Rock712

We've been to HMC twice and rented # 9 both times. 8,9,or 10 are all in a great location , far enough from the main crowds , very short walk to bathrooms. We have left our valuables , but never out of site of cabana. On our last trip in April , my wife was laying on a lounger , I was in the water , and a man came up to cabana and just took one of the water floats right off the rail and used it for his family. We pointed it out to the lifeguard there so we wouldn't be responsible if lost.

I'm not sure where you have sailed from to have had that experience, we have sailed as Platinum on Pride out of Baltimore and multiple times on Victory out of Miami. In Miami, FTTF has their own check-in set up alongside regular check-in and Platinum has a separate lounge.

 

Plus, FREE laundry, and the card actually is prettier. :D

 

I think there is chocolate delight delivered to your stateroom on one day, as well as a Carnival Logo Gift on each sailing (YMMV with those).

 

And of course the VIFP party.

I truly see both sides of this coin. Platinum/Diamond is a perk that you've achieved through your loyalty to company , and you should see some extra's for it. We are working towards Platinum , still have a couple of cruises to go. On the other hand , we have purchased FTTF for our last two cruises , and already have purchased for our next cruise in April 2016. I am willing to pay the extra $$$ to have our room ready when we board and the priority off the ship at end of cruise. Priority on the ship really not that big of a deal as we usually arrive early and are in one of the first boarding groups anyway. On our last cruise out of Miami on the Splendor , we were directed to the Platinum/Diamond lounge to check-in. We were checking in at the same time as 2 other parties and when all three were finished we were all escorted by a Carnival rep to an elevator and then taken to the Platinum/Diamond lounge. All of the people in that lounge were then boarded at the same time. No separation between Platinum/Diamond and FTTF.

Maybe we're just lucky , but we've taken several Cruises w/ Carnival over the last 10 years , I've booked most of them online , have used 2 different PVP's , both of whom we're very helpful when I called them , and I'm constantly on their website looking for info on future cruises , but in all this time I've never received 1 phone call , letter , e-mail , etc from a PVP. I see this type of thread often about these constant calls from PVP's , especially linked to their website use , but it's never happened here. Sort of making me feel like the unwanted stepchild.

Thanks for taking the time to write a review. We're cruising on the Sunshine next April for a 9 day Journeys cruise , and I'm hooked on reading the reviews of this ship. It is amazing that more than any other ship , you will see 10 people on the same cruise , with 5 writing that this is the absolute worst nightmare of a sailing experience and should be scuttled , and the other 5 will write that it was the greatest cruising experience they ever had and are ready to book again asap. We cant wait to be aboard and decide for ourselves.

WE are booked next April on the Sunshine for a 9 day Journeys cruise. it always fascinates me to read reviews on this ship. More tan any other ship it seems to be either love it / or hate it. I personally think it's whatever you make of it. Seems like to get all of the 2.0 bells and whistles they had to sacrifice space , so yes , it's going to be crowded in certain areas and at certain times. But honestly , every ship we've been on has been that way.it seems like on this ship you have to plan and work a little harder to make it work for you. Looking forward to sailing on her next year and seeing what all the fuss is about.

Got ours for the 04/29/16 Sunshine cruise. Was not there this morning when I checked before work !!!

We're booked on the Sunshine next April for the 04/29 Journeys cruise. I thought I read somewhere , and I might be wrong , that she is scheduled to go into drydock sometime towards the end of this year. Does anyone know if this is correct and any possible changes the ship is scheduled for ??

Thanks for taking the time to review. Will be sailing the Sunshine next year in April for one of the Journeys cruises. Looking forward to it !!!!!

Couple of things come to mind here

First , it's all about economics. The cruise industry is good right now. The major players are not having many problems filling ships , so therefore they don't need to " give away " the perks like they did in the past. We all took advantage of it while it lasted , and now some feel like they are "entitled" to receiving everything. Times change.

Second , CC reminds me a lot of CNN. They have 24/7 of air time to fill , so at times they will take a story and absolutely beat it to death. Why , because it might be a slow news day and they've got to fill that time with something. We do the same thing here. In between the major announcements that merit a good discussion and debate , we fill the dead time with 500 different posts about a little square of chocolate no longer being on a pillow.

For the 1st time ever we have 2 booked. one next February on the RC Brilliance , and one next April on the Carnival Sunshine

Over an 11 year span , we've sailed seven times on Carnival and have an eighth trip booked. I'm frequently on their website. I've booked using a TA , A PVP , and myself online. On every trip I've played in the casino , not heavy , but every trip. In all that time I've only received 2 offer. 1 for past quests to use a 1-time / 1 sailing only upgrade to platinum if booked by a certain time , and then just recently a chance for upgrades and OBC if booking a future cruise on the Vista. I see post all the time about people receiving offers , letters , etc. , but so far not happening for me.

