maynovmom

Just returned last week from Sunshine Thanksgiving cruise. I'm surprised no one has posted a review. This won't be a full review. We had cabin 7322 - wrap around in the aft, which I loved. Also the cabin did have a refrigerator. Food in dining room was up and down. Some good, some no so good. But you won't starve. It's true that at lunch you can eat at the Italian and Asian for free. At night, minimal charge. We didn't go to any of the paid dinners because I don't eat that much and a waste on me for the amount of food. Back by the Havana bar is wonderful seating and bar stool size tables are all along the total aft of the ship with full windows. Great spot for drinks and food. You can always find something good on Lido to eat. Besides the above, there is buffet, Guys burgers, separate salad bar, deli. Ship was full, but didn't feel too bad. Ship really rocked and rolled because of winds. We couldn't get into last port because of high winds. I missed the brunch at sea and now wish I hadn't. Serentity (sp) deck is nice. I didn't think it was too loud. We didn't do any excursions, but some of our group went on catamaran snorkle trip in St Thomas and loved it. Any questions, I will try to answer.

Hi. We've been on the Sunshine twice and love her. We always get a mid ship balcony but just booked the aft wrap you stayed in for 2018. Do you have any photos? It's our first aft wrap and we are really looking forward to a different view! Was the room awkward since it's configured differently? I've heard great things about aft wraps and our 8 day cruise has 4 sea days so lots of time to be with and without crowds!

Bronchitis has a cough that can linger for weeks after the infection itself is gone. I have a big issue with people who travel with the stomach bug and flu. Bronchitis that's been treated isn't a problem really. However other cruisers and plane travelers will definitely be giving looks to someone who is coughing a lot.

do you have any photos of this cabin?

No I didn't take photos of it. I've cruised many times so I don't do that. Do you have any questions I might be able to answer for you? You had asked about noise. I didn't have much except for the occasional louder people walking/running down the hall late at night. That can happen anywhere so that shouldn't make much difference.

I did this in April and they gave me the onboard credit the day we arrived. A card came to my room and it was handled perfectly.

Have never had an aft, but scored this aft wrap quite by accident for our upcoming August Cruise - We can't wait to see it - I do hope we like it!

We have the wrap aft balcony 7322 booked for Sunshine 2018. Let me know what you think when you return in August. Most people seem to love the aft wrap. We made sure to book a cabin with rooms above and below us.

I've been on both ships the last two years. The Sunshine is better as far as the serenity pool and it also has more specially dining options both which I enjoy. The Conquest was in better condition than the Sunshine however the Sunshine just went into dry dock for plumbing issues and freshening up. Hopefully it comes out in great condition. I have rebooked the Sunshine for 2018 because it offers more of the things I want. A lot of people on these boards find it more congested but that hasn't bothered me. I enjoyed the Conquest too and the port is much easier to get to from the Fort Lauderdale airport than Port Canaveral from Orlando. On the other hand boarding and leaving The ship I found to be smoother from Port Canaveral.

I am just giving you some pros and cons. I wouldn't vote against the Conquest again but if I had to choose between the two I'd go with the Sunshine because of the serenity pool area and the additional specialty restaurants.

Sounds like if I decided to move from deck 7 I would go to deck 6. I was afraid of noise but seems cabins are on deck 5 as well. Thanks for the input. I will stay where I am but if I like it will consider a deck 6 aft wrap around the next time.

I can't speak about your specific cabin but was midship 8181 the week of April 16 and never got sick or smelled any odors. There were leaks here and there but the ship was also going into dry dock. I would hope the problems were addressed. I plan to sail the Sunshine again in 2018. I love the specialty restaurants and the serenity area. This was a tough spring sickness-wise on land. I wonder if the illnesses weren't just from sick people coming onboard and spreading their germs.

