Rock712

Maybe I'm confused. I keep reading about lack of beach access, but on another thread someone posted a picture from the porch of #3, and the beach and water were right there in front, similar to HMC.

We just used Dyea Dave last week and had a wonderful time, possibly the best excursion we have ever taken. My wife and I were the only two people on the Emerald Lake tour that day. The used the passenger van type vehicle. turned out to be a private tour. They treated us like royalty , had a fantastic time.

Just wanted to take a couple minutes to share our experience with Dyea Dave's Tours in Skagway this past Friday 05/26/17. Let me start by saying although this was our 3rd time in Skagway, it was our first experience with Dyea Dave. Scheduling the tour, The Emerald Lake Tour, was as easy as just sending one e-mail. No deposit required. We were told that someone would meet us at our dock at 07:45. Promptly at 07:45, our guide for the day, Kathy was their to greet us. At that point we found out that we were the only 2 people scheduled for the tour that day. At this point it would have been easy for them to say 1) sorry, not enough people, we have to cancel, or 2) just " phone it in", give us the basics, and be done with it. On the contrary, Kathy spent the entire day treating my wife and I like we were visiting royalty. The level of service we received was off the charts. She made sure anything we wanted to see or experience came to life for us. She never once treated us like paying customers, but as old friends just out for a sightseeing drive. I wont go into a detailed review of every sight we saw, needless to say we got the full Yukon experience, but I want this review to be focused on the level of service we received. It was a fantastic day, perhaps the best excursion we have taken on any of our 13 cruises, and it was all due to one fact and that was the time and effort put forth by our guide, Kathy. She spent her entire day making sure we had a good time. You could not ask for more In the end, we ended up sharing a great experience with a good friend. If you're going to Skagway and you want a good tour please consider using Dyea Dave , based on our experience I think you'll be very happy. :D:D:D:D

Don't have any real solutions for you , just wanted to say the Vista suites are really special , especially on an Alaska cruise , so really hope you can work out a solution and be able to enjoy the suite. We had a suite on our last cruise and it is a little bit of a step in and out. I wonder if there is something available to use on both sides of the tub so that you could take smaller steps , not have to lift the leg as high to get over the edge. Again , not very helpful , but hoping you can work something out

On the Sunshine back in April, our steward never asked and there was no form , and we received service twice a day. Our steward did come to the room and introduce himself on embarkation day and asked if we had any special requests. We asked for extra pillows, which he returned with in ten minutes, and ice every day, which he filled our bucket every time he serviced room.

This sounds like one of those stories from Penthouse letters.....I was in the spa in a cruise ship, when the weirdest thing happened......

OMG , that's funny, because as I was reading original post in my mind I started saying, " Dear Penthouse, I am a student from a small Midwestern college , and while on my spring break cruise ....... "

WE just sailed on the sunshine two weeks ago on a 9 day. We were on 10 forward , no smells there and did not notice anything anywhere else on ship

Yes , use the forward bank of elevators and there are elevators designated with overhead signs that will take you to all 3 Serenity Levels

We were on a 9 day on the Sunshine last week. Met our steward on embarkation afternoon , he never said a word about once or twice a day choices , and we had morning and evening service the entire cruise.

We were also on this cruise. I'd have to say for the most part agree with your observations , especially when it comes to the " crowding " issues and funnel points in and out of Lido buffet area.

Embarkation was a pain due to the Coast Guard situation , but once they started boarding people thought they did a good job of moving everything along. I do agree that the excuse about extra time to load provisions doesn't hold water. You know what you have to do, plan for it.

Our room was ready when we boarded. Spa suite 10107. Great room. Steward did a good job the entire cruise keeping it clean and everything stocked up

We ate in both the Steakhouse and Cucina and enjoyed both meals , especially the Steakhouse. Well worth the upcharge in both places.

We ate one night in the MDR. It was ok , not great , but just ok. Standard food , standard service.

The rest of the evenings we ate in the Lido buffet. We were both able to find something there every night that was to our liking and never a problem finding seats.

Ate every breakfast in Lido. Started out picking a few side items off buffet , then went back to Havana area , had an omelet made to order , and never a problem finding seat in Havana area , even on the four sea days.

