Just off Sunshine and here's my mini-review

[Cinnamon2]

Here are my impressions of the Sunshine and our travel experience, not in any particular order.  If you have questions, feel free to ask.

 

Flew on Southwest from Albany to MCO on Jan. 4, the morning of the cruise.  Good flight.  When we arrived at MCO around 9:45 a.m. and went to the baggage area expecting to see a Carnival Rep as we had purchased transportation to Port Canaveral through Carnival.  The day before I had clicked the "more information" tab on the Carnival website for ground transportation details and it lead nowhere.  From past experience, I figured we would see the Rep near the baggage area.  Nobody was in sight so I called the Carnival transportation "hotline" and was told no transportation until noon.  I said that can't be true, as our boarding time was 11:30 - 12:00 and the port is about an hour away.  Upon further checking they told me where to find the Carnival transportation and they told me the wrong location.  While walking through the airport, I asked reps from other cruise lines if they knew where Carnival transportation was and they directed us across the airport to the right area.  So we schlepped our luggage to the other side and just barely made it to the next bus.  The bus stopped twice on the way to the port due to AC not working.  

 

We arrived at the port and boarding was the easiest I've ever experienced in 14 past Carnival cruises!  We were on the ship, dropped luggage and getting lunch around by 12:45.  The Lido deck and food area was packed.  I thought we were among the early arrivers so not sure how so many people got on board so early.  We found some food and walked towards the back of the ship looking for a table to sit at.  The first place we found was at the very back of the ship in the Havana area, at the bar.  We enjoyed the Havana bar area and ate  most of our lunches and had coffee breaks there.  The atmosphere is quieter and nicer than the main Lido dining area.

 

Our cabin was a "Spa" balcony cabin in the Serenity area and was noticeably smaller than our past balcony cabins.  However, it was set up similarly and was ok.  These cabins are the "new" additions that were added when the Destiny became the Sunshine.  The drawback to our cabin was that I didn't do my homework thoroughly, and it was noisy!  There were a few deck parties held late at night and they could be heard from our cabin, especially when the door in the hallway just past our cabin was opened to the deck.  I guess I thought that having a cabin in the Serenity area would be an advantage and might be in a quiet area - not true.  You would think being near the Serenity would be convenient.  

 

We went up 1, 2 or 3 flights in the Serenity area to look for seating and most seats were taken, or "saved".  The Serenity hot tub was always full of a group sitting around the edge of the tub and they always stayed a long time.  I had better luck getting into the Lido deck hot tubs, even when full of kids - at least the kids got in and out often so there was room for me to get in.  Speaking of kids, there were a few on board and they were always well behaved.

 

We had your time dining and ate in the MDR all 8 nights of this cruise.  We usually went to check in between 5:30 and 6:15 and were always seated immediately at a table for 2.  We always chose to dine alone because we were both just over illnesses (colds, cough, sinus, asthmatic bronchitis etc). 

 

Service in the dining room was excellent every night - and we had 8 different tables and different wait teams over the cruise.  The only hiccup one night was we waited about a half hour for our dinner.  It was clearly because the large table behind us monopolized the waiters with constant requests, such as butter dishes for everyone.  My back was to them, but DH saw the men at the table got up and approached the waiter's area 3 times with requests, which surely interrupted their work flow.  We felt really sorry for the waiters that night and understood why our dinner was late.

 

All the shows were entertaining.  We were disappointed in the Piano Bar.  The piano bar guy could sing and play and kept the crowd engaged BUT .....    When I go to a Piano Bar it is to hear good music; I enjoy typical piano bar music.  I have no problems with off color or dirty jokes thrown in - that can be fun.  However, this guy's repertoire was so raunchy that it wasn't even funny.  Every song he did was just plain raunch.  When we got up to leave, he teased us and said it was an adult show.  Well this show was geared to junior high humor - not music, not funny stuff, just 100% raunch.  I've heard many piano bar singers before and laugh at the adult humor - but usually the adult humor is mixed in with some fun and good music.

 

Mikey the cruise director was absolutely AWESOME!  He has unbelievable energy, is seen everywhere, engages the crowd perfectly.  In the past a cruise director doesn't make or break a cruise - but Mikey was just outstanding and made everything fun.

 

Ports - We walked around Aruba and did some shopping.  In Curacao we took a country tour and it was nice and interesting. In Grand Turk, we sat under the shade of the palm trees, took a dip in the ocean, and got into the Margaritaville pool.  We sat at the pool bar and had a drink and shared a "Cheeseburger in Paradise".  

