Home from Sunshine...my take on it!

[simkoreb]

Hello!  Just got home a few days ago from the Sunshine.  I went in with very open expectations, since some reviews were pretty bad.  

 

Charleston....super easy embarkation!  We had FTTF but it didn't matter.  Arrived around 11:15 and were on the ship before noon.  SOOOO glad we were able to have access to our cabin early with the FTTF.  Once on the ship, we should have eaten right away, but we weren't hungry....big mistake.  A bit later and everyone was in the buffet area with their stuff waiting for cabins to open.  We were Hangry, and couldn't find anywhere to sit with lunch.  Ended up standing up by a counter and eating.  It was super hot, which I think was part of the problem.  If I was smart I would have taken our plates back to our room.  Oh well. Waterslides according to the brochure thing were supposed to be open at 11:00....they didn't open until 5 or 5:30.  My kids were very bummed, and got a little bored waiting.  And when they finally opened the lines were huge!

 

Our room was a balcony on Lido, and there were 4 of us.  It was a great configuration, and we love being on Lido.  Close to everything!  

 

The serenity deck is awesome on this ship!!!  3 floors of heaven with a waterfall!!  

 

No issues finding deck chairs for us, but we don't like being by the main pool.  I really had no issues with crowds, but we tend to avoid them when we know things will get congested.  Research research!

 

Everyone was super nice!!!  Our waitstaff was so overworked I felt bad for them.  But everyone around the ship went out of their way, especially making conversation with my 2 boys (8 and 9 years old).  The dining room food was hit or miss, few items were very good, some were just ok. 

 

The next day was a fun day at sea.  I didn't have any issues with crowds.  We did the brunch, and arrived around noon.  Almost no one was there.  It did take a while to get our food though...

 

Half Moon Cay-Love love love this place.  We got the note saying where to meet for FTTF, and were on the first tender off.  We stayed until 1:00, and ate lunch on the ship.  I heard the line was super long for food on the island.

 

Bahamas-did a Carnival 2 stop snorkel....it was ok.  Rough waters, but saw some cool fish.  Again, ate lunch back on the ship.

 

Day at sea...lots of fun.  The 80s show and party was great, and the had a lot of trivia all day too.  Dr. Seuss brunch was fun!!  Loved the atmosphere and everything about it.

 

Camp Ocean was great for my kids.  They did the waterslides everyday and the rope course, basketball, etc.  They loved all the fun stuff this ship had for kids.  Other than embarkation day, the lines were almost nonexistent for the slides.  Port days we always came back by 1:00 to eat and let them enjoy the ship without a lot of people on board. 

 

I'll try and check back if anyone has specific questions.  Overall we had a very fun time!!

Thanks!!!

[mrpayroll]

Sounds like you had an enjoyable cruise.

[NCTribeFan]

I love Charleston and have sailed from there several times, all on Fantasy and Ecstasy.  Will be on Sunshine at the end of October.  Sailed her once before (Port Canaveral to San Juan) and liked the ship much more than I expected I would.  This was not long after she was "Sunshined" and the reviews weren't good, but I had absolutely no issues on her.  Sadly, it rained on our sea days and I didn't get to enjoy that beautiful Serenity area.  Hopefully, the weather will cooperate next time!

 

Have also read that they changed the embarkation process in Charleston.  People don't seem to realize just how limited they are there with their small, old port building.  I think they do a terrific job considering those limitations.  If people would spend a little time reading beforehand, they would know that this terminal is quite different from others and have an idea of what to expect.

 

Had some not-great dinners on that sailing, but that seems to be the case on every cruise ship.  But I certainly never go hungry! 

 

HMC is really wonderful.  I'm not even a beach person but after my first time there, I got home and immediately booked the same cruise for 6 months later and had 3 people join me!  Have been there multiple times (a good reason to sail HAL; every Caribbean itinerary calls there).  Sadly, we're calling at Princess Cays in October.  It's OK but can't compare to HMC.

 

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

[1st4our25th]

Thank you for sharing your review. We will be on the Sunshine for our first cruise in November. 

[NYHartChapp]

On 8/19/2019 at 12:10 PM, simkoreb said:

Hello!  Just got home a few days ago from the Sunshine.  I went in with very open expectations, since some reviews were pretty bad.  

