sxyshell

does this mean that Jamie dee will be on the 8/29 sailing?

Jamie Dee will not be on the 8/29 sailing. I'm hoping that John Heald will be on our cruise with the new CD. I've asked him on his FB page but haven't received a response yet. We sailed on the Sunshine last August with her and she was the best CD we've experienced to date!

I have only been on the Dream but it is really the same as the Breeze and I would sail those ships over and over.. HUGE amounts of deck space and always a chair to grab no matter what time!!!

 

Here is how I went into this cruise.... It was between Pride and Sunshine... both offered same places. But Prides port loads were huge at every stop some places over 20k in people and all of port stops were at 8am. Sunshine had much lower port loads and all stops were at 10am. We like this because you can sleep in a bit and don't have to rush of the ship at 8am...

 

Also here is the rule I use on a ship like this... With only 2 sea days.. you will not notice it much because you only have to deal with it for 2 days... with the missed port it added the 3rd. Now our Costa Maya stop was 7am to 2pm.. so everyone WAS already up and about when call was made a 6:56 am not to port.. So.... that sea day was very busy.

 

I had read all of the negative reviews also and I don't judge until I actually do the trip. So I booked it and that was that.... But my wife and I are sun lizzard's... I knew to get up on deck and get a chair. but seeing the look on people faces at 8am.. I knew it was going to be worse than the first sea day.

 

I loved all the options the Sunshine had to offer... It really had everything!! and I wanted it so bad to be the best ship.. So I could come back on here and let everyone know how great it was....

 

However it was not great... Our cruise was AWESOME :D had a friggin blast but ship was not good.... and I will not sail it again. Funny enough we booked the Breeze for Feb 2016

I also said I wouldn't sail this ship again after our Labor Day cruise last year, but because we are going on a casino bounce back for $109 each with our own room and the itinerary and departure port, we booked the Sunshine again for our August cruise... We also loved JiJi's and Bonsai and the Havana area but hated how crowded the ship felt. Didn't get to see any comedy shows last year even when we got there early. Hoping to make one or 2 this time? We've even spoke with crew members who are now on different ships who agreed that the Sunshine if over crowded. We'll still have a blast and it won't break our vacation or our bank. Oh and we LOVED the Pride, it's our favorite ship to date but with it now being out of Baltimore didn't fit our requirements as far as the ports and we only live an hour from Port Canaveral so we don't need to fly or drive a long way to cruise.

$5 min bet

We love the Alchemy Bar. We were on Sunshine last year and had Gabriel and I think Miroslav. They were awesome. Then I went to the Alchemy on the Pride in February and there Gabriel was again. He remembered us and we were so happy to see him! We can't say enough good things about him or the Alchemy Bar!

You are so right about it not being very crowded the first couple of nights but once finds it, it's so crowded the rest of the cruise!

And as for people being bored on cruises??? I don't get it either!!

We just got off the Valor on 5/3. We had cabins 8361 & 8365 and our air worked great. I was actually cold in my cabin a lot! I turned the air back a little on the 3rd day because I would shiver at night. LOL The casino was freezing too!

We were on the Valor the week of 4/25. We had several winners on our cruise. I hit $1000 on the Wheel of Fortune game, gave it all back. My son hit on one of the dollar machines for a total of $1500. Someone hit $10k on the Quick Hits machine and another person hit $3500 on Dangerous Beauty slot. There were several other wins that week but I don't know which machines.

Yes they have the bonus side bet on 3 card poker. They also have Ultimate Texas Hold Em which was a lot of fun. I got Quads and 2 straight flushes. The pay outs for a $20 bet, $5 on each line was over $400! It was a lot of fun!

Great news!! We were on her last August, with the smells, buckets, toilets that didn't flush, and leaking brown stuff in the hallway, but that didn't hamper our vacation, and we're booked again on her this July!!!

We were on the Labor Day cruise last year with the same issues. Buckets in the theater with water leaking into them the whole week. Sewer smell which my son and I tried to convince ourselves that it was just broccoli steaming. LOL But we are also booked to sail on her again in August. Glad to hear the good report!!!

You entirely welcome. Thanks for reading it. She is an awesome ship.... love all the Americana decorations everywhere. Port Canaveral is a great port to sail out of. I am jealous of people so close to cruise ports. Thanks for the nice comments as well. Have a great cruise next month.

Dirkgun, we had a blast on our Valor cruise 2 weeks ago. Yes we are very lucky to be so close to the port. Got another "free" cruise from the casino so we just booked the Sunshine for the end of August. We've been on her once and weren't to thrilled with how crowded it was but we loved other things about her so we are going to give it another go. :p

Royston's open-air van tour is definitely memorable, if a bit rough around the edges (some crazy driving, not unsafe), but that's what makes it fun. He took us all around the island for $45 per person (six people on our tour), which included all admissions and tips to performers, etc., a small lunch, and water, beer, and soda. Specifically, he took us through town, to Romney Manor and the batik "factory," Brimstone Fortress, as well as numerous vantage points for pictures, and to the beaches.

 

After lunch, we had beach time, and he provided snorkeling equipment, chairs, umbrellas, etc., before driving us around for one more great view of the port and our ships and dropping us back near the port area.

 

You can find more reviews and info about Royston on this board.

Because it's an open- air van, does it have a roof to protect you from the sun?

I will say this (and for the record I also don't buy that an entire deck was quarantined) - I get really irked when folks do not truthfully respond to the illness questionnaire at the start of a trip. Simply because YOU (they) want to go on your trip you've looked forward to doesn't mean you should bring whatever ails you on board. Also...even if you're not a handwasher at home when you're on a ship for god's sake WASH YOUR HANDS WITH SOAP AND WATER! A LOT!!!! Sheesh! And those hand sanitizer dispensers are there for a reason. On one trip as we were going into the showroom they had staff members with sanitizer spritzing us as we went in. One woman walked past and staff stopped her and requested she sanitize. "Oh I'm a nurse, I don't need to." REALLY? Oy!