 

Our room steward, I MADE, was great. 

 

Debarkation was good.  We had checked our luggage and were in Zone 1 and got off the ship around 8:30.  We were hoping to catch an earlier flight home.  A flight was available but would have cost over $800 to change it.  So we kept our 7:30 pm flight home and due to delays, got home after midnight.  When originally booking we had a choice of an 11:40 a.m. flight or a 7:30 flight.  You just don't know how fast you will get off a ship - and get to the airport almost an hour away so I didn't dare book the earlier flight when it was less expensive.  I remember in the past being stuck on a ship until 10:30 a.m. on debarkation day and standing in lines for almost 2 hours.  So we didn't take the chance this time and it made for a long 11 day at the airport.

 

All in all, it was a nice cruise, good food, good entertainment, good service.

 

Any questions, ask away!

 

 

 

 

[Bostwick girl]

Nice review! We were on Sunshine November 2 with our entire family and some friends, had a great time! I have to agree with you about the cruise director Mikey! Best ever, as you said he was so full of energy, was everywhere and I'm sure hoping to see him on other ships someday. The crew was awesome as well. Our room stewardess Maria was wonderful, and took good care of all of us. Our granddaughter in law is a very tiny 21 year old, and Maria made her look tall, they looked so cute together. Food was good and our MDR staff were good, too. Enjoyed the new lido buffet layout, and the Havana bar area too.  I would definitely go on her again.

 

[ProgRockCruiser]

Thanks for the great review!  I love your itinerary.  We sailed on Sunshine in early December (8 day Eastern Carib).  

 

Yes, the Havana Bar area is a great place, never got crowded for us the whole cruise!

 

Too bad about the Piano Bar player - we had Gilbert Arquero, who was super funny without resorting to any raunchy content!  He's on a break now (when home to the Philippines for holiday break, back in Feb on Victory, apparently).  According to the schedule you can find on a certain FB page, your piano player was Ewart Williams.  I will note that for any future cruises, since we really liked the Piano Bar with Gilbert, and while I'm OK with some off-color jokes, if that is your only shtick then it gets tired pretty quickly.

[Cinnamon2]

15 minutes ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

Thanks for the great review!  I love your itinerary.  We sailed on Sunshine in early December (8 day Eastern Carib).  

 

Yes, the Havana Bar area is a great place, never got crowded for us the whole cruise!

 

Too bad about the Piano Bar player - we had Gilbert Arquero, who was super funny without resorting to any raunchy content!  He's on a break now (when home to the Philippines for holiday break, back in Feb on Victory, apparently).  According to the schedule you can find on a certain FB page, your piano player was Ewart Williams.  I will note that for any future cruises, since we really liked the Piano Bar with Gilbert, and while I'm OK with some off-color jokes, if that is your only shtick then it gets tired pretty quickly.

Yeah, I don't like saying negative things about people and didn't want to mention him by name. He is probably very talented; from what I saw his singing and playing was good - just too much raunch and not enough music!

[K&RCurt]

Thanks for the review!  We will be on the Sunshine in 10 days, so really appreciate hearing your experiences.

[Joebucks]

Thanks for the review. This itinerary is definitely towards the top of my list. Can't go wrong with an 8-day Southern Carribean. 

[GeorgiaMomof4]

Thank you for the review!

 

This is the same itinerary we will be doing in February and I do have a few questions.

 

Do you by any chance have copies of the Fun Times or at least the evening shows and entertainment? 

Also, by any chance do  you have copies of the menus for each night?  

 

We are wanting to book the steakhouse but prefer to do it on a night that there isn't much that appeals to

us in the dining room so I'd love to see the menus for each day.

 

Also, do you remember which nights were Elegant nights?

 

Any additional information you can offer for Aruba or Curacao?  This will be our first trip to both places

and we have a tour lined up for Curacao but don't know what to do in Aruba yet.

 

Once again, thanks for the review!

 

 

[Cinnamon2]

11 minutes ago, GeorgiaMomof4 said:

Thank you for the review!

 

This is the same itinerary we will be doing in February and I do have a few questions.

 

Do you by any chance have copies of the Fun Times or at least the evening shows and entertainment? 

Also, by any chance do  you have copies of the menus for each night?  

    

We are wanting to book the steakhouse but prefer to do it on a night that there isn't much that appeals to

us in the dining room so I'd love to see the menus for each day.

 

Also, do you remember which nights were Elegant nights?

 

Any additional information you can offer for Aruba or Curacao?  This will be our first trip to both places

and we have a tour lined up for Curacao but don't know what to do in Aruba yet.

