Great cruise on the SUNSHINE - July 10-18

[az mom]

That may be true but the La Quinta oceanfront is nicer and in a MUCH better location if that is important to you.

[az mom]

Thank you for your review! I'm booked for 3127 in November. I'd love to see any cabin or view pictures that you have from your cabin.

 

So the noise from the guest services desk wasn't bad?

 

There was absolutely NO noise from guest services. I was worried about that too but it is actually a bit farther away than it looks on the deck plan.

 

I don't really have any pictures of the cabin, I am more of a people picture taker :) But our cabin was IMHO one of the best locations on the ship!

[az mom]

I'm on her at the end of November for 11 nights. I'm not worried about some of the threads I've read. My feeling is that every person on the ship has a completely and totally different experience from every other person, and reading any one person's thoughts is just that - their own; one of a couple thousand of that one sailing. I read what I can and just store it away but don't assume anyone's personal experience is going to match anyone else's or my own once I sail.

 

I disagree with AmberTeka about Grand Turks's beaches. You can make it a good beach day but the beaches themselves are not good at all - very rocky and not very soft sand - at least near the port! And I personally detest Margaritaville.

 

But this is why we post things here - we all have different expectations and different likes/dislikes. ;)

 

I'm looking forward to sailing her. I sail for the ports and getting 8 ports in 11 nights (including Tortola, which will be the only new one for me) is going to be great. Exhausting, but great.

 

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

 

I agree about the many different experience thing, I overheard some people at lunch complaining about all kinds of things and thinking to myself, "yep...and they are the ones that will post a review and complain like crazy!"

 

We didn't go to the beach in front of the ship at Grand Turk. We went to Pilroy beach which was absolutely beautiful. Soft white sand, clear water and very few people. My kind of beach:)

Edited July 28, 2015 by az mom

[az mom]

Great short review. We were on sunshine last thanksgiving and are booked this thanksgiving as well!

 

Who was playing in the Piano Bar? We had Lacey last year and she was great!

 

James was in the Piano Bar. Not sure how long he is going to be there but he was awesome. He definitely had a way of getting the crowd involved!

[az mom]

Awesome review. We are doing the same ports in 8 weeks. Do you have copies of the funtimes you can post? We are trying to figure out which nights will be what shows and stuff.

 

They are probably too big to post, but I could email them to you.

[az mom]

Oh. And was your cruise director tyler ryan or jamie? If ryan how was he? We've had jamie before and she was the best but we have ryan for ours and curious about your thoughts.

 

It was Jamie (she was great) but we did see Tyler the last night of the cruise walking with her. I don't know anything about him other than that. Sorry!

[gcdanno]

az_mom, please email them to me. LoveToCruise at danina dot net

 

I very much appreciate it. I'll try to repost them so others can access them.

[Rock712]

Thanks for taking the time to write a review. We're cruising on the Sunshine next April for a 9 day Journeys cruise , and I'm hooked on reading the reviews of this ship. It is amazing that more than any other ship , you will see 10 people on the same cruise , with 5 writing that this is the absolute worst nightmare of a sailing experience and should be scuttled , and the other 5 will write that it was the greatest cruising experience they ever had and are ready to book again asap. We cant wait to be aboard and decide for ourselves.

[Green4me]

Great review, we will be back on board for our third Sunshine 8 day cruise in about three weeks time. We love the piano bar This is one of our favorite ships. regarding Grand Turk, the soft sandy beach at Jacks shack is fantastic, the food is very good and where the locals go for lunch. we will be headed straight there. It is 500 yards to the left of the ship.

 

Best

[Buck64]

Glad you had a great time! We were on the same cruise and also had a great time. The Sunshine ranks in the top 2 of my favorite ships...the other being the Breeze. I read a lot of negative reviews beforehand and now realize that the people who wrote these were either trolls or people that can not be pleased by anyone. The food was good as usual. Lots of choices. Longest we ever had to wait in line for any meal was maybe 5 to 10 minutes. This was peak time at the mongolian wok. Live music was really good each night. Plenty to do. Never seemed crowded except for sea days at the Serenity pool (and this was no big deal because we still found a place under the waterfall). Would also highly recommend the Sunshine!!:)

[Tutontow]

That may be true but the La Quinta oceanfront is nicer and in a MUCH better location if that is important to you.

 

I agree with what you said about La Quinta Oceanfront. We live two hours from Port Canaveral so we just drive over the night before, have a couple of drinks and a quick bite to eat at the Timeout sports bar and then crash so the location and being on the beach doesn't matter to us. The 40% off voucher is the big thing for us.

[gcdanno]

They are probably too big to post, but I could email them to you.

 

Hey az mom, I'm still holding out hope that you'll be able to either post or email me the funtimes. Thanks! I promise I'll post mine when I return from our cruise in September.

 

Thanks,

Danno

[az mom]

Hey az mom, I'm still holding out hope that you'll be able to either post or email me the funtimes. Thanks! I promise I'll post mine when I return from our cruise in September.

 

Thanks,

Danno

 

Yes, I still have it on my "to-do" list. I'll try to get them to you this week.

[Club Disney Chandler]

Thanks for the review AZ Mom, we're your neighbor in Chandler. We're booked on our first CCL cruise next summer. Traveling with 2 teenagers here as well. Were there a lot of family activities to do together on a regular basis? We like to do a lot of trivia, towel folding, bingo and that type of thing and are hoping to do that kind of stuff. Thanks for taking the time to share your cruise with us. Take care neighbor!

