Carnival Sunshine: the good, the bad and the ugly.

[LargeCornGyro]

My only complaint was "Cucina del CRAPitano"....... For a ship with an Italian Captain the food was not very good at all. Let me just say Spaghetti Warehouse is a Five Star restaurant compared this place. Food is bland and we did not eat it. I hope they get this corrected.

 

That's disappointing. :(

[NycSanman]

Bring back the Destiny!

[kneedeep1964]

For the length of the cruise and the fact that the mini golf still isn't open, I think the $50 is a bit on the cheap side, but apparently they are counting on the fact that with only 1 sea day, there aren't many opportunities to use either, so its justified. Not saying I agree with it, but I suppose its better than nothing.

 

 

From what he said yesterday, the Asian restaurant is well worth the $12 per person. Considering the industry he works for, I'd call it a solid review.

[LargeCornGyro]

Speaking of ugly, I just found this:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=38283914&postcount=117

 

Someone sent me a private message and asked me to check out this thread, I can see why now and as much as I'd rather try and forget about that ship, I'll take the time to say this.......it's real easy to speculate and voice opinions over the internet it seems, and everyone is entitled to an opinion, but facts are usually more useful.

 

So, fact number 1.... Ultimately, Carnival are 100% responsible for the conditions and the experience for their passengers, regardless of if it's the first cruise after a dry dock, or the last one before a dry dock, or any cruise inbetween

 

 

Fact number 2... Carnival DID do everything they could and more to try and get that ship 100% ready, but no, I don't think that excuses them for it not being done.

 

Now I'm going to be as vague as possible because I'm not one to sterotype entire nationalitys on the actions of a few, but I know some of what happened, and saw things with my own eyes.

 

A couple of people here were smart enough to look a little further than the ships owner as to why the ship is in the firing line right now. Think about it for a little while.... The Sunshine was the only ship in a large ship yard in an area that is dependant on work and income from that ship yard, and the revenue brought in from the contractors on board using the local facilities too. The hassle and headaches that non Italian contractors have to jump through to work in that shipyard are ridiculous, so I'll leave it to your imaginations to work out what nationality the majority there were. Another thing to consider is each individual contractor has different payment terms, some are price work (so you get paid for each cabin carpetted / tiled for example) which can lead to high income for skilled workers prepared to work hard, or high profits for not so skilled workers prepared to cut corners and hope that a lesser quality job wont get noticed too often, and the ones that do get noticed and have to be redone at cost aren't too many. Others are on day rate so they get the same money regardless of hours worked or work produced. Most there were on hourly rate, so provided you're on board you're getting paid, you could be working hard, or asleep somewhere, you're still getting paid. There are pro's and cons to all methods, but the difference is highlighted most when there isn't much work left to do, and there's a lot of people left to do it. Those on day rate will simply get the days work done and leave the yard, those on hourly rate will be bored out of their brains because they HAVE to stay on the ship as the card system logs time you enter and leave the ship and the yard.

 

As soon as the departure date was extended / first cruises cancelled, the work rate dropped immensely.... loads of time now was the attitude of most. I saw people playing football, sweeping areas clean and then kicking the pile around the floor for the fun of being able to sweep the area again, a large number of TV's in cabins were damaged, and not accidentally, simply punched so the screen is ruined. While we're on the subject of TV's, this is the first and only time I ever heard the words 'we've run out of TV's' on a dry dock.... they know how many they need, and there's container fulls that are deployed for days, worse still, Carnival knowingly ordered MORE than they needed because of where the dry dock was done and yet still run out. The list of incidents and problems I could relay that are all down to one factor are immense. Every new cabin (built as a 'module' that 'should' just get fitted and then wired, plumbed in and have the AC connected) has issues causing major difficulties for the contractors aboard to carry out their part... everything took 10 times longer due to this and required parts that were not expected to be needed so not on board. Coincidentally, the company who made the cabins were of the same nationality as the yard.

 

If there was an excuse to prolong things or delay progress, it was found by some... new cables being run long distances through the ship were being cut while they were being run so when finished would not work so would have to be redone. These are just the deliberate type attempts, the more astounding being finished areas being raided for bits forgotted on other areas yet finished.... better still when the finished area was completed by a different contractor! Speakers removed and refitted elsewhere to save having to pay for their own out of their budget when they either threw out the originals when the area was stripped, or they overlooked the need for extras as the floor space was now bigger. Finished areas were soon locked for security reasons which is something I've never ever experienced before, I think the final straw was an 80" plasma TV in the kids area getting slashed across the screen with a blade.

