JennN

10 is uncovered on most ships. I was just on deck 11 and could see right on down!

64 until the Victory and then November 22nd on the Splendor.

a mere 2 weeks ago I was on the Sunshine!

After 2nd dinner (as we referred to it), we explored the Fun Shops, looked at our embarkation photo (shhhhh) and explored the ship a bit more. The smoke smell from the casino was putrid - and because that is basically the only (and most convenient) way to get anywhere, I was usually found with my shirt over my nose, "running" through it (okay, more like speed walking).

We met our cabin steward, Colin, at this point and went back into our room to find

I explored the ship until about 11pm and my wife and MIL were long in bed by then.

One little silly pic that shows how gooft I really am but also that deck 10 doesn't have a "roof" over their balconies so we could see right down into them:

That is the end of Day 1! Finally!!! If you have any questions, I am happy to answer them. I might get around to doing more tonight or it may have to wait until tomorrow/Friday. Happy holidays to those that celebrate!

Wow, Day 1 is sooo long! Thanks for sticking it out with me!

As is our tradition (and mostly for the free wine), we ate at the steakhouse this night. Food p0rn to follow. It was delicious as always, even in spite of the family behind us (whom we saw all over the ship and on excursions thereafter) who complained about EVERYTHING. We poo-pood them and enjoyed our food!

Shrimp cocktail

Tuna tartare

Wedge salad

Petite filet and lobster tail

We never ever like the dessert here and this time was no exception. So, we decided to head to the MDR for dessert. Haha! We had YTD and could go anytime, right??? Why not for dessert? We were slightly annoyed about having to go to 5 to check in then head down to 3 to actually eat. But, we discovered the Alchemy Bar which would get me and my S&S card in major trouble later! The Taste Bar was there too but was closed 4 of the 7 nights!?

We got GREAT wait staff that night and requested to be sat in their section every night! Sudita, Untung and I Made (we only used the bartender once, Robert and he was swell too) were fantabulous! And while they found us coming in for only dessert amusing, it also gave us time to get to know them.

We love love love it when our muster station is indoors and we can sit! However, it does leave it to the imagination how we'd all muster in the lounge then get all the way to the boats in time not to drown and if we did get there, how we'd all fit (staff assured us that we would).

Me thinks some people showed up late!

After mustarding, hehe, we went back up to the rooms to find our luggage! My MIL, having an interior room and only one person (with the bunk in the ceiling - we joked that her ex was up there since we ran into a guy throughout the cruise that looked like him) was done first. So she came to hang out on our balcony as we unpacked and my wife distracted her so I could decorate her cabin door.

Then I came back and did our door:

I was out of tape and so we lost half of these and the penguin before the cruise was over! But my MIL was surprised and loved it!

If I remember correctly, we left a half an hour late (4:30) but we did sail away from our room:

There were 2 showers in the spa and both were broken - one didn't work at all and the other, you couldn't get cool water - only hot. And after the showers was the cool down room:

The chairs are mildly heated - we liked this room but it was packed all the time. We really wanted to use the spa every day but we only wound up going 5 of the 7 days. It got really crowded on sea days especially. And if we went late, it seemed more dirty. Plus, I started to get sick right about this time (don't worry, I tested the theory that alcohol kills everything) and didn't want to hack up a lung in a steam room!

I want to interrupt this review for one of our major complaints - which didn't "ruin" the cruise for us and was mostly just annoying. My wife and I are legally handicapped. We are luckier than most and can walk and don't rely on a scooter or chair. But, especially at the end of the day, our mobility shrinks. Anyway, there were two elevators that went to floors 11, 12 and 14 at the front of the ship. These two elevators were either turned off or skipped our floor (no matter which we were on) at least 75% of the time. Luckily we got smart and either walked down to 10 in order to get one of the 10 elevators there (6 regular and 4 glass) or took the elevator to 10 and walked up. It became an issue at the end of the trip for me and was just annoying.