 

Once again, thanks for the review!

 

 

Sorry but we did not save Fun Times or take photos of menus.  You can download the Carnival Hub App and see menus each day and I believe you can look to days ahead also.

Elegant nights were the first sea (Saturday) and Grand Turk day (Thursday)

Aruba and Curacao are both easy ports to get off and on the ship.  There is shopping you can walk to.  We just walked around in Aruba as we took a tour last time.  We took a countryside tour in Curacao because we were tired from walking around the day before.  Both ports are nice and I'm sure you can find something on the shore tours list.

[GeorgiaMomof4]

Thank you!  I was hoping elegant night would still be on Sunday.

 

We don't usually do Carnival sponsored tours but may look into something else.

 

 

[Bostwick girl]

The shopping area in Curaçao is really nice now. There's an old fort they have worked the shopping area around, all done with beautiful pavers and landscaping. There are many nice shops and a new casino. We didn't go in, but people on the walk give you. $5 free play cards if you want to go in. I believe it was in a Marriot, you could probably find it on line. As you go on thru the new shopping area you'll come out along the Canal front where there are street vendors and some restaurants before you come to the floating bridge. After you go across that, there's more shopping, etc. Really enjoyed just walking around. First time there a few years ago we took an island tour and enjoyed that as well. All in all, one of the favorites. I didn't save fun times nor menus, but elegant nights were the first sea day and Thursday. Didn't do the steakhouse this trip because of the size of our group.

 

[chumley28540]

Thanks for your review. We will be boarding on March 29th and will keep your comments in mind. 

[JaniceB]

Thank you for your review.

[ricew001]

Thanks for the review. We love the piano bar and have never had any raunchiness but apparently this is kinda common I've heard. I hope we don't experience it on our next cruise that I've already got booked.

 

Oh - and after the last cruise I will be doing Uber - not the Carnival transportation. The rep at FLL was incredibly rude and it took FOREVER to get to the ship!

[jcollin]

Thanks.  We are on the Sunshine Feb 15th and in the Spa rooms as well.  Not sure it matters but what room we you in.  We have 3.  I've heard you go to a different floor to get table fro dinner, we have YTD as well.  Any problems with that?  I've also read getting into the shows and comedy club can be a challenge,  Did you experience that?  Did you get off the ship after dinner in Aruba?   Was there a cruise critic meet and greet?

[Cruisefriends]

Thanks for your review.   What Cabin were you in? We also will be on the Sunshine in March and have booked Spa level room.  I think we will enjoy the thermal suites.  Did you try these? How was the motion being in the front of the ship?

[Cinnamon2]

6 hours ago, jcollin said:

Thanks.  We are on the Sunshine Feb 15th and in the Spa rooms as well.  Not sure it matters but what room we you in.  We have 3.  I've heard you go to a different floor to get table fro dinner, we have YTD as well.  Any problems with that?  I've also read getting into the shows and comedy club can be a challenge,  Did you experience that?  Did you get off the ship after dinner in Aruba?   Was there a cruise critic meet and greet?

We were in cabin 10122 on deck 10.  For TYD we checked in on Ocean Plaza, deck 5, were given a slip of paper and walked down the stairs to the dining room - no problem.  The shows were crowded and we tried to get there early.  We did not get off the ship after dinner in Aruba.  I do not know if there was a CC meet and greet.

[Cinnamon2]

6 hours ago, Cruisefriends said:

Thanks for your review.   What Cabin were you in? We also will be on the Sunshine in March and have booked Spa level room.  I think we will enjoy the thermal suites.  Did you try these? How was the motion being in the front of the ship?

Cabin 10122 on Deck 10.  The Sunshine does not have all the spa amenities like on the Dream.  I think the thermal suites you mentioned are what we experienced on the Dream but they do not have on the Sunshine.  The only free things are the gym, sauna, locker room and showers.  We did not use the spa.

[Tiger0613]

10 hours ago, Cinnamon2 said:

You can download the Carnival Hub App and see menus each day and I believe you can look to days ahead also.

Just be aware that each time you view any page of a menu, you are downloading a PDF of that page.  I didn't realize that until I got home.  I ended up downloading 287 PDFs for a 7 day cruise because I looked at the menus so much.

[Llamabear]

4 hours ago, Cinnamon2 said:

Cabin 10122 on Deck 10.  The Sunshine does not have all the spa amenities like on the Dream.  I think the thermal suites you mentioned are what we experienced on the Dream but they do not have on the Sunshine.  The only free things are the gym, sauna, locker room and showers.  We did not use the spa.