I have cruised fifteen times on Carnival and twice on the Sunshine. (And once as the Destiny) I really like the ship. I enjoy the serenity deck and pool and the many specialty restaurant choices. I was on the Conquest last year and missed some of those things. As a teacher I am limited to certain weeks and this 8 day sailing with the ports of Aruba and Bonaire and Grand Turk and 4 sea days really caught my eye. I am excited to try any time dining and the aft wrap. Is it the best Carnival ship out there? No. But I like all that it has to offer. I had great service last month on the Sunshine and enjoyed every day. I know it gets mixed reviews but I haven't been disappointed. I look forward to the Vista once there's an 8 day available on a school vacation week.😄

I was in 6434 on the Triumph, sister to the Sunshine. On the Triumph, the comedy club was below us, but a previous poster said that on the Sunshine, they converted that into cabins. I'm attaching photos of the balcony and room. Not sure why they are at a 90 degree angle.

 

The middle picture is the part of the balcony that looks aft, this is almost non-existent on decks 7 and 8 wraps.

Thanks for the photos. I saw a video of the cabin I've booked and the balcony was beautiful. I have a feeling I'm going to stick to deck 7 and play it safe knowing that aft wraps are above and below me for sure. I think I'm going to be very happy as I love the regular balconies and this will be an added bonus of space and views.

If possible, I would book deck 6 on the Sunshine. They built cabins on deck 5 when it was refurbished from the Destiny into the Sunshine. We had the aft wrap on Deck 6 in 2014. That was the best cabin and balcony we have ever had. It had a covering outside. Lots of chairs. Inside the cabin was great. I don't know if deck 6 aft wrap is still available, but if it is I would go for it. It is larger than deck 7 or 8.

I think there is one aft wrap open on deck 6. I always sail deck 7 or higher. I have been on deck 8 balconies on the Sunshine twice and loved the location and fact there were cabins above and beneath. Are you saying there are cabins below the deck 6 aft wrap? Do you remember which cabin you had? Thanks!

DH and I were in an aft wrap on deck 7 for the Sunshine's transatlantic in 2013 from Barcelona to New Orleans. We loved it! Whether you're on 7 or 8 I'm sure you'll be glad you went for the aft wrap.

Thank you! Do you remember how the room seemed with the angled bed? That's the difference I think (in photos) between deck 7 and 8. Also pictures show more windows and the balcony door. Is that correct?

I've stayed in 8181 twice because I liked it the first time. It is pretty quiet there and only some noise from the lido deck during louder party times. I would've booked it aria for my next Sunshine cruise but went for the aft wrap around instead. Can't wait!

I had a hard time choosing between deck 7 and 8. I really liked the photos of the inside of the cabin on deck 8 more but worried because it was under a busier area. Deck 7 has aft wraps above and below so I think it will be quieter. The deck 7 cabin seemed configured a little more awkward. Does anyone have any thoughts on noise from the Sunshine deck 8 aft cabins? I look forward to that beautiful balcony either way.

After many cruises on Carnival I have finally booked my first premium wrap around balcony on the Sunshine! I am so excited as it looks fabulous. 😄 I happen to love that ship even though it gets mixed reviews. I love the serenity pool area, JIJI's, Bonsai, and Cucina del Capitano so this will only add to the experience.

It's on the internet that a 33 year old woman fell overboard and they do have video to confirm that. How sad.

I am sorry so many people were sick on your cruise. My husband and I sailed on the Sunshine starting the day you returned and we had no illness issues. We knew many families onboard and they remained healthy through the trip and after. When something is going around many people will stand the chance of getting sick. People aren't always as careful as they should be and do come on the ship sick or just getting over something. As a teacher I always feel I'm more at risk at work than on the ship but am very careful about what I touch, how often I wash my hands, and try to only use my own cabin bathroom. One year on the Liberty the noroviris hit about 200 people and announcements were made to be more vigilant. Again we were lucky (or very careful) and escaped becoming ill. I will also include that the week we were on the Sunshine I heard that back in MA two women I know were diagnosed with pneumonia and a few more with sinus infections.

Reading this took me back to last year on the Conquest. On the last night I was cleaning out the safe and under the gray mat found a lady's garnet or dark red sapphire gold ring.

I had a hard time deciding what to do myself because I wasn't sure it would go back to its owner. I ended up taking it directly to guest services and asked what the policy was for this. The man there told me they ticket it and then drop it off in their headquarters. I asked for a copy of the ticket number. I wasn't going to do anything with it but thought I'd make the man there more accountable if he knew I didn't just leave it and go. I know this sounds crazy to some but not everyone is honest or follows through.

