Back on the Sunshine 2/19-2/24 Review

[jam19872016]

So not to follow up a negative with a negative. But that is just sort of how things are flowing. I was having a great time, and the tone so far seems much more negative than my actual experience. As you may recall, we signed up for once a day room service. It sounds fine and really twice a day seems like too much. Well we knew right away we had made a mistake. We do a good job of keeping the room as neat as possible, but things just got too cluttered too quick. At the very least, Carnival needs to provide larger trash cans.

 

Our trash can before our pm service tonight.

 

 

That reminds me, I had to purchase toothpaste on the ship. Don't ever forget to pack it because you will pay very dearly. To add insult to injury, I found my toothpaste later. Ooops.

 

There is another trash in the bathroom that in fairness we did under utilize. It was just habit to use the closest trash can to us even when it started to overflow. Also this was the first day so more trash as we were settling in. It did not overflow this bad after today, but it did go over the top a little every day. We will not be doing once a day service again. He did a fine job every day, but we need him twice.

 

He even remembered our towel animal today lol.

 

 

After dinner we went back to the casino to play some more. M was still not doing good I was doing okay. I played for a while and lost slowly so that is all I can ask for - don't just suck up all my money and never let me win. It was pretty crowded and all the popular games were taken. I walked around waiting for a machine to call me. Then I found one I think called "Triple Lucky Sevens" and it was red white and blue. Feeling patriotic for President's Day, I sat down to play. Nothing was really happening when finally lady luck smiled at me.

 

 

When it hit I was excited cause I thought that must be worth something. I was really excited when I realized it paid out $360. I don't play slots a lot, mostly video poker, and this is my biggest hit yet on slots. Best return on my wager to date as well (120:1).

 

I played a little more after this mostly with M. Sometimes we will play slots next to each other when she is not doing good and just wants to play for a while without a big risk. She also was going to try and earn her DOU card by playing blackjack on the machines but she was not doing good there either. Even though it is easier and much quicker to get a drink card on the machines, if you are not doing good you can still lose a lot of money before you earn your drink card.

 

We played till around 12:30 then made our way to Lido to check out the food. Same offerings on the late night snacks tonight, and would be the same every night. I got another of those chicken sandwiches. M got a pizza. I did not get to try the pizza this trip which I wanted to since it is branded differently than the pizza pirate. Honestly though, it looks like the same pizza and even though they use a proper pizza oven, the reviews from my mom and from M lead me to believe it is still not very good. I enjoy it for what it is, a late night snack, but I would never eat it when they are other choices available. On the plus side, there were always pizzas available during off peak hours. Usually even at night you are 10 deep waiting for a pizza to be made.

 

We ate our late night snack and watched a little TV and then turned in for the evening. Tomorrow we would be in Nassau.

[easyboy]

Enjoying very much your review and the nice photos! Those shots from the "dirty window" are clear after all:)

[Crusin Karen]

Destiny was our lst CCL ship way back in 1996. We cruised her 2 or 3 more times. Can't remember, but it's in my sig lol. We have done a lot more cruises since, mostly on CCL. We are Diamond now and loving it! We also live about 20 minutes from the port in Manhattan, so it was easy to go on cruises from here. THEN CCL pulled out of NY in the winter and spring (when we like to cruise to get away from NJ winters!) and THEN I found out CCL is leaving NY for GOOD in October. :eek::loudcry::') Thank God for Baltimore and the beautiful Pride! So I told DH I wanted ONE MORE CCL cruise from NY, so we booked Sunshine, formerly Destiny for September. Not really interested in going back to Canada again, but it's kind of cool we started on Destiny and will end on Sunshine in NY!!! Anyway, I started looking for Sunshine reviews and found yours from December. Enjoyed it and sorry your mom did not have a good time. She sounds like my mother's twin....so now I am reading THIS one. So thank you for taking us on your journey and sorry to tell you my life's story lol. I am gonna have to move to FL to sail on CCL from my doorstep again! Oh, whenever we have cruised to Freeport, we stay on the ship and I enjoy seeing the ships in dry dock also.

