Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

SUNSHINE - April 28 Live Blog / Review

pixiedusted

By pixiedusted,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

 Share

Recommended Posts

pixiedusted

pixiedusted

Posted
Posted

After what feels like a million years reading CC and other forums, and wishing that the details I really wanted to know were present in other people's reviews, I figured now was the time to make my own! It'll give me a good opportunity to relive the fun for a little while after we get back, and get myself a little extra excited while I count down these last few days!

 

I plan on collecting the Fun Times, stateroom brochures, and menus for scanning upon my return, so feel free to keep an eye out for them. However, I don't have children, so I won't be able to gather any Camp Carnival (is it even still called that?) times guide or special information beyond what's included for all passengers. I also don't gamble very much beyond a few slot pulls here and there, so I won't have much information on casino happenings.

 

Pre-Cruise

  • We are Central Florida locals, so we'll be getting dropped off and picked up at the port by very kind friends who like their gas tanks refilled. Saves us the 100+ USD charge to leave the car at the port for a week, and living so close means we really don't need a hotel room. Our plan is to get to PC by 10:00 AM, but we'll see how early we actually make it!
  • We enjoy Platinum benefits, so we plan on boarding early with our two bottles of wine. We may bring a carry-on bag to drop at the room upon boarding, but it just depends on how many shoes I decide I must have with me. (Too many, if I'm honest, but I'd rather be safe instead of sorry.)
  • We like to prepay for as much as we can, which helps us feel more comfortable splurging on little things here and there without worrying about the final bill. This cruise, we've prepaid for Bottomless Bubbles for me (though I do wish it included non-alcoholic frozen drinks!), the couples' spa pass, gratuities, and two out of our three excursions. We're on the waitlist for the Chef's Table, but we've received quite a bit of Cruise Cash as gifts this past year, so I consider that prepaid as well. If we don't go, I think a massage will be in my future.

Ports of Call

  • This cruise is pretty exciting for me, because after 15+ sailings I'll be hitting two new ports of call: Aruba and Curacao. We'll also be visiting Grand Turk, which we've been to a few times before, though we're actually doing an excursion this time as a treat.
  • In Aruba, we plan on enjoying the beach for a few hours and relaxing before taking a Carnival-sponsored sunset catamaran cruise. We're in Aruba until 9:30 PM ship time, so I wanted to enjoy the night atmosphere since it was unique to this destination. I had originally wanted a private experience, but couldn't find one from local vendors that wasn't an arm and a leg, and the group sailings by third parties were more expensive than Carnival's offerings. I'm hopeful that this winds up being a good experience. We'll see!
  • In Curacao, we've prebooked an ATV tour of the island with a local guide. I couldn't find any ATV tour offerings through Carnival directly, and this was my wife's one big request. We'll likely fill the rest of our time with some shopping, though I do want to try and make a point to go to the liquor factory if only to pick up a souvenir bottle for a friend.
  • In Grand Turk, we usually only stop in the main store to grab extra soda or buy bottles of liquor duty-free for friends back home before going back to the ship to linger in Serenity. This time, though, I wanted to snorkel, so we've booked a powersnorkel experience through Carnival after getting a great review from a friend. I'm a much more accomplished swimmer than my wife, so I prefer to go through the ship for experiences like these for her peace of mind.

On-Board/Miscellaneous

  • We almost always book interior cabins. I'm a light sleeper, and we rarely spend a lot of time in our room, so it doesn't make sense to spend almost twice the price to get a balcony. I'm a travel agent by trade, so we book under Interline rates and only check to see if the price has dropped. (It's only happened once, and it was only five dollars... I really do believe in the "book at a price you're happy with" mantra.)
  • On our last cruise, we were able to grab one of the "interior interior" cabins - the square ones in a secondary interior hallway. However, I booked way too late, and we wound up on Deck 6. We couldn't hear very much in the way of noise, but we definitely got our fair share and then some of the smoke wafting upwards from the casino. We've booked another square cabin this time (though on Lido deck this time!) so I'm looking forward to that extra space without the smell.
  • The Sunshine is our favorite ship, hands down. I know she's not everybody's favorite ship, but she's ours. I mostly like to linger in the pool or relax in the shade, and Sunshine's three-story Serenity deck gives us plenty of quiet opportunities to do both. We don't mind the smaller comedy clubs or the strange layout of the main show rooms, though I know those give some travellers pause. You really just have to pick the things you care about!

