Back from Carnival Sunrise ... very disappointed

[sharonna3]

On 8/18/2019 at 12:00 PM, jimbo5544 said:

In terms of behavior, from our experience, New York is by far the worst embarkation port.  I am not sure if it is a by product of a huge city, the clientele that sail Carnival from there or what.  It extends to embarkation, activity on the ship and for what ever reason debarkation is the worst we have seen at any port.

Totally agree!

[jimbo5544]

9 hours ago, HappyInVan said:

HAL is just one brand operated by Carnival Corp. Each price point has a different value proposition (comfort, entertainment, itinerary etc). What repeat passengers want to know is if Carnival has moved the goal post. Have they changed the value proposition?

 

Have they added more amenities but reduced the comfort? Any feedback after the refurbishment is welcome. The OP has posted a balanced review; some good points, some very bad experiences. 

 

You offer the opinion that the crowding is pretty 'normal'. Have you posted a balanced review of your 7/22 trip? I would like to read it in order to get the context of your opinion.

 

Here is a link I think all my reviews are balanced.  As example, I did one of a review of Oasis of the seas and posted on both this board and Royal main board and received comments saying it was balanced.  You can decide for yourself.

 

[jimbo5544]

8 hours ago, RRLLAL said:

 

He did a very long “live” review. 

lol.....you make it seem painful, when you say long.

 

Edited August 20, 2019 by jimbo5544

[mets123]

I sailed the Sunrise in early June when most schools were still in session and there weren't many kids on board. The ship was still over crowded with lots of congestion. It seems Carnival hasn't even tried minor tweaks to try to improve passengers experience. As a point of reference, I ve sailed Carnival for over 15 years. I was all set to book the Radiance next year out of NYC, but after my experience, we've switched to Royal.

[apierson23]

We had a family vacation on the Breeze in July and my review closely matched the OP.  Way too crowded and it literally stunk having to go thru the casino (ie smoking area) to get anywhere.  Tiny pools.  Rude people next door slamming doors, kids running and playing tag in hallways at night.  The lines at the buffet were terrible!  We made the most of it but I'll stick to Royal from now on where we experience none of these issues.

[Crusin Karen]

Hey, Herb!  Read your thoughts on this ship/cruise at that other not to be mentioned place.  I appreciate you sharing your experience.  We are booked on Sunrise for 10/6 just because she is sailing from our homeport and it's an easy cruise. We did the same cruise on Sunshine in September, 2017 and were nervous after reading reviews of over crowding, but we had no problems and it was one of our favorite ships.  As Maraprince and a few others I believe pointed out, summer/Caribbean cruises usually have a different type of passenger than a fall/Canada cruise.  We had to cancel 2 cruises, one a Journey cruise, due to illness and are kind of keeping our fingers crossed for this one also, so I will just board the ship with an open mind and my normal level of excitement.  I do appreciate the "warnings" tho!  I am sure this was a very bittersweet cruise for you without your beloved Joanne and I am thankful you have family that you could share and spend time with.  And glad you had such nice weather too!  Enjoy the rest of your summer.  

[RRLLAL]

23 minutes ago, apierson23 said:

We had a family vacation on the Breeze in July and my review closely matched the OP.  Way too crowded and it literally stunk having to go thru the casino (ie smoking area) to get anywhere.  Tiny pools.  Rude people next door slamming doors, kids running and playing tag in hallways at night.  The lines at the buffet were terrible!  We made the most of it but I'll stick to Royal from now on where we experience none of these issues.

 

You sure you were on the breeze? 

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, mets123 said:

I sailed the Sunrise in early June when most schools were still in session and there weren't many kids on board. The ship was still over crowded with lots of congestion. It seems Carnival hasn't even tried minor tweaks to try to improve passengers experience. As a point of reference, I ve sailed Carnival for over 15 years. I was all set to book the Radiance next year out of NYC, but after my experience, we've switched to Royal.

What minor tweaks would you have them do?

[jimbo5544]

25 minutes ago, apierson23 said:

We had a family vacation on the Breeze in July and my review closely matched the OP.  Way too crowded and it literally stunk having to go thru the casino (ie smoking area) to get anywhere.  Tiny pools.  Rude people next door slamming doors, kids running and playing tag in hallways at night.  The lines at the buffet were terrible!  We made the most of it but I'll stick to Royal from now on where we experience none of these issues.

