CTCruisers

We reached Sapphire level with our last NCL cruise and had a few questions: Dinner With Officers - The note says to to go to the cruise next desk to register. Do you have a choice of restaurant and times or they just assign something randomly based on their availability? Priority restaurant and entertainment seating - Does this mean we do not have to wait in line for shows like the Cavern Club Beatles shows and comedians or does it apply to just the main theater shows?

We just go to the dining room, show them our platinum cards, and order beers requesting that they don't open them. Then, we just leave and bring the beers to our cabin fridge.

Is there much shade available by the Havana pool area?

Which deck(s) have the Havana cabins and pool?

Sailing in November should make for a quiet scene on board. We sailed on the Sunshine last week and there were no issues even though it was a full ship of passengers. We had a great time.

We were just on the Sunshine. We only saw handles on the self pours in the Lido buffet on the first day of cruise and never after that.

Everything I had was good for me. My wife had issues with her two steak orders. It seemed to her like the quality is poor unless you pay the upcharge for steaks in the MDR.

We were just on the Sunshine and had a great time. I posted the following review: I hope this helps.

Just off the Sunshine. We received our ship pins and VIFP fanny packs at the Pixels desk.

Just off the Sunshine. We were welcomed in the terminal as Platinum. We had priority boarding. We went to Pixels to get our pins and VIFP fanny packs They had a party of Platinum and Diamond members with free flowing drinks. We had a free drink during the at sea brunch on the last sea day. We had priority disembarkation and tender service as well.

We just off the Sunshine. We received a letter from Carnival stating that as a platinum member, we could drop off our carry-on when we got board. But, when we boarded, all of the door to the cabin halls were closed and we could not drop off the carry-on after all.