We checked my MIL's room this time (still no luggage) and then trekked down the hallway

back up the stairs and sat on the Serenity Deck (12). I hit the bar and decided to try the Kiss on the Lips. YUCK! Too sweet. I went back and got a Long Island (he only charged me for the difference between the two) and also got a Cigar Beer for my MIL to try (she hated it -too bitter)

We grabbed some chairs, made some last minute calls and relaxed for about an hour before Muster:

We perused the menu:

And each decided on a shake - I think I got the Irish Float...and I can't remember what the others got but while we waited with baited breath for the yumminess, we admired the gingerbread house (one of the few decorations around the ship):

Seems like my wife went for Strawberry

Anyway, the final verdict was that even though my MIL treated us to one with her OBC, we decided they weren't that yummy nor delicious and, on our way to the room to see if luggage arrived (it didn't) we ditched the shakes. Alcohol abuse? Maybe. But I wanted to spend my calories on something I enjoyed, like a Long Island Iced Tea!

So, we headed on up to the spa to get our wristbands and free scrub and to check out the amenities. Now, my favorite spa is on the Dream - between the thalasso pool and large cool down room (even if there is mold growing in the window and in the rugs - still can't figure out why they'd put a rug in these rooms) and the Sunshine's spa paled in comparison. Failed really.

First, the woman who worked that desk every damn day was a grumble puss. Rudest person I encountered the entire trip. There was a line, which we expected, but she was just so nasty. We gave her the benefit of the doubt with it being first day craziness but nope, that was her personality. When we finally got up to the front desk, she threw the bands at us and told us the scrub was in the spa to use. That we didn't get a personal one (LIES!!!! Meh.). And, I wasn't going to use the same scrubs that people's hands had already been in anyway so we skipped it and just went on a tour. SMALL!

Aroma Steam Room - this place was HOT. Most days, the aroma was not a pleasant one!

This room was totally broken. There was a buzzer from Day 1 that went off and on Day 6 was still going off. No steam or anything. This was a room my MIL could sit in - she couldn't do 5 seconds in either of the steam rooms!

The Oriental Steam Room

Again, these rooms fit maybe 6 people comfortably. And, as the cruise went on, it seemed like the rooms and floors were never cleaned (I always wear flip-flops, a bathing suit and sit on a towel or two!).

One final picture in the next post!

We decided we should move along and get to the drinking, er, fun! From reading all the reviews on CC about Lido and the back of the ship, I knew we had to hit the Havana Bar first. We met for breakfast (my MIL used most of here OBC for a fresh squeezed orange juice here every morning) where they have breakfast and lunch treats - and coincidentally, they made omelettes back here at JiJis and Cuchina every morning. My wife had pasta for lunch EVERY SINGLE DAY!

Anyway, to Havana we went for our first drinks of the cruise, and let me tell you, this broke some sort of seal for all three of us because we drank more than on any other cruise. More proof of that later!

Here is the Lido buffet. Now, I heard a lot of negatives before our cruise about the buffet but I actually like the layout of it!

Smaller stations, yes. But it made sense to me geographically speaking if that makes any sense. I grabbed a salad and headed back to Havana:

There we are, in all of our drinking and lunch glory! As you probably know, Cuchina is free at lunch time and you basically mix and match your own pasta dish. My wife and I followed MIL's suit and got it for lunch and my wife fell in love. Whereas I fell in love with the empenadas and had those for lunch at least 4 times! But here is some pasta food p0rn for you:

I had some kind of drink that was mixed with a grapefruit soda that was yummy. The pasta was good too. After two drinks and lunch, we decided to wander back up towards the room to see if our FTTF luggage came.

For 300 days my MIL and wife had been SOOOOO excited about the Shake Spot and getting a spiked milkshake. Me? I can take or leave ice cream but was all for trying it with alcohol! So we stopped for yet another beverage:

So where was I? Oh yes, exploring the Serenity Deck.

The Sunshine totally hits this nail on the head! It was peaceful, plenty of chairs and staff did time people and sticker! We were able to get a spot by the pool every day - granted, we were out there before 9am but we had such great weather we knew we'd want to get in the water rather than sit away from the pool. The last sea day we did enjoy the couches on Deck 14 since it was cold out but otherwise, I was in that pool every day.

The pool *is* small (I was across it in 6 swimming strokes) but being a dipping pool was fine as there were no kids, there was no splashing. The pool though is COLD. Like really cold. It didn't bother me and the day we hit Curacao, we needed something cool (that was the busiest day in the water with 17 people!).

