Just off Carnival Sunshine- The Good and The Not so Good

[MarathonMama629]

We went on the March 16th to Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. It was my parents, me and my boyfriend, and my 4 1/2 year old son. I don't know if I'll write a full report, but I know I loved reading people's reviews so thought I'd add mine! This list is in no particular order.

 

The Good:

Wassana in the my time dining room was a GREAT waitress! Request her! She would bring out multiple entrees each meal and multiple appetizers. Her recommendations were always spot on!

 

Spa staterooms rock! We had balcony room 11035. Nobody to our right, nobody below, nobody above. Very private balcony. Right next to Serenity. Access to the thermal suite was super awesome! We used the stone loungers daily. Beautiful view! We liked the aromatherapy steam room as well.

 

I was chosen as a model for the spa tour. I got a free facial that lasted an hour and a half!

 

Curly was in Camp Carnival where my 4 year old went. She was super sweet to him. He loved her! My son had a great time in Camp Carnival. He would whine about going in, but then had a great time.

 

My son loved going to Cherry on Top to get candy each day. I bribed him with it to take pictures each night before dinner. We initially bought him a little canister full of candy. Each day we would get a bag and put it in the canister and he could get that much candy. It would be like $2-3 to fill it. Good deal!

 

The cakepops at the Lido buffet were delicious!

 

The cell phone they give you if you have a young child in Camp Carnival was super convenient. Loved that.

 

The photographers did a great job taking pics of my son. It cost me a fortune!

 

The food in the Main Dining room was excellent! There were always several things that looked good each night. Thanks to Wasanna we tried them all! You have to get the bacon mac n cheese the last night! To die for!

 

The Alchemy Bar had awesome drinks! We got some every night before dinner!

 

We had a couples massage on the last sea day and it was wonderful.

 

The Cheers program made everything very convenient. Sometimes I would get a drink and hate it, I just waited 5 minutes and got a new one.

 

The Havana bar was always quick and had good service!

 

Sit in the Havana bar area to eat when you want to eat on Lido. It's never crowded! Plus our family always knew where to look because we always were able to get the same general seating area.

 

Omelettes every day were so delicious!!!

 

Our stateroom steward knew our names and was awesome! She always hugged my son and made sure to put the towel animals on his bunk sometimes!

 

They were stickering chairs that had been claimed by people and the people weren't there. Yay for that!

 

My son loved the two little slides that he could go on in the Waterworks area. Great fun for the little ones.

 

My son got his face painted twice in Camp Carnival. It was super adorable both times.

 

Took the $5 bus to Dr. Cave's beach in Jamaica. Beautiful beach, sand, water. Loved it! Would definitely go back!

 

Did the Stingrays and turtles through Carnival in Cayman. My son LOVED the turtle farm. I highly recommend it for kids in that age group. He loved the tank he could get in and hold turtles. We also swam in the pool there and it was really nice to get out of the salt water and in to fresh water for awhile!

 

We rented a dune buggy in Cozumel and drove around the island the back way. Took it over to Chankanaab and did a dolphin swim we booked on our own. It was AMAZING! My son was too young to book through Carnival. Booking through them, we were able to have my son in the water and he did the interaction except the swim. This was so much fun! It was just the 5 of us in our group which made it even better.

 

The comedy club was fun!

 

The rock show was awesome!

 

Guys burgers were delicious. So were the fries. One day I got a plate of just fries and took them back to the cabin to enjoy on the balcony.

 

The jogging track was 10 laps for a mile. It wasn't crowded in the mornings at all.

 

The mini golf, giant checkers, and foosball were all lots of fun for my little guy.

 

Hasbro show was really fun! I was chosen for the early show, my parents went again to the late show and my dad was chosen. I was really glad that they didn't just pick a family of four. It was great the way they chose the participants.

 

They showed Hunger Games on the big screen one night. Boyfriend and I watched it from a Serenity pod lounger. Maybe the best night of the cruise!

