Nervous about sailing on the Sunshine now!

We sailed on the Sunshine in July. The ship was full and they said there were about 1000 kids on board. We had the best time. To me, it never felt like that many kids were on board. The ship never felt crowded to me except one morning at breakfast when the entire ship was trying to get off for an early stop at port. The slides were awesome! My kids had a great time on them. It was the most amazing vacation I've been on!! I'd sail on her again in a minute!

We are bringing our nieces (9 and 11). Can you tell me something the girls, or DH and I can become involved with, so we can win them a ship on a stick? They would love to have one. Thanks.

I rarely read the Cruise Critic ship reviews anymore. However, I do read the detailed picture reviews/trip reports on the cruiseline boards. (i.e. Carnival Cruise Line board we are posting on here). When you read the detailed picture reviews, you get a better understanding of the reader and can gauge their opinions, preferences, and dislikes versus your own. Also, I have never read a completely bad review on the boards, as they tend to be comprehensive and provid both the positives and the negatives.

We are booked on the Sunshine for this winter and I honestly believe it will be a great cruise with all the 2.0 features, food, waterpark, and sports court. I really love the comedy club, so if I do not make it early for a seat I will be disappointed, but not devestated. At nearly 1/2 the cost of the Allure for the 4 of us, I can handle a few issues and things less than perfect. Now, if I sailed the Allure and I experience many issues, I would not be as forgiving.

My least favorite cruise was still awesome!

Thanks one-and-all for your feedback. I am going to cruise and have a great time!

If you go in with that attitude...you will have a great cruise!!:D

It is so sad that we all ( myself included) get stressed out regarding other's reviews. A cruise, just like life in general, are what you make of them. I enjoy being waited on and cooked for, even if it is not perfect. Am I a perfect cook? Any food that I don't have to prepare is great. Think about the crew that are away from their families, yet always have a smile on their face. The cruise we just had, I heard a lady tell her husband, "We need to find a good photo of us for our Obituary." I thought she must be kidding and asked her "Why in the world would you be doing that?" She gave me sour look and said that they had attended a lot of funerals lately. Please throw me overboard if anyone hears me make a similar comment. Life is too short to think like that! I hope you all enjoy each and every cruise you take. Being on a cruise certainly beats working!

We are bringing our nieces (9 and 11). Can you tell me something the girls, or DH and I can become involved with, so we can win them a ship on a stick? They would love to have one. Thanks.

Trivia!! :D

I was also scared after reading so many negative reviews. I had planned this cruise for a group of 34. I can say we really enjoyed ourselves. My parents enjoyed it so much they are going on the Sunshine again in November. The food options are wonderful. The cruise director and her entertainment staff are fantastic. Go to the shows and games. People in my group really enjoyed the water slides and rope course.

I didn't like having to walk through the casino. It has a smokey smell. That was my negative experience.

I just didn't see the crowds. I have been on other ships that are much more crowded.

I do have a review attached to my signature. There are photos for you to enjoy.

I hope you have a great time.

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As very experienced cruiser I know that no ship is perfect and never even insinuated that any were perfect. Hope you have read the posts of others that have stated they should have heeded the negative posts, or do you ignore those posts as they don't support your liking of the Sunshine. I have read all (including the mixed feelings) Sunshine posts and for me, the Sunshine still gets the same consistent complaints and is the lowest rated Carnival ship on Cruise Critic, even the old Destiny had much better ratings. I also know some people bash Cruise Critic ship ratings but to me they are helpful...

Better yet is to ignore all opinions from other people of a ship and make your own. With the exception of trying to find out a specific FACT, I never read other's reviews. i want to make my own opinions without preconceived notions from someone who may not hold the same values that I hold.

We sailed on the Sunshine last April and had a great time.

Service was good. The food was good. Always found a deck chair when we wanted to.

What overcrowding? Did not see that.

I suggest don’t plan on having a bad cruise or you might.

We are planning on sailing on the Sunshine again.

Have a fun cruise.

Great post! Op, don't pay attention to the doom and gloom Sayers, enjoy your cruise and let us know your thoughts when you get back. We just booked the Sunshine for a fund raiser group for next summer. We went on the Sunshine last November for a sleepover. I was blown away and totally impressed on the ship. Far exceeded our expectations.

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We are heading out on 10/4 on the Sunshine. I have read the reviews, and now I am very nervous about the cruise. It seems like 9 out of 10 reviews are extremely negative. Did I make a mistake? This is my third cruise on Carnival. I prefer making my own opinion on something; however, the cruise reviews are pretty troubling.

No, mistake. I prefer the Breeze, the Sunshine has tried to crowd too much in the same space, but it is still a great ship,

Love the waterfall and pool and tri-level Serenity, Alchemy Sports Bar, Ji-Ji, Shake Spot, better playlist shows. It is a great ship, and I would not hesitate to sail on it again. If they added a thallasotherapy pool, I might even pick over Breeze.

No, mistake. I prefer the Breeze, the Sunshine has tried to crowd too much in the same space, but it is still a great ship,

 

Love the waterfall and pool and tri-level Serenity, Alchemy Sports Bar, Ji-Ji, Shake Spot, better playlist shows. It is a great ship, and I would not hesitate to sail on it again. If they added a thallasotherapy pool, I might even pick over Breeze.

I would prefer the Breeze over the sunshine as well.

Nothing better then a newer, larger ship.

But, the Sunshine is nice

Did they say why the slides were closed for that long? Just wondering because our kids are looking very forward to that part of the ship.

To be honest, we didn't ask. It was a bit chilly to be in the water anyway. The twins just wanted to explore the ship everyday and go to kids club. Our son had a blast playing Foosball, basket ball, the ropes course and meeting new friends at kids club.

