ChrisNCruiser

Sailing out of Norfolk is great and I''m considering that same Magic sailing. I just went on the Magic for the first time last month and I'm going again next week - it's not my favorite Carnival ship but I don't hate it either. I agree with another poster that the ship has a little wear and tear but doesn't look raggedy. The decor is a little generic and humdrum compared to any of the Carnival ships that followed it (Carnival started using other designers after the Magic), but it's not ugly and it has plenty of amenities. I believe it will be the largest ship to sail out of Norfolk, which could be good or bad depending on your preference. While we love a party atmosphere, we also enjoy quieter times when cruising, and we were always able to find a quiet corner somewhere. On a full sailing (which is likely out of Norfolk), you may want to consider a balcony cabin on the Magic if you want a place to avoid the masses. 

1 hour ago, SNJCruisers said:

BS.....Another example of using Covid as an excuse.  Why should Platinums and Diamonds be denied the perk that they earned, yet anyone that paid for a suite gets priority status.  If Covid is truly the reason, then suite holders should be lumped in with Platinum and Diamonds.

They originally cited the reason as because there would be too many D and P cruisers to support first boarding on the first day. That said, I've been on two cruises since they resumed (I'm Diamond). For each, the Diamond and Platinum parties had no more or fewer people in attendance than other cruises I've taken, but that was at reduced capacity so the D/P ratio was probably a bit higher than on pre-COVID cruises. On the Magic in August they offered both D and P early disembarkation on the last morning, but on the Pride in September they only offered it to Diamond. (There were about 10 of us in the waiting room that morning.)

...and here's a link to pics I took while on the Sunrise...

Carnival Sunrise pictures

I've been on both between 2018-2019 and hands-down I'd pick the Sunrise unless the Conquest has the better itinerary and/or better pricing. The difference in ship size is not noticeable - the Sunrise has a more contemporary design, while the Conquest is...well, hideous (in my opinion, anyway). That said, it's still a cruise ship and I'd go on it again if the price was right. By the way, while the Sunrise was formerly the Triumph, I saw very little on the ship that didn't look brand-new. They did an excellent job of gutting and replacing.

Some may observe that they added additional cabins to the Sunrise during its retrofit (and therefore it could be more crowded), but I was on one of the first sold-out sailings and it didn't seem any more or less crowded than other Carnival sailings, and we always found a quiet place when we wanted privacy. 

Happy Honeymoon 🙂

with a Premium plan, I was able to stream SiriusXM on both the Pride (September) and Magic (August). Spotify didn't work, so I assume Amazon wouldn't either. Sorry, I can't confirm if SiriusXM would work with the Value plan.

Hi - just posted a reply to a similar question earlier this morning. Here's an adaption of my reply, tweaked to answer your specific questions:

I was just on the Pride two weeks ago, with Premium WiFi. Paramount+ and Hulu didn't work; Netflix technically worked but wasn't worth the effort based on the very poor quality (when it worked at all). I will tell you that the Wifi will come and go, especially on the first and last sea days, so expect occasional pockets of time for which you'll receive a "system is down" message when you attempt to access the internet. I think I recall the longest being about two hours. You won't be able to stream Amazon Music / Spotify on any of the plans, including Premium (I tried). However, we were happy to be able to stream music, news, and entertainment channels on the SiriusXM app; not sure if it works with the value or mid-range tier but it worked for Premium. You may want to consider a trial SiriusXM streaming plan. I've used the Value plans in the past for checking email, news sites, etc - the speed is notably slower than the Premium plan, but if you don't plan to use the internet in the ship often, the savings may be worth it. Hope this helps, and enjoy your cruise 🙂

I was just on the Pride two weeks ago, with Premium WiFi. Paramount+ and Hulu didn't work; Netflix technically worked but wasn't worth the effort based on the very poor quality (when it worked at all). I will tell you that the Wifi will come and go, especially on the first and last sea days, so expect occasional pockets of time for which you'll receive a "system is down" message when you attempt to access the internet. I think I recall the longest being about two hours. We were happy to be able to stream news and entertainment channels on the SiriusXM app; not sure if it works with the mid-range tier  but it worked for Premium.

3 hours ago, mondello said:

Dramamine for the drama queen?

I can't steal this to use on a friend quickly enough... 😛

We were on the Pride last week on a last-minute booking six days before. When we checked in, the earliest boarding group available to us was 2:30 and the last was 4:30.

it used to work for me in 2019 and before, but didn't work for me on the Magic last month or Pride this month (both with Premium internet). I tried two phones: one with T-Mobile and one with Verizon. I also tried dedicated wifi phone apps for each. FWIW, I believe you can Skype but I didn't try as none of my family / friends use it. 

I was also on this sailing and had a wonderful week. Thank goodness cruising has returned! Here is a link to pics I took of the ship (and lots of cake): Pride pics

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Z6QHghb8NwT95GgN9

I was also on this sailing and had a wonderful week. Thank goodness cruising has returned! Here is a link to pics I took of the ship (and lots of cake): Pride pics

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Z6QHghb8NwT95GgN9
 

16 hours ago, mexicobob said:

Why are these ships "huddled together for protection"? From what? Do we have pirates in this area of the world?

They're not really huddled together for protection. It was my lame attempt at being cute. That said, there must be some reason that they're all clumped together - perhaps a sharing of resources. We learned on the Pride this week that they kept a skeleton crew of 110 on board to keep things running before resuming service.

