The (Initially) I Would Prefer the Sorta-New Carnival Sunshine Over the Breeze Review

Introduction

Okay, you ask, how would you rather book the Carnival Sunshine over the Breeze, but then, you change your mind?? Well this review is thorough but no pics (you seen 1, you seen them all) so, I will spare the pics but give my overall experience of the Carnival Sunshine.

About Us: We are a family of 5 (my husband, myself, and 3 children). We have 2 boys ages 11 (his fifth cruise), 7 (his fourth cruise) and a daughter age 4 years old going on 40-LOL (her third cruise). This is my 9th cruise (8th with Carnival) and our third time on this ship (twice before when it was Destiny). We only travel with the kids so, we expect as any other vacation to have a blast. We packed the car, filled up the tank, and headed down to Port Canaveral around 4:30pm. Thankfully, we made it safely to the Residence Inn around 7pm the day before we set sail on the sorta-new Carnival Sunshine.

Now, this cruise is a celebration cruise for a cousin who graduated from high school. A couple of weeks prior, I scheduled to have her cabin (a Grand Suite) decorated for the occasion which included a little sports bag that you can purchase from Carnival. I will say, this was a nice treat but I will talk about that later.

So the cast: my grandmother (grandfather opted out to go), aunt, uncle, cousin, brother, niece, nephew, mother, husband, myself, and our three children are on this trip.

Day 1

So back to the trip…we head to the Residence Inn which is very nice (would definitely stay there again), check in, and then of course do the usual Wal-Mart trip to pick up last minute items. After leaving Wal-Mart, we stopped at the Taco Bell on the way out for a late-light dinner for the kids and head back to our room. After touring the room, we relaxed, had our showers and then, hopped in the bed for an early morning rise to see the sorta-new Carnival Sunshine.

Day 2

So we wake up to the big day…we’re going on a cruise, Yayyyy! Around 8am, my 2 sons entered our room and I asked them to assist me with getting the breakfast from the other side of the hotel. They obliged and we headed to a sorta packed lobby of excited vacationers. While standing at the buffet, I overhear a conversation between the chef and 2 young boys who apparently did not know how to work the waffle grill. Unfortunately, the older boy opened the grill prematurely which, caused his waffle to be half-way done. After the chef explained what he did wrong, the boy insisted on removing the waffle from the grill. At this time, their mom had walked up seeing there was commotion involving her sons and then boy accidently dropped the waffle on the floor. The mother looks down and says,”pick it up, dust it off and put it on your plate.” She proceeds to say, “it’s okay, we have a 5 second rule in our house.” I look at the chef and start giggling and I then realize, ugghhh- gross, I can’t believe she encouraged her son to eat off that- God-knows- how -many -shoes -carrying- bacteria- poop- food- that-rotted- in-the creases- of -the- I-wouldn’t- want- to- touch- that -floor-let-alone-eat-off-that-floor! So, the chef says in response, “Yeah, you know that’s how we do it in our house. Shoot! We got a 5 minute rule in ours!” I look back in the dining area to see if anyone caught this convo and of course, I see several disgust looks on a couple of guests’ faces. This is one of those surreal moments that you want to laugh but, it’s at an inappropriate time so, I excused myself and rushed the kids back to the room. Once we got back, my daughter finally awoke and we all sat to eat our non-cooked breakfast for the day (thanks chef!) Although, we had a Guy’s burger calling our names in the next few hours.

After getting dressed and re-packing the overnight bag, I went to the front desk to verify what time the shuttle would be leaving for the port (which is the next exit off the highway). As I’m standing there, a crowd is forming of future cruise passengers and I hear the shuttle driver explain that an email was recently sent by Carnival to avoid coming to the port until after 12p.m. She then says we will leave and come back to pick you up at 12p.m. instead of the 10 a.m. appointed time. I then say to her, excuse me? Carnival sends these type of emails out all the time but, I would prefer to wait at the port instead of the hotel! Of course, I would not want to be sitting at the hotel watching the ship leave without me. I then get a few nods from the fellow passengers except, 1 couple who say, well we would rather stay. After a few minutes of convo, we all decided off to the port we go. I hurriedly call my husband to bring the luggage down and the kids (of course) so we can make our way to the port.

So real quick, we get to the port, waited for clearance to get off the shuttle bus, we get off, find our luggage, tip the porter to make sure the luggage makes it on the ship and proceed to the entrance. Once entering the terminal, we head to check in (to those critics at the hotel who thought we could not get into the terminal before 12pm…HA!), go to security, get stopped by security because my husband decided to take the laptop I- told- him- not- to- take- and- now- it's- making- us- wait –because- they- need- to- examine- the- darn- laptop! Whewww! Get through security, check in, and wait in the designated area until our boarding number 11 is called. I would like to give kudos to Carnival for providing snacks and water while we wait. Moving on…after about an hour and half wait, our boarding number was announced and we proceeded to the gangway to board the sorta-new Carnival Sunshine.