... that was a lot more words than I thought it would be! As you can probably tell, we are definitely very excited to board this Friday! Feel free to ask questions, make requests, or what have you. :cool::cool::cool:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
jill24fan

jill24fan

Posted
Posted

We are boarding this Friday as well! Driving from VA on Thursday. We have never been on the Sunshine and never been to Aruba so we are excited. Booked the Trikes tour thru an outside tour and have nothing booked yet for the other two stops. We have an inside spa cabin on deck 11. Hoping for great weather!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
pixiedusted

pixiedusted

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I can't believe the cruise came and went as fast as it did! I feel like I just wrote this thread starter the other day, jeez. My day-to-day notes and the FunTimes are still packed away, along with our copies of the menus for the days we ate in the MDR, but I'll do some overall thoughts for now and answer any questions you might have too!

 

Our Cabin - Deck 9, Stateroom 9129

  • Overall, I loved the cabin we chose! It was a quiet, easy-to-access stateroom off the "main hall", so we never had any noise from outside passengers trying to navigate through the Lido deck. The square style interior cabins are located on decks 6 & 9, and while we had smoke coming up from the casino on our last cruise, we had neither noise nor smoke complaints from the decks above or below us.
  • The square style cabins in this area (with the exception of the very first one - 9121? I think, don't quote me on that) are all connecting cabins. I was a little hesitant when I realized I'd accidentally snagged a connecting room, but we honestly never heard any noise from the other cabin. In fact, if I hadn't had a door on the wall to remind me, I would have completely forgot! I only wish I could have convinced the steward to open the door for me to hang our over-the-door organizer on it... but oh well.
  • However, we did have consistent issues with our AC unit in the stateroom. We like our rooms nice and cold, so we typically leave the AC on the lowest setting for the duration of the cruise. While we still left the AC on all the way, the fan box in the ceiling was so loud it sounded like a small jet engine going off. I had to sleep with earplugs each night just to block out the sound. Maintenance and Guest Services both came a few times to try and fix it, replacing filters and adjusting the settings, but they couldn't resolve it completely. They did offer to move us to an interior room on the eighth deck, which we declined; it just wasn't worth it to us to up and move after three nights. Maybe if they had offered up a free suite... :)
  • This may possibly be a controversial opinion, but if you ask me (and you did - you're reading my review!) the over-the-door organizer was by far the best thing we've ever added to our suitcases. We bought a Better Homes & Gardens version from Walmart a few years back - it fits just perfectly over the slim cruiseline doors, and there are plenty of pockets to hold all the small little things I like to bring but don't necessarily want spilling over countertops. We keep baby wipes/wet wipes, a baggie of earplugs, downy spray, febreze, hair brushes, all sorts of small creature comforts in the various pockets that we're always glad we have. It also frees up space in the tiny bathroom for things we'd like to have but don't necessarily need out all the time (like aloe vera gel, or hair products for fancy evenings).
  • We also packed a door decoration - a string of garland paper flowers a friend's daughter crafted for us as a bon voyage gift. We saw plenty of door decor on the upper floors thanks to some groups onboard as well. We used good old fashioned blue painter's tape on the interior of the door, and never had a complaint from our steward or anyone else for that matter. I suppose you could technically still have decor removed, but if it's clean and tasteful and not spilling into the hallway, I wouldn't worry too much!
  • Our cabin did not have a mini-fridge, which I was expecting when we booked, but it also did not have an ice bucket when we checked in. I had to remind the steward a few times to please bring the bucket and keep it filled, but once we got one, it was filled all the time. I wound up also getting a plastic bucket from the bar to keep our cider chilled in, which our steward also kept topped with ice without any question. I was half-expecting him to take it away, but no issue.
  • The Carnival beds remain too hard for my Goldilocks preferences, but I did find them much more comfortable with one or two extra comforters laid down on top! I had considered asking for an egg crate mattress, as I've gotten them on other lines, but it wasn't such an issue that I really felt like I needed to. Not enough of a bother to ruin my vacation, I guess!

I can't think of any other room-specific review material at the moment, so I'll leave it at that for now! We spent a lot of time in the spa and Serenity area, and focused much of our attentions on dining as per usual, so I'll go into detail on that and our port adventures another day.

For now, if you have any questions, feel free to let me know!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
autismmama

autismmama

Posted
Posted
Following. Would love to see your menus. We are booked on the Sunshine for this summer.

Yes, I'm for This also. I'll be on the Sunshine for 5 days headed to Nassau and Freeport June 4 out of Norfolk, Va. I would love to know what they are serving in the MDR. I want to make a reservation at JiJi's and would like to choose a night.

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
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • Hurricane Zone 2024
      • Cruise Insurance Q&A w/ Steve Dasseos of Tripinsurancestore.com June 2024
      • 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...