Sunrise - 14 Day Panama Canal

[emory2001]

I'm sailing her next year and have watched some YouTube videos on the ship. It looks awesome!

[Mklbee]

Took me a while to even find this thread, so I guess Ill just rap it up real quick for those that have interest. Days 5-10 were very relaxing. The ship is very nice looking and obviously updated. but some designs do not work for me. So do. We were on the ship during the ship during the Cricket Finals, French Open, NBA Finals and College Baseball playoffs. Not to mention the MLB Regular season. Cricket and College Baseball dominated the Sports Bar. Followed by the French Open. I am more into keeping up with the Braves (MLB) and the NBA Finals, but the sports bar had a more Caribbean / European feel t o it. Baseball and Basket ball were not a big priority.

 

I read a lot about casino smoke...and Id comment that the casino didn't smell bad at all. I am not a smoker, and I did not feel that the casino had a smoke smell. There was even a non smoking section of the Casino bar, which was another new thing to me.

 

The Sunrise was trying to make the Comedy Show , one way in, one way out. If you were in a 6:30 show, you HAD to leave and get in line for the 7:30 show. The set up was not a good one to me.

 

The room, was very nice. Aft Balcony with a balcony that goes around the corner. As I said, no mailbox, but it wasnt a factor. Food was GOOD. Getting around was a little tough because of the amount of passengers with walkers, wheel chairs and scooters.

 

I was a Premier passenger, and as I said, attended the Premier party. We were told that free drinks would be available every 5 minutes. Well, If you had drink service every 5 minutes, you were special. it took me until maybe day 10 to learn to 'bribe' the wait service with a $5 bill to come back 5 - 10 minutes later to get me another drink. It was cool anyway. Free is free. But I wish the drinks came sooner. After about 5 to 6 days, the waiters knew my drinks. I will also add that I do believe that the drinks are watered down. the drinks I bought outside of the casino were stronger. Inside the casino, they came in a different glass. I then just asked for shots, and they wouldn't do that. Saying that they had to add something to the drink. Even if it was just ice, it if its a 'premier drink'. This was not a huge hassle. I just was hoping for regular drinks and not having the staff to ask me if I was on the 'Drinks On Us' list so they could change my drink.

Believe it or not, Guys Burgers was NOT crowded. There is useally a grill out front with the employees cooking burgers. This on did not have that. I think the wait time for Guys burgers max all trip was 30 seconds. Finding a place to sit? Thats another story.

 

The problem with the Comedy Club was that it was way too small. The one way in system they tried made things a little awkward. Yuo could walk in and see the show on monitors....it was like an overflow room. But even if you watched the show there, you HAD to leave. There was already a line for the next show. So if you wanted to see back to back comedy...good luck.

 

[Mklbee]

There is something i want to add. I like trying to add stuff that is not really discussed. The breakfast drink....papaya juice taste great to me. Well, a group close to us spent a long time filling up 2 liters of juice. I have used this for a while as a great mixer for my gin or rum. Well, if you keep the drink for a good while, you will find that it has some sort of carbonation !!! After about 2 days, the water bottle I filled with the juice felt like a frozen plastic bottle it was under so much pressure. I released the pressure by slowly twisting off the top to release pressure. I shook up the bottle to get a lot of the carbonation pressure off, and the top flew out of my hand!! So, be careful if you try to keep the papaya juice. The lemonade and tea seem to be safe.

 

 

[Mklbee]

For those that are Whisky / Bourbon drinkers, the whisky class was very informative. You even had a chance to blend your own whisky. I couldn't get mine to taste as good as our examples of Dewers or Cutty Sark (go figure) I didn't even come close, but it was nice trying to make a special type of whisky. I am much more of a Bourbon guy, but the class was still a lot of fun. It was held in the 555 Fahrenheit Dining Room.

 

I expect to get folks upset over this comment, but the 555 Dining Room, while very nice. very Very nice, is not an upgrade on deck 4. I am used to the steakhouse having a nice view outside and natural light. Well, on deck 4, the life boast are there, and the curtains stay closed. Ifs a little dim and closed in feeling. We ate at the Steakhouse, and the food was GREAT !! But the atmosphere wasn't quite as nice to me.

 

Stopping at Grand Cayman was very nice. It was very hot, but the port had a lot for shoppers, not for eaters. if you wanted a place to sit and eat, you had to walk a little while. The problem with that was that Grand Cayman was 2 hours behind us....so 10am for me is 8 am for them, and Hard Rock and Margaritaville didn't open until 11am local time. Kinda sucks. Guy Harvey did open at 10 am with a limited menu. So, we did have food and drinks at Guy Harveys restaurant. prices are reasonable, and they even take American Express which you don't see very often outside of the USA. 

