MrMileStoner

Regardless, this thread is about crowding on the ship, not smoking. I provided my opinion on the topic at hand.

 

Yes, it does feel overcrowded.

You are entitled to your opinion as am I. People who have never been on the ship can only repeat selective opinions of others.

Every ship can feel overcrowded at certain times/places. My opinion of Sunshine is that it was no more crowded than other ships.

Is this directed at me? If so, then you need to do your research before commenting. When They converted Destiny to Sunshine the work was done over in Europe. Upon completion the Sunshine sailed a summer of Med cruises. This was just two years ago BTW. I was on the second of those cruises.

No need to do research as we have been on Sunshine a number of times including Europe. Sunshine WAS (as in the past) in Europe. Sunshine does not (as in the present or foreseeable future) have European routes so hypothetical smoking questions about European Sunshine routes in the present or future make no sense, as in nonsense. ;)

Repeating other people's accounts is hearsay and Sunshine doesn't have any European routes so not even sure where that is coming from. :p

We were on the 4.4.15 sailing. This was our 6th cruise' date=' all on different ships. Sunshine did have the best food options of all. The only place it felt crowded was the decks on sea days. If you want a chair get there early. If you want 2 together get out there very early! Also, getting off the ship at ports and home port was awful. Otherwise it's a great ship, plenty of tables in the buffet areas. Never waited more than 20 mins for anytime dining.[/quote']

 

Thank you for an honest review.

That is more civil. I appreciate the clarity. What was the good reason, since you intentionally failed to disclose it?

 

Yeah, you keep hounding me on my posts so sometimes I just can't take it anymore.

i'm ignoring you, your misinformation, and your insults.

Well, that was an overwhelming answer to simple question that I preferred having answered by a more civil human. No, again, I don't sail Carnival very often, and the reasons mount the more I hear from you specifically.

 

Don't know what the hearsay is. Carnival announced they increased capacity of that ship when in drydocked in 2013. Additionally, there are NUMEROUS first hand complaints on this board about overcrowing on that ship at times - whether that fits your brand cheer or not.

 

Ok, THEN, They need a cigar bar, so people can enjoy what they want when vacationing, including you.

I thought you were ignoring me?

Sunshine is a great ship and absolutely no overcrowing.

The cigar bars were removed from Carnival years ago for good reason. I don't see them returning - ever.

He can't fire a cigar in the piano bar with a cognac in the other hand?

It's a bar, there isn't supposed to be children in there. There are no other places aboard a carnival ship to smoke a cigar and enjoy a drink except in the casino or one outdoor designated area? I too am asking. No cigar bar setup?

 

As far as crowding. As someone else posted, increased passenger capacity on that ship when 2.0 retro was done. Numerous complaints on this board, but certainly could be time of year/manifest size driven.

Have you ever cruised on Carnival? Piano bars have been non-smoking for quite a while. No cigar smoking in any of the casinos.

We've been on Sunshine several times and have another Sunshine cruise coming up. This time not in a balcony. Not concerned at all.

Personally, I don't care for second hand smoke or hearsay reviews.

Not much difference. I hope at least it's actually PRIME. Perhaps they can do a "showing" of the steaks beforehand as they do in the steakhouse. ;)

 

Tom

Looks can be deceiving. The difference in the quality of beef is very noticeable.

The standard (included) steak

Cookie cutter ships = Lower maintenance costs due to greater economies of scale.

Royal does pay more for ships leading to higher per berth cost. Day in and day out they can't compete with Carnival on price.

Wow, it's worse than I thought. Carnival Corp. apparently has to bribe people to cruise any of their brands. Not true but just look at how statements can be twisted. Next you'll be telling us how Royal has to bribe shipyards to build their ships.

 

So, you know somehow that Carnival's board of directors couldn't make a change and not allow the shareholder benefits.

Carnival likely learned it from Royal, but aren't so chintzy. :rolleyes:

Close - Royal shops shipyards until they can convince one to cosign the loan.

The Carnival board can do whatever they like but historically have renewed the benefit every year.

And, Big Data is likely going to push you aside in the near future.

Balderdash.

or at night they have different colored lights. green is one of them.

and I believe Sunshine has freshwater pools.

You missed my point IT ISN'T FREE, it's costing you something. Port fees, air fare, tips, blah, blah, blah. It's more than $3,000 for us. We would never stay in an inside cabin - not even for free.

So? You expect Carnival to cover all that? They aren't going to comp many suites. If you want an upgrade, pay to upgrade the inside.

Apparently, Carnival needs to use shareholders benefits to bribe customers to return.

Shareholder benefits are at the corporate level and apply to all Carnival brands. Carnival Cruise Line doesn't have a say.

I ended up picking a 7 day Alaskan cruise for my free offer. I'm also on deck 7. Yes I have to fly to Seattle, but the free cabin saved me $1300. That helps a lot! I don't know if it's a computer glitch or not, but the free cabin rates still show on the carnival web site. I did another mock booking and it appeared it would have let me book another free cabin. Luckily I can't afford another one this soon. Plus they would probably tell me it's a glitch and make me pay in full.

Good for you. Envy suits some people.

True, but they are at least making more than a half hearted attempt at showing loyalty appreciation, which is subject to change at any time.

PT Barnum would be proud.

But maybe some cruise lines have figured out that spending money in that way is a worthwhile investment. I estimated from a very basic showing of hands one night at a show on Royal, that while there were a large number of first timers onboard, they appear to have been greatly outnumbered by repeat guests. Of course I have no way to know how many cruises any of them have been on, or what their status was, but by estimation having considerably more repeaters than first timers says a lot.

 

Whether or not the loyalty program has any bearing on the amount of repeat business is also unclear, but MAY have had some influence on some peoples decisions. Either way, it seems, at least at first glance, that repeat customers represent a fair number of their guests and that is a huge market.

Repeat guests do not grow the business and pay for new ships.

I think it is safe to say Carnival is satisfied with the number of repeat guests they get.

Have you? Your rhetorical questions abound and are worthless contributions in my view.

 

How about specifically answering up to your allegations of bribery on other cruise brands.

Yes. You are entitled to your opinions, no matter how worthless.

See above.

I'm off the Mr. Milestone train. Have a good life.

I doubt that and I do. :D

What? I have a hard time following your posts, which seem to have a hard time following complete threads.

 

I referenced the article, the entire article.

 

"Just sail a 100 times" translates to SPEND.

 

I refuse to go on the Mr. Milestone Merry go round.

I, and many others, can explain it to you all day long but can't understand it for you. ;)

All of my GF's cruises have been free. :p

That is NOT specific, as related to your allegations of bribery of/on another brand.

It is quite specific and costs shareholders quite a bit of money. Speaking of shareholders benefits, doesn't Royal have more restrictions on shareholder OBC comared with Carnival?

I suggest reading this very recent article from the Wall Street Journal found here:

 

http://blogs.wsj.com/cio/2015/04/30/carnival-strategy-chief-bets-that-big-data-will-optimize-prices/?mod=yahoo_hs

Have you read and understood the entire article? Carnival is late to the party and at the end of the day, still have humans in the loop.

What kind of bribes specifically?

Specifically their loyalty program.