From Destiny to Sunshine: A Pictorial Retrospective And More!

My wife does travel agent work on the side, and I was fortunate enough to be invited on a ship tour of the Carnival Sunshine this past weekend. I haven't been on her since 2011 when she was still the Destiny. I got lots of pictures that I'll be posting up, along with some from my previous two cruises on her to show the before and after of her extensive renovations. For those that want to check it out, my original Destiny review can be viewed here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1130418

The ship looks excellent overall, you can tell that a lot of effort went into the remodel. Although there are still some remnants of the old Destiny in her, you'd have to be a ship nerd (which I am) to catch them. I hope you all enjoy, please feel free to ask any questions you may have.

One of the biggest exterior changes, aside from the gigantic water park now gracing her aft decks, is the new balconies added up front. It gives the ship an odd "big forehead" look, similar to NCL's Epic. Form has always followed function with Carnival's ship designs, so this isn't entirely out of place.

Her original profile

We loved Destiny & cruised her 4 times in a row. We have not cruised Sunshine, but would love to. Thanks for the comparison.

It looks like she got a new build plaque, I believe the original one said Carnival Destiny on it. I'm glad they just left the name off, putting Sunshine on there with the build year wouldn't have been correct.

The lobby and its bar have been totally remodeled. This is a good thing, as it is the first area most people see when boarding.

The old lobby bar

Guest relations

And then

The atrium lost its glass dome due to the addition of new decks up top

The new lobby area

and the old

The old main theater was reduced in size by filling in its bottom floor with cabins, it used to be three decks high. It's now called the Liquid Lounge.

The new Liquid Lounge

The old main theater

One of the new elevator lobbies

And before

The photo gallery has been mildly updated, but is still located in the atrium

The new casino. For some reason, they thought it would be a good idea for the promenade to run through it.

The old casino

Love these comparisons. The "new" Liquid Lounge is tiny in relationship to the old. No wonder people are talking about it being so small. We'll be on it in February and looking forward to a great cruise.

Thanks for the comparison and sharing.

The renovated casino bar

The old casino bar

This area used to be called "Cafe on the Way", since the promenade was once called "Destiny's Way".

The way it used to look

The new Alchemy Bar took the place of the old Cheers Wine Bar

Before

They also added a Taste Bar on the promenade

Never cruised on Destiny, but I do NOT like the new main theater, with the seats.

MUCH prefer the bench seating with the tables for your drinks.

This stinks.

The aft end of the promenade was radically altered from its original design. The old Criterion aft show lounge and piano bar were removed totally, and extra cabins were added in its place. The old Point After disco and Down Beat jazz club were also removed to make way for the new Red Frog Pub and Ocean Plaza lounge and it's music area.

The new Ocean Plaza area

The Red Frog Pub. Its bar is more or less in the same location as the bar in the old disco.

The Criterion Lounge at the aft end of Promenade Deck no longer exists

Enjoying this. Thanks for taking the time to do it.

The old Down Beat club and Point After disco are also now long gone

The Disco

Down Beat, those who remember Joe Farcus will see lots of his fingerprints here

The aft dining room remains largely unchanged. The lighter carpet and blown glass chandeliers are new. But the stairs, railings and ceiling lights are the same.

As it was

The smaller forward dining room was more heavily modified. It used to be two stories, but the upper level was closed in and converted into specilty restaurants which I will get into later.

The way it used to be

The new Limelight Lounge was the old cigar bar

The new sushi bar, built in what used to be the upper floor of the forward dining room. Of course you have to pay for it now. For those new to Carnival, the sushi used to be free. Like many other things they now charge for.

Great work love it.

Thanks

Sea ya

Eric

The Fahrenheit 555 steakhouse is part of the area which used to be the upper floor of the forward dining room

The new piano bar is now across from the steakhouse. It used to be at the aft end of the Promenade

Sadly I don't have a picture of the old library. It's in the same place, but it has now been expanded and also converted into a library/wine bar.

The new Library Bar

Never cruised on Destiny, but I do NOT like the new main theater, with the seats.

MUCH prefer the bench seating with the tables for your drinks.

 

This stinks.

Love these comparisons. The "new" Liquid Lounge is tiny in relationship to the old. No wonder people are talking about it being so small. We'll be on it in February and looking forward to a great cruise.

I agree. Making the theater smaller is bad enough, but adding cabins is always a terrible idea. It's a nasty practice that a few of the major lines are getting into and I think it's just nasty old greed. If there is one thing these ships do not need it's more people on board.

We loved Destiny & cruised her 4 times in a row. We have not cruised Sunshine, but would love to. Thanks for the comparison.

Thanks for the comparison and sharing.

Great work love it.

 

Thanks

 

Sea ya

Eric

You're welcome, glad you all are enjoying it. I've been wanting to do one of these for a while.

That's all I have time for tonight. I've got lots more, so I'll be on tomorrow with cabins, pool deck and other pics.

Thanks for the great photo's. Looking forward to more of your pictorial report.

Very nice.

Hated the Destiny and have no Intention of sailing the Sunshine, but enjoyed seeing the differences.

Very nice.

 

Hated the Destiny and have no Intention of sailing the Sunshine, but enjoyed seeing the differences.

I felt the same way going in. The Destiny was definitely my least favorite Carnival ship, and not just because of her shabby condition toward the end. There were other issues as well.

But I will say that after seeing the quality of her refurb, I would consider her for a short cruise. If they ever have her doing 3/4s or 4/5s again I may give her a shot.

The only thing that gives me pause is all those new cabins. She was overcrowded before, especially around the pools and buffet. I can't even fathom what an extra few hundred people will be like.