wgeddings

Red Frog Pub has been quiet but I have not been there too often. Have not tried the steakhouse selections on this cruise but they have been underwhelming on other ships/cruises. Have not been to the steakhouse yet and MDR has been great so we may not go. We’ll see. Jinxed myself! After bragging on the internet yesterday, it went out last night all night. Bad weather may have been part but working now so I’ll stay quiet. 😃 Last night in MDR I had the beef tenderloin and it was outstanding! Some of the best meat I have had on cruises or not. Tender and flavorful. Also had linguini and Italian sausage and it was also fantastic. Had both on other cruises but never this good. I was STUFFED but managed to also eat the roasted pineapple dessert and, you guessed it, it was fantastic too. No idea why all was so much better last night but just thankful. I have not slept as good on this cruise and realized why. The mattresses lack the pillowtop the mattresses on other ships had. Not uncomfortable but just not as comfortable. No idea why these mattresses are not the same as other ships. The casino machines and slot gods have not smiled on me but I have tried. Usual complaints about the casino (tons of cigarette smoke that makes your clothes stink and eyes burn so I wish the would have a no smoking section or just outlaw smoking. Also very few waiters who are never around when you want a drink but always there once you have one <sigh>)

Almost Live from Carnival Sunshine – June 6-11, 2022 We live about an hour and a half above Charleston so it is really convenient to go out of Charleston. We have not done so because of great deals out of Port Canaveral but got a super deal to go on this one. DW just finished up school year (she is a teacher) and wanted to go to the beach but there is no way to even rent a beach house or motel for less than $500 for 5 nights much less the extra costs for food, so here we are. First, some quick notes and addressing recent questions I saw on the board about Sunshine. Smell – I have not noticed any smells nor heard anyone else complaining. Maintenance – Our sink was stopped up and the shower drain was slow but we reported them and both were fixed within an hour or so. Port – The Charleston port is not good and it is evident that locals do not like it. The workers were snippy and rude. They insisted on inspecting my cans of soda (I guess someone was smuggling in beer?) and confiscated a power strip that has not had a problem on my last 6 cruises in the last 8 months. Parking and shuttling back and forth (lot to check-in then check-in to ship) is a bother but is better than the 6 hour ride to Canaveral. Cabin – We have a 4J cabin (outside with obstructed view that is classed as interior). Cabin was fine in terms of size but we had a broken sink, slow drain in shower and telephone did not work nor did sound on 2 TV channels. Cabin Steward worked hard to get the people there to fix stuff but they were a bit frustrating and slow and he kept apologizing (Thank you Henry!). Everything was finally fixed by the time we left port. Guest Services – continues to be a weak point! Most details in full report later. Bar Service – Awful, absolutely awful. At every bar, there are far too few bartenders and they are very slow making drinks. They have very surly attitudes and I cannot blame them because almost everyone is mad by the time they finally get their drinks. Ship – Overall, the ship is older but the remodel has made it similar in most ways to my favorite Carnival ship (the Horizon). They have an Ocean Plaza, Havana Bar, JiJi Asian, Cucino de Captino, Steakhouse, Bonzai Sushi, etc. No dedicated theater for movies and no Guy’s Pig and Anchor but otherwise good. Internet – Shockingly, the internet is far better than I was expecting. I got the middle plan and I have about 5MB/5MB speeds most of the time. I was expecting far worse and have had far worse on other ships so I was expecting this one to be bad given the ship’s age. However, I am very pleased and impressed. I know it varies from ship to ship but I have found the internet on THIS ship for THIS cruise to be excellent. Food – The food has been good. With Cucino closed for dinner, Carnival announced some of the entrees would be on the MDR menu for no extra price. The only ones are the Chicken Parm and a Seafood pasta though and it does not change. Chicken Parm was okay but far from the real Cucino. At least Mongolian Wok and Cucino pasta lunch are fine (but not as easy as on Horizon, you still have to wait in line at the Wok). Table Cleaning - never saw a problem and they were cleaning our tables (MDR and buffet) almost as soon as we would finish everyone on a plate). SeaDay Brunch - Horrible experience. Our waiter clearly did not want to be there and was almost rude. Watched other tables getting served, getting bread, juice, etc. and never saw our waiter after he took our orders. Beware if you get a waiter named Eka. I had the roast beef sandwich and if there was 2 ounces of beef on it, I would be shocked. Picture a slim jim on a hanburger bun and you would not be far wrong. Other waiters were similarly surly to other diners and I will not waste time with "Seaday Brunch" again if even the wait staff do not want to be there. In contrast, our MDR wait staff has been excellent. More details later. If you have a question, let me know and glad to check on something if I can. Tommy

