My thoughts on the Sunrise and carnival after my 8 day cruise from NY

[Jamman54]

Thanks for posting your review and thoughts. We are doing a B2B starting September 16th. It will be interesting to see how the ship feels with many less family groups and kids aboard. 😎

[antmaril]

Thanks to the OP for the review.  I will be on the Sunrise in three weeks.  My first time on a Carnival ship in almost 20 years.  I have read all of the recent reviews of the Sunrise (some good, but mostly negative) and I am going to try to keep an open mind.  My last two cruises were on the Regal Princess and I know this cruise will not be that.  

 

The reason I am taking this cruise is that a friend got a “free Carnival cruise” offer from a local casino.  She invited me to join her and I didn’t want to say “Oh, I don’t really like Carnival”.  I happily accepted her invitation.  We paid to upgrade the cabin from an inside to an ocean view.  So, this cruise is not costing me much.  

 

My friend has only cruised once on Celebrity.  I told her that this cruise will not be like that Celebrity Cruise.  I want her to go in with her eyes open.  We will avoid the buffet.  We will get to the shows early, etc.  

 

My biggest concern after reading OP’s review, is not feeling safe.  That would be a first for me.  I have always felt safe on a cruise and the thought of fights and people being rude and disorderly, is very concerning.  Ugh.  I hope that isn’t the case.  

 

I will report back after my cruise next month.

 

 

[VolzCruiser]

Thank you for taking the time to write a review. 

[FiredogCruiser]

59 minutes ago, Stick93 said:

Interestingly on this cruise of 3900 people had under 200 p&d cruisers. 

I am interested in knowing what actually constitutes 'to many' P & D's. On any cruise I have taken the actual number of P & D's has always been a relatively small percentage of the total passengers.

[Joebucks]

So the Sunrise gets crowded during lunch, during peak hours, during peak season? Who would have thought?

[PhillyFan33579]

14 minutes ago, FiredogCruiser said:

I am interested in knowing what actually constitutes 'to many' P & D's. On any cruise I have taken the actual number of P & D's has always been a relatively small percentage of the total passengers.

 

In my book, too many D&Ps is when Carnival staff in the terminal tells everyone in the priority waiting area that they can’t guarantee cabins will be ready upon boarding because of the large number of D&Ps on the cruise and to expect luggage to take longer than usual getting delivered to the cabin. I have already heard this three times this year (Sunshine, Horizon and Breeze) and it is only August. 

[FiredogCruiser]

7 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

 

In my book, too many D&Ps is when Carnival staff in the terminal tells everyone in the priority waiting area that they can’t guarantee cabins will be ready upon boarding because of the large number of D&Ps on the cruise and to expect luggage to take longer than usual getting delivered to the cabin. I have already heard this three times this year (Sunshine, Horizon and Breeze) and it is only August. 

I have heard this as well, and then learned that less than 10% of the passengers were P or D's. I believe the issue has more to do with reductions in staffs, and fewer people being assigned to ready more rooms than anything else. I also question the impact of wildly varying times for the ships to be cleared to disembark. With ships carrying more passengers, it takes longer to load and unload 4000 than it does to handle 2100. With smaller ratio of staff to passengers, and reduced time to accomplish the loading and unloading, I think the arguments regarding P & D's gets overdone, and becomes somewhat of an excuse. Another, and in my opinion bigger problem, is the number of people who simply will not follow assigned boarding times, and want to be on board as early as possible, as if an hour or two difference in boarding will make or break their vacation experience. An example of why I enjoy the Spirit Class ships the most, but even there the ratio of crew to passengers seems to be being reduced.

[ABQrobin]

Thanks for doing the review but I do have a couple of comments......

 

1.  The cruise ship cannot sell more tickets than they have seats in the life boats.  That is the Coast Guard rule.  So if they are over the number listed as capacity, it must be lots of infants that are supposed to be held  OR they were telling you the guests plus the staff.

 

2.  Unruly passengers, rudeness, out of control kids....  first it was summer and many parents don't give a hoot what their kids do onboard the ship, no supervision all week.  Second, look at the port from which the cruise departed -  most of the clientele will be from that area.  There is definitely a difference between cultures in different regions of the country.  Sometimes with major ports like NY and Miami, there can also be a large number of foreign guests.  (We had a cruise out of Miami a few years ago and noticed that hundreds of guests, all which cut in lines, rude, unruly, etc did not speak English, when told by a staff member to stop what they were doing they would just walk off - then we noticed at Customs after the cruise that the line for foreign passports was a mile long, US passports was short.  It explained it all to us - different cultures, different languages, different behavior as acceptable.)  

 

Just my thoughts.

robin

[quickrate]

11 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

You made a point of how they missed big time.  While the Sunrise was not my favorite ship, she sure was not my least favorite either.  It was a legit question, and I was unclear by reading your review.  You also mention of how the upgrade was flimsy and poorly done which I did not see - at all I might add.  I wanted to see if I missed something.  I hope your future cruises are better fits for you.  Happy cruising.

