Sunshine review 10/7

Just got back yesterday from NE/Canadian cruise aboard the Sunshine. Traveled with my husband and sister in 2 inside cabins (we are all in our 60's)

Here's a quick (or not so quick!) review -

Embarkation was awful! First time I ever said that...there was a hold up that lasted about 45 minutes. That may not seem long but when you are standing in the middle of the of the long line it seemed like forever. It was very warm in there and it got pretty annoying when you saw all the agents standing around with no explanation. Once we got moving again, all was right with the world. Appreciated the express elevators going direct to the buffet on the Lido deck or the barbecue at the Taste Bar on deck 5, which is where we went. Few people and a very tasty, quick lunch. The muster drill was torture...longest I've ever been to! We left NY over 2 hours late which was kind of nice because of seeing the city with all the lights on at dusk.

Cabins - Cabin 5333 and 5337 on deck 5. The cabins are pretty standard interior rooms but I found it a bit odd that there was not one piece of "artwork" in the room. Completely blank walls. Don't think we've ever stayed anywhere that didn't have at least one picture on the wall! Loved the location on deck 5!! One deck down to dinner, elevators nice and close and Ocean Plaza and the casino were about 1 minute down the hall. Michael, our steward was fine. Met him the first night when he had us fill out a form for morning service, night service or both. We choose both because I think that is what makes a cruise special/different from staying in a hotel. I like ice twice a day and love having my room freshened up twice a day. I requested extra hangers and never got them so we just doubled up a lot of clothes. Also asked for the closed captioning to be taken off the TV and that never happened...got used to it. Our toilet stopped working twice and it was fixed immediately. The water pressure is very low, not sure if that was ship wide or just our area. The room temperature was never cool enough for me! Had it all the way down and it never got below 72 degrees - I have a clock I bring aboard that shows the temperature. Bed, sheets, pillows were all very comfortable...slept like a baby!

Food - I had requested a table for 3 for the 8:15 seating and when we arrived we had a table for 3 at the 6PM seating in the Sunset Restaurant. Quick call to the maitre'd and it was changed to 8PM in the Sunrise Restaurant which was awesome because it was one flight down for us, actually directly below our cabins. We had Roger, Jorge and Heriberto and they were all great! Prompt, courteous service. We ate there 5 out of 7 nights, skipping formal nights. We were next to a service station and that kind of made us feel rushed with all the waiters buzzing around. We noticed that they never asked if we wanted a beverage before dinner and only once asked if we wanted coffee with dessert. No biggy, just strange that they didn't ask. We enjoyed most of the food. Food was served hot and the portions were good sized (except the "side dishes" were pretty tiny). Buffet was standard fare, a lot of food was not hot. On the 2nd formal night, the medium rare steak was well done and the top sirloin at the carving station was extremely rare (and I LOVE rare) but was too chewy to eat. Felt terrible leaving both on my plate. Desserts were surprisingly good. Absolutely loved Guy's Burgers and the fresh made pizza - my favorite was the 4 cheese! Awesome! At lunchtime we tried the made-to-order pasta at the Pasta Bar - delicious! Also enjoyed a burrito one day and loved the Cuban bites. I wanted to make sure and try a little something from everywhere, except the pay restaurants. Never got to try the Mongolian Wok though, always a long line. We ate breakfast several mornings at the Taste Bar! Hardly anyone there and plenty of food. Very relaxing. We ate breakfast in the main dining room twice and it was excellent. Should of gone there everyday! Loved that breakfast was available until noon somewhere everyday...no rushing!

Crew - Awesome, awesome, awesome! Everyone we encountered smiled and said hello. Everyone was more than helpful answering any question. We had a few conversations with crew about where they were from and their lives.

Entertainment - Emma, the cruise director is lovely. She is very pleasant. I did think the activities were somewhat lacking though. "Your time: Laid-back Lounging by the Sea" - Open Deck, 3 Mid".... really? I don't ever remember a cruise not having a farewell show on the last night. Kind of missed that. The music around the ship was overall good. The nightly singing/dancing shows were good. Those kids work their butts off. I think Norwegian has the best entertainment with Royal in 2nd place. Just my opinion.