[jam19872016]

Enjoying very much your review and the nice photos! Those shots from the "dirty window" are clear after all:)

 

Thanks! Glad your enjoying.:)

[jam19872016]

Destiny was our lst CCL ship way back in 1996. We cruised her 2 or 3 more times. Can't remember, but it's in my sig lol. We have done a lot more cruises since, mostly on CCL. We are Diamond now and loving it! We also live about 20 minutes from the port in Manhattan, so it was easy to go on cruises from here. THEN CCL pulled out of NY in the winter and spring (when we like to cruise to get away from NJ winters!) and THEN I found out CCL is leaving NY for GOOD in October. :eek::loudcry::') Thank God for Baltimore and the beautiful Pride! So I told DH I wanted ONE MORE CCL cruise from NY, so we booked Sunshine, formerly Destiny for September. Not really interested in going back to Canada again, but it's kind of cool we started on Destiny and will end on Sunshine in NY!!! Anyway, I started looking for Sunshine reviews and found yours from December. Enjoyed it and sorry your mom did not have a good time. She sounds like my mother's twin....so now I am reading THIS one. So thank you for taking us on your journey and sorry to tell you my life's story lol. I am gonna have to move to FL to sail on CCL from my doorstep again! Oh, whenever we have cruised to Freeport, we stay on the ship and I enjoy seeing the ships in dry dock also.

 

I think you will love Sunshine! And if the Canadian itinerary falls short for you, this is a great ship to make the ship the destination. So much to do.

 

Right as you are entering the Lido deck there is a memorial to the Destiny with lots of plaques showing sketches and photographs of the former Destiny. Make sure you check that out I think it will bring back some great memories for you.

 

My mom still wants to do something this summer. We are at a stalemate because she doesn't want to cruise, and I don't want to not cruise. I thought a trip to New Orleans followed by a 4 or 5 day cruise would be a good compromise (out of my budget though) but she does not like that idea either. I so wish she would have enjoyed cruising. Oh well, can't force it.

 

 

Glad you're enjoying the reviews and thanks for sharing "your life story". I enjoy reading any story that contains cruise ships lol.

 

Whenever you're ready, Florida is ready for you with plenty of cruise ships to choose from :D

[jam19872016]

Day 3: Nassau

 

 

Today we slept in and it was after 11 before we got up. This was my second time in Nassau. There were no plans except to go to Atlantis to the casino. M wanted to something a little bigger today because she was pretty unsatisfied with Freeport. We were going to go to the water park at Atlantis but there was a little sticker shock attached to that excursion. It was $189pp to purchase through Carnival. We decided to table the idea for now, but this was the second time it was tabled, the first time was due to medical reasons. Next time we must try harder to budget for it.

 

 

We had a quick bite of break...I mean lunch since we slept in, from the Blue Iguana. I got a burrito today and it was very good. After getting some food in us we were off to explore Nassau.

 

 

The Sunshine

 

 

Also in port today were the Disney Dream and Carnival Liberty.

 

 

 

 

 

Once we got to the taxi stand the signs all said "$4pp" to Atlantis. The driver wanted $12 for the two of us. We told him it said $4 and he said there was a $2 bridge toll and $1pp more without a full van. We walked away. He waived the $2 bridge toll and charged us $10. Others we spoke to said they all charge $5 if the van is not full, but why do the signs not reflect that? I hate being scammed. Next time we will probably use the ferry like we did before. There was no bridge toll since you don't use it and no worries about a higher price due to an empty shuttle. Still $4pp.

[jam19872016]

Once we reached Atlantis, we asked about day passes to the water park. It was $150pp if you bought directly from the resort. The only difference between doing this and purchasing from Carnival is that Carnival provided lunch and transportation. Enough of a difference that you cannot price match, but a much better deal to book with Atlantis direct. The water park was included for visitors of the hotel, so we did a mock booking for a room. Over $400 for one night once you add in all the taxes and fees. :eek: No water park for us today lol.

 

M only brought a small amount of cash with her so that she would not overspend. She also brought her debit card so cash was still available kind of defeating the purpose. I did not play I just toured the area. The payouts were several times larger on the jackpots compared to on the ship. I considered playing some video poker, but the pay table was just as bad as it is on Carnival. Usually land casinos have better pay tables but then I realized it must be because Atlantis has no competition just like the casinos on the ships.

 

I watched M play. Her rotten streak was alive and well and she lost her money pretty quickly. The temptation was there to use the debit card but in the end she made the responsible decision and walked away. Atlantis was a bust but we made our way back to the port area and walked around the shops for a while.

 

My mother wanted a souvenir conch shell and I also had to stop in at Diamonds International as she wants to collect the free charms they offer. I am not thrilled about that job lol. We found a guy selling conchs near the water and purchased one for I believe $10. Smaller ones were available for a little less.

 

Along the way we also browsed through a couple other stores and made a stop at an internet cafe. Free Wifi was hard to find but we did locate a shop selling 10 minutes of internet for $1. M purchased one as she was still somewhat tethered to her job. It was great that she was able to get away but it must suck to not be able to leave work behind even on vacation.

 

We made one last stop for a couple drinks before heading back. Sharkeez.

 

 

View from our table.

