Lizard13

Reading other posts, I can't help but respond again. Traveling to Williamsburg or Jamestown area is time consuming, especially if traffic is an issue with the tunnel. Williamsburg is certainly worth visiting. You don't have to buy a ticket to walk through the streets of colonial Williamsburg. There is also a great retail area with outdoor tables to have a meal and glass of wine or beer. The college of William and Mary is there, plenty of students milling about and the architecture worth viewing. But there is plenty to do within walking distance of the port too. This year the Waterside District will open, a large dining and entertainment venue similar to the inner harbor in Baltimore.

Enjoy!

Norfolk has a lot to offer. At port is the navy ship Wisconsin, naval mueseum and a national maritime museum, Naticus. A great, upscale mall is a few blocks walk away as is Granby street with plenty of restaurants. You can take a trip to botanical gardens or Navy base tour, both are close. Take the ferry to Portsmouth and walk to the restaurants or walk through the graveyard at an old church, graves from civil war times.

You can walk along the waterfront and see the Elizabeth river, walk through a small oriental garden with a pagoda next to port, walk through old neighborhoods with cobble stone streets. Don't stay on the ship. You will miss a lovely sea town.

I have noticed more discounts later in the cruise than early, especially port days, but last sea day good deals on facial and massage combined. You can also get good discounts booking prior to cruise, you can see the discount price on port days and early morning time slots if u go to manage my cruise. We booked couples massage on port day and paid about $50 less than specials.

Congrats on retiring. I liked the Tampa port, a lot of seating and as we boarded there was someone blowing bubbles and shaking maracas to welcome us! Tampa seemed like a nice place to visit also.

Things I liked best: 1) guys burger; 2) Havana bar - try the Cuban coffee and espresso martini with vodka and baileys, both outstanding! Havana bar area not nearly as crowded as rest of lido, easy to get a table. Entertainment at night. 3) alchemy bar of course, and the area outside of it has a small breakfast and lunch buffet with plenty of tables. Lots of room to sit and read, people watch. 4) show room is smaller, we always go to top of venue and sit up there, plenty of good seats. Comedy room small but still a lot of seats, don't be discouraged. 5) great steam room and sauna with views of the ocean, often empty. Highly recommend booking spa services on line prior to cruise, less expensive. Loved the fire and ice manicure! 6) ropes course! Lots of fun, very scary but glad I did it. Enjoy your cruise!

We recently finished a cruise on both these ships, Sunshine in October and Paradise in January, so thinking about reviewing my recent cruise often brought comparison to Sunshine, so will include both. This will not include photos or food porn, just my impressions. For a little background, we are a middle aged couple, this was around our Fifth cruise in three years, all on carnival. Here goes:

Check-in: we always arrive early, before noon, no real issues. NOrfolk had not started staggered check in, Tampa had. We had FTTF on Paradise for the first time so easy breezy boarding.

FTTF - loved it! Made debarkation less hectic, all meet in lounge and escorted off. Tender priority the same. Front of line privileges at service desk. This ship was smaller so lines not as bad but I could see on larger ship this would really be sweet.

Show rooms: sunshine main showroom and comedy club smaller, visibility not as good throughout, even had TVs set up for part of comedy show room where stage not visible. PAradise still has the large, comfortable show rooms, plenty of seats, no need to stand in line. Shows were basically the same in main show room. Good music and talented dancers. I enjoyed the Brits show the best, but still typical Carnival entertainment. Comedy shows were ok, not outstanding. Preferred Paradise show rooms!!

Piano bar: loved Sunshine best, great set up with elevated seats in back, all can see performer, which was Patrick who must be one of the best. Never really could understand the appeal of piano bars until we went to this one with Patrick. He was funny, dirty, completely entertaining, not for Kids! Did not enjoy anything about Paradise performer and room not appealing to me, poor visibility. Sunshine wins!

Bars: we don't go to lido bars, prefer lobby bars and alchemy. On Sunshine had cheers for first time. We loved alchemy of course, lobby bar great for day drinks, not as crowded. Loved Havana bar on Sunshine, never crowded, made the BEST morning Cuban coffee and night time espresso martinis! Paradise no alchemy, no Havana bar, and absolutely the ugliest decorations in the lobby bar. But I loved the Rotterdam bar, low lighting, never crowded, seats at the bar or next to window. They did have a martini tasting but not the skill or variety of alchemy. But quieter and roomier. The lobby bar was ugly, but had good entertainment on stage so I did enjoy!

