The Official Trippingpara's Chasing the Canadian Sunshine in the Maritimes Review

What’s crack-a-lackin’ everyone?! I'm back! Trippingpara here, but you can just call me Trip. My DW and I have just returned from an incredible week in the Canadian Maritimes aboard the Carnival Sunshine. If you know who I am or have read any of my other reviews, then you already know that this review will be long and it will contain a plethora of photos for those of you that don’t like to read but love to look at pictures. Think of this review as a comic book with words. Or an issue of Playboy/Playgirl that you can peruse at work, complete with pretty photos and with articles that you actually do read! Or not read as the case may be! (Please note that I am not liable for any HR discussions and/or punishments that may occur by those reading this at work.)

Per my normal reviews, it will be broken up into two distinct areas: the first part will be a Cliff Notes version highlighting some of the main topics and areas of the Sunshine followed by a day by day diary style format discussing the port and events of the day in detail. Most of the pictures will be located in the diary area so please feel free to skip right to that area if you’re not much of a reader. As always, please do not hesitate to ask any questions. I write these reviews to try and give back just a fraction of all the help and assistance that I have received from others’ reviews and comments here on Cruise Critic.

DISCLAIMER: This review is a compilation of opinions from my DW and me. Mostly me, but occasionally I listen to my DW too. The statements made in this review are simply our opinions and views of what took place during our vacation and should carry absolutely no weight or value on how you may or may not feel about these things. If you do not like my opinions or take offense to them, feel free to bugger off and go pound sand. If you feel that strongly about it, please write your own review and tell us all about your opinions there! Sound good? Cool!

I apologize in advance for any delay in completing this review, as I am trying to write it while I am up against a deadline to deliver photos from a wedding I just shot, attend classes at RISD, as well as prepare for our vow renewal trip to Hawaii in 2 months. No rest for the wicked they say!

Looking forward to your review.

The Official Trippingpara Review - Cliff Notes Style

Before I get too far into the specifics and day to day life of the cruise, for those that don’t like to read long reviews, here’s the down and dirty Cliff Notes version (don’t worry, there will be globs of photos and videos later on). I'll try not to delve too much into the fine details as the Sunshine has been around for some time and has been well documented before.

SHIP - Overall: As I just mentioned, a ton of reviews and arguments have been written about this ship. I was a little concerned as I have read numerous negative reviews about the Sunshine. Normally, I do not give a lot of weight to a negative review but when I see numerous ones with the same or similar compliant, it starts to get my attention.

One of the biggest gripes I have seen was about space, or the lack there of. My concern really grew when we boarded the ship in bad weather in New York and had less than pleasant weather for our first sea day. That meant that everyone would be indoors filling the public spaces. I had nightmares of running into a withering mass of humanity, reeking of foul and pungent body odor, spewing a torrent of foul and R rated verbage in a dozen different languages.

Well, I can definitively say that my concern was unwarranted. I never once found an overly crowded area of the ship. All of the open public areas were roomy with more than enough sitting areas. Yes, there were a lot of people running around but we did not find it any more crowded than any other ship that we have been on. There will be people in public spaces. That's why their called "public spaces"!

On that note, I must correct myself as there was one time that we found an area overly crowded. On the first sea day, most of the outdoor events were brought inside. For some reason, BINGO which was normally played in the Liquid Lounge was moved to Ocean Plaza which was clearly not designed for that large of a crowd. Every single chair and open space was occupied in Ocean Plaza, the Alchemy Bar and the Taste Bar for that event. Even JiJi, the young lady that ran BINGO made jokes about how tight it was there. That was the only time, and all other BINGO sessions were held in the Liquid Lounge.

The lines for dinner were never overly long and in fact, we found them to be shorter than we had experienced on other cruises. And yes, if you were wondering, the cruise was sold out.

Aside from that, the ship was in good condition. There were some spots where she showed her age but overall in good condition. Please note that there was a weak spot in the floor right outside the forward elevator on Deck 11 Forward. It acted as a nice catapult when you exited the elevator. It was fun to watch people's reaction when they stepped on it. First you would sink down an inch or two and then it would "pop" and push upward on your foot. Yes, I get a kick watching people get surprised. I'm such an evil louse.

Taking all of this into consideration, my clearly scientific overall grade for the Sunshine…”A”.

CABINS: This was our first time with a spa balcony. It was Cabin 11025. We were located on the starboard side on Deck 11, just aft of the forward elevator bank and well forward of the door to the Serenity Deck. It was an awesome location and incredibly quiet. The Lido Deck was easily accessibly but a bit away from the dining rooms and atrium. The spa was located below us on Deck 10.

