Carnival Sensation
4 Day Western Caribbean Cruise - February 20, 2020
One of our friends decided she wanted to go on a cruise for her 30th birthday celebration. Looks like we’re going on another friends’ cruise!
Itinerary
Thursday - Feb 20 - Miami, FL
Friday - Feb 21 - Key West, FL
Saturday - Feb 22 - Cozumel, Mexico
Sunday - Feb 23 - Fun Day at Sea
Monday - Feb 24 - Miami, FL
Embarkation Day
We all prepurchased the Cheers! Package, Carnival’s all-inclusive drinks package (up to 15 drinks per day). After stepping on board the Carnival Sensation we went to our staterooms (interior rooms with porthole windows on Deck 6) to drop off our luggage. Then we went up to the RedFrog Rum Bar and ordered our first cocktails of the cruise!
For lunch, we all did a mix of Blue Iguana Cantina, Guy’s Burgers, and the buffet. We all bought the $5 chat feature through Carnival’s Hub App so we could easily keep in contact with each other throughout the cruise. We then watched sail away from Serenity, Carnival’s adult-only retreat.
We bar hopped for a bit while exploring the ship. We stopped at Joe’s Cafe for some coffee (included with the Cheers! Package). Of course we had to stop for some pre-dinner cocktails at Alchemy Bar! Then we went to dinner in the Fantasy Main Dining Room (MDR). After dinner, we went back to Alchemy Bar and then to the Plaza Lounge, which serves as the Punchliner Comedy Club on this ship, for the comedy shows.
Key West, Florida
Jay and I went up to the Fantasy MDR for a sit-down breakfast. After getting off the ship in Key West we went to Schooner Warf Bar and had mimosas while waiting for our friends to debark the Sensation. Then we met up at the Waterfront Brewery. We took our time tasting through some of their beers and decided key lime pie was just what we needed. So we’re off to Kermit’s Key West Key Lime Shoppe! As we were walking back to the ship we saw Hemingway Rum Company/Papa’s Pilar Distillery. We went in for a rum tasting. Then we saw Key West’s First Legal Rum Distillery and had to give their rum a taste too! That’s only fair right? We had to be back on the ship by 1pm so we headed back to the port and on board the Carnival Sensation.
Tonight was Elegant night. Jay and I got dressed up and took some pictures with the onboard photographers. Then we met up with our friends for pre-dinner cocktails at Alchemy before going to the Fantasy MDR for our meal. The Carnival Sensation doesn’t have a specialty dining restaurant, so no steakhouse for us this time.
The weather had been overcast all day, but we could really feel the waves rocking that night. After dinner we headed to Alchemy for some pre-show cocktails and then into the Plaza Lounge for a night full of laughs.
Cozumel, Mexico
For our time in Cozumel, we had booked a snorkel tour through Cozumel Cruise Excursions. While we were having lunch in the buffet we overheard a ship announcement telling everyone that all water and boat excursions through Carnival have been canceled due to the high winds. I called our tour provider and they confirmed the same, they were also canceling all their tours for the day.
With no plans for the day, we got off the ship and took a taxi to Cerveceria Punta Sur, Cozumel’s first microbrewery. After tasting some beers, we walked down to a taqueria for lunch. We then spent some time shopping. We headed back to the cruise port and stopped in Three Amigos for some margaritas before getting back on board our ship.
We stopped by Joe’s Cafe for some caffeine then went to Fantasy MDR for dinner. After dinner we swung by Alchemy Bar for a craft cocktail before going to the Plaza Aft Lounge for High Seas Karaoke.
Sea Day
After sleeping in for a bit, we went to Sea Day Brunch in the Fantasy MDR. We met up with friends at Blue Iguana Tequila Bar and hung out and people-watched for awhile. The boat was really rocking today due to the weather and Jay decided it was time for a nap. I used that time to relax and read for awhile.
Then we met up with our friends for pre-dinner cocktails at Alchemy before going to the Fantasy MDR for our last dinner of the cruise. After dinner, we went back to our stateroom to pack.
Miami, FL
We woke up to our ship docked in Miami. We ate a quick breakfast, then grabbed our bags and got in line to disembark the ship. No cruise blues for us this time, our next cruise was only six months away! Our previously booked transatlantic cruise on the Carnival Mardi Gras had been canceled due to the shipbuilder not being able to finish it on time. So we re-booked a cruise to Alaska on the Carnival Miracle out of San Francisco! Until then, happy cruising… if we only knew what was coming next.
