Nervous about sailing on the Sunshine now!

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.

I totally get what you're feeling; I'm booked on her in November and keep seeing negative reviews. I'm just going to try to approach this trip with an open mind and form my own opinions. I can deal with some bad smells, and if I wanted to avoid crowds like they're reported in the lounges and other public areas, I wouldn't go on a cruise. I'm just so grateful to have an opportunity to cruise again, so there's no way I'm changing my mind on this trip!

It seems like every cruise on every ship has a complaint. Many are mountains out of molehills. Most complaints are not even worth writing about.

Here is something to consider about the nature of people.

Most people in the world only write a review to complain. If there are 9 things great and 1 thing bad, they will only write about the one bad thing. Everything is subjective. I may like the food, you may not. You may think you room is the perfect temp, I may say its hot. It'll all subjective.

What would ruin a cruise for me? I can't think of much that wouldn't be tolerable.

I have never cruised on sunshine, but go with an open mind and enjoy yourself.

I went on it when it was the Destiny. It was very overcrowded back then during off peak times. When they first started talking about getting rid of public areas and turning them into rooms I started saying how bad it was going to be. So many people were slamming me saying I was so wrong. It's not just the overcrowding they are having issues with. I'm sure people are having a great time on it but I certainly wouldn't book her. I can't understand how people can read so many bad reviews and still book it. During her better days she was the largest ship. It's still the same ship structure and engines after all these years.

It seems like every cruise on every ship has a complaint. Many are mountains out of molehills. Most complaints are not even worth writing about.

The Sunshine complaints are consistent, when I read the same complaints over and over I tend to believe them and they are things that I care about and not molehills to me. I am platinum on Carnival and have 3 Carnival cruises coming up before the end of the year. I am very much a Carnival fan but I will never book a cruise on the Sunshine. Next cruise is on the Fascination (9/13). Miss the Dream but have an upcoming cruise on the Breeze (10/11). The only way I would cruise the Sunshine is if Carnival gave me a free cruise on it, which of course won't happen...

I'm also going in October and I'm looking forward to seeing the ship. This is my 5th cruise on 5 different ships (4 of them Carnival) and it'll be nice to see how this one compares to the others. I'm going to enjoy myself, no matter the ship, and enjoy it as vacation. Negative reviews rarely scare me away. Until I see otherwise, I have no reason to believe the stories.

We loved the Sunshine. Never had problems with crowds except the Comedy Club. That is consistent with all ships. They have their most popular show in their smallest venue.

No problems with leaks or smells. She is not a cookie cutter ship like all the rest. She has some different layouts. I think they make her unique. Enjoy your cruise. As long as the engines are running, its gonna be a great week! Have fun!

We are booked on her in October. We are stuck with a school schedule that we have to cruise around so our options are limited. We are going with an open mind. We don't really cruise for the ship or the entertainment. We are all about the ports. Hopefully the overcrowding will not be too bad. Last year there were only about 60 something kids on our cruise and we had 8 of them. So I would think the rooms will not be at capacity. We know that the comedy club set up is not that great so we are prepared for that. We know the pool is small. We never really use the pool anyway. The kids are more into the water slides. We know there may be smells, tried to book our rooms away from any of the reported areas. We know the buffet is not that great but there are lots of other options onboard. We know we may get a bad wait staff in the dining room. I'm not afraid to ask to be placed somewhere else. We did that before. We have friends that went in May they loved it and booked again for the fall. I'm sure there will be things we don't like. But we got an amazing deal. We are with friends and family and I won't have to cook and clean. We are going to have a great time!

I will be on the 10/4. Cruise also. This will be my second time on her this year and I plan to rebook a cruise on her for next year. She is a great ship. I loved all the food choices. The kids loved all the slides, pool and other activities. I've had some little things pop up on many past cruises, but never affected having a great vacation. The Sunshine is my favorite ship to date and I sailed on carnival 17 times. Have a good time and don't worry.

Here is something to consider about the nature of people.

 

Most people in the world only write a review to complain. If there are 9 things great and 1 thing bad, they will only write about the one bad thing. Everything is subjective. I may like the food, you may not. You may think you room is the perfect temp, I may say its hot. It'll all subjective.

 

What would ruin a cruise for me? I can't think of much that wouldn't be tolerable.

 

 

I have never cruised on sunshine, but go with an open mind and enjoy yourself.

Yep and if they read 10 items or reviews of which 9 are good and 1 is bad, they'll remember the bad. :confused:

A couple of warts but as a whole, it's a fantastic ship. My kids would pick the Sunshine as the best cruise ship they've been on (haven't been on Breeze or non-Carnival ships). I also agree with them.

