UPNYGuy

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)

does HAL not have the steamer chairs on the promenade any longer? Granted, it has been roughly 4 years since I have been on a HAL ship.

If it was Todd, I didnt much care for him. I found his introduction (T-O-double D on the M-I-C) every time to get irritating and grating.

i guess DW and I have been fortunate that we have not run into this. We have been cruising again since things started back up (about a year or so ago at this point), and have avoided this.

the refurb looks great on her. I was on her when she was doing a few sailings out of NYC.

totally misread this...I didnt see the word single....