Carnival Sunshine launches despite unfinished work, frustrated passengers

I would think that Carnival, with all the bad press they have been getting, would have used common sense and waited until "Sunshine" was 100% ship-shape before relaunching. Excuses won't fix their image.

Sarge I could not agree more.

I would think that Carnival, with all the bad press they have been getting, would have used common sense and waited until "Sunshine" was 100% ship-shape before relaunching. Excuses won't fix their image.

There is a REASON Some People Call Them Carnivore

They Seem to ROCKS For Brains

I would think that Carnival, with all the bad press they have been getting, would have used common sense and waited until "Sunshine" was 100% ship-shape before relaunching. Excuses won't fix their image.

I agree - if they're trying to fix their tarnished reputation, this kind for news isn't going to help. They seem to be rushing things in an effort to make themselves look good.

We’ve been on several pre-inaugural and first-after-refurbishment cruises (one of the advantages of living in Florida – a lot of times the cruise lines will have a couple of one- or two-night cruises to nowhere to fill the days until the proper start date for their weekly itinerary). Here’s something they don’t tell you: the ships are almost never ready for those first sailings – they are always still working!

One Norwegian cruise we had no air conditioning in our cabin. They were finally able to move us to a different cabin after midnight.

One Celebrity cruise didn’t have any window treatments in the public areas and they were working on hanging the art on the walls.

One Royal Caribbean cruise had plumbing issues and they were still installing the carpet in the hallways. (That was pretty bad. I guess there was a lot of carpet fiber dust and it led to plenty of sneezing and itchy eyes.)

Those were all “first cruises” for the ships (or one of the first sailings). We’ve also been on more than one cruise where a swimming pool has been closed for a day or two for whatever reason.

I don’t want to defend Carnival here – the ship should have definitely been ready and perfect – they even had extra time! Every cruise line should have their new or refurbished ships ready for passengers. But I’m wondering if this isn’t another case of something that wouldn’t normally be news if it didn’t involve Carnival – they seem to be the media darling right now when it comes to hyping up negative stories.

Anyone runs out of tissue on a Carnival cruise right now, it would make the headlines. Yes, the ship should have been ready for the trip. I agree with you WeCruiseToo, if this had happened pre-Triumph we might not have heard about it.

We’ve been on several pre-inaugural and first-after-refurbishment cruises (one of the advantages of living in Florida – a lot of times the cruise lines will have a couple of one- or two-night cruises to nowhere to fill the days until the proper start date for their weekly itinerary). Here’s something they don’t tell you: the ships are almost never ready for those first sailings – they are always still working!

One Norwegian cruise we had no air conditioning in our cabin. They were finally able to move us to a different cabin after midnight.

One Celebrity cruise didn’t have any window treatments in the public areas and they were working on hanging the art on the walls.

One Royal Caribbean cruise had plumbing issues and they were still installing the carpet in the hallways. (That was pretty bad. I guess there was a lot of carpet fiber dust and it led to plenty of sneezing and itchy eyes.)

Those were all “first cruises” for the ships (or one of the first sailings). We’ve also been on more than one cruise where a swimming pool has been closed for a day or two for whatever reason.

I don’t want to defend Carnival here – the ship should have definitely been ready and perfect – they even had extra time! Every cruise line should have their new or refurbished ships ready for passengers. But I’m wondering if this isn’t another case of something that wouldn’t normally be news if it didn’t involve Carnival – they seem to be the media darling right now when it comes to hyping up negative stories.

I agree with the fact that the story would not have made the media reports if it wasn't Carnival. I also agree that ALL the cruiselines should not release a ship for passenger transportation (new or refurbished) until it is 100% completed. They can do a trial run to their intended homeport. With between 900 and 1000+ crew onboard, I'm sure on the way to their homeport without passengers, they could tweak out the bugs to get it squared away for their first passenger cruise. I would rather wait 3 or 4 weeks longer for a fully functional vessel then to sail on a ship that was still under construction!!!

Even if it is the norm for cruiselines to have paying customers on what is basically a "beta cruise", in light of their recent issues Carnival is the one cruiseline right now who should be doing everything possible to - hello- avoid even more bad press!! It just doesn't make sense to me...

-gina-

One reason to never cruise on the first cruise after a refit. This is also another case of someone sitting in an office doing paperwork who has never worked on ships setting deadlines for fixing something they know nothing about.