Sunshine Review - 7/19 Western Caribbean

[sbsmutoni]

Below is a recap of our recent cruise on the Sunshine. Before starting the review, I'd like to introduce us, and give you some background, since I think the context of reviews can be directly related to one's cruise experiences.

 

That said, I am a woman in my mid-40's. I have been cruising for a long time, and this was my 19th. It's been a while since I've done a Caribbean cruise, and even longer since I've been on Carnival.....my past 6 cruises have been in Europe, and have been on either NCL or Celebrity.....they've also all been in suite class cabins.

 

My boyfriend is also in his mid-40's. His one and only cruise was lasy year's NCL Epic in Europe in their Haven Suites (the bombdiggity!!). We also had his 16 year old, and it was his first ever cruise.

 

So, by category, here is my recap:

 

Boarding: Let me just say, this experience in Port Canaveral was the BEST boarding experience I've ever had. We had spent the night at the Radisson nearby, and used their "park and cruise" package. The shuttle dropped us off at around 11:45 at the port. Although we had FTTF, we didn't need it. When we walked in, there were literally NO lines. We walked right up to a window, got our cards, and walked on board (with the requisite photo on the way!).

 

We went to our cabin, which was already ready. The cabin was nice, clean and airy. We headed out to lunch, choosing to eat at the buffet. I'll talk about the food later, but the buffet was not our favorite thing!

 

Cabin: I did a lot of research before cruising. Because of some recent spends at home, we decided not to upgrade to a suite on this cruise, but we wanted space since there were three of us. So, I found cabin #8322, which apparently used to be a "mini-suite" before the ship's refurb. Boy was this a good choice! It's a balcony cabin, and the cabin is twice as wide as other balconies. There is also about another 40 square feet in the cabin, which made a huge amount of difference. The bathroom was very small and dated, but we got used to it quickly, and it was never a problem (and we never had problems with the shower leaking out of the shower curtain).

 

The only comments about the cabin that were slightly negative (and one had nothing to do with the cruise line) were: 1) the family next door and near us were terrible!! They were with a larger group, and they were spread out next to and in two cabins across from us. The slammed doors, let the children run down the hallways and yell at night, and were just generally inconsiderate. But you can't pick your neighbors, so we just let it go. 2) We were right below JiJi's and the italian restaurant. While we did not hear any excessive noise from up there, we did have occasions where the food smells were strong, especially in the hallway, but sometimes in the cabin. Now, I'll share my opinions about JiJi's in a minute, but the strong garlic and pepper smells might be a turnoff to some. For us, it was fine.

 

Service: So, this was the category I might score the lowest, although service was not bad all the time or everywhere.....there were plenty of people on the ship who did a great job. However, our cabin steward situation started out really badly.

 

Knowing we did not have a fridge, we brought on a collapsible cooler for water. We had also preordered beer for the man, and a liquor and mixer set up ahead of boarding. So of course, we needed ice. So, when we first got on the ship, we looked for our cabin steward, to no avail. After we came back from lunch, we looked again....still no one. We asked a couple of other stewards if they knew where we could find ours, and no one knew. So after our luggage had been delivered and we were unpacked, we tried calling him on the phone using the button designated for cabin service. The phone did not work

 

Our next move was to call Guest Services. They scolded us at first for not calling the steward, but when I told them the phone would not work, they said they'd send him to us. Low and behold, he showed up. We tipped him $40 and asked him to please make sure we had ice during the week. He assured us he would. We never saw him again. Long story short, he was just filling in for a brand new steward, who was in training that morning. For the rest of the cruise, she tried hard, but seemed very confused most of the time. Our phone continued to only work intermittently, and on some occasions, we couldn't even order room service because the phone didn't work.

 

Otherwise the service around the ship ranged from okay to very good, and occasionally, excellent.

 

Food: We ate at the buffet a couple of times, and it was really okay at best. Breakfast was better than lunch or evenings, but was still only okay.

 

We ate at the MDR twice. We did YTD, and we figured out the second night that they seemed to kind of group people together so they didn't have to bring courses out for one table at a time. That made sense to us, but it also meant that dinner was REALLY long!! For that reason, we didn't go back to the MDR after the second time.

 

On the first night of the cruise, we went to JiJi's. Of all the food on the ship I ate, this was far and away the best! We liked it so much we went back on our last night too. Don't miss this place, and don't miss the pork belly!!:)

 

We at the steakhouse one night. It was very good. It was not our favorite meal, but certainly worth the surcharge.

 

During the day, we also ate a couple of times at the burrito bar and Guy's Burgers. I didn't love the burgers (I thought both the burgers and fries were greasy), but the 16 year old ate one every day (his snack between meals!). My BF and I liked the tacos and burritos better.

 

Also, the pizza was pretty good, but there was a line there morning, noon and night!

 

Ports of call: We did Cozumel on our own. We took a cab to Playa Corona and snorkeled....it was great. Then we took a cab back into town for lunch and cigar shopping.

 

We regret that we did not plan something for Belize. We thought we'd just walk around town, but the moment you exit the port area, you're bombarded by vendors. We never felt unsafe or anything, but they were so annoying, we turned around and went back to the port and hung out drinking, then went back to the ship.

 

We had pre-planned Little French Key in Roatan....we LOVED that.

