Carnival sunrise. The worse ship ever

[April42749]

50 minutes ago, Joanne G. said:

carol louise, my sister, also lives in NYC - which is why she wants some relief from huge crowds while on vacation!  
I live in a small town, and while I don't like lines and crowds, it doesn't get to me as much as it does to her because I do not deal with it every day.  We all react differently.  😄

 

We do agree with you and your husband about not rushing off the ship.  We waited until about 3:15 to get off at Grand Turk, and by that time some were heading back already, and chairs in the shade became available at the Margaritaville pool.  We had enough time, and it was after the worst heat of the day.    That is typical of how we strategize to avoid the crowds as much as possible.   

 

You know the joke....this cruise director said it and I've heard it before:  He loves Manhattan people.  They're the only ones who open the cabin door and say "Wow....it's so large!"

 

 

[LMaxwell]

On 6/22/2019 at 9:02 PM, Lee Cruiser said:

  The Victory is about to go through the same transition as it becomes the Radiance.

 

Already the most maddening buffet experience one can have on a cruise ship will surely get worse.  

[LMaxwell]

10 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

 I saw nothing that gave me cause for concern.  We will be sailing on her with a group in July 22.  

 

My friend, good to see you, have a great cruise; but also you would not be concerned until the last lifeboat was untied!  🙂 

[carol louise]

2 hours ago, April42749 said:

 

You know the joke....this cruise director said it and I've heard it before:  He loves Manhattan people.  They're the only ones who open the cabin door and say "Wow....it's so large!"

 

 

Ah, April, thank you for that. Made me laugh out loud. I hadn’t heard it before. Brings back a memory from a cruise once in the past where tablemates of ours commented that the bathrooms on board are so small. I said, not joking, it’s about the size of my Manhattan apartment bathroom, so it seems normal to me!

[lizardhowson]

On 6/22/2019 at 6:49 PM, Seeleyhs17 said:

Just got back from a 10 day cruise on the carnival sunrise and was very diappointed in the ship. The make over did nothing for it. The upgraded the cabins to make it for more people to be on the ship. This was a horrible idea. It has became way over crowded. Several times we had no place to eat and had to take food back to the room. Food was mediocre at best several times did we end up with cold food or soggy food from the deli. The smoke from the casino was horrible. No ventilation at all. And it travels through out the ship and you can smell it all over. For the only place to smoke is the casino it's in a horrible place bc it's right in the middle of the ship so you gotta walk through it to get to anywhere you really want to go. It also did not have very many activities for the kids compared to other fleets like royal carribean.

Of course, it is the “ made over” Triumph which failed multiple sanitation & food safety inspections. No surprise what-so-ever

[Organized Chaos]

1 hour ago, carol louise said:

Ah, April, thank you for that. Made me laugh out loud. I hadn’t heard it before. Brings back a memory from a cruise once in the past where tablemates of ours commented that the bathrooms on board are so small. I said, not joking, it’s about the size of my Manhattan apartment bathroom, so it seems normal to me!

 

I was pleasantly surprised the first time I ever saw the bathroom in our interior cabin. I was expecting much smaller. We've certainly experienced smaller bathrooms in people's houses and in plenty of hotels we've stayed in. To this day, I still think they're a good size, all things considered.

[LadyPDJ]

On 6/23/2019 at 3:50 PM, newpherchris said:

I've been on 34 cruises (all Carnival) and was on the second sailing of the Sunrise, and we loved it. We wondered if the staff would be inexperienced  / not able to handle the larger crowds but they were great. Never had to wait 45 minutes for the Liquid Lounge shows (saw three); walked in 15 minutes before show time and always got seats with a great unblocked view in the 'nosebleeds' (which aren't far away considering the smaller size of the theater). We actually PREFER the smaller theater, as it makes the shows feel a little more intimate. Yes, some buffet lines could get long but there were also non-line, fast-line, or minimal-line alternatives The omlette area in Cucina Del Capitano was ALWAYS empty; a new Asian Bowl station was lightning fast; the Guy's Pig and Anchor thing rarely had a line. We had an ocean view cabin but could usually locate a couple of chairs in the back pool area. The decor was great - less tacky (said with affection) than on older Carnival ships. 