 

The burrito bar was probably the best thing to get for lunch. Had it like 4 days! The breakfast burritos were good too.

 

Our closet had a bunch of hangers in it. Must of been from past guests too. That was super handy.

 

Staff all seemed to be pretty friendly. Exceptions will be listed below.

 

The other guests on the ship were all pretty nice!

 

The sky course was scary, but fun.

 

The Not so Good:

 

My son measured tall enough at the bottom of waterworks, but not at the top. That made him pretty sad.

 

The Alchemy bartender griped me out for grabbing my drink before she was done. Just an FYI, don't grab it till it's on "your half" of the bar.

 

Camp Carnival was closed during things I really wanted to do. Such as the love show or whatever they call that newlywed show. I didn't get to go on this cruise.

 

People would slam the door to serenity starting super early in the morning and you could hear it really bad in our room.

 

The fog horn blew all night the last night. That was also really loud in our room.

 

The first night at my time dining, we had a terrible waitress and they sat our group of five at a booth with a chair on the end. We didn't fit at all. It was ridiculous. We told them after that not to seat us like that and it was fine.

 

The picture places were closed when the signs said they would be open.

 

The Camp Carnival counselors always told you Camp would close 15 minutes before it really did. They also said it was closed from 4:45-7. Really it was 5-6. 6-7 was dinner on Lido deck, but they NEVER told you this. We only knew because of the schedule. They just told us we needed to be back at 4:45 and the club would reopen at 7. They were kind of rude and it frustrated me. However, they were great with my son!

 

There were tons of teenagers on the ship and they would sit in the hall outside of O2. They would block the entire hall and not even move their legs when we would walk through. Perhaps if O2 was open more often they would have somewhere to go.

 

There was a huge pileup of people trying to get off in Cozumel. We had gone down early to get in line. Then they let a ton of people in off another staircase who weren't in line. There were mixed answers as to why they were first, some said platinum, some said they had excursions. Other people with early excursions were not let off with that group. Overall, I would recommend you wait 20 minutes after they start letting people off to get off. Avoid the crowd.

 

The piano bar was in a small room and was super loud! We only lasted a few minutes then left. On the Magic the setup was way better!

 

The pictures are way too expensive. I knew this going in, but I wish they would change the prices.

 

Deck 11 and 12 where our cabin and my parents cabin were only had 2 elevators. This was hard on my dad who can't do the stairs. I was able to go down to deck 10 where there are tons of elevators. Just something to consider if booking a spa cabin.

 

The salsa bar was awesome on lido, but it would be cool if there were chips. No chips to be found.

 

It would be nice if there was a pool that was a bit more shallow for the little ones. All my son could do were the two slides on waterworks for little kids. I let him go in the hot tub a few times when there were kids in there. I felt bad that the hot tubs were always full of kids, but if I saw kids I figured he may as well get in too.

 

The comedy club is ridiculously small. We were early and got the last two seats at the back of the room. We had to watch the show on a tv on the wall. Then there was no door at the entrance and some workers were standing in the hall talking. It was so loud we couldn't hear the show. Finally my boyfriend had to go ask them to quiet down.

 

We got a free metabolism test because of the spa room. Although we learned some stuff, it was basically a one hour time suck of a sales pitch for their cleanse products.

 

I can't think of anything else off the top of my head. Let me know if you have any questions. Overall, we loved the Sunshine. I've previously been on Magic and Triumph as well as a Disney ship. My boyfriend had been on RCCL. He though RCCL was better, but enjoyed Carnival as well. We booked an 8 night on the Breeze for next spring break.

Edited March 25, 2014 by MarathonMama629

[Seago2]

Thanks for your pros and cons! Sounds like you had a really good time. I agree, the fog horn can drive you crazy after a while. Welcome home.

[lmtrn2001]

Thanks for your thoughts!! We leave for the Repositioning Cruise in 10 days!! Can't wait!!

 

What type of transportation did you use to get to the port? Did you stay in NOLA the night before your cruise & Where? We are coming in the day before & staying in Metairie & are still trying to work out transportation to the port.

