RCCL Fan Solo on Carnival Sunshine

Hello everybody! This is my third review here on Cruise Critic and my first on Carnival. Cruising is definitely my passion. When I'm not cruising, I'm planning and reading reviews and gathering information. That is why I decided to start writing reviews, to pay it forward for all the people that helped me learn more.

First, a little about me, I began cruising in 1991 and have tried to do 3 or 4 cruises every year since then. I mostly sail with RCCL, but, I have tried HAL, Celebrity, Premier, Norwegian, etc. I have only sailed Carnival one other time, in 1993, the Carnivale, if anyone remembers her.

I don't remember much about that sailing, except the CD was Scottish and we hit a rogue wave one night, which caused all the glasses on the tables to crash to the floor and the lights to go out. Hmmm, maybe that's why I never sailed CCL again. :p

Anyway, after my last cruise in December, I booked my dream cruise to Alaska this summer on the Radiance of the Seas. Two days after I booked it, I found out the independent pharmacy I worked for had been bought out by a large, national chain. You know the one, it's right there, at the corner. It was a very difficult time for me as I didn't know what was going to happen to me or my clients. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my friend, Dale, MrFunInTheSun, for talking me off the ledge during this horrible time. I did end up getting hired by the chain, but, at much less money. So, I made the difficult decision to cancel the Alaska trip. My heart just was not into all the planning and expense that an Alaska cruise entails. But, I knew I needed to get away and started looking for a good deal to the Caribbean.

I found out from the solo board that Carnival was doing several cruises with no solo supplement. I had been wanting to try CCL again, especially since they sail out of Baltimore and Charleston, 2 nearby ports. Combine that with the never ending winter we just had and the decision was made, a 5 nighter on the Sunshine. :) Now, this cruise was advertised as an Eastern Caribbean cruise. I'm not sure how that could be, since our ports were Key West, Nassau and Freeport. Never one to quibble, (yeah, right), I signed up for an inside guarantee.

Keep it coming. Can't wait to read the rest of your review. We will be sailing on the Sunshine for NYE. :)

The next order of business was booking airfare, hotel and shuttle, in that order. I was able to find a good deal on Southwest out of Richmond to Orlando, less than $200 RT. I had never flown Southwest before, but, I was willing to try and airfare from Lynchburg or Roanoke was twice that. If you read my Grandeur review, you know I get lost very easily, even driving around my own city, so, as you can imagine, I was a little nervous about driving to Richmond, 2 and a half hours from here. My fears were assuaged a little when I got to my first stop sign and saw this ahead of me.

How'd he know I was going to the beach? :D This comforted me and let me know my drive was going to be fine and this whole cruise was great news for me at a time when I needed great news and then I stopped at the next light.

HAHA! This was going to be great, the personalized plates were going to lead me all the way to Richmond. On a side note, here is a little factoid about Virginia and personalized plates.

Out of the 9.3 million personalized plates on the roads of America, about one in 10 are in Virginia, according to rankings provided to The Associated Press by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators. That's 16% of the plates issued by Virginia. New Hampshire came in second with nearly 14%.

HA! Screw you, New Hampshire! I'm glad I don't know anybody from there! ;)

Hmm, I also have a personalized plate, some of you have seen it before.

You can take the girl out of Boston, but, you can't take the Boston out of the girl. I'm actually looking to change my plate to something about cruises, but, I'm not sure what. I'm open to any suggestions, 6 or 7 letters long. It's complicated by the fact my car is a PT Cruiser, so, if my plate says Cruiser or something, people will think I mean the car, not the vacation. I have no idea what the Northern Neck is, Northern Virginia, I suppose, but, it had a boat on it and some water, so, I got it. :rolleyes:

Well, it turns out I needn't have worried, my drive was uneventful and I arrived at the Richmond airport unscathed. I headed (of course) to the Economy Parking lot, where a shuttle bus followed me to my parking spot. Denise, the driver helped me with my bags and handed me my parking ticket with my spot number written on it. We went down the next aisle, where a man was getting his bags out of his car. His license plate was BONKERS. Hmmm, maybe I will wait for the next shuttle? No need to worry, turns out he was Bonkers the Clown on his way to a clown convention in Orlando. Of course, he and several of his friends were all on my flight. And, no, I didn't ask him if all his friends came in his car. :p

Finally, I had found my people, an airplane full of clowns! The fact that it was Southwest, which is kind of a funny airline just made it all the better. While rambling around the airport, I saw a man in a Bruins shirt, so, I had to talk to him for a while. Turns out, he and his family had just got off their second Disney cruise. He said he was going to try RCCL next time.

