Returned from Carnival Sunshine June 30th - Bimini

[TehPatch]

Want to preface this by saying, this is not me bitching about a bad cruise. Family and I had a great time. It is however our first cruise since the "before times" and I wanted to see if other experiences lined up with things that I saw.

#1 Elegant Night - I know that they had always been sort of "lax" on the policy of people in the dining room, but this go around Elegant night felt like anything but, We noticed that there weren't the table cloths on the table, etc etc. It just felt like another night in the dining room with Prime Rib.  Has this whole process gone the way of the do-do (Honestly, I don't particularly care, but the Wife really liked that aspect of the cruise, and as this was our first time with our munchkin she was so happy to get him dressed to the nines. )  I'm wondering if the table cloths are problematic because of disease transmission but, who knows. The lack of printed menus was kind of sad to see (at least on this particular night) - but that seems to be a universal practice (I'll talk about the app later)

#2 The use of the app - The app itself for us worked more or less as intended but I will say it doesn't completely replace the old pamphlet.  Things that seemed like they should be easy auto includes (Movie playing on the tv, the only time you could see the schedule was if you happened to catch the schedule between the movies) and a couple of other minor things. Again, I don't think a move to the app is a bad thing, and I am all for saving paper when appropriate - but it didn't seem to be a direct 1:1

#3 Movie selection - This was the one thing that if I did want to complain, I'd do it.  All the of the 7 o'clock movies on Lido were either Art house films or movies I wouldn't deem 'Family friendly' (They did play Spider Man the last night, so that was a minor win)  but I was kind of looking forward to watching a movie with my kid, but as awesome as the new Dune movie was, I'm not letting my 4 year old watch it (Dad, what's spice ... What's Shai Hulud .. why are they walking like that ..etc etc etc) Honestly, I've seen Frozen, and Encanto, and Big Hero .. and literally every Disney Movie 10 million times, but I would have rather seen those again as like "family night with popcorn"

#4 Epic Rock - Wife and kid loved this show - Me, not so much, but that's another story. That being said, isn't this the same show that's been running for 5+ years? I feel like I saw the same thing in 2017? (Maybe it's just that it didn't get its fair shake because of the shut down and if that's the case, carry on)

#5 Missing Hasbro connection? They didn't do the game show night (it was deal or no deal and I won 50 bucks, so score) but I snuck into the library to see if they still had their collection of board games, no dice (Hah, dad joke)

Those things not withstanding, there were personal favorites, and some new takes that I did love.

Guys Burgers is still one of my favorite restaurants.

 

The Sea day brunch menu was new to us and that Aft Deck Brisket Burger was great.

 

The covid screening process was actually pretty easy. We did our tests 48 hours before hand and munchkin did his second on the morning, outside of the lady checking our paperwork appearing to be high (That's another story, and a contracted group not on Carnival so I'm not holding it against them - Literally, she was confused as she was looking at my drivers license with my wife's birth certificate and trying to figure out why the names weren't on the 'unvaccinated list' here's a hint, we're both adults, we have had our vaccines, it was only our 4 year old who until a week ago ... yeah anyway .. dumb)

Anywho - Like I said, just commentary on how things had changed, see if anyone had noticed the same thing or if it was just a weird timing issue.  I know we aren't fully back to normal and I expect some things to have permanent changes. It's not enough to get me to stop sailing Carnival just this guys observations.

[siestakeys04]

They have done away with tablecloth’s for a while now, glad you had a good time.

[firefly333]

2 minutes ago, siestakeys04 said:

They have done away with tablecloth’s for a while now, glad you had a good time.

That's what I was thinking. They were gone before covid but I cant remember when. 

 

Imo carnival shows they cut way back and usually the comedy shows are better. 

 

Dont feel bad on rcl a tablemate wore shorts to their elegant night. It's a sign of the times. 

 

Agree they should have paper back up to the app. In the steak house the waiter scolded a couple in their 80s and told them they needed to learn how to scan and refused to bring us or them a paper menu. Very rude.

[siestakeys04]

14 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

That's what I was thinking. They were gone before covid but I cant remember when. 

 

Imo carnival shows they cut way back and usually the comedy shows are better. 

 

Dont feel bad on rcl a tablemate wore shorts to their elegant night. It's a sign of the times. 

 

Agree they should have paper back up to the app. In the steak house the waiter scolded a couple in their 80s and told them they needed to learn how to scan and refused to bring us or them a paper menu. Very rude.

Oh wow that was rude! We are trying the steakhouse for the first time on our cruise. Never sailed out of Charleston but since it’s 4 hours away we are giving it a try.

[Joe817]

IIRC, Carnival did away with table cloths in the MDR back in 2019. 

