Carnival sunrise. The worse ship ever

[Organized Chaos]

14 minutes ago, Joanne G. said:

As someone who may be considered a Negative Nellie based on my initial report about our Sunrise cruise, I want to explain why I posted it.   On these boards, common advice is  to "do your homework" before booking a particular cruise.    If we all only posted glowing reports about only the good things, there wouldn't be much useful "homework" to read.  

 

I tried to be clear about what I didn't like and why I didn't like it.  For example, I didn't like that over 100 cabins were added, and I didn't like it because it made the ship feel more crowded in some of the public spaces and made for long lines getting on and off the ship.   I didn't like the new passageway though the casino because of the noise and the smoke smell.  These things may not bother someone else, and if they do bother you, there are ways around the issues.   But I felt it was useful information to share.  

 

I can add a positive note - on our 10-day cruise, we did not notice any of the bad odors that others have mentioned.  Our cabin was an aft corner, so we frequently used the aft stairway and elevators, which is where others noticed the smells.  

 

We booked our cruise before the announcement of the transformation, and even though we suspected cabins would be added at the expense of public spaces, we never considered canceling.  We worked around the things we didn't like as much as possible, and we had a good time.  And I hope everyone else booked on the Sunrise has a good time. 

 

Sorry if I made it seem like I was attacking you in any way. I wasn't. I don't have any problems with people posting negative comments about their experiences. In fact, I appreciate when they do. I think the negatives can be as beneficial to others as the positives. You don't want to go into it with a sugar-coated view from reading nothing but positive comments. You might end up unpleasantly surprised. I was just saying that it seems like when one person posts a pretty dreary review of a ship, others pile on. Rach257 was feeling pretty nervous about her upcoming cruise after reading all of this and I just wanted to point out that everyone's different. Someone's bad experiences aren't necessarily the same for everyone. And we should all go into it with that in mind. It's good to get all the feedback, both good and bad, but don't let it influence your expectations too much. The only way to know for sure is to experience it for ourselves. Nothing against you.

[KmomChicago]

7 hours ago, Rach257 said:

You are right @Organized Chaos ! And I'm usually pretty good with filtering out the negative but whoa is there a LOT right now so it's kind of overwhelming. Ultimately, I think we will have a better time than if we were at work, so that's still winning...I hope to come back feeling like all these Negative Nellies are nuts!

As someone who sailed on this ship when she was the Triumph two years ago, had a great time but couldn't help but notice she was past her prime, I would love the chance to go back and see her all spiffed up after this project.  Of course I am sure I could find some things that I would decide I liked better before.  And I could spend a lot of time being unhappy about them or I could not let them bother me too much.  I could also focus on all the things that are cleaned up, refreshed, brightened and upgraded. 

 

There was no Serenity deck at all on the Triumph, for instance. Maybe the one they have now is okay, or maybe it's not. Maybe it's the "worse ship ever" (LOL) as the original poster said, and maybe it's therefore also the "worse" Serenity deck.  If not the worse, maybe the worst. Who knows? Somehow we survived without any Serenity deck before so I have trouble imagining how this could be much worse (or worst)!  Heck maybe it's even worse than the worst!  Unlike many here, I would like to go find out for myself, but alas, there are a lot of ships and a lot of itineraries, and a lot of other vacation options and only so much time and $$.

 

There are a lot of people onboard all of my cruises.  We don't go on fancy exclusive lines with just a couple hundred people. We go on megaships and they are full. So if we're going to eat in the buffet we go early, about an hour ahead of your typical peak times.  If I want to hang around the pool I go earlier in the day, or I go on a port day that I stay onboard (or only go ashore for a quick walk around and then back aboard).  If some things are not perfect, I always figure out how to "hack" the situation, work around the issue, and find other places to direct my attention.

 

I sincerely hope you love this cruise and come back and post a review calming the masses. I hope your review is titled FEAR NOT THE SUNRISE!  And then you tell us all the reasons why everyone can relax!  ENJOY!!