Looking forward to the rest :)

Reading honeybegood. I believe it's the Breeze or Sunshine for us next year, so your review interests me!!

Looking forward to reading more as we are on the Sunshine in November.

Looking forward to hearing more.

Looking forward to the rest :)

Thanks! I hope you enjoy. :D

Reading honeybegood. I believe it's the Breeze or Sunshine for us next year, so your review interests me!!

Thank you! I don't want to sway your decision but, I just wanted others to hear my experience and remember that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder.";)

Looking forward to reading more as we are on the Sunshine in November.

Looking forward to hearing more.

Thanks all! I will try to have this done in the next week. Enjoy! :)

Day 2 (Continued...)

Upon entering, you step right into that gush of wind and the Oh-My-Goodness feeling, I can’t believe I’m on a cruise ship for the next week! Of course the Atrium is gorgeous, as always, the typical Carnival décor. Being that our cabin is on the lido deck-forward, we catch an elevator ride to the ninth floor and eagerly walk forward to our cabin.

Now, this is why I say, initially I would prefer the sorta-new Sunshine over the Breeze. Ok, a little background. At first, I was booked Early Saver in a balcony on the 7th deck and then re-booked Balcony Guarantee to receive a price reduction. Later, I would come to find out it was not supposed to happen because, it’s considered a downgrade but apparently, like many other customers and reps believed, this is possible under Early Saver rate. So anyways, I’m now booked BG and reaping the benefits of price reductions.

While visiting CC forums, I came across a thread that mentioned about a 6J category room. I checked the deck plans online to see what was so special about this cabin. If you haven’t seen one, search the forums and the deck plans, they are nice upgraded Oceanviews. It’s like this picturesque view with a window that stretches from ceiling to floor and is located in the front of the ship which, provides awesome views. There’s only 4 per ship and they are only on certain ships (Freedom, Glory-I believe, Sunshine, and I think Valor?) So, a couple months later I just happen to check to see if a 6J was available and low and behold there is one available for my sailing. I pondered, showed my husband, asked his thoughts, and he says, “yes, go for it. It’s something different.” So, I call Carnival and explain I wanted to change my cabin and she says, “sorry ma’am, you cannot downgrade your cabin.” I say, “what?! I just did it about a month ago when I downgraded to BG plus, I’m Early Saver so I have the right to downgrade!” With an Oh, I’m sorry I cannot help you, I say, Ok thanks anyways and hang up.

About a couple days later after pondering some more about switching from a Balcony to an upgraded Oceanview, I decided to call again. The rep gets on the phone and says, “Oh yes, we do have a Scenic Grand Oceanview available.” I respond, “Great! Now can you please book me in that cabin so I don’t lose it.” Her reply to me, “Sure, but you would need to pay the upgraded price of 190 dollars and pay the remaining of your balance today” I say, “hold up (without mentioning I am downgrading,) I’m in a balcony requesting an upgraded Oceanview, why do I have to pay more?” Well long story short, I paid the money and so began my excitement for “getting-one-over-on-the-Carnival-rep-by-downgrading” for a paid-to-downgrade cabin (lol).

Of course, before hanging up with the rep, I asked for the cabin number and decide to check out the deck plans on Carnival. When I browsed for my cabin number which was 9126, I was displeased that a sample picture was not available. HOWEVER, when I was viewing the deck plans, I noticed my cabin was not the cabin I thought I had booked and questioned myself, “what in the world did I just book?” A little on that later…

Okay back to the trip, so now we’re at our cabin, 2 out 4 of our luggage bags are sitting at the door. I’m excited because the kids don’t know what type of room I’ve booked (they’re assuming we have a balcony) and I’m anxious to see their faces when they walk into the room. So, my husband puts the sail and sign card in the door lock, slowly opens the door, and BAM!!!!

Let me tell why I would initially want to book the sorta-new Sunshine (again) before the Breeze… when I said to myself earlier, “what in the world did I just book?” Come to find out, I did not book a 6J category (Scenic Oceanview) but, an 6K category (Scenic GRAND Oceanview)- cabins that I’ve heard no such thing of! When I searched the cabin number and saw the pictures, I almost fell out my seat y’all! Let me tell you, if you can book this cabin, I don’t care if you have a Suite, Balcony, or Spa cabin (whatever over-priced cabin you have) try to get one of these. It is the price of an Oceanview, about 10-12 dollars more per person per day, but it’s bigger than an Ocean Suite! Mind you, for an Ocean Suite, I would have paid 1400 dollars more for 4 people (my daughter was booked in her grandmother’s cabin). That being said, besides the extra 100 square feet space, the views are amazing! I have never seen anything like it…it’s like the 6J cabin but instead of 1 ceiling to floor window, it’s 3 of them!!! Apparently, these cabins used to be Captain Suites (which are now located next door) and were converted into upgraded Oceanviews during dry dock. If you are interested, you must book a year in advance and be prepared to pay the same as a balcony or if not, more. Also, price checking won’t be as fun because, there’s only 2 6Ks available on the above mention ships. However, I priced checked anyways just to compare prices with the balconies and the OBC was not worth it for us to upgrade back to the balcony.

