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

[Stick93]

9 hours ago, VolzCruiser said:

Thank you for taking the time to write a review. 

 

1 hour ago, ronbe65 said:

Stick93,

Thanks for the review.

 

 

Thank you for reading 

[rainbowflag]

Not for me but to each their own. Thank you for your review.

[Stick93]

23 hours ago, RRLLAL said:

 

Capacity is 2900. But that’s based upon 2 per cabin. As we all know, some cabins will have 3-4. It’s just how it’s done by all cruise lines. 

 

 

See picture. Max capacity on this ship as per Carnival  publication about the ship is just about 4000 - WOW!!!

[RRLLAL]

10 minutes ago, Stick93 said:

See picture. Max capacity on this ship as per Carnival  publication about the ship is just about 4000 - WOW!!!

 

Do you just skip posts and then don’t read others? I’ll explain it to you one more time. Announced capacity as I have posted several times including in the pic you responded to is 2900. That is based upon what per cabin and is now all ships advertise capacity. The 3900 you are claiming is the max if EVERY berth is used meaning every cabin has the max people on it. All Pullman pull downs are used and all pull out couches are used. That’s why that other poster who said they had 3900 on his cruise is wrong. There is no way any cruise has every single berth filled. Try following posts instead of cherry picking and doing a drive by. 

[Stick93]

Not sure what I skipped - I have read every post and have responded to many who have posted. I’m sorry you are mistaken. Max passenger capacity is 3998. I just saw this and though I would share with you to correct your numbers. This is a publication they gave on the ship about the ship fax not something I made up. I was told by a senior officer there were over 3950 people on board and I guess he was correct that it’s possible t9 have that many people on this ship. 

[RRLLAL]

4 minutes ago, Stick93 said:

Not sure what I skipped - I have read every post and have responded to many who have posted. I’m sorry you are mistaken. Max passenger capacity is 3998. I just saw this and though I would share with you to correct your numbers. This is a publication they gave on the ship about the ship fax not something I made up. I was told by a senior officer there were over 3950 people on board and I guess he was correct that it’s possible t9 have that many people on this ship. 

 

You skipped the posts that discussed these very numbers. And you misunderstood what you heard. Unless you are saying not a single cabin had just two people in it. Think about it. Every single cabin that have them would have every Pullman and coach used. I’ll find it tomorrow but there is a website that has the publicized capacity and the max capacity with 100% berths filled. Why does my picture of the carnival website not count? 

[RRLLAL]

From a website.

 

Max (largest) passenger capacity of a cruise ship would signify this ideal financial situation, when all the berths, plus all upper and lower bunks, "Pullman" beds and single and double sofa beds (available in types and numbers according to the ship's cabin grades) are all occupied by the most numerous crowd the ship can ever gather on board. However, on most of the sailings, even the full-ship capacity (at double occupancy level) is not reached. Which automatically opens the "big ships doors" for great deals, like kids sail for free, buy one get one free, free cabin upgrades, bonus amenities, and also huge price discounts on luxury cruise deals. For more info you can read our survey on unsold cruise cabins/cheap cruise upgrades.

[Cafedumonde]

Carnival is very good at filling every possible bed.  They only let you book a cabin that fits exactly the number of people booked.  We have dropped individuals from bookings 3 times now and they always force us to move to another cabin with the exact number of beds for people booked.

[HappyInVan]

1 hour ago, Stick93 said:

Not sure what I skipped - I have read every post and have responded to many who have posted. I’m sorry you are mistaken. Max passenger capacity is 3998. I just saw this and though I would share with you to correct your numbers. This is a publication they gave on the ship about the ship fax not something I made up. I was told by a senior officer there were over 3950 people on board and I guess he was correct that it’s possible t9 have that many people on this ship. 

 Thanks for the research. 

 

On the wikipedia page, the info says that the Sunrise was built in 1999 with a  capacity of 2,754 passengers for $420 million.

 

Before the 2019 refurbish, the passenger capacity had rise to 2,984. Makes sense that after a $200 million project, the capacity had risen to 3k+. No way that Carnival would spend that kind of money without a big increase in capacity to pay for it.

 

Well done. 💪

[NCTribeFan]

As I said in Post #63, it isn't just about sailing at max capacity.  It's about the space ratio!  If the space ratio is low, the ship is going to feel fairly crowded at peak times.

 

If the ship is sailing at or near max capacity, it's going to feel packed pretty much all the time because there simply isn't a lot of public space!  So the buffet, the pool, the theater, disembarkation upon arrival in ports are ALL going to be a madhouse.

 

Trying to dissuade someone from the impressions they had ON THEIR CRUISE is fairly pointless.  Just because I didn't have the same impressions doesn't cancel out someone's else's experience.  As I say in just about every review thread (mine and others in which I post), people in neighboring cabins can have vastly different experiences on the same sailing based not just on their expectations, but on the research they did prior to sailing, the choices they make while on board (hitting the most crowded areas at peak times), where they go and when, etc.

