Old ship with problems but great ports

Carnival Sensation Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 26

Overall rating:

3.1 out of 5
Carnival Sensation

5 Night Eastern Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: August 03, 2019

Ship: Carnival Sensation

Cabin type: Oceanview

Traveled as: Family (young children)

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

The ports were great, but the ship was old. My a/c didn’t work the entire cruise. I had promises every day to send a technician to fix it. It continued to be high 70s and low 80s every day when they came and checked. Night was even worse because I couldn’t keep the door to the hallway open to let cool air in. Also the bathroom floor had cuts in it and it wreaked of old urine. The worst part is that the customer service people never fixed the problems. Having a non-working air conditioner on vacation should be something that should be fixed the first day.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

Entertainment

1 out of 5

Children's Programs

2 out of 5

Service and Staff

3 out of 5
The waitstaff was a 5+ but the room steward was a 2 and the customer service reps were a 1.

Ship Quality

2 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

1 out of 5
My air conditioner didn’t work the entire cruise. I was sent somebody every day that verified it wasn’t working and the temperature in my cabin was high 70s to low 80s. Every day they said they’d send a technician to fix it. They never fixed it. The final full day they finally sent somebody that took the vent apart because there was no air flow even though the vent was turned to open. It helped a little bit, but the flow and temperature still were nowhere like our other cabin. In addition, my bathroom had cuts in the floor with a tape job trying to cover them, but it wreaked of old urine. It was disgusting the entire cruise. Also, I paid for faster to the fun, and my luggage wasn’t delivered to my room. For both of our cabins we bought faster to the fun. Three people in my family in the other room got their luggage around 1pm. At 3pm I found my luggage in a massive pile of luggage at an elevator far away from my room. I had to struggle to get it to my room myself even though I paid to have it there early. It had faster the the fun tags clearly visible unlike the other suitcases it was with, but nobody bothered to deliver it first...or deliver it at all. I also stood in the priority line at customer service for a little while as they were helping the person in front of me. There were a couple of other people in the non-priority line also, and after the guy finished with the person in front of me in the priority line, the carnival customer service representative told me that he was going to go ahead and help the non-priority line instead of me next. I waited another ten minutes and finally left without getting help. As I walked away the customer service rep yelled to me that he would help me soon, but I just told him forget it. I paid for faster to the fun and I didn’t get my luggage early (and finally went and found it and brought it to my cabin myself) and I certainly didn’t get to take advantage of any priority line at customer service. It was a total waste of money. And after suffering an entire cruise with a non-working air conditioner, all I was offered was a $50 onboard credit. That didn’t even cover the wasted money for faster to the fun that was a total flop. A non-working air conditioner should’ve been a priority to either fix it or find me a different room. If neither of those could be accomplished, I should’ve been offered more than $50 onboard credit considering we paid over $4000 for the cruise that was ruined by one of the rooms not having air conditioning.

Ship tip

Book a newer ship if you book with Carnival

Ports of call

Miami, Florida

3 out of 5

Nassau, Bahamas

4 out of 5
The shopping was good and the water was clear. The only downside was having to pay for a taxi to take us to the beach rather than it being within walking distance.

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (Private Island)

5 out of 5
The water and sand were amazing!!! It was my favorite port and absolute paradise.

Grand Turk Island

4 out of 5
The water was gross while we were there, but I’ve seen pictures when it’s gorgeous. Overall it was a decent port though.

Disembarkation

4 out of 5
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4 Comments

sassyf01    5 years ago

Same issue with the air conditioning as well. My husband tried opening the vent and it came flying off and hit him in the head, and still yet no air was coming out!

jamieb1218    5 years ago

What cabin were you in?

bbhellriegel    5 years ago

FTTF does not guarantee early luggage. Many times, I did not get my luggage till after 6 pm with FTTF.

Where2NextBB    5 years ago

Would you mind sharing the cabin numbers you had? My family will be sailing in October.

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