Carnival Sunshine - very sunny!

Considerations:

• We are a family of three in our 30’s with a 3 year old

• We didn’t eat in the MDR (Main Dining Room)

• We didn’t go to any of the shows or comedy acts, so I can’t comment on the space or crowds

• We didn’t spend time by the pool with the exception of some time spent on the Serenity Deck (very nice!) and Dive in Movie nights (great!)

Pros:• Very welcoming staff - Carnival makes you feel at home right away when you step on the ship; we arrived at noon, it wasn’t crowded at all, and we took pictures with Lady Liberty

• Cabin service – our cabin steward on the 7th floor, Pedro, was outstanding! Very attentive, and cleaned our room twice a day (we actually told him evening service was fine with us, but he insisted on cleaning twice a day). Excellent service!

• A child friendly cruise line – staff must genuinely like kids or be trained in how to talk to kids. The wonderful staff in the lobby bar made our three year old kiddie drinks with umbrellas, cherries, etc. Seuss at Sea brunch was OUTSTANDING. Brunch host Melissa from Peru was terrific and engaging, as were the waiters. The food was delicious and all of the kids attending loved it.

• Specialty dining choices – Bonsai Sushi was excellent, as was Cucina Del Capitano for dinner. The food at both restaurants is comparable to NYC dining, and was the highlight of our cruise

• Quiet breakfast area on 5th floor (aft, I believe) – if you want to get away from the crowds on Lido, try the 5th floor area next to Java Blue/Shake Spot for breakfast. BTW, the shakes were amazing!!

• Dive In Movies – since we didn’t have dinner in the MDR, we were able to watch movies on the pool deck each night. Free popcorn and blankets.

• Room service – very tasty (we tried sandwiches, wings, quesadillas, plus my husband got Bonsai sushi delivered every night)

• Gym – my husband enjoyed the gym every morning.

• Small playground attached to Camp Carnival – my 3 year old really enjoyed it and it was rarely crowded. It had a slide, a big pirate ship to climb on and a few other smaller things to play on.

• No sewer smell – I had read reviews about sewage smells throughout the ship. We didn’t smell any of it.

Cons:

• Muster – too long, too hot and sweaty, and too many crowds. Our muster station was outside and lasted a very long half hour.

• Ship’s layout – made it almost unavoidable to walk through the casino each time to get to different areas on the 5th floor. Not great for parents, pregnant passengers and those allergic to cigarette smoke. Also…they had a Dr. Seuss photo opportunity set up in a corner of the CASINO. Bad, bad idea! Bad.

• Loudspeaker announcements late at night – this happened during two nights which was really frustrating. Twice I heard the announcements coming from the hall loudspeakers, and once through the speakers in our room. While I understand a lot of people are out and about at 10 pm, there are kids sleeping and Carnival is the only ship I’ve been on that makes announcements late at night.

• It looked like the Library Bar no longer had wine dispensers. We were looking forward to that.

Overall, it was one of our best vacations ever because we relaxed, didn’t go crazy trying to schedule stuff, and enjoyed the atmosphere (we loved the lobby bar and sitting on our balcony). Feel free to ask me questions and I’ll respond!

Thanks for your time to report back!

Sunshine sometimes cruises out of Charleston which is a very convenient port for us so really appreciated your review. :)

Are there any theme nights on Sunshine? Cruised other lines before and there have been theme nights out on the pool deck like A White Party.

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