First cruise out of Charleston on Sunshine Jan 13-17! Mini review!

[ninjacat123]

Just off the first cruise for Sunshine out of Charleston.  DH and I had a terrific four day cruise with a day at sea, Nassau and a day at sea. 

Here is a brief recount:

 

Two days before embarkation:

I get a call with a Miami area code which you all know means Carnival is calling.  I answered and was offered an upsell from a spa balcony to a spa suite for $350.  We decided to take it and did the “we have a suite” dance.  Ok, it was just me. DH was still working from home.

 

Embarkation:

We started our three-hour drive to Charleston, planning on arriving at 10:00am.  We arrived at 9:50am and had a dilly of a time trying to figure out where parking was.  Finally figured out the long line of cars waiting for a gated-in lot was the place to be.  Cars were allowed in slowly, we got our parking spot (no protection of a building, pay in advance) and we grabbed our luggage and walked to Building 324.  Not the terminal.  We showed our papers twice then were instructed to sit in the “suite” area.  Nothing special about that, we were supposed to get in ahead of everyone but no, the masses were told to either take a shuttle to the terminal or walk.  We decided not to wait and started our half mile walk.  Do not do this if you have ambulatory issues.  We were both sweaty and puffing heavily as we finally rolled up the gangway and were greeted by the Cruise Director and cheering staff.  Very exciting!  We immediately signed up for Cheers knowing our OBC would cover it and received a half glass of bubbly on the house.  Our room was ready, so we rolled to our spa suite.  Loved the peaceful spa colors and décor in blues and greens.  Nice big room with a sofa and a closet/dressing room.  Jacuzzi bathtub didn’t hold water but my DH Macgyvered it so it kinda worked. Nice big balcony with a chaise, two chairs and two end tables. No roof on the tenth floor balconies.  Our stateroom steward, I Wayan took good care of us with a morning room cleaning each day.  Overall, we thought the room was worth the upcharge and would do it again if Carnival made us this offer in the future.

 

Spa access:

We had a spa pass during our Labor Day weekend cruise on Magic and really enjoyed the heated tile chairs, steam rooms and bubbly pool.   On Sunshine, we loved the spa fragrance that drifted onto our balcony when the ship wasn’t moving. We received our scrub and mitt (for being a spa suite person) and I promptly lost it.  The spa manager gave me another.  All in all, if the spa on Sunshine comes with the room, great but if not, we would probably not purchase a spa pass for the cruise. Sunshine doesn’t have the bubbly pool, but the chairs were nice and the steam and sauna rooms cooked out some of the wintery chill on our way to Nassau. Speaking of wintery weather…

 

Weather in January:

I know, Carnival can’t control the weather, but something to consider when booking a cruise in winter leaving a port north of Port Canaveral.  The first day is chilly, second day is not as chilly but still cool, Nassau warm and sunny and last day cruising back north, cold, rainy and windy.  If you are looking to maximize your days of warm and sunny weather in January, you should book a cruise leaving Port Canaveral or further south.  But I have to say it was nice only having a three-hour drive home.

 

Food:

We decided to eat our dinners in the specialty restaurants.  Our MDR food experiences on Magic in September and Mardi Gras in October were less than stellar so we booked Steakhouse, JiJi’s, Cucina del Capitano and Bonsai Sushi for this cruise. Steakhouse was fine but the filet mignon and cowboy steak we had were stringy and tough.  Disappointing and not worth the $38 upcharge in our opinion.  JiJi’s is totally worth the $15 upcharge.  Delicious and more food than we could handle.  C del C was great and worth the $15 upcharge.  Bonsai Sushi was yummy, we paid for what we selected so it was a lighter meal which we desperately needed.  We had Sea Day Brunch twice and both times it was fine. Service was fine. Guy’s Burgers, tasty as usual but the fries are meh.  Room service Ruben and turkey sandwich, nothing to write home about.  Pizza was tasty and hot.

 

Drinks:

We had Cheers, along with it seemed like the rest of the passengers and we spent time at Alchemy with Dusan (pronounced Dushan) and Evan. Great bartenders who made us feel welcome.  Evan gave me his recipe for his tequila drink.  It was busy most of the time, but we always found seats at the bar. Red Frog Bar on Lido was always busy. Serenity Bar was busy on the one sunny day. Java Blue had a line in the morning.  Lobby Bar was busy most of the time.  Yeah, a lot of drinking was going on.