[jimbo5544]

2 hours ago, Joanne G. said:

As someone who may be considered a Negative Nellie based on my initial report about our Sunrise cruise, I want to explain why I posted it.   On these boards, common advice is  to "do your homework" before booking a particular cruise.    If we all only posted glowing reports about only the good things, there wouldn't be much useful "homework" to read.  

 

I tried to be clear about what I didn't like and why I didn't like it.  For example, I didn't like that over 100 cabins were added, and I didn't like it because it made the ship feel more crowded in some of the public spaces and made for long lines getting on and off the ship.   I didn't like the new passageway though the casino because of the noise and the smoke smell.  These things may not bother someone else, and if they do bother you, there are ways around the issues.   But I felt it was useful information to share.  

 

I can add a positive note - on our 10-day cruise, we did not notice any of the bad odors that others have mentioned.  Our cabin was an aft corner, so we frequently used the aft stairway and elevators, which is where others noticed the smells.  

 

We booked our cruise before the announcement of the transformation, and even though we suspected cabins would be added at the expense of public spaces, we never considered canceling.  We worked around the things we didn't like as much as possible, and we had a good time.  And I hope everyone else booked on the Sunrise has a good time.  

 

 

Interesting, I honestly do not think I could tell the difference of adding 200 people unless I sailed her right before and after.  which public places were removed for the added cabins?

[KmomChicago]

Just now, jimbo5544 said:

Interesting, I honestly do not think I could tell the difference of adding 200 people unless I sailed her right before and after.  which public places were removed for the added cabins?

 

What used to be the bottom level of the main theatre was turned into cabins on deck 3. And what used to be the Punchliner Club (it had another lounge name, don't remember) on deck 5 was also turned into cabins.  I believe what used to be upper level seating in the Lido buffet was turned into a specialty restaurant, maybe Cucina del Capitano?  So less space in the theatre, less seating in the buffet, more people aboard.  To be honest though, both of those spaces were underutilized when I was aboard.  Particularly the theatre - I don't think we ever saw a show that was even half full.

[Joanne G.]

2 hours ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

Sorry if I made it seem like I was attacking you in any way. I wasn't. I don't have any problems with people posting negative comments about their experiences. In fact, I appreciate when they do. I think the negatives can be as beneficial to others as the positives. You don't want to go into it with a sugar-coated view from reading nothing but positive comments. You might end up unpleasantly surprised. I was just saying that it seems like when one person posts a pretty dreary review of a ship, others pile on. Rach257 was feeling pretty nervous about her upcoming cruise after reading all of this and I just wanted to point out that everyone's different. Someone's bad experiences aren't necessarily the same for everyone. And we should all go into it with that in mind. It's good to get all the feedback, both good and bad, but don't let it influence your expectations too much. The only way to know for sure is to experience it for ourselves. Nothing against you.

Thanks for taking the time to respond.  I would say we basically agree on the value of sharing information, be it good or not-so-good information.  😄  I , also, don't want Rach257 or anyone to be nervous about an upcoming cruise!  

[Organized Chaos]

2 hours ago, ronbe65 said:

The Glory is one of my favorite ships.

But if they replace lounges with new cabins, and add a block of cabins on top, I won't book a cruise on this ship. I don't have to spend my vacation days and money to "experience it for my self". 🙂

Happy cruising!

 

But that would be you making that decision for yourself. Nothing wrong with that. That's different than what I'm referring to, which is letting others indirectly make the decision for you.

 

I'm no expert, but I don't think they'd do a major refit to the Conquest class ships like they did to Destiny class. At least not anytime soon.

 

 

[Wombservice]

10 hours ago, Rach257 said:

 

What cabin were you in? We are in 7430 next month....I'm having a really hard time getting excited with all the negative reviews, that's for sure! But I'm stuck now, so it is what it is. I'd love to see pics if you had the same cabin we'll be in!!!

 

 

We were in 7425, a corner aft.  

