My first Naming Ceremony

[LHP]

I have to say that it was cool.

 

We were invited by Corporate and since we were on the Inaugural cruise, they upgraded us from a 6B to a balcony on deck 8 so that we would not have to change cabins.

 

Carnival boarded us with the VIPs before the Travel Agents and 40 folks that had won the Bloggers Slogan Contest, which made it easier on our son. That terminal was packed.

 

LOVE the New Orleans terminal remodel!! Can not wait to go back in February.

 

We did have to carry our luggage onboard (which was no big deal for us).

 

We got free embarkation photos ....

 

We got onboard and unpacked ....

 

Went to have lunch ...all the restaurants were open. The ones for a fee were free that Sunday. The bars were free that Sunday. They even had the "pour it yourself" beer and wine open.

 

We explored the ship. I love the new layout. We have heard folks complain for years that every Carnival ship was cookie cutter. They certainly can not say that now.

 

We met up with friends and got to visit.

 

Got changed for the Naming Ceremony.

 

This is where Carnival is well...Carnival. The Naming Ceremony was by invitation only. My email said they would be sending us an invitation. I assumed it would be in the cabin. When it wasn't, I assumed that it was like the Past Guest Party where they really do not check.

 

Well, they did check and we did not have the invitation. THANK GOODNESS, I am OCD about bringing documentation. So I had to go back and get the original email from Cahill that said "yes, you are invited to the Naming Ceremony" to get in.

 

It was in the Liquid Lounge. (which is not that big, which is why I am guessing it was by invitation only)

 

Anyway, it was a lovely ceremony. The band that won the $10,000 contest was there. They played for the ceremony.

 

There was a very nice show by students from the National Young Arts Foundation that Lin Arison co-founded.

 

They smashed the bottle....we watched it on video and they had a huge confetti filled champagne bottle on stage.

 

Afterwards there was a meet and greet where you could talk with Micky Arison and his wife, Arnold Donald, Lin Arison, Gerry Cahill... etc etc etc.

 

We presented the Captain with a frame picture of the St Jude brick that we had placed for St Jude. Later in the cruise the Captain had us up to the Bridge to take pictures with us and him holding it. Nice touch.

 

I hate that St Jude does not place the bricks anymore. They said it was because the process was to disruptive to the patients, so we completely understand. Now they have a WALL that you can purchase plaques to go on. They run $2,500 a plaque.

 

After the ceremony, we went to dinner and then partied the night away.

 

The free drinks were still flowing when we went to bed about midnight.

 

Since we had not left the dock, we did not have to get off the ship and go through Customs the next morning. We just walked to Guest Services and got our new Sail and Sign cards.

 

Had a wonderful cruise. Our cabin was 8184 and was fine. No issues ...

 

(although it is about 6" more narrow than previous cabins we have been in to accommodate some built in shelving they have added.)

 

We did not see any buckets .... there were a couple of absorption cloths will out.

 

The foods we tried were Carnival standard or better. Our wait staff and cabin steward staff were all excellent. We were in the Forward dining room which is where Traditional dining is. It was fine.

 

There were a lot of Corporate folks that stayed on for our cruise, so it was nice to get to visit with them.

 

Carnival does have two major issued to address on the Sunshine:

 

The floor coming into the buffet area on Lido is VERY slippery (even with just humidity). I had a bum leg so I was being extra careful and I still almost fell twice.

 

The second issue is poor planning with the cabins above the Liquid Lounge.

The cavernous size of the Lounge when it turns into the disco carries the sound and vibration to the cabins on deck 6.

 

The good news is this is where Carnival placed all the Corporate folks so that they could experience it first hand.

 

There is either going to have to be a real fix here or have this cabins discounted as Night Owl cabins.

 

We had great comedians onboard. We only do the Family Shows, so we never had to wait. We would arrive about 15 minutes before hand and got excellent seats.

 

This is a smaller venue, so they use three shows instead of two.

 

They did not have a lot of karaoke because they were still on the European schedule, but I have been assured that is being corrected.

 

We had a great time. And truly appreciate being invited.

[bermudajane]

How great that you got to experience something so special! And to meet the Captain too! Did you get to ask any questions at the meet and greet with the Carnival executives?