I did think about taking it home to call Carnival guest services upon my return and/or post here and on Facebook. I truly hope the owner got the ring back. My husband left a pair of Oakley sunglasses in our cabin years ago and they were never returned. Someone took them or never followed protocol as we did call Lost and Found but they were gone.

That's really awful that you and so many became ill the week before I sailed. That was the flu? I didn't hear of anyone on this cruise feeling sick and am glad that they cleaned the ship well following your trip. I've been fortunate on 15 cruises to have stayed healthy. I stay away from the public restrooms and handrails as much as possible. I'm also a teacher and hope my immune system is pretty tough. The hand washing stations were great. Hope you're feeling better now. I really enjoyed the ports and the ship minus the ceiling leaks I saw as I walked in some of the hallways. Very unusual I have to say, for all my Carnival vacations. It didn't deter me from future cruises but I was surprised. My favorite port is always Grand Turk but next year we are trying a land vacation in St Marteen. It's another port we enjoy on our stops and want to stay and enjoy the island.

Hi. My husband and I met you on the shuttle and were in line to board with you and your family. Being alone we spent a lot of our sea days in the serenity pool area which we absolutely love. Sorry about your plumbing. I did have a small leaky toilet issue which I got fixed and a balcony door handle that was stuck and needed to be replaced. I think that there were a lot of plumbing and leaking issues that needed to be taken care of and that the dry dock scheduled for early May was too late.

I have traveled on Carnival for 15 Aprils straight and this ship is a favorite as far as the restaurants and serenity area but it definitely had some issues I have never seen before. Fortunately my two problems were fixed quickly and our cruise was awesome. We chose to eat at JIJI's and Cucina del Capitano and Bonsai three of the nights and the rest in the dining room. I liked the American Table menu as it allowed for sides and our servers were great. I would choose anytime dining the next cruise though and did notice that the waitstaff was smaller than in the past and had to work even harder to keep up with the tables. Looking forward to reading more. In St Martin we did an excursion that wasn't through Carnival and rented a small Boston Whaler on the lagoon for three hours. We had done this two years ago when on the Sunshine and it is a great way to spend time in St Martin. We have now booked a land vacation there for next year to change things up a bit. It's an island we want to have a chance to see more of and we visited the resort while we were there last week. I think it will be less hectic and more relaxing.

I got mine two days ago. For me it worked out because I had paid my April cruise balance off earlier in February and now it's showing as zero percent promotional rate. I called to double check and the rep said its 6 months interest free. Since I'm booking another cruise for 2017 while on board this was a nice surprise.

I am trying to pay my balance. When I go to manage my booking it asks me to enter my booking number etc even though I'm logged in. Then when I fill out the info and hit submit it tells me that booking already exists. I assume they're having some issues this morning and will try back later.

I agree and hope that Carnival isn't doing away with that perk. The best time to keep customers coming back is while they are onboard having fun. It's worth a $100 to Carnival to keep customers returning.

I always book on the ship. I did have an issue on my last cruise because they were advertising the hours to do that and they didn't have anyone on board to do it. Then I was advised that if I did it on line through the ship's free internet I would be credited the on board credit. That didn't work out because the Internet was spotty.Last resort -- customer relations called a Carival rep and I booked over their phone and got the on board credit. It was the first time I had a hassle. It's worth the credit but I was very disappointed that I couldn't just do it at home later with the understanding that I tried but Carival didn't have a rep to assist me.

As I said earlier take a look at Seavis Tours on trip advisor as well as its own site. We were on the Conquest in April and this was a great excursion in the Dominican Republic. It was our first time there and we have cruised 14 times with Carnival. It was safe and the sand dune/star fish area was beautiful and fun snorkeling. I am very careful about booking excursions off the ship and can assure you this was a good choice. The lunch is included and they time the trip around the Conquest time of arrival and departure. I actually found out about this company on cruise critic this winter and am glad we booked it. Good luck!