I will be on Sunrise in November with my 21 year old granddaughter and I know we will have a great time because we always do together. I'm not impressed with how Carnival is taking their older ships and refurbing them by adding more cabins, eliminating public space which creates a very crowded condition. Obviously, Carnival doesn't care what we the passengers think as there have been many, many complaints about these refurbs. 

Pat

[Stick93]

1 minute ago, ABQrobin said:

Thanks for doing the review but I do have a couple of comments......

 

1.  The cruise ship cannot sell more tickets than they have seats in the life boats.  That is the Coast Guard rule.  So if they are over the number listed as capacity, it must be lots of infants that are supposed to be held  OR they were telling you the guests plus the staff.

 

2.  Unruly passengers, rudeness, out of control kids....  first it was summer and many parents don't give a hoot what their kids do onboard the ship, no supervision all week.  Second, look at the port from which the cruise departed -  most of the clientele will be from that area.  There is definitely a difference between cultures in different regions of the country.  Sometimes with major ports like NY and Miami, there can also be a large number of foreign guests.  (We had a cruise out of Miami a few years ago and noticed that hundreds of guests, all which cut in lines, rude, unruly, etc did not speak English, when told by a staff member to stop what they were doing they would just walk off - then we noticed at Customs after the cruise that the line for foreign passports was a mile long, US passports was short.  It explained it all to us - different cultures, different languages, different behavior as acceptable.)  

 

Just my thoughts.

robin

Good points - not sure how they could have that many extra people but they did. 

 

Yes this was a summer cruise cruise and it was from NY. I will adjust my summer cruising plans over this. 

[April42749]

9 minutes ago, Stick93 said:

Good points - not sure how they could have that many extra people but they did. 

 

Yes this was a summer cruise cruise and it was from NY. I will adjust my summer cruising plans over this. 

To add....the cruise I was on in June was not representative of people of NYC residents.  I don't know where they came from, but not from my zip code for sure.

[NCTribeFan]

cruisedeckplans says Sunrise capacity is 2,984 to 3,730.  So, every single berth would have to have a body for there to be 3,730 pax on board.  Space ratio is 27 compared to 28 for Vista class, 29 for Breeze class, 29 for Conquest class, and 34 for the fabulous Spirit class.  Even Fantasy-class ships have a space ratio of 29!  They show Mardi Gras having 29.

 

Yes, the Sunshined ships have the worst space ratio and the new Vista class has the second worst.  This matters, especially during high-volume months and holidays.  I don't sail in the middle of the summer for multiple reasons, mostly to do with the number of kids and the overcrowding that having so many families on board creates.

 

I was disappointed when I looked at the Sunrise deck plans compared to Sunshine (which I liked much more than I expected I would based on the initial reviews).  Glad now that I'm not sailing on Radiance (was booked but cancelled to book Med/TA on Legend in 2020).

 

 

[HappyInVan]

4 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

 

I have been loyal to Carnival for years, but I don’t consider myself a cheerleader. I believe my posts on this site support that. However, I do find it surprising the number of people who have cruised Carnival multiple times and have complained about Carnival in numerous areas. Despite this they go on another cruise on Carnival and end up posting a negative review like this one.

 

 

 

Bad reviews are meant to be guidance to the company, and a warning to future passengers. Good companies value this feedback. The unhappy passenger will eventually walk away when the company doesn't change. In the end, Carnival has damaged its brand in search of short term profits. Driving away the repeat customers.

 

FYI, good companies have for many years also focused on customer satisfaction. Intelligent companies are now focused on ...

 

"The CEOs of nearly 200 companies just said shareholder value is no longer their main objective"

 

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/19/the-ceos-of-nearly-two-hundred-companies-say-shareholder-value-is-no-longer-their-main-objective.html

 

 

[PhillyFan33579]

1 minute ago, HappyInVan said:

Bad reviews are meant to be guidance to the company, and a warning to future passengers. Good companies value this feedback. The unhappy passenger will eventually walk away when the company doesn't change. In the end, Carnival has damaged its brand in search of short term profits. Driving away the repeat customers.

 

Whatever Carnival is doing, they continue to fill 26 ships every day every week. Only time will tell if long term they lose enough repeat customers that it starts impacting their ability to fill their ships.

[jimbo5544]

43 minutes ago, quickrate said:

I will be on Sunrise in November with my 21 year old granddaughter and I know we will have a great time because we always do together. I'm not impressed with how Carnival is taking their older ships and refurbing them by adding more cabins, eliminating public space which creates a very crowded condition. Obviously, Carnival doesn't care what we the passengers think as there have been many, many complaints about these refurbs. 

Pat

Well, there are many views, if you compare the Triumph and the Sunrise, there are many enhancements.  There are 200 People more (at capacity).  The public spaces were unused, the most miss used line out there.  You might also be surprised that the first of the these redo’s (Sunshine) consistently ranks in the top three in customer reviews.  You would be surprised in what Carnival cares about.  Tell them if you feel that way.  We all have views, your count as much as mine or anyone else’s.  

