Sunrise - a great pandemic surprise

[geonurse]

We chose this cruise because we couldn’t wait to return to one of our beloved pastimes. Our last cruise was February 2020 right before the shutdown. We were thrilled to be living the cruise life once again - albeit shorter duration than we would have preferred.

We flew into Fort Lauderdale 2 days prior to the cruise early in the morning. Ubered from FLL to Lago Mar Resort for around 25$. We really enjoyed the resort. A bit outdated in style, but very clean everywhere, excellent friendly staff, and gorgeous grounds directly on the beach. A kitchenette and sitting area in our room , and balcony overlooking the pool and surrounded with lush foliage. We Instacart ordered a few groceries and beverages and filled in with delicious resort meals. One of our favorite things to do was walk down to the end of our beach and watch the cruise ships sail in and out of port. We would highly recommend this precruise stay. The only stressful thing we experienced was taking our Ctests that we brought with us.. The E- testing process glitched a bit and was nerve wracking waiting for results, but we thankfully tested negative .

We set up a shuttle for the morning of the cruise to transport us to Miami. It was 15$ pp . They picked us up at our resort, then picked up two more couples from downtown Fort Lauderdale and got us to the port when promised. Would not hesitate to use them again. Goshuttle was the name.

Embarkation process was very smooth considering all the new protocols. We arrived one hour prior to our scheduled time and were able to go right in and start the process. All our paperwork and Vcards were checked and in about 25 min start to finish we were on the ship!!

The Sunrise is a beautifully updated ship that still makes you feel like you are coming home. All the Carnival favorites in all the expected places. Guys Burgers, Red Frog Pub, Serenity, etc.

Aft Pool area with Pizza Pirate, Seafood Shack, Tides Bar, Ice cream station, pool and hot tubs …. this area would prove to be our favorite area to hang out on this cruise- more about that later. 

After partaking in our first Guys Burger of the cruise, we sat with our luggage on the lido deck listening to the steel drum music, soaking up the sunshine , and enjoying those gorgeous views of Miami Harbor and beyond- Miami is by far my favorite port to sail from.

At 130 ish we headed to our cabin. There was no announcement, we just took a chance. Our room was ready and our keycards were in the mailbox beside our door. 

We had a Spa balcony room on Deck 10. Loved this type of room and location! We rarely had to take an elevator anywhere. 

At the time of this cruise masks were mandatory in most indoor areas, Buffet, lounges, casino, elevators, dining room when walking to your table. Luckily the weather was perfect every day of our cruise and about 80 percent of our time was spent outside because of our desire not to wear masks. Most days we spent at that lovely aft pool area. Plenty to eat and drink and to avoid going to the buffet and having to wear a mask, we would walk up the outdoor stairs, go over the top of the buffet, down onto the lido deck where Guys and the Mexican eateries were. Never had to wear a mask all day this way. At night we needed to….. maybe we spent more time in our cabin due to this, but our room and balcony were lovely so it worked out!

Spa on the Sunrise was nothing to rave about. No Thalassotherapy pool, we never got our scrubkit as they were all out, we only visited the spa twice . i wouldnt pay xtra for a spa room again, but i would get a balcony room on deck 8, 9, or 10- so convenient!

Sunrise had so many food options including great latenight options like an Omelette Bar!

Loved this ship and her crew and wouldn't hesitate to sail on her again! 

Ports: Nassau, HMC, Freeport. 

Enjoyed staying on the ship in Nassau , rented a clamshell in HMC and had a gorgeous day, in Freeport we took a taxi to Banana Bay beach bar and enjoyed the fabulous gorgeous beach and views. This was one of our all time favorite cruise experiences. Was blown away as we had always heard negative things about Freeport. Can’t wait to go back there. 

[CruzerDeb]

Thanks for the review! I’ll be on the Sunrise in October; can’t wait to be on a Carnival ship again - yum, Guy’s Burgers! 
 

Did you pay for the clamshell once you were on HMC?

[Pellaz]

Thanks for the recap!   I went solo on the Sunrise back in February (at $35/pp total, why not?) and agree with most of your comments.   

I especially enjoyed going to the Cucina for free lunch (pasta bowl) on embark day because it was not open on Mardi Gras on embark day.  😮  

Like you, I really enjoyed the aft pool area and frequented the Tides Bar quite a bit after establishing a rapport with the bartender.  

Ultimately a shocking win at the casino on the last night (no-one ever wins at those $2,500 "cash vault" machines) made the cruise a thrice-paid venture 😄 , but even without that, the Sunrise was certainly well-worth the low price I paid.  

 

 

[geonurse]

On 4/24/2022 at 8:22 PM, CruzerDeb said:

Thanks for the review! I’ll be on the Sunrise in October; can’t wait to be on a Carnival ship again - yum, Guy’s Burgers! 
 

Did you pay for the clamshell once you were on HMC?

We paid online prior to the cruise and showed the island attendant our “excursion ticket” once there. Another useful thing is having this excursion got us on any tender we wanted. Didn’t have to wait in line for a number, etc👍🏻

[arctickitty]

Thanks for sharing your recap!