Brief and to the point July 2000 Carnival Sensation
cruise report.
In
July 1999 we took our first cruise. We enjoyed the four day Carnival E
cstasy so
much we decided to try a seven day cruise in the Summer of 2000. With so many to
choose from it was a difficult task. We wanted to go to Puerto Rico but could
only find cruises that arrived in San Juan at 5 PM and departed at midnight.
Fortunately, since we live close to both Port Everglades and the Port of Miami
we had many other cruises to choose from. So where did we end up? In Tampa Bay,
of course. The Carnival Sensation gave us an option the others didn't. The
opportunity to sail up the Mississippi River to the Town of New Orleans (sounds
like an old song). We decided to give it a try and are glad we did.
I rebuilt an old Compaq 486 notebook computer to bring along with my Kodak DC
210+ 1.2 MP digital camera. Due to the small amount of memory in the camera most
if not all pictures are 640x480.The majority of this narrative was written
during the cruise.
Our
Vacation on the Carnival Sensation.
Our
vacation will begin on Saturday in Tampa, FL.
On
Sunday we will be leaving for a seven day cruise on the Carnival Sensation with
stops at Cayman Islands, Cozemel, and New Orleans, LA. Mary and I really need
this vacation so lets hope it is a good one!
Day
one. We left Miami about 11:30 AM and arrived in Tampa at about 3:30 PM. We went
looking for the Tampa Port terminal and of course ended up at the wrong part of
the port. We finally found the cruise ship terminal and located the parking and
port embankment area. We then proceeded to the Bushnell National Cemetery where
we placed flowers on my Father's grave.
We
took a room at the Red Roof Inn in Brandon, FL. We had dinner at Red Lobster.
Mary had (what else!) stuffed Maine Lobster and I had a combo plate of fried
catfish and broiled flounder with stuffing. Being tired we retired to our room
at around 9:30 PM for some well deserved rest.
Day
Two:
We
checked out of our room at around 9:30 AM. After a little shopping in Brandon we
drove over to the cruise port and arrived at around 11:30 AM. There was already
a crowd of people waiting to sign in and board the Sensation. Check in went
smoothly and we were on board by 1 PM. Only problem was that our luggage did not
arrive at our room until 5:45 PM. Since our dinner seating is early (6 PM) we
went to dinner in the same clothes we had on when we boarded. We were pleased
with our cabin E-69 for the most part. the only problem we encountered was the
smell of cigarette smoke lingering in the cabin. Both Mary and I are
non-smokers, and neither of us have ever been smokers. Marcellus Frantz Room was
our room steward. He did a great job.
We set
sail at around 4:45 PM.
We
were pleased to find that our dinner companions seem to be a fun group.
My
dinner consisted of Smoked Salmon appetizer (very good), Tiger shrimp in some
kind of Chinese style sauce (very good), and Black Forest cake (good).
We
went for a walk around the ship after dinner. The ship is in good shape and
service seems to be decent. Unfortunately, the enforcement of rules (adults only
area) is lax as usual.
Since
we were tired from the day's activities we retired at 10:30 PM
Day 3
(July 24)
Fun Day
at Sea. We woke up at around 8:30 AM. After coffee I went up to the Sports Deck
for a short workout in the exercise room. There were about 20 people in the gym
when I arrived. Afterwards Mary and I went to breakfast on the pool deck. Was
decent standard fair. I had scrambled eggs and Mary had an omelet. We went to
the so-called Adults Only area to relax. Although there is a sign saying Adults
Only children and parents with children came up to the area. Formal dining was
very good. We had lobster (I asked for two!) which was cooked to perfection.
Later that night we attended the late night adult show featuring Thomas Brown.
He was very funny. Mary says he has a web site which I will look up when we get
back. After the show it was time for bed.
Day 4
(July 25)
When
we woke up we were already in Grand Caymans. The islands are flat and the water
was beautiful. After our standard breakfast we boarded a tender to take us to
the island. We signed up for the 9:45 AM Stingray Sandbar tour. We arrived on
Grand Cayman at around 8:00. We went wandering around feeling fairly safe to do
so. After visiting some shops and a marine park we boarded a bus to take us to
our tour boat. The experience was one I will never forget. There were a bunch of
Stingrays in water about two-three feet deep. I feed these marvelous creatures
squid. Mary can along but started feeling uncomfortable so she returned to the
boat and took pictures of me. After returning to dock we had time only to board
the tender to take us back to the Sensation. We took a nap then had dinner at
6PM. Mary and I had Sea Bass. We saw the Sensation Vegas style show in the
Fantasia Lounge. It was ok. We then attended the late night comedy show.
He was pretty funny. Then to bed.
Day 5
(July 26)
Shopping in Cozemel. We arrived at Cozemel at 9AM. Mary and I went ashore
at about 10 AM. We took a taxi to Cozemel for some shopping. The place had all
the trappings of a tourist trap. People hawking goods off of street corners,
little shops with trinkets and silver, and a large number of jewelry shops
selling basically the same stuff. I went to an Internet Cafe to check e-mail. We
hung around to about 3:00 PM and then headed back to the ship to drop off our
shopping stuff. Thought about going to a beach but decided against it when it
started to rain a little. Rain did not last but we decided to shop the dock for
awhile. Ship left Cozemel at around 9PM. We had the late night Mexican buffet
for dinner. Very good!
Day 6
(July 27)
Fun day
at sea
Eat, play, rest, eat and play.
Day
7 (July 28)
New
Orleans. We cruised up the Mississippi River to New Orleans. After all the days
at sea was pretty strange to be cruising up a river. After docking we took a bus
tour of the City. One of the places we visited was the St Louis Cemetery. Pretty
spooky place. Due to the limited space graves are shared. After the tour was
finished Mary and I walked all over the place. We visited the Confederate Museum
and by the new D-Day Museum. We then went looking for Emeril's Restaurant only
to find it closed for renovations. Then it was off to Bourbon Street. We had
lunch at Felix's which was excellent. Afterwards sightseeing and shopping. The
French Quarter is a very interesting place with some weird people hanging
around. I felt right at home. After dark we returned to the ship. I wanted to do
a ghost tour but Mary thought the better of it.
Day
8
Fun
day at sea. See day 6
Day
9 We returned to Tampa.
Return to Main Page