Sunrise Family Cruise 1/16/20-1/20/20

[wardwhitty]

Hello all.  Just back from the Sunrise cruise yesterday and wanted to give our opinions.  We cruise a lot and this was my 25th Carnival cruise so over time I have seen changes.  Some good some bad.  I have sailed the Triumph and now the Sunrise and overall I liked the changes.  I think people are expecting a lot and when expectations are too high you are disappointed.  I feel there are no bad ships and no bad cruises it is what you make of it.  So here is my take and again it is only an opinion.

 

PROS:

Cruise director was great

Guys Pig and Anchor BBQ- food was hot, delicious and the lines were never too long ( There are two lines one from each end so check both sides before you get in line)

Pasta Station at Cucina Capitano- lots of choices, food hot and fresh

Overall decor- very tropical, clean and welcoming

Cucina Capitano- Breakfast has made to order omelettes and a small buffet ( no one even knew it was there so it was never busy)

Red Frog Pub Bar- bartenders were great, had a ton of fun playing table shuffleboard and they had delicious looking fish bowl drinks ( I had Cheers package so not included)

Flat screen tv's in room are big and the free on demand movies were a great addition

Alchemy Bar- mixologists were super friendly, attentive and made delicious drinks

Cucina Capitano-Dinner was superb.  service excellent, food delicious and for the cost best deal on the ship

Dining room Breakfast- was excellent with great choices, hot food and our service was very quick

Embarkation & Debarkation- Port Everglades has this down to a science.  On the ship within 30 mins of parking the car and off the ship in about the same amount of time.

Staff was fantastic every where we went.  We were pleasantly surprised by how helpful and friendly everyone was.

 

CONS:

Dinning Room Choices- our dining team was fantastic but the choices were limited. What I ate was great but I had a hard time finding something to get excited about.

Comedy Club- getting to the club was cumbersome and the room is small.  Our comedians were not great.

Hot Tubs- kids, kids, kids no adults.  I am all for kids and almost always travel with mine, but hot tubs should be for adults only.  At one point 12 kids in one hot tub with no adults 

Promenade Deck- I don't like that they took all the couches and chairs out of the Promenade.  That was a great place to relax and enjoy the scenery and people watching.

Show Lounge- very small now and the chairs on the main floor in front of the stage are a little weird.

Showtimes- I know on a 4 day they try to cram as much in as possible but with late dining we found it hard to see a show and a comedian on the same night.

 

We liked this cruise and ship so much we booked the 12 day Journey cruise from New York in October.  Definitely give this ship a try.  She will not disappoint.  I hope this helps.  If you have any questions please feel free to ask.  I am not a picture taker so unfortunately I don't have pictures of anything but would be happy to help how I can.

 

 

 

[CRUZN-IS-FUN]

Thanks for the positive comments.  Seen a lot of negatives lately.  Super excited to board her on Saturday.  Yes, you are right.  It is only what you make of it, and any ship is better than no ship!

[HeavyMetalDeacon]

11 minutes ago, wardwhitty said:

Hello all.  Just back from the Sunrise cruise yesterday and wanted to give our opinions.  We cruise a lot and this was my 25th Carnival cruise so over time I have seen changes.  Some good some bad.  I have sailed the Triumph and now the Sunrise and overall I liked the changes.  I think people are expecting a lot and when expectations are too high you are disappointed.  I feel there are no bad ships and no bad cruises it is what you make of it.  So here is my take and again it is only an opinion.

 

PROS:

Cruise director was great

Guys Pig and Anchor BBQ- food was hot, delicious and the lines were never too long ( There are two lines one from each end so check both sides before you get in line)

Pasta Station at Cucina Capitano- lots of choices, food hot and fresh

Overall decor- very tropical, clean and welcoming

Cucina Capitano- Breakfast has made to order omelettes and a small buffet ( no one even knew it was there so it was never busy)

Red Frog Pub Bar- bartenders were great, had a ton of fun playing table shuffleboard and they had delicious looking fish bowl drinks ( I had Cheers package so not included)

Flat screen tv's in room are big and the free on demand movies were a great addition

Alchemy Bar- mixologists were super friendly, attentive and made delicious drinks

Cucina Capitano-Dinner was superb.  service excellent, food delicious and for the cost best deal on the ship

Dining room Breakfast- was excellent with great choices, hot food and our service was very quick

Embarkation & Debarkation- Port Everglades has this down to a science.  On the ship within 30 mins of parking the car and off the ship in about the same amount of time.

Staff was fantastic every where we went.  We were pleasantly surprised by how helpful and friendly everyone was.

 

CONS:

Dinning Room Choices- our dining team was fantastic but the choices were limited. What I ate was great but I had a hard time finding something to get excited about.

Comedy Club- getting to the club was cumbersome and the room is small.  Our comedians were not great.