 

Apologies to the OP for this thread going so off topic and turning into a general argument about refurbishments and Carnival's business model!

[Maraprince]

Question on another topic ---  Where is the life board drill held?  In doors or out on deck?

 

Thanks!

 

 

MARAPRINCE

[Stick93]

46 minutes ago, NCTribeFan said:

As I said in Post #63, it isn't just about sailing at max capacity.  It's about the space ratio!  If the space ratio is low, the ship is going to feel fairly crowded at peak times.

 

If the ship is sailing at or near max capacity, it's going to feel packed pretty much all the time because there simply isn't a lot of public space!  So the buffet, the pool, the theater, disembarkation upon arrival in ports are ALL going to be a madhouse.

 

Trying to dissuade someone from the impressions they had ON THEIR CRUISE is fairly pointless.  Just because I didn't have the same impressions doesn't cancel out someone's else's experience.  As I say in just about every review thread (mine and others in which I post), people in neighboring cabins can have vastly different experiences on the same sailing based not just on their expectations, but on the research they did prior to sailing, the choices they make while on board (hitting the most crowded areas at peak times), where they go and when, etc.

 

Apologies to the OP for this thread going so off topic and turning into a general argument about refurbishments and Carnival's business model!

Good points...

 

The conversation here is all good - I know this was a review but I added thoughts about Carnival and the ship. Conversation is always a good thing and all posts take on new twists and turns. 

[Stick93]

33 minutes ago, Maraprince said:

Question on another topic ---  Where is the life board drill held?  In doors or out on deck?

 

Thanks!

 

 

MARAPRINCE

I had three rooms. 

 

Two rooms were out on the deck and one room was in the main theater which didn’t have room to seat all the people mustered there and about 200 people had to stand in the middle. 

 

I can only assume (my opinion) the people in the main theater are the new overflow numbers from cabins added as the decks. 

 

If if you have muster station E3 or E4 you are in the theater. 

[allicat06]

We went on the 8/7 cruise. The staff couldn't have been better!This my 8th or 9th cruise and we had a great time. To those with an upcoming Sunrise trip, don't let the negative reviews scare you. I read the reviews prior to our cruise and it made me feel like we were going on an inferior boat. Nope! It wasn't and it is also what you choose to make of it. We had a great time! Yes, there are crowds and there were some rowdy passengers but it didn't ruin our trip.  Again, it is what you make of it. If you choose to see negative, you will find it. If you choose positive, you will have a great trip. Get a drink, find a lounge chair and enjoy! 

[sanmarcosman]

1 hour ago, allicat06 said:

We went on the 8/7 cruise. The staff couldn't have been better!This my 8th or 9th cruise and we had a great time. To those with an upcoming Sunrise trip, don't let the negative reviews scare you. I read the reviews prior to our cruise and it made me feel like we were going on an inferior boat. Nope! It wasn't and it is also what you choose to make of it. We had a great time! Yes, there are crowds and there were some rowdy passengers but it didn't ruin our trip.  Again, it is what you make of it. If you choose to see negative, you will find it. If you choose positive, you will have a great trip. Get a drink, find a lounge chair and enjoy! 

Have a link to your reviews, please?

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, ronbe65 said:

 

A supplier can go as far in the reduction of product quality as the consumers allow.

Dear cruise lines, be sure we'll have a great time whatever you do.

So please feel free to reduce personal passenger space, fit in more small cabins, eliminate promenades and observation decks, take good food out of the menus, load more crowds on the ships, make show lounges small and lines long, take us to the same boring ports, sell us more drinks, feed us with misleading ads, build more floating anthills. We won't let negative reviews open our eyes to what you are doing.

A cruise is what we make of it.

Happy cruising!

Quite a jaundiced view you have, somewhat different than how you portrayed on your “scoop” on the Mardi Gras thread.  Cruising on the major lines and the ships they bring to us are bigger and bigger and hold more people.  The real point are your last two lines.  If you, or the Op, or me, or anyone else finds this ship to populous (it will be interesting to see sailing numbers in September when schools are back in session), then we can make other choices.  As you say, happy cruising!

[cruisinagain1960]

On 8/28/2019 at 11:58 PM, Stick93 said:

The video is informative but doesn’t show the 3900 passengers navigating the narrow and congested areas. It also doesn’t have the rude and disgusting behavior that I and others have witnesses.  It’s different to watch this than to live on it for 8 days. 

 

 

I can certainly understand that the behavior you witnessed would make a huge impact on your overall thoughts on the ship and i am so sorry you had to deal with that on your vacation.  I don't know that I would want to sail on a ship that crowded myself.  Add to that rude passengers, and it would be a no-go.  I do wonder if that issue might be different sailing from a different port.  We'e never sailed out of NYC and after reading your review, I'm not sure I would in the future

[jbethel11]

6 minutes ago, cruisinagain1960 said:

I can certainly understand that the behavior you witnessed would make a huge impact on your overall thoughts on the ship and i am so sorry you had to deal with that on your vacation.  I don't know that I would want to sail on a ship that crowded myself.  Add to that rude passengers, and it would be a no-go.  I do wonder if that issue might be different sailing from a different port.  We'e never sailed out of NYC and after reading your review, I'm not sure I would in the future

I think it’s New York itself. I’ve sailed numerous times from New York, and every time the ship was crowded. 