Itinerary/Shore Excursions - I should of known better...we choose this because we have gone to Bermuda/Bahamas/Caribbean several times and decided to try something different. I never felt comfortable in this decision, especially since we're from Massachusetts and have been to Boston and Maine many, many times. I associate cruising with palm trees and balmy weather. But we figured we'd be on a ship and that would make us happy enough. So, we decided to stay onboard in Boston - it rained intermittently all day and my sister and I took advantage of the empty hot tubs. Portland - we got off the ship and walked around and did shopping. Halifax - got off the ship and strolled the river walk, went to the Maritime museum, had a "Beaver Tail" and just enjoyed the beautiful day. By far, our favorite port on this trip. Next and last was St. John. We booked the "St. Martins and Bay of Fundy" tour the night before we docked - I wanted to wait to see the weather and it was going to be another beautiful day. It cost $64.99 each and it sucked. We were picked up a little after 2:00 - there were 4 busses going to the same place. Our tour guide, Barbara, was a pleasant enough lady, just boring. She talked for the entire hour ride through residential areas (with very little scenery-unless you were on the right side of the bus then you could catch occasional views of the ocean) about Canadian facts. She was just monotone. I saw several people dozing off. We've taken lots of tours through the years and a good tour guide makes the trip! She, unfortunately, did not. When we arrived at St. Martins -"working harbour, a favorite with photographers and painters, where a lighthouse, lobster traps, fishing boats and two covered bridges create a charming scene". omg. The "lighthouse" is where the public bathrooms are - we waited 10 minutes to use it - there was a covered bridge but not what we're used to in New England. I didn't even take a picture of it. We were allowed a half hour here which was more than enough because there was nothing there! A couple of tiny stores selling local crafts and a pile of lobster traps. We then drove through the covered bridge to the Bay of Fundy when Barbara told us to hurry, if you wanted a snack, be sure to tell them you need it to go! It was a rocky beach and she told us of a legend about rocks with a complete circle around it so everyone searched for a perfect rock for good luck. We could only see one sea cave in the far off distance because it was high tide. All 3 of us thought this was an extreme waste of money and time. We talked to guest services (shore excursion desk was closed) when we returned as we were completely dissatisfied. She took all our information and told us the manger would be contacting us. No one ever did.

Ship/Passengers - The ship is showing it's age here and there, especially outside. But, we loved her! It is spotless! The casino could use a smoke-eater...it is pretty smoky in there. The Limelight Lounge is the only place that wasn't great - way too small for the comedy shows. But, all in all, she's great! The passengers were a mostly older crowd, polite and friendly.

Debarkation was a breeze! We self-disembark and were off the ship and in our car by 8:30!

Final thoughts - We had a great week. The weather cooperated and was much warmer than anticipated and sunny! Only one bad day out of 7. I would definitely sail on the Sunshine again. Being from the Northeast, we will not be doing a New England/Canadian cruise again...been there, done that! The warm tropical breezes are more our style.

Happy to answer any questions!

Thanks for the review. How far in advance did you have to get in line to ensure a seat at the comedy club? and is there sushi somewhere on the boat without paying for JiJi's? Thanks.

Thanks for the review. How far in advance did you have to get in line to ensure a seat at the comedy club? and is there sushi somewhere on the boat without paying for JiJi's? Thanks.

We went a half hour before all the shows. They had it at the Taste Bar one night. There is Bonsai Sushi on deck 4 for a price....not sure how much.

Thanks for the review.

Enjoyed reading your review. Well balanced. Glad you had a nice time.

Keith

Thanks for the review. We were on her 2 weeks before you (9/23-9/30) Had sailed Destiny a few times and wanted to try Sunshine before she leaves NY (our home port) for FL. Like you, we enjoy the Caribbean cruises more and have done a few Canada (this was our lst NE) cruises all with bad weather. But we got a good price on an OV and said WTH lol. LOVED Sunshine.Did not even mind the up, around and down for MDR. Only thing I missed as opposed to the spirit class ships we have been sailing is being able to walk all around the ship on one deck. I LOVE LOVE the Lido Marketplace. Only thing I did not like was at one end of the 'square" of it everyone converged. You kind of felt like you were cutting in line! I can understand complaints about the pool in the summer or Caribbean cruises. Very small....we had no problem because Boston and Portland were nice and we were off the ship, Halifax and St. John were TERRIBLE with rain and fog. Crew were AWESOME. I would not hesitate to sail on Sunshine again if only she was staying in NY. We also left late and had a beautiful night time sailaway from NY.

Thanks for your review, I am on the Sunshine next week.

Thanks for your review. I sail on the Sunshine this Friday and can't wait :)

J, we will not be doing a New England/Canadian cruise again...been there, done that! The warm tropical breezes are more our style.

!

Carnival heard you and no more New England cruise in 2018. This is it. You got in in just a nick of time.

How were the beds layed out in the cabin? thank you

Thank you for reviewing your cruise.