 

Check out some pics I took  - hopefully, you'll agree that many pictures reflect a shiny, polished ship that isn't overstuffed to the brim with too many people. You can ALWAYS find someplace quiet if that's what you're looking for. Here are the pics.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

 

Thanks for your review/tips for Sunrise. It will be our first cruise with Carnival line. 

[Amadawn1]

It's worst ship ever.  Not worse. And any day cruising is not the worst ever.

[john1024]

We just got off the ship yesterday.  It's not a bad ship and certainly not the worst.  It is all about expectations.  Don't expect that $200M in refurbishment puts it on par with the brand new megaships.  It doesn't.  They crammed some nice stuff into a small space, which has resulted in a lot of long lines getting food and getting off the ship.  If you don't mind that, can find a work around, or if Carnival makes some adjustments, it's perfectly adequate if not outright nice.  With our limited vacation dollars, we're looking for more than adequate, so we probably won't go on the Sunrise again.  But we had a good time nonetheless. 

 

I wrote up a review last night which should get posted soon.  Bon voyage.

[sharhu22]

My husband and I were on the June 10 Sunrise sailing.  We have been on many Carnival ships as well as other cruise lines.  Any day at sea is a good day as far as I am concerned.  

 

There were good and disappointing aspects of the cruise.  The smoke in the casino was probably one of the most disappointing aspects.  I do like to play a little slots but didn’t send as much time there as I would ordinarily because of the smoke.  A real concern is the families with children that have to walk through.  I don’t know why it seemed worse than other ships who also have smoke issues but this one seemed worse.  Need better ventilation and not sure why can’t stop smoking in casino. Yes there were players smoking in the casino but really not that many, probably far outnumbered by the non smokers at the machines anyway.  And many of the non smokers probably would have spent more time playing if the smell wasn’t that bad. At the bar it looked to me like the smokers at the bar weren’t even gambling.  Just there so they could smoke while they drank.  

 

Yes buffet was crowded but we avoid buffets whenever we can anyway.  So we only went to the buffet once or twice for breakfast when we had early excursion.  Walking through it is crowded enough for me and the times we got food elsewhere, we found it hard to find seating.    We preferred to go to the main dining room for lunch or breakfast most of the time.  I did think the food in the main dining room was not as good as previous ships.  Not bad but just some of the dishes seemed lacking in flavor.  The Pig and Pork was okay, Guys burgers are always good (just cannot eat them everyday or I will have to roll off the ship).  The one time we got sandwiches from the deli I couldn’t even eat it the bread was stale tasting, no flavor to the meat.  The Chef’s Table, our first time doing that, was absolutely fabulous, amazing, flavorful and definitely worth the cost.  Only slight downside to that was for the quality of the food that was presented I was expecting better quality/selection of wines.

 

Serenity deck hard to get seats on.  The hot tub there a bit strange - square and not seating on all sides unless you are sitting flat on bottom.  

 

Comedy shows better than on the Dream in January when we actually walked out twice on shows that got too raunchy.  Piano bar really good.  No dance floor in main atrium, only small dance floor in RedFrog Pub.  We would never make it to the “nightclub” dancing at night in the Limelight lounge I think it was or wherever that was.  Nice entertainment in RedFrog Pub and although it is next to the Piano bar there is no hearing music from one to the other.  That isn’t true for the Alchemy Bar (our favorite spot on the ship) where the noice from karaoke or the entertainers or whatever was way too loud when you are trying to sit and enjoy a nice classic style cocktail and have a conversation with you fellow bar mates or the bartender.  Fabulous mixologists by the way.

 

Overall a good cruise but enough things that are getting more disappointing.  We will be platinum for our January sailing on Panorama and we will see how that goes but I suspect we will start booking some of the cruise lines we have sailed or exploring some haven’t tried yet.

