NCL Gem or Carnival Sunshine

[Bases5]

New England Cruise 2016

Both Ocean View Gem 161 sq ft, Sunshine 220 sq ft

Gem $2309.78 with beverage or dinner package

Sunshine $1741.88 with $125 OBC

 

Seems like a no brainier

but if I book now I can have a choice of cabins

 

I have a FCC with NCL so no money down $500 down with Carnival

I have read a lot about how crowded the Sunshine is and it worries me some.

Thoughts

[Cruzaholic41]

I almost never recommend NCL, but this is an exception. Carnival Sunshine is one of the worst cruise ships I've ever been on. I hated it when she was Destiny, but decided to give her a shot when she was refurbished and renamed. Nope. Still sucked. I say it was one of the worst because my biggest peeve on cruises is crowding. By far, it was the most crowded ship on which I have ever sailed. In this case, I would certainly recommend Gem.

[Velvetwater]

Our 2 sets of friends adore the sunshine and we are bummed we didn't sail on her when she was over here.

 

I know I am a bit biased towards Carnival....

 

 

...but the Sunshine has all off Carnival's bells and whistles and people say the food is better as well as being able to actually have free room service/take food you wherever want and is bigger overall.

[#1TravelMom]

We were just on the Sunshine a few months ago. We had a great time! We have been on 30+/- different ships. I read all the reviews on the Sunshine - good and bad(mostly bad). But, we were determined to go with an open mind. Every ship is crowded at the pool on sea days - just unavoidable. We didn't notice crowds anywhere else in excess of what we normally experience. We really had a great time. I'd definitely go on the Sunshine and use the extra money for awesome excursions!

[PCLMassachusetts]

We loved the Gem