Carnival Sunshine Coming to Port Canaveral vs. Freedom of the Seas

[cruzeluver]

Not true. The Paradise, Sensation and the Fasination are the oldest and smallest of Carnivals fleet.

 

You left out the Ecstacy, Fantasy, Imagination, Elation and Inspiration.

[jules815]

Ok....so I guess I am staying with FOS.

It will be wonderful, I am sure.

Been on many Royal Ships in the past,

Monarch a couple of times, Mariner, never cared for Princess or NCL.

Really liked The Dream Carnival had. Went twice on her.

 

So far one posting on the carnival website told me to stick with fos.

 

ps........Tapi's a goood doggie.....such a good doggie........:)

 

Dog Lover.

 

Dream has changed. I have been on Carnival Dream twice, and also sailed on Destiny. First time on Dream when she was fairly new, had a really nice time. Food and service were great. Sure there were differences; Carnival just not as polished as RC, and I really, really prefer the layout of the WJ versus the buffet on both Carnival ships we've been on, but the rates were good, and my husband likes those deck 2, cove balconies a lot.

 

This past fall we went on Dream again. Great deal; I think we paid something like $650pp for a balcony room, 7-day eastern Caribbean. It was like a totally different ship from 2010. Service in the MDR was horrible -- EVERY night. (I had read about bad MDR service here on CC prior to our cruise, and then witnessed it first hand. So everything I'd read and kinda shrugged off was true.) Many areas of the ship also seemed dirty to me, and it hadn't been out of dry dock too long.

 

We are done with Carnival.

[RCI Cruisers 004]

There should be no issue in deciding between FOS and anything Carnival has to offer. Maybe as a change of pace, try Epic or Oasis/Allure !

[relic937]

Having sailed on four different lines I find the following Disney does it best (very expensive but first class all the way ) Princess priced fairly but crowd was to old for me and I'm 63 ! Royal Carriibean love all our cruises but much more expensive that Carnival, Carnival cheap prices:cool , good food , Lively crowd but unfortunately canned music and to many cut backs. But hey there are no bad cruises as long as you stay afloat and under power . Book the cruise you can best afford ,relax and have fun .:cool:

[monn_a]

...and remember Destiny had almost as many problems as Triumph before it's rebirth...and the reviews have been less than stellar. I'm not a Carnival basher but Destiny is not the ship I would want to sail on...it's almost as old as Majesty and I would chose Majesty over it...

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Hands down ... stick with Freedom of the Seas. Even though we've never been on it (we've been on the Destiny), I'd pick it over the Sunshine without reservation.

 

We've been on the Dream 3 times (booked those before she ever set sail), and would not consider that ship again. We sailed on the Breeze earlier this year and won't return to that ship either. It was easier on the eyes than many in their fleet, but that's about its only plus in our book.

 

I saw that Carnival is bringing the Liberty to Port Canaveral as well. That's a ship I'd definitely consider sailing on again. We had a great cruise on her last July 4th. The staff (top to bottom) was first rate. I also like the fact that they're starting to switch up some itineraries, offering several 8 night sailings to Aruba/Curacao.

 

Tom

[Cruising89143]

The Destiny was one of my worst cruises that i cruised on Carnival. They added more cabins, removed one level of the main show room to add part of those cabins. She was crowded when I cruised on her and I can't imagine her now. You can put lipstick on a pig ( and in this case a 155 million dollar tube of lipstick) but she will still be a pig. ;)

Edited June 30, 2013 by cruisingator2

[ticktoneer]

You can put lipstick on a pig ( and in this case a 155 million dollar tube of lipstick) but she will still be a pig. ;)

 

I agree - ha ha ha ha ha !!! That quote made me laugh so much - thank you.

 

:D

[Aquahound]

Not true. The Paradise, Sensation and the Fasination are the oldest and smallest of Carnivals fleet.

 

He didn't say it was the smallest. He said it was the lowest ranked.

[The Big Booper]

Not true. The Paradise, Sensation and the Fasination are the oldest and smallest of Carnivals fleet.

 

You left out the Ecstacy, Fantasy, Imagination, Elation and Inspiration.

 

I'm not talking about ship size, just overall rating. Destiny usually gets the poorest ratings, overall, then any other Carnival ship.

 

Which Paul just said ahead of me.

[HB Cruiser]

And if you post the question on the Carnival board you will probably get a completely different answer. ;)

 

Tim

 

I come to you with my head hanging low and tail between my legs as I was WRONG!!! Almost all on the Carnival board has agreed with most of us for you to stay on Freedom. I am somewhat shocked by their posts over there.

 

Oh well, I am human, cannot be right all the time. Crap, hope my wife don't see this, I tell her I am right all the time. ;)

 

Tim

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

...

Oh well, I am human, cannot be right all the time. Crap, hope my wife don't see this, I tell her I am right all the time. ;)

 

Tim

 

That's OK... she already knows you're not perfect. :D

 

Tom

[orville99]

If the only options were Carnival Sunshine and Freedom of the Seas, it would be no contest. Even if you discount the glaring differences between those two ships, since both are doing their same old worn out been there done that eastern/western rotations, I'd take Coco Cay over Nassau and Labadee over Costa Maya any day.

 

However, if you look at the other Carnival ship that's also relocating to PC (Liberty is replacing Ecstasy), the eight day itineraries look very interesting. If Royal doesn't step up and offer some different itineraries out of PC, IMO they're going to find people who sail for the ports leaning away to other lines.