[MarathonMama629]

Thanks for your thoughts!! We leave for the Repositioning Cruise in 10 days!! Can't wait!!

 

What type of transportation did you use to get to the port? Did you stay in NOLA the night before your cruise & Where? We are coming in the day before & staying in Metairie & are still trying to work out transportation to the port.

 

We actually stayed in Metairie. We stayed at the Residence Inn there because it had free parking for the duration of the cruise. We had planned on one person dropping us off, then going to drop off the car and taking a cab back. However, we decided that would be a huge pain and ended up just parking at the port. We got there around 10:30, checked in and got right on the ship. It was awesome!

[cruizinisthebest]

Thanks for your review. Very thorough! Can't wait for my turn. It's a good and a bad thing to book well in advance! The wait is killing me!

[bar1068]

Thanks for your thoughts!! We leave for the Repositioning Cruise in 10 days!! Can't wait!!

 

What type of transportation did you use to get to the port? Did you stay in NOLA the night before your cruise & Where? We are coming in the day before & staying in Metairie & are still trying to work out transportation to the port.

 

Booked on the repo cruise as well....we are planning to take a cab from our hotel to the port on Sunday morning.

 

Here's a link if you've not see in with some other transportation info around NOLA

 

http://www.neworleansairportshuttle.com

[lmtrn2001]

Booked on the repo cruise as well....we are planning to take a cab from our hotel to the port on Sunday morning.

 

Here's a link if you've not see in with some other transportation info around NOLA

 

http://www.neworleansairportshuttle.com

 

Yeah, that is one option we are looking at but we will have to go back to the airport from the hotel to catch the shuttle. Hotel does offer a free airport shuttle but not a fan of loading, unloading, loading, unloading luggage.

[goingcrzn11]

My family was on this cruise too. Wassana was awesome.

I only saw the cakepops on day one. They were good.

In Cozumel those with the mainland tours were told to meet at 930 so that we could be the first ones off the ship. I think most of those tours are 7 hours long and the ferry ride took 45 minutes each way.

Next time we are in Cozumel I want to do the Dune buggy tour. It looks like a blast.

[Jamman54]

Thanks for posting your thoughts, both good and not so good. Very helpful!! The Sunshine is on our to do list.

[Jackie722]

The excursion in Cozumel, who did u use for the doone buggy? Loved your review. Thanks for sharing.

 

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[Jackie722]

Dunebuggy thru ship or outside

 

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[heatherbelle]

I see things don't change with the teens then:D.

[deltahog]

The salsa bar was awesome on lido, but it would be cool if there were chips. No chips to be found.

 

 

Um, what? What were you supposed to eat the salsa with?

[dawnjam1]

Can you please tell me what the height restrictions were at the top of the slides that were different? I have my petite 6 year old who is dying to do Waterworks. She is at least 43' but I want to make sure I am prepared to prepare like a Mamma has to sometimes! LOL!

[MsMot]

We went on the March 16th to Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. It was my parents, me and my boyfriend, and my 4 1/2 year old son. I don't know if I'll write a full report, but I know I loved reading people's reviews so thought I'd add mine! This list is in no particular order.

 

The Good:

Wassana in the my time dining room was a GREAT waitress! Request her! She would bring out multiple entrees each meal and multiple appetizers. Her recommendations were always spot on!

 

Spa staterooms rock! We had balcony room 11035. Nobody to our right, nobody below, nobody above. Very private balcony. Right next to Serenity. Access to the thermal suite was super awesome! We used the stone loungers daily. Beautiful view! We liked the aromatherapy steam room as well.

 

I was chosen as a model for the spa tour. I got a free facial that lasted an hour and a half!

 

Curly was in Camp Carnival where my 4 year old went. She was super sweet to him. He loved her! My son had a great time in Camp Carnival. He would whine about going in, but then had a great time.

