Carnival Sunshine Reviews

[cruizinisthebest]

We are also just off the 11 day repo cruise. The cruise was great. Loved the itinerary and length. Loved sitting on the balcony, played a little in casino. The band was great. The Swamp Thang Band. Listened to them almost every night except the nights we couldn't find a chair.

 

We had YTD and never had the problems we had there. I recommend go early, like 5:30 or 5:45, because around 6:30-7 it is unreal. The pager system is fine but they need to find a way for you to get to the head of the line when your pager goes off. It was not a good dining experience.

 

JiJi/Italian/Burrito/Guys were all great. I especially liked JiJi but the ringer w/o the bun was great too. Now Lido, evening, was another story. I have never seen such a small selection of food as was in the evening. Seems all our other cruises were carving meat at night and much more selection. It was fine for us because we just usually ate lite if we were there in the evening. Just saying don't be surprised...

 

Havana Bar was a nice place to hang out. We just didn't find the out door space we have on the Magic. It was horribly windy on our trip though. Serenity was very windy or crowded.

 

We had a balcony cabin on 7 aft close to the elevators. Cabin was fine but seemed smaller than other balconies we have had. Shower was larger. You could smell JiJi every evening when they got the woks going and at lunch.

 

IMHO the ship was ok. I have just been on others I like a lot better. Would I sail again on her? Probably, right itinerary and price and not during peak season..

 

Go!! Have fun!! As they say it is much better than work, cooking, cleaning etc.

 

Yelp we are back home, same routine counting the days until our Splendor cruise!!

 

I see that was your first repo cruise. Did you like starting one place and ending in another? I would love to go on one but there always during months that don't work for the family.

[Cushing985]

There is no shortage of drama queens on CC! We just did the 11-day cruise out of New Orleans to Florida and had a great time. We thought the food in the MDR was great, the Lido food is typical buffet, some sewage odors in odd places, crew is fantastic and I didn't run into any long lines with the exception of embarkation day (to be expected).

 

I thought the vast majority of passengers dressed properly in the MDR with one exception...some clown thought it would be a good idea to wear a t-shirt (on a Cruise Casual night) that stated he was a fart generator. Why they didn't turn him around when he entered is beyond me. The guy was a true slob.

 

Rest easy...the Sunshine did have tablecloths! My Time Dining was smoother on the Spirit where we never had to wait more than 5 minutes for a table for two. On the Sunshine we found the typical wait was around 15-20 minutes but there is a bar nearby so no big deal.

 

One thing that kind of bugged me about the cabins...the TV didn't allow you to view your account so we found ourselves having to get a print-out every couple of days from Guest Services (which they were happy to do).

 

Smokers behaved themselves (as they normally do) with the entire port-side of the outside deck on Deck 3 designated a smoking area along with a small space above the main pool. The casino was fairly smokey but that didn't deter many people from gambling. Every time we went through it crowds were playing the slots or cards and seemed to be having a grand old time.

 

Bottom line...would I sail her again? Not if I had to fly to Florida (I prefer the Dream class) but if they placed her in San Diego or LA for Mexico runs or Hawaii I would be all over it!

[Cushing985]

Yeah, I just make it up. The comedy club actually seats 600 and Liquid Lounge holds 2,000 and the pool is the biggest I ever seen on a cruise ship. :rolleyes:

 

You're just a bucket of sunshine, aren't you (pun intended)?

[picomullet]

I see that was your first repo cruise. Did you like starting one place and ending in another? I would love to go on one but there always during months that don't work for the family.

 

Yes we loved the cruise. 2 new ports for us and all the sea days. I am ready for another one!! :D

[Pete C]

Are there any positive reviews for Carnival Sunshine? I am starting to wonder if I made a very bad decision when booking this cruise. There are so many negative reviews. Has anyone been on the Sunshine that actually enjoyed it? My family is booked in cabins 5341, 5343 and 5347. From the sounds of things is going to be very smelly and noisy. I really hope this isn't the case. It will be some of our family members first cruise and I would hate for them to have a miserable time.

 

I have been disappointed with the number of negative reviews for the Sunshine as I had high hopes for this ship. I even made a post (where I got ripped) pointing out that it had the lowest average review score in the Carnival fleet. However, to say "Are there any positive reviews for Carnival Sunshine?" is a just a bit of an exaggeration. There are more positive reviews than negative right on the reviews page for the Sunshine, so I don't see how you are having trouble finding them. Scores for this ship are definitely on the upswing.

[jimbo5544]

I have been disappointed with the number of negative reviews for the Sunshine as I had high hopes for this ship. I even made a post (where I got ripped) pointing out that it had the lowest average review score in the Carnival fleet. However, to say "Are there any positive reviews for Carnival Sunshine?" is a just a bit of an exaggeration. There are more positive reviews than negative right on the reviews page for the Sunshine, so I don't see how you are having trouble finding them. Scores for this ship are definitely on the upswing.

