My Carnival Sunshine (Tilted) Halloween Review with pics

[mouche]

My husband and I sailed on the Sunshine on October 28th, we did a pre-cruise stay at Hampton Inn Coco Beach, it was the park, sleep and cruise package and a really good deal. I won't make this a super long review, I will touch on the listing incident and then more of a pro and con type of review with pictures. Well as some may have heard, we experienced a tilting of the ship approx. 5hrs into sailing, I was in the casino and my husband was in our cabin at the time that it happen. I notice that while I was playing the slots my chair seemed to be going back, and by the time I turned around I saw a woman behind me fall over backwards, I immediately stood up and braced myself against a machine. It was almost like an out of body like experience, I could not believe what was happening, I started praying, Lord, please do not let this ship turn over, please do not let this ship turn over, I just kept repeating that. Then people started screaming and I could hear things crashing all around me. I never panic, I didn't scream, all I could do was pray to God that the ship would not turn over. After about a minute or so (but it felt longer) the ship leveled out.

People were helping each other get up and I saw a man laying on the casino floor, people were trying to help him stand, but he fell back down and they called for help from the ships medic and cared for him until they got there. I also saw a few people with cuts and bruises, but for the most part, the people around me were okay, just scared and confused. I then went to check on my husband who was in the cabin at the time, he was oaky, he had to get up all the glass that broke and he had his life jacket out and ready (funny later) but not at the time. We both went up to deck 5 and waited with a few others to find out what just happen, we then learn that the last sailing has issues the night before they dock and had missed their port. The captain came on the speakers and no one could understand a word he said, so Mickey the CD had to come on after that to explain what he said. Some of the crew were just as shaken up as we were, but for the most part they did okay taking care of us, the first time cruisers were the ones I felt sorry for, 5hrs into their first cruise and this is what they had to experience, some I fear may never sail again. The rest of the night we saw a few with their life jackets on, some were still carrying them around, I met a young woman on our deck who said she was getting off in Amber Cove, she couldn't take the anxiety of sailing the complete cruise, she was in tears, I hugged her and told her she had to do what was best for her. There were many stories of what happen in different parts of the ship at the time, I ran into two ex-fire fighters who tended to a older man who fell and was knock out for a bit, the fear in the children as they held onto their parents was really sad, I could go on and on.

Things got better by the next day, people were still a little on edge, but as the captain assured us that everything was fine (and Mickey confirmed), people started to relax and have a good time, Halloween was a blast, great deck party and Limelight party. The costumes did not disappoint as usual, people went all out, I dressed up last year on the Carnival Liberty but this year my husband and I wore matching tee shirts that said "I'm here for the Boos". So now I will do a short pro and con of the rest of my experience on the ship and then will follow with a few pics, well maybe more than a few. :) But first let me say that the whole listing incident, while not fun, did not keep us from having a great cruise and would not stop us from cruising again and again, now I may give pause about cruising the Carnival Sunshine again, until they get their tech issues sorted out, but I would love to sail her again.

 

 

 

[pc_load_letter]

Was the list slow in coming on or did it happen quickly?

[mouche]

The pros of sailing the Carnival Sunshine...

Embarkation - Very good, if you arrive earlier than your scheduled time, you will be put in the longer line.

Debarkation - Super easy and fast, they had the tag numbers on a rack on deck 5, you choose what you want.

Casino - Always seems to be good to me, I won a lot less this trip, but enough to keep my playing all week and some to bring home.

Food - Elegant night was the best, food came out hot and fast, the buffet was okay, pasta bar was awesome, Cuban bites was awesome. I had very little complaints about the food as I have seen others post.

Cabin and Cabin Stewart - (Rory) AWESOME!!!

Ship crew - Always nice and polite

Interior of ship - Good shape, no smells as others have posted.

Cruise Director - A+ lot's of energy

Entertainment - Very good

[mouche]

11 minutes ago, pc_load_letter said:

Was the list slow in coming on or did it happen quickly?

It was slow, you almost thought the ship was just rocking that way, but then it didn't rock back and then we knew.

[mouche]

I will continue with cons and pictures tomorrow.

[teknoge3k]

We're on the Sunshine in July. I couldn't imagine being on it when it listed. I would of peed in the floor right there.

[grandmarnnurse]

Omg! How scary was that! So glad it didn’t ruin your vacation. Can’t wait to see the rest of your review with pics. 

[BENHANDEL]

Following!

[MommytoAsquared]

We were on the Sunshine in the Summer of 2017 and had a similar experience (although not nearly as extreme).  The ship listed for a little bit, probably for a minute or so.  Nothing fell or anything, but you definitely had to brace yourself.  The captain came on and said something about adjusting the stabilizers.  This was my first cruise so I have no idea how normal this is, but it struck me that both experiences were on the Sunshine.

