Carnival Sunshine - A great idea, poorly executed

[Anung Un Rama]

Another great thing about this cruise was the amount of sea days. I love a sea day after sail away and having 2 sea days after our last port was great. We did it up the night after Jamaica. This was when I finally learned about the Cuba Libre at the Havana Bar. A double rum and coke for the price of a single...loved it!!! At 2:30 we decided to call it a night. Cass wanted some food but not pizza. We ordered room service (yes at 2:30 in the morning, can you tell someone had a bit too much vodka?). The food came quick and I gave a sincere apology and nice tip to the lady who delivered it. I guess the food helped because neither of us felt the affects the following morning.

 

We slept in Friday morning and hit the gym. Afterwards we decided to do the ropes course which Cass never did on the Breeze. After standing in line for 15-20 minutes, I turned around and noticed the huge storm we were about to head into. The guys running the course noticed it too and shut it down before it started pouring. And pour it did. All day and most of the night. This was the only time the ship really felt crowded. With no one out on open decks every inside area was packed.

 

We did another poker bar crawl this time with a funny hat theme. Cass had thought ahead and came prepared.

 

 

Neither of us won but it was still fun. We were pretty much done with the casino so we decided to kill some time in the Library Bar playing some games. After a failed attempt at some crappy Uno knock off we played some Connect Four. Cass quickly grew bored as I'm almost unbeatable at Connect Four. We did a bit more wondering and played some video poker before dinner.

 

Remember that storm I mentioned? Yeah well the ship was ROCKING!!! I can only remember one or two other nights that had been as bad as this. It doesn't affect me at all but you could tell a few people were not enjoying it. First time I can ever remember seeing bags put out for people.

[golfadj]

Lack of frig would be a problem to us. We bring on wine and accumulate some other stuff on the ship that we like to keep in a frig.

 

One reason we have been avoiding the fantasy class.

[Anung Un Rama]

The sea had calmed down by Saturday morning. We woke up late and I ran to the Taste Bar for a small breakfast to bring back to the room while we started packing. We still wanted to do the ropes course. And apparently so did half the ship. The line was long as hell and slow going. We stood in line for about an hour when they finally stopped letting people get in line around 2 and only let people have one lap around. I was a little bummed but by the time we started, was kind of glad. Like I said earlier, Cass never did the ropes on the Breeze and I really enjoyed it. This 'course' was much more difficult than the one on the Breeze. The first two obstacles were harder than anything on the Breeze's course. My poor baby doesn't love heights and was damn near in tears. But I'm proud of her because she sucked it up and completed it with no help. I'll admit, being shorter makes this much more difficult as you can't always reach the line for balance.

 

 

She was still shaking an hour later and I told her it was payback for dangling me off the Stratosphere in Vegas.

 

The Eagles were playing the Saints (and where did we cruise from) this night so we knew we wanted to watch the game but the sports bar would be packed. What they didn't announce is that it'd be carried in the Red Frog Pub, just with no sound as they had a guitarist in there. We grabbed a Guy's Burger and took it to the room (still not sure why they close at 6) since we were going to skip the MDR that night.

 

We had a group photo set up to be taken by the amazingly talented Mr. Radu at 7pm. With this group, it was like herding cats. Eventually we all made it to the stairs and got a few really good pictures (I unfortunately don't have them just yet). After that, we headed back to the room to grab our food and found a good spot in the Pub to watch the game. Needless to say Cass was outnumbered about 200/1 by Saints fans. To their credit they were all nice and classy after they beat the Eagles.

 

We made our rounds to say goodbye to both new and old friends. Our flight was relatively early so we made it an early night knowing too well how much a late last night can impact a day of travel.

[Anung Un Rama]

Sunday's alarm came way to quick (if I had a dollar for every time I've heard that :p). Since we had an early flight we decided to do self assist. Being Platinum we knew we could just get off the ship as early as we wanted. Debarkation was one of the quickest we've ever had and we were in a cab less than 10 minutes after leaving our room.

 

All in all it was an enjoyable cruise. The people we were with had a big hand in that though. I hated our annoying neighbors who let their kids run back and forth slamming doors and screaming all morning (thank god for ear plugs). I loved a lot of the new upgrades. The placement of most just left me scratching my head. Now that Karl with a K is gone, Jaime is hands down my favorite CD. The entertainment staff on this cruise left a lot to be desired. Lexi was the only one who showed enthusiasm and seemed like she wanted to be there. It was quite disappointing as we usually become friends with them with all the trivia we do.

 

I will never cruise over the holidays again. There are just way too many kids for me. I expect a certain amount of kids on every cruise but I overhead one of the Club O2 staff saying she had 5 times more kids than a normal cruise. It was great to spend NYE with our Funnatics but it also meant we missed out on celebrating with friends back home.

 

The food options on this ship are excellent. Probably the best on any ship I've been on. It would've been nice to have apps in the Red Frog Pub but they are no where near a kitchen (another nicer thing that the Breeze does have). I can't say I'd never cruise this ship again as there are a lot of great things about it, but it'd have to have a pretty kick ass itinerary. I hope if Carnival considers 'upgrading' a ship again they learn from the mistakes of this one because if done right, this could've been my favorite ship.

 

Sorry for lack of pics in this. I really didn't decide to do a review until Saturday or Sunday so I was completely unprepared. But at least this one didn't take me 2 weeks to finish.

[jakeT]

Do you think re doing an old ship was worth it. Did it seem new. New ship smell. Was the ship updated like a new ship or just an redone old ship

[chiefillini99]

How was the tender process at Grand Cayman? Did it take forever or seem to move pretty quick?