Now that’s my spill on why the AMAZING 6K cabins convinced my family, in that moment, that the next cruise will be on the sorta-new Sunshine in oppose to our favorite ship the Breeze. But WAIT! There's more...Stick around to see what's in store. :D

Up next, more of Day 2 (the first sailing day), Guy’s burgers, making reservations for Anytime Dining, Limelight Lounge (comedy club), and (eek!) Camp Carnival.

Thanks for the report!

Great start! Looking forward to reading the rest as we are sailing on the Sunshine in December!

I so agree that the scenic oceanview rooms are amazing. We stayed in one of the grand scenics just added during the Freedom drydock. Because they were relatively new, I don't think most cruisers new they were available so we got one within a few months from the sail date. I originally booked the Sunshine just to get one! Here's some pics of our cabin (hope you don't mind).

http://s1314.photobucket.com/user/dance4me16/slideshow/Freedom%20cruise%20August%202014/cabin%209200%20by%20cruizinisthebest

Looking forward to the rest of your review.

My wife and I are booked in 9126 on Sunshine Oct 4th for an 8 day voyage...I'm hoping the rest of your review will only have good news about Sunshine and 9126...but for some reason I'm worried it won't...

Thanks for the report!

You're Welcome! Thanks for tuning in. :)

Great start! Looking forward to reading the rest as we are sailing on the Sunshine in December!

I appreciate you for stopping by. Have fun on your cruise, we always have a great time!:)

I so agree that the scenic oceanview rooms are amazing. We stayed in one of the grand scenics just added during the Freedom drydock. Because they were relatively new, I don't think most cruisers new they were available so we got one within a few months from the sail date. I originally booked the Sunshine just to get one! Here's some pics of our cabin (hope you don't mind).

 

http://s1314.photobucket.com/user/dance4me16/slideshow/Freedom%20cruise%20August%202014/cabin%209200%20by%20cruizinisthebest

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review.

Thanks for posting pics of the room! I have to find our pics, my husband put them on another disk and I haven't got the chance to retreive them.

My wife and I are booked in 9126 on Sunshine Oct 4th for an 8 day voyage...I'm hoping the rest of your review will only have good news about Sunshine and 9126...but for some reason I'm worried it won't...

You're going to love that room! I wish Carnival would build those cabins on every ship... definitely was a pleasurable experience for my family.

Day 2 (Continue….)

Now that we are on a high after seeing where we will be staying for the next week, we head to the Lido. Now between the Breeze and the Sunshine, there’s not much of a difference between the outside deck area. There’s the main pool, Red Frog Rum Bar, Blue Iguana Tequila Bar, the burrito/taco station, and of course, Guy’s Burger Joint. So, after we gobbled down a burger and fries, I called my family to see if they made it to the ship by now. They were just getting to the ship, dang! We decided to head towards the aft part of the Lido and I am getting REALLY excited! If my memory serves me correct, I noticed a difference in the layout of the buffet between both ships (now I could be wrong, someone please correct me). Carnival created food stations instead of the typical buffet layout. Each section was duplicated on the opposite side within the area so, you never had to wait longer than a minute to get your food and go. Once you pass through the buffet area, you enter this intimate ambience of the Havana Bar (exclusive on the sorta-new Sunshine). We ate in this area every day for breakfast and lunch. This would have been the location of the aft (adult) pool but, was replaced with the Italian Restaurant, Ji Jis Restaurant (aka Mongolian Wok), and the Havana Bar placed in the center. In this area, you would find the omelet stations for breakfast and for lunch, you can order from both restaurants free of charge.

After touring the Lido, we go back to the room, get a text that the family finally made it on the ship, meet up with them, checked out my aunt’s Grand Suite <PAUSE> Now as I mentioned before, if you are able to get a 6K cabin, go right ahead and book it, you will not be disappointed. However, I will say the Grand Suites have an awesome floor plan (just not worthy in our budget). I was also thrilled to see the decorations I ordered for the recent grad and have to say, I was impressed.