I'm on the Pride until Sunday with a premium package. Can't get TuneIn to work, but I can stream SiriusXM on their app and WTOP (Washington DC news) on their app. Gimme the call letters of a specific station your want to access and I'll see if I can pull it up...

I'm on the Pride this week - shortly after leaving Bimini, we saw several currently-out-of-service Carnival ships (and one non-Carnival ship) huddled together for protection in the ocean. It was beautiful and creepy. The Sunrise was close by but I couldn't get a decent picture.

12 hours ago, Steelers0854 said:

Was just on the pride and when the internet was working I didn’t have issues streaming video.  We were on the premium Wi-Fi as an FYI.

"When the internet was working" is key here. I'm on the Pride this week and there have been a few several-hours instances where the internet doesn't work - when I try to sign in on my phone using the Hub app it says 'system is currently down.' We were on the Magic last month for five nights and the internet worked almost flawlessly. I'm not complaining - it still amazes me that you can get internet on a ship at all - just wanted to warn you not to depend on the Pride's internet 100% of the time. I've still been able to back up billions of pictures and videos to Google Photos when it does work 😛

On 9/10/2021 at 6:45 AM, Bostwick girl said:

That’s the way Carnival operates. They give all the great deals to those who seldom cruise. Us poor Platinum and Diamonds don’t get those great offers. My super Hot Streak offer gave me reduced fare and $25 obc on our February 4 day with our Grandson and his wife. My fare was $930 and he got $700 obc, plus a balcony room and drinks on us for both for just under $600! 
 

I'm not sure about this - I'm a non-profitable Diamond (no drinks, no excursions, no casino) was was offered a $129pp balcony cabin on the Pride this week, but my equally non-profitable Platinum Better Half was not. However, he was offered an equally great rate on the Magic last month, and I was not despite having higher status. I don't think anyone knows why they offer what to whom, but we're grateful for both offers (and sailed on both!)

It may depend on the ship. The Pride out of Baltimore embarks and disembarks a couple of hours later than other ships 

I was on the Magic 8/21: they were at 55% 'Double Capacity' (two people per cabin) and 45% Max Capacity (to account for the cabins that can hold more than two).  It was awesome...

1 hour ago, Steelers0854 said:

there is a very steep drop off about 3-4 feet in. My recommendation is check out the public beach or even resort world beach. I can’t say for sure about those but can confirm 360 has that steep drop off. 
 

 

we boarded at 2pm and our room was ready. Here is our disembarkation info for tomorrow. As you can see we dont start the until very late. That’s probably the reason for the late boarding and departure. 
 

 

Excellent news - I'll wheel in my bag! the Disembarkation info is helpful too - my better half isn't a morning person so it sounds like we can sleep in and take our time getting out of the cabin on the last morning. we're staying at the Hyatt Regency Inner Harbor tonight and I'm looking forward to having the time to walk around the area before our 2:30 boarding time. enjoy your night tonight and thanks again 🙂

Hi @Steelers0854, I have one more question before we sail tomorrow: do you happen to recall the time we will be let into our cabins? We have a 2:30 boarding time, so we're assuming we'll be on board by 3-ish. I'm only bringing a carry-on but may still choose to check it if we have to wait too long for access...Don't want to be hauling it around when I am waitng for a Guy's Burger 😛 

Thanks again for all of your helpful posts this week...

8 hours ago, Markmom18 said:

I WISH that people who book cruises, like me, could be offered $100 cruises. Yep, I know you gotta be a gambler, which I’m not.
 

 So, I pay ‘regular’ prices and am grateful I can go at all. 
 

TILL …. 🤣🤣… I read threads like this … and the little Bobbi in me …. Cries “It’s not fair”. 🥲🥲

 

🛳🛳

Bobbi 

I am also receiving these deals without having played in the casino...could also be based on your VIFP tier. I'm Diamond but don't play in the casino and rarely purchase extras (drinks, souvenirs, excursions, etc)

2 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Cruise prices really aren't low - quite the opposite. My guess is to keep ship capacity lower. Then casino offers come along (capacity controlled) to get ships up to desired capacity (my guess), and to entice some who don't have a cruise booked to book.

Some are quite low based on targeted offers. Our one-week Pride sailing for this Sunday was insanely cheap - I'm not sure if we're permitted to list prices, but we received an offer last week for $129 per person for any non-Suite cabin. (We obviously picked an extended balcony vs. an interior LOL.) An additional caveat to this offer is that we had to pre-pay gratuities in advance - no biggie. We are NOT gamblers nor do we spend a lot of money on drinks, excursions, souvenirs, or other extras, so we're not sure why we received this targeted offer other than my Diamond status. 

it's also the need to get and pass a COVID test within two days of cruising, which can be difficult to schedule in advance.  That said, we're sailing while the gettin' is good. We were on the Magic on August 21, and are going on a super-cheap Pride cruise this upcoming Sunday (assuming we pass the Walgreens COVID test we had to schedule after Midnight on Wednesday to ensure we could make appointments).

18 minutes ago, Steelers0854 said:

Sorry for those future Pride cruisers but the Serenity deck is closed at 8:15 every night. Too bad. It’s a great place to relax at night. 

Thanks for confirming - on the plus side, it's nice to know they're providing the crew with a unique benefit...I can't feel too put out about it