Great cruise on the SUNSHINE - July 10-18

I should tell you first off that this is not my first cruise nor my first on Carnival although we haven’t cruised in a few years. I was traveling with my two boys, ages 13 & 15. I should also mention that my older son was on crutches due to an unfortunate knee injury right before our cruise that required surgery which he had yesterday.

Our ports were Grand Turk, San Juan, St. Kitts and St. Maarten. I’m not going to go thru every single thing we did on the cruise and in port but will try to hit the highlights. If you have any specific questions, please ask.

We stayed in Port Canaveral for 2 nights after flying into Orlando. We stayed at the La Quinta Oceanfront which was a GREAT location. We had dinner one night at Coconuts on the Beach (food was OK, atmosphere was great!) and one night at FishLips upstairs on the open deck which was really pretty. We rented a car from Budget and returned it to the Cocoa Beach/Port Canaveral location. That was kind of a pain because we waited in line for about 45 minutes and then had to wait for the shuttle too because they were full.

Embarkation was very easy. We had FTTF and arrived at approx 10:30am. By the time we walked inside they had already called FTTF and we literally walked right onto the ship.

First about FTTF – this was definitely money well spent. Being able to walk right on and drop our stuff in our cabin was great. And being able to walk right up to guest services to ask a question was really nice because sometimes the line was really long.

Cabin

We had a 4J cabin on deck 3 – 3143 so after we basically went thru the lobby and directly to our cabin which was ready due to FTTF. This was an awesome cabin location and possibly one of the best kept secrets on the ship. Absolutely convenient to everything and dead quiet except in the late afternoon/early evenings when there was music playing in the Atrium bar. We had a sofa and a refrigerator. This cabin is known as an inside obstructed view. I can count the number of people that we saw walk by our window during the entire week on less than 1 hand. Keep in mind we were on the starboard (right) side of the ship. The port (left) side is a smoking area so there may be more people on that side.

Dining

We had early seating in the Sunset dining room which was at most 100 yards from our cabin door. I had emailed Special Services and the Maitre’ D letting them know about my son’s injury so they put us at a table right inside the dining room. Very convenient!

During the week, we also ate at Guy’s Burgers, Blue Iguana Cantina for breakfast burritos and lunch burritos, the Pizzeria for late night pizza and ordered room service. (Hungry boys!) All were awesome and I have no complaints about any of them. The only specialty restaurant we ate at was Cucina del Capitano. The food there was delicious and the service was great.

Both of my boys made quick friends thru Circle C and Club O2 and disappeared every night right after dinner. NOTE: if you have teenagers, be sure to go to the “meet and greet” on the first night of the cruise. This is when friends and groups are made.

As for me, I loved the piano bar and comedy shows. Some evenings I hung out on deck at the Red Frog Rum Bar since the weather was nice or gambled a bit in the casino. My older son and I did go to a few of the shows together. We liked the magician and he liked the hypnotist show. We also both liked “Epic Rock” on the last night of the cruise.

On sea days, it was difficult to find deck chairs near the pool if you were looking after 10am but if you went up on deck 10 (above the pool) and a bit aft, there were always chairs near the sides of the ship. NOTE: on the last sea day, I was looking for a chair in the shade (due to a slight sunburn) near the pool and apparently at 10-10:30am, they start removing things from people’s chairs that have been gone for more than 40 minutes so I was able score one in a great location. This is the only time of day I saw them actively doing this so keep it in mind if you can’t find chairs. I did try to go up on Serenity one sea day and it was PACKED so I didn’t try again.

Before we left home I read all the previous reviews on the Sunshine so I was expecting problems and issues. We did not have or see ANY problems with lots of the things I read about like cabin noise, cabin too warm, leaking ceilings, etc. And I am definitely not the "everything is always wonderful" type of traveler either!

We did use a lot of the tips I found here like getting a hole punched in our S&S cards (there was actually someone in front of guest services doing this just as we boarded.) Sometimes we went back to sit in the Havana Café area at breakfast to eat, arriving early to the comedy shows, etc. We all got Bottomless Bubbles but not Cheers. I did have a few drinks at night but no where near 15 per day – LOL!

All in all, we had a fabulous cruise. Would I book the Sunshine again? Most DEFINITELY!

Thanks for the review. I was glad we ignored those negative reviews also. Would've missed out on a great vacation on a beautiful ship.

Thank you for the review! So glad you had a great time. Did you you anything on Grand Turk?