After our short visit, we participated in muster drill, went to Camp Carnival's welcome party, missed sail away since it was delayed because of an ill staff member, it's storming now as we are leaving port later than expected and everyone is hungry. Now we're faced with the infamous adventure of making Any-time Dining reservations.

...Great read so far. We absolutely loved the Breeze and are considering the Sunshine in the near future. Looking forward to the rest of your review! Thanks for sharing.

...Great read so far. We absolutely loved the Breeze and are considering the Sunshine in the near future. Looking forward to the rest of your review! Thanks for sharing.

Thank you for dropping in. I'm to trying to keep this somewhat entertaining. The feedback keeps me going. Thanks all!:)

LOL, ok I am really trying to finish this second day (the first cruise day) and we have 6 more nights to go. So, I will give you the heads up, the next days will be brief, I will just mention the highlights.

Back to the trip…The group decided we would meet for dinner being that this is the first night so, we all met up on deck five aft. This deck of course is the location of the casino (which it didn’t seem smoky as others have stated in previous reviews.) Once you pass through the casino going towards the back of the ship, you enter into the Ocean Plaza. Now this is where things get tricky about making reservations for Any-time Dining. At first, I was like, okay we can handle this BUT, when you have to check in on deck 5 then, have a group of hungry people with several children all line up and have to stroll downstairs to deck 3 when your table is ready, it can become irritating. That’s my one and only complaint about Any-time dining on the Sunshine. Other than that, I thought it was a brilliant idea to place the reservation table near a sitting area and entertainment. Here you are able to grab a sample from the Taste Bar, listen to live music from the Red Frog Pub, and of course, visit my favorite place on the ship (however, not on the Breeze): The ALCHEMY BAR! Oh my goodness, I’m not a Martini drinker but, it was like a taste of heaven (if heaven was an alcoholic drink). Shout out to Gabriel who made the best drinks I’ve ever had, Fourty-is-the-New-Twenty. Oh man, it’s a concoction of fruits and liquors and he tops it off by setting fire to an orange peel and dropping it into the glass. It’s like a “cherry-on-top” of a sundae. That drink was sooo good and refreshing that it would be nice to eventually visit this bar on the Breeze. Another reason why I would consider the Sunshine in a heartbeat but, the story continues…

Okay, dinner in the MDR was good, not great, but our waiter Caesar and the crew made our dining experience a pleasurable one that I requested his section every night. It was little things that I missed about my first cruises with Carnival. In spite of their busy job, they really took time to make conversation, treating us like we’re family, not just serving us. It was wonderful and I appreciated the exceptional service his team provided. In comparison to the Breeze, the Maître D visited our table every single night on an 8 day cruise. On the Sunshine, we saw the Maître D two times and that was to introduce the wait staff’s dance numbers. I didn’t see him visit not one table and we dined every night. I’ve heard others on the cruise say they did not enjoy the MDR at all and I would admit, if it was not for Caesar and his team, I would have to say, I would agree. That’s about all I will mention about the MDR except, I enjoyed the food and the MDR entertainment on the Breeze much better.

After dinner, my husband and I decided to enjoy the night life. We dropped the kids off at Camp Carnival (I will speak on this later) and we headed to the disco, the Liquid Lounge. As most know, the show lounge turns into a night club on certain nights and I believe feasibly this was a great idea. Now that I think about it, I was pleased with the public areas on the sorta-new Sunshine. Although, many complain how the refurbishment sacrificed public areas for extra cabin space; this was well demonstrated in a couple situations that I will get into later on.

We’re now at the Liquid Lounge and found it to be dull and almost empty so, we decided to go to one of our only favorite entertainment spots, the Limelight (comedy) Lounge. Contrary to popular belief, there was not one soul waiting for the next comedy show which started in 30 minutes. I was happily saying to myself, this will be easy-breezy… we should be able to find a seat for the rest of the week Yayyyy! So, the comedian was hilarious, a great story teller that involved underage girls, a son cruising with his single mama, and couple of convicts. His routine was one of a kind and I don’t want to give it away in case anyone sees him but, it definitely ended the day nicely.

Well that’s Day 2 (first cruise day)…thank goodness because that was a lonnnggg day. Next up is Day 3 (second cruise day) and it will be brief as I mentioned before. Stay tuned…

Thanks for your report.

Keith

My wife and I are booked in 9126 on Sunshine Oct 4th for an 8 day voyage...I'm hoping the rest of your review will only have good news about Sunshine and 9126...but for some reason I'm worried it won't...

Awesome, My wife and I are booked on the same cruise... As far as the review(which is awesome by the way) it's just one persons opinion. If she says she loves is-great. If she says she hates-well I'm still going to try it, because it's a cruise, I know I am going to have an awesome time no matter what ;)

Love your writing style! Can't wait for more!