proudpatriot07

I have cruised on the Sunshine a few times and we've parked there when we didn't have a ride to the port. I felt terrible for the passengers! I would have liked to know the day before, and maybe Carnival could give folks free internet to make car rental arrangements or let family members or jobs know. Living here, we'd gotten off a cruise, left, and went to work that day.

FWIW, it doesn't have to rain for it to flood in parts of Charleston. We have tidal flooding as well. But the storm last Sunday was very rare. We locals know the flood prone areas, but this is the first time in my memory that the parking lot at the terminal has flooded.

On 10/10/2022 at 3:02 PM, Oletruckdude said:

My wife and I have been on 17 carnival cruises, 4 on the Sunshine including a B2B. We're going on her again in April. She's our favorite Carnival ship. When they upgraded her from the Destiny they added a lot of funship upgrades. Her serenity area is unique with a waterfall. She carries less guests so the lines are shorter or non existent. We love this ship and hope the beards keep her around for many years to come. She would fit well in Jacksonville if they scrapped the Elation, since the larger ships wouldn't fit under the bridge.

Fingers crossed. 

I love that Serenity area with multiple levels and a waterfall- and yes to the shorter lines. Maybe our cruise wasn't super crowded due to hurricanes, but I never had to look far for a chair, clean table, and no wait to speak of at any bar or any dining spot on the Lido deck. 

On 10/8/2022 at 6:29 PM, Tennessee Rose said:

I agree because if I want to try 2 different apps or entrees, I don't feel guilty about not eating it all when it's a smaller amount to begin with. Yes, I was raised as a "clean your plate" kid, but I've grown out of that. Still don't like to waste food though! I mostly can finish all the smaller amounts unless an item is something I just don't like.

Oh, and I really love those little pork tartlets! We did miss seeing the nightly spring rolls on Magic a few weeks ago.

Someone at our table last week got those pork tartlets and I think my husband was jealous he didn't order them.

Both nights when I got the shrimp cocktail, I was lucky enough to get four shrimp! 

Often, we will share entrees or order apps to split, things like that .We do it on cruises but also do it a lot at home in restaurants. 

12 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

Anyone else hear the song "Ain't no Sunshine when's she's gone" reading this thread?  Maybe it's just me.  I love Sunshine, with JiJi's, the Serenity waterfall and how close it is to my home.  "Please don't take my Sunshine away"!  (From "You are my Sunshine, my only Sunshine")

Yes! Granted, I live in Charleston. We were on the ship last week, and it's in great shape. I hope they don't retire it in 2024 once our port contract with Carnival ends.

7 hours ago, allinwonderland said:

I was on the Panorama last week and the deli had this new/reduced menu already, and they had potato chips instead of fries.

I got off Sunshine today. We also had potato chips instead of fries, which made me sad (I like the Deli fries more than Guy's). Glad the fries will come back... but I will still miss those cookies. 

17 hours ago, bguppies said:

 

If they are going to make you pay for super simple stuff like a PB&J and chips, they'd better prepare to serve much better quality food if you're going to force people to pay for it.

Yes, this! $5 for a PB&J is already pretty steep if you can't eat the chips or cookie. 

We're on Carnival Sunshine that leaves Charleston tomorrow (Sunday). On Friday, they announced our cruise would leave on Sunday instead of Saturday due to the hurricane. 

I went online and Carnival had it open for bookings. It was regular price. Trying to make some of that money/OBC back. We do live here but I've never looked for last minute discounts on it. 

2 hours ago, mz-s said:

 

The last time they hiked prices they had the same issues. They delayed the price hike a day or so last time but haven't heard of the same happening this time.

 

If you're going to be on the Sunshine (I see you are in Charleston), I wouldn't bother. I was just on her last week and the internet is absolutely useless unless you just want to be frustrated.

Yep, it's Sunshine. I'm not particular about having internet because I want to disconnect, but he wants it. We are going to Nassau so I figure I can check email, etc, in port in a bar somewhere on wifi.

So the prices went up last night, and since we figured that out, yesterday my husband got on the computer and logged into our booking to buy internet for our upcoming trip... and it would not let him purchase at all. Our trip leaves tomorrow, so I don't know if it's got anything to do with that, but we were pretty peeved. We have the screenshots of where he tried to buy last night so am hoping we can take those to guest services and maybe get credited the difference. I don't know. 

9 hours ago, kwokpot said:

I think the cake issue is there isn't enough diners at the buffet for dinnertime to warrant the cake buffet, which I agree is ashame. On the Pride this summer the cake buffet was Excellent, with all the cake selections equally tasty. Actually all the desserts on the Pride were good, except as noted the issues with the Lava cake. The Tiramisu was consistently excellent and better than in many land-based restaurants!  