 

Charleston....super easy embarkation!  We had FTTF but it didn't matter.  Arrived around 11:15 and were on the ship before noon.  SOOOO glad we were able to have access to our cabin early with the FTTF.  Once on the ship, we should have eaten right away, but we weren't hungry....big mistake.  A bit later and everyone was in the buffet area with their stuff waiting for cabins to open.  We were Hangry, and couldn't find anywhere to sit with lunch.  Ended up standing up by a counter and eating.  It was super hot, which I think was part of the problem.  If I was smart I would have taken our plates back to our room.  Oh well. Waterslides according to the brochure thing were supposed to be open at 11:00....they didn't open until 5 or 5:30.  My kids were very bummed, and got a little bored waiting.  And when they finally opened the lines were huge!

 

Our room was a balcony on Lido, and there were 4 of us.  It was a great configuration, and we love being on Lido.  Close to everything!  

 

The serenity deck is awesome on this ship!!!  3 floors of heaven with a waterfall!!  

 

No issues finding deck chairs for us, but we don't like being by the main pool.  I really had no issues with crowds, but we tend to avoid them when we know things will get congested.  Research research!

 

Everyone was super nice!!!  Our waitstaff was so overworked I felt bad for them.  But everyone around the ship went out of their way, especially making conversation with my 2 boys (8 and 9 years old).  The dining room food was hit or miss, few items were very good, some were just ok. 

 

The next day was a fun day at sea.  I didn't have any issues with crowds.  We did the brunch, and arrived around noon.  Almost no one was there.  It did take a while to get our food though...

 

Half Moon Cay-Love love love this place.  We got the note saying where to meet for FTTF, and were on the first tender off.  We stayed until 1:00, and ate lunch on the ship.  I heard the line was super long for food on the island.

 

Bahamas-did a Carnival 2 stop snorkel....it was ok.  Rough waters, but saw some cool fish.  Again, ate lunch back on the ship.

 

Day at sea...lots of fun.  The 80s show and party was great, and the had a lot of trivia all day too.  Dr. Seuss brunch was fun!!  Loved the atmosphere and everything about it.

 

Camp Ocean was great for my kids.  They did the waterslides everyday and the rope course, basketball, etc.  They loved all the fun stuff this ship had for kids.  Other than embarkation day, the lines were almost nonexistent for the slides.  Port days we always came back by 1:00 to eat and let them enjoy the ship without a lot of people on board. 

 

I'll try and check back if anyone has specific questions.  Overall we had a very fun time!!

Thanks!!!

Sounds like you had a very nice cruise!

 

[NYHartChapp]

On 8/20/2019 at 8:32 AM, NCTribeFan said:

I love Charleston and have sailed from there several times, all on Fantasy and Ecstasy.  Will be on Sunshine at the end of October.  Sailed her once before (Port Canaveral to San Juan) and liked the ship much more than I expected I would.  This was not long after she was "Sunshined" and the reviews weren't good, but I had absolutely no issues on her.  Sadly, it rained on our sea days and I didn't get to enjoy that beautiful Serenity area.  Hopefully, the weather will cooperate next time!

 

Have also read that they changed the embarkation process in Charleston.  People don't seem to realize just how limited they are there with their small, old port building.  I think they do a terrific job considering those limitations.  If people would spend a little time reading beforehand, they would know that this terminal is quite different from others and have an idea of what to expect.

 

Had some not-great dinners on that sailing, but that seems to be the case on every cruise ship.  But I certainly never go hungry! 

 

HMC is really wonderful.  I'm not even a beach person but after my first time there, I got home and immediately booked the same cruise for 6 months later and had 3 people join me!  Have been there multiple times (a good reason to sail HAL; every Caribbean itinerary calls there).  Sadly, we're calling at Princess Cays in October.  It's OK but can't compare to HMC.

 

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

I love Charleston, too...hey I live there!  Have sailed on Ecstasy several times and Sunshine once with another coming up in November.  It's nice to have a ship home-ported an Uber drive away.  The embarkation process is not so much changed, it's more a change to the ingress to the port.  it's a little bit more complicated, as you have to park/drop off at a "way-station" and then take a bus to the terminal.