Jump to content

Carnival Sunshine - April 16th - Diary and Review


Catrin
 Share

Recommended Posts

GREAT start to your review!! Can't wait for our first cruise on the Sunshine in September.

 

I have followed many of your reviews throughout the years.. nice to see you here! I hope you enjoy the ship.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We were on the ship with you. We were a group of 26 and we all wore the same shirts when we boarded. I saw a couple of the kids from our group in your sail away pictures. This was our first time on the Sunshine. Looking forward to reading the rest of your journey to see how it compares to what we experienced. Great start.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Love the review but not loving the Patriots as a big Brees fan and Saints not loving Tom Brady!!!! Lol

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

You may have to shut one eye reading the rest of it then! Pats clothing is often a summer staple in our house!! :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We were on the ship with you. We were a group of 26 and we all wore the same shirts when we boarded. I saw a couple of the kids from our group in your sail away pictures. This was our first time on the Sunshine. Looking forward to reading the rest of your journey to see how it compares to what we experienced. Great start.

 

I met some folks from your group the first day.. blue shirts, correct? Hope you enjoyed your cruise. Wait until you read our next day.... some cruise ship drama coming tomorrow!!

 

Thanks for reading!

Catrin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I met some folks from your group the first day.. blue shirts, correct? Hope you enjoyed your cruise. Wait until you read our next day.... some cruise ship drama coming tomorrow!!

 

Thanks for reading!

Catrin

 

white shirts with colorful front. Don't want to say too much cuz I don't want to get in trouble with cc thinking I'm promoting something. Anyway, one of the kids is right behind your daughter on Lido, dancing. Have a good night and looking forward to the next day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Subscribing. We just returned from Royal but I'm always keeping my eyes open for other lines.

 

One question. You said that the water slides were closed when your daughter got to them. Are they only open for short times?

 

Loving your review so far.

 

Sent from my ONE E1005 using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Subscribing. We just returned from Royal but I'm always keeping my eyes open for other lines.

 

One question. You said that the water slides were closed when your daughter got to them. Are they only open for short times?

 

Loving your review so far.

 

Sent from my ONE E1005 using Tapatalk

 

 

They were closed the first two days due to winds. She did get to use them the afternoons when we were in port. The times open were limited, however.

 

Thanks for reading! More tonight!!

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sunday and Monday - DAYS AT SEA

Or in this case... dealing with the flood, parts 1, 2 and 3!!!

 

We love Sea Days. We love doing nothing on the ship and just relaxing, people watching, a little bit of reading, playing trivia, swimming etc. Our plans for the first two days, which were days at Sea, were to do exactly that. We are NOT chair hog people... we kind of always go our separate ways during the morning then get what we get in the afternoon.

 

Because we went to bed so early, Mom and I were very motivated quite early and went to the gym! I was determined to get my 10,000 steps a day, as I have not missed a day since Christmas. I wasn't going to let the cruise stop me! As soon as I woke up, I knew this wasnt going to be easy.. the boat was still rocking! Not as wild as the previous night, but still swaying nonetheless. I took my required Bonine and Ginger, went to the Lido Deck to fill my waterbottle.. grabbed a Hard Boiled Egg and we made our way to the gym.

 

To access the Sunshine Gym, from the Lido, we walked up to Deck 10, followed the path to the front of the ship, and went through the Spa. The gym was quite large.. and at 7:30 in the morning it was PACKED! We knew it would be the first morning, (and I also knew it would be the last day it would be packed. ;) The gym consisted of basic ellipticals, bikes and treadmills as well as weight machines and free weights. There were several treadmills and an elliptical broken all week, but I found the gym to be clean and well maintained.

Let me tell you, however... being on an elliptical in the front of the ship while it is rocking, is not easy!!! I only lasted 20 minutes then moved to the treadmill for another 25. Nice way to start the day! I ended up going to the gym 6 days this cruise. By the end, I was the only one there!!