We still had a great time.

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That was our last Carnival cruise, when it was the Destiny. Smoking everywhere it seemed and our toilet backed up and over, flooding, our first ever suite for the wife's Birthday surprise. Surprise!! Final straw.

The slides and ropes course were closed a couple of days when we sailed. The water was rough during those days. It was windy. I'm sure they closed them for safety reasons. They were open other days and every day we were in port.

Just off Sunshine today. No overcrowding. Plenty of seats in the liquid lounge. Dining room service was excellent. Very few kids on board.

We sailed on the Sunshine the week of 8/16. There are some flaw designs with the ship mostly with small venues, the pools and public spaces. Several cabins in our party also experienced backed up/overflowing drains in the restroom, toilets that would flush, or flushed on their own (one day, and the same day for all the rooms). The positives on the cruise outweighed the negatives, and we had such a great time on the ship, and in port, that we're booked for her again next summer, and this time we hope to have a larger group.

We were on the Sunshine in May, and just got off the Liberty yesterday. I really didn't care for the Sunshine. Lido buffet just was not very good, they never had a carving station all week, and the rest of the food was similar to a cafeteria steam table. Other food options were merely adequate. I thought the Liberty's food was very good.

Also, I really liked our cabin (balcony, 6th deck)on the Liberty, the style was quite Art Deco, and the lighting was well placed. There seemed to be a lot more storage in the cabin, with plenty of shelves, and we had a large bathroom. The Sunshine cabin (also a balcony)seemed cramped and ill laid out.

Actually, I even prefer the old Ecstasy over the Sunshine.

Of course, we had a great time on the Sunshine, as we always do.

Mrs. Walkinman

We sailed on Sunshine in May this year and had a nice time. I booked it specifically for my granddaughter and I so we could race the waterworks slides! We had a blast! It has it's own unique style, and while not a ship I would choose over and over, it was a perfectly good cruise for us. We had a suite, smaller than I expected but very nice, and right by the atrium elevators! I was worried about the noise but I never heard a thing once the door closed. It was the best local we could have had.

Happy sailing!

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You will have a great time. We love Holland and did our first Carnival on the Sunshine. No disappointment. Everybody can find something to complain about. Serenity Deck was incredible. Our room (5th Deck oceanview) was great, steakhouse was phenomenal. Loved the Alchemy and Red Frog pub. There was a sewer odor in the theatre/disco that I hope they've fixed. But we just avoided that area. Look for the good and the fun and you'll find it.

You will have a great time. We love Holland and did our first Carnival on the Sunshine. No disappointment. Everybody can find something to complain about. Serenity Deck was incredible. Our room (5th Deck oceanview) was great, steakhouse was phenomenal. Loved the Alchemy and Red Frog pub. There was a sewer odor in the theatre/disco that I hope they've fixed. But we just avoided that area. Look for the good and the fun and you'll find it.

I felt like the OP when we first booked the Sunshine because she was at the bottom of the rating scale...nowhere to go but up! I am hoping the Serenity area lives up to the hype. We rarely hit the disco anymore, but if the theater stinks we may think twice about rebooking this ship. So much is planned in the theater; I also hope this is fixed soon. How does one avoid the main theater?

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Thanks one-and-all for your feedback. I am going to cruise and have a great time!

I also read all the negatives before we sailed on the Sunshine and was a bit nervous. I read all about these buckets(never saw a one!) And the smell, which we occasionally caught a whiff of but I dont think this is ship specific because we smelled the same thing on the Liberty. But I also read many positives and great advice such as a vacation is what you make of it!

And here are a few things I really enjoyed about the Sunshine.....we loved the Serenity Deck! And the food at the Mongolian Wok was awesome!!! I liked how a few of the places that are extra cost in the evening are free for lunch. The shower in our cabin was huge compared to the Liberty. I liked the decor.....I felt it was bright and fresh. We really liked the Atrium Bar and spent alot of time there.

Enjoy your vacation! After all....your on a ship in the ocean, not at work....what could be better than that :)

We just returned today from an 8 night cruise on the sunshine. It was fabulous! No issues. Yes we had to get to comedy early

But we saw several shows and had great seats. Great wait staff. Awesome steward. Everyone was really friendly. Food was wonderful. Only issue we had is that the ship was rather warm. I'm usually freezing so I always pack a light jacket for around the ship. First time that is didn't use it! Deck 5 seemed to b the only deck that was consistently cool. Our room varied but was on the warmer side. However, this would by no means keep me from sailing the sunshine again. Go and enjoy!!

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We went on Sunshine this past summer, and mostly liked it. There were some things we liked a lot about the ship, and other things we didn't like at all. The Comedy Club was awful, very small, much worse than any other Carnival ship. We only went one night, and didn't go back because it was so aggravating. We ended up spending most nights in the piano bar. We did go to one or two shows, one was fairly good, and the other not so much.

Any time dining was different, in that you had to check in at one area, then go to the dining room when your table was ready. We had no problems with service, it was about the same as other ships' anytime dining.

The nightclub was in the main show room, late at night, which was kind of strange. Make sure your cabin is not over that!

The Lido buffet was arranged nicely, one of the things we really liked. Instead of one long line for everything, we had different stations for different things. We never waited in a line for anything.

JiJi's was excellent, well worth the extra charge. We didn't try the other specialty restaurants.

The slides are awesome, and fast!! Be warned, if you go down the racer slides, you are likely to get a noseful of water at the end!!

Overall, we would go on the Sunshine again. Take the negative reviews with a grain of salt, and enjoy the cruise!!