Sunshine comprehensive trip report 7/7/18 Eastern Caribbean

[luckybecky]

This was our second cruise elegant night. We decided to go to supper as soon as they opened in hopes of avoiding the long wait times we have had on other nights. We asked for Lester and were seated in his section this time. There weren't a lot of people when we arrived at 5:15, but it started filling up pretty fast. As usual, the staff seemed overworked. We liked pretty much everything we tasted. Dinner took two hours which is not quite as bad as on some other nights, but still too long in my opinion.





















Crab cake











Mushrooms. They are using the old escargot dishes for this. I remember several years ago there was a lot of talk about a "Carnival cutback" with escargot disappearing from the menu. My husband did find them offered in the steakhouse, however.







Grilled shrimp

 

 

Filet mignon. The menu did not say it would be served with mashed potatoes, so I asked for a baked potato on the side. They brought both.

 

[luckybecky]

Dessert

 

 

I wanted the chocolate melting cake again, but also wanted to try the Grand Marnier dessert they had on the menu. It wasn't bad, but I didn't get any Grand Marnier flavor at all. It just tasted vanilla to me.

 

 

 

Since we went to dinner so early, we had time for some shows tonight. We went to Epic Rock which started at 7:30. Once again, we felt the performers were giving it all they had but the production was not the greatest.

 

 

 

[luckybecky]

We wanted to go to the comedy club and had noticed that people start lining up at least 45 minutes ahead of time. So as soon as the Epic Rock show was over we got in line for the 9pm comedy show. About 10 people were already there but we were able to get good seats.

 

The comic was great! We went again to his 11:00pm show. This was the only time I went to the comedy club. My daughter went several times and said every comic she saw was very funny.

 

 

 

 

 

 

While waiting for the show to start, I went down the hall to the Steakhouse for a glass of wine. I learned here on CC that you can order drinks at their bar even if you aren't eating there. I also asked for a bottle of water, expecting just the plain Carnival branded bottle. Here is what we got:

 

 

 

There was a thread not long before we went on how to get the most out of your cheers package. One of those tips said there was a $20 per glass Rose wine in the Steakhouse. It's gone. The most expensive glass they had was $12.75. A nicer selection of wines by the glass than at other bars.

 

Here is the Steakhouse wine list

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On a side note, someone had also mentioned that if you order a classic cocktail, you could get a $5 match play coupon good on table games in the casino. I asked one of the bartenders about it and he said that was a promo they ran like 3 years ago, and is no longer in effect.

 

When we went back to our room tonight, there was a plate of cookies with a note from the casino host. I'm not sure why, but we appreciated them. They were really good!

[luckybecky]

Saturday July 14 Sea Day

 

Our last day on board. I can't believe our cruise is already almost over.

 

We had a laid back day. My son was excited about "power hour" in the arcade, when all games were half price. My sister, husaband and son did the ropes course. I wanted to join them but you are required to wear closed toe shoes and I didn't have any. I had some athletic style sandals but those weren't allowed. They had fun doing the ropes course.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, my daughter went to the Harry Potter trivia. More accurately, she announced that she was going to "crush it" at the Harry Potter trivia, and she did!

 

[luckybecky]

We packed in the afternoon, and then I watched the sunset from the "secret" deck 7 forward. There were just a handful of other people there. It was so beautiful and peaceful with calm seas.

 

 

 

If you aren't familiar with the so-called secret decks, they exist on most Carnival ships. It's just an open area at the bow of the ship that not many people know about. It's a great place to watch your approach into a scenic port, or sailaway, or watch pier runners. On the Sunshine, we found these areas on Deck 6 and Deck 7. To find them, simply go to the front of the ship and look for the exit. There will be a door on each side near the forward staterooms. Occasionally they may put up a sign that the area is closed due to high winds, but usually it is open.

 

We signed up for 24 hours of internet access ($16) so that we could check in for our flight. The internet was exceedingly slow. I had tried to use it to access the carnival website (free to use) earlier in the day and it simply would not work. I tried the computers near guest services and next to the shake spot near Ocean Plaza. I asked someone seated near me if it was working for him and he said it had been problematic all week. He sounded pretty frustrated about it.