The cabin itself was very comfortable and well appointed. It had the traditional layout and design that we’ve seen on the other Carnival ships that we’ve been on. We really liked the spa décor. It was subtle yet pleasing to the eyes. There was a nice large flat screen tv, with the ability to tilt it towards the bed or couch depending on your preference. Also included were the upgrade Elemis spa products which made Lady Trip extremely happy as she is NOT a fan of the standard shampoo that is generally in the shower. There were also nicer robes and slippers with the Cloud 9 logo on them.

Overall grade…” A+”

LAYOUT: This was the other big compliant that I have read about the Sunshine...the broken up layout of the ship. Okay, there is some merit to this compliant. However, most of the ships that I have been on are fairly broken up and you need to know which decks can be transversed forward to aft. Normally I have the deck maps memorized prior to a cruise so this is never really an issue for me, but this cruise really snuck up on this do to our crazy work load and personal lives lately. So, I never got a chance to study the maps. Needless to say, we got a lot of extra steps in backtracking and running up and down stairs. If you have never been on the Sunshine, I would recommend taking some time to look over the deck plans before boarding her. Nonetheless, she is still laid out one million times better than some of the Navy ships that I have been on (where I have been lost for hours on), so her certified grade is…”B -”.

Coming up...Food venues

YAY! Can't wait to read it and see your pictures! Love your disclaimer!:')

What’s crack-a-lackin’ everyone?! I'm back! Trippingpara here, but you can just call me Trip. My DW and I have just returned from an incredible week in the Canadian Maritimes aboard the Carnival Sunshine. If you know who I am or have read any of my other reviews, then you already know that this review will be long and it will contain a plethora of photos for those of you that don’t like to read but love to look at pictures. Think of this review as a comic book with words. Or an issue of Playboy/Playgirl that you can peruse at work, complete with pretty photos and with articles that you actually do read! Or not read as the case may be! (Please note that I am not liable for any HR discussions and/or punishments that may occur by those reading this at work.)

Per my normal reviews, it will be broken up into two distinct areas: the first part will be a Cliff Notes version highlighting some of the main topics and areas of the Sunshine followed by a day by day diary style format discussing the port and events of the day in detail. Most of the pictures will be located in the diary area so please feel free to skip right to that area if you’re not much of a reader. As always, please do not hesitate to ask any questions. I write these reviews to try and give back just a fraction of all the help and assistance that I have received from others’ reviews and comments here on Cruise Critic.

DISCLAIMER: This review is a compilation of opinions from my DW and me. Mostly me, but occasionally I listen to my DW too. The statements made in this review are simply our opinions and views of what took place during our vacation and should carry absolutely no weight or value on how you may or may not feel about these things. If you do not like my opinions or take offense to them, feel free to bugger off and go pound sand. If you feel that strongly about it, please write your own review and tell us all about your opinions there! Sound good? Cool!

I apologize in advance for any delay in completing this review, as I am trying to write it while I am up against a deadline to deliver photos from a wedding I just shot, attend classes at RISD, as well as prepare for our vow renewal trip to Hawaii in 2 months. No rest for the wicked they say!

I just got caught up with DCCuiser1013's review of the same cruise and noticed you commented that you were on the same sailing and were getting ready to do another review...and it's already started! That was sure fast! :) I am really looking forward to following along as I have enjoyed ALL of the reviews you have done and also love seeing the beautiful pictures you get. I noticed you mentioned, and I also saw in DCCruiser's review, the rain you had the day of boarding...I was driving back to Virginia from the Pittsburgh area that day. I timed it well since, luckily, I was behind the most of the heavy rain although I caught pockets of it. I hit very heavy rain in spots on my trip up to PA...no fun. So glad to see another Trip review...going through cruise withdrawal here. :)

I just got caught up with DCCuiser1013's review of the same cruise and noticed you commented that you were on the same sailing and were getting ready to do another review...and it's already started! That was sure fast! :) I am really looking forward to following along as I have enjoyed ALL of the reviews you have done and also love seeing the beautiful pictures you get. I noticed you mentioned, and I also saw in DCCruiser's review, the rain you had the day of boarding...I was driving back to Virginia from the Pittsburgh area that day. I timed it well since, luckily, I was behind the most of the heavy rain although I caught pockets of it. I hit very heavy rain in spots on my trip up to PA...no fun. So glad to see another Trip review...going through cruise withdrawal here. :)

Hey, what's happening?! Long time, no chat. So how's my favorite ex-Pittsburghite/current Virginian doing? Glad you missed the rain. That's a long drive to do in bad weather! Like you, we hit real heavy pockets of rain when we drove back to Erie, PA to visit family a couple weeks before our cruise. Not fun at all!! Glad to see that you've popped in on my review. Hopefully, you'll enjoy it as much as my other ones and it will ease some of your cruise withdrawal! Our next one isn't until next August when we do an Alaskan cruise on the Legend.