Thanks again

Shelley

Awesome thanks

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Thank you for the review! So glad you had a great time. Did you you anything on Grand Turk?

 

Thanks again

Shelley

We were on the Sunshine last month.

Grand Turk has the most awesome beaches in the world. And two huge pools at the local Margaretville there.

if you take one beach day.......I would say this should be the one.

Yes, we pre-booked a golf cart thru Karibe rentals. We drove around the island and went to Pilory Beach. We saved about 1.5 hours at the end of the afternoon to swim in the pool at Margaritaville and have lunch poolside. It was a great day!

Thanks for the review. Glad you had a great cruise. Can't wait until we sail on the Sunshine in November

Thanks for your review on the Sunshine. Sounds like you had a very good time!

Thanks for this, it's always nice to read a good review on Sunshine. I wonder if the hole punching is fleet wide. They did it as we checked in on Pride in June, too.

Great review. I will be on sunshine in October. Sailed on her when she was the Destiny. Looking forward to the upgrades like the Breeze has and then some.

Thanks for the review you were one on few positive reviews about the Sunshine.

Thanks for the review. Will be back on the Sunshine on Friday!!!

Thank you for your review.

Pleased that you had a fabulous cruise.

I'm on her at the end of November for 11 nights. I'm not worried about some of the threads I've read. My feeling is that every person on the ship has a completely and totally different experience from every other person, and reading any one person's thoughts is just that - their own; one of a couple thousand of that one sailing. I read what I can and just store it away but don't assume anyone's personal experience is going to match anyone else's or my own once I sail.

I disagree with AmberTeka about Grand Turks's beaches. You can make it a good beach day but the beaches themselves are not good at all - very rocky and not very soft sand - at least near the port! And I personally detest Margaritaville.

But this is why we post things here - we all have different expectations and different likes/dislikes. ;)

I'm looking forward to sailing her. I sail for the ports and getting 8 ports in 11 nights (including Tortola, which will be the only new one for me) is going to be great. Exhausting, but great.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

I should tell you first off that this is not my first cruise nor my first on Carnival although we haven’t cruised in a few years. I was traveling with my two boys, ages 13 & 15. I should also mention that my older son was on crutches due to an unfortunate knee injury right before our cruise that required surgery which he had yesterday.

 

Our ports were Grand Turk, San Juan, St. Kitts and St. Maarten. I’m not going to go thru every single thing we did on the cruise and in port but will try to hit the highlights. If you have any specific questions, please ask.

 

We stayed in Port Canaveral for 2 nights after flying into Orlando. We stayed at the La Quinta Oceanfront which was a GREAT location. We had dinner one night at Coconuts on the Beach (food was OK, atmosphere was great!) and one night at FishLips upstairs on the open deck which was really pretty. We rented a car from Budget and returned it to the Cocoa Beach/Port Canaveral location. That was kind of a pain because we waited in line for about 45 minutes and then had to wait for the shuttle too because they were full.

 

Embarkation was very easy. We had FTTF and arrived at approx 10:30am. By the time we walked inside they had already called FTTF and we literally walked right onto the ship.

 

First about FTTF – this was definitely money well spent. Being able to walk right on and drop our stuff in our cabin was great. And being able to walk right up to guest services to ask a question was really nice because sometimes the line was really long.

 

Cabin

We had a 4J cabin on deck 3 – 3143 so after we basically went thru the lobby and directly to our cabin which was ready due to FTTF. This was an awesome cabin location and possibly one of the best kept secrets on the ship. Absolutely convenient to everything and dead quiet except in the late afternoon/early evenings when there was music playing in the Atrium bar. We had a sofa and a refrigerator. This cabin is known as an inside obstructed view. I can count the number of people that we saw walk by our window during the entire week on less than 1 hand. Keep in mind we were on the starboard (right) side of the ship. The port (left) side is a smoking area so there may be more people on that side.

 

Dining

We had early seating in the Sunset dining room which was at most 100 yards from our cabin door. I had emailed Special Services and the Maitre’ D letting them know about my son’s injury so they put us at a table right inside the dining room. Very convenient!

During the week, we also ate at Guy’s Burgers, Blue Iguana Cantina for breakfast burritos and lunch burritos, the Pizzeria for late night pizza and ordered room service. (Hungry boys!) All were awesome and I have no complaints about any of them. The only specialty restaurant we ate at was Cucina del Capitano. The food there was delicious and the service was great.