I don't think you were ripped, but maybe just chastised;) I agree most reviews now are significantly better than her time spent in Europe.

[Havingfun2010]

If you enjoy standing in line for an hour to get into a 150 seat comedy club or 600 seat Liquid Lounge only to be turned away, you'll have a great time. If you don't mind spending 2 hours to have a cold meal in the main dining room you'll be in good shape. If you have no plans to use the pool you're in luck. If you've never been on another ship you probably won't know the difference. If you're already booked you'll have to make the best of it. If you're not then I'd pick another ship.

 

Loved you post.

[zephyrhillscruisers]

Less than four weeks till we sail the 'Shine out of Canaveral.

 

I think what some folks forget before they go on is that even though this is a ship with the bells and whistles of a 2.0, it's still a Destiny Class ship. It's smaller than many of the others.

 

We've had three straight cruises on the Freedom, and the last year on the Breeze, so I'm sure there will be a bit of an adjustment to make, as both of those ships are larger. We were to book the ship and same itinerary for our annual October cruise, however Carnival offered us a far better deal for May, so we grabbed it.

[dcgrumpy]

If you enjoy standing in line for an hour to get into a 150 seat comedy club or 600 seat Liquid Lounge only to be turned away, you'll have a great time. If you don't mind spending 2 hours to have a cold meal in the main dining room you'll be in good shape. If you have no plans to use the pool you're in luck. If you've never been on another ship you probably won't know the difference. If you're already booked you'll have to make the best of it. If you're not then I'd pick another ship.

 

I'm confused. You posted on another thread that you booked Sunshine for next year. Why?

[tiggerman101]

My lord you people are harsh if someone has a dissenting oppinion. I sailed the Sunshine in Europe, yes it was one of it's first cruises. Yes I thought it was one of the worst ships I have been on. It was crowded, choppy and hastly put together (at the time). It has some good parts (JiJi is awesome), but I would personally not look to sail her again. Of course, if a great itinerary came out I would be fine with it, but otherwise I will personally avoid her.

 

*shrug*

[jimbo5544]

My lord you people are harsh if someone has a dissenting oppinion. I sailed the Sunshine in Europe, yes it was one of it's first cruises. Yes I thought it was one of the worst ships I have been on. It was crowded, choppy and hastly put together (at the time). It has some good parts (JiJi is awesome), but I would personally not look to sail her again. Of course, if a great itinerary came out I would be fine with it, but otherwise I will personally avoid her.

 

*shrug*

I don't think anyone is harsh to someone who has sailed her (as you have) and have opinions based upon that. Where there is some harshness (is that a word?) is the people who only enjoy spewing negative venom. It does get old after a while.

 

All in all, Sunshine exceeded my expectations when I did a sleepover on her in November in New Orleans. I absolutely loved what the did with Lido aft. I cannot argue with your assessment of choppy or hastley put together. I am not sure if they will ever try that again.

[travler27]

Again, what sailing were you on? :rolleyes:

 

March 16th. Why does that matter? Don't they always sail full?

[travler27]

I'm confused. You posted on another thread that you booked Sunshine for next year. Why?

 

Wellllll, you'll have to show me a link to that post. I think you might be confused a little.

[travler27]

You folks can cheerlead the Sunshine all you want. In my opinion it's the worst ship I've ever sailed on. However, I've only been on 6 Carnival cruises. I figure folks want an honest opinion when they ask for one. If you don't like my opinion I really don't mind.

 

Different folks look for different thing on a cruise. Some want peace and quiet, some want a loud party, some are happy with anything that has an open bar. I didn't like the Sunshine and won't sail her again. That's my opinion and I'm stickin' to it.

[dcgrumpy]

Wellllll, you'll have to show me a link to that post. I think you might be confused a little.

 

Sorry I misread the year

[katti michele]

I sailed on her at the end of February and I scoured the boards and read the reviews (mostly negative) and i'll be honest, I think it affected my cruise. I stepped foot on her already thinking i'd hate it. So please, please, please, don't go into it with a negative attitude (like I did!) or it will make you notice everything and just be judgmental.

 

That said, I really did have a FANTASTIC cruise. I think a lot of it depends on what you enjoy doing on a cruise. We're two 20-something's so we enjoy eating, wandering around, getting dressed up and going to dinner (did I mention eating?! ;)) comedy shows, and the nightclub (merely to people watch :eek:). We don't do the water slides, don't really lay out, casinos, etc. I will say I read all about these "water buckets" and a smell and was ready with my galoshes and nose close-pin and did not notice anything of the sort.

 

Can't think of a bad meal I had (and by my comments above, I sure had many of them! :p) Brunch was delish, MDR was good and your typical service. I guess because there are just SO many places to eat for lunch, we never waited in line, never had trouble finding seating. Most of the time, we went all the way to the back in the Havana bar and got a high rise booth overlooking the back of the ship. It was quiet and a great view!