Yay, another review of the Sunshine sailing to Canada! We are on her October 7 voyage and I'm loving these reviews to help tide me over until then. :)

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GREAT start to your review! New England/Canada cruise reviews are rare indeed, so it's great to see two of them running at the same time. Looking forward to the rest. :cool:

I like your Cliff Notes Style. Looking forward to your updates.

YAY! Can't wait to read it and see your pictures! Love your disclaimer!:')

Thanks! Let's see how many peeps follow it!

Yay, another review of the Sunshine sailing to Canada! We are on her October 7 voyage and I'm loving these reviews to help tide me over until then. :)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Thanks for popping in. Hopefully, I'll have this review done before you go! Thankfully, it's a bit shorter of a trip so it shouldn't be too long. (I hope!)

GREAT start to your review! New England/Canada cruise reviews are rare indeed, so it's great to see two of them running at the same time. Looking forward to the rest. :cool:

Hey Jamman! Thanks for joining in! Knowing that you've done this route a couple times before, I'd be interested to see how different our experiences were.

Great start. Can't wait to hear what you have to say about the food on the Sunshine - it was a great ship for us in that respect. I'm hoping you tried JiJi's for dinner. If it gets popular enough, I'd love for Carnival to add it to it's older ships (Pride especially).

Great start. Can't wait to hear what you have to say about the food on the Sunshine - it was a great ship for us in that respect. I'm hoping you tried JiJi's for dinner. If it gets popular enough, I'd love for Carnival to add it to it's older ships (Pride especially).

Hi meatloafsfan. Thanks for joining in. Your timing is perfect, I'm just about to start writing on the dining options and our experiences there. I must say, I was surprised with our experiences!

The Official Trippingpara Review - Cliff Notes Style (Cont.)

FOOD: Of course with all of the foodies on Cruise Critic, I had to address this one. However, since the Sunshine has had so many reviews that have discussed the various food venues extensively, I will refrain from going into any further detail. For those that are curious or don't recall/know the venues available on the Sunshine, here is a listing of the main restaurants/eateries aboard: Sunset and Sunrise Restaurants (MDRs - forward and aft respectively), the Lido Marketplace Buffet, Guy’s Burgers/Blue Iguana, Ji Ji Asian Kitchen, Bonsai Sushi, Cucina del Capitano and Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse. (I’ll discuss the Chef’s Table separately).

Sunrise Restaurant (MDR): This is one of the two main dining rooms. This is the smaller of the two (about half the size) and is located on Deck 4 and is all the way aft of the ship. Sunrise handles all of the Your Time Dining guests and is the location for the Seaday Brunch. This is the MDR that we were assigned to since we had selected the YTD option. The restaurant is nice looking without the gaudy decor of some of Carnival's earlier ships. Like we experienced on the Vista, if you have YTD, you have to go to check in on Deck 5 at the Java Café first. I understand this is to keep people from having to stand in line and wait outside the MDR, but couldn't they put the check in somewhere near the restaurant? I know, it's only 1 deck up but it still annoys me. That's probably why we never ate any dinners here (and the fact we didn't feel like packing any dressier clothes this trip - aka read that as we were too lazy and did not have the time to figure out wardrobes for dinner).

Nonetheless, we did eat here for the Seaday Brunch which was delicious! The service was good and the food was plentiful. We had some excitement during our brunch but you'll just have to wait to read about that in the diary section! Overall grade for the Seaday Brunch..."A". Sorry, but I really can't give it a grade for dinner service since we never ate there.

