Sunshine vs. Valor

[Qchell]

We were on the Sunshine in April and will not book again until she goes into drydock. There were constant plumbing problems - we had to have workers in two nights in a row to work on our toilet because it refused to stop running and was flooding the bathroom.

 

There were buckets in the hallways constantly catching drips (no need to decorate your door - just look for your bucket...).

 

Another of the decks had the plumbing burst flooding a few staterooms.

 

There is so much stuff on that ship that everywhere you went it was crowded and things just weren't flowing smoothly.

 

Getting off the ship while in port was just aggravating - they have you routed through the Riviera deck, standing in line in the hallways while waiting to disembark. In the meantime you are stepping over people's dirty dishes and trying to make room for the room stewards to do their magic.

 

YTD was annoying for us as well - having to go to one deck to stand in line, wait for your buzzer to go off and then we had to walk down two decks to the dining room. The dining room was awfully cramped too. We ended up eating at other venues most nights.

 

The 2.0 features were incredible - but we opted for the Valor our next cruise. When we booked it was supposed to go into drydock prior to our cruise but the date got bumped backwards. :( While we will miss the Alchemy Bar and Blue Iguana - I think we are going to enjoy the Valor just fine! Very much looking forward to checking out the wine bar and fish & chips for lunch.

 

We have been on a number of ships now and I have to say that the Sunshine is my least favorite so far.. and we were really looking forward to her!

[Miller_KC]

We took our nieces on the Sunshine in May and had a great time. We didn't see any maintenance issues or any place that was more crowded than any other Carnival ship.

 

It is true about the show rooms, they are smaller and multi-purposed, and about the YTD, you do check in a couple of decks above the dining room and are either immediately send down with your reservation or given a pager to wait in one of the several lounge areas around the check-in desk.

 

We really enjoyed the Havana café area on the aft of the Lido deck. We sat there the 2 times we used the Lido buffets. It has a small sampling of Havana dishes in there but it's also where the Mongolian Wok and Italian café is located. It was not crowed either time and the lines were fast.

 

It was hot on the sports deck when we checked it out but would probably be better while the ship is moving. There was also a hotdog stand up there. We didn't stay on the Serenity deck but the 2 tiered waterfall is nice.

 

I've also been on the Valor. It much like all of the other ships and I would happily sail on her again, but if you've been on a few Carnival ships, the Sunshine is different enough to be interesting.

Edited September 18, 2015 by Miller_KC

[Towel Critter]

Well, OP, are you thoroughly confused now? I'm amazed looking over this thread and seeing such contrasting opinions. That probably tells us more about people than it does ships. Bottom line, unless you are very hard to please, you'll probably have a great time on either ship. Happy cruising!

[Trish12345]

I have sailed both twice. Even though I will be stepping back on the Valor in a few weeks, I would chose the Sunshine. I think you will like the upgrades on the Sunshine.