[LadyGal4]

Yay for someone who has something positive to say about the sunshine!!!

[gcdanno]

Yes, I still have it on my "to-do" list. I'll try to get them to you this week.

 

Thanks again for doing this. I really appreciate it.

 

I have a dropbox account that would probably make it easier to drag and drop them from your computer instead of emailing, if that would help. You can use this link: https://www.dropbox.com/request/eMXWGwPuQsyw0H7ldMLR

 

Danno

[lmsdf]

Great Review!

 

I have a few questions for you:

 

1) What time did you drop off at Budget? That's who we are using and I don't want to waste too much time there. I think I'm going to get a taxi to get to the ship.

 

2) Can you email me the funtimes? LMFrego at frontiernet dot net.

 

3) What did you do in each port? We have kids the same age.

 

4) Thanks for the advice to go to the Teen Camp Meet & Greet. Is that the same as the orientation?

 

5) We also have FTTF. What time did you get to the ship? You said that they already boarded FTTD. Do you have any idea what time that was?

 

Thank you so much for your advice!!!:)

[az mom]

Thanks again for doing this. I really appreciate it.

 

I have a dropbox account that would probably make it easier to drag and drop them from your computer instead of emailing, if that would help. You can use this link: https://www.dropbox.com/request/eMXWGwPuQsyw0H7ldMLR

 

Danno

 

Finally! I just sent them to your drop box. Sorry it took me so long, I've been getting kids ready to go back to school.

 

Feel free to share them!

[az mom]

Great Review!

 

I have a few questions for you:

 

1) What time did you drop off at Budget? That's who we are using and I don't want to waste too much time there. I think I'm going to get a taxi to get to the ship. We were hoping to be at Budget by 9am but had a couple of last minute stops so we probably didn't get there until 9:30am. It wasn't as much about waiting for the bus/van as it was waiting in line to return the car. You have to go inside to the counter to return a car even if you have a Fastbreak account.

 

2) Can you email me the funtimes? LMFrego at frontiernet dot net. Sure will! I will also send the Circle C and Club O2 schedules.

 

3) What did you do in each port? We have kids the same age.

GRAND TURK - we rented a golf cart and went to Pilney beach and then drove around the island. We rented it in advance from Karibe Rentals. It was a great choice and we had an awesome time. We did bring our own snorkeling equipment. We returned the golf cart about 2 hours early and hung out in the pool at Margaritaville and had lunch. That was a fun atmosphere too.

SAN JUAN - We didn't have a lot of time here so we took the trolley up to the Forts and then to Starbucks of all places (teens!)

ST KITTS - My kids say this was the best day EVER! We did an all day catamaran trip with snorkeling, lunch on a private beach on Nevis and plenty of music and fun. NOTE: the was not a Carnival excursion, we booked thru Leeward Island Charters

ST MAARTEN - Another fun all day trip on a fast power boat to several different beaches and snorkel spots. We booked this thru Captn Bob.

 

I did a lot of research ahead of time and all of these activities/excursions are very highly rated.

 

4) Thanks for the advice to go to the Teen Camp Meet & Greet. Is that the same as the orientation? It is NOT the same as the orientation. Unless you have younger kids, don't bother going to the orientation if you registered your kids online. The "Meet & Greet" is at 8:30pm in the respective clubs.

 

5) We also have FTTF. What time did you get to the ship? You said that they already boarded FTTD. Do you have any idea what time that was?I think it was around 10:30am and they had just boarded FTTF (we had FTTF too.) We literally got off the Budget bus, gave our bags to a porter, checked in at the FTTF desk and walked right on the ship. Perfect timing!

 

Thank you so much for your advice!!!:)

 

You are most welcome! Let me know if you have any more questions or want more specifics.

[paradise825]

we always bring magnets. Are the walls in the cabin metal? We hang a lot of the paper work from them.

[gcdanno]

received them. you rock. thank you so very much.

 

i will make sure to post mine as well when i return.

 

Dan

[jackdis]

Great review! We were on the Sunshine immediately following you, on the 18th. I also have such positive things to say about her! It was a great sailing and I would definitely sail her again. To all of those worried, because of all the negatives you have heard, don't be worried. It was fantastic!!

[2paradise]

Great review!

 

Could I possibly get the FunTimes and Circle C schedule too?

 

hope4russia at yahoo dot com

 

Thanks so much!

[lmsdf]

Thank you so much! You are the best!

 

We plan on renting a car in St Maarten so we can go zip lining, would love to do Captain Bobs but it's very expensive. I like your idea for San Juan. We are going on a tour with Thenford Gray in St Kitts, maybe next time we can do the catamaran, that sound fun. And last time we were in Grand Turk, we too rented a car and had a blast, so this time we want to do something different, so we are doing an excursion with Blue Ocean Divers.

 

I will email you if I have any more questions. Thanks again!!!

[tandemcruzr]

We're cruising on the Sunshine next April for a 9 day Journeys cruise.

 

Hi Rock -- we're on this cruise also. It will be the second leg of our B2B. We've already done 1 B2B on the Sunshine and are looking forward to our next 2 --Jan and April. :)