momin05

Mmmm, seeing that short rib is making my mouth water. It was so tender and so tasty. I didn’t get pictures of dessert, but we had strawberry cheesecake and chocolate melting cake. Both as expected. The next night was elegant night and somehow I forgot to get pictures. It was the night we waited so long to have our orders taken so I guess I was just hungry! For starters we had calamari, crawfish fettuccini, spinach salad and the corn chowder. It was all so delicious. I recommend them all and highly recommend the crawfish fettuccine and spinach salad. The calamari was so good, too. We had the calamari back in August, but this one was better. It had some peppers included that gave it a nice taste. It definitely had a New Orleans flair. For entrees we mostly had the prime rib. One person’s had a bad streak through it, but all the others were quite good. I order this on most cruises and had seen the quality go down, but I felt this was better. Maybe it is because I was smart enough to order it rare this time. It is so thin, I decided to go for it. It was nice and rare but was not cold, so we were pleased. My husband doesn’t eat beef so he ordered the chicken cordon blue and said it was good. We all had crème brûlée for dessert and it was good. We had it back in August and I would say it was the same. Interestingly, we also had it in JiJi’s back in August and there is a definite difference. JiJi’s is lighter with a lighter crust on top. Better, I guess, but we were not disappointed with the MDR version. Oh and I told my dad about the banana split option and he ordered it every night after the first night (he actually had ice cream the first night). It was a big hit.

Sorry for the duplicate picture. This is going to be clunky. Inserting these pictures is not straightforward! We had a variety of entrees. First, the BBQ salmon. It was good, seasoned nicely. We also had Cornish game hen that was better than I expected. It’s not something I would normally order because I mean, it’s just chicken. But it was good. My husband had the Szechuan shrimp. It was just ok. He had done the JiJi’s lunch that day and said it was no better than lunch. The winner of the evening was the 12- hour braised short rib. There was a similar menu item every night (except elegant night) and my dad ordered it every night. It turned out to be the winner every evening. I was very surprised at how good it was. There were six of us in this cruise and we were all able to taste each others’ menu items. That’s how I am able to speak to so many of them! I am really struggling with these pictures! They seem to do better if I don’t also have text in the post. So, pictures up next. They should be self explanatory as to which one is which.

The crawfish strudel was also good.

Night 1: We ordered papparadelle with braised lamb. It wasn’t that great. Very little lamb and the pasta sauce was just so-so. the roast duck rolls were very good.

Hi all. As promised, here are my thoughts on the new menu. We were on the first sailing with the new menus on Sunshine on October 19. It was a 4-day sailing. Overall, we were very pleased with the new menu. The quality of the food was much improved over our last sailing on Sunshine, just 3 months ago. Even items that were the same as the old menu were of better quality this time (penne mariscos, I am talking about you!) I was also worried about kinks in the process, being the first sailing with this menu. But that was also not an issue. On the 3rd night, the wait staff mentioned it was new menu and apologized for any issues. Maybe things were going on behind the scenes, but we didn’t experience anything. We had slow service one night (night 2), but I think we timed things wrong and had an inexperienced server. They were serving a lot of food as we were seated so it took about 30 minutes to have our orders taken. The other nights were very prompt.

We disembarked Sunshine yesterday and that was the word. I have searched and don’t see anything about it in the media. Someone did take a picture from their balcony of authorities taking the body off the ship, so that definitely happened. The story was the wife walked in on the husband cheating. Not substantiated, of course.

Sailing on Sunshine. This week. Depart Thursday. We usually do the 5 nighters but this is a 4 night. Several colleges here in the Carolinas have fall break, no school Thursday and Friday. We are admittedly taking one with us! We will see if there are lots more. Someone put it well, I think. Worn, but not dirty. At least that has been my experience the two times I have been on her this past year. We are also 2 for 2 getting Covid on both sailings. Hoping for a different outcome this time. I will report back, at least on the menu!

