just off the Sunshine

[nowendy]

Just got home from a week on the Sunshine to Freeport etc.... Any questions?

[golfadj]

How did you like the ship and itinerary?

[Uturnalley]

Which nights were the formal nights

[kcwingwalker]

Did you have a good time?

[OCruisers]

Would you cruise on Sunshine again?

[leedm]

Please comment on you veiw of the ship pro and con. There have been some recent comments of how some people did not enjoy the ship........

 

Thanks

[ret2go]

Do you have a Fun Times to upload or e-mail? :-)

[golfadj]

Hmmm wonder if op plans to come back.

[Colorado Kat]

Did you find the common areas very crowded? Adding the extra cabins added many more people on the ship.

[spider928]

Please comment on you veiw of the ship pro and con. There have been some recent comments of how some people did not enjoy the ship........

 

Thanks

 

Just got off the sunshine today (12/8) and this is my take on the cruise. My wife and I loved the 2.o upgrade but like some reviewers have said "They have too many people on the same vessel." People were everywhere and it was difficult to EVER get a seat for the theater. This is our seventh cruise on carnival and first time we could not find a quiet place away from the crowd.

 

We constantly ran into buckets on the floors to catch the constant dripping from the fire sprinkler system. They were all over the ship. Our toilet quit working twice and we had to call maintenance. Our A/C just stopped and again maintenance was involved. The crew seemed apathetic and either new or disinterested in going out of their way. Dining room personnel were a little better.

 

We love Carnival but believe they need to fully test the vessel before putting it out to cruise passengers. They had the outdoor movie but no popcorn. Every time they plugged in the popcorn machine, it blew a fuse and would not work.

 

We are a senior couple who as I said have sailed carnival 7 times and 31 cruises all together. We say they made an older ship look pretty with nice amenities which we loved but just too many people on an old ship, Just my two cents.

[gregg204]

We constantly ran into buckets on the floors to catch the constant dripping from the fire sprinkler system. They were all over the ship. Our toilet quit working twice and we had to call maintenance. Our A/C just stopped and again maintenance was involved. The crew seemed apathetic and either new or disinterested in going out of their way. Dining room personnel were a little better.

We love Carnival but believe they need to fully test the vessel before putting it out to cruise passengers. They had the outdoor movie but no popcorn. Every time they plugged in the popcorn machine, it blew a fuse and would not work.

I'd sure love to know where these buckets are. I cruised the Sunshine a few weeks ago and could not find one bucket. BTW Spider this is your 2nd post so hope hope you don't mind but I copied and will paste your 1st post from 3 years ago...

"Just got off the Radiance 11 nt Mexican Riviera cruise on Mar 5 and the problems are still not corrected. Our stateroom 9564 had foul odors in bathroom for total cruise. Toilet would not flush for several hours on 3 occasions. Each time they responded they "were working on the problem". Saw lots of maintenance men & fans on other decks. Beautiful ship with many plumbing issues"

Sounds familiar.

[golfadj]

I'd sure love to know where these buckets are. I cruised the Sunshine a few weeks ago and could not find one bucket. BTW Spider this is your 2nd post so hope hope you don't mind but I copied and will paste your 1st post from 3 years ago...

"Just got off the Radiance 11 nt Mexican Riviera cruise on Mar 5 and the problems are still not corrected. Our stateroom 9564 had foul odors in bathroom for total cruise. Toilet would not flush for several hours on 3 occasions. Each time they responded they "were working on the problem". Saw lots of maintenance men & fans on other decks. Beautiful ship with many plumbing issues"

Sounds familiar.

 

Friends of ours did the TA and they reported quite a few buckets in the hallways.

[gregg204]

Friends of ours did the TA and they reported quite a few buckets in the hallways.

 

I defiantly agree they were there at one time but we explored most of the ship had group members on all but 1 or 2 floors and none of us saw the famous buckets.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic app

[rolltidebama]

Hi everyone. I was also on this Sunshine cruise that arrived back in New Orleans yesterday. There were buckets at various places on the ship. I was on deck 6 and there was a bucket a few doors down from me the entire cruise. I honestly paid no attention to it and it didn't affect my cruise one bit. I loved all the 2.0 upgrades. In my opinion, dinners on the lido were very disappointing. My family prefers the lido and are usually able to find plenty of choices. Most nights I ate a sandwich or pizza. The desserts for the first time were very dry. Again these things didn't ruin my cruise though. The new Bonsai Sushi was excellent. I never had trouble getting a seat for the shows. I just always showed up on time so there was never an issue. Just my humble opinion!! :)

[dane225]

We were on the Sunshine for Thanksgiving and had a great cruise. We loved The Havana Bar, Cucina Del Capitano and Ji Ji's. The Serenity deck was fabulous. Our only complaints were the Liquid Lounge being smaller than most other ships. We arrived early for the shows, but it got very crowded. They had to re-schedule a show due to weather and only had one show during the day and people were standing everywhere. The other complaint was our toilet not working for the most part of the last sea day. There were several toilets not working all over the ship that day. We had to go to different restrooms to try to find a working toilet. They finally got them fixed that afternoon. We did not see any buckets at all catching water. The ship did seem to be more crowded than other ships, but overall we had a great cruise. We loved the decor on this ship. It was very toned down compared to a lot of the other Carnival ships.