Lido's Marketplace - Okay, if you have been to the buffet on a Carnival ship then you know what it's like here. I do like the more subdue decor in the Marketplace and the addition of the PYOB machines is pretty friggin' nice (Pour Your Own Beer). We ate several meals and one breakfast here. We never found the lines to be overly long or the crowds to be overwhelming. We didn't find it to be any more crowded than any other ship that we've been on. The food was good and the crew kept it clean and well stocked. My only compliant was the fact that I grabbed the last two pieces of French Toast that were sitting in a pan. They looked like they had been there for a while and when I tried to cut them up, it was confirmed...hard as a rock. That's what happens at a buffet though. But my made to order omelet was out of this world good! Overall grade..."A"

Guy's Burger - This is usually one of my favorite haunts during a cruise. I was a bit surprised the first day when I made a beeline there only to find a snarly young man handing burgers out like they were his own personal burgers and he was now going to starve because of it. And to top it off, the burger was drier than the Sahara Desert and the BBQ sauce (it was a Ringer Burger, my favorite) tasted bad. I ended up throwing it away after a couple bits. Lady Trip's burger was fine. We ate there later on in the cruise and both of our burgers were just fine. Not quite as good as I remember them being before, but they were much better than the first one I had. I think I just got the bad luck of the draw on that one. Overall grade..."B-"

Blue Iguanas - Okay, I am officially a Blue Iguana fan!! This is by far Lady Trip's favorite place and I think it just became mine too. We stopped here for lunch once as well as breakfast almost everyday. Their burritos are the BLEEP! If you have never been here before, please put the crack pipe down and go there. Now. Take your time, I'll hang out and wait.

See? Wasn't that worth it?! Seriously, go there. It's that good. Overall grade..."A++"

Fahrenheit 455 Steakhouse - Seriously? Do I need to say anymore? The service...outstanding! The food...delicious! Upcharge price...there is no steakhouse that I've ever been to where I can get that kind of service, quality of food and amount of food for $35. It's an absolute steal at that price! Normally we reserve well in advance, but this trip snuck up on us, so we had no reservation but was able to make one at the last minute on embarkation day (love that free bottle of wine! - "free" being the operative word there!) Overall grade...like I even need to say it..."A++"

JiJi's Asian - We ate here for the first time on the Vista and we loved it. Lady Trip thought it was one of the best dining experiences from that cruise. So, of course we decided to go back there again. Like the steakhouse, we had no pre-made reservations so we went back to the Havana Bar to see if there were any spots available. There was a spot available in an hour and a half so we signed up for it. It proved to be a big mistake. I'm not sure what the heck happened there but it was a horrible experience. Okay, so maybe "horrible" is a bit harsh, but it was certainly not an enjoyable experience.

We were seated promptly and just opted for some ice water as were both very thirsty. The waitress gave us the menus and explained how to order. No problem. We quickly marked up the order sheet and waited for her to return. And waited. And waited. And waited. I finally flagged down the manager who took the form. No apologies, just took the order sheet and walked away.

While we waited for our food, three tables around us were seated, given their menus, had their orders taken and then given their food while we got nothing. I had to stop several different waitresses just to get our ice water refilled. I finally found our waitress and waved to her. She nodded and went over to the counter and picked up our appetizers. Just as I suspected. Luke warm from sitting there.

It took them almost an hour to finally bring out our main course (only after I flagged the manager down again). She promptly brought our meal over. Again, no apologies. I was less than pleasant by the time the desert arrived. We spent over 3 hours in there and wasted the entire evening with the majority of it just sitting there waiting. It's hard for me to judge the food as it was mostly lukewarm by the time it was brought out to us. No one else seemed to have this issue and they all seemed to enjoy their meal. Not sure what we did to the waitress but somehow we were clearly knocked off her Christmas card list! Overall grade..."F"

Pizzeria del Capitano - Okay, let's get real. I could live off pizza. Seriously. You can put all the major food groups on one slice. Bam! Knock that food chart right out of the park in one meal. You can't beat it. And it goes with everything...milk, soda, beer. I mean, what more could you ask for, right? Anyways, so I'm probably not the best person to rate a pizza shop because I don't think there is such a thing as a bad pizza. There's just good pizza and even better pizza. This one, ranks in the even better pizza category. It was, by far, the best pizza that we have had on a Carnival ship! Even Lady Trip was singing their praises. A bit off key, but singing she was! Overall grade..."A+"

That was really it for the food joints that we ate in. Next up...Entertainment areas

When in Canada, did you stay on Eastern Daylight Savings time, or did you move your clocks ahead to Atlantic time?

When in Canada, did you stay on Eastern Daylight Savings time, or did you move your clocks ahead to Atlantic time?

Great question and I wish I had thought of it before we got on board! The ship stayed on EST the whole trip. So when we docked at 8:00 am EST in either Saint John or Halifax, it was 9:00 am AST. Something I'm quite sure our good friends from PEI that met us in Halifax would have appreciated me knowing in advance!!

Yes! I'm so excited to see this cruise from another perspective!

