I had a fabulous birthday cruise even with choppy seas!
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Embarkation was very easy! We had FTTF and by the time we got to the port at 11:00am they were already boarding. We walked right through and got on board!
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
We ate in the Main Dining Room every night except for when we went to Cozumel because that was a late day. Service was a bit slow the first night but it might have felt that way because I was VERY hungry when we went to dinner. The other nights it seemed to have picked up. The buffet had some great options as well. I enjoyed their Caribbean buffet although their plantains were too dry for my liking.
My all time favorite spot to get a drink was the casino bar though. It is the ONLY place on the ship where you can get a High Seas Tea. That by far is my favorite drink the Carnival Cruise Line has to offer. My brother told me about it on our last night of our cruise on the Conquest back in January and I have been hooked ever since.
Fantasy Dining Room
5 out of 5
This is where we went for Your Time dining. It is on the 8th deck mid ship I believe. The times that we chose to eat always worked out for us because there was no wait to be seated. The only time we waited was when we walked in during ShowTime. Once the performance was over we were seated. Then there was only one night where the wait for food seemed extremely long but I honestly think that is because I was VERY hungry when I went to eat. lOl. Hangry was kicking in so I do not blame them for me being impatient that night.
Michelangelo Lounge
5 out of 5
I attended Karaoke here on the first night and it was amazing. I love how the room is set up with a little stage to sing on and a dance floor in between the stage and the bar. We were able to sit at the bar, dance and sing without moving too much. The sculptures placed around the lounge were very nice as well.
Mirage Bar
5 out of 5
This is also known as the casino bar. This is where I got my high seas tea every time they had a happy hour. This is also where they hosted the Harry Potter Trivia and the Trivial Pursuit I attended as well. Although it is in the casino there wasn't an over bearing smell of smoke. I'm guessing we didn't have as many smokers on this cruise or they were just never at the bar when we went to get our drink.
Pizzeria
5 out of 5
I personally enjoyed the pizza more that was delivered to me than the pizza I got when I went down there. The pepperoni pizza had more pepperoni's when I ordered the pizza. It is conveniently located near the ice cream which I always got after eating my pizza. (What's a diet when you are on a cruise anyway lOl.)
Kaleidoscope Discotheque
5 out of 5
My body is conditioned to go to bed around 10:00-10:30 regardless of if I'm on vacation or not so I was only able to hit the club one night lOl. I had a blast when I did go though. DJ Devine and DJ Tillier had the club jumping! The selection of music was great and I did enjoy the set up. I was able to dance without having to go on the crowded dance floor.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
I attended the Harry Potter Trivia and the Trivial Pursuit they held right in front of the casino bar. Had an absolute blast doing that! I went to hot tub by the pool but the water wasn't hot enough for my liking.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
DJ Devine is the absolute greatest! I had the pleasure of sailing with him on the Sunshine in 2018 and it was a pleasant surprise to see him again. We enjoyed the Playlist Production shows as well. The welcome aboard show was fabulous and I also attended the latin show which was wonderful as well.
Fantasia Main Show Lounge
5 out of 5
My first time going into this lounge I was not thrilled but that is because it was my Muster Station lOl. Every time after that was pleasant. I attended a late night comedy show which was fabulous and then I also attended a latin show that I enjoyed as well.
Children's Programs
I did not travel with children.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Per usual I loved the staff on the ship. MY room steward was amazing and made sure we had what we needed. I loved the pizza delivery staff and made great use of the delivery feature on the app. The waiters were amazing as well! They always got our attention by saying our names and were just fun to be around. Then I absolutely LOVED our cruise director Deon! I would cruise on the Sensation again just to have him as my Cruise Director.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
The layout of this ship was not difficult (for me) to navigate. By the second day I was able to navigate from my room to where I needed to go with ease for the most part. I do wish there was an adult only pool but the hot tubs were appreciated.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
I was in cabin R35 which is an oceanview room in the forward part of the ship. The room served its purpose for me and my friend. It was pretty cozy but for a four night cruise it was perfect. There is plenty of storage space with four drawers attached to the vanity and three tall closets. One of the beds had space under them for luggage and the other had what looked like a folded up pull out bed. In the far corner under the TV there is a small shelf and then on the wall there were two hooks to hang items if need be. I was shocked by the lack of adequate shelving in the bathroom but we made it work. The outside part of our ocean view window was a bit dirty but that is expected from being exposed to the elements outside and ocean water. I was still able to see out of it and take some decent pictures and video. There is ONE outlet in the entire room. Make sure you pack that USB adapter or non surge protector power strip.
Ship tip
If you have sailed on any larger ships do not go on this ship with high expectations. Make the most of your experience and do not spend a lot of time trying to compare this ship to others.
We did not do an excursion at this port. We just embarked and debarked from here. Still not a huge fan of how they set up the luggage pick up area but it won't stop me from cruising out of Miami.
Honestly, my only complaint about this port is that I did not have more time to explore. I truly enjoyed everything about this port. It was a little hectic getting off the ship but that was due to this one passenger who kept trying to push by me. Once I got away from her my day got so much better. My friend and I went and did the Old Town Trolley Tour. It took us all around Key West. The first driver we had was hilarious and kept us laughing. We got off on the 4th stop which was near a CVS. We needed to pick up a few items and were able to do so there. It was a bit difficult to shop in some places because we got there so early. While we waited for the trolley (which ran every 15 minutes) we went and got macaroons. This was my first time having them and some flavors I appreciated more than others. Once we finally got back on the trolley (we ended up missing two trolleys messing around at Willie T's and the macaroon place) we stayed on the trolley until it went back to the starting point. We were so tired and had no desire to wait in line so we took pictures of the Southern Most Point as we drove by lOl. Over all this was an amazing port day and probably my favorite day of the entire cruise.
This was a late day so we spent the morning on the ship. It was forecasted to rain but it held out and only drizzled a few times off and on. We went to Mr. Sanchos and had a marvelous time. Spent the bulk of the day by the pool bar before going to the aqua park they have in the ocean. Just like last time I wore myself out playing on those inflatable trampolines and climbing up the "floating icebergs". It was so much fun though! Then before we left I went and had the fish pedicure which tickled so much! After a while it feels less weird but I was in tears laughing so hard from the experience. After we left Mr. Sanchos we went to Fat Tuesday which is right by the ships. They made sure to announce when the different ships were getting ready to leave. I thoroughly enjoyed this port as I always do even with it being so crowded.
Even though we had FTTF we took our time getting off the ship. We went to breakfast in the morning before carrying whatever we didn't check the night before. Once they called our zone we made our way to the 7th deck to debark. It was a long line to get off the ship and a lot of confusion in line. For whatever reason multiple people were unaware that they needed to pick up their alcohol purchased on the ship on deck 9 and not as they were trying to get off the ship. That was the main hold up and then some people who had not settled their balances as well also slowed up the line. My biggest headache was trying to find my suitcase once we made it to customs. One of them were placed in a different area than they were supposed to but other than that and being sad that my cruise was ending it was pretty smooth and painless for me personally.
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