Live! Brilliantseas on the Carnival Sunrise - February 12-17, 2022

[brilliantseas]

Carnival goofed and delivered the Valentines Day chocolates two days early. 

 

[brilliantseas]

Night 1 YTD Dinner Menu

 

[brilliantseas]

Quesadilla with chicken, black beans, peppers, onions, and cheese. Not as good as the version I had on my last Carnival cruise, but still good. 

 

Strawberry Bisque. Think strawberry smoothie in a bowl. Very good. 

 

Calamari. Well prepared and not at all chewy or rubbery. 

 

Sweet and Sour Shrimp

It appears as if Carnival is having supply chain issues with their regular shrimp for this fish. The panko breading closely matches the regular shrimp, but they are not normally butterflied. The flavor was the same. I might pass on this one next time...

 

Roast Chicken with Bourbon Glaze. GF said it was dry. 

 

Tiramisu. Best part of the meal! 

[Pellaz]

Great photos!   

 

And that cabin...whew!   What a gorgeous view!  

 

Did you take your forward-facing photos from your room, or from the "secret" decks in front?  

 

The Guys Fries sound disappointing, but TBH I don't remember what the "old" fries tasted like.  I'm sure these will be...serviceable.  😐  

 

 

Edited February 13, 2022 by Pellaz

[brilliantseas]

I could get used to waking up to this view. 

[brilliantseas]

7 hours ago, Pellaz said:

Great photos!   

 

And that cabin...whew!   What a gorgeous view!  

 

Did you take your forward-facing photos from your room, or from the "secret" decks in front?  

 

The Guys Fries sound disappointing, but TBH I don't remember what the "old" fries tasted like.  I'm sure these will be...serviceable.  😐

 

 

The sail-away photos were from the "secret deck" on 7 forward, although we have nearly the same view from the room. 

 

[brilliantseas]

The "premium" internet package is far slower than what I've experienced on the past few cruises. It is usable, but you certainly won't be streaming anything on this ship. 

[brilliantseas]

Sea Day Brunch Menu

 

 

 

 

[brilliantseas]

 

 

 

[brilliantseas]

Sea Day Brunch in the Sunshine Restaurant

 

Huevos Rancheros with brunch potatoes and chia seed pudding. The Huevos was well seasoned and flavorful, and the chia seed pudding remains a must-have at every Sea Day Brunch. Both were both delicious. I could have skipped the potatoes. 

 

 

GF had the 12 Hour French Toast. She described it as a bit dry and needing of some fruit preserves or something similar to add moisture and flavor. The peaches appeared as tiny dry slices on top. Pictured with chicken sausage and brunch potatoes. 

 

 

I had the banana cream pie with butterscotch ice cream and raspberry coulis for dessert. 

 

 

GF had 7 layer chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. 

 

[brilliantseas]

Tied for 2nd place in Fact or Fiction Trivia with 16/20 correct. 

 

 

 

[brilliantseas]

Time for some sunshine. Currently off the coast of Cuba, where the air temperature is 86 degrees and there isn't a cloud in the sky!

 

 

 

[brilliantseas]

The woman next to us is discreetly pouring brown liquor out of her sunblock bottle and into her ginger ale. If you know, you know. #smugglersanonymous

 

 

 

[brilliantseas]

Her liquor has a higher SPF rating than my Coppertone! 😆

[brilliantseas]

Having sailed on Carnival Triumph several years ago, prior to her transformation and re-branding as Carnival Sunrise, here are my thoughts after the first 24 hours. 

 

1. The updated aesthetic is much brighter and generally pleasing, if not a bit generic and lacking identity. The staterooms are in great shape. 

 

2. The exterior Lido Deck and Serenity areas are CROWDED despite reports that we are only around 1,900 passengers on a ship with 2,984 lower berths and a peak capacity of nearly 3,700. I have never been a fan of the Destiny/Conquest class tiered Lido Deck design, and this cruise only confirms that. Not a seat to be found at either of the bars or on Serenity. We finally found two recently-abandoned lounge chairs on the top tier next to the Deck 11 forward doors. 

 

3. Lido Buffet area is also very crowded, and it seems like the walkway widths are narrower than on other ships. The new aesthetic is a welcome improvement. No tables to be found near Guy's or Blue Iguana, however we were able to find a table inside the buffet area. 