 

[Wombservice]

9 hours ago, Rach257 said:

You are right @Organized Chaos ! And I'm usually pretty good with filtering out the negative but whoa is there a LOT right now so it's kind of overwhelming. Ultimately, I think we will have a better time than if we were at work, so that's still winning...I hope to come back feeling like all these Negative Nellies are nuts!

 

When your last sentence is worded this way, it can imply that what we saw, smelled and heard was all in our imaginations!  I’ve enjoyed every cruise I’ve gone on, and I stated that I enjoyed this one, as well.  But there are certain expectations when you know that a ship was just redone costing millions of dollars and unfortunately, we found this one lacking; but there was still fun to be had, a beautiful destination and great food (that I didn’t have to cook!).

 

 

[AnitaVacation]

We were in 7428, an aft balcony.  I agree, the make-over was not impressive.  Areas were crowded, lines were long.  If you don't get to the theatre early, good luck finding a seat.  

The cabin was the biggest disappointment.  NO DRAWERS! and only 2 shelves....3 closets, lots of hanging space...but where should we put our socks, underwear, folded pants, shirts, etc??  Our cabin did not even have the drawers under the couch.  We had to have the room steward remove the bulky mattress (for the couch/bed) from under our bed so we could store our suitcases.  The bathroom still looked (and smelled) old.  I wonder if they are not completely done since our cabin did not have the new cabinet hardware that I've seen on youtube videos and in other cabins.

On the plus side:  My Time Dining check in on your phone was amazing!!  And the movies on demand in your cabin, very nice!! (mostly free)...

 

[pacruise804]

Do the closets not have the fold-down shelves like the Pride? 

[antmaril]

4 hours ago, AnitaVacation said:

We were in 7428, an aft balcony.  I agree, the make-over was not impressive.  Areas were crowded, lines were long.  If you don't get to the theatre early, good luck finding a seat.  

The cabin was the biggest disappointment.  NO DRAWERS! and only 2 shelves....3 closets, lots of hanging space...but where should we put our socks, underwear, folded pants, shirts, etc??  Our cabin did not even have the drawers under the couch.  We had to have the room steward remove the bulky mattress (for the couch/bed) from under our bed so we could store our suitcases.  The bathroom still looked (and smelled) old.  I wonder if they are not completely done since our cabin did not have the new cabinet hardware that I've seen on youtube videos and in other cabins.

On the plus side:  My Time Dining check in on your phone was amazing!!  And the movies on demand in your cabin, very nice!! (mostly free)...

 

So, are there any shelves in the closet?  If there are no drawers at all, where are you supposed to store your things?  How in the world could any person think that this is a good idea?  Honestly, it is aggravating me and I am not even on her yet.  

[RRLLAL]

19 minutes ago, antmaril said:

So, are there any shelves in the closet?  If there are no drawers at all, where are you supposed to store your things?  How in the world could any person think that this is a good idea?  Honestly, it is aggravating me and I am not even on her yet.  

 

I cant speak to anyone else’s cabin, but we were in 6310 which is a mid ship balcony. We had plenty of shelves. Built into the wall at the foot of the bed was 3 or 4 shelves with a couple of small cabinets at the bottom of it. Also had the 3 closets.

 

And FWIW, I’ve been on the triumph and the makeover was amazing. Yea they added cabins for ~200 more people, but they added many new food places and entertainment places too, which took space. All were wonderful. Even the serenity area that people say is small, there wasn’t one at all on the triumph. So something is better than nothing. 

[thesmiths]

I'm packing one of those fold up hanger 4 or 5 shelfs to hang in the closet just in case.

So when my wife says we have no shelves, I will say yes we do hon !

 

Shhhh. Don't tell her,

 

[Organized Chaos]

1 hour ago, thesmiths said:

I'm packing one of those fold up hanger 4 or 5 shelfs to hang in the closet just in case.

So when my wife says we have no shelves, I will say yes we do hon !

