Would never go again

Carnival Sensation Cruise Review to Caribbean - Bahamas

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 26

Overall rating:

2.8 out of 5
Carnival Sensation

4 Night Bahamas (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: July 12, 2018

Ship: Carnival Sensation

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: E10

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

I would never ever ever go on another carnival cruise. Let's start by saying im a pretty well off individual. I like to save but I'm not cheap. After paying for the trip I thought I would be able to have plenty of fun on the ship. And you can, for a price. Everything on the ship costs a ridiculous amount of money. The pictures they take of you, each costs a minimum of $11 to keep. The "penny" slots really cost at least a dollar. The cheers program allows you to get 15 free alcoholic drinks a day. But you better hope whoever is in your cabin also wants to buy it. Every adult in the cabin has to purchase the cheers program, even if only you drink. And it costs $250 dollars per person. So if you are traveling with a partner who doesnt drink, and you both are in the same room. You have to pay $500 for the cheers program still. That is absolutely insane. The food on the ship is okay. The burgers and pizza are actually 4 star. So what else is their to do on the ship? Nothing, even the "giveaways" arent real. The art auction giveaway seems like a way for them to launder money. The giveaway is either a $100 voucher to buy a $6,000 painting. Or a "free" painting which is actually them printing out on paper a picture of the painting. They sell "paintings" of looney tunes characters for $300. Thing is, its not painted and looks as if its a print out from google images. Its even on basic stock paper. Very strange. The cigars (if you like cigars) are very expensive. And the cheap ones taste like a really big Marlboro Red cigarette that's gone stale. The comedians were great. I wish i could remember their names. The real star was a marriage counselor/comedian. He was hilarious and had the best comedy shows. Off the boat, the half moon cay port is horrible. The systems are all Carnival's, even the employees at the bars are carnival. However your cheers program doesnt work here. Drinks are about $10 and up and expect to need 3 to really get a buzz. The local vendors are cash only which is very weird. And you are trapped. They have you trapped in the port so you cant explore. Its so weird. Spend your time at the beach in the water. its clear and very relaxing. The nassau port was much better. You can explore the whole island, interact with the locals. Do whatever you want. Despite all this I had a lot of fun on the ship because I purchased the crazy Cheers program and was pretty much drunk and talking to random people the whole time. The comedians gave me something to do at night.

Embarkation

2 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

2 out of 5
Three stars because most food is free. 0 Stars because everyone in your cabin has to purchase the Cheers (all you can drink) pass, even if they dont drink.

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5
Everything costs money.

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Service and Staff

4 out of 5
All the staff is very nice

Ship Quality

2 out of 5
Its clean, i think we had an older ship though.

Cabin / Stateroom

2 out of 5

Ship tip

Bring an extra $700 dollars just to have an okay time on the ship.

Ports of call

Miami, Florida

3 out of 5

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (Private Island)

1 out of 5
Everything is closed off so you cant do anything outside the port. Even though its all run by carnival, your Cheers program doesnt work. Vendors here only accept cash.

Nassau, Bahamas

5 out of 5
I didn't do an excursion but after going in the water and eating you dont have much time anyways. This was still so much fun and a great time.

Disembarkation

3 out of 5
Was this review helpful? 26

6 Comments

donf407    6 years ago

Am I the only person that stoped reading after she said she was well off

Teamstrong    6 years ago

I was on the sensation and we drank a lot had a great time. Cheers program sucks though. They need s better system

Shh813    6 years ago

@doggieskitties, I agree with you. There are too many people who are always talking about drinking. You shouldn't have to drink to have a good time.

Punkis    6 years ago

Crazy. Loved the Sensation and all cruise

hh4    6 years ago

Sorry you didn't enjoy it. The drink packages are similar on most cruise lines, as every adult in your stateroom has to purchase it, and there's a daily limit. The entertainment is different on each cruise line, but usually the larger ships have more and better entertainment. Cruise lines make more of their money off selling things. No different than Vegas, Disney world, movie theaters, and any other tourist attraction. Relatively low prices to get you there and to stay. Once you're there, try to get you to spend more money. It's a business.

doggieskitties    6 years ago

Why in the world would you want to stay drunk the whole cruise? If you sober up some you might have enjoyed yourself.

Other reviews of this sailing