 

My son loved going to Cherry on Top to get candy each day. I bribed him with it to take pictures each night before dinner. We initially bought him a little canister full of candy. Each day we would get a bag and put it in the canister and he could get that much candy. It would be like $2-3 to fill it. Good deal!

 

The cakepops at the Lido buffet were delicious!

 

The cell phone they give you if you have a young child in Camp Carnival was super convenient. Loved that.

 

The photographers did a great job taking pics of my son. It cost me a fortune!

 

The food in the Main Dining room was excellent! There were always several things that looked good each night. Thanks to Wasanna we tried them all! You have to get the bacon mac n cheese the last night! To die for!

 

The Alchemy Bar had awesome drinks! We got some every night before dinner!

 

We had a couples massage on the last sea day and it was wonderful.

 

The Cheers program made everything very convenient. Sometimes I would get a drink and hate it, I just waited 5 minutes and got a new one.

 

The Havana bar was always quick and had good service!

 

Sit in the Havana bar area to eat when you want to eat on Lido. It's never crowded! Plus our family always knew where to look because we always were able to get the same general seating area.

 

Omelettes every day were so delicious!!!

 

Our stateroom steward knew our names and was awesome! She always hugged my son and made sure to put the towel animals on his bunk sometimes!

 

They were stickering chairs that had been claimed by people and the people weren't there. Yay for that!

 

My son loved the two little slides that he could go on in the Waterworks area. Great fun for the little ones.

 

My son got his face painted twice in Camp Carnival. It was super adorable both times.

 

Took the $5 bus to Dr. Cave's beach in Jamaica. Beautiful beach, sand, water. Loved it! Would definitely go back!

 

Did the Stingrays and turtles through Carnival in Cayman. My son LOVED the turtle farm. I highly recommend it for kids in that age group. He loved the tank he could get in and hold turtles. We also swam in the pool there and it was really nice to get out of the salt water and in to fresh water for awhile!

 

We rented a dune buggy in Cozumel and drove around the island the back way. Took it over to Chankanaab and did a dolphin swim we booked on our own. It was AMAZING! My son was too young to book through Carnival. Booking through them, we were able to have my son in the water and he did the interaction except the swim. This was so much fun! It was just the 5 of us in our group which made it even better.

 

The comedy club was fun!

 

The rock show was awesome!

 

Guys burgers were delicious. So were the fries. One day I got a plate of just fries and took them back to the cabin to enjoy on the balcony.

 

The jogging track was 10 laps for a mile. It wasn't crowded in the mornings at all.

 

The mini golf, giant checkers, and foosball were all lots of fun for my little guy.

 

Hasbro show was really fun! I was chosen for the early show, my parents went again to the late show and my dad was chosen. I was really glad that they didn't just pick a family of four. It was great the way they chose the participants.

 

They showed Hunger Games on the big screen one night. Boyfriend and I watched it from a Serenity pod lounger. Maybe the best night of the cruise!

 

The burrito bar was probably the best thing to get for lunch. Had it like 4 days! The breakfast burritos were good too.

 

Our closet had a bunch of hangers in it. Must of been from past guests too. That was super handy.

 

Staff all seemed to be pretty friendly. Exceptions will be listed below.

 

The other guests on the ship were all pretty nice!

 

The sky course was scary, but fun.

 

The Not so Good:

 

My son measured tall enough at the bottom of waterworks, but not at the top. That made him pretty sad.

 

The Alchemy bartender griped me out for grabbing my drink before she was done. Just an FYI, don't grab it till it's on "your half" of the bar.

 

Camp Carnival was closed during things I really wanted to do. Such as the love show or whatever they call that newlywed show. I didn't get to go on this cruise.

 

People would slam the door to serenity starting super early in the morning and you could hear it really bad in our room.

 

The fog horn blew all night the last night. That was also really loud in our room.

 

The first night at my time dining, we had a terrible waitress and they sat our group of five at a booth with a chair on the end. We didn't fit at all. It was ridiculous. We told them after that not to seat us like that and it was fine.

 

The picture places were closed when the signs said they would be open.