 

Activities:

Had fun listening to trivia and participating in trivia, with Jake the CD and C.C. from the Fun Squad. The show “Love and Marriage” was really fun.  Epic Rock and the other show (sorry can’t remember the name) were performed as cabaret shows rather than song and dance productions due to the rocking ship.  The cast did a fine job but I did miss the dance part. Casino seemed busy all the time.  Piano bar with Scott was okay, just not the edgy comedy that I’m used to from other cruises. Jake was a fun CD with great dance moves.  His prancing pony cracked me up!

 

Nassau:

Beautiful weather.  Got off ship, went to John Watling’s distillery and had the best pina colada ever, stumbled back down hill to shops, got souvenirs, showed drivers license to get back onboard, grabbed chairs on Serenity and done!

 

Disembarking:

Rolled our suitcases down through the ship and through customs which was in the terminal.  No one looked at our passports, just kept saying “move forward” until we were outside.  Wait for shuttle or the big hike back to the car in the lot?  I said let’s hike and once again we were a panting, sweaty mess by the time we seated in our vehicle.  Drove a circuitous route through the lot then on the way home.

 

Last thoughts (for now):

So happy cruising is back!  Most people wore masks inside and were reminded to if they didn’t.  The ship was at 65% capacity I believe and it felt busy in some spots and wasn’t like the ghost ship that was our Magic cruise in September. I’ll try to answer questions if I can and if not, I’m sure someone on CC will chime in.  Thanks for reading!

[linga]

Thanks for the review!  Glad you had a good time!!!

 

[audcc77]

Thanks for your review.  I have 2 booked on her over the next few months and I am thinking of trying to find better parking.   I don’t know why the port has such a goofy way to get on the ship.  I also have hauled my suitcases that long walk and it is definitely not good for the wheels on the suitcases dragging on the pavement and gravel.   It wouldn’t be so bad if the pavement was smooth but it is a mess.  
 

Glad to hear you enjoyed your cruise.  I’m hoping to see some new interior refurbished areas.  

[ninjacat123]

13 minutes ago, audcc77 said:

Thanks for your review.  I have 2 booked on her over the next few months and I am thinking of trying to find better parking.   I don’t know why the port has such a goofy way to get on the ship.  I also have hauled my suitcases that long walk and it is definitely not good for the wheels on the suitcases dragging on the pavement and gravel.   It wouldn’t be so bad if the pavement was smooth but it is a mess.  
 

Glad to hear you enjoyed your cruise.  I’m hoping to see some new interior refurbished areas.  

I'm thinking next time out of Charleston (booked a 5 day this September) we will at least check our luggage with the porters at parking and reduce our load. If you have to go check in at building 324, then go to the terminal (a hike and a half) that would make it more doable.  Hey, at least I'm burning calories so I can chow down onboard!😄

[cruizinisthebest]

Glad to hear you had a good time. We were booked on this cruise, and just cancelled right before Christmas due to family issues. Maybe next time. Sunshine is a favorite of mine. 

[ninjacat123]

Just now, cruizinisthebest said:

Glad to hear you had a good time. We were booked on this cruise, and just cancelled right before Christmas due to family issues. Maybe next time. Sunshine is a favorite of mine. 

Me too!  Love that waterfall in Serenity.  Hope you get to cruise soon!

[ninjacat123]

I thought the MDR was so pretty!

[dololie]

Do you happen to know where handicap  parking is? How far is it from the shuttle to the ship? Do you have to take your life jacket to the muster drill. I had a spa room last time we went on the Sunshine I was disappointed they did not have a aroma pool. 

[EllaDuChien]

42 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

I thought the MDR was so pretty!

 

We sat at that big table right in front of the green disk, such a pretty room!  Totally agree on JiJi's and Cuchina.  We did not eat at the steakhouse this time as we had 10ppl and that was a bit hard to organize.  The rest of the nights we did eat in the MDR which was okay foodwise, our service was great!

 

5 minutes ago, dololie said:

Do you happen to know where handicap  parking is? How far is it from the shuttle to the ship? Do you have to take your life jacket to the muster drill. I had a spa room last time we went on the Sunshine I was disappointed they did not have a aroma pool. 