 

 

 

M also got a jerk chicken sandwich. I tried a bite and it was very good. Drinks very good as well and not great prices but still better than Senor Frogs.

 

I often have people at work say they would love to go on a cruise but do not think they can afford it. I live very close to Jacksonville and always recommend a quick trip to the Bahamas out of Jacksonville. I always wonder if that is wise. I try to see Nassau the way I saw it the first time I traveled there. Somewhere foreign and exotic. I think someone on their first cruise can enjoy it as well but now I am not so sure. There was not a lot of excitement on board about either of the first two ports. Maybe they weren't a lot of blue cards on board? I don't know but I do question if I should continue recommending the Bahamas to people just because it is cheap and they won't know better. I enjoyed my day, but if I had gone in with any expectations, I think I would have been disappointed.

[jam19872016]

Once back on the ship we did the puzzles out by the coffee bar to pass some time before heading into the casino. M was doing a little better tonight and my hot streak was alive and well.

 

 

Four of a kind for $250. My only one of the cruise.

 

We did not dine in the MDR tonight but I did get a picture of the menus for those who are interested. They came out a little blurry tonight, for a better view the menu is the same as day 5 on http://www.zydecocruiser.net/CarnivalFreedomBC9/menu/mdr_menu.html with the exception being the port of call menu.

 

 

 

[cruisiebear]

I am really enjoying reading your review. My husband and I sail on the Sunshine in October, and this is our first time sailing on her. So far we have sailed on the Maasdam, Triumph, Glory and Splendor. I love reading reviews so that I can find out information about the ship before sailing, and your review is very informative and entertaining. I also read your review about your cruise with your mother. It's a shame she doesn't like cruising. I love cruising and would adopt you so that I could go on more cruises, but I'm sure my husband would object. Anyway, keep on writing and I'll keep on reading. Smooth sailing.

[jam19872016]

Dinner menu continued...

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

We had been kicking around the idea of eating at one of the specialty restaurants. The sunshine has more specialty restaurants than any other ship in the fleet besides the Vista. She has the Steakhouse, Cucina Del Capitano, Jiji's Asian Kitchen, and Bonsai Sushi. M was leaning toward's the Italian place but we put that on the back burner after our lunch trip there. The two I really wanted to try was Cucina and Jiji's because they are only on a few ships. Most definitely though was JiJi's as the only other ship to offer it is Vista. Until the prices level out, I won't be on the Vista anytime soon so this would be my only chance.

 

So tonight that is where we decided to dine. Jiji's Asian Kitchen. You can find the full menu below:

 

JiJi

 

Leading up to this cruise I had only ever seen great reviews for this place. It is rare to find such consistently glowing reviews for something as subjective as food. Then I read two reviews that while not bad, were indifferent at best. This takes the pressure off a little, if I don't like it I won't be the first person to say so in a review lol.

 

We had reservations for 8:30. There was a drawing in the casino at 8 and this would give us time to get ready after the drawing. We ended up being ready as soon as the drawing was over so we went early in hopes they could go ahead and seat us. That would not be a problem. There was one other table occupied in Jiji's (and not many in Cucina either). That one table was all crew. A few other people came while we were there. Every last person who came in was crew. Not a very popular place on this sailing, I was surprised.

 

The food is served family style. This means you order food and everyone at the table shares it. M and I always share food so this sounded like a great idea for us. It was not. Our actual taste in food is quite different and M was way out of her food comfort zone in this place. The waitress went through her spiel explaining the dining concept to us and then rolled a die and told us the first one to roll the same as her (she got a 3) would be in charge of ordering for the table.

 

I was the first to roll a 3 and was pretty fair at the ordering. I ordered what I wanted, and what she wanted. I wonder how that works in a large group though. What happens if one person just orders everything they want to try? Does everyone have to suck it up and eat whatever is ordered? Odd.

 

M does not eat desert so she asked if she could substitute an extra side dish instead of a dessert. They said that would be fine. So we had two starters, two entrees, three sides and one dessert to share among the table.

 

While we were waiting for the food to arrive they brought a light snack compliments of the chef. I don't know what it was called but basically they were chips with some different asian style dipping sauces. Very tasty.

 

 

M ordered the pot stickers and I ate one. I forgot we weren't actually sharing lol.

 

 

How does a table for two, share three pot stickers? It was delicious though.

 

I ordered the pork belly. I have been dying to try this. M was absouloutly disgusted by the idea of it.

 

 

Phenominal. Best thing I ate all week. Again how do you share it? Right down the middle?