 

The comedy club is set up really terrible and it is very limited seating and we did see people get turned away. We actually were the first night, so we learned early on to get there at least 30 minutes early. As long as you know this ahead of time, you just have to be strategic and it won't ruin your experience.

 

For us, the nightclub/main lounge was a BUST on Sunshine so after the comedy shows, we'd go lay in those clamshells on Serenity. It was always dead up there at night and it was so nice and relaxing.

 

Sorry for the novel/mini review, but it really is what you make it! Would I choose to go on her again? Well...i'm cheap and live in New Orleans, so I will cruise on whatever ship is here! I'm glad I got to experience Sunshine, but i'm not heartbroken her stay was short and we have the Dream now.

[smurf1635]

Are there any positive reviews for Carnival Sunshine? I am starting to wonder if I made a very bad decision when booking this cruise. There are so many negative reviews. Has anyone been on the Sunshine that actually enjoyed it? My family is booked in cabins 5341, 5343 and 5347. From the sounds of things is going to be very smelly and noisy. I really hope this isn't the case. It will be some of our family members first cruise and I would hate for them to have a miserable time.

 

Also on the repo cruise. Deck 5 rooms are brand new and very nice. We were in 5353 (the rooms that go the other direction, there are 4 of them) the largest inside room I've ever had.

 

We did wait for the comedy club, but that is because we wanted to. We would try to be in line 20-30 mins before show time and always had a good seat.

 

Overall the ship is too small for my liking, but it is beautiful. As for the smell, others were complaining, but I never really noticed it.

[dotheyes]

Can you tell me where the YTD room is? Front or aft?

thanks

dot

 

 

 

 

 

We are also just off the 11 day repo cruise. The cruise was great. Loved the itinerary and length. Loved sitting on the balcony, played a little in casino. The band was great. The Swamp Thang Band. Listened to them almost every night except the nights we couldn't find a chair.

 

We had YTD and never had the problems we had there. I recommend go early, like 5:30 or 5:45, because around 6:30-7 it is unreal. The pager system is fine but they need to find a way for you to get to the head of the line when your pager goes off. It was not a good dining experience.

 

JiJi/Italian/Burrito/Guys were all great. I especially liked JiJi but the ringer w/o the bun was great too. Now Lido, evening, was another story. I have never seen such a small selection of food as was in the evening. Seems all our other cruises were carving meat at night and much more selection. It was fine for us because we just usually ate lite if we were there in the evening. Just saying don't be surprised...

 

Havana Bar was a nice place to hang out. We just didn't find the out door space we have on the Magic. It was horribly windy on our trip though. Serenity was very windy or crowded.

 

We had a balcony cabin on 7 aft close to the elevators. Cabin was fine but seemed smaller than other balconies we have had. Shower was larger. You could smell JiJi every evening when they got the woks going and at lunch.

 

IMHO the ship was ok. I have just been on others I like a lot better. Would I sail again on her? Probably, right itinerary and price and not during peak season..

 

Go!! Have fun!! As they say it is much better than work, cooking, cleaning etc.

 

Yelp we are back home, same routine counting the days until our Splendor cruise!!

[bar1068]

Can you tell me where the YTD room is? Front or aft?

thanks

dot

 

For the repo cruise a couple of weeks ago, YTD was AFT, in the upper level of the Sunrise DR.

Edited April 25, 2014 by bar1068

[PresDuLac]

I sailed on Sunshine in Jan. and loved her!

I would sail on her anytime and I'm sorry she's not in NOLA anymore as I consider that my home port (easy ride on Amtrak from CHI).

 

A whole helluva lot would have to be bad and/or go wrong for me to have a bad time or complain on any cruise. YMMV

[jocko4279]

I was just on her, ship is awesome, cruise was awesome, you will love it!

[dolfndreams]

I did one of the Med sailings and definitely had scary reviews before we left. I was glad we went ahead and went since we didn't run into any of the issues. Did see a couple of buckets the entire 12 days but otherwise no real issues I haven't seen on any other sailing I've been on.

 

I really enjoyed her and have no issues with the fact she has had a facelift and isn't new which seems to cause alot of the negatives. We had a aft oceanview cabin on Deck 2, no buckets or smells. Thought the look of the Sunshine was lovely all around.

 

Loved the dining options and found that if we went to Havana section it was much quieter and laid back than the lido seating area and tended to either use the omlette bar for breakfast there of collect our food in the lido and carry it to that section. Never had problems with seating and the food was very good.

 

We didn't do the shows which may be why we had no negatives. Did use the serenity deck a couple of times taking the advice to go higher and towards the back for a quieter experience. It was definitely busy but very, very nice.

 

Go with a open mind, it may not be the perfect ship for everyone; however none of the ships are.