 

There was no specific handicap parking.  My father was with us and cannot walk more than 10-20 feet and have the handicap placard but were waived to regular parking.  HOWEVER, there was a golf cart type thing that pulled right up to our car and took us to building 324 for check in.  Then there were shuttles to take us from that building to the port for embarkation.  Our scooter pickup was in that building and my dad was able to ride the scooter up the ramp onto the ship.  Not the most efficient process, but it did work at least.

 

Like @ninjacat123, we also got a call two days before with an upgrade offer, mine for the Captain's Suite.  It was quite a room, and if you are ever offered it as a low cost upgrade...take it!  Not something I need everyday, and probably a waste as cold as the ride back to Charleston was since the giant balcony was wasted but still a great splurge for my birthday and a good place for all 10 of us to gather.  

[ninjacat123]

12 hours ago, dololie said:

Do you happen to know where handicap  parking is? How far is it from the shuttle to the ship? Do you have to take your life jacket to the muster drill. I had a spa room last time we went on the Sunshine I was disappointed they did not have a aroma pool. 

Sorry, I didn't see where handicap parking was.  Although we didn't take the shuttle, I believe it drops you off in front of the terminal.  I did see at debarkation, two passengers in wheelchairs being pushed by Carnival assistants, out of the terminal towards the parking lot.  Like a previous poster said, the pavement is lumpy and not easily rolled on with suitcases so I think wheelchairs would be difficult as well.  We didn't have to take life jackets to muster, just attended a 2 minute presentation on how to put your life jacket on.  Yes, the indoor bubbly pool would have been nice, especially with the chilly weather!

[ninjacat123]

12 hours ago, EllaDuChien said:

 

We sat at that big table right in front of the green disk, such a pretty room!  Totally agree on JiJi's and Cuchina.  We did not eat at the steakhouse this time as we had 10ppl and that was a bit hard to organize.  The rest of the nights we did eat in the MDR which was okay foodwise, our service was great!

 

 

There was no specific handicap parking.  My father was with us and cannot walk more than 10-20 feet and have the handicap placard but were waived to regular parking.  HOWEVER, there was a golf cart type thing that pulled right up to our car and took us to building 324 for check in.  Then there were shuttles to take us from that building to the port for embarkation.  Our scooter pickup was in that building and my dad was able to ride the scooter up the ramp onto the ship.  Not the most efficient process, but it did work at least.

 

Like @ninjacat123, we also got a call two days before with an upgrade offer, mine for the Captain's Suite.  It was quite a room, and if you are ever offered it as a low cost upgrade...take it!  Not something I need everyday, and probably a waste as cold as the ride back to Charleston was since the giant balcony was wasted but still a great splurge for my birthday and a good place for all 10 of us to gather.  

Hey I think I saw your room!  Was it above the bridge?  I saw people gathering on a deck (looked like deck 9) and we were looking slightly down at that and the bridge from deck 10.  Looked like an awesome room!  And happy bday!!

Edited January 19, 2022 by ninjacat123

[TrinaLC]

Can you comment on what inside refurbishments were done during the recent dry dock?

 

[ninjacat123]

3 minutes ago, TrinaLC said:

Can you comment on what inside refurbishments were done during the recent dry dock?

 

Yikes!  The last time we were on Sunshine was Nov 2016 so my memory is a bit rusty.  My DH thought the Liquid Lounge looked different but I thought it looked the same. @EllaDuChien any thoughts on inside refurbishments?

[EllaDuChien]

1 hour ago, ninjacat123 said:

Hey I think I saw your room!  Was it above the bridge?  I saw people gathering on a deck (looked like deck 9) and we were looking slightly down at that and the bridge from deck 10.  Looked like an awesome room!  And happy bday!!

 

Yep, that was us!!  It was an amazing room and the balcony was awesome.  I wish the weather had been a bit better, but still we enjoyed hanging out there the first two days.

 

4 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

Yikes!  The last time we were on Sunshine was Nov 2016 so my memory is a bit rusty.  My DH thought the Liquid Lounge looked different but I thought it looked the same. @EllaDuChien any thoughts on inside refurbishments?

 

The interior refurbishments that I noticed were the stairwell and hallways mostly.  All of that copper sheeting is new and all of the artwork and carpeting in the stairwells is new.  The aft dining room has been updated (carpeting, décor, and furniture). I didn't really notice much else, but its been since July of 2018 for me so my memory is spotty.  