Some pictures for you to enjoy:

The view of the main Lido pool

Contemplating whether or not to move

We did, eventually, move and walked to check out Waterworks and the slides:

It was a pretty neat area. Sadly, we forgot to try this area out (I wanted to play mini-golf and try out the slides) because of high winds and then cold on the last sea day. But the area looks like a blast for kids (of all ages!)!!

Thanks everyone! I am glad that people are reading :) With that being said, I am off to do the next update!

Hi there,

I've been on both ships and it's all a matter of preference. Since you asked, I will tell you I liked the Sunshine more! I am shocked I even said that because the Breeze used to be my favorite ship for a few reasons - I love the decor, the staff made it great and I loved the Serenity deck.

The Serenity deck on the Sunshine KILLED the one on the Breeze. More space, more to relax. The decor was nice and staff were just as excellent. The Sunshine's layout made more sense to me (more intuitive) and is a bit smaller though it didn't feel that way. The spa was very, very small.

To save money, especially that kind, I'd definitely go on the Sunshine.

This is sooo creative and I hate you for thinking of it!!!

Wait, I don't hate a 2-year old :)

Can't wait for more!

This link works:

http://s1379.photobucket.com/user/karaorvin/library/2014%20December%20Carnival%20Dream%20-cabin%207465?sort=6&page=1

And... we're on!

The decor for me was a hybrid of the Breeze, feeling very tropical and the Valor which screams Americana. I liked it! First things first - after an elevator rendition of Let It Go for John Heald, we went up to the rooms. We were on the spa deck, interior for MIL in 11003 and balcony for us, 11021

It was, in all honesty, a wee bit smaller than a regular spa balcony but not so much so that we could really feel it. We liked that, unlike on the Dream, the decor was indeed a different color than the regular rooms. We had our "fancy" soaps and shampoos and no, we didn't have a clam shell with freebies (I overheard people complaining about this at lunch one day and corrected them that it wasn't Carnival's cut backs but the product companies being stingy).

With no luggage yet, we headed to Lido for some lunch. But first, we walked down the hallway and outside the door that left us right on the Serenity deck!!!

Pictures...in next post!

But I will say we loved this location!!! It was the best yet - we wandered out for chairs every morning and it was close enough to the food to not be a hassle but far enough away to keep us from overeating!!!

After a few Long Island Iced Teas, I got the bright idea to swim and while my MIL was down, my wife declined and headed up to bed. My MIL went for a dip in the very very windy pool!

After about an hour, we officially decided to end Day 1 and head to bed. We wanted to venture out to the ocean but it was scary out there so, me being me and not a morning person, promised my MIL I'd get up at 7am for a morning swim. And much to her shock, I did!

There were a few surfers out and I almost lost my flip-flops to the higher tide (which would have been tragic as they were one of only 2 pairs of shoes I was now down to), but I was glad to have woken up early to get out into the ocean. I've missed it!

We ate breakfast at the hotel and got in a van at 10:30am promptly to head out to port. It was a 15-minute drive and we were all hushed not to mention cruising because a family was surprising their kids with a Disney cruise. I was so excited and it sucked not to talk about it. Eventually the kids realized it though and after we dropped the family and another couple off at other ships, we headed to see The Sunshine up close!

We were like three little kids on Christmas morning! We decided to get on the Sunshine for mainly one reason: the Serenity area. My wife and I don't have kids and my MIL's are all grown. On every other ship, the slides and play area for the kids are right by the Serenity deck! I guess that's nice for people with kids to stay close to where they are playing but for us it stinks - how am I supposed to relax with tykes screaming their heads off??? We were excited to think that Carnival finally got it right!

I bought my MIL FTTF as a birthday gift and, of course, we had it too. I always think it's worth it - if not for having the room ready when you board as well as for the special line at the Guest Services desk.

Here are a few shots of us waiting to board:

Thanks to you both!

I try to write like a talk :)

More to come...

Hi folks! As is my customary greeting, I always start out my reviews with a warning - first, I am a woman married to another woman. If this for some reason bothers you, feel free to X on out of the review right now!

Still there? GREAT! Hi, my name is Jenn. I cruise with my wife, Nicole and her mom (my MIL) - we introduced MIL to cruising two years ago and she's been on every one since with us! Good thing I like her :)

This is our 6th Carnival cruise - 2 on the Dream, 2 on the Valor, one on the Breeze and this one on the Sunshine. I was nervous that we wouldn't like the ship based on reviews. But, we decided to continue the tradition of sailing that first week of December and we waited 300 days - after waiting that long, a dingy would have been ok! More on the ship later.