 

I wanted to include a pic of the 3 deck lobby to show how PACKED the ship was. Everyone was having a great time, but if you didnt get to a big time event 30 minutes early, you had a tough time finding a place to sit.

 

Speaking of sitting, I got up early to walk, and saw that there were seats saved on the Lido deck at 5:30 am. Tisk Tisk Tisk. I very rarely sit in the lounge seats, but i wish folks wouldn't do this. Its as though they got up to put a placeholder in the seat, and then went back to bed! 

 

 

[Mklbee]

For those that have knowledge of the Quest presentation, it was held in the 'Theater', which is called the Liquid Lounge. And there are probably a lot of benefits to this new layout. I am used to having decks 3, 4 and 5 forward be the Theater. Well, its just 4 and 5 here. I hate it. The layout is not as good as the other. More people and fewer seats. The seats on the 4th floor are removable. Thats probably a huge benefit to Carnival. Some of you may love the new layout. To me, its not even close to being as nice as the old layout.

 

The Sports bar couldnt hold the NBA Finals any longer, so they postponed SeaSide movies and showed the NBA Finals outside. Being outside after sundown, I ate a ton of Seafood!!! and the food was awesome. But I will say that the Lobster Rolls taste more like a seafood salad roll than a lobster roll. It was still good, and you go 2 for $12.

Costa Rica Limon was nice. The heat was close to unbearable!! 

 

We sat and had coffe and wifi for $6 at a local coffee spot. I like going to local spots. There is not much English here as Cozumel and Cayman. All of the prices are in local fares.

 

Not much to do if you dont have an excursion by just walking around. There are a few coffee shops and a Casino. To get to local restaurants will take about a 15 minute walk from the port.

 

Once again, it was nice to see all of the people with walkers, scooters, etc, getting off of the ship and enjoying themselves.

 

I mentioned that that my iPhone app (Carnival Hub) wasnt updated. Make sure you update your app. before getting onboard. I couldnt reserve dinner at the Italian place, 555,  or Your time dining .

[Mklbee]

Panama Canal was great! If you are 

An Engineer

Project Manager

Finance Director

Safety Director

Environmental Advocate

Historian or History Buff

The history and construction of the Canal is great. And to see it is really beautiful Its more beautiful when you understand what happened to get it constructed.

 

Half Moon Cay was a location that we had not been to before. So it was strange using my Sail and Sign Card there for purchases. Its a Carnival owned site that had a free buffet about 5 minutes from the entrance. The buffett was decent,and you will see some servers from the ship on the Bahamian Island working.

 

Well, Im going to wrap this up since a lot of my report and pictures arent showing up. We attended a Captains Party which was very nice. Free appetizers and drinks.

 

Speaking of appetizers, I was on this ship for 14 days and didnt see escargots at all !!! Its become a favorite ( never would have tried it if it wasnt offered on the ship). That was a MAJOR disappointment.

 

[Mklbee]

So, to get out of your 'hair', for those that want info, please ask, and I will answer the best I can.

 

On Lido - press buttons to open sliding doors.

Big Theater only has 2 decks, 4 and 5

Walkways are a little narrow

If you are in 'Drinks ON Us' program, you may have to tip large to get another drink within 10 minutes (you're allowed one every 5 minutes)

---after 2 drinks in 10 minutes, I dont mind one every 30 minutes

555 Steakhouse is kind of hidden on 4th deck next to coffee place

3 deck Lobby was PACKED most days

5 deck Red Frog was PACKED most days

(Clears throat) ship was packed

Casino didnt really have a bad smoke smell

I didnt find the machines to be tight at all. Saw many winners

I just wasnt one of them. Did ok, just not great

Serenity had many saved seats..only tried twice. Then gave up 

Food was great

Guys Burgers was pretty empty, which was a surprise

As usual for us, the Carnival service was very good

Maybe not so much for the Red Frob Pub on the 5th. Seemed pissed off I didnt even want to order anything they looked so mad!!

Getting off of the ship was fine. Had to cross the street and go to a Taxi stand and stand in line for a cab. After 45 minutes, I got an Uber. We would have been waiting another 30 minutes at least at the corner of 50th Street and 12th Ave.

 

Left out quite a bit, but just wanted to give an overview. I have most of the FunTimes if you need to see them.

[thesmiths]

2 minutes ago, Mklbee said:

 

Serenity had many saved seats..only tried twice. Then gave up 

 

Thanks, where did you hang out then?

 

[dixieva]

Do you have any pics of the trip through the Panama Canal you could share?  Thanks

[Mklbee]

I do have a few. The Panama Canal really would have been better if I had bought the video that Carnival provided.

The first set of photos will be from the ships and vessels that where around before we went through the locks. Its very boring if you dont care about the canals history.

[Mklbee]

Here are a few pics of the locks. I also put in a pic of the map onboard.