The boarding process to me was quite simple and if anything, even faster than regular boarding. I spotted an aisle seat with a Mom and child in the other 2 seats and asked if that seat was taken. Nope. It turns out her hubby and 2 other children were across the aisle, so, I got to help hand out snacks and games and such. Also, on this flight, I met a man! His name was Brandon, he was very cute, and we swapped a little saliva during the flight. He even sat on my lap a few times. Yeah, you guessed it, he was 6 months old. He was traveling with his Dad, who appeared to be about 12, so, I held the baby while Dad got the diaper bag and such out of the overhead compartment. I wish I had taken pictures of Bonkers and Brandon, I tend to start out shy on my trips about taking pictures, afraid of looking silly, but, then, by the end, I'm taking pictures of everything. :rolleyes:

I arrived at MCO, collected my (free!) luggage, headed out to the shuttle area and called the Hyatt Place to come get me. They said to wait at the #4 spot. #4? I was standing at #42 and it looked very far away and surprise, surprise, it was hot in Florida. So, I schlepped along with all my luggage, which was surprisingly heavy. Finally, hours :rolleyes: later, I arrived at #4, where I met a RCCL employee who was getting on the Freedom the next day. We chatted for a while, she was very nice, I felt like I was cheating on her.

Soon after, the shuttle came and took me to "my" drugstore. I guess if I have to work for them, I might as well take advantage of the employee discount. I bought wine, water and coke, all of which are allowed by CCL. Then, it was off to the hotel, the Hyatt Place Airport Northwest. I have stayed at a few Hyatt Places and consider them a good value. Here is my room, it cost $89 per night.

See all that luggage? See how heavy it is? And, now, I had added 2 bags from the drugstore that dares not speak its name.

It had been a long day of traveling and I would have loved to take a nap, but, I had made plans to meet one of the girls on my roll call for dinner. She was supposed to be cruising with her Mom and sister, but, they changed their minds and left her alone. :mad: Her name was Michele and she was from Texas. Her birthday was the day after the cruise, so, of course, I got her a gift. What do you give someone you have never met and know nothing about? I have no idea! But, I gathered a few snacks, a card, and a magazine and put it all together in a gift bag.

I like purple, I hope she does, too. So, I only had about 45 minutes to kill, I was in my room, I was hot, tired, hungry and thirsty, what should I do? That's a great idea, drink some wine. I had one of those juice box wine thingees and drank it, it was pretty good. However, having a completely empty stomach. the wine went right to my head, I haven't been that buzzed in quite a while. The hotel offers a shuttle ride to anywhere within a 3 mile radius and when I went down to get on, I swear I was floating.

Since it was her birthday, I let Michele pick where we would eat. Being from Texas, where do you think she picked? Of course, Longhorn Steakhouse. When we met, she was very nice. I'm not sure what she thought about me, since I was slurring my words a little, probably thought I was going to be trouble. I hope I proved that wrong over the course of the next few days.

I had the ribeye and bacon macaroni and cheese.

It was fabulous! I hope I can hit another Longhorn on my next trip.

She had the surf and turf, she said it was very good, as well.

After we ate, she had rented a car, so, she drove me home, probably worried about me waiting for the shuttle. I walked in the room, threw my clothes on the floor and went to bed. I woke up around 4 and watched the Golf Channel for a while. Damn you, Florida! They were showing The Legend Of Bagger Vance and it looked pretty good. Finally, I tore myself away and went back to bed for a few hours sleep, because today was CRUISE DAY!! :D

Patscruz

Looking forward to reading your perspective of carnival and the sunshine.

Patscruz

That's too many letters. But, thanks for playing! :D Also, I bet anyone reading it would think I was Pat and this was my cruiser. :(

cant wait to read more

Can't wait for more! Really enjoying the review!

cruz4fun

Thanks for starting the review. Cant wait for the rest:)

I have no idea what the Northern Neck is, Northern Virginia, I suppose, but, it had a boat on it and some water, so, I got it. :rolleyes:

Haha! I was reading and all, "Ohhh... she must be out near Bedford or something!" I live in Middlesex County, which is just south of the peninsula called Northern Neck - it's not Northern VA... it's the awesome, gorgeous, drastically-rich-or-poor area directly east of Richmond, between the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers.