[jam19872016]

Then things got tricky. Maybe so far I am making too big of a deal about this family style thing. Why worry how you share it if you were not going to share it anyway. I had ordered the Kung Pao chicken with a side of fried rice w/shrimp. M ordered the peppered beef with a side of fried rice w/chicken and a side of Hakka noodles. They brought out my Kung Pao chicken and her rice and noodles. I had no rice, and she had no meat. Really?

 

My side and her beef were out pretty quickly though. In the confusion I forgot to get a picture. I was in love with it though another fantastic dish.

 

M took one bite of her beef and could barely swallow. I tried a bite and it tasted ok to me. Again M was out of her food comfort zone. They took it back and offered her something else. She went with the Kung Pao chicken but asked for no cashews. I was done eating when it arrived - with cashews. She is not allergic, thank goodness, but now we were sending back a second plate. The next plate came real quick almost like maybe they were making one for someone else and sent us theirs with cashews by mistake.

 

She liked this much better but was full by this point. She asked is she could take the rest to go. Uh oh, don't tell my mom (see my last review if you don't understand what I mean) but the waitress went to Lido and got her a plate and a plate cover so she could take it to go. My mom would be fuming!

 

For dessert I ordered I think the caramelized crepes. I say I think because I was delivered the rose creme brulee instead. I did not care enough to sent back a third item. Anyway I can say I was very happy with the dish and it was even better than the one served in the MDR.

 

 

They also brought out a tray with homemade fortune cookies and some little fruit roll up type treats on them. M screamed OMG I think I got your fortune by mistake. I try to keep political opinions free from my reviews and cruising in general. It is not why anyone is here or on a cruise. But I am a pretty opinionated guy in my everyday life and this fortune was hysterical - although mildly inappropriate for the venue. Her fortune said "Don't steal, the government hates competition" I got a huge laugh out of that!

 

My overall opinion? The food was out of this world good. Everything I ate was exceptional. Despite the mix up with our dish, the service was great. Our waitstaff was extremely friendly and just very very pleasant. A step above the service in the MDR for sure.

 

The atmosphere though was weird. This place was deader than dead and the ordering style was awkward at best. This was a meal shared between two good close friends who have been eating out together for almost 9 years. In fact when we lived closer, eating out was our thing. We ate out a lot. Even so this concept was a fail for us and I cannot imagine me making it work with anyone else. I would love to see the concept dropped and just serve the food. The food was absolutely amazing. Drop the gimmick.

 

We went back to the room after dinner and this guy was waiting for us.

 

 

We watched some TV (Detour which was the funniest thing I've watched in a while) until 11 when I headed down to the casino for the nightly drawing. When I returned, M had fallen asleep so I turned in for the evening as well.

[jam19872016]

I am really enjoying reading your review. My husband and I sail on the Sunshine in October, and this is our first time sailing on her. So far we have sailed on the Maasdam, Triumph, Glory and Splendor. I love reading reviews so that I can find out information about the ship before sailing, and your review is very informative and entertaining. I also read your review about your cruise with your mother. It's a shame she doesn't like cruising. I love cruising and would adopt you so that I could go on more cruises, but I'm sure my husband would object. Anyway, keep on writing and I'll keep on reading. Smooth sailing.

 

Glad you are enjoying! You will love the Sunshine it is a great ship with tons to do. I think that is a great idea, you should adopt me and we just won't tell your husband lol. The cat might be let out of the bag though when I write a review. O well back to the drawing board. Glad to have you along for my review.

[mississauga]

Destiny was our lst CCL ship way back in 1996. We cruised her 2 or 3 more times. Can't remember, but it's in my sig lol. We have done a lot more cruises since, mostly on CCL. We are Diamond now and loving it! We also live about 20 minutes from the port in Manhattan, so it was easy to go on cruises from here. THEN CCL pulled out of NY in the winter and spring (when we like to cruise to get away from NJ winters!) and THEN I found out CCL is leaving NY for GOOD in October. :eek::loudcry::').

 

No, no, no. Carnival is not leaving New York for good. Horizon TA is coming to NY next May 23 and staying for the summer and fall until she goes to her next homeport in Miami.

 

Not sure what will happen in 2019, but for 2018, the Horizon is sailing out of NY.

Edited March 12, 2017 by mississauga

[jam19872016]

No, no, no. Carnival is not leaving New York for good. Horizon TA is coming to NY next May 23 and staying for the summer and fall until she goes to her next homeport in Miami.

 

Not sure what will happen in 2019, but for 2018, the Horizon is sailing out of NY.