 

Shhhh. Don't tell her,

 

Be sure to wave your hands over your suitcase first. Maybe say a magic word or phrase. It's all about the showmanship!! 😀 "No shelves, you say? Taa Daaaa!"

[AnitaVacation]

6 hours ago, thesmiths said:

I'm packing one of those fold up hanger 4 or 5 shelfs to hang in the closet just in case.

So when my wife says we have no shelves, I will say yes we do hon !

 

Shhhh. Don't tell her,

 

good idea...

[kwokpot]

7 hours ago, antmaril said:

So, are there any shelves in the closet?  If there are no drawers at all, where are you supposed to store your things?  How in the world could any person think that this is a good idea?  Honestly, it is aggravating me and I am not even on her yet.  

Just got off the Sunrise (8 Night Bermuda). We had Cabin #8206, Inside. Agreed there's no drawers. What they did from the former Triumph is substitute a refrigerator where the drawers used to be. There's now 1 drawer on top of the refrigerator but that's where the hair dryer is and it's too small for any thing else. The small little 2 door cabinet is still there, and there's 2 small nightstands. We had three closets but only two have one shelf each. USB ports (2!!!) at the headboard and 2 in the corner of the desk. One American outlet and one European outlet.

Bathrooms are all new with 6 shelves- 3 on each side.  

[Joanne G.]

We also had to adjust to a lack of shelves in our aft corner cabin.  We asked the steward for more hangers in order to hang some items that we intended to put on shelves, like t-shirts.  I use packing cubes, and I just left my socks, underwear, and bathing suits  in them and put the cubes on one of the two shelves in one of the closets that were usable.  (Shelves above the rods where we hung our clothes were too high for us to use comfortably.)   

 

With fewer desk drawers, the surface of the desk became more cluttered than usual.   One of the two drawers held the hair dryer, and it was not removeable.  I had to chuckle - the hair dryer cord wasn't long enough to reach the mirror.   Who uses a hair dryer without a mirror!?    It was apparently left over from the old design, when there was a big mirror over the desk.  Now, there is a smaller mirror and a giant TV screen.  

 

We were dismayed at first at the lack of the storage space compared to what we are used to from multiple cruises in aft corner cabins on Conquest-class ships.  But, we adapted.  With warm Caribbean breezes, the colors of the Caribbean waters, and not having to cook or clean for 10 days, where we put our socks seemed less important.😉

[ellen4641]

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!

 

Loved your pics !!!!!    So glad u shared them !!!   

[thesmiths]

17 hours ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

Be sure to wave your hands over your suitcase first. Maybe say a magic word or phrase. It's all about the showmanship!! 😀 "No shelves, you say? Taa Daaaa!"

Great Idea...

I'll play it up.

 

 

 

[bjfitz0703]

Having just gotten off the Sunrise (review below), I know without a doubt I will not get on another ship that adds cabins.  

 

Curious about Magic, Breeze, Horizon - are these ships too crowded as well or are they well designed?  I know the Pride is a well designed ship.

 

Appreciate the input.

 

 

 

[pacruise804]

12 hours ago, Joanne G. said:

 

We were dismayed at first at the lack of the storage space compared to what we are used to from multiple cruises in aft corner cabins on Conquest-class ships.  But, we adapted.  With warm Caribbean breezes, the colors of the Caribbean waters, and not having to cook or clean for 10 days, where we put our socks seemed less important.😉

 

It's good to put things in perspective 🙂 

[Organized Chaos]

7 hours ago, bjfitz0703 said:

Having just gotten off the Sunrise (review below), I know without a doubt I will not get on another ship that adds cabins.  

 

Curious about Magic, Breeze, Horizon - are these ships too crowded as well or are they well designed?  I know the Pride is a well designed ship.

 

Appreciate the input.

 

Reading the negatives won't necessarily stop us from trying the Sunrise, but the one thing that might is how they refit these ships. Adding a bunch of new cabins (i.e. a lot more people) to ships that weren't originally designed for it. Doing the refits this way is more about squeezing on as many revenue generators as possible and less about passenger comfort. That's the one thing that would give me pause about trying one of the "new" Sunshine class ships.

