Back to CCL After a Hiatus on RCCL and NCL- A Quick Review of the Sunshine 3/17/17

did your 14 yo do the teen clubs at all if so what were her thoughts?

Appreciate the feedback.

I will say I was a little surprised by hand sanitizer and hand soap being out quite a bit. This was shocking as on RCCL you are assaulted with huge blobs of hand sanitizer every where you go. But, otherwise everything was clean and tidy.

We noticed the same thing on the Carnival Pride last month. They were placed well for anyone entering the buffet from the aft, but often out of sight /out of mind for anyone entering from the front. I would say 90% of the passengers weren't using them. At the end of a 14 day Journey Cruise, we avoided the lido deck, as people were coughing and sneezing everywhere. Some of that may have happened anyways, on any line, but it does make you roll your eyes when you're on a scavenger hunt to find a sanitizer that works.

Hello!

 

Yes- the beach is very close to where the boat docks. It is a very short walk off the ship, and then once you walk through the gates you look left for the water taxi stand. It was like $5 or $7 for a round trip ticket. The big water taxis go more towards the the right side of the beach. The smaller taxis go to the left side of the beach. Either way, it is a short walk between the two sides with lots of shops and restaurants to check out on the way. You can taxi back from either side. As you walk by the beach, people will offer you chairs and umbrellas for money. We looked for good chairs by the water that had wifi and a bar close by.

 

There is jetskiing, parasailing, some snorkeling, and the water is beauiful there- very warm and clear.

 

If you have any other questions let me know!

Thank you. I have been reading about Divi Little Bay also. I think it's a bit further away? Also, I was on a thread about Guy's Burgers and someone said the burgers at Holland House, right near the beach by the ship are the best in the world. Did you try them? I googled Holland House but all I got was the hotel and rates. :confused:

Itinerary-

 

OK- This criteria is where the Sunshine SHINES!!!!

 

The Mega RCCL Ships have such BORING itineraries. Ok, that sounds really snobby. But, they are always the same few stops that are absolutely flooded with people. Every Western itinerary seems to take you to Labadee- which is not our favorite. Every Eastern is pretty much the same. I get that they can only get into certain ports because of ship size. We took a 9 day on Oasis last year and we went to St Kitts and they docked there for the first and still only I think time.- which was AWESOME. The Quantum was SOOO blah as well- Bayonne down to San Juan (which is cool) and then we missed Grand Cayman due to weather, and that was about it in 8 days. I love sea days- but with the whole ship that time (75% estimated by the crew) sick with the Norovirus- we were dying for a good stop or two on that one.

 

Enter the Sunshine- Grand Turk (a first for us!), San Juan, St Kitts and St Maarten . . . it was a WINNER!

 

We hung out at Margaritaville Beach on Grand Turk. So beautiful. Had a great waitress that brought us WAY too many "5 o'clock somewhere" drinks right down to our beach chairs. Just a quick tip for you regarding tipping- our bill included the gratuity. I inadvertently tipped an additional 20% because she was awesome. I don't regret it, but probably would have been a little lighter if I had noticed that BEFORE I wrote the tip in. No worries though. We got a huge hug and were glad to make her day. Our kids did the FlowRIder- so they got their fix even though they were not on RCCL. GREAT DAY- loved every part of that stop!

 

San Juan- We typically just go a couple of hours to Senor Frogs. Had fun, but I was a little alarmed when my chair was tipped backwards and people were blowing whistles at my to open my mouth for a shot of tequila- but we survived. :)

 

St Kitts- OMG. If you like snorkeling and catamarans- DEFINITELY do the Nevus sail. Carnival books the vendors all out so you really cannot find another vendor to take you. So, we bought this one through CCL. The boat was clean, the crew was AWESOME, the island of Nevus is super cool- we had about an hour right next to the Four Seasons. The snorkeling was really good. The food was so-so, but who cares? We had a whole ship filled with amazing food waiting for us when we got back. And, the drinks were ridiculously plentiful, strong and tasted really good. We made several friends on that boat, and most did not make it to dinner . . . so buyer beware on the drinks:). But it was a highlight trip. We will definitely do that one again!

 

St Maarten- We love the beach right across from the ship. After several years going to Orient Beach on that stop, we FINALLY decided to try the beach close by to the ship on our last cruise. We had such a great day that we could not believe we had missed out on that all those years and had paid all the cab fare going to Orient, and had endured our eyeballs burning at some of the swim attire (and lack there of). The last time we were at Orient, three women in their 50's sitting next to my teenage son took their tops off in the "family section" When another gentleman compained (he had little kids), they started talking to my son telling him that guy "just doesn't get our culture". The funny thing is they were from Virginia. :) Our son looked like he was going to die of embarrassment. So, we decided the next time to go a little more low key. We went to the spot close to the second water taxi stop- look for the orange umbrellas there. We paid $10 a chair, had wifi, super cheap drinks, great sun, no huge crowds as we were down from the main drag, and loved it. I highly recommend it.

 

So, all in all an amazing itinerary! Best one yet!