Here's a good video of a Sunshine Review:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2063167&highlight=sunshine

Some people are constant complainers. Some of us take these reviews with an open mind and make the trip and see for ourselves. Hubby and I did 28 days on the sunshine europe and transatlantic cruise. We had great a cabin steward, waitstaff, and ports. I loved the new decor, the serenity decks and even tho we had no kids with us we loved watching kids use the water park. And a ropes course There were always places that were crowded and a lot of quiet places. Don't be sorry you booked the Sunshine. I just did the breeze in May and would do the Sunshine in a heartbeat. Whatever you choose have fun.

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.

I made my decision eons ago not to sail on Sunshine. There are too many other ships to choose from. If I want a stockpile of things added to a ship, I will wait till a ship can handle it. I hope that turns out to be the Vista.

We leave out on her in 35 days. I have read the reviews and I think it's on par with the reviews I read prior to my other 3 cruises. I usually go in not expecting anything one way or another. I'm sure those who had "bad" experienced truly felt that way. However, we are pretty go with the flow and don't sweat the small stuff. It would take a lot for someone else to cause a negative impact on my vacation. I make my vacation.

and she is a beautiful ship. we had a great time on the 8 day southern cruise. that said, not our favorite and most likely not to cruise on again. the layout was broken up and it was like there were too many additions in a limited space. anyone booked will have a great time as we did. we came home and booked the liberty for January for the same southern itinerary. loved going out of port Canaveral.

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.

We are sailing out in 8 days and I've also been alarmed at all the negative reviews. However, like many commentors have stated, I like to form my own opinion. This is only our second cruise. The first was the Breeze last year and we LOVED it. I remember all the negative reviews I read and was so nervous about sailing her until we got there and had a fabulous time. Vacations are what you make them. I'm just happy we'll be enjoying her with our kids, in laws and $1500 of OBC!!!

Happy sailing!

Are we talking about the user reviews here on cruisecritic? When I checked Sunshine reviews, I did not see 9 of 10 were "extremely negative". 4 of the 5 most recent reviews are 5 or 5+ stars. The only 1-star review complained ship layout and no free drink.

There is another review that some young people in their party missed the ship. Carnivall was nice enough letting them board on a different ship instead of letting them fly back US by themselves. But they still gave Carnival a 1-star.

We found her to be a fine ship...and we were actually among those who had sworn off Carnival....here is my review...seriously, we had a prior horrible vacation with the line and had vowed to never return....we were offered a very low price and had a discount due to the prior awful cruise and we are cheapskates and decided for the price we would try it...we were very pleasantly surprised at how much we enjoyed our time on the Sunshine....here is my review....they certainly are not all bad....

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2084270

For the most part I have given up on reading reviews. Sadly for some a review becomes a way to get back at a company..... not all people do this but a lot do. Have you ever went to see a movie that you heard was terrible and come to find out after seeing it for yourself it was actually good. (it can go both ways)

Read reviews of the Inspiration.... a ton of negatives, I happen to think we have had one of our best cruises on that ship.

We were on the Sunshine just after it arrived in NOLA. There were many problems - perhaps more than any other cruise we've taken. We still had a fantastic time, though, and my memories are mostly of all the FUN we had, and the little irritations along the way are long forgotten.

Some folks enjoy hanging on to those little irritations, putting them under a microscope, thn sharing the magnified story for all to read and ooh and ahh about. Don't be one of those people, and you'll have a magnificent time.

One note - the comedy club is TINY. MINISCULE. If you enjoy comedy, be there early. This is one thing which will be an ongoing issue on the Sunshine, and there's not much to be done about it. Same goes for karaoke if it's held in the comedy club - get there early if you want a seat.

I also sailed when she was the Destiny, apprx. one month before the change. Heard that it was not a great ship. Found out for myself that it wasn't. I attributed it to getting a do over so I wasn't too unhappy. Crew must have been ready for changes and all over service was bad.

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.

I cruised on Sunshine over last New Year's. I've been on 24 Carnival cruises, and Sunshine was among my favorites. Just go and have a good time and don't worry about the naysayers.

The Sunshine complaints are consistent, when I read the same complaints over and over I tend to believe them and they are things that I care about and not molehills to me. I am platinum on Carnival and have 3 Carnival cruises coming up before the end of the year. I am very much a Carnival fan but I will never book a cruise on the Sunshine. Next cruise is on the Fascination (9/13). Miss the Dream but have an upcoming cruise on the Breeze (10/11). The only way I would cruise the Sunshine is if Carnival gave me a free cruise on it, which of course won't happen...

Don't think twice about not sailing Sunshine, there are others willing to take your spot. hope you read other posts others who went with mixed feelings but had a great cruise. No guarantees Fascination or Breeze will be "perfect".

Loved the Sunshine. The reviews here started out bad because of a rough dry dock. With time the reviews have gotten a lot better. As someone else mentioned, the comedy club is poorly designed but I don't cruise just for that. Everything else was great. I think the serenity deck was 2nd to none. Would sail on her in a heartbeat.