Agree with you about Donkey. Definitely in the top three we have ever sailed with, the other two being John Heald and Butch B. Thought he was extremely entertaining , was out there and around the ship, kept the announcements short, but fun and entertaining. Would look forward to sailing with him as CD again. Also, if you ever had a minute or two with him, he would actually stand there and talk to you. It's a small thing, but very important.

Did not go to every show, but not really all that impressed with what we did see. I usually love both magicians and hypnotists, but not so much with either on this cruise. Thought the hypnotist was ok , but his nonstop running dialogue almost became too much. The magician imo was just plain boring. We did go to Epic rock , I know that 99% of the people seem to love it, but I think I fall into that 1% . Grew up in the 70's and 80's, this is my music, but this show just didn't do it for me for whatever reason.

One shoe we did enjoy was the comedy club. The comedian we saw was extremely funny. The comedy club on the Sunshine gets panned quite a bit for being too small, but I thought it was ok. We got in line approx. 15 mins before show and had fine seats.

Enjoyed all four ports. Ranking them in order would be St Lucia, St Maarten, Barbados, St Kitts. We did tours on all four. Even though I ranked St Lucia ahead of St Maarten because of the beauty of the island , by far the best tour we took was Bernards tour on St. Maarten. It was a tour arranged by one of the ladies in our FB group , and what made the tour stand out was the guide/bus driver , The " Mailman " He may have been the best guide we have ever had anywhere. Entertaining, funny, knowledgeable , he was the total package and made it an extremely enjoyable day.

All in all we had a great trip. Was the Sunshine my favorite ship - no. But, I would not hesitate to sail on her again.

Simply put .... best cruise review ever. Please keep cruising and reviewing

We are doing the May 8 2017 cruise to Alaska in Vista Suite 7298. We really love this aft wrap!!!

CaCan - leave it in good shape !!! We've got 7298 two cruises later on the 05/23/17 sailing.

You are where we were last year. We booked the Carnival Conquest and were wondering the same kinds of things.

 

There is definitely more f the WalMart crowd on board, but there's also many others as well. We had a great time and really enjoyed the fun aspect. There was great energy all over the ship. The dining room staff was better than we had on Princess! The food was great too! The Guys Burgers and Blue Iguana (both included - are you listening Royal Caribbean?), was great. We enjoyed breakfast burritos at Blue Iguana.

 

The cruise is what you make it. You'll have a great time!

C'mon , admit it , it's a dirty little secret we all carry around. You've shopped at Walmart too. We were just there yesterday stocking up on the essentials

We had the same concerns before our first Carnival cruise , and we were in our mid forties at the time. No kids , not drinkers or partiers , just wanted a nice relaxed vacation. Our TA at the time steered us towards Carnival due to price and itinerary , and now 12 years and several cruises later we've never looked back.

I really believe the horror stories you here about Carnival , or for that matter of fact any of the other lines , boils down to luck of the draw. Sure , how they manage their ships and resources play a large part into it , but the lines cannot control weather , rough seas , or the behavior of their passengers once on board.

For instance , Carnival has the rep as being the rowdy , party ships , but in all of our cruises , the rudest and most obnoxious drunks we had to deal with were on a RC cruise. That wasn't the fault of RC , it was the one particular group of idiots that happened to be aboard that cruise and seemed to be everywhere on the ship at all hours , drunk out of their minds and causing commotions in general.

Our absolute favorite port. Have done HMC twice , both times same cabana , #8. What a fantastic way to spend the day

Same problem with Thenford. Sent the request form in twice and have never heard back

Having the same problem with Thenford. Have emailed twice and not getting a response

I guess, perhaps because of my profession, I feel differently than many on this issue. My thoughts are:

 

1) the people are wrong to film;

2) the media is wrong to show it, indulge it, and try to make money off such a tragedy - the purpose of media is the educate and inform on the issues - a mission they have long forgotten, rather than attempt to make a buck by sensationalizing a tragedy;

3) the family of the deceased deserves any assistance Carnival can provide, and I am confident that they will. The reason I say this is even for a burial at sea, for guests, they charge nothing. The provide a time and place, staff to accompany you, and without request, a letter memorializing the event with a large photo of the ship in an album. If they are so generous when essentially doing a guest a favor, I am confident they will take care of their own.

4) no one else deserves anything. Crime, violence, accidents, death, and destruction happen everyday all around us. For the most part, we live in a bubble so we seemed shocked when we witness or are victimized by it, but it can happen at anytime. It is simply a fact of life. What if, as another poster said, you were witness to an equally horrific car crash? Who is going to compensate you for the horror? We have turned into a society where we are so "me first" and "what can I get out of this" that we have lost all perspective.