[grandmarnnurse]

16 minutes ago, MommytoAsquared said:

We were on the Sunshine in the Summer of 2017 and had a similar experience (although not nearly as extreme).  The ship listed for a little bit, probably for a minute or so.  Nothing fell or anything, but you definitely had to brace yourself.  The captain came on and said something about adjusting the stabilizers.  This was my first cruise so I have no idea how normal this is, but it struck me that both experiences were on the Sunshine.

I do know that the Sunshine is an old ship. I sailed this ship way back in 2001, when it was the Destiny, and she was showing some age then! It went to dry dock several years ago, and was reborn as the Sunshine. But I do believe she’s ready for another overhaul. I think the ship was built in 1998, making her 20 years old.

[lazydays2004]

I just read about this ship listing on a news feed so i'm glad to read your experience of it.  I've been on a few cruises but have never experienced anything like this,  it sounds unnerving!!  I'm glad it ended well.

[chadci]

We'll be on the Sunshine this coming Saturday.

[mouche]

13 hours ago, grandmarnnurse said:

I do know that the Sunshine is an old ship. I sailed this ship way back in 2001, when it was the Destiny, and she was showing some age then! It went to dry dock several years ago, and was reborn as the Sunshine. But I do believe she’s ready for another overhaul. I think the ship was built in 1998, making her 20 years old.

I too have sailed her twice when she was the Destiny, this has always been a rocking ship to me, but even before the listing and through out the whole cruise, she was rocking!!!

[mouche]

2 hours ago, chadci said:

We'll be on the Sunshine this coming Saturday.

Have a great cruise.

[mouche]

7 hours ago, lazydays2004 said:

I just read about this ship listing on a news feed so i'm glad to read your experience of it.  I've been on a few cruises but have never experienced anything like this,  it sounds unnerving!!  I'm glad it ended well.

Yes, it really was unnerving, I pray that I and no one else ever experience anything like it again.

[mouche]

16 hours ago, grandmarnnurse said:

Omg! How scary was that! So glad it didn’t ruin your vacation. Can’t wait to see the rest of your review with pics. 

Yes, it was scary for a lot of folks, but we made the best of it and had a good time.

[mouche]

The Cons of Carnival Sunshine...

Rocking - this ship rock the whole cruise, even in calm water (so many people stated the ship was going too fast, I thought so too).

Tech issues - it seems to me that this ship in the past few years have had too many tech issues that seem to not be addressed properly or they would not still be happening.

Rusty - for it just coming out of dry dock, the outside of the ship has lots of rust on it.

 

There really weren't that many cons for me, other than the tech issues, that is a biggie, and like I said, that would be the only thing keeping me from sailing her again.

 

[mouche]

I did forget to say that Carnival gave each person a $50 on board credit, now some did complain that that was not enough for what we went through that first day and night. Some were still really nervous into the second day, and beyond and some left the ship in DR, I thought it was a good gesture for Carnival to do this, but I thought it would have been nicer if they had offered a little discount off another cruise, because even though we had a great time, it was never far from your mind that it could happen again at any moment which made it hard to completely relax. I also thought it would help Carnival to maybe keep those first time cruisers, and for what we went through it would have been the right thing to do in my opinion. Not looking for anything free, surely not a free cruise, but if the Carnival heads had experienced what we had, I'm sure they would understand that had they done that, that most would have appreciated it. I did get an email yesterday from the president of Carnival.......

WELCOME HOME MESSAGE FROM CHRISTINE DUFFY CARNIVAL SUNSHINE - OCTOBER 28, 2018

November 5, 2018     Dear Carnival Sunshine Guest,   As you return home, I want to thank you for sailing with us on Carnival Sunshine this past week.    I also would like to extend my personal apology for the listing incident which happened on Sunday evening. I recognize this must have startled many of our guests and was glad that our officers quickly intervened to correct the situation. I remained in close contact with our shipboard leadership team and was pleased to hear that normal activities and entertainment resumed later that evening and most of our guests went on to enjoy the rest of the cruise.        We never want our guests to experience anything less than a perfect vacation, and I sincerely regret we did not make it a perfect trip for the entire voyage. Despite the less than ideal start to the cruise, I hope you were able to take home some good memories of your time spent on board with us and that you will once again consider Carnival for your future vacation. We'd love nothing more than to welcome you back!

Sincerely, Christine Duffy President, Carnival Cruise Line

[mouche]

Here are a few pictures of the ship after we settled down a bit, I did not take pictures of any people in distress as I thought that would be disrespectful, I did however take pictures of the ship and shops as the clean up began. The quality of my pic are not the greatest as I only had my I-pod touch on me at the time.

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[F27TW]

I'm  curious how those lower Cove Balcony cabins fared during this list.    I'd think being that low, the ones on the lower side of the ship had to have been underwater .. and how scary if anyone was out there at the time!

[mouche]