[kneedeep1964]

You would have thought that with all the complaints about the slippery floor in the food areas on the Breeze, they might have corrected the problem on the Sunshine...too bad, really. It does make for a precarious walk thru the lido area, and even sneakers didn't help.

 

Can't understand why they would have another naming ceremony...but I don't work there.

 

 

Glad to hear Karaoke will be putting in an appearance... and also glad its over by 1AM.

[EZ4]

They forgot to notify the sea gods of the name change earlier in the year, with disastrous consequences. Maybe this will appease them, finally. :p

[kneedeep1964]

very true, EZ4... 2 naming ceremonies, but no ceremony to appease the gods?;)

[LHP]

You would have thought that with all the complaints about the slippery floor in the food areas on the Breeze, they might have corrected the problem on the Sunshine...too bad, really. It does make for a precarious walk thru the lido area, and even sneakers didn't help.

 

Can't understand why they would have another naming ceremony...but I don't work there.

 

 

Glad to hear Karaoke will be putting in an appearance... and also glad its over by 1AM.

 

 

 

Yes, we had the same issues on the Breeze.....

 

Hope they find a solution.......

[Keith1010]

Sounds like it was a great experience.

 

Thanks for sharing this with everyone.

 

Keith

[LHP]

How fabulous! My husband, the one who swears he doesn't chase loyalty points, keeps talking about becoming diamond on Carnival. We may be in our 80s, but by golly we'll get there! Thanks for sharing your day with us. It sounds like a great time!

 

 

 

I would imagine it is harder to do from California with the limited number of ships and itineraries to select from.

 

 

Remember ... 80 is the new 60 !

[jonbgd]

How cool..... Congrats

While I didn't like the Idea of what they were doing to the Destiny

From the photos I have seen, It looks like Carnival is trying new ideas and it looks good.

 

I was thinking I would be able to cruise on her while in Nola but not sure since she moves to PC to compete with Disney ships.

 

How was it with more pax on your inaugural?

 

Any rumors that they would do this to the Triumph or Victory?

[Colorado Kat]

That was very nice that they invited you. Sounds like a great time!

[crusinpsychRN]

Sounds like a really fantastic cruise! Thank you for your report!

[tinkerbell_82]

Glad you had a great time Linda! I'm looking forward to checking out the Sunshine when she comes to Florida. :)

[okgirl]

Thanks for the review Linda.........I'm really looking forward to seeing the ship on BC7....we just moved our cabin from a PT all the way forward to deck 6 midship.....we found out that YTD is done in the aft dining room and my hip is starting to give me fits.........

 

I hope your mention of being back in NOLA in February means y'all have decided to join us on BC7......

[LHP]

How cool..... Congrats

While I didn't like the Idea of what they were doing to the Destiny

From the photos I have seen, It looks like Carnival is trying new ideas and it looks good.

 

I was thinking I would be able to cruise on her while in Nola but not sure since she moves to PC to compete with Disney ships.

 

How was it with more pax on your inaugural?

 

Any rumors that they would do this to the Triumph or Victory?

 

 

There were 3,100+ on the Inaugural cruise and I never felt crowded...even on Lido.

 

The new buffet lay out seems to be working well.

 

It will take some getting use to on with there being two Promenades. The normal promenade still has just as much seating, it is just configured differently. I love it.

 

She moves in April I believe.

 

 

Honestly, Carnival will not do another ship like this.

 

This was a new idea that Carnival tried and while I love the new ship, there were just to many issues to ever try it again.

 

1)A $155 million project turned into a $200 million project for one thing ....

 

2)They had to deal with a lot of sabotage in the shipyard.

 

3)Things like there not being the Thalasso Therapy Pool in the Cloud 9 Spa totally detracts from there being a Cloud 9 Spa. There just is not the room to put it.

[LHP]

Thanks for the review Linda.........I'm really looking forward to seeing the ship on BC7....we just moved our cabin from a PT all the way forward to deck 6 midship.....we found out that YTD is done in the aft dining room and my hip is starting to give me fits.........

 

I hope your mention of being back in NOLA in February means y'all have decided to join us on BC7......

 

Janey...we are booked the week before. We do not know if we will make it a B2B yet.

[pirate4me2]

I keep debating back and forth as to whether to cruise the Sunshine or not. Sounds like a lot of the bugs have been fixed, so maybe we will give her a try. :)