.  We took time to whisper goodbye to all the people we kept running into and named; Walking Stick Guy, Hawaiian Shirt Jesus, Booty Girl, Barbara-not-Barbara to name a few.

There was plenty to do, a list of entertainment events arrives in your room nightly.  We would go through the list, pull up the app (yep, there's an app and it is well worth downloading) so we could star the events we wanted to go to and plan our day.  We went to several trivia contests, two broadway style productions that were fun and exciting, a game show called "Love and Marriage" that was akin to the newlywed show but for the most part PG rated and super funny, we loved the piano bar and hung out there for at least a little while every night (Brad the Piano Guy filled in temporarily and was fantastic).  The pool area was a little rowdy, but we aren't pool people anyway so avoided that area for the most part.  There were two comedians on board who had a few shows each both R and PG rated, we only went to one but weren't that impressed.

I didn't like that a lot of events took us past the smoking area smack in the middle of the Promenade deck.  The entire floor stunk of cigarette smoke and we found ways to avoid it most times, but like I said some events were right there.

We had an oceanview stateroom on the Riviera deck.  This was advised by Gia at as I was with a first time traveler.  I think this was a great option as we didn't experience as much swaying as other areas on board.  Our room was surprisingly spacious.  After reading so many reviews commenting on the lack of space, we were shocked to find a three part closet that we only really used half of but gave us storage for at least half of our luggage.  The closet was divided, like I said into three parts.  One short closet with extra bedding on the bottom, a full closet that also contained the ladder for the upper bunk which we didn't need but that didn't take up but 3", and the third section was shelves that were perfect for shoes, books, purses, etc.  There was a vanity/dresser/desk with 4 drawers that had more than enough room for undergarments, hairdryer, curling iron, makeup etc.  

I had heard numerous horror stories about the bathrooms on cruise ships.  We were prepared for the worst so were quite relieved when we saw it.  True, there isn't much storage space, a little shelf above the sink, but putting too much there will block the mirror.  We were fine with that as most of our toiletries were on the vanity anyway,  The shower was small but not unmanageable, and truthfully we had to use the little shelf under the sink to shave our legs so it did look a little like someone had bathed a st bernard in there when we were done.  Overall the bathroom was fine though and more than what I had expected.  The one saving grace was that we, after reading so many reviews, brought along a shoe organizer that we hung on the inside of the bathroom door to keep our shampoo, conditioner, bodywash, razors, etc in.  There was no room for any of that so we were glad we had it.  

There is a little tv in the room with a surprising number of channels available, granted at least 3 are ship channels, and CBS, ABC and NBC are options along with two movie channels, some news and cable options as well.  We didn't watch tv but what I got hooked on was the channel that showed where you are, up close of where you are, the path you've traveled, a view ahead of the ship, weather for the US, and a couple other things.  I left it on quite a bit.  

Were I pressed to come up with the one thing I disliked the most about our trip it would be this.... and I want to add a disclaimer before I talk about it.

So... disclaimer...

All things considered, you would be hard pressed to book a vacation to Key West and Cozumel for under $500/person.  Especially one that included your meals, entertainment not to mention transportation between locales.  I understand that.  I understand that what these cruise lines are offering you is quite a bargain when you add everything up.  So I understand that they need to diversify and hope to get you to spend money elsewhere to support their industry.  I get it.  And I lived in Alaska where Princess owns quite a bit of property and tries to get their passengers to take excursions to their locations, we called it "canned Alaska", so I've seen it first hand.  I get it.

What I was not prepared for was this:

Key West day - We see a event on the Fun Times listing about Key West.  It says something about "what to do in port" or "how to have fun in port" or something to that effect.  We go to the event.  We are told all about all these jewelry stores and charm bracelets and free charms and free pearl earrings and free color changing items and coupon books for various touristy stores each one requiring a visit to a different store.  We are told nothing about Hemingway's house or the Butterfly Sanctuary or Southernmost Point or the museum or anything of that caliber.  Fortunately, I had already planned our Key West visit and knew we would be walking down Duval to the coast, cutting over one block to Southernmost Point and walking back up Duval stopping at Margaritaville (the holy land of my Parrot Head people).  Mostly for the sake of my companion, who only heard "free, free, free" we also stopped at the various jewelry stores to get the free items (garbage, pretty much) and had plenty of time.

Day 2, Cozumel:

We see that there is also a, as I now put it, "how to shop in Cozumel" event on the fun times.  We go and he tells us all about the shopping in the port and includes this "don't leave the port area.  It's not safe."

My partner decides she wants to get the coupon book now, too,  $25 charged right to your sign & sail card.  We get two.  

When we get to Cozumel we are ready.  We hit most of the shops on the list for our free crap when I realize that all we are seeing is these shops.  From the port, you can't even see anything else of the island which, again as I have researched it, is large and there are sights to see but I see none of them.  Then I remember some angel posing somewhere about the taxi sign and how the taxis will take you anywhere you want to go.  We sit down and I tell her that there has to be more, this isn't the experience I wanted, which suddenly she realizes as well.  We go off in search of the taxi sign.  It is too late to go the ruins, which months ago we had talked of wanting to see.  They close at, get this, 3:30 pm.  So we find this doll of a taxi driver who will take us on the posted "Island Tour" for $75.  We do it.  Money well spent.  We had the most phenomenal time.  Our taxi driver, Eduardo, told us the history of the island, the culture of the people.  He told us about the different monuments he took us too, he showed us the neighborhoods people lived in, he took us to the Atlantic Ocean and allowed us as much time as we wanted.  He took pictures for us, he told us about the sea turtles that nest there and showed us the turtle camp where the scientists who study them stay, he took us to a private beach club that was closed but he knew the people so we got to go in and look around, then after about three hours he took us back to port.  We were so thrilled with the entire tour that I overtipped him, he earned it.  So, if you go, and you want this tour, I simply cannot recommend Eduardo in taxi 286 highly enough.  Tell him the two ladies from Montana sent you.  I'm including a photo of Eduardo, he's the bees knees, seriously.

So for all the staff of the Sensation, thank you.  You made this trip a wonderful experience.  And thank you Gia at .  You helped so much with the planning and I was grateful to have spoken to you.