[April42749]

21 minutes ago, jbethel11 said:

I think it’s New York itself. I’ve sailed numerous times from New York, and every time the ship was crowded. 

It's not NY.  I'm born here, always lived here and will die here.  These "passengers" are not representative on NYC residents.  I rarely see anyone with a full body of tattoos and even less see anybody with the average bmi of a Carnival passenger.  In addition, I didn't anyone from "the city".  They may come from "the area" (the outer boros, other parts of NYS, NJ, CT) or fly in from other places...but this is definitely not a "NYC population".  When I was on the Sunrise in June I thought that....this is what the rest of the country looks like.

So...this must be Carnival's target market and they take on as many people who want to sail.

I have a friend who's on the Sunrise now.  I'm expecting a full detailed report of "crowd and people".

[RRLLAL]

36 minutes ago, jbethel11 said:

I think it’s New York itself. I’ve sailed numerous times from New York, and every time the ship was crowded. 

 

Has very little to do with the city. It’s the ship and time of year. 

[jbethel11]

7 hours ago, April42749 said:

It's not NY.  I'm born here, always lived here and will die here.  These "passengers" are not representative on NYC residents.  I rarely see anyone with a full body of tattoos and even less see anybody with the average bmi of a Carnival passenger.  In addition, I didn't anyone from "the city".  They may come from "the area" (the outer boros, other parts of NYS, NJ, CT) or fly in from other places...but this is definitely not a "NYC population".  When I was on the Sunrise in June I thought that....this is what the rest of the country looks like.

So...this must be Carnival's target market and they take on as many people who want to sail.

I have a friend who's on the Sunrise now.  I'm expecting a full detailed report of "crowd and people".

As a New Yorker (and son of New York parents) I agree that it isn’t representative of New York. However, every time I sail out of New York, this same behavior is mirrored. I am not saying other ports do not have this problem, but I haven’t personally seen it. 

[LPut714]

On 8/29/2019 at 12:12 AM, Stick93 said:

Thank you for reading. 

 

I think in two weeks the dynamics of the ship will be different because kids will be back at school. As for the number of people on the ship - if it’s a full sailing there will be many more than the ship can handle. You have paid for this cruise and you should go and be positive and remember to pack some patience. 

 

Would love to hear your thoughts when you return and hope they will be better.

Agree about the kids. We did a cruise to Bermuda in June and kids were everywhere. Sept prob different story. We LOVED Chris the CD one of the best. Is the ship looking new-no but still had a great time. Main bottle neck is in the buffet but for breakfast you learn there are many other places to go-all which serve omellettes and sides. Food was better than our last Carnival cruise. At least it is warm/hot. Didn't like Comedy show earlier-strange time. Been on 35 cruises-were they perfect no-did we have a great time-yes. Wouldn't rush back to Bermuda, prefer Caribbean. Doing 15 Panama canal transit on the Legend in Oct-we were on the Legend two years ago in Alaska. Not expecting brand spanking new but can't wait. 

[Stick93]

As the ship returns again today and we have a fresh group of people returning - I would wonder now that the summer is behind up (possibly not for this cruise) if the experience was any different.

 

I have had over a week to digest my last trip and still feel about the same -

 

My final thoughts in general (subject to any response) is that carnival was my first love and experience for cruising. I will still travel on carnival but I will be much  selective in time I cruise, port and ship. I was not like this before. For money I will always chose cheapest option as I can do more once on the ship  (although the Sunrise and Radiance would have to be significantly cheaper to go again especially out of NY and in the summer)  but if the difference is not that much, I probably will choose differently. This is the first time in 6 years I don't have a carnival cruise or two or three scheduled in the future.

[ReneeFLL]

On 8/29/2019 at 12:13 AM, RRLLAL said:

 

Capacity is 2900. But that’s based upon 2 per cabin. As we all know, some cabins will have 3-4. It’s just how it’s done by all cruise lines. 

 

 

Capacity is 2984 to 3730 so it can be over 700 more people which is a lot.

[Stick93]

3 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

Capacity is 2984 to 3730 so it can be over 700 more people which is a lot.

Thank you for sharing this again - this was posted in post #104 and in post #105 I share a picture from an informational book Carnival gave out on the first couple of cruises that found in one of my rooms - It showed maximum capacity at 3998. The real number is somewhere in there, but a senior office shared with me how many people were on board when we were speakin at the diamond and platinum party. We were actually speaking about how many VIFP D&P there were (relatively small at under 200) when he said this to me. I was shocked by the number and he confirmed that I heard correctly when I responded to him that it was too high.