Bahamas Cruise on the now Retired Carnival Sensation
My very first cruise was a three night solo cruise to Nassau on the Carnival Sensation out of Port Canaveral. I had just accepted a new job and had a few days off before starting the new one. I booked only a couple of weeks prior and managed to snag an interior room for a great price.
On the morning of the cruise, I drove over to Port Canaveral and boarded the Sensation. My first stop was the buffet for some lunch and then on to my cabin. My cabin category was 1A, which on Carnival is what is called an upper lower. This cabin type has one twin-size bed. The other bed was a pullman that came down from the ceiling. If I had been traveling with someone else, one of us would have had to sleep in the pullman, but for a solo cruiser, these rooms are great.
For this cruise, I had Anytime dining, so I did not have a set time or tablemates for the duration of the cruise. The first night I was at a table with a pair of female friends, a couple on their honeymoon, and another solo traveler. After dinner, I went with the honeymoon couple and the other solo traveler to explore the nightlife on the ship. We hit up some bars and a comedy show. By then, I was ready to call it a night.
The next day, we arrived in Nassau. I did not sign up for any excursions through Carnival, so I set off to explore on my own. My first stop was the Queen’s Staircase and then the Pirates of Nassau. I grabbed some lunch at a bar that had free Wi-Fi and caught up on news and messages from home before heading back to the ship.
That night in the dining room, I sat with three other couples. It was one of the most awkward dining experiences I’ve had as a solo traveler. My tablemates certainly treated me nicely, but I was feeling weird being the seventh wheel. I also didn’t find the entrees very appealing that night, so I ended up eating two servings of one of the appetizers. After excusing myself from the table, I was off to 80s music trivia, which unlike dinner, was a huge success. I brought home a piece of hardware in the form of a Carnival Sensation shaped trophy that I still have displayed in my home.
The last full day of the cruise was a sea day. I spent the day on the Serenity Adult-Only Retreat on the aft of the ship. I relaxed in a padded lounge chair and was able to order drinks using my drink package without getting up. Despite a brief rain shower, it was a wonderful relaxing day. After the previous night’s awkward dinner, I decided to skip the main dining room and have dinner at the buffet before heading back to my room to pack.
My first cruise wasn’t a long one, but it was a huge success. While it would be almost four years before I was able to take my next one, I will always remember this one fondly. It gave me the confidence to go bigger and better on my next solo cruise.