My wife and I , who are very lucky to have the financial resources and time off from work , are able to go on 2-3 vacations a year . Very,very rarely has any trip , land or cruise , gone as planned without some type of hitch thrown in there. you're on vacation , roll with the punches and have a good time.

If your theory was correct, then Carnival would have released FTTF purchasing immediately after raising the price (which happened several weeks ago, not today).

 

As far as I know, FTTF has not been released for any 2016 cruises - including mine.

Lizard , I think you may have just uncovered the next conspiracy that these idiots cant live without. I think Carnival is going to devise a way to cancel 2016 , thereby going straight to 2017 at the end of this year and charging us all the higher 2017 rates.

I read the reviews with a grain of salt. I also look at the poster and see how many posts and reviews they have written. If it says 0 posts and 1 review, I am hesitant to trust them if it is all negative. Personally, I think finding chairs on almost any ship is a challenge at certain times on sea days. And I have been on some of the biggest ships. :)

Bingo , couldn't agree more. We've been on the bigger ( Glory , Liberty , Splendor ) and smaller ( Miracle , Paradise ) and all presented the same basic challenges on sea day finding chairs in the main pool area , seating in Lido , etc.

Wow , if you read reviews , the Sunshine seems to get more mixed reviews than all of the other ships combined. Recently though it seems the reviews have started trending towards the positive , and a couple of weeks ago a friend of our sailed her and loved it. Said that some of the public area's did get crowded during peak times , but no worse than any other ship he had been on. We've always been a little reluctant to book due to the reviews , but have finally broken down and are booked on the Journeys 9 day cruise next April and based on what I've been reading lately really looking forward to it !!!!

One thing though , I do agree 100% with several of the posters that have said it's rude and unfair to say your going to attend meet and greets or gatherings when you have no intention of going. I've been on several roll calls where someone went to a lot of time and effort to organize and set things up. It's not fair to them and you should be honest about attending

For me personally , participating in the roll calls is a way to help plan for the cruise. As with most forms of social media , it's an easy way to communicate for someone like myself who is not that social of a person. For instance if there were a group of people here in my town that wanted to get together once a week to discuss and plan the upcoming cruise , I would never go , but I will sign on here every day to do the same thing. My wife can go into a room of people and 10 minutes later have an entire room full of lifelong friends. I could go in the same for for hours and not speak to one person and be fine with that. I'm great with family and friends , just not much for chatting up strangers. I'm that guy that found on our first couple of cruises that having to sit at a table full of strangers in the MDR to be painful. After the second time it's either been anytime dining table for two or the Lido. I wish I had the outgoing personality of some , but it's just not me. I let my wife do the socializing for the both of us.

I don't understand cruisers who look at Carnival's loyalty program and make comments like "I'll never experience platinum" because it means having to go on x number more cruises over a time span of x number of years.

 

I'm from Minnesota, so we generally get a chance to go on one cruise per year. A couple of years, we did go on two. I've been cruising since 2007, and it includes a couple of shorter cruises (4/5 days) in there as well.

 

I never looked at the number of cruises or sea days and had the attitude that it sucks to be me or that Carnival didn't appreciate my business simply because it would take me a number of years to attain platinum status. I just knew that was the way it was. When Carnival switched from number of cruises to sea days, it actually meant we would have to take 11 (rather than 10) cruises to attain platinum which meant having to wait another year. While I wasn't happy, it wasn't worth getting all upset over.

 

So next year, after nine years of cruising, we will finally attain Platinum, assuming that nothing else changes. And never once did I complain that it would take so long because I like cruising and I knew that I would get there eventually.

Ok , so over the last couple of days I've read numerous posts regarding the loyalty program , which might just mean I have entirely to much free time on my hands , but anyway , congratulations on what might be the most " adult" response to the whole situation. The bottom line , which you have stated very simply with your post , is " suck it up buttercup ". We all have the power to make a choice. If you don't like what Carnival is doing , then instead of pissing and moaning about something you cant change , immediately cancel any booking you have and contact one of the other lines , making sure of course their cruises include a free 45-60 minute party with free appetizers because they need to do something to make you feel special.

A 3 day cruise in an interior cabin in the 90's was, many times, more expensive than some 7 day cruises in a balcony today.

 

You want fair? Give points based on the cruise fare. $700? 700 points, regardless of length of cruise or cabin category. But even with that system someone will complain that it isn't fair

I agree 100%. No matter what system they put in place ,someone will find fault with it because it doesn't suit their situation. The fact of the matter is we all work whatever system is in place at the time. When the system was " per cruise " , people racked up as many short cruises as they could to get to Platinum. Now that it's " by day " , I'm sure there are people taking B2B in the cheaper interior cabins to rack up the days to get to platinum. All of our cruises with Carnival have been either balcony or suite , so would I like to see a system that puts more weight to those cabins .. sure .. but that's not the way they do it so I deal with it. The bottom line is we all have the ability to make choices. Could I switch my loyalty to another line that better rewards my style of cruising. Sure I could , but I like Carnival , so I stay with them. Make your choice and quit your complaining about something you cant change.

