Carnival Sunshine B2B Review with Photos Jan. 8-21

Just got back from my B2B on the Carnival Sunshine on Sunday. After two full weeks on a ship, it felt like home. Although, it was nice seeing my cats after two weeks without them. I'm going to post a full review with tons of photos and videos. It might take awhile, but I'll get it done. The two best parts of cruising besides cruising itself are planning and reviewing! My reviews help me relive the cruise. Feel free to ask any questions along the way.

DH and I planned a 5 day and an 8 day on the Carnival Sunshine. My parents, who live in NH, joined us on the 5 day. We live in Vermont, but flew out of Albany on Southwest because it was cheaper. Our plan was to leave for Albany Friday, Jan. 6 and then fly to FLL and drive to Sunrise, FL to catch a Boston Bruins game. Then we'd spend the night in Boca Raton and drive up to Port Canaveral to board the Sunshine on Sunday, Jan. 8. Well, best laid plans...

On the drive to Albany, I got a text from a friend asking if I was flying into FLL. I was like, yeah, why? She told me there would probably be tons of extra security there. I was confused until she then told me that there was an active shooter at the airport! My mother-in-law sent me a link to the article and DH turned on the radio to a news station. I got chills and freaked out a it. We decided to change our flight to MCO. We pulled over in a gas station and changed our airline tickets on the spot (costing us an extra $300 something dollars). This meant that we'd have to skip the Bruins game since it wouldn't make sense to drive back and forth to Sunrise (2 and a half hours each way).

Turns out, we probably would have been fine because the airport was open the next day, but we had no idea, so we wanted to err on the side of caution. Just get me to the ship!

The SpringHill Suites we stayed at in Albany was nice. It was roomy with a separate desk area (where I sat frantically changing hotel plans), couch and separate rooms for a toilet and shower. The shower was big. The lobby had snacks for sale. There were two free mini water bottles in the fridge which I thought was a nice touch. The only cons of the hotel room were that it only had one nightstand and not two and the shower door was heavy.

Can't wait to read it all!

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Subscribing... I want to hear the good points and bad points on this ship. A PVP was excited about it and wanted me to book it but others have said they did not enjoy it since it was remodeled.

Looking forward to your review!!! :)

Looking forward to the review.

SN: Your images aren't showing up. Check the URL of your image links.

I always enjoy your reviews! (But I can't see the images, either.)

Looking forward to the review.

 

SN: Your images aren't showing up. Check the URL of your image links.

Hmm...I am using Google Photos. Not sure why they aren't showing up. I know that I've used FB in the past and that the links don't stay with FB.

Hmm...I am using Google Photos. Not sure why they aren't showing up. I know that I've used FB in the past and that the links don't stay with FB.

Try using the image placement tool in editor rather than using the html code. (If that's what you're doing) - It looks like it based on the broken image link at the bottom of your last post/signature (not sure?)

Thank you for the review.

Try using the image placement tool in editor rather than using the html code. (If that's what you're doing) - It looks like it based on the broken image link at the bottom of your last post/signature (not sure?)

I was using the Insert Image tool (the one that looks like a mountain). There is also a paperclip attachment option. Does that one work better?

Not quite sure why it's not working for you. Yea the mountain icon is the image placement tool. I just tried it with your broken image URL in your signature/footer and it's not giving me any issues. I do see the HTML code that's been placed. Make sure the images you're trying to post are public/sharable images.

We will be on her on March 25. Can't wait to read your take on her!

Not quite sure why it's not working for you. Yea the mountain icon is the image placement tool. I just tried it with your broken image URL in your signature/footer and it's not giving me any issues. I do see the HTML code that's been placed. Make sure the images you're trying to post are public/sharable images.

 

When I get home, that will be my next step-checking to see if my images are public. I'm sure there is some feature on Google Photos to make them public. Thanks for all your help in trying to figure it out.

I can see the pictures (I'm on tapatalk if that matters)

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

I can see the pictures (I'm on tapatalk if that matters)

 

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

You see images in the very first post at the top of the page?

You see images in the very first post at the top of the page?

Yes. Shower, bathroom, then pics of the hotel room?