We sailed on the Carnival Sunshine out of Charleston, SC on a 5-day cruise that started on 04/24/23. This was our 11th Carnival Cruise and 31st cruise overall (19 with NCL and 1 with RCCL). We have Platinum status with Carnival. We had flown into Charleston the day before and had reservations at the Embassy Suites in the historic district on Meeting Street. It is located inside the former Citadel fortress. Our flight into Charleston arrived at 10:00 am on that Sunday, 04/23. We took a taxi ($30) to the hotel and since we had arrived well before their check-in time, they let us store our luggage in a secure room while we went out to explore the old part of the city. We had purchased combo tickets to take two tours that day, a horse and carriage tour and a harbor cruise tour. The hotel is only a block away from the bus stops for the free DASH shuttles the city has in the historic district. The shuttles run every 20 minutes or so and we jumped on one that had a stop on Market Street. We walked through the famous markets located there in block-long buildings while checking out the various vendor booths and their displays. Our first tour was with Palmetto Carriage Tours and their barn is located just a block away from the markets. We arrived there an hour and a half early and decided to sit inside to be out of the sun. While waiting for our tour, an earlier carriage tour was loading. One of the staff there asked if we wanted to get onto the earlier tour since they had 2 open seats which was fine with us. Our carriage was pulled by a large blonde roan horse named Bezos. The tour took us an hour ride with informative narration by the driver. We found out that the horses come from Amish country farms and are well cared for. We also found out that all carriage tours must stop at a city checkpoint where they told which route they can take. That means that you can take several tours and see different parts of the city each time. We enjoyed the tour and would recommend it to all. After we returned to the barn, we walked a few blocks back up to Meeting Street to catch another Dash shuttle back towards our hotel where we hopped off and immediately jumped onto a different shuttle that would bring us to the waterfront. The harbor tour’s pier was only a few blocks from a bus stop near the aquarium. We just missed one cruise that had left a few minutes before we arrived, so we hung out walking around the area to admire the harbor views. The 1 1/2 hour tour on the Carolina Belle took us past the harbor sights going out to Fort Sumter and passing other fort areas as well as Patriots Point where the USS Yorktown and USS Laffey are docked. We finished the tour going under the Ravenel bridge before returning to the pier. It was an interesting tour. They sell drinks and snacks and they have restrooms on board. You can sit on the open top deck or down below in the closed deck with chairs and windows for viewing. We wanted to sit below, but the air conditioning made it very cold down there. After our harbor cruise, we walked back to the bus stop and took a shuttle back to the hotel where we found that our room was ready, so we checked in. After gathering our luggage, we went to our room. The hotel is incorporated in the historic old fortress. Our room had 2 gun slits in the brick outer wall. The service and staff of the hotel was amazing. Day One The next morning, we had breakfast at the hotel before heading to the cruise terminal. Taxis are scarce in the inner city, so the front desk had arranged a car service to take us to the terminal which was about a mile away. We arrived at the terminal around 10:00 am. The terminal to check in is not next to the pier area. As platinum members, we had a priority boarding and were seated in a designated waiting area. By 11:00 am, they were calling groups to start the boarding process which entailed leaving the first terminal and boarding buses that brought us to the second terminal which located next to the pier by the ship. We were on board the ship by 11:30 am. While we had been told prior to our trip that as a platinum benefit that we could drop off our carry-on luggage at our cabin immediately after boarding, we found out that all cabins were not accessible while their crews prepared them. We just headed topside for a quick snack and then walked around exploring the ship. The Sunshine was our 10th different Carnival ship to sail on. We found out that she had been originally named the Destiny when she was launched in 1996. She was refitted and renamed the Sunshine in 2013. She had additional improvements added in 2018. Currently, she is the oldest ship in the Carnival fleet. A lot of the ship seemed to have a fresh look to it which impressed us. By 1:00 pm, they announced that the cabins were now open, so we headed down to cabin 8230 which was an inside cabin on deck 8 located midship under the lido pool deck area. Our luggage had already arrived, so we took everything inside and unpacked immediately. We headed back topside to find a shady spot to sit and watch the sail away which was scheduled for 4:00 pm. We ended on deck 10 overlooking the pool area below. At 4:00 pm, the ship let out a load blast of its horn and everyone clapped and yelled in celebration. They had a DJ playing a fun party tunes which had a lot of folks dancing in unison by the pool. We sailed out past Fort Sumter as we headed out to sea. For dinner, we just went to the Lido Marketplace buffet which is fine with me. They had two comedians performing on the ship, Steve Wilson and Spike Davis. We went to both of their shows in the Limelight Lounge. We lucked out in that when we left the first show, the line for the second show was very short. After the comedians, we went to the Liquid Lounge Theater to see the Welcome Aboard show hosted by the cruise director, James Love who mentioned that we had 3,400 passengers on the ship. We thought the comedians were funny and the show which included a performance by the Playlist Productions cast was entertaining. Day Two This was a scheduled sea day. After sleeping in, we went to the Ocean Plaza to attend a trivia game before going up to the buffet for a late breakfast. We attended a few more trivia games in the afternoon and then went back up to the pool area to sit in the shade and listen to the DJ playing music. We had signed up for “Your Time Dining” which started at 5:30 pm in the Sunset Dining Room. This required us using the Carnival Hub app on our phone to check in when we were ready to be seated. The app would confirm a table number and you would walk up to the counter before they took you to the assigned table. My wife ordered a steak while I ordered a fish dish. My meal was okay, but the steak was under cooked and tough. For the evening entertainment, they had the same two comedians with three shows between them along with a Playlist Production Show called “Soul Train”. We had seen all of the Playlist Production on other Carnival cruises, so we decided to see the first two comedian shows. This time, the line for the second show was a bit longer than the first night. But we were able to get into both shows which were funny. Day Three This day had a port visit this day to Nassau, Bahamas. Our ship was the only one in port this day. It was our 7th visit to Nassau, so we decided to stay on board the ship and enjoy it while being less crowded. We started the day with a trivia game before heading up for breakfast. We did a few more trivia games and then headed back to the lido deck for a quick lunch and hanging out by the pool area. After the sail away from Nassau, we