 

 

[caracbeara]

21 hours ago, MCazer said:

Ok, just off this ship today and this is what I posted in the Carnival Sunrise Facebook page if anyone sees that as well

 

Let me start with, we had a good time. This is because we were with family

However, this was my 19th Cruise and first with Carnival.

Have sailed Disney, Princess, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity. And based on this trip, probably won’t sail Carnival again. It was our least favorite ship.

Embarkation was delayed and received an email the night before to come an hour later.  Parking at the port was closed with no notice.  We were told to drive down the block and park at an icon parking lot. Well, that one was full, drive further and finally found a lot ($182 for 4 nights) and drag our luggage for blocks.

We get to terminal and had to stand in the LATE line because of this.

Get in our cabin and bathroom smells. Finally figured out it was the shower curtain. Weird and funky smell. We were in 2087 and had no drawers to put clothing, which seemed  quite odd. 

Faint sewer smell by elevator and also by staircase/elevator when you leave the Restaurant for dinner

Had dinner at El Capitano and in order to get there, you had to walk though Lido buffet and climb the stairs because every other entrance was blocked

The walkways to go the the buffet are so narrow because they jammed a drink station and food venues on either side.  It backed up everyday with people trying to sidestep their way in.

There was always a line for the buffet, and the food was mediocre at best.

Sunshine brunch took so long to get served, had to wait 10 minutes just to get coffee.

Carnival is supposed to be a Fun Ship but it seemed all the nightlife was done by midnight.  

Pixels was a cluster of people trying to find photos. Why they didn’t upgrade to digital is beyond me and they wasted so much by printing everything and having them thrown away 

Candy store is so small. 

If you wanted to see the comedy show it took a treasure map to find it. Actually the layout of the ship did not flow at all.

The casino was smoky and oftentimes the smoke leaked into hallways as well. My eyes were red and watering most nights. 

We really like the Red Frog Bar. Every night they had great singers and events. Trivia etc. the bar tenders and servers were wonderful.

Alchemy bar was great and I highly suggest the Cucumber Sunrise drink.

The BBQ place was delicious and thankfully not long lines and we had hamburger and fries everyday (but this was also because Lido was always crowded)

Food stations closed early when most people were coming back onboard from being in port to find they couldn’t eat unless they got pizza or room service.

Being on deck 2 and taking our own luggage saved the day with disembarking. We carried our bags up one flight to get off.  We were supposed to get off earlier but for some reason it started later than posted. 

Again, we had a good time. We always do on a cruise. We have been through hurricanes and missed ports too. We just did not like this ship. It’s layout was bad and nightlife left us wanting.  I would suggest looking at a different ship.  I’m sure it isn’t a Carnival thing per se, most likely a ship thing.  

80’s deck party was fun! Bring glow necklace or get dressed up. 

Anyway, definitely take into consideration things that people report that you think would be important to you. Long food lines were really bummer and the congestion of passageways

 

Oh, one other thing to watch out for. 
We booked the Thermal Spa pass for couples and got the 20% coupon and paid for it in April.

We get onboard and have a spa charge on our account. Then we have a credit for what we paid, but wait, it’s not the same amount.

The spa added a 15% gratuity for us to go sit in a sauna. No one was giving me a massage. I had no personal service from any spa employee. 

I went there and had it taken off the last day. But I wonder how many people do not notice this.

 

I also got off the ship yesterday and was on the same cruise as you. I agree with everything you had to say. It was difficult to get to different parts of the ship due to areas being blocked off. I heard a lot of people complaining about the layout. The cigarette smoke smell from the casino was noticeable in the atrium. To avoid the casino though, you had to find an alternate route through the maze of the ship, avoiding blocked areas to get to the aft. Buffet lines were long, walkways were packed. 

 

The ship also smelled like wet carpet and I also noticed that sewage smell that you referred to by the elevators. 

 

I was happy with the staff and my interior spa cabin though. 