 

The Camp Carnival counselors always told you Camp would close 15 minutes before it really did. They also said it was closed from 4:45-7. Really it was 5-6. 6-7 was dinner on Lido deck, but they NEVER told you this. We only knew because of the schedule. They just told us we needed to be back at 4:45 and the club would reopen at 7. They were kind of rude and it frustrated me. However, they were great with my son!

 

There were tons of teenagers on the ship and they would sit in the hall outside of O2. They would block the entire hall and not even move their legs when we would walk through. Perhaps if O2 was open more often they would have somewhere to go.

 

There was a huge pileup of people trying to get off in Cozumel. We had gone down early to get in line. Then they let a ton of people in off another staircase who weren't in line. There were mixed answers as to why they were first, some said platinum, some said they had excursions. Other people with early excursions were not let off with that group. Overall, I would recommend you wait 20 minutes after they start letting people off to get off. Avoid the crowd.

 

The piano bar was in a small room and was super loud! We only lasted a few minutes then left. On the Magic the setup was way better!

 

The pictures are way too expensive. I knew this going in, but I wish they would change the prices.

 

Deck 11 and 12 where our cabin and my parents cabin were only had 2 elevators. This was hard on my dad who can't do the stairs. I was able to go down to deck 10 where there are tons of elevators. Just something to consider if booking a spa cabin.

 

The salsa bar was awesome on lido, but it would be cool if there were chips. No chips to be found.

 

It would be nice if there was a pool that was a bit more shallow for the little ones. All my son could do were the two slides on waterworks for little kids. I let him go in the hot tub a few times when there were kids in there. I felt bad that the hot tubs were always full of kids, but if I saw kids I figured he may as well get in too.

 

The comedy club is ridiculously small. We were early and got the last two seats at the back of the room. We had to watch the show on a tv on the wall. Then there was no door at the entrance and some workers were standing in the hall talking. It was so loud we couldn't hear the show. Finally my boyfriend had to go ask them to quiet down.

 

We got a free metabolism test because of the spa room. Although we learned some stuff, it was basically a one hour time suck of a sales pitch for their cleanse products.

 

I can't think of anything else off the top of my head. Let me know if you have any questions. Overall, we loved the Sunshine. I've previously been on Magic and Triumph as well as a Disney ship. My boyfriend had been on RCCL. He though RCCL was better, but enjoyed Carnival as well. We booked an 8 night on the Breeze for next spring break.

 

You're joking right?:rolleyes:

Edited March 28, 2014 by MsMot

[sailingwithfriends]

I was wondering what MsMot means by "Your joking right?"

[workingstiff]

I was wondering what MsMot means by "Your joking right?"

Maybe the "can't think of anything else" part after a pretty comprehensive review?

[Waterloomarc]

I'm also wondering what you're supposed to eat the salsa with if there are no chips?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[joepeka]

I'm also wondering what you're supposed to eat the salsa with if there are no chips?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

That occurred to me as well! ;)

[Dazzies]

I'm guessing the salsa is to be used as a condiment for the burritos, etc. Also, I think MsMot meant you're joking about letting kids in the hot tub. I could be wrong. Thanks for the review! We are going on the Sunshine in May.

 

 

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[geovet]

What are cake pops?

[Cushing985]

I was wondering what MsMot means by "Your joking right?"

 

She highlighted (darker shade of blue) the part talking about kids in the hot tub. Took me awhile to find it.

[annawanX2]

Does the outdoor theater have those plastic rocking chairs on the deck? We were on the

Glory last year and they had them. Thanks!

[keishashadow]

Nice balanced mini tr. how early did u line up for comedy club show. Seems to be wildly popular but not able to handle the crowds. Don't want to miss out

 

 

 

 

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[j4farm]

That occurred to me as well! ;)

 

 

The one on the Breeze was right by the Blue Iguana Cantina, so I suppose you were supposed to use it on your burrito or tacos. But why wouldn't they keep chips out there to go along with the Mexican fare??? I put this on my survey after our cruise.