Nicole721 Takes on the SUNSHINE: A Full PICTORIAL Review

[*Cassie*]

Still loving your review! Great photos!

 

Did your sister get that breakfast pizza at the pizza place, or somewhere else?

 

I was going to ask this same question. I've never seen that before. Do you know what selections they had to choose from or was there just this one?

[mimxmom]

Where did she find the breakfast pizza? Looks very good!

 

 

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[SenatorsFan]

Such beautiful pictures of Aruba and Bonaire! I've been to A and C, and B is on my bucket list. :)

Heather

[DanishJourney]

Enjoy your review. I will be on Breeze this Christmas, so I'm looking forward to read about your Christmas on board on Sunshine 😊

[reerun25]

Just joined in on your review, really great and can't wait to read more!

[cmecruise1962]

OMG!! Great review! I have read several of your reviews and I am always amazed by the detail you remember!! What I am really excited about?? You are going on the VISTA 3 months before I am!! I can't WAIT to read that one!! :D:D

[ohitssunshine]

Wow, Bonaire looks gorgeous! I am definitely adding this to my list of must visits! Loving the review!

[swalton85]

great review... love seeing other people's pictures while waiting for our next cruise! :)

[NoName]

Thanks a bunch for writing this review. I just went to your blog and was so disappointed that it hasn't been finished yet! Now I am impatient! Thanks again and keep it coming!

 

Kim

[LizSS]

Ok I'm caught up again- I'm slacking! This itinerary is seriously amazing!

 

The Alaskan cruise was incredible, nothing else can compare to that beauty. You need to take one!

 

 

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[deladane]

So glad I stumbled back into the Carnival forum and found your review! I also felt the roughest seas of my cruising career while on the Sunshine back in 2013, although that was in the Mediterranean. They had to cancel the Latin Nights show on the last two nights of the cruise because it wasn't safe to operate the props or for the performers to be on stage, so you are lucky that you were at least able to see the show! :) The ABC Islands are on my bucket list! Thanks for taking the time to write such a great review :) Can't wait to read the rest!

[Pmorton3360]

The next day is up on the blog.

[Nicole721]

Love the Bonaire photos. Thank you for sharing them. Such a peaceful, beautiful, and unique place. We took a morning tour, and the guide told us that they were grateful for every bit of rain they could get because it was supposed to be their rainy season and they had gotten very little. Even the cacti were suffering.

 

I can't think of a better three words to describe Bonaire :)

 

Review is a great read. Thanks for sharing

 

Thanks for reading along!

[Nicole721]

Keep it coming

 

You got it!

 

Wow! Bonaire is now on my bucket list!

 

Did your sister get that breakfast pizza at the pizza place, or somewhere else?

 

At the pizza place! They offer one with Canadian bacon and one with pepperoni, I think, during traditional breakfast hours. I tried to get them to make me one with prosciutto, but that was a no-go :(

[Nicole721]

Still loving your review! Great photos!

 

 

 

I was going to ask this same question. I've never seen that before. Do you know what selections they had to choose from or was there just this one?

 

Thanks!

 

They had one with Canadian bacon and one with pepperoni.

 

Where did she find the breakfast pizza? Looks very good!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

Pizzeria del Capitano :)

[Nicole721]

Such beautiful pictures of Aruba and Bonaire! I've been to A and C, and B is on my bucket list. :)

Heather

 

B is the perfect mix of A and C :) You can find some clear similiarities between them, but each is distinct in it's own way. Bonaire is definitely the quieter of the three. More nature, less overt tourism.

 

Enjoy your review. I will be on Breeze this Christmas, so I'm looking forward to read about your Christmas on board on Sunshine 😊

 

Posting the first part for you now! :)

[Nicole721]

Just joined in on your review, really great and can't wait to read more!

 

Welcome! And thank you! :)

 

OMG!! Great review! I have read several of your reviews and I am always amazed by the detail you remember!! What I am really excited about?? You are going on the VISTA 3 months before I am!! I can't WAIT to read that one!! :D:D

 

I can't WAIT to write it and post it! Definitely planning on doing some live picture spamming from the Vista on Insta and FB :D

[Nicole721]

Wow, Bonaire looks gorgeous! I am definitely adding this to my list of must visits! Loving the review!

 

I wish there were more itineraries that featured Bonaire (or, even better, hit all three of the ABC islands!). It really is quite lovely.

 

great review... love seeing other people's pictures while waiting for our next cruise! :)

 

So glad you're enjoying it!

 

[Nicole721]

Thanks a bunch for writing this review. I just went to your blog and was so disappointed that it hasn't been finished yet! Now I am impatient! Thanks again and keep it coming!