CHeers: I wanted to try it on short Sunshine cruise to see what it would be like to not worry about prices or quantity. It did include coffee drinks which I loved at Havana bar and coffee bar. But trying to get my money's worth didn't work for us. The fancy martini drinks are all double or large pours anyway, so I couldn't really handle too many at a time, and when I did I felt crappy the rest of the day, this happened on the first day! Two drinks in lobby bar and I was done! Hahah. On Paradise just ordered whatever and whenever I wished, and our bar bill was $150 less than cheers would have been, and I did not deprive myself. Of course no cuban coffee:(, but that was cheep anyway so wouldn't make a difference. And this did include the top level 3 bottles of wine package.

Spa: love a trip to spa on every cruise, just prepare myself to resist the urge to buy products. The spa on Sunshine is beautiful, great steam room with view of ocean. The Paradise spa is small, only two toilets, old shower room, no view in steam room. SO prefer the Sunshine for sure! We did get a couples stone massage on the Paradise and this was the best massage I have had; this was my husbands second massage and he preferred stone too. We booked online for port day to get best price, saved about $50 by booking ahead of cruise.

Casino: Sunshine way to crowded, way too smokey, casino bar packed and smokey. Avoided all cruise. Now Paradise, smaller but never crowded and not smokey until the last night, which worked out because I was able to loose less. It did seem like there were much fewer smokers on this cruise, even casino bar never smokey. This bar is very long so a lot of space to sit and enjoy entertainment without a lot of smoke. Never experienced this on any other cruise.

PAradise casino wins for sure, especially since myself and hubby lost every night. But I did find the slots did allow for some good wins by others and did allow us to play longer before loosing.

Promenade deck and shops: Sunshine took out all seating along this deck so not a lot of places to sit and people watch. The gift shop and store also significantly smaller. Every space on the Sunshine is bright. I wish the lights slightly less intense, even at 3:00 AM/difficulty sleeping/ lights at full intensity everywhere! Paradise still has all the sitting areas for relaxing, reading, watching and a large shop for jewelry, make-up, all that stuff. And lights less intense; I do look better in filtered lighting, hahaha. Preferred Paradise.

Excursions: did our own thing.

Dining room: service outstanding on both cruises. Our server on Paradise did go out of his way to tell us about the evening activities and ask about our day, couldn't have been better. The food on the Paradise was much better; not sure why. I was a little disappointed after the Sunshine but faith restored on Paradise. Favorites: grilled tomato soup on brunch menu; chocolate melting cake of course; duck appetizer; chateaubriand. Veggies not over cooked and tasty.

Room service: outstanding on both ships. Rarely saw our Stewart but received two times daily service. The bed on the Paradise had the MOST comfortable mattress and pillows I can remember on a cruise! We had outside rooms on both ships. The Sunshine we did book inside with window to deck on third deck, right outside lobby bar. I did love this location and this room is larger than most inside or outside rooms, had a couch. Would definitely want this location again if cruised Sunshine.

Improvements noted on both: coffee better all over ship. Music volume controlled.

And the winner is: ME! cruising on Legend to Alaska in May!

We recently returned from the sunshine, and I agree it has all the restaurants and extras you will enjoy. I liked the ropes course, very challenging for me but the kids had no problem. I loved the Havana bar area and the deck with the alchemy bar, always a lot of space to chill. The casino was too smokey, loud and crowded for me but it usually is so I stayed clear. Serenity/adults only area great. I never tried the sushi restaurant but it looked good. And guys burgers is always a treat. The comedy club and show room were not my favorite, but loved the piano bar! Enjoy

Just curious what the price is for the Cuban coffee.

I believe it was 2.95 with gratuity; I had cheers so it was a no brainer

For those considering the Sunshine, it is much less crowded in the Havana bar area, more tables for eating. At the beginning of our cruise it was practically empty. Later in the cruise people seem to realize it was there. There is also a good Asian and Italian restaurant back there that are free at lunch time. And the Cuban coffee from the bar is the best coffee I had on the ship. Don't even get me started on their espresso martini!