 

500 meter drums of cable were going missing, boxes and boxes of electrical sockets and switches were going missing... when the whole ship is an open building site, secure storage is non existant. I've worked in many countries in many shipyards on a large number of different ships, and I have never ever seen such blatant dishonesty and disregard for other peoples property and workmanship. Truthfully? I'm embarassed that I was even present and associated with that job, because for years to come, the stories told over that one dry dock amongst the circle of contractors that do this work around the world will be hideous.

 

Ultimately Carnival are to blame, they picked where the work was carried out, and I'm assuming with some idea of the potential problems at least, simply from the statement made about the extra TV's being ordered. Now I don't know why they picked that place, maybe it was cheapest, part of me thinks it was probably the only shipyard in the world desperate enough for work to agree to take on that sized project on that particular ship. Don't take that the wrong way, the ship is as safe as any other, but technically speaking to work on it? It's your worst nightmare multiplied by infinity... documentation of the original build may as well be fictional, it was probably planned that way once upon a time... but how it ended up being when it left the yard original bears little resemblance to what the paperwork would suggest. I'll leave it to you guys to look up where it was built, having worked there for myself it's no real surprise to me.

 

So to summarise.... do I think it's right / fair that paying passengers going on their dream holiday are subjected to problems and areas closed for works? No, not even remotely acceptable, and I'm confident Carnival will do what they can to compensate for it. Is that enough to make up for it? I guess that's up to each indivual wishing to be compensated, none of which as yet are here discssing this so to me is irrelevant. All I can say in Carnivals defence on this, is that they DID all they could to have a ship finished for those joining it... you will never ever see a more dedicated and commited team than there was on board that ship from the CCL side of things, pushed to the limits physically and mentally to achieve the unachieveable, because the truth is, if that ship stayed in that yard until it was 100% finished, it would become a museum for Trieste tourists... it got to the point it was being broken faster than those trying to finish it could keep up. Carnival made the right choice to finish the rest in service with contractors they could trust and keep an eye on the progress of

[kybluecruiser]

Probably about the same as other cruise lines. Are you trying to justify a cutback?

 

If the cost is the same, how is it a cutback?

[cx7owner]

Oh, got it. Thanks!!! I was worried there were hidden costs I didnt know about.:p

 

That should be the fine for putting kids in diapers (even swim ones) in the pool.

[CDNseekingheat]

LargeCornGyro:

 

Thank you so much for your post!

Having another perspective, I am less apt to condemn Carnival so quickly.

Never would I have imagined that Carnival was faced with this type of challenge! :eek:

 

I am USUALLY good at withholding my judgement until I find out "why" but to be honest, I was deeply disappointed with Carnival; Having launched in such an incomplete state.

I'm not saying all is perfect in my mind with Carnival and how they run business these days, but I will be cutting them a little slack on this one for sure now!

Thank you again,

Patti

[kneedeep1964]

I'm sure that by the time you sail her she will be in ship shape..but the next cruise or two I'm sure will have some problems.

 

 

Should have made some kind of attempt to appease King Neptune when they renamed her in January. :p Guess they're paying for it now.

[mississauga]

Over all the Breeze is nice,however I think when the revamped Destiny hits the states your going read more reviews of people feeling crowded, like the Breeze. From the pictures she resembles the Breeze except the Serenity on lido.

 

Interesting, never felt crowded on the Breeze. thought the flow was good. Avoided the center Lido buffet area.

Pat

 

 

Pat, I agree with you. We were on the Breeze for 14 days and never felt any crowding. From the pictures of the Sunshine, the setup looks even more open.:D

[skyeman27]

If the cost is the same, how is it a cutback?

 

The Sunshine theater is less than half the size of the Destiny. To make more room for bars and cabins. The Destiny years ago had the good shows that could fill her theater and I have seen that, but with the cutbacks now this very very small theater that is on the Sunshine is this what Carnival is saying about their shows that they are that bad no one wants to come see anymore

You were responding to the above post, where there is a definite cutback regarding the theater and shows. Current Carnival production shows on many ships, not all, have no ships band (replaced by canned music) and less performers. So it costs Carnival much less to put on productions compared to other cruise lines. Carnival is no longer willing to pay what other cruise line pay for their shows...