It's a great place to visit! I'll keep an eye out for that plate as I travel across our beautiful state :)

We're sailing on Sunshine in November. Thanks for the review! Can't wait to read the rest.

Nice start!

cruz4fun

A good idea, but too many letters. I can only have 6 with this plate or 7 with a blank plate.

Haha! I was reading and all, "Ohhh... she must be out near Bedford or something!" I live in Middlesex County, which is just south of the peninsula called Northern Neck - it's not Northern VA... it's the awesome, gorgeous, drastically-rich-or-poor area directly east of Richmond, between the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers.

Oh, thanks! A portion of the cost of the plate went to the Northern Neck Land Conservancy, so, that is a good thing. :)

ATSEA, LUV2CRZ (or LV2CRZ), SHPSRFN, FUNATC, I could go on and on.

Great review, looking forward to reading more!

How about: PATFAN

Great review! So detailed and you're a very humourous writer.

I'll play - how about WRK2CRZ (work to cruise) or FUN2CRZ (fun to cruise)

RCCLNUT? :)

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Crzship

Edit: how are you guys writing in all caps? The forum keeps autocorrecting me.

Enjoying the review so far! We'll be on the sunshine in November and I also found the airfare out of Richmond to be much cheaper, even though we are closer to national or Dulles. I'm not sure why I never thought to check there before!

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Yay Maureen! I love your reviews over @ RCCL! Can't wait for this review!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

Great review! So detailed and you're a very humourous writer.

 

I'll play - how about WRK2CRZ (work to cruise) or FUN2CRZ (fun to cruise)

Hmmmm, You may be onto something. A lot of the plates only allow 6 letters, but, wrk2crz is available and oh, so true! I tried to post a pic of it here, but, I couldn't. The DMV website wouldn't let me copy it.

I have relatives in Lynchburg. Haven't been there in years.

I love Southwest. On the first leg on my way to San Juan last November (solo birthday cruise), one of the flight attendants sang to us while we were waiting to depart. She was quite good. Also once had a team do the safety briefing in "speed" mode. Whole thing took about 30 seconds.

And love no baggage fees!

Have no plans on sailing Sunshine, but I'm going to read this review anyway. I can tell it's going to be entertaining.

I had scheduled a shuttle from Cortrans to take me to the pier at 11, so, I got up around 9 and went downstairs for breakfast. They don't have a wide variety, but, it is fine. After breakfast, I repacked my things and headed down to wait for the shuttle. Apparently, the whole hotel was going on a cruise. Finally, the Cortrans bus showed up and I started gathering my bags. By the time I was done, the driver had come into the hotel holding up a sign with my name on it. I felt like a movie star! Again, I was too afraid of looking dorky to take his picture, but, I should have.

The ride to the pier was uneventful and I dozed a little. Upon arrival, I paid for the round trip, $40 plus tip. I had tried to book Carnival's shuttle, but, they said my return flight was too early. OK, I saved $30 by booking Cortrans, anyway. Another girl from my roll call was flying in very late the night before and I had agreed to pick up a bottle of wine for her. I texted her and she was still 10 minutes away, so, I waited outside the terminal for her. I amused myself people watching. The baggage handlers were playing baggage Tetris.

How did they know that if they laid the 2 black suitcases horizontally, the houndstooth one would fit in there perfectly? Geniuses!

Used tube socks as luggage tags, thereby guaranteeing that no one will touch your bags! Also, geniuses!

Not a genius was the lady standing next to me LOUDLY berating her absent husband because as she told everyone in earshot, "I got a text yesterday that said we had to be here before noon". Now, you and I both know that text said the opposite, don't come before noon. Ah, newbies! I could sit and watch them all day.

Finally, Denise, the wine girl showed up and we proceeded to check-in. It was very fast and we were onboard. She wanted to stop at the lobby bar for a drink, but, I just wanted to go see if my room was ready, so, we parted ways. My room was ready, here are some pics before I messed it up too bad. Because of a price drop, I was upgraded to an outside cabin, thank you very much.

Kinda messed up already, right? This room sleeps 4, so, I guess it was pretty big. I was quite happy with it. Later in the cruise, I saw Michele's cabin and it was a little smaller.

My couch, loved the blue pillows. And, what is this, a beach towel? Toto, I've a feeling we're not on RCCL anymore.