Carnival Sunshine...not so sunny

Carnival Sunshine...not so sunny. 8/12-8/20

Hi everybody. Just fresh off the Sunshine and it was good and bad all at the same time. I specifically chose this ship, based on price, camp for our ds 3 1/2. Wasn't expecting too much, but what can you do when you cruise during hurricane season. I'm a seasoned cruiser and married on the Miracle in 2010 with a b2b. This is NOT a bashing post, just wanted to post a review.

Embarking: I bought FTTF for ds, dh and myself. Got on board after going through checkpoints, getting cards and setting up accounts. Room was ready and our luggage was there within a half hour of our arrival on board. It was worth it...more on FTTF later. Ship is clearly in need of being retired. It's showing it's age and you can only paint over so many rust spots. Cabin was comfortable for the three of us. We had Agus as our steward who is an absolute doll! He made towel animals for our son who enjoyed the surprise every day.

Food:

Now I'm annoyed, the food was lukewarm, if that. Practically bordering on cold. Pizza took 15 minutes to be made. I've been on bigger ships, where all I did was walk downstairs and the pizza was ready for me. The food is standard fare, nothing special. Some staff stand out Melony, from Costa Rica, working for 25 years! You go girl! Hari, in the dining room where we had breakfast. Staff was incredibly pleasant.

Activities

Emma is an AWESOME cruise director. Upbeat, happy and just a nice person. She kept this ship rocking and rolling.

We out our son E3 in the camp and he would stay all day long til practically midnight. Thank God he came willing for breaks and always asked 'when am I going to see my friends?' We enjoyed the Motown revue and Rock and roll show. We are originally NYers and not interested in broadway type musicals, since we can see the real thing. Some activities that were outside, had to be rescheduled, due to the weather.

Ports

Yes, hurricane season is among us. That sucks...but it's what happens when you cruise this time of the year.

San Juan, we totally missed, which I was fine with. We were trying to avoid Hurricane/Tropical storm Whoever. We received a credit for our port charges.

St. Thomas: a bit rainy when we got there, but we did the sub and sea lion encounter at Coral World and our ds loved it! Went to Coki Beach next door and enjoyed that for a few hours.

Grand Turk: here is my problem. So remember FTTF, right? Makes me think we receive priority disembarking..um...no. We are told to meet in the Limelight lounge between 12:45-1:15, nobody there. Go to guest services where we're told there is a 'jam' in the port and we are arriving late, how late I ask? "2:00p" is the answer. So I had already booked a expensive cabana at Bajari Beach.

So we are getting in late and already shaving off time. So we wait and finally disembark!! OMG!! Now I've been in ports where there are multiple ships and have NEVER seen anything so disorganized in my life!! We suite, FTTF, platinum and diamond people disembark aft. So we Get off the ship, you couldn't even move on the pier!! I've NEVER seen that many people in my life! Apparently the traffic jam was also involving the Carnival Magic, who I knew in advance would be there, and our time would overlap, somewhat. It took us a 1/2 hour to get down the pier. From what I saw, there was no queue for the Magic guests, just an all out free for all to get back onboard. That left us and all the Sunshine guests, maybe 2 feet of walking space, it looked like it was 20 people deep, width wise, with the Magic guests taking up the space.

Well, we finally get to the booth for the excursions and receive our wrist bands.

By this time it's 2:30p and we have to be back on board by 6:30p. Took us about 15-20 minutes to get to the beach. As we are leaving the cab, our driver tells us that their last run back to the ship will be between 5-5:45p. So I said, that leaves is practically no time to enjoy ourselves. Our cabana was nice and we played in the ocean and sand and had a bit to eat and drink. So we leave at 5:00-5:15p, so as not to miss being on board by 6:30p including a bit of shopping and clearing security.

After getting onboard I went straight to guest services where I'm told 'you need to ask the shore excursion desk, who opens at 6p for a refund.' So it was 6p on the nose and I walk over and speak to Luke. Per Luke, he has to 'wait for the report from the tour companies, which he won't receive for 24 hours' in order to determine if he can help me. So my DH gets involved and places a call to Carnival, who says that they can help me once I return to NY. We shall see.

Overall, We are still on the ship and have two days left and are current being chased by a hurricane or whoever. Water is rolling and rocking a bit.