[kybluecruiser]

You were responding to the above post, where there is a definite cutback regarding the theater and shows. Current Carnival production shows on many ships, not all, have no ships band (replaced by canned music) and less performers. So it costs Carnival much less to put on productions compared to other cruise lines. Carnival is no longer willing to pay what other cruise line pay for their shows...

 

I'm not going to hijack this thread any longer, but where is your evidence to prove your point that playlist productions cost less to produce then the old shows?

[Jimmy Geegitz]

Would love to see a big pic review.

[cannockfrodo]

No evidence required surely? How much does a few CD's cost as opposed to a band of 5 or 6 musicians.

[hbrote]

For the length of the cruise and the fact that the mini golf still isn't open, I think the $50 is a bit on the cheap side, but apparently they are counting on the fact that with only 1 sea day, there aren't many opportunities to use either, so its justified. Not saying I agree with it, but I suppose its better than nothing.

 

 

From what he said yesterday, the Asian restaurant is well worth the $12 per person. Considering the industry he works for, I'd call it a solid review.

 

 

Ji Ji was fantastic especially if you like spicy Asian food. Well worth the $12.00.

[skyeman27]

I'm not going to hijack this thread any longer, but where is your evidence to prove your point that playlist productions cost less to produce then the old shows?

The evidence is...common sense...less performers in the production, less cost...common sense would come into play here...

[heatherbelle]

Looks like there are still problems with cabins, someone on 26/05 roll call has posted that their friends have been been bumped by Carnival. I feel really sorry for them. This is what is posted

 

 

 

Well guys, no need to wonder any longer if theses "rumors" about people being bumped are true. I'm here to tell you, it's true. Received e mail from Marlene and Russ Russell saying they will not be able to join us on Naples tour as they were informed just this afternoon they have been bumped from their cabin because it is "uninhabitable". YIKES, I am getting a bit worried here......

[Flying Scot]

Looks like there are still problems with cabins, someone on 26/05 roll call has posted that their friends have been been bumped by Carnival. I feel really sorry for them. This is what is posted

 

 

 

Well guys, no need to wonder any longer if theses "rumors" about people being bumped are true. I'm here to tell you, it's true. Received e mail from Marlene and Russ Russell saying they will not be able to join us on Naples tour as they were informed just this afternoon they have been bumped from their cabin because it is "uninhabitable". YIKES, I am getting a bit worried here......

 

What deck/cabin?

[k2excursion]

I thought the Breeze was quite crowded, although it was nothing that couldn't be dealt with, especially since food lines were not long. I wonder if Sunshine might be the same.

 

If Sunshine's theater is big enough to handle the turnout to the shows, that will say that a huge majority of the people aren't going. Maybe Carnival's plan was to switch to Playlist shows, reducing people's desire to see the shows, so they can have a much smaller theater and add cabins. If they can still fill the ship without lowering the price too much, I guess it was a good idea. Just not what some people are looking for in a cruise. So people should choose wisely. Know what you're getting or not getting with a certain ship.

 

The initial costs for these bad Playlist shows will be a bit high, but that's just the setup costs. The variable costs (year-to-year) will be much lower, because of cutting 12-18 crew members. It won't take long to recover the setup costs.

[MATHA531]

Looks like there are still problems with cabins, someone on 26/05 roll call has posted that their friends have been been bumped by Carnival. I feel really sorry for them. This is what is posted

 

 

 

Well guys, no need to wonder any longer if theses "rumors" about people being bumped are true. I'm here to tell you, it's true. Received e mail from Marlene and Russ Russell saying they will not be able to join us on Naples tour as they were informed just this afternoon they have been bumped from their cabin because it is "uninhabitable". YIKES, I am getting a bit worried here......

 

Does that mean bumped from their cabin to anoher cabin or bumped off the ship completely (or is it they were downgraded and didn't want to accept the downgrade which I am sure would come with compensation).

[CDNseekingheat]

I have heard of someone else receiving this email as well.

They are flying in from the United States and they received the email merely days before they were to fly out.

Same kind of wording; I forget exactly how it was worded but something like "Regretfully, we must inform you that your room is uninhabitable" ..... end of story.

No alternative arrangements, no suggestions, nadda.

I wonder if these people showed up at port anyways, say they left for Europe early and had no internet access, would Carnival do ANYTHING to attempt to accommodate these people?