The cake buffet is the BEST. We got slices at lunch and took them up to the room to eat after dinner. Better than the MDR desserts. 

The salmon superfoods salad was my favorite back in May on the Sunshine. Without that we are done with Sea Day Brunch. It also took us forever to get our food anyway, so I'm not sure we'd do it again anyway.

I kinda like the small portions, TBH. I guess the three shrimp is a little extreme, but the smaller entrees I'm fine with. Typically hubs and I get two apps each anyway. I also think this is a better idea for less food waste. Lots of times I want to just try something.

We've done a lot of cruises but always late dining... this time we're trying anytime so we can be more flexible, see shows, don't have to wait until an exact time to eat, etc. This thread was really helpful too! 

11 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

I see it all the time everywhere I go. I have even seen people park completely on the diagonal lines that separate the spaces! 😬

I thought about that at first and was glad you posted the other picture to point out that was NOT your car or parking job, haha.

Reading along because I'm curious about NE cruises! 

I live in Charleston and obviously love sailing from here. When our ship leaves, I don't even see us taking many more cruises. We'll go back to weekends away in Asheville and other land-based vacations, for the most part, and probably just cruise every few years.

It was fun while it lasted, and most Charleston residents were fine with the ships.  

We just got off Sunshine a few weeks ago. The fries were not fresh/hand cut but they were seasoned like the Guy's Fries used to be. I still liked them better than the deli fries but not enough to get another order.

On the other hand, my husband said his prime rib was terrible. I don't eat meat but I'd rather have a less-than-stellar order of fries than a bad main dish.

On 5/25/2022 at 4:48 PM, ScottsSweetie said:

Perhaps. But the "old money" establishment in Charleston was never happy with the cruising industry being there. Many establishments downtown had fliers on their windows stating such. And since I'm such an empathetic person I made them happy by not entering their establishment. My "new money" talks, too.

I live in Charleston and this is so true. Most ordinary folks who live in the Charleston area are fine with the cruise ships. Most of us have sailed on the Sunshine or the Ecstasy when it was here. A lot of folks work for the port seasonally/part-time, including teachers who work as port agents during the summer. We loved all three of our cruises from Charleston- so convenient to cruise and then be home in less than an hour. 

Unfortunately that port area will probably be turned into a hotel or condos. That's just how Charleston goes lately. It will just increase housing prices here (CHS is already hard to afford!) and bring more revenue into the city. Most cruisers who left from CHS didn't spend a whole lot of money compared to folks who come here solely to vacation, which is what the city wants. But it's a big loss for locals who like cruising, but a big win for the SOBs (South of Broads... it's a neighborhood downtown) :(. 

Hubs and I are 36 and not religious. Just reading over the thread, I think it's a great idea. I would prefer an eco-friendly burial, but living in SC, everything here is so old school and most folks still have funerals- even cremation is rare among older people.

Also, we're child-free, and not having any kids... I mean, why have a grave when there's no one really to visit it?

I'm sailing on the Sunshine in a few days, and it's been sold out for awhile on the website where you book excursions. I thought it was odd for it to be completely sold out so early, but I guess these problems have been ongoing.

With that said, if it's closed on our sailing, I really hope we have some of those items in the MDR! Crossing fingers.

We're going on the Sunshine in a few weeks (thankfully school will still be in session then and kiddos will be back- I heard this past cruise was full of kids). Pretty excited to go to Half Moon Cay! 

Is the boarding process in CHS still pretty fast? Also what kinds of events and shows are happening on board- even post-COVID is it still the usual?

Thanks for the video! We are going on the Sunshine in May, and while it's a different ship, we haven't cruised since 2018 because of a job change in 2019 and the pandemic. I'm going to your YouTube to check out more of them.

An Uber to Sullivan's Island would be the way to go. It shouldn't be too much from the port, and I highly recommend Obstinate Daughter on Sullivan's Island for food after your Ft. Moultrie visit. Uber is super easy to get here and you'll hardly have to wait at all (especially downtown and near the cruise port, and when there's a ship in port). I don't know anyone who uses taxis. 

If you don't want to leave the peninsula, downtown Charleston has some amazing restaurants and you could uber or take a pedicab. 

What is Cheapest transportation from airport to cruiseport?

My friend drives Uber and that's his main route- downtown to airport and back. Uber is abundant here and easy to get.

If you want to go to the Steakhouse, you should go. Do not worry about what anyone else will think- what matters is if you're comfortable with it.

If you don't want to go alone, you could wait to make a reservation, then talk to your MDR table mates on the first night and see if anyone else wants to join you there later on in the week?

His face with the entrees reminds me of my husband, haha. We often get two things or get things to split and share though.

The cranberry bread was the only bread I ate in the MDR all cruise. I wish they had those rolls every night.