 

4. Sunshine Restaurant (YTD) was less than half full for dinner, and even less crowded for Sea Day Brunch. 

 

5. Casino has been fairly empty, as was the Red Frog Pub. 

 

6. Looking forward to trying Guy's Pig & Anchor BBQ, although the hours are VERY limited - noon to 2:30 on sea days. We missed it today. 

 

7. Piano Bar 88 feels much smaller than the former piano bar on Triumph. That space has been replaced with a new Alchemy Bar. Unlike the Carnival Legend, Sunrise's Alchemy Bar lacks a stage for live music. 

 

8. The large Red Frog Pub is a nice addition. The solo guitarist playing last night only had a few people in the audience before dinner, however there is a full band scheduled to take the stage tonight. 

[vicky3vicky]

I am loving this! Thank you so much!

[Saint Greg]

On 2/12/2022 at 12:22 PM, brilliantseas said:

 

 

 

Is that John Heald at the bar?

[Guest BasicSailor]

19 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

Is that John Heald at the bar?

I noticed that too 🤣, just too many obstacles to challenge 😆

[brilliantseas]

It is not, although I can see the resemblance. 😆

[brilliantseas]

This afternoon's activities largely centered around the Super Bowl. The bingo session featured reserved viewing seats in the Limelight Lounge. At 5:00 PM, they had additional games on both the Lido and in Liquid Lounge to win more reserved seats ahead of the game. Elegant night was postponed and tonight's MDR menu was swapped with night three. 

 

We opted not to partake in the Big Game festivities. Lido was PACKED, with not a chair to be found ahead of the game. Liquid Lounge and the casino bar both had seats available to watch the game. I noted that "sip and cover" did not appear to be enforced as only one couple at the bar was wearing masks. 

 

We attended Larry Omaha's 6:30 family friendly Punchliner show in the Limelight Lounge. It was the second least attended comedy show I've ever been to, second only to a rough seas / seasickness show on the last night of a Carnival Dream show several years ago. I counted a total of 38 people at Larry's show. He tried his best, but after seeing him on both Legend and Sunrise, I've decided he just isn't that funny. 

 

 

 

[brilliantseas]

After Larry's show, we caught a few quick songs by Toda la Banda at Red Frog Pub. They are the Latin duo onboard Carnival Sunrise, performing the early shows at Red Frog and filling in alongside the solo guitarist on the lobby stage. 

 

[brilliantseas]

We hit Limelight again for Mark Sweeney's 7:30 family friendly show. His energy and pacing had the small crowd laughing all the way through. 

 

After the show, we headed up to Lido to check out the dinner buffet. Dinner was a mixture of options from the salad bar, dinner buffet, and deli. We also noticed as we were finishing dinner that some guests were coming in from Lido carrying taco salad bowls. Carnival had re-opened Blue Iguana and Guy's for the Super Bowl. 

 

Cuban Mixto sandwich from the deli. This was greasy, but delicious. 

 

Salad bar selections

 

Vegetarian fried rice, fruit, chickpea salad, and some fresh bread from the dinner buffet. 

 

GF had half of a chicken wrap. It looked delicious. 

 

S'mores parfait and pineapple cake from the dessert station. The chocolate was a little too intense for my liking, but the pineapple cake was a surprise hit. 

[brilliantseas]

After dinner, we stopped by Red Frog Pub again to play a bit of shuffleboard and listen to the Motown Hits set from Sunrise Rock Band, the other band that performs on the Red Frog stage. They were much better than Toda la Banda. Both vocalists are very talented!

 

 

 

Red Frog also has a Foosball table. Both are free to play. 

 

I ordered a can of ThirstyFrog Caribbean Wheat right before we headed back down to Limelight Lounge for Mark Sweeney's 9:30 adults-only show. 

[brilliantseas]

GF had to try a Punchliner at the Punchliner. These things can be dangerous, but also delicious! 

 

 

Mark Sweeney's 9:30 R-rated show about being a pot-smoking 17-year-old who joined the marines to get out from under his father's rules. This guy is hilarious. 

 

 

[Pellaz]

 Thanks for the continuing updates!    

 

A bit disappointing that chairs and loungers were hard to find.  I'm wondering what it's like by the aft pool, and whether it is adults-only or open to all.   (On Conquest-class ships it used to be adults-only, but on the Victory and presumably the Triumph it was open to all....)