[Ander026]

I would also stick with the Freedom.

 

I have sailed the Freedom class 3 times and the Freedom itself twice. I have also sailed the Carnival Destiny/Sunshine. The one thing I liked about the Destiny was the Inside Cabin I was in. Good layout and a great shower.

 

I would sail the Destiny/Sunshine again just to see the changes. I like that they did some sort of adult area. It also looks like they may have improved the sports area.

 

The price would have to come down for me to sail her though.

 

I am surprised that Port Canaveral agreed to swap Sunshine for Dream though. However did upgrade on the other swap though.

 

Hopefully the test of Explorer of the Seas goes well at Port Canaveral where RCCL would base 3rd year round ship there to join Enchantment and Freedom.

[Tapi]

. If Royal doesn't step up and offer some different itineraries out of PC, IMO they're going to find people who sail for the ports leaning away to other lines.

 

Don't forget that Explorer of the Seas is coming to PC with some new itineraries. Check them out!

[orville99]

Don't forget that Explorer of the Seas is coming to PC with some new itineraries. Check them out!

 

 

I have, and the big question is whether RCL will decide to keep Ex and those itineraries sailing out of PC. I think if Carnival Liberty starts taking revenue away from RCL, the odds of Ex staying in PC go up.

[kzkzoh]

The Carnival Sunshine truly is an amazing ship. With the all new Carnival Waterworks and Guys Burgers there's plenty to do on board. Although a smaller ship than the Freedom Class, the Sunshine is all new and completely remodeled.

 

In my opinion, I feel that Carnival's customer service is excellent, service is outstanding, and the food quality is certainly superior to Royal Caribbean.

 

In the end it is up to you, but personally I would sail the Sunshine.

[Robinola]

Ticktoneer....your doggie is beautiful!

 

Ok....so lots of opinions...looks like the majority believe FOS may be worth a chance. Things are certainly changing in the Cruising World! Someone said Carnival's food was better than Royal's...you don't hear that very often!

 

What do you think of west vs. east itinerary. I've always loved the east and it's been a long time since I've done west...

 

Love jewelry shopping in St Thomas. Has anyone been to the Ice Bar in St Thomas? Love Maho and Orient Beach in St Martin....decisions....decisions....

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

... Has anyone been to the Ice Bar in St Thomas? ...

 

We tried the Ice Bar on NCL Epic -- now THERE'S a ship/destination! Had such a good time we re-booked it the day we got home, and took my office staff along!

 

Tom

[cruzeluver]

Although a smaller ship than the Freedom Class, the Sunshine is all new and completely remodeled.

 

 

Well, remodeled anyway. But all new? Hardly. And the "remodeling" took a ship with an already terrible passenger-to-space ratio and made it worse.

[jules815]

Things are certainly changing in the Cruising World! Someone said Carnival's food was better than Royal's...you don't hear that very often!

.

 

The food on our first 2 Carnival cruises was very good...and one of those cruises was on Destiny! :eek: :D

 

Our last one though, on Dream, the MDR service was very poor; after waiting and waiting, meals were cold, wrong orders, etc. I hope they can get it together.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Well, remodeled anyway. But all new? Hardly. And the "remodeling" took a ship with an already terrible passenger-to-space ratio and made it worse.

 

Yep... it went from 38 to 33! :eek: (source Travelocity)

 

 

 

 

Here's the stats on the Royal fleet:

 

 

Space ratio defined:

 

 

Tom

[c-cruise]

The problem with passenger space ratio is that it is measuring interior volume and not floor space. Huge atriums (royal promenade) and other large interior areas really skew those numbers. They create a lot of interior volume, but unless you can fly that space isn't really useable to you. The other problem is those numbers are all based on double occupancy and you don't know from one ship to another how many of those upper berths are going to be full. Some sort of measurement of the floor space of the public spaces on cruise ships would be a much more meaningful comparison.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

The problem with passenger space ratio is that it is measuring interior volume and not floor space. Huge atriums (royal promenade) and other large interior areas really skew those numbers. They create a lot of interior volume, but unless you can fly that space isn't really useable to you. The other problem is those numbers are all based on double occupancy and you don't know from one ship to another how many of those upper berths are going to be full. Some sort of measurement of the floor space of the public spaces on cruise ships would be a much more meaningful comparison.

 

Agreed - though given what we have to work with at this point, it's the easiest ballpark statistic (rough approximation).

 

Tom

[Aquahound]

The problem with passenger space ratio is that it is measuring interior volume and not floor space. Huge atriums (royal promenade) and other large interior areas really skew those numbers. They create a lot of interior volume, but unless you can fly that space isn't really useable to you. The other problem is those numbers are all based on double occupancy and you don't know from one ship to another how many of those upper berths are going to be full. Some sort of measurement of the floor space of the public spaces on cruise ships would be a much more meaningful comparison.

 

Put 100 people in a small room with a 8' ceiling and then put those same 100 people in the same room with a 20' ceiling. It feels a lot different.

 

While I have yet to cruise Carnival, I do a lot of work on their ships. I've always noticed the ceilings feel lower and the public spaces feel more cramped. The lounge sizes appear about the same as other lines, but due to the lower ceilings, they just feel more cramped.

 

So yes, the higher volume due to higher ceilings does make a difference.