We sail on Thursday…first sailing with the new menus. I will report back on that. I have a feeling they may be working through some kinks. But fingers crossed… We sailed Sunshine in July and I didn’t necessarily notice any cleanliness issues. I always wear slippers in the room…I don’t care what any ship or hotel does, you can’t expect carpets as clean as your house. Common areas were fine. We had bad experiences with rowdy kids/teens. I had read many people say that on here but had never experienced it before. Hoping that won’t be an issue in October. It is college fall break so hoping we aren’t dealing with an abundance of drunken college kids.

Thanks for posting the link! Yes, I remember reading that review and thinking how amazing your mom looks! We will really miss Sunshine in Charleston, too. I still can’t believe she is leaving. We have one cruise next week and another next October. I wish we could fit in one more, but probably can’t. It’s too bad.

Thank you. I am glad to hear they were helpful. We are in a group of 6 and decided to try their wheelchair assistance rather than take one, since he doesn’t need it on the ship.

Thank you so much! This is so descriptive and I understand exactly what you are saying. We have cruised out of Charleston many times, so familiar with the process, but not with the wheelchair process. I think I read your review of a cruise with your mom where you talked about this but I didn’t see it when I searched. I know there is no way he can walk up that ramp to the atrium entry. But it sounds like maybe they would take him onto the ship a different way? Either way, it doesn’t matter…it sounds like they will take care of us. I did check the wheelchair assistance during check-in and all it said was to email them. I did and received two (same) canned emails that were not helpful. That’s why I came here! Mucho helpful! Thanks again.

My dad doesn’t usually use a wheelchair, but I know he can’t do all the walking necessary to board Sunshine. If anyone has sailed Sunshine with a wheelchair, I am wondering: 1. Should I bring my own (I have one) or reserve one through the check-in process? I am worried about him getting from the car to and through the check-in warehouse, so if I reserve one, where will it start? 2. If I take my own, how would I handle the bus shuttle situation getting from the check-in warehouse to the security terminal? Would they put it in the luggage area of the bus? Thanks in advance.

Fantasy. So many great memories. Such great decor.

Thank you again for posting pics! It is much appreciated! I am trying to keep a positive attitude, but so far the pictures and the descriptions aren’t enthusing me.

Thank you for the pics! Some of it looks pretty good…the chicken looks better than I would have expected. But that pepper steak looks pretty gross!

Anything powder will definitely interest TSA. My husband has a powdered medicine and they swab it all the time. Sometimes we really struggle to get it through, especially international flights.

Thank you for posting pictures!

Yes, a little help? I went to the live reviews page last night, finally found one from Dream, scrolled through 45 pages (to the point I was dizzy from scrolling) and the reviewer never went to MDR for dinner! If you have a link or can point us in a direction, that would be great! And is there NO ONE reading this thread who has just one picture of a new menu item? Just give us something! 😎

Oh. Ok. Day 3 is port day for 4-day itineraries out of Charleston. I guess we will see when he posts the day 3 menu!

JH posted night 2 menu of the 3 and 4 day menus. It is the equivalent of night 7 above. I would have thought night 2 would be elegant night. Is there not an elegant night on 3 and 4 day itineraries? We don’t usually take short cruises.

JH posted Day 1 of the 3 and 4 day menus today with the promise to keep them coming. I was excited to see since we have a 4-day in October and it will be the first cruise with the new menus! And it was the same as day 1 posted above.

Deleted…my memory failed me! But I will say…the website does tell you exactly what date you can check in.

Just agreeing there is no need to pay for extras. I think it is $60pp and you do it when you pick your cabana at the excursion desk. But it isn’t necessary. We just had 9 people and it was no issue. We always get #5. I think it is closest to the food. But it is near the action at the pirate ship bar.

We were just on Sunshine, too. We could fit the bar of soap, my husband’s travel sized shampoo, and mine/my daughter’s conditioner (we use the ship’s shampoo) in the corner rack. The razor goes on top of the shampoo/conditioner dispensers. I wouldn’t want to keep anything on the floor.