 

 

Both of my boys made quick friends thru Circle C and Club O2 and disappeared every night right after dinner. NOTE: if you have teenagers, be sure to go to the “meet and greet” on the first night of the cruise. This is when friends and groups are made.

 

As for me, I loved the piano bar and comedy shows. Some evenings I hung out on deck at the Red Frog Rum Bar since the weather was nice or gambled a bit in the casino. My older son and I did go to a few of the shows together. We liked the magician and he liked the hypnotist show. We also both liked “Epic Rock” on the last night of the cruise.

 

On sea days, it was difficult to find deck chairs near the pool if you were looking after 10am but if you went up on deck 10 (above the pool) and a bit aft, there were always chairs near the sides of the ship. NOTE: on the last sea day, I was looking for a chair in the shade (due to a slight sunburn) near the pool and apparently at 10-10:30am, they start removing things from people’s chairs that have been gone for more than 40 minutes so I was able score one in a great location. This is the only time of day I saw them actively doing this so keep it in mind if you can’t find chairs. I did try to go up on Serenity one sea day and it was PACKED so I didn’t try again.

 

Before we left home I read all the previous reviews on the Sunshine so I was expecting problems and issues. We did not have or see ANY problems with lots of the things I read about like cabin noise, cabin too warm, leaking ceilings, etc. And I am definitely not the "everything is always wonderful" type of traveler either!

 

We did use a lot of the tips I found here like getting a hole punched in our S&S cards (there was actually someone in front of guest services doing this just as we boarded.) Sometimes we went back to sit in the Havana Café area at breakfast to eat, arriving early to the comedy shows, etc. We all got Bottomless Bubbles but not Cheers. I did have a few drinks at night but no where near 15 per day – LOL!

 

All in all, we had a fabulous cruise. Would I book the Sunshine again? Most DEFINITELY!

That's for your review.... We'll be on the ship on Sept 6th sailing....

Great short review. We were on sunshine last thanksgiving and are booked this thanksgiving as well!

Who was playing in the Piano Bar? We had Lacey last year and she was great!

Nice review.

"We stayed at the La Quinta Oceanfront which was a GREAT location."

Do you know if the hotel offered a shuttle to port or the taxi fare would be?

Nice review.

 

"We stayed at the La Quinta Oceanfront which was a GREAT location."

 

Do you know if the hotel offered a shuttle to port or the taxi fare would be?

I may be wrong but The La Quinta Oceanfront DOES NOT offer a free shuttle.

The othe la Quinta in Cocoe Beach offers a shuttle and another option of 40% off cruise parking at the port.

Check out the packages on the left side of the page http://www.laquintacocoabeachportcanaveral.com/

I prefer the 40% off where you stay at La Quinta and they give you a 40% off voucher for parking at the port. because I hate waiting around and dealing with shuttles, especially when I get off the ship.

I am so glad you enjoyed your cruise on the Sunshine. I will cruising her for the second time leaving in 21 days. We can't wait.

One thing about cruises, as with all things in life, what some people detest, others will love.

Thumbs up! Thanks for your review. Our family is traveling the same itinerary in Feb. we have 3 younger boys and hope they have a blast as yours did. Hope your son recovers quickly.:)

I may be wrong but The La Quinta Oceanfront DOES NOT offer a free shuttle.

 

The othe la Quinta in Cocoe Beach offers a shuttle and another option of 40% off cruise parking at the port.

 

Check out the packages on the left side of the page http://www.laquintacocoabeachportcanaveral.com/

 

I prefer the 40% off where you stay at La Quinta and they give you a 40% off voucher for parking at the port. because I hate waiting around and dealing with shuttles, especially when I get off the ship.

Bummed! I booked here and already paid in advance for my parking at the port.

Awesome review. We are doing the same ports in 8 weeks. Do you have copies of the funtimes you can post? We are trying to figure out which nights will be what shows and stuff.

Oh. And was your cruise director tyler ryan or jamie? If ryan how was he? We've had jamie before and she was the best but we have ryan for ours and curious about your thoughts.

Bummed! I booked here and already paid in advance for my parking at the port.

I would verify with La Quinta that you get that 40% voucher. Get an Email response so you have it in writing. Then I would get a refund on the port parking.

I always prepay for parking. I was always afraid the port parking would be full when I showed up but that has never been the case. I see everyone in line paying as they go in so I am not worried.

Thank you for your review! I'm booked for 3127 in November. I'd love to see any cabin or view pictures that you have from your cabin.

So the noise from the guest services desk wasn't bad?