davethescot

Isn't it interesting how people can have such different experiences on the same ship. I just got back from the 9 nighter to South Pacific. I didn't have high expectations given the reviews but I also didn't have high expectations and we paid around half the price or even more than we usually do on Royal Caribbean for a similar itinerary.

We usually said Royal or Princess and we are booked on Celebrity in a few months. I thought I would give Carnival a try as the price was really good and I thought I should see for myself.

The ship is definitely not perfect but I honestly believe that you get out what you put in. We went with an open mind and had a really good time. I would say that the food was maybe a notch down from Royal but it was still pretty good. I thought the shows were very good and found the dancing in the restaurant tacky but funny. I really didn't like the Cruise Director (Stu) as he definitely goes for the lowest common denominator - he kept asking for the bogans to shout out and wave - which I just found a bit weird.

We did have a problem with our cabin as we were below the club cool and it was quite noisy (so much so that we could actually sing along to the songs). However, we mentioned it in passing to Guest Services, expecting nothing and we were surprised that they quickly relocated us and gave us a small bit of onboard credit for our trouble. They also followed up to ensure we were happy with out new cabin. I really did think they went above and beyond.

The demographic is definitely a bit different to other cruise lines but so what. I had a thoroughly good time and my view is that they wouldn't be my first choice but if the price and timing is right then I would definitely sail with Carnival again.

Does anyone know what ever happened to these two ships? Our very first cruise was on the Sundream and we laugh now cause we thought that ship was huge. LOL We had a great time on both of them, but then they seemed to really go downhill and then disappeared off the radar.

I was actually the singer on the Sundream for about a year back in 2002. I have to say it's funny thinking back. The ship was really in quite bad condition and tiny compared to the modern ships. I actually had some amazing times on the ship and the majority of passengers enjoyed it but if you gave me the choice of going on now I would say not in a million years!

I can't believe that Sunbird is still running with Thomson. It must be is quite a bad state by now.

I see that rcci have reduced the price on the 11 night cruise upnto cairns to 860. Great value