Sunshine ....live

This is our first time on the Sunshine/22nd Carnival Cruise. The ship itself is brighter than most and although it is showing some signs of wear and tear, I feel the decor and layout are satisfactory.

Every cruise we wonder what else will be sacrificed by Carnival to keep prices down. We were told today by our Room Steward that we have to get an ice bucket from room service instead of from the steward. We are still waiting an hour and a half later.

Carnival has removed all TV stations with ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX affiliates. We are Winter Olympic fans so no luck this week I guess. There are 3 CNN channels TBS, TCM I watch very little TV on a cruise but many are upset by this.

Remember to bring you own pen or pencil as those have disappeared from the staterooms as well. You will also pay for any room service from 10pm-6am each day.

Can you tell me what dining room Your Time dining is in?

No surprises. Aware of these changes from past posters.... ...other than the ice bucket. Probably because Room Stewards only doing 1x a day service so not entering cabins as frequently

I think it’s different on each ship. We were never ask day or night for servicing. Our steward came morning and night and always had ice in the ice bucket. We never had to ask for one. It was in the room. He also brought towels morning and afternoon.

Can you post the funtimes.

We are doing this itinerary later this year and have been hoping to see them but no luck thus far.

Have a wonderful ruise.

Thanks

Our upcoming trip will be our first Carnival in years. I am MORE than a bit disappointed to hear about the ice bucket. DH uses the ice all day long. I'll be down at the services desk if this happens to us, and writing Carnival a letter post cruise.

Some things may seem little to others, but this is a HUGE one for us. Dh spends a LOT of time in the cabin and drinks a LOT of water and ice while there. Waiting around on room service to deliver ice is unacceptable. (Yes, dh is in the room, but not necessarily for hours at one time, feeling as though he can't leave while waiting for ice that we are accustomed to having refreshed twice daily, whether he's there or not.)

If the stewards are not going to deliver, do as the hotels and put the machines at the end of the hall. Talk about going downhill. Ugh!

I've been trying to go into this cruise with an open mind. I booked it more for my adult son who likes to have someone to vacation with. Princess was a bit 'silver', and we all don't care for the changes under the new regime at Norwegian. Enter, Carnival.

I've kept saying, while reading these boards, worst case this, worst case that. No ice........OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll take it up at the services desk. *sigh* :(

Keep thinking of sitting on that balcony, enjoying the stars......

Carnival has removed all TV stations with ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX affiliates. We are Winter Olympic fans so no luck this week I guess. There are 3 CNN channels TBS, TCM I watch very little TV on a cruise but many are upset by this.

Have you checked out the Sky Box sports bar near the casino to see if they're showing the Olympics there?

I plan on going with evening service if I can't choose both and so I've already come up with a plan to have ice in my cabin while I'm getting ready for dinner. When I go to my cabin to get cleaned up, I bring several plastic tumblers full of ice from the Lido. I'll keep my ice bucket full myself, I'll choose once a day cabin service too. While I won't remove my gratuities I certainly won't leave anything extra for reduced services.

We always book a suite for priority disembarkation and while it is worth it for us, I have to wonder why suites pay more in gratuities for the same reductions in services from room stewards.

I plan on going with evening service if I can't choose both and so I've already come up with a plan to have ice in my cabin while I'm getting ready for dinner. When I go to my cabin to get cleaned up, I bring several plastic tumblers full of ice from the Lido. I'll keep my ice bucket full myself, I'll choose once a day cabin service too. While I won't remove my gratuities I certainly won't leave anything extra for reduced services.

We always book a suite for priority disembarkation and while it is worth it for us, I have to wonder why suites pay more in gratuities for the same reductions in services from room stewards.

The suites are bigger. There is more to clean.

I think it’s different on each ship. We were never ask day or night for servicing. Our steward came morning and night and always had ice in the ice bucket. We never had to ask for one. It was in the room. He also brought towels morning and afternoon.

Agree... When you introduce yourself to your room steward...just tell him your needs. If you need ice throughout the day..many times it will be taken care. They do try and please. Also, it doesn't hurt to slip him a few dollars once your request is asked.

Day2

So it's our first day at sea and it's been windy and choppy. Our Captain told us it would be this windy until we dock in Aruba on Tuesday. The winds did not deter the sun ☀️ worshippers. I joined them for about and hour but got tired of chasing my hat.

Strange we have had 2 medical emergencies called through the all call. Both to stateroom numbers and not a code call but a "medical response team" all call.

I don't have a clue what happened and I'm not going to put any gossip out on the Boards but I thought the all call was a switch.

Good news is that hubs and I spoke with the room steward today re the ice delay for room service. He brought us a second bucket of ice and has filled both of them for us today. What I will do next cruise is call room service right away and get the bucket delivered to the room and then ask the steward to fill it with each service.

I believe it's the bucket room service now delivers. Scuttlebutt is that it's a cleanliness/disinfectant thing. With that reasoning I'm fine.

The Cruise director Emma is a doll. People seem happy for the most part but there has been some seasickness due to choppy seas.

The crew is great with keeping the hand sanitizers filled and offering it as all food areas.