Again, we booked this cruise almost a year prior and we were itching to get vacation started. The day had finally come!!! My MIL lives in Maine and had a layover in NYC while we were flying direct from DC. So, we should have been to MCO an hour before her at 2pm. We wanted play time on the beach and in the pool!

Instead, I got to the airport and the drug-sniffing dog stopped to sniff me, TWICE! Lol, I was convinced he was just in training and he picked up the smell of our two cats because there was no way I was carrying anything illegal!

After the dog finished with me, I was pulled aside by TSA because of a weird nail-like thing in my sneaker and the x-ray machine picked it up.

Weird right? After pulling it out, I was left with a huge hole in the sole of the only pair of sneakers I owned, let alone packed. I figured that we would get to MCO with enough time that I could shop as we waited for my MIL to arrive.

My wife and I boarded, tired but with smiles:

...until we were then were told to deboard due to a malfunction:

After waiting for two hours, the malfunction was "fixed" (I don't know about you but flying in a plane was was not able to fly a few hours ago because of a broken part but was now suddenly fine made me super nervous) and off we went.

We landed an hour after my MIL and of course, in a different terminal. We were tired, hungry and anxious to get vacation started! So, no shopping for me (which would prove to be a mistake) as my MIL was waiting with car service all the way over in Terminal A. We got our checked bags (all three of them) and hoofed it on over from Terminal B to Terminal A.

Determined that vacation would start off on a great note, I got rid of my funky attitude and just focused on the fact that there was still a bit of daylight out - I'd get to see Cocoa Beach!!! We checked in, threw our bags down and ran down to the beach to see a beautiful moon peeking out:

We decided to get something to eat at the hotel - we stayed at the Hilton Cocoa Beach Oceanfront and loved it. There was a laundry room, we had a great view, the room was clean and the grounds were great! Not to mention that the food was good as were the drinks. With a cocktail in hand, vacation had finally begun!

I can't eat sugar. Am I going to starve? Going to be on Freedom; suggestions?

Totally doable! I've done it before easy peasy not eating white carbs, including sugar. It's sad but, lol, doable. Meals are easy with a grilled protein and veggies, even pasta. The wait staff is very good so just mention it on Day 1!

Just got off the Glory three days ago and received an offer on the last day from the casino host for a free cruise to be taken in December. Coincidentally (or not so coincidentally), the cruise from which I just debarked was also a free cruise that I had received from the casino host due to my cruise on the Glory in mid October. In between these last two cruises my wife and I traveled to Orlando for Halloween and then spent a week in DC. Frankly, we're tired of traveling right now and we have a big two-month trip to Fiji, Australia & New Zealand coming up in Jan-March. (That trip also includes 2 two-week cruises.)

 

Still, it is difficult to say no to a free cruise, especially one that we could take over Christmas should we choose to do so. I suppose we could just stay in our cabin and relax rather than running around from one activity to another on sea days as well as not schedule tours or other activities on port days. Actually, I'm starting to talk myself into this as I am writing this post, lol. However, I'm still disinclined to go. How stupid am I being?

 

(Boy, I'm really opening myself up with that one, aren't i, lol?

I see your points but think you should go. And not schedule anything. Stay on the ship and relax.

Or give it to me, I'm in Bethesda too!!

Post to John Heald's page too on Facebook.

Sailing on the Victory Feb 26th - right before her dry dock. Couldn't forgo the $800 total. We're pretty easy going but now am wondering what I got us into (cruising with others who've never cruised with Carnival before).

The Breeze was my favorite ship. Wait times? Yes. I wrote the review in my signature after I got off her but between the Breeze, Dream and Valor, she's my #1 pick!

You, my dear, are hysterical and i just read your other, non-Carnival reviews for FUN.

Sorry to hear about your mom. Hugs and love being sent your way.

This is a great review! thank you...we are going on the Victory in February and hadn't seen or read much about her.

Your price makes me gag - we're paying double that in Feb (though we have an interior with the walkway window on the "secret" deck). I hope to see some price drops.

Thanks again!

The ocean????

(in all seriousness, every one I've been on has had one, albeit very sketchy at times - either really dirty or really narrow/steep steps leading to it)