went back to the Sunset Restaurant for another sit down dinner. We ordered the same steak and fish dishes. This time, the steak was overcooked and tough. My meal was okay. We listened to some music that evening before heading to the theater to watch the “Love and Marriage Show” which was funny and entertaining. James Love did a great job. Day Four This day had a visit to the private island called Half Moon Cay which required tender service to go ashore. We had booked a tram tour on the island in the early afternoon, so we went to breakfast and then attended a few trivia games. By the late morning, there were no lines to take a tender to the island. We arrived more than an hour prior to our scheduled tour. We were able to take an earlier tour which brought us past all the beach locations by the harbor before heading off to the horse stables and then a Manta Ray farm located further away. We thought the tour was interesting and it was a great way to see a lot of the island during the 45-minute ride with 2 quick stops. We grabbed the first tender that was available to head back to the ship before the rush. We spent the rest of the afternoon sitting by the pool area listening to music. After two bad experiences in the main dining room, we just went to the buffet for dinner. For the evening, they had 2 comedian shows and a Playlist Production called “Latin Nights”. We skipped the show in the theater and went to see the 2 comedians that evening. Again, they were both funny. Day Five The final day on board was a sea day as we headed back to Charleston. We did our usual routine with breakfast and then trivia games in the morning and early afternoon. We spent the rest of the afternoon by the pool listening to music before heading back to our cabin to pack our luggage to be put outside our cabins. We went to the buffet once again for dinner. They had another Playlist Production show called “Epic Rock”, and 3 comedy shows. We went to the first comedy show and then went to the Ocean Plaza to listen to a band. We had planned to go to the late comedy show and I went to get into line early so that we could be sure to get into see the show. While the first show was entertaining, the final one we attended was disappointing as the comedian repeated several jokes from his previous shows. Disembarkation Day As Platinum members, we had the option for priority disembarkation which required us to be at the Sunrise restaurant on deck 3 forward before 7:15 am. We got up early and went up to the buffet for one last breakfast by 6:00 am. They were making announcements shortly after that. We were at the restaurant by 7:00 am only to find out that they had already cleared the room. One of the security officers let us get into the line to get off the ship right away and we were in the terminal to gather our luggage by 7:15 am. We had a short walk to Concord Street across from the Customs House where they had a taxi stand. Only flight home was the next day, so we took a cab back to the airport where I had a car reserved with Hertz. We spent the morning and early afternoon visiting the Magnolia Plantation located north of the city. The plantation is full of gardens and pathways by the Ashley River and throughout their 500 acres of land. The flowers were all in bloom. We took a 45 minute tram tour that told us about the history of the plantation and pointed the various wildlife found there including many different birds along with alligators and turtles. After the tram tour, we had a short walk to go to the "from slavery to freedom" tour. We thought it was an interesting tour with a guide telling us about the history of the plantation and how integral the use of slaves was needed to clear the land and farm the dangerous rice fields (alligators, snakes, leeches, and mosquitoes). Once the slaves were emancipated, the plantation had to cease rice production as no one wanted to work the fields anymore, regardless of how much was offered in pay. There are 4 slave houses that we toured. We enjoyed our visit to the plantation. Observations Platinum level – We feel that Carnival does a great job recognizing repeat customers and making us feel special (especially compared to recent NCL experiences where you are taken for granted). For platinum members, they welcome you at the terminal and give you priority boarding and disembarkation. We received a ship pin with the year on it. They had a terrific party for platinum and diamond members with what seemed like unlimited drinks. They also offered a free drink on the last sea day. You have priority service with tender service if wanted. Food – We did not go to any specialty restaurants that required a fee, so cannot comment on those. Overall, we felt the food and variety offered was very good in the buffet and the main dining room except for the steaks offered without a fee. We liked the Blue Iguana Mexican options as well Guy Fieri’s Burgers and fries. For breakfast, they offered made-to-order egg dishes, but you had to go to the Havana Bar area kitchens to get them. The lines for those were always short as we felt that most folks were not aware of them. Bar Service – We are beer drinkers and took advantage of their buckets of beer specials throughout the cruise. Their beer offerings were varied, and we found ones we liked. We do not drink enough to warrant buying their drink packages which would have cost double what we spent for our bar tab. Staff – A special shout out to two employees. First, our room steward Tamba, who had 34 cabins to service on our cruise. Our room was always clean and serviced more than adequately. He also left a towel animal surprise each day. Secondly, our bar waiter I Made, who always was johnny-on-the-spot with filling our beer buckets on the pool deck as well as the comedy shows. The cruise director, James Love (bye y’all) was excellent, and his staff did a great job with the various events on board the ship. Entertainment- The many musical acts, comedians, and shows in the theater offered plenty of variety for us. Trivia – We enjoy trivia games. We came in 2nd or 3rd several times. We finally did win one trivia on the last day and earned a coveted 24 carat plastic ship on a stick. So, we are 10 for 10 with having a ship trophy from each of the 10 Carnival ships we have sailed on (whew, no pressure there). Weather – The weather in Charleston was cool and windy, but other days were much warmer. The only rain we encountered was a few hours on the afternoon of our day in Nassau. Overall – We really enjoyed our trip to Charleston and the cruise to the Bahamas. We had a great time and feel that Carnival cruises do a wonderful job for us to have fun. We are looking forward to our next adventure with Carnival.

Just returned from a Pearl cruise from Boston with stops in Canada and 2 ports in Maine. The only port where were hit with sales tax was Boston, noting for Portland or Bar Harbor.

We were on the Pearl last week and there was no MLB playoff games available to watch on board the ship. There only were English and American Football games being shown along with some Rugby matches.

We asked about how many passengers were on board and were told 2,000 out of a possible 2,500. We always book inside cabins as we prefer darkness while sleeping and we are never in the room other than to sleep or change clothes. It is a comfortable size at 141 sq ft. They added lighting for inside the closets and the safe. The vanity mirror lights up as well. I only used O'Sheehans for a beer stop and to watch English Football matches on their TV's. The place seemed busy everyday with diners.