[jimbo5544]

43 minutes ago, quickrate said:

I will be on Sunrise in November with my 21 year old granddaughter and I know we will have a great time because we always do together. I'm not impressed with how Carnival is taking their older ships and refurbing them by adding more cabins, eliminating public space which creates a very crowded condition. Obviously, Carnival doesn't care what we the passengers think as there have been many, many complaints about these refurbs. 

Pat

Well, there are many views, if you compare the Triumph and the Sunrise, there are many enhancements.  There are 200 People more (at capacity).  The public spaces were unused, the most miss used line out there.  You might also be surprised that the first of the these redo’s (Sunshine) consistently ranks in the top three in customer reviews.  You would be surprised in what Carnival cares about.  Tell them if you feel that way.  We all have views, your count as much as mine or anyone else’s.  

[jimbo5544]

59 minutes ago, quickrate said:

I will be on Sunrise in November with my 21 year old granddaughter and I know we will have a great time because we always do together. I'm not impressed with how Carnival is taking their older ships and refurbing them by adding more cabins, eliminating public space which creates a very crowded condition. Obviously, Carnival doesn't care what we the passengers think as there have been many, many complaints about these refurbs. 

Pat

Well, there are many views, if you compare the Triumph and the Sunrise, there are many enhancements.  There are 200 People more (at capacity).  The public spaces were unused, the most miss used line out there.  You might also be surprised that the first of the these redo’s (Sunshine) consistently ranks in the top three in customer reviews.  You would be surprised in what Carnival cares about.  Tell them if you feel that way.  We all have views, your count as much as mine or anyone else’s.  

[thesmiths]

I'm still looking forward to my 8 day cruise next week on the Sunrise!

 

 

 

[Stick93]

13 minutes ago, thesmiths said:

I'm still looking forward to my 8 day cruise next week on the Sunrise!

 

 

 

 

We all hope you have a great cruise - you paid for it and you should enjoy it.

[Kellyann]

3 hours ago, Joebucks said:

So the Sunrise gets crowded during lunch, during peak hours, during peak season? Who would have thought?

So what's your point?  Everyone who has cruised before knows the difference between the normal crowds during the dining hours and excessive crowds that prevent navigation thru them, finding a table, waiting an excessive time in lines.  That's the point the reviewers who have been on this ship are making.  Carnival added more cabins and took away public space.  Do the math.  If I knew then when I booked, I would not be going on this cruise.

[jimbo5544]

9 minutes ago, Kellyann said:

So what's your point?  Everyone who has cruised before knows the difference between the normal crowds during the dining hours and excessive crowds that prevent navigation thru them, finding a table, waiting an excessive time in lines.  That's the point the reviewers who have been on this ship are making.  Carnival added more cabins and took away public space.  Do the math.  If I knew then when I booked, I would not be going on this cruise.

What is a normal crowd, lunchtime on Lido is always an adventure on a Carnival ship, every Carnival ship.  The congestion point on this ship (the worst) is port side by the Deli, aft was less crowded.  Breakfast was actually easier and less crowded than we have experienced on other ships (added Omelet and egg stations).  

[vicky3vicky]

We were looking at the possibility of a Sunrise Journey Cruise [ I think the Panama Canal?] The ship looks beautiful, and if the lines are a bit longer, no big deal to me. What is A deal-breaker for me is that there is no library. Because of my "creative wiring" I need at least one quiet space, preferably two, where I can "decompress" from the over stimulation. We always get a balcony cabin for this reason. Having the library to "cocoon" in makes it even easier.

 

If I were to win a free cruise on the Sunrise, I would go, and I am sure I would love it, but between the Sunrise and any ship with a quiet library, I would take the one with the library. That is one reason I love the Breeze so much. They actually have two sections, two seperate rooms for the library, so if it gets loud in one I can go to the other.

 

If I did not have these issues I would LOVE going on the sunnshine!

Edited August 29, 2019 by vicky3vicky
forgot

[PhillyFan33579]

1 minute ago, HappyInVan said:

Bad reviews are meant to be guidance to the company, and a warning to future passengers. Good companies value this feedback. The unhappy passenger will eventually walk away when the company doesn't change. In the end, Carnival has damaged its brand in search of short term profits. Driving away the repeat customers.

 

Whatever Carnival is doing, they continue to fill 26 ships every day every week. Only time will tell if long term they lose enough repeat customers that it starts impacting their ability to fill their ships.

[jimbo5544]

47 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

 

Whatever Carnival is doing, they continue to fill 26 ships every day every week. Only time will tell if long term they lose enough repeat customers that it starts impacting their ability to fill their ships.

As you well know, if given the option (and I would guess this is true of all lines, but do not know), they would choose newbies every time, for the obvious reasons.  

[Cruisegirl6]

Yes, they fill up their ships but so do the other cruise lines.