We are finally home and the FTTF was worth it. We were off the ship by 7:30a and at our car at 7:50a. Home by 9a.

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A couple of Questions???

(1) First Since when did Priority Passengers get Priority off the ship in a Port before Golds, Reds Blue Etc. Didn't see that on the Breeze on my B2B in Feb, Did this Change??

(2) If you knew that the Ship was getting in GT at 2:00 and you have to be on board by 6:30, Why didn't you go immediately on hearing this to Shore Excer.and ask for a Refund right then and There instead of Going, using the Excursion then complaining about it later???

Questions Questions!!

Mike

mpdog42

FTTF gets priority only on tender stops, not on normal ports disembarkation.

A couple of Questions???

 

 

 

(1) First Since when did Priority Passengers get Priority off the ship in a Port before Golds, Reds Blue Etc. Didn't see that on the Breeze on my B2B in Feb, Did this Change??

 

 

 

(2) If you knew that the Ship was getting in GT at 2:00 and you have to be on board by 6:30, Why didn't you go immediately on hearing this to Shore Excer.and ask for a Refund right then and There instead of Going, using the Excursion then complaining about it later???

 

 

 

Questions Questions!!

 

 

 

Mike

 

mpdog42

We were not made aware of anything until we got to the Limelight Lounge. We were told to be there between 12:45-1:15. We did not receive information til maybe 1:45 that we would be delayed and not get off til around 2p. How were we to know there was a logjam after we got off the ship? I went to the shore excursions after our time got cut short, the onboard time was 6:30p, our driver told us that he was taking people back to the ship between 5-5:45p.

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I'm sorry you do not find the food satisfactory. Sunshine is our favorite ships because of all the unique food options and it has always been fantastic.

Also sorry you had a bad experience in GT. But it's not unreasonable for shore excursions to get reports back before they determine compensation. Seems to me a partial refund may be in order but you did use the cabana so did receive some benefit.

Further, I will say that I likely believe your pier issue has to do with Magic and not Sunshine. When we were there last, it took us an hour to get back on the ship - the line was back to the shops. It was one of the little details that made us prefer Sunshine over Magic as 3000 people is much more workable than 4600.

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I'm sorry you do not find the food satisfactory. Sunshine is our favorite ships because of all the unique food options and it has always been fantastic.

 

Also sorry you had a bad experience in GT. But it's not unreasonable for shore excursions to get reports back before they determine compensation. Seems to me a partial refund may be in order but you did use the cabana so did receive some benefit.

 

Further, I will say that I likely believe your pier issue has to do with Magic and not Sunshine. When we were there last, it took us an hour to get back on the ship - the line was back to the shops. It was one of the little details that made us prefer Sunshine over Magic as 3000 people is much more workable than 4600.

 

 

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We've been to GT several times with more than one ship there and never experienced what I saw.

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FTTF only has priority in tender ports, not in Grand Turk. I know the cabanas are expensive but delays happen. Grand Turk can get pretty congested when multiple ships are in port and whoever gets there first wins. I usually look at whatever ships are in port the same day we are when deciding what to do. Sorry you were not really happy with the Sunshine, and I hope you get whatever resolution you want.

Thanks for sharing your review! Good Luck getting a refund, they sold you a (Example:6 hour tour, not a 2 1/2 tour) I would ask for my money back too!

We were on the same cruise, and I have to say that the OP is absolutely correct regarding Grand Turk. This was our 6th cruise on Carnival and our 2nd timein Grand Turk. We also had FTTF. We received a letter under our door letting us know that we would have priority debarkation in Grand Turk as FTTF customers.

I think the problem lies in the fact that we were coming in to port an hour late, and Magic was starting to board at the same time. By the throngs of people trying to get on to the Magic, you would have thought that they had a 3:00 sail time - we were getting off at about 2:15 and it was chaos. However, Magic didn't leave until after 4:00. Not sure what the issue was there. The chaos in port truly did not appear to be due to the Sunshine, but just to circumstances....it was the perfect storm - ba-dum-dum.

We didn't find out that we weren't getting in to Grand Turk late until late that morning - there was an announcement made. However, to be fair to the OP, while I understand the point of heading to the shore excursion desk right away after hearing we'd be disembarking late, maybe they were closed at that point and she really couldn't do anything until later....and she might as well enjoy what time she had for her excursion. I know I would have. And, then when it opened again, I would have sought some recourse. I honestly felt badly for the people who booked things like the cabanas knowing they wouldn't get full use out of them, that we were late, and that it was mayhem. I hope she's able to get at least a portion of the cost back.