 

We were eventually able to reach the Southwest website and check in, but it took awhile. I would absolutely not waste my time or money on an internet package if this is the way it always works.

[luckybecky]

We all went to JiJi's for supper. I think it was the best meal we had all week. Absolutely loved it.

 

It is a sharing menu and they guide you on how much to order. For our group of six, if I remember correctly they suggested 4 apps, 4 entrees, 4 sides, and 6 desserts.

 

 

The pork belly was heavenly and I think the chicken spring rolls were the best I have ever had. Everyone loved the dumplings too. They accomodated our request to change to sweet and sour shrimp listed on the menu to sweet and sour chicken. We also had the peppered beef -- amazing -- chicken fried rice, noodles and several other dishes. Although the names sound familiar, this is not your typical strip mall Chinese food. Everything was beautifully presented and tasted incredible.

 

 

 

I don't even know what the following thing is, but we ate it! :)

 

 

This is the peppered beef:

 

 

Kung Pao Chicken

 

Sweet and Sour Chicken, I think:

 

[luckybecky]

Some more food porn from JiJi's

 

The egg rolls were sumptuous

 

 

 

Pot stickers

 

 

This is the fried wonton dessert:

 

 

Crème brulee

 

 

 

Caramelized crepes:

 

 

 

They presented the fortune cookies in a very unique way, with some sort of fruit roll-up type things.

 

 

 

I'm sorry we waited til the last night to try JiJi's because I would definitely have gone more than once.

[luckybecky]

Surprisingly, the restaurant was nearly empty. When I had tried to make a reservation, they acted as if openings were limited. I think they offered us either 5:30 or 6:00. We took the 6:00 time and there were maybe 3 other tables there. By the time we left I think only one other table was occupied.

 

Considering how good the food is, and amazing value at $15 per person, I am surprised they weren't packed. Don't miss it if you have a chance to try it.

 

We spent the rest of the evening in the casino before hitting the sack.

[luckybecky]

Sunday July 15 Debarkation

 

We woke at 7:00. Were out of our room by maybe 7:20 and went up to deck 9 for breakfast. It was so crowded, we just got a plate of food and went back to our cabin to eat. We finished up last minute packing and were pretty much ready to go by 8 or 8:15. Around this time they started debarkation by deck number. They called the lower decks first.

 

We eventually made our way to the elevator and headed down to deck 3. It didn't take long to get off. The terminal was huge and packed with people but they had a pretty efficient process for getting everyone through. Customs was a very brief check of our passports.

 

Sad to end our vacation!

[Fergus]

Thank you for such an informative review! We're doing the same cruise in December and you've helped me make up my mind on several activities. We also will have our adult disabled daughter with us - her birthday is that week, so it will be a big celebration.

 

I also just noticed you are from San Antonio - we visited your beautiful city last year and had a great visit there. Our son is a Marine pilot, and he is currently at NAS Kingsville learning to fly jets. Hope to be back your way soon for his winging!

 

Thanks again!!

[mikesyl27]

Hello Cruisers!

 

We are recently off the Sunshine. We did an 8 day Eastern Caribbean and had a wonderful time! I'm going to give a very comprehensive trip report. I've written a small novel so if you like lots of detail I've got it for you. I have dozens of photos too.

 

I'll be honest right up front, there were a number of little issues, particularly service issues. If you are looking for a lot of Carnival cheerleading, you may be in the wrong place. I'm going to tell you the good and the bad. I'm just giving my honest opinion and you can take it or leave it. Your experience may be totally different.

 

In spite of small lapses here and there, I never let such things ruin my vacation. Stuff happens. No vacation is perfect. It's OK. We had a wonderful time and I hope that will also come through in my review.

 

So we started planning a vacation with some extended family members last fall. About 12 of us booked the Sunshine last October. We had looked for cruises out of either Port Canaveral or Tampa because that gave us many more options than the itineraires we can get out of our home port of Galveston; and because my niece and her husband, who were going to cruise with us, live in Tampa. We looked at all the available options on the cruise lines that sail from PortCanaveral and Tampa and settled on the Sunshine.