[ninjacat123]

Was the Red Frog Pub and Ocean Plaza (where Karaoke was held) off of Alchemy modified?  I seem to remember a dance club there.

[Sunshine2U]

What is Uber or private car drop-off like, and where do you drop luggage if you don't want to haul it? TIA!

[emoorehead]

21 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

 

Embarkation:

 

Ninjacat, I am so glad you had a good time!! Congrats on your sweet suite upgrade. I would have done a happy dance too!

 

Would you mind telling me how it went at the terminal as you were checking in? Specifically, what is on the health questionnaire. Was it smooth sailing? TIA

[freewilly]

 

[freewilly]

Thank you! We have never cruised out of Charleston or the Sunshine. We have watched a few vlogs and it looks like embarkation can be “interesting”. I loved reading about the workout y’all got walking. We won’t try it now… but we would have if not for your fantastic review. Many Thanks!

[ninjacat123]

3 hours ago, emoorehead said:

Ninjacat, I am so glad you had a good time!! Congrats on your sweet suite upgrade. I would have done a happy dance too!

 

Would you mind telling me how it went at the terminal as you were checking in? Specifically, what is on the health questionnaire. Was it smooth sailing? TIA

I filled out our Health Questionaires online through my Cruise Manager.  I think it basically asked if we had any Covid symptoms in the past 14 days. I wasn't asked specifically for the Health Questionaire when we reached port.

First place of scrutiny was Bldg 324. We were asked for our boarding passes, photo id (we had passports), our covid vaccination cards and proof of a negative Covid test.  After careful examination, we received a green stamp on our boarding passes and were told to move to the next room.  I told my DH that the room we walked through looked like a location for "The X Files".  In the other room we waited till another examiner was available.  They checked over our documents, slid our passports through an electronic reader and told to sit down.  That's when we realized all passengers were starting to leave for the shuttles or walk to the port terminal.  After our hike, we entered the terminal and instructed to keep moving forward till we got to the gangway.  No examination of any documents in the terminal except for a quick look on our boarding passes for the green stamp.  My DH concurs with this recollection as well.  👍

 

[ninjacat123]

4 hours ago, Sunshine2U said:

What is Uber or private car drop-off like, and where do you drop luggage if you don't want to haul it? TIA!

Hmmm, I don't know about Uber or private car.  Good question.  Anyone?

[EllaDuChien]

37 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

Hmmm, I don't know about Uber or private car.  Good question.  Anyone?

 

There is a specific Uber/Private Car drop off area.  It is in the parking lot directly in front of the terminal.  It is a *closer* walk, but still a walk.  I tried to snip it out and label it...Please excuse my handwriting!!  If you are parking, luggage pickup will  be in the Union Pier building.  Shuttle busses will take you from the parking lot to Bldg 324, then from Bldg 324 to the yellow building where you board.  Keep in mind that there is also a ton of road construction going on right now so not all of the roads around the port are open all the time.

 

[ninjacat123]

9 minutes ago, EllaDuChien said:

 

There is a specific Uber/Private Car drop off area.  It is in the parking lot directly in front of the terminal.  It is a *closer* walk, but still a walk.  I tried to snip it out and label it...Please excuse my handwriting!!  If you are parking, luggage pickup will  be in the Union Pier building.  Shuttle busses will take you from the parking lot to Bldg 324, then from Bldg 324 to the yellow building where you board.  Keep in mind that there is also a ton of road construction going on right now so not all of the roads around the port are open all the time.

 

Where we parked is at the top of the photo, outside of the red circle.  Good thing I was wearing my sneakers!😜

[EllaDuChien]

6 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

Where we parked is at the top of the photo, outside of the red circle.  Good thing I was wearing my sneakers!😜

 

No Kidding!!!  It looks way closer on the map.  We were right at the bottom of the red K.  A mini tram pulled right up to pick up my handicap father and they let me drive right up to the Union pier building to pick him up. 

[ninjacat123]

1 hour ago, EllaDuChien said:

 

No Kidding!!!  It looks way closer on the map.  We were right at the bottom of the red K.  A mini tram pulled right up to pick up my handicap father and they let me drive right up to the Union pier building to pick him up. 

I'm so glad you had the tram for your dad.  Did you ask for the tram when you pulled into the parking lot or did it show up serendipitously?