 

Kim

 

Sorry for the delay -- went to New York to visit my bestie for an extended President's Day trip :) But I'm back! And hoping to get a few more posts up before I've got to head west on a business trip next weekend!

 

Ok I'm caught up again- I'm slacking! This itinerary is seriously amazing!

 

The Alaskan cruise was incredible, nothing else can compare to that beauty. You need to take one!

 

 

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Uggggg Liz. I'm dying to go on a Alaska cruise, but I can never convince anyone to go with me! I'm glad you had a wonderful trip!

[Nicole721]

So glad I stumbled back into the Carnival forum and found your review! I also felt the roughest seas of my cruising career while on the Sunshine back in 2013, although that was in the Mediterranean. They had to cancel the Latin Nights show on the last two nights of the cruise because it wasn't safe to operate the props or for the performers to be on stage, so you are lucky that you were at least able to see the show! :) The ABC Islands are on my bucket list! Thanks for taking the time to write such a great review :) Can't wait to read the rest!

 

Thanks for following along! :D

 

The next day is up on the blog.

 

You beat me to the punch! I actually sat down to post here last night...and then promptly fell asleep on my couch. At 9:30. On a Friday. Oy. :p

 

[Nicole721]

The ship was still dancing over the waves when we woke up, but the sun was shining and the Fun Times for the day was loaded with stuff to do, so we hopped out of bed, had a quick breakfast up on Lido and went to find some chairs to soak in that morning sun.

 

 

 

 

Even though we’d finished our breakfast before 9:00 am (which, by all of the other 18 or so cruises we’d been on, should be plenty early to find a lounger), it was impossible to find any chairs. Not even just three together. It was impossible to find a lounge chair. And it’s not like the deck was full of people getting their tan on. It was a deck filled with empty chairs that had random towels and errant flip flops on them. I’ve never experienced the kind of chair hogging that went down on the Sunshine this week.

 

[Nicole721]

Thankfully, the winds were slightly lower, which meant the three-level Serenity deck was open, and we were able to find three chairs near the front of the bottom level for a few hours of sun time.

 

 

 

 

When the SPF 50 wasn’t enough and our skin was starting to pink, we headed back to the room to shower off and get ready for the afternoon. We grabbed a quick lunch from the salad bar in Ocean Plaza (where they also serve some of the hot dishes they serve up on Lido, as well as a couple of soup options) and ate lunch while we played a rousing round of Hunger Games trivia. Seriously. Hunger Games Trivia. Ignoring the glaring omission of Musical Theater Trivia this week, the entertainment staff onboard the Sunshine was on top of their trivia game. They had new and different trivia sessions multiple times a day.

 

[Nicole721]

The first Christmas activity kicked off at 2:15 pm, with a Christmas show in the Limelight Lounge. We grabbed seats early and were lucky we had the foresight to do so – it was packed to standing room only within ten minutes of the start time. Jaime took the lead on this one, hosting and narrating the show, which featured carols from the production singers and dancers, special performances from the Camp Carnival kids and a moving singalong to Silent Night, led by the Captain and members of the crew representing the various nationalities onboard the ship. Both Jaime and the Captain mentioned how difficult it was for the crew to be away from their families on Christmas, and it was something we took to heart, so we made an effort to be extra jovial to the crew we encountered, wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and leaving extra tips on our tabs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Nicole721]

We headed to tea time after the show and found ourselves in a long line to get into the Sunrise restaurant. Tea time has long since been a favorite cruising activity of ours and it’s been increasingly more popular onboard the past few years, but I can’t remember seeing it so busy. Service was spotty due to the large influx of people, but the treats were A+ (especially the mocha cake!). Christmas carols played softly on the speaker, but the only thing I really found myself missing were the live music they used to play during tea time.

 

 

 

 

 

[Nicole721]

With Sunday’s debarkation approaching quicker than we were ready for, we needed to figure out how to get to the airport from the port. It’s not close or easily convenient to get to MCO from Cape Canaveral. It’s about 40 minutes by car. You can take a taxi, but that’ll run you $100+. Arranging a private car will cost you nearly the same. I’m sure there are private transfers but we didn’t have the time or inclination to research those, so we booked the ship transfers to the airport and checked that one last thing off our lists. And since the rocking of the ship had slowed a bit, the outer decks were open on deck 3, and we headed out to the promenade to watch the water.

 

 

 

Sitting on a quiet deck and taking in the vast waters around us is, single handedly, my favorite cruising activity. Boring, maybe. Mundane. But there’s something about staring at the water, observing the delicate dance of the waves to the music of the water crashing against the ship. There’s nowhere I find greater peace than I do in those moments sitting out on deck.

 

 

We went back to the room to get ready for dinner and when we left to go watch the sunset, it was storming and the ship was starting to roll again so we headed up to the Taste Bar before dinner.