 

Unfortunately half of our group eventually backed out. We were bummed but that's what happens when you try to get lots of people to agree on anything I guess.

 

So it ended up being myself, my husband, our two adult children, my sister, and her husband. My sister and I booked balcony cabins next door to each other, and my kids selected a cheaper inside cabin right across the hall, all on deck six midship.

Just loved your review!!!

Very detailed and I learned a lot!

My husband a I have been on 8 Carnival Cruises and Sunshine this coming up March will be our 9th.

The info about the ship, food, what to do and ports was awesome. You put a lot of questions to bed for us.

We are definitely doing the Steakhouse and both other restaurants, specially during the night you didn't like the food.[emoji39]

Been looking forward to going on the Sunshine for some time now. Finally they had a week when I'm off.

We live in Florida and we know that you must use Sunscreen. But here is a little trick we discovered a while back for sunburns. Instead of using soap or body wash use Noxzema.

I dont take a trip without it. Orginally Noxzema was intended for sunburns but most people think it's just for a face wash.

Thanks again for your review.

 

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[Alaskan Joe]

Thanks for the ride, great review!

[schazzy]

There was a thread not long before we went on how to get the most out of your cheers package. One of those tips said there was a $20 per glass Rose wine in the Steakhouse. It's gone. The most expensive glass they had was $12.75. A nicer selection of wines by the glass than at other bars.

 

We noticed that too back in May, but the $10 sparkling Rose was still really good! :D

[schazzy]

Lol! This reminds me of something that happened on our last cruise when on the NCL Getaway with our son in law and grandson. They were looking at a particular watch they really liked—for my 12 year old grandson. It was a Hublot. Price tag—$15,000!!! 😱 They ended up with a Citizen watch at a SIGNIFICANTLY lower price! For the rest of the cruise, though, that salesperson would call them in, and tell them they could drop another 1k off each time they saw him! It was a crazy push from that guy to buy that darn watch!

 

LOL, if the cruise had been long enough, might have been able to get the watch for free! :')

[tortuga1975]

Great review! Thank you! I’m on the Sunshine next year and you’ve convinced me to try JiJis

 

 

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[lazydays2004]

I almost never order a frozen cocktail like a Kiss on the Lips, and certainly would not be drinking something like this during an average afternoon at home, but I did enjoy it on the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

Doesn't that look delicious?!

 

I tried "Kiss on the Lips" on my cruise last year and LOVED IT. Great review so far (I'm still reading the rest)

[stormgrey11]

Wednesday July 11 St Kitts

 

 

We had put out our room serice breakfast tag the night before, but today the service never arrived. Not sure what happened. We gave up waiting for it and went up to grab a quick bite on the lido deck before debarking.

 

I had reserved a tour with Thenford Grey way back on March 1. We went on "The Grand Tour of St. Kitts" with Grey's Island Excursions. I absolutely recommend this tour. It cost only $55 for a 6 hour tour. This is a very affordable price. We had no trouble meeting up with our tour group upon disembarking the ship. There was someone holding up a sign, easy to find.

 

They promptly led us to our bus. We had a group of 16 people. This is one reason I love privately booked tours: you can get much smaller, more personal experiences at better prices than the ship tours. I do not like being herded onto a huge tour bus with 40 or 50 other passengers.

 

So our driver was the company owner, Mr. Grey. He drove us through the narrow streets of Basseterre and pointed out some city landmarks. He was charming. Gave a very informative narrative.

 

We arrived at Romney Manor where our guide gave us a tour of the beautiful, lush garden, describing many of the plants and the history of the manor. We went to the batik studio and bought a slice of the most amazing homemade rum cake.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the review ! We were with you on this tour (I am the guy in the hat) and are getting to relive it !

[luckybecky]

Thanks for the review ! We were with you on this tour (I am the guy in the hat) and are getting to relive it !

 

Oh how funny! Glad you enjoyed the review. :D

[oncruisecontrol]

Excellent, detailed review! A very good read!

[Quilcruisers]

We took our time getting out of our cabin. I went to JiJi's for an omelet. They do omelets until noon, and then switch to Mongolian Wok from noon to 2:30pm. There was no wait to get my made to order omelet at 11am. It was excellent.

