Carnival Sunrise has come out on top in “Best Cruise Ship Refurbishment” of 2019 according to Cruise Hive readers.
Carnival Sunrise Wins!
Carnival Cruise Line’s newly transformed Carnival Sunrise has won this year’s Cruise Ship Awards in the Best Cruise Ship Refurbishment category of 2019. The ship was up against Norwegian Getaway, Celebrity Millenium, Navigator of the Seas, Diamond Princess and Marella Explorer 2.
The cruise ship which is formerly known as Carnival Triumph underwent more than just a refurbishment, it was more like a complete transformation into a new vessel. The massive $200 million dry dock began on March 1, 2019, at the popular shipyard in Cadiz, Spain and lasted for two months.
Among the new features added during the upgrade were a new Guy Fieri BBQ eatery, WaterWorks park, RedFrog Pub, and an adults-only retreat. There were tons more upgrades, which you can read about right here. All the cabins had a makeover along with decor and furniture shipwide. The undertaking of the transformation was so huge that work actually started on some cabins two cruises before the dry dock.
The ship debuted as the Carnival Sunrise out of Norfolk, Virginia on April 29 with a brand new look, features, and experiences. She kicked off a new season of 4-day to 14-day itineraries from the Norfolk Decker Half Moone Cruise Center. As the ship was pretty much all new she had a naming ceremony in New York on May 23 and taking center stage was godmother Kelly Arison, daughter of Carnival Corporation Chairman Micky Arison.
Full Results for Best Cruise Ship Refurbishment
Carnival Sunrise won the category by a huge margin, and Royal Caribbean’s Navigator of the Seas came in second place. The vessel underwent a major $115 million amplification and added new duo waterslides, a reimagined Caribbean pool deck, new dining venues, bars, and a lot more. The 3,386-guest ship arrived in Miami, Florida, with her new look at the end of February 2019.
In third place came Norwegian Getaway, which spent two weeks in Brent, France, to receive some major new upgrades and enhancements. One of the biggest highlights of the refurbishment was the first dedicated Starbucks venue in the fleet along with a new Syd Norman’s Pour House featuring rock hits. The dry dock was completed just in time for the 2019 summer season and was part of The Norwegian Edge program.
Celebrity Millenium, operated by Celebrity Cruises, came in fourth place. The ship underwent an important refurbishment with new carpets, decor, enhanced dining rooms, and much more.
Diamond Princess came in fifth place with not many votes at all. The Princess Cruises vessel completed her 14-day dry dock in Singapore and was part of the cruise line’s $450 million investments across the fleet.
And finally, with the least amount of votes from Cruise Hive readers was the British-operated Marella Explorer 2. The vessel underwent her dry dock in Cadiz, Spain which included a new hull livery as she became apart of the TUI fleet in the UK.
- Carnival Sunrise (Carnival Cruise Line)
- Navigator of the Seas (Royal Caribbean)
- Norwegian Getaway (Norwegian Cruise Line)
- Celebrity Millenium (Celebrity Cruises)
- Diamond Princess (Princess Cruises)
- Marella Explorer 2 (Marella Cruises /TUI)
Cruise Ship Awards
This is the sixth annual Cruise Ship Awards which first opened up in mid-September to Cruise Hive readers. We received thousands of votes and we only allowed one vote in each category per IP address. Any repeat or suspicious votes were not counted as part of the final result. Do note that the results are only according to Cruise Hive readers and may not be the overall view in general.
We’ve already announced the winner for the Best Cruise Ship Feature right here and we’ll be announcing more over the next few days. Thanks to everyone who has voted!