IMG_1306_zpsuznzshbu.jpg

IMG_1273_zpsfon51zvn.jpg

 

 

After our gym adventure, I went back to the room to find Steve up with two Lazy kids barely conscious. The plan was for me to take a shower and we would all go to breakfast together. Now... here is where the fun began. The shower itself on the Sunshine is outstanding. Much larger than other ships with perfect water pressure and temp. But.. unknown to me, during my entire shower, the drain outside the shower (there are two, one inside and one outside) was actually throwing back the water that was going down the shower drain and I flooded out the bathroom. But I did not know this is what happened. Not just a little water... at least an inch of water (and now drenched gym clothes which I left on the floor).

Our room steward was outside and I told him, and he blamed the rocking of the ship for the water flooding outside the shower. I was able to move the water back to the drain, hung up my drenched clothes and we moved on. (MUCH MORE on this later!!).

 

We eventually made our way to breakfast. Because our cabin was situated at the aft elevators, we went right up to the Lido Deck and checked out the AFT area near the Havana Bar. There in JiJi's was the best omelet station going. Very short lines all week. Steve had an Egg white omelet all week, I had 1/2 egg, 1/2 Egg white. The kids of course, went into the main buffet area for their bacon, french toast etc. We were happy with fruit and eggs.

 

After breakfast, Allison headed to Camp Carnival. Being 11, she carefully reviewed her schedule each day. She signed herself in and out and we always made plans to meet her back in the room at a certain time.. this time being 12:30 for lunch.

Steve wanted to go hang by the pool, but it was closed. The winds were pretty strong all day, so the pool was closed for most of the day. He found himself a beach chair and hung out with the crowds.

 

Mom and I explored the ship some more.. visiting the Photo area to find our Embarkation photo and photos of the first day and dinner. I was happy to hear the Vista is finally going Digital. This is a huge improvement over the thousands of wasted pictures each week. We also walked through the Casino, and WOW... just WOW. The smoke was unbearable. I was flabbergasted that both sides were smoking and each time walking through Deck 5 you needed to walk through the cloud of smoke to get from the front to the back of the ship. Very poor ventilation and poor set up all around.

 

We made it up to the Lido deck and hung out at my favorite place... Deck 10 in the shade. My Mom signed up for the Internet package, so she was enjoying checking her emails on her Ipad and I just relaxed, people watched and attempted to start my book.

IMG_1048_zps7oovhmxa.jpg

IMG_1049_zpsmerznj7x.jpg

(this pic you can see the closed pool)

 

Everyone seemed to enjoy their morning and before we knew it, it was lunch time. This was the ONE (only ONE!!) day that my Mom and I ventured to Guys Burgers. Just YUM. Awesome burger with fixings bar and the best fries. But the plan was to stick to my plan and enjoy this once. The great thing about Guys, although there are lines right at lunchtime, they go by very fast.

We were able to watch the Mixology Contest which was always fun to watch. It was nice to relax and just hang out!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The ship was ROCKING... and the glasses were sliding. There was water available on the table and Steve went to pick up the carafe and pour water... and he was yelled at by our head waiter! We thought that was very odd, indeed.

 

 

That is weird, what did the head waiter say? Did he just want to pour it?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That is weird, what did the head waiter say? Did he just want to pour it?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

She said loudly and quite firm... "I will do that for you" Steve said, thats fine..and she said again "I WILL DO THAT FOR YOU". It was strange indeed. Needless to say the rest of the dinner was a bit uncomfortable.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

She said loudly and quite firm... "I will do that for you" Steve said, thats fine..and she said again "I WILL DO THAT FOR YOU". It was strange indeed. Needless to say the rest of the dinner was a bit uncomfortable.

 

 

Wow, that is very rude!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Subscribing! Will be on the Sunshine for a B2B in January!

Thanks for reading! I have read and enjoyed many of your reviews as well!!

 

Catrin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...