[leedm]

Thanks for all the comments. Did anyone have a cabin on deck 8? If so any cabin problems?

Thanks

[Sargent_Schultz]

Thanks for all the comments. Did anyone have a cabin on deck 8? If so any cabin problems?

Thanks

 

We stayed on deck 8 last May and no problems and will be on Deck 8 again in Feb.

 

On our Nov 18th Carnival Sunshine cruise I could find no buckets anywhere. Someone told me of buckets on Deck 8 and I went to check out and there were none. When I asked them later about it, they said they had been removed the leaks moved. Go figure.

 

I'm not worried about it. I know some of the characters that were on the Transatlantic and some of their tendencies.

[leedm]

We stayed on deck 8 last May and no problems and will be on Deck 8 again in Feb.

 

On our Nov 18th Carnival Sunshine cruise I could find no buckets anywhere. Someone told me of buckets on Deck 8 and I went to check out and there were none. When I asked them later about it, they said they had been removed the leaks moved. Go figure.

 

I'm not worried about it. I know some of the characters that were on the Transatlantic and some of their tendencies.

 

Sargent Schultz, will you be on the Bloggers Cruise Feb 2014, we are

[Sargent_Schultz]

Sargent Schultz, will you be on the Bloggers Cruise Feb 2014, we are

 

Yes, we will!

[nowendy]

First of all we enjoyed the Sunshine and would go back, but of course we enjoy cruising.

We got to the port of New Orleans around 11 AM. The crowd was not bad by this time, but we were very disappointed with the check in process. On this day they did not have a VIP line. We were told to get in line with everyone else. Passports and boarding passes were checked and then we got into the VIP line to go thru security. The VIP lounge has been redone and they had more customer service reps and the space looks larger, but it was more unorganized than before.

 

Now on to the ship. We had a room on the 6th floor. If you are booking an inside room be careful. I didn't know that they have a middle section inside the inside rooms. I thought MIL would be across the hall from us, but she was around the corner from us. We did have adjoining rooms with my son and that was nice. I was still getting lost on my last day. LOVED the room. It must be one of the new additions (6195 & 6197) it was the largest room that we ever had for an inside room. It was more squared than in the past. Carnival finally moved that darn corner piece that if you had a king size bed that you had to crawl over to get out of the bed. It now have a little cube that you can move to wherever you want to. It just seemed like we had more room in this room. Now in 6216 my MIL said that she could hear the noise from the casino and def. the smoke filtered up the stairway from the casino. They were not too happy about this because she has lung problems, but didn't complain to anyone about it. The air conditioning worked just fine and now they have a control on the wall to adjust the air to your liking. The hair dryer is plugged into the top drawer which was nice because it didn't use your outlet. By the way they now have 2 120 volt plugs in the room.

 

The ship is very tasteful. It is more on the modern side. We liked it. I didn't find the ship to be overcrowed but we mainly were by Guy's hamburgers and the Red Frog on the Lido. In the mornings when they didn't have brunch we would get our food and eat in the Havanna Bar, which wasn't as crowded as the Marketplace.

 

Food: Loved Guys and the Blue Iguna , Brunch left a lot to be desired. The steak was not too good. The first morning it was tough and the second morning it was tender, but both morning it had no taste. I feel bad that so much food was wasted but it had not taste to it. DH had the pork chop an said it was OK. DS had the mac and cheese and enjoyed that. DH and wife went to the steak house and LOVED it but another night they went to Ji Ji and hated it. They said another couple was there also and they left and went eat at the buffett. We got some pasta from the Italian restaurant during the day and it was very good. The pizza is now thin crust and was very good.

 

Serenity deck was very nice. Yes the noise from the lido deck rises up to you but it didn't bother us very much. The hammocks were always full. It was nice to watch the big screen from there.

 

Yes we did have a bucket on the 6th floor. Not much water in it, but it was there so I guess they still have a problem.