Hot Tubs- kids, kids, kids no adults.  I am all for kids and almost always travel with mine, but hot tubs should be for adults only.  At one point 12 kids in one hot tub with no adults 

Promenade Deck- I don't like that they took all the couches and chairs out of the Promenade.  That was a great place to relax and enjoy the scenery and people watching.

Show Lounge- very small now and the chairs on the main floor in front of the stage are a little weird.

Showtimes- I know on a 4 day they try to cram as much in as possible but with late dining we found it hard to see a show and a comedian on the same night.

 

We liked this cruise and ship so much we booked the 12 day Journey cruise from New York in October.  Definitely give this ship a try.  She will not disappoint.  I hope this helps.  If you have any questions please feel free to ask.  I am not a picture taker so unfortunately I don't have pictures of anything but would be happy to help how I can.

 

 

 

Do you remember who your mixologists were at the Alchemy bar?

We are on the Journey cruise mid August.

[jimbo5544]

30 minutes ago, wardwhitty said:

Hello all.  Just back from the Sunrise cruise yesterday and wanted to give our opinions.  We cruise a lot and this was my 25th Carnival cruise so over time I have seen changes.  Some good some bad.  I have sailed the Triumph and now the Sunrise and overall I liked the changes.  I think people are expecting a lot and when expectations are too high you are disappointed.  I feel there are no bad ships and no bad cruises it is what you make of it.  So here is my take and again it is only an opinion.

 

PROS:

Cruise director was great

Guys Pig and Anchor BBQ- food was hot, delicious and the lines were never too long ( There are two lines one from each end so check both sides before you get in line)

Pasta Station at Cucina Capitano- lots of choices, food hot and fresh

Overall decor- very tropical, clean and welcoming

Cucina Capitano- Breakfast has made to order omelettes and a small buffet ( no one even knew it was there so it was never busy)

Red Frog Pub Bar- bartenders were great, had a ton of fun playing table shuffleboard and they had delicious looking fish bowl drinks ( I had Cheers package so not included)

Flat screen tv's in room are big and the free on demand movies were a great addition

Alchemy Bar- mixologists were super friendly, attentive and made delicious drinks

Cucina Capitano-Dinner was superb.  service excellent, food delicious and for the cost best deal on the ship

Dining room Breakfast- was excellent with great choices, hot food and our service was very quick

Embarkation & Debarkation- Port Everglades has this down to a science.  On the ship within 30 mins of parking the car and off the ship in about the same amount of time.

Staff was fantastic every where we went.  We were pleasantly surprised by how helpful and friendly everyone was.

 

CONS:

Dinning Room Choices- our dining team was fantastic but the choices were limited. What I ate was great but I had a hard time finding something to get excited about.

Comedy Club- getting to the club was cumbersome and the room is small.  Our comedians were not great.

Hot Tubs- kids, kids, kids no adults.  I am all for kids and almost always travel with mine, but hot tubs should be for adults only.  At one point 12 kids in one hot tub with no adults 

Promenade Deck- I don't like that they took all the couches and chairs out of the Promenade.  That was a great place to relax and enjoy the scenery and people watching.

Show Lounge- very small now and the chairs on the main floor in front of the stage are a little weird.

Showtimes- I know on a 4 day they try to cram as much in as possible but with late dining we found it hard to see a show and a comedian on the same night.

 

We liked this cruise and ship so much we booked the 12 day Journey cruise from New York in October.  Definitely give this ship a try.  She will not disappoint.  I hope this helps.  If you have any questions please feel free to ask.  I am not a picture taker so unfortunately I don't have pictures of anything but would be happy to help how I can.

 

 

 

Thanks for doing the review 

[isladonna]

Thanks for the info  We board on March 7th. Can't wait!

[Jamman54]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. We enjoyed our cruises on the Sunrise as well. 😎

[wardwhitty]

1 hour ago, HeavyMetalDeacon said:

Do you remember who your mixologists were at the Alchemy bar?

We are on the Journey cruise mid August.

I do not remember their names but I do know all 3 leave in June and are not sure which ship they are coming back to when they return.  Sorry !

[grima625]

Thanks for the review.

[ozzie0075]

Thank You for the review. We are getting very excited for our August Journeys cruise on the Sunrise.

 

[bluehengal]

19 hours ago, wardwhitty said:

I do not remember their names but I do know all 3 leave in June and are not sure which ship they are coming back to when they return.  Sorry !

Yulya (?) from Belarus was one of the mixologists.  She was so upbeat and always had a few special drinks for us to try.

[back.2.cruising]

Thank you. How was your cabin? We have an interior booked on Deck 7. 

[jdemps]

did you have a themed deck party on the 5 day?