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Love reading your reviews in the past.We will be going on the Sunshine April 28 I was wondering if you had the 8 day menus?Haven't been on a cruise with the American Table yet & not sure what night I want to hit specialty places

We got to the Albany airport around 4 a.m. The printer got stuck printing our luggage tags, but other than that, it went smoothly. Some people had cancelled flights because of Winter Storm Helena. We were in Group C since when we had to change airports, the check-in time had already passed.

Once on the plane, we couldn't sit together, but I did manage to snag two aisle seats one row down from each other. I sat next to a nice older couple, but there was this one man behind me that yapped the entire flight. We had some turbulence during the flight because the pilot was trying to avoid the storm.

We got our bags quickly and headed to the Budget rental car counter. Dejavu! However, DH only had to wait 50 minutes, which is a record compared to the three hours last year! We then got lunch at Denny's and drove to our newly booked hotel in Melbourne. It was a Marriott Residence Inn. We were way too tried to try to drive to the Bruins game and back. We took a nap, then ate supper at a Subway and stopped at Walmart to pick up a few snacks. We had to listen to the Bruins game on DH's phone because it wasn't on TV at the hotel. We were also tracking my Mom and Dad's flight. They were delayed, but made it into Orlando at 8:30 p.m.

Here are some pics of the hotel:

Love reading your reviews in the past.We will be going on the Sunshine April 28 I was wondering if you had the 8 day menus?Haven't been on a cruise with the American Table yet & not sure what night I want to hit specialty places

I don't have pictures of all the menus, but I do have some food pictures (and some opinions) on the American Table menu. Stay tuned!

Yay, I see your pictures now!

Well, not the first post but the last one I do. What was the problem?

I woke up and ate some cereal at the hotel. Then we got all our stuff and drove a little over 30 minutes to the Budget rental car drop off in Cape Canaveral. We were there for only a few minutes contemplating if we should call a taxi to take us to the port when they told us that one of their shuttles could take us for free. Score! Once at the port, we gave our bags to the porter and he said he didn't know when we'd get our bags. I said that's okay as long as they get on the ship!

We were at the port early. Around 9:15 a.m. I think. We didn't have to stand in line and walked right up to the check-in counter and got Zone 1. My mom texted me saying she was waiting for her shuttle from the Holiday Inn hotel in Orlando they stayed at. Mom and Dad told me that that hotel is a bit rundown and it sounds like they wouldn't recommend it.

I texted Mom around 11 a.m. asking if she had boarded her shuttle yet. A half hour later I get a text saying "this phone was found at Holiday Inn." OH NO! :eek: Mom forgot her phone at the hotel! I called the front desk of the hotel and asked if they found her phone and if they could hold onto it for her until Jan. 13 when they would return to the hotel to wait a few hours before their flight home. They said no problem.

We ended up boarding at 12:20 p.m. We dropped our carry ons in our room which was being cleaned. We explored the public areas on Deck 3, 4 and 5 and then went to Lido for lunch. DH had his beloved Guy's burger and I had chicken tacos.

I was about to eat when my sister called me and told me that Mom had lost her phone. I told her I knew because someone had texted me from it! I asked how she knew and she said Mom must have called her from a payphone or something. I was thinking to myself, do those even exist anymore? Lol!

After lunch, Jason decided that we should stand watch on Deck 4 and look at the doors where people were coming in on Deck 3 so we could try to see when Mom and Dad got onboard. I went down to their room and knocked on their room to see if they might already be there. No luck.

But, after 25 minutes, our lookout paid off and we saw them board the ship! We ran down one flight of stairs and caught up to them. Mom told me the whole phone debacle and and it turned out she used a fellow passenger's phone to call my sister who then called me. Apparently she knew my sister's phone number by heart, but not mine! Lol!

We showed them our room and showed them to their room. We then showed them Lido where they had lunch and DH and I had dessert. We all got ice cream and checked out where our dining room would be, Sunrise upper. Then we went to our rooms.

We had muster drill and we were assigned muster station E, which was in the Liquid Lounge! That meant we didn't have to go outside in the wind. It was very windy and chilly that day for Florida. All we had to do was peek at Lifeboat 3 and 4. They hold 300 people each!

Our room was right off the Lobby, 3131. It is an interior room with a picture window with an obstructed view (partially obstructed by a lifeboat). Here are pictures of the room. During the review, I will post both cell phone shots and shots from my camera.

Not seeing your pictures again. :confused: