My family and I have Platinum status. This includes my 13-year-old son who was on our most recent cruising this past December 22, 2013. My biggest complaint with Carnival is this so called 2.0 makeover. When I was first hearing of this, it sounded interesting; re thinking the Carnival brand, etc. So when time came for a Christmas cruise, my son suggested the “new” Sunshine sailing out of New Orleans. Some observations from a long time Carnival cruiser.

1. Ship is difficult to navigate, even after seven days; I still could not go to a particular area of the ship without having to seriously think about how I was going to get to the location I wanted to go.

2. Public space is small. Part of the Carnival marketing strategy is adding more cabins and less space. In addition, our cabin, which was a balcony on Lido, was a quad and was smaller from other similar cabins on other ships. I think other past cruisers who have sailed on the Sunshine will agree. I get it, “heads in beds” is what makes money, but making public areas smaller simply will not work and guests won’t return. Another good example is the comedy club. It is so small for something Carnival markets very strongly. Also, guests finishing dinner in main dining room are constantly coming in back door and walking through club to get to other end of ship, very distracting. Read more