I could not find this topic in other threads; has anyone tried the acupuncture for anti-aging and found it beneficial? I usually like to visit the spa to treat myself, have had facials, massage, mani and pedis, now want to try something different. Any "kind" feedback appreciated

I agree. Booked in January for a short cruise, great price. Always love most of the food choices. Cant wait to get away after busy holidays. Serenity here I come!

Downtown Marriott is extremely safe and easy walk to pier. Great location to visit beautiful mall, many restaurants and bars. It will take you less than 10 minutes to walk to pier. Beautiful walk, you will see the navy ship Wisconsin when you come out of the hotel. Head for that and you will be at the pier. No worries, downtown Norfolk is safe and has plenty to see. I hate to visit malls on vacation but this mall is great, upscale, lots of great stores and huge movie complex. And just a few minutes walk from the hotel. Yes I live in Norfolk and I love it. And I walk around downtown a lot!

I have cruised from Norfolk twice and getting ready for a third time. I would think a cruise to nowhere would appeal to a crowd that may not be familiar with the boarding process. I have gotten on board easily for my cruises and am looking forward to the new timed check in process. By the way, a very short walk around the Wisconsin is a lovely park with a pagoda. It is a good place to relax and wait should the lines get long.

thanks I was wondering the same thing. As soon as I board I go to the bar, have a drink, then hit Guys burgers. This will be my first time with cheers. Can hardly wait!!!

On our last cruise the Martini Tasting was listed in the fun times, offered on two of the 8 nites. I checked everyday as this is one of my favorite activities.

The sugar free desserts are available and very good, I had them several times and enjoyed them all.

Has anybody emailed Jacks for the free rum shot and tried it? I received my confirmation email from Jack in March and will visit next month. I like to plan ahead:) I was wondering how it works, just mention I'm on the Taste of rum list?

Looking into a cruise and saw your post. My husbands from NY and we visit the city on occasion. One thing we enjoyed was walking across the Brooklyn bridge, great way to get a view of the city, see locals and tourist hanging out, get some exercise and visit a cool part of the city, Brooklyn. It has a wide, very safe walkway away from traffic.

I believe it is due to the Martini Tasting menu and the skill of the bartenders. Our bartender could pour 4 or 5 glasses, can't remember exactly, at once. Really impressive. She stacked the shakers up and poured! Beautiful to watch, even better to drink. They also offered complimentary tray of olives or something tasty. Can't really recall details but looking forward to it in October. Oh yes, they give you a charm for a wine or martini glass. Every time I use mine I remember the cruise:):):)

I live in Norfolk and have taken a few cruises out of there. If I were you I would stay downtown, can walk to terminal from most hotels close to the pier, about 3-4 blocks I would guess.

There are many restaurants, casual, fancy, all along Granby Street within walking distance. All are good, not chains. I have heard a lot of good things about Field Guide. Each one different and interesting, worth just walking along and see what looks interesting. For some of the best She Crab soup Freemason is a little bit longer walk. Nice full service restaurant in an old church, very pretty. I know malls arnt really a tourist spot but MacArthur mall is lovely and who can resist shopping! Very close to hotels.

Get to the port early early and can basically walk on!

FYI there is a great small garden with a fountain and garden at the Pagoda, a gift from Tiawan, just around the corner from the Nauticus. Follow the path to the right of the ship (east i think:) then you can sit in the shade or sun, look at the river and have a cold beer or drink or snack. Just a short walk from the ship, maybe 5 minutes. Lovely neighborhood too to stroll around.

I like early dinning because I get too hungry waiting for late dining. I dont do buffets because I have NO willpower and prefer to eat enough not to get uncomfortably full. So by the Time early dining comes around i am more than ready.

If I get back to my room and am a little hungry I order room service as soon as I get in the room. The food from room service is great, portions small so just a little snack and I am happy!!! I found the wait for a table and for meals too slow for anytime dining.

It sounds like you can't pick the night it is offered. Is it usually on sea days?

Is there any problem leaving the cart unattended while you are visiting sites or restaurants?

I love the idea and would gladly attend most of the concerts offered at what I consider a reasonable price.

We had no problem getting a table for two. Yes, they are close but if the couple next to you look like fun it is easy to strike up a conversation. If we didn't feel like engaging our neighbors, no problem. We only had to wait for a table the first night.