 

 

 

Breakfast was the best thing served at the lido buffet. Lots of choices. Would have liked to see bananas on offer but we never saw any. All the bacon you want. You can't help yourself, they have someone serving it, but they always gave a very generous portion -- probably even more than we would have helped ourselves to. And you could always ask for more.

 

 

 

We tried to go to the cooking demonstration at Farenheit 555. Showed up at 11:40 for the 12:00 demonstration. Doors were closed with 2 crew standing in front. They told us they were full and had had a long line very early. Keep this in mind if you want to go. I've heard it's good with samples from the chef.

 

 

 

The cooking demo is wonderful and the samples, divine ! It took me a long time to make it to one, I missed the one I tried to attend because I got there right at noon and it was full. The next cruise, I went at 1130 and waited. The samples are the same ones every time but very filling. I have to remember to skip brunch that day because the demo is only once during the cruise but brunch is every sea day. They serve a salad with fresh dressing, cream of mushroom soup, Mac and cheese and chicken breast and for dessert, a yummy tiramisu. You can count on me being there each time.

 

 

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[peteandpris]

Great review! Bravo, you covered all of the bases. I learned some really good pointers. We are going on the Sunshine for a back to back Sept.8-21, out of Port Canaveral and turning Platinum. I want to thank you and am so glad that you and your family had a great time. I love to see about renting golf carts. This is my biggest fear being stranded and missing the ship. Thank you for taking us on this journey.

[avenger71]

I am loving your review ! We leave on The Sunshine on September 8th. We sailed her last voyage as the Destiny before they sent her to be transformed into The Sunshine. I am in shock that I read in your review that there isn't a dedicated nightclub. That is very disappointing. ! Thank you for the heads up on that ! Keep the great review coming !

 

I will be on that cruise as well! I was on the Sunshine in November, not having the regular nightclub was a bummer but still loved the ship!

[Doug J]

I would like to say your photos were great. as someone who has cruised a lot which means different to many people, I think I am in the 40plus club, your tone seemed to me as negative towards carnival. Maybe your expectations are too high. To me a cruise is how you make it. Trust me I have been on several all inclusive cruises and I can find things wrong with them,. not sure if you had great time, but please pay four times what carnival charges and then write a review with your current mindset of perfection.

[alreadypacked]

So needless to say, I suggest you avoid Wet Money.

 

Meanwhile, as all this was happening my sister had been talking to a lady at the taxi stand. She recommened that we take a cab to Pillory Beach, which is exactly what we did once the golf cart fiasco was resolved. Most of our morning had been wasted, but the taxi driver was friendly and gave us some history about the island as we drove. We decided to spend a couple of hours at the beach and arranged for her to come back to pick us up at a predetermined time.

 

We really liked Pillory Beach. Beautiful white sand, clear blue water, and not at all crowded. There were also bathrooms available and a bar. Of course you can just walk off the ship to the beach in Grand Turk but the beach there is very crowded.

 

 

 

 

Really enjoying the review! Thanks for taking the time to post specific details!

 

Two questions:

 

How long did the taxi ride from the cruise port area to Pillory Beach take?

 

Were the bathrooms reasonably clean (and stocked with toilet paper)?

 

Thanks!

 

 

(Have only read thus far--please forgive me if these questions have already been asked and answered later)

[luckybecky]

I would like to say your photos were great. as someone who has cruised a lot which means different to many people, I think I am in the 40plus club, your tone seemed to me as negative towards carnival. Maybe your expectations are too high. To me a cruise is how you make it. Trust me I have been on several all inclusive cruises and I can find things wrong with them,. not sure if you had great time, but please pay four times what carnival charges and then write a review with your current mindset of perfection.

 

Doug, maybe you missed this in my VERY FIRST POST, so here it is again:

 

 

"In spite of small lapses here and there, I never let such things ruin my vacation. Stuff happens. No vacation is perfect. It's OK. We had a wonderful time and I hope that will also come through in my review."

We actually have paid four times what Carnival charges and have written a review about that. Feel free to check my signature for more info.





What I wrote here is my honest opinion, good and bad. You may take it or leave it, as you wish.





Happy sailing!