Re your "boring" comment. Apples vs oranges. RCCL specifically designed Oasis class ships TO BE the destination for families, less island hopping more on-ship. Their smaller ships cover more of the island heavy itineraries.

Good review, appreciate the time.

Hello!

 

Yes- the beach is very close to where the boat docks. It is a very short walk off the ship, and then once you walk through the gates you look left for the water taxi stand. It was like $5 or $7 for a round trip ticket. The big water taxis go more towards the the right side of the beach. The smaller taxis go to the left side of the beach. Either way, it is a short walk between the two sides with lots of shops and restaurants to check out on the way. You can taxi back from either side. As you walk by the beach, people will offer you chairs and umbrellas for money. We looked for good chairs by the water that had wifi and a bar close by.

 

There is jetskiing, parasailing, some snorkeling, and the water is beauiful there- very warm and clear.

 

If you have any other questions let me know!

One more thing!!!! :o Just to be sure, you are talking about Great Bay beach?

Food-

 

This is a loaded topic for me. I really enjoy good food. I am not super picky, I just like clean unprocessed food. One more little wrench is that our whole family has to be Gluten Free, so this is always a dilemma. We are not super reactive, so I hate to make a big deal out of it. I know some people have the misfortune of getting really sick with the slightest cross contamination. We are fortunate to not be in that boat. But, we still eat 100% GF as we know there are serious health risks to our family with ingesting gluten. So I am always torn about how much of an issue to make of it. On RCCL it is hard because disclosing it often really limits our options as they cannot be 100% sure the food has not crossed paths in the kitchen with a molecule of gluten so they will not let us order items that are naturally GF. Their GF breads and pizza are awful, so we are better off not saying anything and just ordering around the issue off the menu. On NCL, they have great breads and pastas, but If we don't tell them ahead of time, they may not have enough GF product on board to accomodate everyone. So, I was not sure how it would be handled on Carnival. This was complicated by the fact that we could not get a set dining time, and Anytime Dining can be a disaster for people with food issues. It is hard for the servers and the kitchen.

 

All that to say Carnival was WONDERFUL! I had emailed the maitreD and he said to come and see him. His name was Amith- and he was A+ with customer service. I hope he ends up running Carnival some day. Great personality, accomodating, available but not intrusive. He told us that on every sailing he has 400 people that do not get want they want, and his job is to find a way to make them happy. He gave us an assigned dining time in the Sunrise Dining Room- which was the Anytime Dining section. So we had the same waiters every night. We were able to order off the menu for the next day so our food would be ready, and I was SHOCKED at the things they could make GF. We know better than to ask for certain dishes GF as there is usually no way to make them. Well, I am here to say they figured out a way! Crispy fried shrimp! (Haven't had those in 9 years!) It was SO great.

 

Our waiters were Mohammed and Renato- always smiling, always accomodating, the best! I would venture to say that they along with Amith were among the very best we ever sailed with- and that includes Disney!

 

The food was good in MDR. Loved the Blue Iguana, but the chicken had bones and gristle in it, but everything else was great. Guy's was AMAZING- those burgers are so much better than any others we have had a seas. And, the fries- WOW. Definitely fresh, not the frozen papery ones most cruise lines offer. The lunch at the back of the ship was excellent! One again, the made to order pasta from Cucina was incredible, especially for being GF. The mongolian wok at JiJi for lunch was also super good. Overall- the non-specialty dining as so much better than anything we had on NCL or RCCL.

 

As far as specialty dining we enjoyed Farenheit 555- great service and food the first night on board. We enjoyed Bonzai Sushi for lunch- good quality. And, the Chef's Table was SO good. We had been on a waiting list, and because of demand they opened another night. We have done Chef's Table on RCCL and on Carnival in the past. We really loved the menu this time! They were able to accomodate every course from a GF standpoint. The whole experience was really great. We brought our teens and they loved it too. My daughter (who wants to be a chef) got to make the WCMC. She loved it!

 

Overall, the dining was better than RCCL or NCL.

So glad to hear this about the food. We have no issues but I was hoping for good food. We've been on the Pride lately and they have had the best food I've ever had on a Carnival Ship. We're on the Sunshine for our Canada cruise in Sept and I was a bit concerned about the negative reviews.

Thanks for posting!

We will be on Sunshine in September. Super excited as we cruised Destiny a few times, and we tend to go on the same ship all the time (going on Pride for the 5th and 6th week in a row) not that I am complaining, but I am anxious to try a new ship!

Hey Cruisin Karen! We love the Pride too! Great ship. I hesitated about booking the Sunshine after a lot of the negative reviews - mostly about crowding, which I don't like. We're on the Sept 9 to Canada and looking forward to it. We got an aft wrap so I have an escape if it's too crowded. You aren't on that sailing are you?

Happy to see a great review of the Sunshine - can't wait to board next month!

Hey Cruisin Karen! We love the Pride too! Great ship. I hesitated about booking the Sunshine after a lot of the negative reviews - mostly about crowding, which I don't like. We're on the Sept 9 to Canada and looking forward to it. We got an aft wrap so I have an escape if it's too crowded. You aren't on that sailing are you?