[Bostwick girl]

Just an fyi, you can get a paper copy of the Fun Times at the Guest Services desk, they’re generally on the counter. Some good observations, and glad you enjoyed your cruise!

 

[mz-s]

11 hours ago, TehPatch said:

Want to preface this by saying, this is not me bitching about a bad cruise. Family and I had a great time. It is however our first cruise since the "before times" and I wanted to see if other experiences lined up with things that I saw.

#1 Elegant Night - I know that they had always been sort of "lax" on the policy of people in the dining room, but this go around Elegant night felt like anything but, We noticed that there weren't the table cloths on the table, etc etc. It just felt like another night in the dining room with Prime Rib.  Has this whole process gone the way of the do-do (Honestly, I don't particularly care, but the Wife really liked that aspect of the cruise, and as this was our first time with our munchkin she was so happy to get him dressed to the nines. )  I'm wondering if the table cloths are problematic because of disease transmission but, who knows. The lack of printed menus was kind of sad to see (at least on this particular night) - but that seems to be a universal practice (I'll talk about the app later)

#2 The use of the app - The app itself for us worked more or less as intended but I will say it doesn't completely replace the old pamphlet.  Things that seemed like they should be easy auto includes (Movie playing on the tv, the only time you could see the schedule was if you happened to catch the schedule between the movies) and a couple of other minor things. Again, I don't think a move to the app is a bad thing, and I am all for saving paper when appropriate - but it didn't seem to be a direct 1:1

#3 Movie selection - This was the one thing that if I did want to complain, I'd do it.  All the of the 7 o'clock movies on Lido were either Art house films or movies I wouldn't deem 'Family friendly' (They did play Spider Man the last night, so that was a minor win)  but I was kind of looking forward to watching a movie with my kid, but as awesome as the new Dune movie was, I'm not letting my 4 year old watch it (Dad, what's spice ... What's Shai Hulud .. why are they walking like that ..etc etc etc) Honestly, I've seen Frozen, and Encanto, and Big Hero .. and literally every Disney Movie 10 million times, but I would have rather seen those again as like "family night with popcorn"

#4 Epic Rock - Wife and kid loved this show - Me, not so much, but that's another story. That being said, isn't this the same show that's been running for 5+ years? I feel like I saw the same thing in 2017? (Maybe it's just that it didn't get its fair shake because of the shut down and if that's the case, carry on)

#5 Missing Hasbro connection? They didn't do the game show night (it was deal or no deal and I won 50 bucks, so score) but I snuck into the library to see if they still had their collection of board games, no dice (Hah, dad joke)

 

1 - Tablecloths are gone for good now. They used COVID as the excuse.

 

2 - I agree Carnival could do so much more with the app if they wanted to.

 

3 - I think they want to try to appeal to all ages, so some nights they'll play family movies and others they'll play adult (but not that kind of adult) movies. On one of my sailings they played Encanto and the new Aretha Franklin biopic, those are two I remember anyways.

 

4 - Yes, Carnival rarely changes out the shows they play on their ships. In the past they had to wait for drydocks to change out the props and decorations, but now that everything is just costumes and the LED backdrop I don't know why they don't change them more often.

 

5 - I think Carnival and Hasbro severed their relationship a few years ago, before COVID. It didn't last terribly long.

[TehPatch]

Thanks all for the heads up -

Kind of a shame on certain items, I'm waffling between understanding and thinking their reasoning is silly - but it is what it is.

[TehPatch]

12 hours ago, siestakeys04 said:

Oh wow that was rude! We are trying the steakhouse for the first time on our cruise. Never sailed out of Charleston but since it’s 4 hours away we are giving it a try.

I think you'll have a good time - Make sure to give yourself some time in the city (we are from there) and it'll be one of the last as Carnival did not re-up their deal with the city port. 

I am working under the assumption that we will get another company to take their place, who that may be I don't know yet

[bguppies]

1 hour ago, TehPatch said:

I think you'll have a good time - Make sure to give yourself some time in the city (we are from there) and it'll be one of the last as Carnival did not re-up their deal with the city port. 

I am working under the assumption that we will get another company to take their place, who that may be I don't know yet

We won't the SNOBs (rich people "slightly North of Broad St.") have been trying to get the city to ditch cruiserliners for years.

[siestakeys04]

Did you wait until you were onboard to book the steak house?

[TehPatch]

9 hours ago, bguppies said:

We won't the SNOBs (rich people "slightly North of Broad St.") have been trying to get the city to ditch cruiserliners for years.