[wardwhitty]

We were on deck 7 forward and the location was perfect.  Rooms have been updated with new bedding, big flat screen TV and bathrooms are blues and tropical versus the typical Carnival orange.  We moved our beds into an L shape which gave us much more room (I shared with my daughter and my son and husband were in the other)  There is a refrigerator which is nice but it did take away the drawers.  For storage there is the 2 night stands, a very narrow cabinet, 1 drawer and then 3 closets each with a shelf or two.  There were plenty of hangers.  They also had 2 USB ports close to the bed as well as the plugs on the vanity/desk.

[wardwhitty]

We were on the 4 day and there was no theme but they did have a deck party on the last night.  It was really windy so it was not well attended.  I think they moved it into the atrium because it was packed.

[back.2.cruising]

Thank you. So excited to be on a cruise again! 

[Joebucks]

Thanks for the review! I will be on her in a few months. I understand there are always pros and cons to change. It sounds like overall, there is more choice and options for fun vs some of the old free-roaming space. I can't wait!

[Lew Port]

On 1/21/2020 at 2:25 PM, wardwhitty said:

Hello all.  Just back from the Sunrise cruise yesterday and wanted to give our opinions.  We cruise a lot and this was my 25th Carnival cruise so over time I have seen changes.  Some good some bad.  I have sailed the Triumph and now the Sunrise and overall I liked the changes.  I think people are expecting a lot and when expectations are too high you are disappointed.  I feel there are no bad ships and no bad cruises it is what you make of it.  So here is my take and again it is only an opinion.

 

PROS:

Cruise director was great

Guys Pig and Anchor BBQ- food was hot, delicious and the lines were never too long ( There are two lines one from each end so check both sides before you get in line)

Pasta Station at Cucina Capitano- lots of choices, food hot and fresh

Overall decor- very tropical, clean and welcoming

Cucina Capitano- Breakfast has made to order omelettes and a small buffet ( no one even knew it was there so it was never busy)

Red Frog Pub Bar- bartenders were great, had a ton of fun playing table shuffleboard and they had delicious looking fish bowl drinks ( I had Cheers package so not included)

Flat screen tv's in room are big and the free on demand movies were a great addition

Alchemy Bar- mixologists were super friendly, attentive and made delicious drinks

Cucina Capitano-Dinner was superb.  service excellent, food delicious and for the cost best deal on the ship

Dining room Breakfast- was excellent with great choices, hot food and our service was very quick

Embarkation & Debarkation- Port Everglades has this down to a science.  On the ship within 30 mins of parking the car and off the ship in about the same amount of time.

Staff was fantastic every where we went.  We were pleasantly surprised by how helpful and friendly everyone was.

 

CONS:

Dinning Room Choices- our dining team was fantastic but the choices were limited. What I ate was great but I had a hard time finding something to get excited about.

Comedy Club- getting to the club was cumbersome and the room is small.  Our comedians were not great.

Hot Tubs- kids, kids, kids no adults.  I am all for kids and almost always travel with mine, but hot tubs should be for adults only.  At one point 12 kids in one hot tub with no adults 

Promenade Deck- I don't like that they took all the couches and chairs out of the Promenade.  That was a great place to relax and enjoy the scenery and people watching.

Show Lounge- very small now and the chairs on the main floor in front of the stage are a little weird.

Showtimes- I know on a 4 day they try to cram as much in as possible but with late dining we found it hard to see a show and a comedian on the same night.

 

We liked this cruise and ship so much we booked the 12 day Journey cruise from New York in October.  Definitely give this ship a try.  She will not disappoint.  I hope this helps.  If you have any questions please feel free to ask.  I am not a picture taker so unfortunately I don't have pictures of anything but would be happy to help how I can.

 

 

 

My wife, daughter and son in law just got off the Sunrise on Sat 1.25 Ports of call were Amber Cove and Grand Turk.

A storm occurred while we were on Grand Turk and that caused some problems with the excursions.  The kids took a snorkeling excursion and us senior cruisers went on a tram ride around the island.  Of course the storm hit as we were as far from the ship as possible.

The OP has many great points both (+) and (-).  We had never been on the Triumph so we don't know the 'before and after"  aspects of the remodeling.

    Pros for me.

I liked the new Liquid Lounge with the chairs instead of the benches. (as previous Carnival ships I have been on had)

The comedy club lounge was awkward to get to and too few seats.  

The staff.  WOW . They were great.  Helpful at every turn.  The Behind the Fun tour was exceptional.  I highly recommend it.

Embarkation and debarkation.. Easy as pie. We carried our own bags off the ship, but we pack lightly compared to others.

My daughter and SIL want to book another Carnival cruise.

Art Shake Trio featuring the electric violins were superb. 

The amount of storage space in the cabin was outstanding.

Our rooms were in the 8380's neighborhood and noise from the ninth floor Lido was never a factor.

   Con for me

There were times when I felt there should have been more bar tenders during busy times.

 

It was a fun trip and we won 2 Ships on a Stick.  yeehaw.

[jdemps]

does anyone have the mdr dinner menu photos for the 5 day?  thanks.