I am near Charleston and I can agree that it will likely have little immediate effect on Charleston businesses since it is so busy with tourists anyway. However, when people find out I am from SC, they usually know of either Charleston or Myrtle Beach. I am very proud of Charleston and is a beautiful and historic city with tons to see and do as well as unbelievable food. I believe it is an ideal port of call and should be a home port. There is no other US home port I would encourage someone to come a day early or stay a day later but someone just passing through Charleston is really missing out. I hope a deal will be worked out and I would love to see more lines make Charleston a home port. it is worth noting that most people from SC say they are from SC but people from Charleston usually first say they are from Charleston with SC being only secondary. 🙂. I have heard many times that true Charlestonians do not consider anyone FROM Charleston till you are at least 3rd generation there.

Plus the ones from the bar tend to have excessive dihydrogen monoxide added. Always ask for the dihydrogen monoxide free version.

Horizon is my favorite ship from all cruise lines (except Disney of course). Awesome ship, awesome food, awesome options and full size IMAX theater I loved. ‘One note though, I think cruisinqt above meant Guy’s Pig and Anchor Bar. The Guys Burgers is the same as other ships but the Pig and Anchor Bar is as he described and really cool. Note - on embarkation day and sea days, P&A has a free buffet! Go through the restaurant onto the deck and turn left. You can eat outside or inside. Saw people ordering food (at extra charge) who did not realize it was free right outside.

Although Sunshine and Sunrise might have been sister ships at one time, there are not now. You can compare them on Carnival’s site side by side. One comment on the Elation cruise we took after Christmas 2021 was the bathroom doors in public areas. They had “auto” doors that you open or close with a push button. They did not work. So people were forever going in them and then the ship would rock a tiny bit and the door would swing open, leaving women especially sitting on the toilet staring at the other passengers. Door lights that were to say occupied or vacant seldom worked right so when someone used the manual method to open the door, it was hit or miss if it was empty. Funny to watch but not so funny for those involved.

We will be on Sunshine June 6 so anxious to read more. Your comments were great and fair. ADA rooms on a floor with little to no elevator service is very poor planning and operation and something Carnival should address. Thankfully we will be on Deck 3 and are not disabled. At least 1 elevator to an ADA cabin should always be in service. odd that there would be plumbing problems as described on a high deck. I would have thought gravity would take care of that.

We were on Elation after Christmas 2021. I had been on Horizon and MSC a few months before. I was very disappointed in Elation. It felt old and small (because it was). Daughter and boyfriend went on Sunshine in Feb 2022 and raved about the good food. We are going on Sunshine in about 12 days. Went on Sunshine before and it was okay then but with the dry dock, I am excited about it. Many options on Sunshine are similar to Horizon (JiJi Asian, Mongolian Wok, Havana lounge, etc) so hands down Sunshine is preferred. Last 2 cruises have been on Liberty and were nice but I am expecting Sunshine to meet or exceed Liberty. my advice is Sunshine. I would probably not cruise before I went on Elation again.

Also keep in mind that if you are like me, you might go through your gambling pretty quick. I have sat at a slot machine and waited for a server and when one finally came, ordered my drink and waited and by the time they brought the drink, I had already lost all I planned to lose at that sitting. So I have learned to find server before I sit down and often will wait to really play until I get my drink (ie just go really slow). It can be really frustrating depending on the number of servers on duty or how busy they are. But it is free so....

Thanks. That is one of my bigger pet peeves! People who use speakerphones in a crowd! 🤬 I always want to walk around them blowing a whistle or making poot noises or something. Maybe now with COVID, just have a fake coughng attack. It is one thing if you are face timing but people who use speakerphone in public are the reason so many business have a "no cell phone" policy.

We will be on the Sunshine June 6. Anyone been on the Sunshine recently and bought internet? I am especially interested in being able to make/receive calls (using various apps or Facebook, Zoom, etc) I am only interested in the Sunshine, not how it is/was on other ships. Please as much detail as possible and not just a “it sucked” comment.

If Allstate is out of the e-cards go to AARP.