This was our 2nd time on the Sunshine. We really enjoyed the cruise despite the weather. I'm rolling in my kitchen writing this...haha. We met some awesome people, the staff was fantastic ("Hello Lovelies!"), we had wonderful meals at the Steakhouse, La Cucina and we did the Chef's Table. I would agree with the OP that the pizza line was RIDICULOUS. So....I didn't get pizza. I loved Blue Iguana Cantina for lunch, and the bites in Havana bar were great. We enjoyed the bands and guitarist. All in all, it was really a great cruise......I know my family had a blast despite some of the weather issues. 2nd time on Sunshine, and I'd head on her a 3rd.....

Ok,

Read your Response and saw the letter, First after spending $$ on a Private Cabana and Debarking the Ship at 2pm (1400hrs for us Military:D) and having to leave the Cabana at lets say 6:00pm to make it back to the ship at 6:30, that still only leaves you with 4 hours...I and I repeat I would have ask for a refund before I got off the ship....But that's me, as for the letter possibly others can explain it. I personaly don't remember see it or using the service except for the tender in Belize in Feb on the Breeze.

Have A Great Day!

Mike

mpdog42

I was on Sunshine in March. Due to weather we arrived in Aruba 2 hours late. We received a similar letter for priority debarkarion in Aruba since we had FTTF. It was great but everyone else was pissed when we were escorted through the mass of people waiting to get off.

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FTTF only has priority in tender ports, not in Grand Turk. I know the cabanas are expensive but delays happen. Grand Turk can get pretty congested when multiple ships are in port and whoever gets there first wins. I usually look at whatever ships are in port the same day we are when deciding what to do. Sorry you were not really happy with the Sunshine, and I hope you get whatever resolution you want.

Please refer to the picture I posted of the FTTF letter we received. I'll be calling Carnival and requesting a refund, as I was truly expecting to enjoy my cabana for a good amount of hours. We knew that the Magic would be in port, I do my due diligence prior to sailing. It was absolute chaos.

There a lot of bad reviews on the Sunshine.

 

 

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In all my cruises visiting these two ports many times, I have never recieved a letter like this before. Wonder if it was something new since you were docking late .

In all my cruises visiting these two ports many times, I have never recieved a letter like this before. Wonder if it was something new since you were docking late .

We had FTTF twice and I don't remember getting letters like this either. Although, I thought I remember those with a Carnival excursion being the first ones off the ship a few times. Either way, it sounds like you didn't get what you were expecting. I hope you can find a result that you'll be happy with.

In all my cruises visiting these two ports many times, I have never recieved a letter like this before. Wonder if it was something new since you were docking late .

We were supposed to get in at 1:00. We got the letter the night before. We didn't know we would be late til the afternoon of.

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There a lot of bad reviews on the Sunshine.

Yes there are. I sailed her in June and was over all pleased with the ship. We did sail into Puerto Rico and GT late, I think we docked at 3 in GT. But we made the best of it.

This is a great post. thanks for sharing. I guess it goes to show that mother nature is in control and we humans can't always follow our best laid schedules. I hope you enjoyed your vacation despite Carnival working you into a tizzy.

We had fttf last week on the Vista and got a letter exactly like that for Grand Cayman. It's a tender port which we were there from 8am - 4pm. Fttf folks were invited to the red frog pub for priority tendering from 8-9am. We used it and it worked great. I guess the OP got it, because of the excursions bpoked at these ports. Cause otherwise there is no such thing as priority debark for any port for anyone unless it's a tender port. Carnival just used the same letterhead. I bet people who didn't have fttf but had excursions booked got the same letter.

I love the Sunshine. My favorite ship, but I will say we had a similar experience on her trying to get off at 2 different ports on the Southern route a few years ago. For the OP, I don't think it had a thing to do with another ship being in port. Sometimes the Sunshine gets screwy with letting people off. It's probably my only issue with that ship.

In a different thread about suite perks, the suite owner mentioned getting a similar letter about "priority debarkation" in non-tender ports. Maybe this is something Carnival is adding as a perk to Priority guests?