Happy cruising!

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, mets123 said:

I sailed the Sunrise in early June when most schools were still in session and there weren't many kids on board. The ship was still over crowded with lots of congestion. It seems Carnival hasn't even tried minor tweaks to try to improve passengers experience. As a point of reference, I ve sailed Carnival for over 15 years. I was all set to book the Radiance next year out of NYC, but after my experience, we've switched to Royal.

Sailing Carnival for 15 years makes me ask the question, when was the last time you sailed on a Carnival ship?

[apierson23]

13 minutes ago, RRLLAL said:

 

You sure you were on the breeze? 

That is what it said on side of the ship.  I do have to admit I've not cruised in the summer before and that may have contributed to the huge lines at the buffet, crazy amounts of kids running everywhere, slamming doors all hours of the night.  There was 12 of us on the cruise with a few repeat cruisers and everyone thought this was our least favorite cruise.  The food in the main hall was great and the ports were nice but the layout of the ship was terrible.  Always walking thru the smoky casino and the pools are just so small.  That is why there is so many different cruise ships - something for everyone but the Breeze was not for us.

[mets123]

11 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

Sailing Carnival for 15 years makes me ask the question, when was the last time you sailed on a Carnival ship?

The first sailing of the Horizon out of New York last year.

[jimbo5544]

5 minutes ago, mets123 said:

The first sailing of the Horizon out of New York last year.

....and did you experience congestion on the Horizon?

[mets123]

21 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

What minor tweaks would you have them do?

Enforce chair hog policy and clean off tables in the pick marketplace faster. Just requires more staff.

[keywest1]

We didn't like the Sunrise when she was still Triumph.  There was something about the Lido deck that just made it seem very crowded.  The tables were two or three rows deep, and the only time we could indulge in one of our favorite pastimes (people watching 😁) was when we got in the row closest to pool.  I don't know if it was just our particular cruise and people were moving the seats around or if it was always like this.  We didn't spend nearly as much time there as usual.  I will say the family OV cabin was very nice, and we still had a good time.

We have sailed the Splendor and Sunshine, two ships which some love to hate, and we really liked both ships.  We like the Fantasy class ships as well as Dream class.  So I really don't know what it was about the Triumph, but it will have to be dirt cheap or an amazing itinerary before I would ever book her as Sunrise.  Just my opinion, of course.

[mets123]

8 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

....and did you experience congestion on the Horizon?

Never. The food stations eliminated congestion.

[Organized Chaos]

12 hours ago, HappyInVan said:

You offer the opinion that the crowding is pretty 'normal'. Have you posted a balanced review of your 7/22 trip? I would like to read it in order to get the context of your opinion.

 

Being balanced is the key. There are those who take offense and become defensive the moment anyone has a complaint or posts a negative opinion about something, but there's nothing wrong with offering the bad along with the good, within reason. When someone only preaches that Carnival can do no wrong and refuses to point out any negatives, I think it does a great disservice to those who come here looking for information and honest opinions. You can't get a good overall picture if everything's sugar-coated. You have to have that balance. I think the negative posts (again, within reason) are just as valuable as the positive ones. Carnival can do things wrong, they can make mistakes & bad decisions, and it's not always the fault of the passenger(s). I appreciate people who offer opinions about what they didn't like. It won't necessarily stop me from sailing a particular ship because I'd rather experience it myself and form my own opinions, but it's nice knowing what to look out for.

[clearwatergirl]

Having sailed Carnival ships in the Fantasy, Spirt, conquest and Dream classes, the Sunshine was my least favorite.  I agree with many of the posted comments.  Biggest disappointments were with the theater and comedy club.  Have no desire to sail her again nor the Sunrise or Radiance. 