Scary!!

[sumguy1]

I have heard of someone else receiving this email as well.

They are flying in from the United States and they received the email merely days before they were to fly out.

Same kind of wording; I forget exactly how it was worded but something like "Regretfully, we must inform you that your room is uninhabitable" ..... end of story.

No alternative arrangements, no suggestions, nadda.

I wonder if these people showed up at port anyways, say they left for Europe early and had no internet access, would Carnival do ANYTHING to attempt to accommodate these people?

Scary!!

 

any idea what cabin and why?

[Brg21]

My wife and I just got off the Sunshine today. We both agree, that ship sucks. We have only been on one other cruise (on RCL) and we would never ever choose carnival again. For a "New" ship that thing was dated. Our new spa cabin already had stains on the couch and carpet. No hot water on day one. Service all around was awful, aside from a few stand outs. One night at dinner we ordered sodas and didn't get them until dessert (just one example of the awful service). Yes the main pool was closed and we got a credit but on the only day at sea, the serenity pool was closed top!! Wrong time to close the only other pool on board don't you think? Had to sort out several billing issues at guests services, which provided good friendly service. Oh, and also had to sort out issued with our spa appointments that were pre booked but lost in the system...they "Squeezed" us in and provided so so service. What else...sounds of construction across our floor (11) from time to time, water completely went out for a brief period when we were in the middle of brushing our teeth. Spa cabins are a rip off too by the way. No real spa to enjoy as a benefit. There are three heat chambers, one of which never worked, and the other two were the same. The "Rain" showers never worked correctly either. And as we all know now, no Thalassotherapy pool. There is also a very potent smell of sewage in many areas of the ship. Many other things that just made my wife and I say "Ugh, effing Carnival." I can tell you that we were admiring the Norwegian Epic at a couple of ports...next time.

[swedish weave]

I have heard of someone else receiving this email as well.

They are flying in from the United States and they received the email merely days before they were to fly out.

Same kind of wording; I forget exactly how it was worded but something like "Regretfully, we must inform you that your room is uninhabitable" ..... end of story.

No alternative arrangements, no suggestions, nadda.

I wonder if these people showed up at port anyways, say they left for Europe early and had no internet access, would Carnival do ANYTHING to attempt to accommodate these people?

Scary!!

 

I sure hope these people who receive the cancellation notices are checking with Carnival to be sure it isn't a scam or cruel joke.

[mairead224]

My wife and I just got off the Sunshine today. We both agree, that ship sucks. We have only been on one other cruise (on RCL) and we would never ever choose carnival again. For a "New" ship that thing was dated. Our new spa cabin already had stains on the couch and carpet. No hot water on day one. Service all around was awful, aside from a few stand outs. One night at dinner we ordered sodas and didn't get them until dessert (just one example of the awful service). Yes the main pool was closed and we got a credit but on the only day at sea, the serenity pool was closed top!! Wrong time to close the only other pool on board don't you think? Had to sort out several billing issues at guests services, which provided good friendly service. Oh, and also had to sort out issued with our spa appointments that were pre booked but lost in the system...they "Squeezed" us in and provided so so service. What else...sounds of construction across our floor (11) from time to time, water completely went out for a brief period when we were in the middle of brushing our teeth. Spa cabins are a rip off too by the way. No real spa to enjoy as a benefit. There are three heat chambers, one of which never worked, and the other two were the same. The "Rain" showers never worked correctly either. And as we all know now, no Thalassotherapy pool. There is also a very potent smell of sewage in many areas of the ship. Many other things that just made my wife and I say "Ugh, effing Carnival." I can tell you that we were admiring the Norwegian Epic at a couple of ports...next time.

 

My goodness that doesn't sound good at all. What cabin no. were you in. We have 11035 and at this point are hugely concerned about our sunshine cruise in 12 days !!

[heatherbelle]

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1606173&page=42

 

 

Here is a follow up post from those people bumped by Carnival. Their cabin was on deck 6:eek:

 

So there are not only issues with the new decks, but also the new ones.

 

The third cruise is about to set sails and there are still issues. As for the ships being sold out that's a load of rubbish. If the fish site is to be believed some of them are just under 65% full. That of course may not be accurate. But when I look at my sailing there is still loads of availability of rooms for two especially on the Spa deck and some for three.

 

The cabins may be ear marked for construction workers and crew.