This was our first Carnival cruise. My wife and I are in our late 50’s early 60s. We’ve sailed with Royal Caribbean, Princess, NCL, and for our honeymoon, Home Line. We hesitated sailing with Carnival due to its rep as a beer and pizza cruise line. After reading numerous reviews on how they’ve upped their game, we gave it a shot and were not disappointed.

We sailed on the Sunrise, to Canada and New England. First, this cruise attracts an older audience. 90% of the passengers were older than us, and that was quite OK.

The ship is a rehab, with Carnival adding additional passenger rooms to the detriment of common areas. They were very overcrowded, including the buffet, which was no loss, as cruise buffets in general arent stellar. It was difficult to get seating at the piano bar and the comedy club. We went to the comedy club once, 45 minutes early, and were able to get a seat. The ship was not nearly full, which gives me concern about how it would fare when full. We had an inside cabin, as we love the dark for sleeping. It was amply sized, and we didnt feel at all cramped. Read more