Live from the Sunrise 7/22 sailing review

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, ah4sail said:

Thanks for your detailed review!  Last week, I booked the Sunrise for the first week in September.  We’ve never booked so close to sailing, but husband has been working 14+ hours 6 days a week, then we had a death in the family.  We need to get away!!  Then I started reading reviews, most of which were negative.  So glad to read yours.  We’ve never been on a bad cruise, and are really looking forward to this one.  Thanks for sharing😊

My pleasure, thanks for following along.  Please let us know your thoughts when your get back from your cruise.

[jimbo5544]

36 minutes ago, MEUB1112 said:

Sir,

Great review, sailed on this ship prior to the renovation and always loved it. We would love a trip now that she's updated. Thanks Again!! Hope to have a drink with you on the Mardi Gras in 2021.

 

LOL, certainly no reason to call me sir.  Thanks for reading along, I tried to do it a little differently than reviews I have done in the past.  If you are sailing with me on the Mardi Gras 1/23/21 I would love to have a drink with you.

[MEUB1112]

1 hour ago, jimbo5544 said:

LOL, certainly no reason to call me sir.  Thanks for reading along, I tried to do it a little differently than reviews I have done in the past.  If you are sailing with me on the Mardi Gras 1/23/21 I would love to have a drink with you.

We are sailing on the Mardi Gras on January 23, 2021. (B2B the following week). We have a couple between now and then, and will stay in touch on the Roll Call Forum. A drink sounds great.

[jimbo5544]

18 minutes ago, MEUB1112 said:

We are sailing on the Mardi Gras on January 23, 2021. (B2B the following week). We have a couple between now and then, and will stay in touch on the Roll Call Forum. A drink sounds great.

Cool!   Have not done a b2b yet, but it is on our list.  

[MEUB1112]

16 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

Cool!   Have not done a b2b yet, but it is on our list.  

It is a lot of fun to B2B, plus the new ship(s) have so much to explore. This will be just our second B2B, but our 20th and 21st overall. I'm sure there will be more action on the Roll Call as the date nears.

 

[jimbo5544]

2 hours ago, MEUB1112 said:

It is a lot of fun to B2B, plus the new ship(s) have so much to explore. This will be just our second B2B, but our 20th and 21st overall. I'm sure there will be more action on the Roll Call as the date nears.

 

We strongly considered doing a B2B on the initial sailing in Copenhagen and then the TA but had a conflict that put that decision to bed early.....

[Stick93]

Two quick questions 

1. Is the platinum gift the lanyard? 

2. The coffe shop - is there a separate line for staff like the sunshine?? (This is a big pet peeve of mine as I don’t understand why one line isn’t enforced). 

 

 

Edited August 1, 2019 by Stick93

[jimbo5544]

31 minutes ago, Stick93 said:

Two quick questions 

1. Is the platinum gift the lanyard? 

2. The coffe shop - is there a separate line for staff like the sunshine?? (This is a big pet peeve of mine as I don’t understand why one line isn’t enforced). 

 

 

The gift was a lanyard.  I did not see a separate line but whenever staff was there unless they already had something they stepped aside.

 

[jimbo5544]

A couple of things I forgot to mention and they are in regards to the ecology changes Carnival has begun implementing.  The first are at lIdo. During breakfast (and I am sure other meals as well if appropriate) we noticed that in addition to peanut butter and jelly which have always been out in bowls, now there is whipped butter also.  At coffee stations there were still wooden stirrers.  

 

At bars, there is some what some may perceive as inconsistency (LOL).  Whenever you ordered a frozen drink, you were given a sugar straw, which never lasted as long as the drink.  If you ordered a soda, you did get a straw, but when I ordered a double, some of the time I got a straw,  Single drinks did not get stirrers.  I am sure this is a migration.  The sugar straws stink, there needs to be a better way......  The answer is not paper either......

 

If I think of more things I will check back in.  

[thesmiths]

What time does she normally hit the Verrazzano Bridge on the way back up the river?