 

That's true, better book on the Horizon too just in case 2018 is the last season in NY hehe :D

[Crusin Karen]

That's true, better book on the Horizon too just in case 2018 is the last season in NY hehe :D

I did look at the Horizon. We primarily like to cruise in the winter/spring up to early May. We like to get away from the NJ winters/colder weather and have a summer camp in NY which we open up around Memorial Day. So the dates aren't good for us, PLUS a new ship is always over priced. PLUS we really don't want to go on any "big ships." And I have seen pictures of sister ship Vista and tho she is pretty, we are really not into the modern....and I am an atrium gal and want to sit in the atrium and watch the elevators and look ALL THE WAY UP!!! :cool: So I don't think Horizon will be a good fit for us. But thanks for the heads up anyway! ;)

[jam19872016]

I did look at the Horizon. We primarily like to cruise in the winter/spring up to early May. We like to get away from the NJ winters/colder weather and have a summer camp in NY which we open up around Memorial Day. So the dates aren't good for us, PLUS a new ship is always over priced. PLUS we really don't want to go on any "big ships." And I have seen pictures of sister ship Vista and tho she is pretty, we are really not into the modern....and I am an atrium gal and want to sit in the atrium and watch the elevators and look ALL THE WAY UP!!! :cool: So I don't think Horizon will be a good fit for us. But thanks for the heads up anyway! ;)

 

I love the open atrium that I am used to also. Seems a shame to only have it go a few decks up. I bet the dreamscape is pretty in person, but don't think it is an even trade.

[jam19872016]

I got the fun times scanned this time. A little late, but better late than never. It's not as clear as I have seen others post, but it's the best I can do with the tools I have :D I'll go ahead and post them for the days that I have already reviewed.

 

Fun Times Day 1:

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

Fun Times Day 2:

 

 

 

 

Fun Times Day 3:

 

 

 

 

I will be back tomorrow to continue on with the review.

[mississauga]

I love the open atrium that I am used to also. Seems a shame to only have it go a few decks up. I bet the dreamscape is pretty in person, but don't think it is an even trade.

 

I guess it's a matter of taste/likes. Although there are a few Atriums that are memorable, most I do not even remember.

 

The dreamscape is awesome. I stood there gazing at it for long periods of time. There is an anticipation of new scenes changing each day.

[jam19872016]

I guess it's a matter of taste/likes. Although there are a few Atriums that are memorable, most I do not even remember.

 

The dreamscape is awesome. I stood there gazing at it for long periods of time. There is an anticipation of new scenes changing each day.

 

It's not the actual design of the atrium for me so much as the openness of the area. I would not hesitate to book a trip on the Vista if the price were right though and I would love to see the dreamscape in person as I don't think pictures and videos can really capture its beauty.

[momin05]

Enjoying your review. We sail on Sunshine in 3 weeks. I asked you about the DOU card in your last review and you gave some good information. But I am still curious how this works...you need 1000 points on this 5 day cruise and I have read that every $2.50 you put through a machine is one point. So did you put $2500 in the machines in one day? I am just trying to figure out if this is really a high roller thing.

[Crusin Karen]

It's not the actual design of the atrium for me so much as the openness of the area. I would not hesitate to book a trip on the Vista if the price were right though and I would love to see the dreamscape in person as I don't think pictures and videos can really capture its beauty.

My thoughts exactly!

[jam19872016]

Enjoying your review. We sail on Sunshine in 3 weeks. I asked you about the DOU card in your last review and you gave some good information. But I am still curious how this works...you need 1000 points on this 5 day cruise and I have read that every $2.50 you put through a machine is one point. So did you put $2500 in the machines in one day? I am just trying to figure out if this is really a high roller thing.

 

I play mostly video poker, which is $5 for one point (but a better payback rate than most slots). But to keep things simple. let's just use the $2.50 for one point scenario. I did put $2,500 in the machines, but that was not all my money. In fact because I was doing good, I had not spent any of my own money when I got the card.

 

So if I play $5 and win $10 I have earned 2 points. If I play that $10 back into the machine, that is another 4 points. Technically I have now played $15 through the machine, but I have only spent $5. More times than not, I have been down more money than the cost of Cheers when I have earned the DOU. I have simply gotten lucky on my last two trips.

 

You do not necessarily have to be a high roller, but you will need luck on your side, and the stamina (and bankroll) to keep playing if you are not winning. Don't play just to earn the card, play what you are comfortable playing with.

 

If you do earn it, be sure to tip your server and they will hover when they see your drink start to run low :D Otherwise, expect to have a card that is useless when it is busy (which it almost always will be).

 

Good luck and have fun on your cruise.

[momin05]

Thank you. Again, a very good explanation of the DOU system. I will definitely give up on this idea, since I don't budget that kind of money for gambling! I will pay by the drink and play my lowly table games. Thanks and looking forward to the rest of your review.