 

Ok off my soapbox.

Can't agree more!!! WASH YOUR HANDS OFTEN!!! And use the hand sanitizer especially before you start serving yourself in the buffet line!

Has anybody had any experience with this? I have always done ATD on my previous cruises on smaller ships and never had any issues but this cruise (Oct 31-Nov 8) there will be 9 people in my party. I am thinking of doing early dining instead.

We did ATD on our cruise last August on the Sunshine and hopefully we never have to do it again. We always do early dining but booked too close to the sailing so we got stuck with ATD. Just not for us!

Agreed. We've sailed her twice' date=' both times at capacity. Was it crowded, yep but nothing different than I've experienced on other cruises on sea days. If you want your pick of chairs on the lido or the serenity deck I'd get there no later than 9-9:30. You'll love the serenity deck if you choose to sit or lay there. It's 2nd to none.

Give her a try. Beautiful ship![/quote']

 

We cruised Sunshine last August and thought it was very crowded but guess what?? We loved some of the other things about the ship so we are going to give it another try this August. We were on the Premier casino cruise so we're hoping it will be a little different this time.

On the Breeze in March we really loved the table game Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em. They said that they had only had the game for a few weeks. It was not on Sunshine in November. Just wondering if it's on Sunshine now? We are hoping to play it when we sail in July.

We played this on our cruise 2 weeks ago on the Valor! Loved it! So happy they have it on the Sunshine!

I loved your review!!! We leave on the Valor on 4/25 out of Port Canaveral. We only live an hour from the port so we get to cruise often! I'm even more excited after reading your review. Thanks for taking the time to do it!

We sailed on Valor March 1 out of OSJ. Previous two cruises on 2.0's (Liberty and Glory). You really don't lose a lot. You still have two bars beside the central Lido pool (they just don't have names), there is still a burger and hot dog grill (less greasy than Guy's). Jeanne's Wine Bar makes almost all the specialty martinis. We enjoyed it as much, or more than the 2.0's.

 

If you are a non-smoker, you may not like it as much. Out of OSJ, they allowed smoking on the Lido deck by the bar and seating on the starboard side, in addition to smoking areas on deck 10 and three on starboard.

 

We thought the food overall was better (maybe more spice for the number of Puerto Ricans that sailed on her out of San Juan). Staff are excellent, friendly, and keep the ship immaculate!

JAGR,

We love the Alchemy and are afraid we will miss that when we cruise on the Valor next month. But you said that Jeanne's Wine Bar does a lot of the specialty martinis? If they do I'm sure we'll enjoy that bar as well!

Did you happen to spend much time in the casino? Was wondering how the casino was?

Thanks!

Michelle

Really enjoying this review and pictures!! We sail on the Repo soon...I have a question....looking at the Fun Times, I see shows at night with only 1 time listed...some are at 8pm...we have late dining...will this mean we can not see the shows that night????

 

 

 

 

 

Marsha

I was on this cruise too and yes some nights there was only one show. They repeated the show another night at a later time though so you should be able to catch it. I have to say that this cruise was the best I've been on out of the 8 I've done. It is a beautiful ship, the crew is great and the shows were good. I wish the Pride wasn't going back to Baltimore so we could go on it again out of Tampa!

Great review Justin! Hope you feel better soon! My son and I haven't caught the crud that you seem to have caught. Hope it stays that way. LOL

I leave on the Pride in 4 days and I'm loving your review! Thank you!

Thanks so much for your review! I'm so excited that I get to cruise the Pride before it goes back to Baltimore! I leave in 13 days.

The room temp was slightly warmer than I like, but it was too much of an issue, the bed was firm, but I like a firm bed, so that didn't bother me.

Thinking maybe we need to take the bungee chord and keep the door open at night.

Haven't been in that exact room, but we had 8228 and 8230 a few years ago, right below the Lido.

I don't recall hearing ANY noise from above.

 

Do you have an extended balcony?

Thanks for your input. Yes we have the extended balcony.

I was just in cabin 8182 on the 30th. The only night we heard noise was the night they held the blue iguana fiesta on deck, other than that it wasn't bad. The only issue is, the view to your left will not be that great because of how the cabins jut out a couple doors down, also the lido deck sticks out about you 4 or so feet, so you cant really see too far up if you're standing.

 

Other than that, awesome location to the lido deck bars and food, just up a flight of stairs and you're there. It works great for running to the buffet in the morning and bringing breakfast back to your room for the balcony.

Thanks so much for your input! I'm sure we'll be at that party so it won't bother us:D: How was the room temp and were the beds comfy? We were on the Sunshine in September and the room temp wasn't as cool as we like it at night and the beds were not comfortable. The beds on Carnival used to be so comfortable but with the upgrades it seems as though they've downgraded the mattresses.

Can anyone tell me if this cabin is in a good location? Do you get a lot of noise from the Lido?

Thank you for your compliments. I guess the only way to counteract rude people is to continue to be nice and friendly. No need in me being rude. Maybe one day I'll rub off on someone else.

You have the right outlook on the rude ones! I was on the Sensation in July and we had some rude ones as well. But I think because it's a short cruise it's a whole different crowd. We had a blast and as someone else said she was partial to it because it was the first ship she cruised on. Same for me! I like the smaller ships. Your boys are adorable!

I'm loving your review! Thanks for taking the time to write it. We cruise on the Pride in February so your review just helps me get even more excited!

I was able to book March 2nd, 12 day on the Triumph for only port charges and taxes. :)

Now that is an amazing dea!;)