Like to get some shots of the city in early morning.

 

Also, is it decks 6&7 for the front viewing ?

Looking at deck plans that is what I see?

 

 

 

 

 

[sixesandeights]

On 7/25/2019 at 3:33 PM, jimbo5544 said:

Room temp is 69..... not bad

This is an amazing idea....

 

6&8

[btyko]

Thank for the great review, Jimbo, and to all others who have contributed. Hoping to sail on the Sunrise December 28 cruise. 

 

Two questions. Sorry if they have already been answered:

 

is is there a sliding roof over the aft pool area?

 

is the muster drill held indoors or outdoors?

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, sixesandeights said:

This is an amazing idea....

 

6&8

The wife thinks it fairly anal retentive.....  for the record I moved the thmostat to take the pic and my hand temp raised the temp from holding it......It really was 68 whe I first looked.

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, thesmiths said:

What time does she normally hit the Verrazzano Bridge on the way back up the river?

Like to get some shots of the city in early morning.

 

Also, is it decks 6&7 for the front viewing ?

Looking at deck plans that is what I see?

 

 

 

 

 

Was not timing it, but I would guess about an hour before docking.  I went up to serenity (top of the ship).    Cannot really help on the forward access, although now that you mention it, it would be a great spot to view from.  It was a pretty hazy day (as you can see from the pics).  On some others when we returned, the view (and pics) were spectacular, with great views of the city and sun reflections off the some of the skyscrapers.

Edited August 2, 2019 by jimbo5544

[jimbo5544]

32 minutes ago, btyko said:

Thank for the great review, Jimbo, and to all others who have contributed. Hoping to sail on the Sunrise December 28 cruise. 

 

Two questions. Sorry if they have already been answered:

 

is is there a sliding roof over the aft pool area?

 

is the muster drill held indoors or outdoors?

Thanks  for following along on the review.  Ther is no sliding roof on this ship (and doubt we will see them again on a Carnival ship).  The musters were inside (at least ours was) ours was in the main showroom.  

[Jamman54]

2 hours ago, thesmiths said:

What time does she normally hit the Verrazzano Bridge on the way back up the river?

Like to get some shots of the city in early morning.

 

From past experiences (20 cruises from New York), around 5:45 am, give or take.

[Jamman54]

1 hour ago, jimbo5544 said:

Thanks  for following along on the review.  Ther is no sliding roof on this ship (and doubt we will see them again on a Carnival ship).  The musters were inside (at least ours was) ours was in the main showroom.  

 

They got rid of the sliding glass dome over the aft pool?  Disappointing. Always thought they were great for foul weather or cruises to New England / Canada and Alaska.

[thesmiths]

1 hour ago, jimbo5544 said:

Was not timing it, but I would guess about an hour before docking.  I went up to serenity (top of the ship).    Cannot really help on the forward access, although now that you mention it, it would be a great spot to view from.  It was a pretty hazy day (as you can see from the pics).  On some others when we returned, the view (and pics) were spectacular, with great views of the city and sun reflections off the some of the skyscrapers.

 

35 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

 

From past experiences (20 cruises from New York), around 5:45 am, give or take.

 

Thank you Both!

 

[jimbo5544]

42 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

 

They got rid of the sliding glass dome over the aft pool?  Disappointing. Always thought they were great for foul weather or cruises to New England / Canada and Alaska.

Yup

[jjsparkles]

On 8/1/2019 at 1:10 PM, jimbo5544 said:

So I thought the entertainment on the ship was pretty good.  Playlist has gotten panned since they started on Carnival ships.  They have reintroduced live music to the shows (6 piece on this ship) and the shows are unique and we enjoyed them and recommend them.  The horn section of that band also performed in the Red Frog.  I love the 3 violinists that entertain in the main lobby (I believe Carnival has deployed this concept across all ships/at least most).  They played classical and some rock, this trio was very good and animated which added to the performance.  The rest of the entertainment was enjoyable as well.