 

Nothing to do with the ship itself but the people sailing on my cruise also left a lot to be desired. Three times, that I saw, large fights broke out between men traveling in large groups. Security had to haul people to what I assumed to be cruise jail. One fight was at 2 am outside the spa rooms. People were throwing furniture against the wall screaming and a man punched another, resulting in security removing him. I also caught a man peeing in the spa experience shower. The smell of urine filled the thermal lounge area and I refused to use it after that. 

[thesmiths]

1 minute ago, caracbeara said:

 It was difficult to get to different parts of the ship due to areas being blocked off.

Please explain what/where this is.

 

[caracbeara]

22 minutes ago, thesmiths said:

Please explain what/where this is.

 

 

I was staying on deck 10 forward. To eat in the MDR for YTD, we had to eat deck 3 aft. Deck 10 doesn’t have elevators in the aft due to the Italian restaurant in that location. You cannot access the Sunrise restaurant on deck 3 from anywhere but the aft elevators due to the galley. So to get to dinner, I had to travel from 10, to another deck, cross to the aft, then take elevators down. If I did 10 to deck 5, I had to walk through the casino. If I did deck 4 (which has access to the second floor of the sunrise restaurant), I had to cut through the Limelight Lounge. If there was a show going on, there would be signs saying to access the lounge from the other side. Once we ignored the signs, cut through the lounge, and felt awful because a show was going on and we obviously were a distraction. Several places throughout the ship, when trying to get from forward to aft, there would be signs to access from another point. Many people we passed were trying to get from point A to B and couldn’t find a good way. 

Edited June 25, 2019 by caracbeara

[livingthedream1]

29 minutes ago, caracbeara said:

 

I was staying on deck 10 forward. To eat in the MDR for YTD, we had to eat deck 3 aft. Deck 10 doesn’t have elevators in the aft due to the Italian restaurant in that location. You cannot access the Sunrise restaurant on deck 3 from anywhere but the aft elevators due to the galley. So to get to dinner, I had to travel from 10, to another deck, cross to the aft, then take elevators down. If I did 10 to deck 5, I had to walk through the casino. If I did deck 4 (which has access to the second floor of the sunrise restaurant), I had to cut through the Limelight Lounge. If there was a show going on, there would be signs saying to access the lounge from the other side. Once we ignored the signs, cut through the lounge, and felt awful because a show was going on and we obviously were a distraction. Several places throughout the ship, when trying to get from forward to aft, there would be signs to access from another point. Many people we passed were trying to get from point A to B and couldn’t find a good way. 

We  are on this deck forward for our November cruise.  How was the spa area? This is our first time booked in a spa cabin and I haven't come across  much information. 

[thesmiths]

47 minutes ago, caracbeara said:

 

I was staying on deck 10 forward. To eat in the MDR for YTD, we had to eat deck 3 aft. Deck 10 doesn’t have elevators in the aft due to the Italian restaurant in that location. You cannot access the Sunrise restaurant on deck 3 from anywhere but the aft elevators due to the galley. So to get to dinner, I had to travel from 10, to another deck, cross to the aft, then take elevators down. If I did 10 to deck 5, I had to walk through the casino. If I did deck 4 (which has access to the second floor of the sunrise restaurant), I had to cut through the Limelight Lounge. If there was a show going on, there would be signs saying to access the lounge from the other side. Once we ignored the signs, cut through the lounge, and felt awful because a show was going on and we obviously were a distraction. Several places throughout the ship, when trying to get from forward to aft, there would be signs to access from another point. Many people we passed were trying to get from point A to B and couldn’t find a good way. 

Thank You,

After just looking at the deck plans I can see that.

 

We are in an Aft wrap on 6 with ATD and looks like a decent location for us.

 

 

 

[caracbeara]

2 hours ago, livingthedream1 said:

We  are on this deck forward for our November cruise.  How was the spa area? This is our first time booked in a spa cabin and I haven't come across  much information. 