I was gonna book thermal suites for my Aunt for our cruise in April! Are you sure they aren't on the Sunshine? When I click on the link to book spa treatments from Carnival's Manage My Cruise page its listed in there...hoping there isn't an error there. She has problems with her legs and back due to her sciatic nerve and I thought that would be perfect...

 

Also was wondering if you noticed a sewage smell I saw ppl in older reviews complaining about and the ship rocking more than usual. Sunshine was dry docked in October 2018 I believe, and I hope those issues were addressed. Thanks for all the info!

[Cinnamon2]

7 hours ago, Llamabear said:

I was gonna book thermal suites for my Aunt for our cruise in April! Are you sure they aren't on the Sunshine? When I click on the link to book spa treatments from Carnival's Manage My Cruise page its listed in there...hoping there isn't an error there. She has problems with her legs and back due to her sciatic nerve and I thought that would be perfect...

 

Also was wondering if you noticed a sewage smell I saw ppl in older reviews complaining about and the ship rocking more than usual. Sunshine was dry docked in October 2018 I believe, and I hope those issues were addressed. Thanks for all the info!

You are correct - of course you can pay for treatments and I guess that includes the thermal suites. We didn't use the spa so I don't know details.   Sewage smell, well we did detect a gaseous odor in some public areas.

[Bostwick girl]

We were on the second or third sailing after the October drydock and we didn't notice any strange smells. We had a group of 6 cabins midship on deck 8. One morning there was a hot water line break in a cabin next to one of our group. The poor lady taking a shower didn't have a clue until her water was shut off! Anyway, the staff was really on top of getting it cleaned up and dried really fast! I believe 3 cabins were affected. Don't know about 2 of them, but my friend did receive some compensation for their inconvenience. 

[Eliot Ness]

On 1/15/2019 at 9:33 AM, Cinnamon2 said:

.......Debarkation was good.  We had checked our luggage and were in Zone 1 and got off the ship around 8:30.  We were hoping to catch an earlier flight home..........

 

Great review, thanks!  We sail on Feb 15 and I have a question for you about debarkation.  We have a shuttle to catch at 8:45 since out flight leaves at noon.  Is the zone 1 the next quickest to get off the ship after self-assist or is there a priority before zone 1 is called?  I'd prefer not schlepping our luggage around with self-assist if possible.

 

I MADE was our steward on a past cruise, but I think that is a fairly common name in their country, so it was probably not the same person.

[K&RCurt]

23 hours ago, GeorgiaMomof4 said:

 

Any additional information you can offer for Aruba or Curacao?  This will be our first trip to both places

and we have a tour lined up for Curacao but don't know what to do in Aruba yet.

 

 

 

We did the ABCs on the Victory last year.  How long are you in Curacao?  We did a Carnival "sunset cruise" excursion and it was awesome!  The boat left from just inward of the swinging bridge, past the inner cruise ship berth, did a tour of the harbor area, then we went through the swinging bridge and out into the sea, went South East down the coast then turned around in time for the sunset, which was stunning.  We then went North West, past and very close to the ship and they let us off at the second cruise pier which was not in use, so we had a short walk back to the ship.  If you are in port long enough and this is offered I would highly recommend it.

[Cinnamon2]

14 minutes ago, Eliot Ness said:

 

Great review, thanks!  We sail on Feb 15 and I have a question for you about debarkation.  We have a shuttle to catch at 8:45 since out flight leaves at noon.  Is the zone 1 the next quickest to get off the ship after self-assist or is there a priority before zone 1 is called?  I'd prefer not schlepping our luggage around with self-assist if possible.

 

I MADE was our steward on a past cruise, but I think that is a fairly common name in their country, so it was probably not the same person.

Zone 1 is called right after self-assist.  We were given zone 1 because I am platinum.  I did hear an announcement that people who prove that they have an early flight can get "early" debarkation.  Not sure if that means zone 1 or something else.

[Eliot Ness]

1 minute ago, Cinnamon2 said:

Zone 1 is called right after self-assist.  We were given zone 1 because I am platinum.  I did hear an announcement that people who prove that they have an early flight can get "early" debarkation.  Not sure if that means zone 1 or something else.

 

We are also platinum but I'm afraid 8:30 wouldn't get us off soon enough for an 8:45-9:00 shuttle.  We'll just check when we get on board and see what our options are.  Most of our flights home are late afternoon so we are never in a hurry to get off the ship, so this is a new experience for us.  Thanks again!