 

Thanks for your great review, sounds like you had a great time 👍

 

We really liked the entertainment. It’s the same band that play Vintage Pop and in the Red Frog Pub, we enjoyed watching them.

 

Hope to follow along with your next one 😀

 

 

[jimbo5544]

11 minutes ago, jjsparkles said:

 

Thanks for your great review, sounds like you had a great time 👍

 

We really liked the entertainment. It’s the same band that play Vintage Pop and in the Red Frog Pub, we enjoyed watching them.

 

Hope to follow along with your next one 😀

 

 

 Agree they were really good and you could really tell how much they enjoyed performing.  Next up for us cruise wise is a 7 day on the Legend on 1.6.2020. Then the Magic in March before the TA on the Radiance and the 1st sailing on the Mardi Gras 8.31.2020. Thanks for following along and the nice comments.   

Edited August 2, 2019 by jimbo5544

[jimbo5544]

50 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

 

They got rid of the sliding glass dome over the aft pool?  Disappointing. Always thought they were great for foul weather or cruises to New England / Canada and Alaska.

They seem to be a thing of the past Jeff.  I expect the same thing to the Radiance next year.  

[Jamman54]

37 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

They seem to be a thing of the past Jeff.  I expect the same thing to the Radiance next year.  

 

It's a shame that they stopped with the domes beginning with the Dream Class. True that they are built for mostly warm weather cruising, but it does rain! The dome over the mid ship pool on the Splendor during our Hawaii cruise was a godsend. I was very happy when I read that the Sunrise and Radiance would be keeping their aft pools, but didn't know that the sliding domes were going. 

[jimbo5544]

22 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

 

It's a shame that they stopped with the domes beginning with the Dream Class. True that they are built for mostly warm weather cruising, but it does rain! The dome over the mid ship pool on the Splendor during our Hawaii cruise was a godsend. I was very happy when I read that the Sunrise and Radiance would be keeping their aft pools, but didn't know that the sliding domes were going. 

It was not till half way tru when sitting at the aft pool it dawned on me.  I think they needed the space....at least my guess as to why.  

[pacruise804]

On 7/29/2019 at 9:54 AM, jimbo5544 said:

Got to see the show last night, most of the rest of the gang went to the Michael Jackson thing, I decided not to push it.  The show was good.  To answer some questions regarding Playlist, there is a six piece band that does live music and 8 dancer/singers.  

It's nice to read about the live band.  I remember the lack of live music being a big complaint about the theatre productions.

 

On 7/31/2019 at 7:35 AM, jimbo5544 said:

I had read a lot about lido before we cruised.  Carnival obviously tried to make it as palatable (pun intended) as they could, obviously there is a limitation on space.  Where on most ships there are two sets (one on each side and one upfront and one aft) on this ship there is only one.  At breakfast it works just fine, with the 4 extra omelette stations (in addition to the two in the center of the lido food line) it plain works.  Lunch.... not so much, the deli (port side was always very busy).  Lucky bowl did not seem to be a hit, I did not try it.  For dinner there did not seem to be any problem. Frankly, for us, there was not an issue.

 

I for the first time got told a flat out no to a request I made to a Carnival employee.  It happened at the Sea Food Shack.  I asked for a Lobster Roll with butter instead of mayo (the CT way and the only real way).  He told it came with mayo, I asked again and he said no.  I was kind of surprised and said I had it multiple times that way on other ships, he said .....no.  

Sad to see you couldn't get the lobster with butter 😞 I don't like mayo but do like bread, butter, and lobster so thought it might be good to try.  I suppose I'll have to stick with crab legs.

 

I could see Lucky Bowl fitting a market, especially on cooler weather cruises.  I've had times where the a/c messes with my sinuses and would enjoy some basic broth - might be good for an upset stomach too.  They had something similar on NCL (as a stand alone venue - not part of Lido) and it was one of the few dining options I thought they did ok.