 

In Costa Maya, we rented a golf cart and rode into town. We went to a local restaurant, where we ate on the beach, then snorkeled right off their beach.

 

We didn't do any shows. We talked about the Alchemy bar every day, and never went. We went to the Red Frog Pub once, and the sports bar once, and both were quieter places to get away. The bars on the pool deck were fun when we got back on the ship early in Belize, but they soon filled up with too many people.

 

Recap: The cruise was okay. The trip was really for my BF's son, and I will tell you tht he loved it and would have stayed there. However, I think I would rethink ever going back on a summer cruise, and probably would not go back on Carnival. No offense to anyone or to the cruise line, but it just did not feel as "quality" as other cruiselines. And unless I have a kid with me (which I usually do not), I just don't do well with all the kids.

 

BUT....and this is important....I read a lot of reviews about the Sunshine before going, and many of them were negative. I will say that, for the age of the ship, and for the value of the price paid for the cruise, the Sunshine was a good ship. No funny smells, no buckets, no "traffic flow" issues, etc. The ship manages the crowds very well - it never seems overcrowded. The activities like things for teenagers, movies on the deck, and parties at night are well attended and well handled.

 

Give the Sunshine a try if you want a good value on a cruise!!

[getupgo]

What about snorkeling st Plata Corona was good? Reef? Fish? Both?

[sbsmutoni]

We liked Playa Corona a lot. It was small and not fancy, but quiet. The snorkeling was good....lots of colorful fish. We didn't see any coral, but it was interesting and pretty enough to keep us in the water for about three hours.

[Ciardasully]

I loved JiJi's too. I agree that the pork belly was amazing!

[ANGEL MOM]

Did you take any pictures of the room? We have the same room in November. Thanks!

[Handsome58]

not see why anyone should be upset because you do not like Carnival. Hey you know what you like. Great, well written review. And you did not bash just for the sake of bashing.

[nimiq]

Hello,

 

Thought this was a well written review and good percpective from your point of view.

Thanks

sea ya

Eric

 

TBA November 2014

Golden Princess & Grand Princess Sep2014

Cunard Queen Elisabeth Jun2014

Golden Princess May2014

Royal Princess Jan 2014

Caribbean Princess Feb 2013

Carnival Liberty Nov2012

Hal Westerdam March2012

Ruby Princess Nov2010

Sapphire Princess Sep2010

Rccl Adventure Of The Seas April 2010

Carnival Miracle Feb2010

Rccl Oassis of the Seas Feb2010

Rccl Majesty of the Seas Nov2009

Rccl Navigator of Seas Sep2009

Hal Westerdam Nov&Dec2008

Caribbean Princess Nov2007

Sea Princess Nov&Dec 2006

Diamond Princess Apr2005

Rccl Navigator Dec2004

NCL SUN Nov2004

Visit of QM2 Oct2004

Carnival Victory Nov2003

Golden Princess Apr2003

Celebrity Mercury Nov2002

Carnival Elation Nov2001

NCL SKY Nov2000

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review!

[Keith1010]

Thanks for the review.

 

Keith

[092306]

Enjoyed your review!

[ttown]

We have been on the Sunshine twice when it sailed from New Orleans. The second time we were without our family and had one of the new spa deck balcony cabins. It was a great experience. Overall Sunshine is our favorite Carnival ship even though it is older that many that we have been on. The way it was redecorated really sets it apart and the Serenity area is probably the best in the Carnival fleet.:)

[TNCruzer56]

Does the Sunshine balcs not have mini fridges?

[sbsmutoni]

Did you take any pictures of the room? We have the same room in November. Thanks!

 

 

I didn't take photos....sorry....but it really was a great room. Aside from the bathroom being a little small (and again, we adjusted to that just fine), there is a ton of space!! And you'll HAVE to go to JiJi's just because you can smell the yumminess from your cabin sometimes! :)

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[sbsmutoni]

not see why anyone should be upset because you do not like Carnival. Hey you know what you like. Great, well written review. And you did not bash just for the sake of bashing.

 

 

Thanks....there was honestly nothing to bash. It's a good value cruise, and we enjoyed plenty of things about it!!

 

A 12-day Greek Isle on Celebrity is next....wooohooo!!

[sbsmutoni]

Does the Sunshine balcs not have mini fridges?

 

 

No mini-fridges in the balconies. That was kind of a bummer, but since I knew in advance, I took that little collapsable cooler. Once I finally got the attention of my cabin steward, it was refilled on a pretty regular basis with ice, and it was fine for my bottled water and wine!

[sbsmutoni]

We have been on the Sunshine twice when it sailed from New Orleans. The second time we were without our family and had one of the new spa deck balcony cabins. It was a great experience. Overall Sunshine is our favorite Carnival ship even though it is older that many that we have been on. The way it was redecorated really sets it apart and the Serenity area is probably the best in the Carnival fleet.:)

 

 

We actually considered the spa cabin too, since I have sailed in spa type cabins on all my Europe cruises. However, since we had the man-child, we opted out. We did go up and look at the spa, and the passes are very inexpensive (only $129 for a couple for the week), but we never got one. I'm glad you enjoyed it though. I know on my next cruise (Greek Islands on Celebrity), I will be in Aqua Class, so i look very forward to my spa time!