Hi Kath!!! No, we're on the cruise of 9/23. We are also booked on another Pride Journey cruise for 1/7/18. (you have to expand my signature lol) Had planned to do the Sunshine "someday" then I found out she was moving down to FL and we wouldn't have any more CCL ships here in NY. :( Seems like a silly idea to fly to FL to cruise on a ship that's right at my doorstep right now, so I just bumped up the plans. We have a summer camp in NY and lots of things going on the weeks after Labor Day so that's why I picked the last week of September. I know you LOVE those aft wraps! Not in our budget anymore, but we have an OV on Sunshine and an extended balcony on my favorite deck 8 on Pride. No complaints! Wish we were on the same cruise, but I'm lucky I'll have 2 weeks between your cruise and ours to pick your brain! ;p

Oh, and Kath, DS and DIL are going to Bermuda next month on NCL from NY (Breakaway?) This will be their 11th trip to Bermuda which includes a honeymoon cruise we gave them as a wedding gift. They would NEVER go anywhere else lol. They just LOVE Bermuda!

Oh, and Kath, DS and DIL are going to Bermuda next month on NCL from NY (Breakaway?) This will be their 11th trip to Bermuda which includes a honeymoon cruise we gave them as a wedding gift. They would NEVER go anywhere else lol. They just LOVE Bermuda!

Can't say as I blame them! Bermuda is our favorite place among a lot of favorite places - we will be there in July! I run a page for people who are Bermuda Bound in the other place that shall not be mentioned :)

:'):'):'):') You "smuggled" your daughter into Serenity. This could be one of my favorite posts ever!!!!

Something I would do too!!!!

Thanks for the review! Someday we'll get around to the Sunshine.

Any pictures you will be posting?

Food-

 

This is a loaded topic for me. I really enjoy good food. I am not super picky, I just like clean unprocessed food. One more little wrench is that our whole family has to be Gluten Free, so this is always a dilemma. We are not super reactive, so I hate to make a big deal out of it. I know some people have the misfortune of getting really sick with the slightest cross contamination. We are fortunate to not be in that boat. But, we still eat 100% GF as we know there are serious health risks to our family with ingesting gluten. So I am always torn about how much of an issue to make of it. On RCCL it is hard because disclosing it often really limits our options as they cannot be 100% sure the food has not crossed paths in the kitchen with a molecule of gluten so they will not let us order items that are naturally GF. Their GF breads and pizza are awful, so we are better off not saying anything and just ordering around the issue off the menu. On NCL, they have great breads and pastas, but If we don't tell them ahead of time, they may not have enough GF product on board to accomodate everyone. So, I was not sure how it would be handled on Carnival. This was complicated by the fact that we could not get a set dining time, and Anytime Dining can be a disaster for people with food issues. It is hard for the servers and the kitchen.

 

All that to say Carnival was WONDERFUL! I had emailed the maitreD and he said to come and see him. His name was Amith- and he was A+ with customer service. I hope he ends up running Carnival some day. Great personality, accomodating, available but not intrusive. He told us that on every sailing he has 400 people that do not get want they want, and his job is to find a way to make them happy. He gave us an assigned dining time in the Sunrise Dining Room- which was the Anytime Dining section. So we had the same waiters every night. We were able to order off the menu for the next day so our food would be ready, and I was SHOCKED at the things they could make GF. We know better than to ask for certain dishes GF as there is usually no way to make them. Well, I am here to say they figured out a way! Crispy fried shrimp! (Haven't had those in 9 years!) It was SO great.

 

Our waiters were Mohammed and Renato- always smiling, always accomodating, the best! I would venture to say that they along with Amith were among the very best we ever sailed with- and that includes Disney!

 

The food was good in MDR. Loved the Blue Iguana, but the chicken had bones and gristle in it, but everything else was great. Guy's was AMAZING- those burgers are so much better than any others we have had a seas. And, the fries- WOW. Definitely fresh, not the frozen papery ones most cruise lines offer. The lunch at the back of the ship was excellent! One again, the made to order pasta from Cucina was incredible, especially for being GF. The mongolian wok at JiJi for lunch was also super good. Overall- the non-specialty dining as so much better than anything we had on NCL or RCCL.

 

As far as specialty dining we enjoyed Farenheit 555- great service and food the first night on board. We enjoyed Bonzai Sushi for lunch- good quality. And, the Chef's Table was SO good. We had been on a waiting list, and because of demand they opened another night. We have done Chef's Table on RCCL and on Carnival in the past. We really loved the menu this time! They were able to accomodate every course from a GF standpoint. The whole experience was really great. We brought our teens and they loved it too. My daughter (who wants to be a chef) got to make the WCMC. She loved it!

 

Overall, the dining was better than RCCL or NCL.

Hi! This is such a relief as I have a GF intolerance too and was worried. Do you happen to have the Chef's Table Menu? What night was it on? We leave this Friday and I am trying to figure out if I need to switch some reservations around.