I will try to bring the Funtimes home to scan

Oh by the way, our neighbor was feeling a bit sick and they were told to call room service for seasickness meds. That was also a new twist.

I will try to bring the Funtimes home to scan

Angelica - It would greatly appreciated. Thanks

Appreciate the update on the ice. Small beans to some, big to others of us. Sounds as though dh will have to pick a time to lock himself into the cabin for a couple of hours while waiting on a bucket. Be easier if we could just go pick it up somewhere. Either way, I'm all for cleanliness on a ship!

Following along, my parents are also on this cruise doing the first half of their first B2B. They will only post updates when in port and I am living vicariously through them (and you with your updates!).

Thanks for sharing your cruise. I had heard Carnival was removing the local stations and I will miss them. I don't watch much TV on a cruise but did turn it on while in the cabin.

On ships that do not have mini fridges / or only in certain rooms , like the sunshine , we bring an insulated cooler bag to put 8 to 10 cokes in at a time . Served us great on the 11 day inside cabin on Sunshine , and will again on the 8 day , seeing as the lido cabin does not have a fridge this go round .

Our upcoming trip will be our first Carnival in years. I am MORE than a bit disappointed to hear about the ice bucket. DH uses the ice all day long. I'll be down at the services desk if this happens to us, and writing Carnival a letter post cruise.

 

Some things may seem little to others, but this is a HUGE one for us. Dh spends a LOT of time in the cabin and drinks a LOT of water and ice while there. Waiting around on room service to deliver ice is unacceptable. (Yes, dh is in the room, but not necessarily for hours at one time, feeling as though he can't leave while waiting for ice that we are accustomed to having refreshed twice daily, whether he's there or not.)

 

If the stewards are not going to deliver, do as the hotels and put the machines at the end of the hall. Talk about going downhill. Ugh!

 

I've been trying to go into this cruise with an open mind. I booked it more for my adult son who likes to have someone to vacation with. Princess was a bit 'silver', and we all don't care for the changes under the new regime at Norwegian. Enter, Carnival.

 

I've kept saying, while reading these boards, worst case this, worst case that. No ice........OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I'll take it up at the services desk. *sigh* :(....

We always bring a small collapsible cooler, a little inconvenient but worth it.

As soon as room service opens, which varies, we order a plastic bucket of ice. Until then, Lido ( or a bar) is the only place for ice. (Sometimes the ice bucket is taken away by the steward when it is empty? )

This is where the cooler comes in, we fill it with ice from the bucket , place on floor with a towel under it or the shower if our cooler sweats too much. Then, when the steward comes by, tell to please keep the cooler filled with ice for the rest of the cruise:)

Otherwise, room service buckets of ice are the best option. The small aluminum buckets the stewards have, or used to have is the last option. Even though the ice shouldn't be such a problem.

Ice machines like hotels have, which it dispense ice into a small buckets would save a lot of crew time! Maybe someday. But, I can't see where a cooler of ice being hauled around the hallways filling ice buckets, is any more sanitary than a properly maintained machine??:confused::confused:

following

Is there still a live band in the Ocean Plaza every night? It was one of the things we enjoyed most - night caps with the entertainment.:tropical-drink::whiskey-glass::bottle-pop:

Enjoying your review, following.

Can you tell me if the sell Cuban cigars onboard the Sunshine? I seen a video that shows cigars available at one of the bars and was wondering if they offer REAL Cuban cigars. THX

Is there still a live band in the Ocean Plaza every night? It was one of the things we enjoyed most - night caps with the entertainment.:tropical-drink::whiskey-glass::bottle-pop:

Yes there is and we found breakfast in the Ocean Plaza to be a quiet less crowded place to breakfast. Also loved the BBQ on embarkation. It was so much more pleasant than the Lido

Is there still a live band in the Ocean Plaza every night? It was one of the things we enjoyed most - night caps with the entertainment.:tropical-drink::whiskey-glass::bottle-pop:

I will check tonight after dinner. Hubs did enjoy his Cuban in Aruba and Curaçao. Loved the cigar bar at the Fort in Curacao. Outdoor seating in the square. He sat with the guys. I went to eat at the BurgerBar.

Second Sea Day

The second sea day was rough going for me. The seas were rough and I've never been seasick in all my cruises but this was different. The ship was bumpy to the point where it woke me up twice during the night. I wasn't ill but the captain explained that it was a strong headwind from the SouthEast that made the apparent wind speed the one time I looked to be 60 Knots.

Also at about 1130pm another all page was called for crew to level 0. I'm not sure what the exact wording was because I was in bed half asleep. About 10 min later the second page came over that said Staging Area. Then I was awake. A bit before midnight Emma came on the all page to tell us everything was okay. She apologized for frightening everyone but mentioned how the guests safety was Carnivals first priority.

I'm guessing folks were afraid and I never did find out what happened, but I was grateful that Emma cleared that up for all.

It seems as though many on this cruise are experienced cruisers because no one has brought it up to me since that night.

I will review Aruba and Curaçao later or tomorrow as we had Mardi Gras yesterday and today is Valentines Day and hubs and I are headed to Cucina for dinner.

This is a wonderful thread. Please keep the posts coming!