[oneboysmom]

Awesome review!! Thanks for sharing...have always enjoyed reading your reviews :)

[deetrayn]

Right across the hall was the Steak House (Fahrenheit 555). Not the best location for this but it's not bad. It was the only pay restaurant that had doors to close itself off. We were kinda sad that our favorite bar tender, Miro, was working the steak house and not the Alchemy Bar this cruise. We spent way too much time with him on our last Liberty cruise. The good thing is that the steak house has a bar that you can sit and get drinks at. We went down one night and he made me a couple special drinks with his own stuff.

 

 

We were feeling good by the time we walked out of there.

 

We did see more comedy this cruise than we had previously. The comedy club is probably my biggest pet peeve of the ship. You were not supposed to enter from the aft stairs but that never stopped anyone. The room itself was quite small and shaped like a horseshoe. But the stage was 20 feet in from the top of the U. I'd guess that about 15-20% of the audience could barely see the stage and had to watch one of the flat screens they had on the wall.

 

I will say that all 4 of the comedians we saw were good. It was refreshing to see some comedians who could be funny without having to be crude. If you want a decent spot, get there at least 20 minutes before show time. Like I said the area was small.

 

The addition of balconies to the aft of decks 4 and 5 just completely screwed the layout of certain things. I understand that they wanted to add some revenue, but it really took away from the flow and accessibility of certain areas.

 

Miro is awesome! He and Inna made me the best drinks ever on the Liberty last year. I hope he is still on the Sunshine in September. :)

[MISSSNOOPYGIRL]

have to agree. I cruise when I know there will be the least of them. And I have kids! (who stay home with grandma)

[sharecruises]

Thanks for your review and great pictures!

 

Serenity area looks nice but what about entertainment?? I like the "cover bands", the (old) production shows.....I was not fond of the Playlist ones at all - I guess this Sunshine has them??

 

The comedy club situation has gotten bad on all the ships from what I can see - more people going to comedy cause there are so many lousy shows like Hasbro /Playlist - so huge crowds, lines - just not a fun time

 

 

No nightstand?? wow that is crazy:eek:

[Topo Gigio]

Thanks for your review and great pictures!

 

Serenity area looks nice but what about entertainment?? I like the "cover bands", the (old) production shows.....I was not fond of the Playlist ones at all - I guess this Sunshine has them??

 

The comedy club situation has gotten bad on all the ships from what I can see - more people going to comedy cause there are so many lousy shows like Hasbro /Playlist - so huge crowds, lines - just not a fun time

 

 

No nightstand?? wow that is crazy:eek:

 

I have seen longgg rows 45 minutes before the show begins! just don't understand why they don't do the comedy in the theatre:confused:

[retiredgram]

Well hello. Have missed reading your reviews. Thanks for another great review.

[rhinomike]

Do you think re doing an old ship was worth it. Did it seem new. New ship smell. Was the ship updated like a new ship or just an redone old ship

 

I was on the same cruise. No new ship smell. I do not think it was worth refurbishing an old ship. It did not seem new. Lots of nice new things but still seemed like an old ship.

[rhinomike]

How was the tender process at Grand Cayman? Did it take forever or seem to move pretty quick?

 

It was horrible. We are platinum and it took us an hour to get off the ship.

[Anung Un Rama]

Do you think re doing an old ship was worth it. Did it seem new. New ship smell. Was the ship updated like a new ship or just an redone old ship

 

I would have to say a big yes. I had not heard good things about the Destiny and many I loved almost all of the upgrades that were done (they could've done without adding the cabins to aft 5 though). Most things seemed new though there are some signs that it is an older ship.

How was the tender process at Grand Cayman? Did it take forever or seem to move pretty quick?

 

Can't help you here as we didn't get out of bed until 3 in the afternoon (it was New Years Day after all). The only people we talked to who got off were Platinum so they didn't have much of a wait. There were at least 4 other ships in port with us that day. Why they haven't built docks is beyond me.

[Anung Un Rama]

Thanks for your review and great pictures!

 

Serenity area looks nice but what about entertainment?? I like the "cover bands", the (old) production shows.....I was not fond of the Playlist ones at all - I guess this Sunshine has them??

 

The comedy club situation has gotten bad on all the ships from what I can see - more people going to comedy cause there are so many lousy shows like Hasbro /Playlist - so huge crowds, lines - just not a fun time

 

 

No nightstand?? wow that is crazy:eek:

 

 

I'm glad you mentioned the cover band. Usually the bands are just background noise to me as a lot of ships have them in the casino. The cover band on here that played in the Ocean Plaza was excellent. There were times I'd just be walking by and stop to listen (which I've never done before). They had a male and female singer which worked great with a variety of songs they could do.

 

We enjoyed all 4 comedians but the layout of that area is absurd.

[jazmantravel]

Excellent review Thanks.. We will be aboard Feb 02.. Cant wait... Im born and Raised in New Orleans so the Funky Pirate is where ill be Saturday nighy before we board!

 

jazchargin4u... Thaz rrright!

[fabkab1]

Didn't read the entire thread but I pretty much agree with the bulk of what I saw. The ship definitely has a bad layout throughout barring the Serenity area. The fact that you have to go up or down levels to get from one place to another in certain areas on the same floor tells you all you need to know. They took the Breeze and crammed it into a much smaller ship. And the OP got it so right on the interior rooms; my first and last interior room was on the Sunshine. Small, nothing in it, and the loudest room ever. I booked Sunshine again anyway in Nov because of the Serenity area and the Eastern Caribbean iteniary... We will see if they improve the food and entertainment.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app