On that note, I must correct myself as there was one time that we found an area overly crowded. On the first sea day, most of the outdoor events were brought inside. For some reason, BINGO which was normally played in the Liquid Lounge was moved to Ocean Plaza which was clearly not designed for that large of a crowd. Every single chair and open space was occupied in Ocean Plaza, the Alchemy Bar and the Taste Bar for that event. Even JiJi, the young lady that ran BINGO made jokes about how tight it was there. That was the only time, and all other BINGO sessions were held in the Liquid Lounge.

This was so insane. Ashley and I came down to do the trivia that followed Bingo, saw the crowd, and got the hell out of there. I have no idea why they did that. I looked at the FunTimes and the only thing I saw was that the Dr. Suess thing started in the Liquid Lounge an hour earlier than Bingo. I'm sure there's an explanation but I have no idea what it could be.

JiJi's Asian - ...We spent over 3 hours in there and wasted the entire evening with the majority of it just sitting there waiting.

Yep! We were there for almost 2 and a half hours. The food was great for us, but the wait was just insane! If you don't mind posting a spoiler, what night were you there?

Yes! I'm so excited to see this cruise from another perspective!

 

 

Yep! We were there for almost 2 and a half hours. The food was great for us, but the wait was just insane! If you don't mind posting a spoiler, what night were you there?

Hey DCCruiser, thanks for popping on over here. Loved your review! I'm amazed that I didn't end up in any of your pictures. I have a strange way of doing that (mainly because I'm blissfully unaware of the world around me when I'm taking photos and inadvertently walk in front of other people). We were at a lot of the same places during the cruise right around the same time. We went to JiJi's on Thursday night after Halifax. Our reservation was for 8:30 pm so it was closing in on 11:30 by the time we walked out of there.

Hey DCCruiser, thanks for popping on over here. Loved your review! I'm amazed that I didn't end up in any of your pictures. I have a strange way of doing that (mainly because I'm blissfully unaware of the world around me when I'm taking photos and inadvertently walk in front of other people). We were at a lot of the same places during the cruise right around the same time. We went to JiJi's on Thursday night after Halifax. Our reservation was for 8:30 pm so it was closing in on 11:30 by the time we walked out of there.

Aww thanks. Honestly I try to make an effort to not have people in my pictures. Not sure why, it's just one of my weird things. That's the partial reason for our interior ship tour pictures being taken at 7am on the first sea day. Sometimes that's not an option, though. I'll keep an eye out for myself in yours - I'm a pretty noticeable dude.

Yeah JiJi's wouldn't give us a table any later than 6pm on Wednesday, which I was disappointed in until we had been sitting there for 2 hours. Oh well.

Yay! I love your reviews!

Sorry you had such a terrible experience at JiJi's. When we were on the Sunshine, our meal at JiJi's was one of the best we've ever had on a cruise ship. Whereas, our meal at the Steakhouse was the worst we've had in our many Steakhouse visits on Carnival. The food was fine but the service was awful. Same deal as you, having to continually flag down our waitress, getting drinks took forever, and our sides came out ten minutes after our entrees. It happens. :cool:

Great review so far. Thanks for sharing!

So sorry for the bad experience at Jiji's. I would have been quite upset. It is by far our favorite specialty restaurant on Carnival. Dined there on both of our Sunshine cruises last year and service and food were both outstanding. That's such a bummer that your meal there was so poor.

Hopefully the rest of your cruise went well. Looking forward to reading more.

Thank you for doing another review. I've said it before and may say again, Carnival has the best cruise reviewers here. :)

Yay! I love your reviews!

Hey heffy2! Thank you so much for such kind words! Glad to have you joining in on the fun.

Thank you for doing another review. I've said it before and may say again, Carnival has the best cruise reviewers here. :)

Hi Sturmin. You are more than welcome! Glad to have people enjoy the reviewers here. There are some fabulous ones! That's what encouraged me to give it a try. I hope I'm doing them some justice!

Sorry you had such a terrible experience at JiJi's. When we were on the Sunshine, our meal at JiJi's was one of the best we've ever had on a cruise ship. Whereas, our meal at the Steakhouse was the worst we've had in our many Steakhouse visits on Carnival. The food was fine but the service was awful. Same deal as you, having to continually flag down our waitress, getting drinks took forever, and our sides came out ten minutes after our entrees. It happens. :cool:

Yeah, we had such a wonderful time at Ji Ji's on the Vista and was really surprised with our service there on the Sunshine. I'm just hoping that we went there on a bad day. Sounds like DCCruisier had a similar experience as we did on the same cruise. I certainly wouldn't declare that our experiences there are the norm and suspect that it was just a really bad day for them.