[cdm289]

My sister went on the Destiny and had a wonderful cruise.  She wanted to repeat the same cabin/experience on the Sunshine.  She hated it.  Found it a completely different experience and very crowded.  She said she won't go on any of the other newly converted ships.  I have been on the Triumph twice and loved it but I think I may take her advise and not sail the Sunrise.  The idea of 300+ more passengers in the same space doesn't appeal to me.  I also don't like the idea of the show room being smaller but I am booked on the Panorama next March and will get to experience it first hand.   

[jimbo5544]

3 hours ago, mets123 said:

Never. The food stations eliminated congestion.

Thanks for the reply. There is no question that Lido on the Sunrise is smaller than Lido on the Horizon, she is a significantly smaller ship.  In my review, I mentioned the one area that we thought was congested and that was the deli.  It. In my estimation, was a poor placement.  That said, they DID do some things to help in this area (for us the only area of the ship was any more congested than any other Carnival ship).  For breakfast, they had way more omelet stations open (as an example).  If, for whatever reason, that is meaningful enough to my to another product, then happy sailing.  I will not hold your baseball team allegiance against you...😉 

[jimbo5544]

50 minutes ago, clearwatergirl said:

Having sailed Carnival ships in the Fantasy, Spirt, conquest and Dream classes, the Sunshine was my least favorite.  I agree with many of the posted comments.  Biggest disappointments were with the theater and comedy club.  Have no desire to sail her again nor the Sunrise or Radiance. 

Well there are many options out there for you to choose from.  Luckily for Carnival, many would disagree, the Sunshine is the 3rd highest rated ship in their fleet (by their cruisers).

[jimbo5544]

4 hours ago, mets123 said:

Enforce chair hog policy and clean off tables in the pick marketplace faster. Just requires more staff.

I have seen nothing at all that ties chair hog enforcement to staff.  We were in the aft section of lido every day and did not see a table cleaning issue, actually commented that there was a lot of staff that seemed idle.....maybe just another viewpoint I guess.

[jimbo5544]

9 minutes ago, cdm289 said:

My sister went on the Destiny and had a wonderful cruise.  She wanted to repeat the same cabin/experience on the Sunshine.  She hated it.  Found it a completely different experience and very crowded.  She said she won't go on any of the other newly converted ships.  I have been on the Triumph twice and loved it but I think I may take her advise and not sail the Sunrise.  The idea of 300+ more passengers in the same space doesn't appeal to me.  I also don't like the idea of the show room being smaller but I am booked on the Panorama next March and will get to experience it first hand.   

Interesting you chose to mention the Destiny (once the grand ame of all the seas) which had the poorest rating in the history of Carnival in her later years......  Triumph was not high either....but that is just everybody else.  Happy sailing, let us know your thoughts regarding the Panorama after you sail her.  

[NCTribeFan]

I was concerned about Sunshine when she first arrived and there were lots of negative reviews.  I ended up really liking her.  Yes, they did change the deck plans on Sunrise quite a bit and I'm not sure I'd like the changes.  But, hey!  I don't sail for the ship.

 

I've never been in a ship's pool and I don't plant myself on a lounger in the sun by them to drink and bake all day, so those crowds aren't an issue for me.

 

It's all in what you want from your cruise.  I want to get to interesting ports (sailing late October on Sunshine to Bermuda).  I want decent food and entertainment.  I want to win in the casino!  I want to meet interesting people and enjoy myself.  I want to spend my sea days somewhere out of the way and relatively quiet (hard to find on Carnival ships), but I manage to go through multiple books when I sail.

 

The main reason the Spirit-class is my favorite - best space ratio in Carnival's fleet and also why I've enjoyed my HAL sailings - the ships are very similar.

 

But, as a CCL shareholder, I guess I should be happy they're packing in every passenger they can! 😉

[nybumpkin]

9 hours ago, mets123 said:

Enforce chair hog policy and clean off tables in the pick marketplace faster. Just requires more staff.

I can't comment on chair hogs - we don't hang out by the pools. However, I'm not sure more staff in the Marketplace would have helped. We found the servers very attentive at clearing tables. The problem was when a "wanted" table became vacant and another group claimed it immediately - and wanted it cleaned immediately. Believe me, we saw the same thing at the buffet on QM2; they had window tables in the buffet area that people literally stalked to wait for people to leave. One time I watched a group swoop in to claim a table when someone was still sitting there.😮