 

Personally, I watched the video. And believe me, I see, hear and smell much worse in my job as I have been a prosecutor working first hand with cops for almost 20 years. Most people have no idea what humanity can really do to each other. The news might report a robbery in a nearby city each night - I promise you there were 5 more that went unreported by the news, here in my area alone.

 

So what should be do? We pray for those who have died and those who grieve, discuss any fears with our kids and families, and move on and live our lives as a source of light against such darkness.

Been trying to frame up my thoughts about this whole situation, but I really don't think I can state it any better than this poster did.

We had 12001 on SunShine one year, but then was able to get the MEGA Spa Suite 10107 the next year. Both were great but 10107 has two full sized sliding glass doors and bowling alley deck.

Good to hear this. We are booked in 10107 on the 04/29/16 Journeys cruise. Have not been able to find any pictures of the room prior to yours , but our PVP said we would like it. Looks very spacious , good to know since we'll be spending 9 days there

Here's my take on the situation. Reviews are usually based on peoples likes and dislikes You can read the reviews , but you've got to decide based on what YOU like and dislike , not others. We've never sailed the Sunshine , but are booked for a 9 day Journeys cruise in April. I've read what seems like hundreds of reviews of the ship , both good and bad. There are some consistent themes such as too small pool area , tiny comedy club and small showroom compared to other ships. Even fans of the ship seem to concede these points. So , if your a huge fan of spending all of your free time aboard ship in the pool area , maybe not the ship for you. If it's important to attend the comedy club , shows, etc. it seems like your going to have to give up some of your time getting there early and waiting for show to start. Again , if you feel like having to do this is just a giant waste of time , maybe not the ship to book.

Opinions seem to be widely varied on other issues , such as food quality , overcrowding , etc. Some say it's terrible , some say absolutely no problem. Who's right ????? Again , I think it's a matter of perspective. How else can you have two people review the exact same cruise and come up with two absolutely different points of view.

I think the last thing to keep in mind is EXPECTATIONS. You're travelling on a 20 yr old, updated ship, on a line that caters to the more budget minded cruiser. So, if you board expecting a 5 star hotel experience, with gourmet dining 24 hrs a day, and waited on hand and foot by the most well trained staff at sea.... guess what, you might just be disappointed. However, if you board expecting a good vacation value for the money, you might be pleasantly surprised at how good a time you have. Will there be glitches...almost certainly. Will everything go exactly as planned...very rarely. Could it be worse....almost definitely.

So , come next April , here's what I'm expecting. We're on a cruise , going to 4 ports we've never seen. To see all of these varied sights I wont have to pack, unpack, figure out how to get from one island to the next, my floating hotel will take care of that for me. I'll have availability to all varieties of nutrition almost 24 hrs per day. Varied forms of entertainment available just about whenever I want it. Seems like the fun is there to be had if I let it happen !!

We've used it twice , and our room was ready both times. However , on our last cruise back in April on the Splendor , upon boarding there was a young lady directing all traffic to the elevators and to Lido deck. I told her we had FTTF and to my surprise she had absolutely no idea what I was talking about. she called over another crew member who had to explain to her what I was talking about.

We're there on the 29th also. First time to all of the ports , first time on the Sunshine. Reviews are so mixed on this ship not even paying attention to them anymore. Going with an open mind and plan on having a blast !!!

We'll be on that cruise also , our first time on the Sunshine as well. Ship gets such wildly mixed reviews , looking forward to the experience and deciding for ourselves.

We've done the steakhouse on just about every cruise we've been on and definitely worth the extra $$$. Great food , service , and atmosphere.

The Chef's table I think is worth it if your a " foodie ". My wife loves it , I call it the " what the hell am I eating now " dinner. Not saying it's a bad thing , but just not for me.

Thanks so much for taking your time to write this review. We are sailing the Sunshine next April for a 9 day Journeys cruise and I went back and forth on whether or not to book due to the wildly mixed reviews this ship seems to get. I finally decided to see for myself what the fuss was about and went ahead and booked and really looking forward to the cruise. I've written several reviews myself and know that it can be a lot of work , especially posting the pictures. Thanks again for sharing your experience with us and look forward to the continuing story !!!!