I think part of the problem is that people are taking this way, way too personally. Carnival is not our friend. They act friendly , they supply a friendly product for a very reasonable price. but their end goal is not to be our friend. Carnival is a big giant for profit business. One way to increase profit is to charge more money for the same services. A second way to accomplish this is to charge the same price , but reduce costs. That's what they are doing here. It's nothing personal , they are simply trying to increase their profit. Smaller party for fewer people = less cost = more profit.

Admittedly , Carnival created their own monster here. When the demand was not as good , they created demand by enticing people to sail with them again and again , and if they did that they would after a certain time become "special " and as your friend , we will give you things for being one of our " special " friends. We'll cail it Frequent Flier Miles.....err....wait...someone already using that one....how about Annual Passholder Perks.....err....wait....Disney's got that one......oh well , lets just say your pure Platinum to us !!!!!! So now , the most democratic , no class cruise line in the world has created a class system. But alas , demand has risen , more and more people are now swelling the ranks of the lower class ... err... I mean Gold class , and the peasants are unruly. What to do ???? I know , we'll start giving things to them also. We'll make them feel special too. Come join the ball Cinderella. Alas , this leads to a new problem. Demand is now so great , the ball includes everyone except the seven new passengers on each cruise that are not invited to the party. Well crap.... now what are we going to do. We really don't even need the ball anymore because the demand is there , people are going to sail with us because we offer a similar product to the other cruise lines at a lower price.. Lets just do away with the ball , and maybe no one will really notice , After all , they did stop bitching about those chocolates on the pillows after a couple of weeks.

See , it's nothing personal. There is no reason to be mad. Everyone moaning and wailing about how unfair this is will now just have to satisfy themselves with being on a moving hotel that transports you from one exotic port to another in a weeks time. While on this moving hotel you will have the ability to eat and drink at no extra cost 24 hours a day. You will be provided with all different variety of entertainment at no additional cost. And after a while , if you let yourself have some fun and soak in the atmosphere you probably wont even notice that one missing hour with free appetizers....or the missing piece of chocolate

One thing you can do is see if there is a roll call for the cruise you are considering. If there is one , ask someone that is booked to check their excursions to see if cabanas are still available for that cruise.

We've had cabana # 9 twice now. Far enough down to be away from the crowds , very short walk to restrooms , not that long of a walk to bar and food area. They do have servers that come around every so often to take drink orders

Ok , this might say something about my life that I've got nothing better to do than read through 11 pages of posts about deck chairs, but anyway , I did , I'm now qualified as an expert , and here's my .02

Who is the bigger bully , the person that thinks they are entitled something for an entire day only to use it for a very short amount of time, depriving someone else of the use of that luxury for the day , or the person that walks up and says , this is what I want and I'm just going to take it because I have some mystical way of being able to tell whether or not another person is using it. How do I know that , well , you know , you can just tell.

I'm sure this debate has been going on as long as there have been cruise ships. The reason there is no good answer is because the only people that can solve the problem are the cruise lines , but they are unwilling to institute a policy and stick with it because they want everyone to be happy. Personally , I'm amazed because they are missing out on a revenue opportunity. If you want to have a certain chair or spot for the entire day , be willing to pay for that luxury. It has nothing to do with Platinum , Gold , Red , or whatever and everything to do with how bad do you want it and are you willing to pay for it. If you want a spot right by the pool , and want it to be available the entire day , then be wiling to pay for it. Everything else is fair game. And then , the cruise line has to be willing to enforce it. It's obvious from reading through these posts that we're not going to police ourselves. The " I paid just as much as you did and have just as much right to that spot " mentality kicks in and someone has to be the one to say , here is how it works and Carnival needs to be the one to do that , but again , in most cases they are unwilling to do that because they want everyone to be happy.

So , in the end the only real solution is skip the pool and head to the casino to lose some money. Of course , I'm sure after a while there's going to be a problem with people getting up at 5 am to put a towel over their favorite slot machine so it's available later in the evening , but that's another story .......

That works for me. Really glad to see it. The Sunshine seems to get bashed so much , good to see good news on it. We're looking forward to cruising on her next year.

Ok , not to rain on everyone's parade here , and trust me , I want this to be correct since we're booked on the Sunshine for 9 days next year , but where is this 100 score posted. I've looked at 2 different sites , one of them being the CDC inspection site , and her last posted score on both sites is is 94 , which is still very good. Where is the info coming from that she scored 100.