 

We haven't cruised on a Dream class ship yet, but I hear a ton of positive things about them. And from what I've read over time, Breeze seems to be the most well liked. We'll be on Horizon next year. I would've rather tried a Dream class first, but a few members of my wife' family are going too, so they ended up picking Horizon to meet everyone's scheduling needs & itinerary preferences. I've been curious about Vista class ships, but worried about the crowds. It's to my understanding that, even though it's so much bigger, there's not necessarily enough open space to make it feel less crowded. The main theater and comedy clubs are smaller on Vista class and the pool area isn't any bigger. But I've heard that the design of the buffet is set up much better to handle the crowds. A user here had done a live review when they were on board Horizon back in April. That thread helped ease some of my nervousness about the crowds because he showed (with a lot of photos) they weren't that bad. Granted, it was April, so it might be worse during peak season. We're going in early March so I'm hoping there won't be a lot of schools on spring break yet.

[KmomChicago]

5 hours ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

 

We haven't cruised on a Dream class ship yet, but I hear a ton of positive things about them. And from what I've read over time, Breeze seems to be the most well liked. We'll be on Horizon next year. I would've rather tried a Dream class first, but a few members of my wife' family are going too, so they ended up picking Horizon to meet everyone's scheduling needs & itinerary preferences. I've been curious about Vista class ships, but worried about the crowds. It's to my understanding that, even though it's so much bigger, there's not necessarily enough open space to make it feel less crowded. The main theater and comedy clubs are smaller on Vista class and the pool area isn't any bigger. But I've heard that the design of the buffet is set up much better to handle the crowds. A user here had done a live review when they were on board Horizon back in April. That thread helped ease some of my nervousness about the crowds because he showed (with a lot of photos) they weren't that bad. Granted, it was April, so it might be worse during peak season. We're going in early March so I'm hoping there won't be a lot of schools on spring break yet.

 

Vista class is only a few thousand tons bigger than Dream class which seems to be where the crowd / space ratio problem comes up.  Regardless, I think we would be just as happy on either Vista or Dream class. They all sound like great ships.

[carol louise]

On 6/30/2019 at 11:20 AM, jimbo5544 said:

Thanks for the comments on your cruise.  I was one of the TA’s that got onto the ship before you.  For the record, the embarkation delay (and it was substantial) had nothing to do with the TA’s getting on for a ship inspection.  There were a lot of them (us), but the delay caused by letting us get on was maybe 10 minutes.  The reason was the debarkation of the previous cruise which had an extremely large number of cruisers that required assistance, that dragged on for almost an hour before embarkation began.    

Interesting that the reason they give for delay was basically the previous cruise. I was on the June 10-20 cruise; we showed up at 1 pm as we supposed to for embarkation, and we waited nearly two hours outside before even being able to hand over our large bags and go inside the terminal. It was pouring rain, but thankfully we were under the ramp leading to the parking lots. So we boarded about 3 pm. At the Q&A when asked about the delay in embarkation, the response was that the previous cruise passengers had had an incredible amount of luggage that took longer to unload. Our disembarkation involved sitting for 2 hours in the Lido area after the required time to leave our cabins, before our group was called to disembark, and then we stood another half hour or so in the stairwell and lobby area waiting to get off. I read somewhere that the cruise after us was late boarding. Those passengers were told it had to do with a customs procedure for the disembarking the previous (our) cruise. As it happened, once we were off the gangway, we went through immigration (no customs declaration at all), got bags and exited the pier in about 15 minutes! 

 

My conclusion? The NY pier facilities were not built for ease of getting nearly 4000 people off and new ones on easily, security concerns at the pier restrict the number of people inside the terminals, and Carnival has just not figured out how to manage it. More tactful to just blame the previous cruise!

[xDisconnections]

Sorry you didn't enjoy your cruise. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.