Carnival Sunshine 8/8/15 8 day sailing review with pics

[jimbo5544]

After dinner we hit the second show in the main show room(Liquid Lounge). This put me above the average for main shows by 1.;) As I mentioned before, I get the drawback of canned music, but I am starting to warm the "new" concept and how it works. I also see an emphasis on getting the crowd engaged and these performers being involved on other things around the ship. This significantly (in a positive way)impacted the cruisers in the "FUN" aspect of Carnival cruising. Jumping ahead a bit, a couple of nights later, they were in the main atrium with the DJ playing and the dancers engaging people to "get into it". While not necessarily being my cup of tea, the crowd LOVED it, the place was rocking.

[jimbo5544]

One more comment about the Liquid Lounge. While the times we were there were near capacity, the size seemed right. It's my guess that the Vista will have a multi purpose showroom as well. I did like the bar in the rear of it as well.

 

We then went up to the Piano Bar for a while and headed up to bed. The ship was rocking some as I checked out the balcony, but more from wind then from the seas.

[jimbo5544]

We awoke early as usual and went to walk on the track, only to find the upper levels closed again due to the winds. We decided to go to the gym and again it was almost empty. After the gym and a quick shower we met up with the crew at our normal spot. After breakfast we again headed up our normal area in Serenity and found most of our gang already there. It seems that some of them had a little cabin fever and were longing for some dry land. We spent the morning in the sun and headed in for lunch where I decided it was just about time for another Guy's burger.

 

We had a pretty busy day planned with some exploring around the port (it had been a while since we had been to Aruba) then our sunset sail on the cat then some of us were going to Cucina for dinner and some were going to a restaurant on land which a couple had gone to on their honeymoon long ago,

[jimbo5544]

We split up to go our separate ways, planning on regrouping at 5 in the main lobby to head out for our sunset cat sail. As we wandered around the port, the area started to come back to me. We did some shopping and then made our way back to the ship. It is still a bit groggy in my mind, but I had thought there was a Carlos and Charlie's near the dock. I didn't see one and did see what was once a Senor Frogs, maybe I am confused.....

After dropping our bags and freshening up a bit we headed back down to meet the gang. Most of our crew was going on the sail which left about 14 people not belonging to our group. We headed back out and in the building next tot eh pier where the excursion was supposed to meet up. Soon enough we were making our way over to the cat which conveniently enough was docked right across from the ship.

[jimbo5544]

We made the short walk over and boarded the ship. Everyone was kind of quiet and reserved as we started out and I began to wonder if we had made a mistake in selecting this as an excursion. I was soon to find out we did not.

This is my better half and one of our daughters, her husband and 2 of our 11 grand children as we pulled away,

[jimbo5544]

As they raised the sail, the music began to play and the drinks began to flow.....

[jimbo5544]

People were free to roam around ad some of our crew even steering the vessel (God help us....)

[jimbo5544]

[jimbo5544]

My gang was having fun......

[jimbo5544]

We had pretty much taken over the bar area.......

[jimbo5544]

...and we even go the crew/bartender dancing with some of us to the music

 

Edited August 27, 2015 by jimbo5544

[jimbo5544]

Some were just enjoying the ride and the company........

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And more.......

[jimbo5544]

Some were checking out the island

 

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Like this

 

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But then the magic occurred and all eyes were on this

 

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and this

 

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And even better

 

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and even better still

 

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Until everyone was quiet and looking

 

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Amazing.......

 

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and it was time to head back......saddly

 

[jimbo5544]

It was a fantastic evening. After getting off, we all split up up, some going to the restaurant they had picked, some doing their own thing and some (us included, a group of about 20) heading back to the ship for a dinner at Cucina del Capitano.

[jimbo5544]

We headed up to the Cucina which is on Lido aft next to the Havana area. It has curtains that allow it to be sectioned off at night. This is one area of the Sunshine makeover that while I understand the multi purpose function of it, I am not to fond of. While the curtains were closed, the ambient noise level was something you could notice. The other thing was that people coming back from the main area of lido meandered through during the meal.

 

One other thing occurred that bothered me during the meal. We were arranged as a big L with 7 tables together. As they took he food orders they said they would bring the apps family style. When they brought the food out, and I did not notice it at the time, they started all at one end. The people at the order end did not have much of a choice for the apps when they worked there way around. When I found out I expressed my displeasure to the staff and she got a little defensive. The people that were shot changed asked me to let it go, which I did but we picked up their tab. I expressed my displeasure with the manager later that evening, they offered to comp the meal, but I declined just wanting to ensure it would not occur in the future.

 

Some from our group went back 2 nights later, the manager recognized them as part of my group and ended up crediting our tab for the 4 dinners in question. It was nice, but not why I brought it up. This turned out to be the worst thing in our cruise......not so bad.

[jimbo5544]

After dinner we went down to the Oceans plaza an listed to the music. It was a perfect end to a great day. I will not soon forget that sunset sail, it was time to turn in for the day. Next up was Curacao, some place we had never been.

Edited August 27, 2015 by jimbo5544