 

DH and son were on the Cheers program and yes they were cut off when they reached 15. Neither one was drunk at the time but that didn't matter, no more for you...... Not a problem because when they reached the 15 they had enough, but I know some people wanted to know.....Also one thing that surprised me both of them had to go on one sign and sail. I didn't think this was right because everyone budgets for what they think their charges will be. It may cause a problem for some especially if you are rooming with someone that may not be good at paying their share. Again, just letting you know how it works. We even went to purser's office and asked them to split it and they said they couldn't split it while on the ship because then the cheers program wouldn't work. I just checked my cc and they did split it now that we are off the ship.

 

As far as the ports. Key West we did the hop on hop off tour. It was very interesting and then we shopped our way back to the ship on Duval st. DS and wife walked to the Southernmost point with no problem.

 

Freeport we just stayed at the port area. They had a few shops there and had live music.

 

Nassau we went to the Straw Market and then walked to Junkaroo Beach.. The beach had a few little buildings that had drinks and food. All of these had a few tables and chairs in front of them that you could sit at. Also you could rent lounge chairs for $8 ea. A lot of people just brought their towels and sat on that. It is a small beach but wasn't crowded.

 

I do have to say that all the vendors in Freeport and Nassau were very nice. We weren't badgered at all. A simple no thank you was fine.

 

Overall we had a good trip and enjoyed the ship. I just find that overall the food in the dining room has gone done in taste and quality. None of the workers were rude, just not as friendly as they were on other ships. We only saw our room stewart one time, but our room was always clean and spotless. He kept our small ice chest filled each day.

 

The VIP gift was the tumbler for some and the new bag for some. I guess they are going thru their inventory.

 

Sorry if I rambled on, any other questions just ask

[crazyboutdisney]

They allowed your husband to be on cheers and you didnt have to be? Just curious if they changed this. When we sailed last January everyone in your cabin had to do the cheers.

[leedm]

Thanks for the review, did you see of the "you see them" "you don't see them" buckets? LOL Did you have a chance to go to the liquid lounge and shows,,,,what did you think?

 

Thanks

[djacobson]

I'd sure love to know where these buckets are. I cruised the Sunshine a few weeks ago and could not find one bucket. BTW Spider this is your 2nd post so hope hope you don't mind but I copied and will paste your 1st post from 3 years ago...

"Just got off the Radiance 11 nt Mexican Riviera cruise on Mar 5 and the problems are still not corrected. Our stateroom 9564 had foul odors in bathroom for total cruise. Toilet would not flush for several hours on 3 occasions. Each time they responded they "were working on the problem". Saw lots of maintenance men & fans on other decks. Beautiful ship with many plumbing issues"

Sounds familiar.

 

One of the buckets was just off the forward elevators on deck 9, near the stairs. It was there for several days and the ceiling tile above where the bucket was had water damage.

[djacobson]

Which nights were the formal nights

 

The cruise elegant nights were on Monday and Friday.

[djacobson]

I'd sure love to know where these buckets are. I cruised the Sunshine a few weeks ago and could not find one bucket. BTW Spider this is your 2nd post so hope hope you don't mind but I copied and will paste your 1st post from 3 years ago...

"Just got off the Radiance 11 nt Mexican Riviera cruise on Mar 5 and the problems are still not corrected. Our stateroom 9564 had foul odors in bathroom for total cruise. Toilet would not flush for several hours on 3 occasions. Each time they responded they "were working on the problem". Saw lots of maintenance men & fans on other decks. Beautiful ship with many plumbing issues"

Sounds familiar.

 

I forgot to address the popcorn machine incident. Both of the machines went out. The employee trying to serve the popcorn was very frustrated.

 

One thing that happened that was unusual was during one of the family friendly comedy shows in the Limelight Lounge. The comedian, John Mulrooney, was heckled by a 10 year old girl and unfortunately did not gain control during his set until security made the girl move to the other side of the stage to join her mother. Then a woman made a noise like a screeching cat and left the room. The comedian made a comment and a member of the woman's family told the comedian that she had Tourette syndrome. Then another person explained to the comedian that tourette's was "a nervous tick". Never saw such a train wreck in a comedy show.

 

The good? JiJi's Asian Kitchen! Well worth the $12 for a great dinner. During lunch time, it serves as a stir fry wok station, which is free, but the evening dinner was the best I had on the cruise! The Cucina de Captaino has a pasta bar at lunch which was also excellent. Other places for lunch to try are the Blue Iguana burritos and Guy's burgers (usually a long line there). Also the Havana Bar, which has empanadas which were very good. For sushi lovers, Bonsai Sushi looked pretty good also. I heard people complain about the food, but I think the complaints last week came from people who limited themselves to the Lido buffet.

 

Other good points: a very personable and people oriented cruise director, Jaime. I liked the decor of several areas of the ship. On Lido deck, there is a photo history of the Destiny. The gym was very well equipped and Deck 14, Serenity deck has great places to relax.