Food all Day on Sensation

We got up around 9am and were at breakfast by 9:30. Jonathan & Ebad went with the eggs benedict while Bryan and I went with the bagels and lox. That really is my very favorite breakfast on the cruise ships, since it's served with tomato and onion (and capers but I don't add those), and there's just enough cream cheese and salmon for the bagel's surface area.

After a morning that included miniature golf, among other things, we met up for lunch at 1pm. Ebad, Jonathan, and I wanted to try out the Mongolian Grill. The lines had been long all cruise, and we ended up waiting about half an hour. We were able to choose each ingredient, then specify the meats and sauces. It took a few minutes for the chef to actually stir-fry everything together, but in the end it was good. All of the ingredients were delicious, and I wish I had gotten the squid on mine in addition to the chicken. The szechuan was unbelievably hot, though. I went through a couple of rolls and an entire frozen drink as I ate 3/4 of mine. Ebad (who grew up eating very spicy foods) was sweating bullets eating his, and ended up heading inside for a shower as soon as lunch was done. Jonathan's wasn't as hot, despite choosing the same sauce... we think it's because he went with glass noodles instead of udon noodles (his noodles picked up the flavor in a great way!).

We played Bingo and went in the pools during the afternoon, and later met up for sushi, where we had different varieties than we had on the first night. However, none of them were fantastic - the salmon nigiri was probably the best.

Then, it was on to our final dinner. Jonathan and I had onion soup. I liked it, he didn't care for it (mind you, that's probably the soup we're pickiest about). Bryan went with the mushroom soup, and he thought it was very good. They had cheese plates while I went with the tomatoes and mozzarella... the only appetizer I wouldn't get again (not that it's bad, just rather plain in comparison to the others). The guys went with yet another steak-ish entree, and I had my favorite favorite favorite - penne mariscos. It's penne with a tomato-based sauce, with scallops, shrimp, and calamari rings. It's SO GOOD, I absolutely love it whenever it's offered. This time in particular, the calamari was perfect. It filled me up to the point where I didn't order dessert, LoL. Bryan got the poached pear and raved about it.

Around 1am we decide to get some pizza and then order some sandwiches from room service. Tasty. 

Breakfast & Dinner on the Sensation

There are several breakfast options onboard, but we kinda prefer the main dining room (this is our fourth Carnival cruise), which is seated as-you-arrive for breakfast, as opposed to assigned seating. Also, the menu is the same every morning, so you can try different things. We were seated shortly after 8:30am.

Bryan when with the bagel & lox, Ebad chose the poached eggs, Jonathan went with the french toast, and I chose a ham and cheese omelet. Ebad thought poached eggs were pretty good, Bryan enjoyed the toasted bagel so much that he ordered it again the following morning, and Jonathan thought the french toast was good. I thought the omelet was about average, honestly. But, to be fair, I usually have a bunch of veggies in my omelet, so maybe I just wasn't accustomed to just ham and cheese. I also had a banana, which was surprisingly served already sliced! There were various side dishes ordered, but I can only personally brag about the hashbrowns, which were wonderful. I found it to me amusing that we each chose a different juice that morning. I chose apple, Bryan went orange, JB went tomato, and Ebad tried grapefruit.
We headed up to the Lido to grab an afternoon snack (hamburgers, hotdogs, pizza, chicken tenders), and then we split up.

We got dressed for dinner and headed to the Captain's Party about 7:45pm. We only got one free round since we arrived so late, but we did have front row seats for all of the officer introductions. We were right on-time for dinner, but the dining room was surprisingly swamped (most of the time it's not as crowded on port days). We get the cheese plates brought out, then the soups (I got the pumpkin, which is my favorite of the Carnival soups), then other appetizers. I had ordered the proscuitto ruffles, and for the first time, my order never came. I might have gotten upset, except a) Bryan let me have some of his, b) I wasn't starving, and c) I was really into reading an autobiography by the first American to have completed a contract on a Carnival cruise ship in the dining room. Because of the third in particular, I was able to recognize how much extra weight our head waiter was pulling, and since he was otherwise magnificent, I didn't mention it. I ordered the lobster and shrimp, which came with mashed potatoes and broccoli. A couple of the guys also had this, but then they also had the prime rib with baked potato and onion rings. The lobster was great, and I wish I had ordered a second one from the get-go. The shrimp and mashed potato were also scrumptious, and the guys reported great things about the meat, but not the potato, LoL. My favorite Carnival dessert was served that night, the banana layer cake. That with a side of chocolate ice cream was fabulous.

Food on the Carnival Sensation

We were taking a short cruise with some friends. After embarking, we proceeded to get some lunch. We did the deli and the buffet. The grilled ham and cheese was excellent (always is on a ship!), and the guys liked the reubens, too. Nothing spectacular on the buffet, but nothing was bad, either.

We split up and did our own things for a few hours, then met back up a little after 6pm and had some sushi (which was conveniently located just off the casino, LoL). Nothing spectacular, but the shrimp nigiri was average and the spicy tuna was good... except the spicy was a cajun spicy which was unexpected. The salmon/asparagus/mushroom roll wasn't good. We followed this up by attending the martini tasting. 5 martinis for $15 (decent size, too). I wasn't a big fan of any of them (not a martini person), but I was surprised I didn't like the Nuttini, which sounded great from the ingredients list, LoL! Overall, nobody was head-over-heels for any of them, but they were fun to try.