UPNYGuy

I thought that as well. This is the Havana pool from the same sailing, and it is much cleaner and clearer. (photo courtesy jimzim.net)

thats the other thing too, and why I havent flatly said no. I know how well that went... 1) no ships above 100,000 GRT = we go on one that is 140,000 2) no Royal Caribbean = we go on Liberty of the seas 3) no Carnival = ... soon to be platinum 🤣 hence why I have given up trying to set rules. For years, mine was a no ships above 100,000 GRT, and we stuck with Holland America (and flat out refused to sail on carnival due to the reputation). After we had several poor cruises with HAL, we ventured out and found that most cruise lines are more alike than different (especially the megaship lines). They have the same end result (carry pax from place to place on a floating hotel, and provide food and drink, and entertainment).

oasis class design to me appears too inward facing. I like to feel like I am on a ship, and be able to easily look out and see the ocean. not sure if I would venture on a split superstructure ship for this very reason, but never say never 😂

because the smaller ships almost always have fewer people on it, and some (spirit class) are exceedingly spacious.

agree 100% here. we used to have an arbitrary cap at around 100,000 GRT, which is impossible out of some ports and itineraries. Try sailing a ship out of NJ or NY under that limit...not going to happen unless you actively try to. When DW and I had the foresight to realize that Royal Caribbean was correct (ships getting much larger), we went on Norwegian Breakaway in a Haven cabin just to try it...or previous cruise on a ship that was 1/3 the size. We loved it and aren't as hard nosed about ship size as we used to be.

i can agree with that, but most megaship operators are like that. IIRC MSC did on Meraviglia.

for me, the worst thing about the Panorama (and the vista class in general) is the horrible pool deck. We found the Vista class lido pool deck to be the very worst we have ever seen on a modern cruise liner. One tiny pool midships, one tiny pool aft (adults only as far as I remember). And the seating is in tiers, like rings stacked one on top of another. (photo courtesy jimzim.net) This is the midship pool area.

for this sailing, definitely book a Havana room if you can splurge. The Havana area is my favorite thing about this ship class. DW and I wont sail on a vista class without booking Havana. Also, Carnival no longer has the buffet style breakfast at Ocean Plaza.

like it or not, this is the modern cruise industry. Unless you go with Viking, Azamara, or Oceania, what you see is what you are now going to get. Even Holland America's new ships are almost twice the size as the smallest and oldest ones that were decommissioned in the last few years (99,000 GRT vs 50,000ish GRT) Hell, Princess has a 175,000 GRT ship on order, and several in the fleet right now that are the same size as a Breakaway or Voyager class.

DW and I have sailed on the MSC Meraviglia, when it was doing its maiden season around the med. That ship is roughly the same size as the XL class. We had a great time on it. FWIW, we sail on a range of capacity from under 1000 (oceania) to around 5000. Only problem is when all those people want to do the same thing at the same time.

or once per day

MSC will not do this after the final payment. The statement they give is "for new bookings only". They will re-rate it, but it will be at the non-promo rate. Most cruise lines are really tightening the belt with re-rating and honoring promos for existing bookings.

MSC is also doing this with the Magnifica. not coming to Miami now.

heads up to all of those booked on the magnifica. the cruises sailing out of Miami are cancelled. I received an email from MSC yesterday. Looks like the ship is being redeployed elsewhere (as per the email).

I had to cancel and re-book to get a price adjustment. This only works if you are not in penalty. Once the cruise is paid in full, they will not budge.

something is going on, that is for sure. All the departures out of FL have been axed for the Magnifica as well.

I found the debark to go smoothly

they dont (or at least didnt) let you sit up there unless you eat in that venue

i *believe* it is, unless it changed.

I just checked the deck plan, and freedom still has the 2 level lido seating, which should be that way until your cruise. IMO it should be the better option for passenger flow, onboard options, and all-around spaciousness. Like I said, I do NOT dislike the sunrise, I just feel the repurposing of the top portion of the Lido was a *huge* misstep. If they had not done that, the ship would be able to handle the extra load much easier.

IMO you made the correct decision. You can treat nassau as a sea day, where half the ship empties out.

Edit due to error in post

IMO I would personally take the liberty or freedom over the Sunrise. We did like it, but liberty and freedom carry the same passenger load, and are larger (more space to spread out). We would sail on Sunrise again, but if a conquest class (or better yet spirit class) were in the same timeframe and going where I wanted, I would take those instead.

before the refit, Triumph had a 2 level lido buffet. The top level was great, it encircled the rear of the buffet and looked over it. It was a great place to sit, and was rarely full. Now, they put Cucina Del Capitano (I think) up there, and made it a surcharge venue. Along with the extra cabins, it made the lido extremely crowded.

I WILL say that sunrise did feel a bit crowded (the lido buffet is awful, the top deck restaurant seating is gone, repurposed for an Italian restaurant)