Awesome crew, good ship, hot cabin

Carnival Sunrise Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

Doug7856

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 15

Overall rating:

3.5 out of 5

5 Night Western Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: July 24, 2023

Ship: Carnival Sunrise

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 9265

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 9 months ago

Review summary

We have now sailed 24 nights on Carnival ships and this has been the only one that was disappointing (regarding accommodations). The Carnival Sunrise is a good ship, except that our cabin had no air conditioning. The lack of response from Carnival and the hotel manager was very disappointing. We aren't ones to complain, and there were many who did -- loudly, but we did stop several times at customer service but nothing was communicated back to us on the status of the situation. The entertainment, activities and food were great on the Carnival Sunrise, but the customer service regarding a feature (air conditioning) promised to us by Carnival was very disappointing. We would not book this ship again due to the problem and lack of response from the Carnival staff.

Embarkation

3 out of 5

Slow. We purchased Faster to the Fun and that helped. Apparently, there was a Coast Guard inspection that slowed embarkation. The lack of communication from Carnival during the delay was the biggest negative.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

We had some very good meals. Most dinners with in the Main Dining Room. We had a wonderful meal at the steakhouse. The MDR is good and the service was generally outstanding. The food was okay, as expected. We had two sea day brunches and neither were good. Disappointed in what was once a highlight of a Carnival Cruise. The worst was the chicken and waffles. The chicken was hard and inedible and the waffles were soft and tasteless.

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

We had a great time on the ship. We enjoyed the pools, ropes course, and the fitness center.

Entertainment

4 out of 5

This was some of the best entertainment we've experienced on a Carnival ship. The production shows were great. Tyler Meehan was an excellent cruise director. We really enjoyed Deal or No Deal!

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Generally very good. We didn't see our room steward, but we did leave a note with some requests and they were take care of. We were very happy with his service. Disappointed that Carnival no longer offers twice a day cabin service. We were disappointed that our concern about the lack of air conditioning wasn't addressed by the hotel manager.

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

The Carnival Sunrise is a smaller ship by today's standards. It is well designed and has great common areas. There was constant upkeep and Carnival does a great job updating their ships.

Cabin / Stateroom

1 out of 5

We had no air conditioning. The results was a musty, mildew smell and a cabin that was impossible to sleep in. We love the cruise experience, but being able to relax in our private cabin was impossible due to the poor ventilation and lack of air conditioning. We stopped at customer service several times, but never received an acknowledgment of the problem and it was not addressed in any way, not even a simple "we're sorry". We're not ones to complaint, but the hotel manager really dropped the ball on this one, in my opinion. The Carnival web site indicates that each cabin has "Stateroom climate control", but that was not the case for us.