I'm sort of interested in whether or not the state gets involved - There was an article about how one of the Florida ports tried to do the same thing (I think it was Miami?) and the state stepped in and said "uh-uh" but I guess we'll see.  It's 2024 and if the last few years have taught me anything, nothing is ever set in stone and things change on a dime.

[lazydayz]

7 minutes ago, TehPatch said:

I'm sort of interested in whether or not the state gets involved - There was an article about how one of the Florida ports tried to do the same thing (I think it was Miami?) and the state stepped in and said "uh-uh" but I guess we'll see.  It's 2024 and if the last few years have taught me anything, nothing is ever set in stone and things change on a dime.

 It was Key West,  Miami has a great port and treats the cruise lines very well.  

[dsnutz]

On 7/4/2022 at 9:40 PM, TehPatch said:

 

The Sea day brunch menu was new to us and that Aft Deck Brisket Burger was great.

 

 

We have an Aft Balcony, sailing 7/28, so I must know about this Aft Deck Brisket Burger, do tell

[bambam]

Curious: they used to post the MDR menu out by the entrance…still do?

[hapytobehr]

36 minutes ago, bambam said:

Curious: they used to post the MDR menu out by the entrance…still do?

Yes

[cruizergal70]

On 7/4/2022 at 11:11 PM, Joe817 said:

IIRC, Carnival did away with table cloths in the MDR back in 2019. 

Nope, it was earlier than that. Maybe around 2016.

 

Honestly,  this should be a non-issue. If ones sensibilities are so offended,  cruise a different line.

[F27TW]

On 7/4/2022 at 10:25 PM, firefly333 said:

That's what I was thinking. They were gone before covid but I cant remember when. 

 

Imo carnival shows they cut way back and usually the comedy shows are better. 

 

Dont feel bad on rcl a tablemate wore shorts to their elegant night. It's a sign of the times. 

 

Agree they should have paper back up to the app. In the steak house the waiter scolded a couple in their 80s and told them they needed to learn how to scan and refused to bring us or them a paper menu. Very rude.

 

I'd have gotten that a****le's name and reported him to every manager i could ... and to corporate ..  who is some waiter to berate any customer ???

Edited July 15, 2022 by F27TW

[InNeedOfSaltWater]

On 7/5/2022 at 11:27 AM, TehPatch said:

I am working under the assumption that we will get another company to take their place, who that may be I don't know yet

 

This article is from June, from reading this it don't seem like cruises will be there anymore. Which is a shame cause there's gonna be a domino affect for area businesses without tourist dollars coming in.

 

Charleston Just Told Carnival It Can No Longer Sail Out Of Its Port Starting In 2024, Here’s Why

 

https://www.travelawaits.com/2769976/carnival-cruise-lines-not-sailing-out-of-charleston-south-carolina-2024/

[ninjacat123]

I would like South Carolina to reverse that decision.  

[bobsfamily]

Maybe North Charleston will homeport Carnival....

[mz-s]

42 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

I would like South Carolina to reverse that decision.  

 

Carnival has wanted a new terminal to be built in Charleston ever since the Fantasy was there. I would imagine the SC Port Authority just ran out of runway. The Charleston old money can afford to keep the issue locked up in courts until kingdom come. Carnival could turn Charleston into the next Galveston, but the city doesn't want it. At a certain point you have to figure they don't want to be where they're not welcome. And with all the development around the terminal lately, SC Ports can sell that land for a pretty penny.

 

I sort of hope SC Ports will repurpose a section of their Columbus Terminal for cruises and continue homeport operations in Charleston, but I think if that was in the cards it would have been announced when this announcement was made.

[mz-s]

2 minutes ago, bobsfamily said:

Maybe North Charleston will homeport Carnival....

 

The problem is that's past the Ravenel bridge, which limits them to Spirit or Fantasy class. I really doubt Carnival is in the mood to operate yet another height-limited home port.

 

I think the most likely announcement is Norfolk will become a home port to replace Charleston, but they've got their own challenges (namely, parking).

[Anyislandwilldo]

On 7/4/2022 at 8:40 PM, TehPatch said:

#2  Things that seemed like they should be easy auto includes (Movie playing on the tv, the only time you could see the schedule was if you happened to catch the schedule between the movies) and a couple of other minor things. 

Yes I agree.  I sat and watched them repeat the guide and wrote down the times and days of the movies I wanted to watch.  Just in case I happened to be in the room at the time.  It would be nice to have these on the app.

[Pellaz]

On 7/5/2022 at 8:44 AM, Bostwick girl said:

Just an fyi, you can get a paper copy of the Fun Times at the Guest Services desk, they’re generally on the counter. 

 

Yep, and if they aren't there or you missed one, you can ask them to print out a copy for each cruise-day.