we chose this cruise because of the duration/ports/and the fact it went under a refurbishment.
So here is my two cents---I'm a pretty easy going passenger and pretty much goes with the flow...so upon reading all the low reviews about this ship I came aboard with no high expectations.
Pros:
*My kids (both 4 and 5) enjoyed the water slides/splash park
* On the first day of the cruises I had a pretty good judgement of majority of the passengers (first timers; young adults; fair amount families with young children)--because of this I knew most of theses people were not going to get up early to eat breakfast/go to the pool to snag chairs. So wait times for the buffet for breakfast went pretty fast and we had no problems getting a chair at the pool.
*Embarkation and disembarkation went smooth for us
* blue java coffee is worth the money if you appreciate good coffee/tea
* The sushi and Alchemy bar were my favorites
* "Cheers" program is WORTH THE MONEY---buy it!!!!
* Our room steward Sai was very sweet
* Our kids love the camp ocean as well as the activities for them
* Never had any problems with the Staff
* Decent breakfast at the Main dining room
Cons:
* Dinner at the main dining room--------not too good
* The layout of the ship is pretty annoying (having to cut through a smoke filled casino or walk one flight up or down to get to your destination)
* The seafood shack is NOT WORTH the money--having to wait 45mins for bland fried seafood was not the business
* Yes areas of the ship did produce odors of old cigarettes and sewage.
* Buffet food--------------------its buffet food, soooooooooo
* The noodle bowl was good but too salty for my taste
* After having to wait 45mins at the seafood shack and seeing the same amount of ppl waiting at the deli I decided not to try it.
* We were on the Spa level--the floor was quiet but our stateroom (1115) was facing the stairs so we occasionally we heard ppl talking loudly or running up and down the stairs.
* we were on a balcony level and the balcony was soooooo narrow and i felt like the room was very small for 4 people.
So overall the cruise was okay. I believe those who are new to the cruising world would think the ship was great, I saw a lot of people who just wanted to have a good time and enjoy themselves, so I wasn't annoyed by the "urban demographic" (as some of these reviewers referred them to---by the way me and my family are apart of the "urban demographic). But because I consider myself a seasoned cruiser and had a pretty good idea where/what majority of the people were doing we didn't get the feeling that the ship was so crowded. Coffee shop...went there early, sushi--nobody wanted to pay extra for it so we basically had the whole area to ourselves, breakfast--went to the main dining area early and was seated immediately by the time we left there was a long line, hit the waterslides/pool/got chairs early before everyone else (remember we ate breakfast early, kids were dressed and ready for the pool--so by the time most woke up/ate breakfast we already had 2 lounge chairs--and this was by 10am)
Honestly I doubt I would cruise Sunrise again only because the layout of the ship was so annoying to me and the food wasn't that great.
Sai (our steward) was awesome...however I felt the room was small for 4 ppl and the balcony was super narrow
The cruise BBQ was gross...Jerk Chicken was greasy and you could tell the burgers were frozen patties...so we ate just the variety of salads and fruit.
getting on and off was not a problem, the kids enjoyed the beach and had no problem getting a chair with the blue coves (but again we got off early)
we took an 3rd party excursion to the Atlantis to enjoy the water slides...beautiful hotel but seems like you have to walk 8 miles just to get the slides etc ( I will admit my left knee starting hurting and kinda ruined my experience)
Had no problem getting on/off the ship and getting a taxi