 I loved our spa room. We were in 1019, interior room. It was a decent size for us. The spa room came with plush robes and slippers to use at the spa. When we checked into the spa, we also got a free jar of body scrub and loofahs. I loved the thermal suite. While it desperately needs a whirlpool, it was very enjoyable as is. I spent a lot of time on the heated loungers reading. The saunas and steam rooms were wonderful. I also got a bamboo massage...worth every penny. My husband used the gym and he raved about it. Overall, I’d definitely stay in a spa room again. 

[caracbeara]

2 hours ago, thesmiths said:

Thank You,

After just looking at the deck plans I can see that.

 

We are in an Aft wrap on 6 with ATD and looks like a decent location for us.

 

 

 

 

You should have no issues then. While I’d book a spa room again, staying aft definitely gives you an advantage when it comes to moving around the ship, especially with ATD. 

[Organized Chaos]

3 hours ago, sharhu22 said:

not sure why can’t stop smoking in casino.

 

One reason and one reason only...money. The Paradise was built to be the world's first completely non-smoking cruise ship. But the non-smoking policy only lasted about 5-6 years because of low revenue. Carnival said that non-smokers didn't drink and gamble as much as those who were accustomed to smoking.

 

3 hours ago, sharhu22 said:

Comedy shows better than on the Dream in January when we actually walked out twice on shows that got too raunchy.

 

You can't really fault the ship for a raunchy comedy show. The Fun Times denote which ones are rated R (18+) and PG (more family friendly). If you choose to go to the 18+ show, you should expect adult content.

[livingthedream1]

39 minutes ago, caracbeara said:

 I loved our spa room. We were in 1019, interior room. It was a decent size for us. The spa room came with plush robes and slippers to use at the spa. When we checked into the spa, we also got a free jar of body scrub and loofahs. I loved the thermal suite. While it desperately needs a whirlpool, it was very enjoyable as is. I spent a lot of time on the heated loungers reading. The saunas and steam rooms were wonderful. I also got a bamboo massage...worth every penny. My husband used the gym and he raved about it. Overall, I’d definitely stay in a spa room again. 

Thank you for the information.  This is a positive note after reading so much negative. 

[5PUPS]

I haven't read all the responses. But, your description reminds me of the Sunshine.

[jimbo5544]

On 6/24/2019 at 8:20 PM, LMaxwell said:

 

My friend, good to see you, have a great cruise; but also you would not be concerned until the last lifeboat was untied!  🙂 

Have not seen you in a while either....I would be worried if I had to be in the last lifeboat

 

[cruzeluver]

Sounds like the same list of complaints as when Sunshine debuted. Swore we would never sail that ship until a great deal on a Journeys cruise fell into our laps. We are not Carnival loyalists, we sail multiple lines. And to date Sunshine is by far our favorite Carnival ship. The only one we have sailed twice and now have a third booked for October. Always managed to find somewhere to sit at Serenity. Arrived to shows maybe 15-20 minutes early and manages to get good seats. Love all of the dining venues with Jijis being our favorite. Also prefer the more muted decor over the tacky, ode-to-the-80's designs found on the older ships.

[KmomChicago]

On 6/23/2019 at 5:06 PM, April42749 said:

As to crowding....we were on the Lido, in a balcony cabin, the 2 of us.  The cabin across, an interior, had 5 people (not a family with kids).  The steward gave us a tour....no standing room at all.  And he said he had a few "like that".  I think that there should be occupancy limits based on size of cabin.

 

This is something that's just kind of weird. There are certain staterooms, such as a couple outsides on Deck 2 aft, that are odd shaped and larger than average, yet only take 2 people.  Right next door are smaller ones with occupancy for 4 or 5.  Each ship seems to have a few of these situations. 

[KmomChicago]

Seriously, what good is it going to do to call Carnival, talk to someone in reservations, who answer the phones, and tell them you don't like the design of the ship?

[thesmiths]

16 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

Seriously, what good is it going to do to call Carnival, talk to someone in reservations, who answer the phones, and tell them you don't like the design of the ship?

 

Some people just like to hear themselves complain, no matter who they are talking too.

 

A lot of that around here too.