The Sunshine is the worst rated ship in Carnival's fleet

[Pete C]

Week after week reviews come in complaining about the same issues on the Sunshine. These seem to be the main complaints:

 

• Sewage smell in rooms
  
• Sewage smell on decks/Liquid Lounge
  
• Shower flooding
  
• Toilet issues
  
• Drips in hallways
  

 

There are complaints about service/food as well, but that is subjective.

 

All Carnival ships have at least a 4 star average, but the 61% "Loved It" rating puts the Sunshine 10 whole percentage points below the next lowest ship, the Splendor at 71%. So it has more sub-4 star reviews than any other. It is lower rated than the "Destiny" itself.

 

Do you think Carnival will do anything to address these issues?

[spotte]

Week after week reviews come in complaining about the same issues on the Sunshine. These seem to be the main complaints:

 

• Sewage smell in rooms
  
• Sewage smell on decks/Liquid Lounge
  
• Shower flooding
  
• Toilet issues
  
• Drips in hallways
  

 

There are complaints about service/food as well, but that is subjective.

 

All Carnival ships have at least a 4 star average, but the 61% "Loved It" rating puts the Sunshine 10 whole percentage points below the next lowest ship, the Splendor at 71%. So it has more sub-4 star reviews than any other. It is lower rated than the "Destiny" itself.

 

Do you think Carnival will do anything to address these issues?

 

While the ship did seem to have a multitude of problems when it first came into service, I think Carnival HAS addressed these issues. I sailed on the Sunshine in February and did not experience any problems as you have described. There are only very limited reports of problems at this time and all ships, not just Carnival's, have reports of occasional sewage smells. I think that is pretty common and not much in the way to prevent it, if you know what I mean. Since I do not see that you have actually sailing the Sunshine, I will presume you are only trying to "stir the pot". Move on, this horse is dead.

[okgirl]

Week after week reviews come in complaining about the same issues on the Sunshine. These seem to be the main complaints:

 

• Sewage smell in rooms
  
• Sewage smell on decks/Liquid Lounge
  
• Shower flooding
  
• Toilet issues
  
• Drips in hallways
  

 

There are complaints about service/food as well, but that is subjective.

 

All Carnival ships have at least a 4 star average, but the 61% "Loved It" rating puts the Sunshine 10 whole percentage points below the next lowest ship, the Splendor at 71%. So it has more sub-4 star reviews than any other. It is lower rated than the "Destiny" itself.

 

Do you think Carnival will do anything to address these issues?

 

Carnival has already addressed these issues.

 

I don't put much weight on negative reviews.........especially not after reading how these issues are not uncommon on all ships.....and how many reviews I'm reading currently that these issues specifically on the Sunshine have been resolved.

 

I was on the Sunshine 6 weeks ago, and never saw or experienced any of the things that you listed......

 

I have sailed on 17 different Carnival ships and have noticed the occasional odor, malfunctioning toilet or shower..........but it's not a systemic problem or unique to the Sunshine.

[sjcruiser]

Reviews are the subjective opinion of those that write them. Most of the reviews have been positive, but the negative ones won't stop me from cruising a particular ship or line. Cruise critic is a great place for information on cruises, but the majority of cruisers aren't even aware of the forum or write reviews, so those negative reviews on any cruise line is a very small percent of opinions.

[asalnars]

I was on the Transatlantic cruise in November and thought the ship was great

and the cruise very enjoyable. I did see a couple of buckets for collecting drips but that in no way ruined my experience. I would not hesitate in sailing on the Sunshine once again.

[kybluecruiser]

Anybody can make up a screen name and submit a review. Just look at the people with mutiple screen names on this board who constantly bash carnival. Also the vast majority of the actual reviews on the carnival boards have been positive

Edited April 2, 2014 by kybluecruiser

[heatherbelle]

I was on the ship in July when it still had a few issues.

 

The ship was fantastic, service was slow in the dining room, but most of the staff were new then, there were a few buckets catching drips, I never saw any water in the buckets, other than the water bucket on top deck:D.

 

I had a problem with a shower deck 8 cabin 8117, but other than those few very minor issues the cruise was great. It's a lovely ship and you would never know how old it actually was. All guest areas great, little bit if wear and tear here and there, a few missed brushed strokes with paint.

 

Give the ship a go and when you get back write a review. I think I gave it 4 stars, but I have cruised in DCL and Carnival can never compete nor do they try to. One costs a small fortune the other is reasonable. I gave DCL 5.

 

We enjoyed the Sunshine so much we will be sailing on the Breeze this summer and paying a fortune (airfare) to do so.

Edited April 2, 2014 by heatherbelle

[bar1068]

Week after week reviews come in complaining about the same issues on the Sunshine. These seem to be the main complaints:

 

• Sewage smell in rooms
  
• Sewage smell on decks/Liquid Lounge
  
• Shower flooding
  
• Toilet issues
  
• Drips in hallways
  

 

There are complaints about service/food as well, but that is subjective.

 

All Carnival ships have at least a 4 star average, but the 61% "Loved It" rating puts the Sunshine 10 whole percentage points below the next lowest ship, the Splendor at 71%. So it has more sub-4 star reviews than any other. It is lower rated than the "Destiny" itself.

 

Do you think Carnival will do anything to address these issues?

 

And the point is? Many of those "reviews" came right after drydock.....We sailed the TA also...no issues....booked again on Sunshine for the repo leaving this Sunday...don't anticipate issues going in...if there are any....we'll "work" around them...

[TheBubbs]

I would like to add that I have had 2 issues on board, one on the conquest and one on the dream. The conquest room was very hot in the evening the first day so I called maintenance. A guy was there within 15 minutes and made an adjustment and checked the temperature. Problem solved. The second was on the dream, the toilet would not flush on day 3 when you pressed the button. I called maintenance and a guy was there again within 15 minutes and the problem was fixed. That made me very impressed with their response and attention. I'm leaving on the sunshine in a few days and I will post any issues I find, but I'm pretty sure I wont post anything but glowing post cruise blues :)

[cjknox]

I really wouldn't put too much credence into these reviews because as others have stated these problems have all been rectified. Also keep in mind that the people on cruise critic represent a small minority of the overall cruising population so the reviews on here don't represent the overall sentiment of the cruising public. Not to mention many on here seem to enjoy looking for anything negative......

[Pine Bluff]

Week after week reviews come in complaining about the same issues on the Sunshine. These seem to be the main complaints:

 

• Sewage smell in rooms
  
• Sewage smell on decks/Liquid Lounge
  
• Shower flooding
  
• Toilet issues
  
• Drips in hallways
  

 

There are complaints about service/food as well, but that is subjective.

 

All Carnival ships have at least a 4 star average, but the 61% "Loved It" rating puts the Sunshine 10 whole percentage points below the next lowest ship, the Splendor at 71%. So it has more sub-4 star reviews than any other. It is lower rated than the "Destiny" itself.

 

Do you think Carnival will do anything to address these issues?

 

Not shocked. It was the worst rated ship in the fleet as the Destiny. So bad, they thought they needed to change the name. Of all the ships I sailed, it still ranks the worst.

 

Its still the Destiny.

[CRUZBUDS]

I was on the Transatlantic cruise in November and thought the ship was great

and the cruise very enjoyable. I did see a couple of buckets for collecting drips but that in no way ruined my experience. I would not hesitate in sailing on the Sunshine once again.

 

There are so many opinions -- we have good friends that were on your T/A cruise and they didn't like the Sunshine at all. They're not Carnival haters -- it is their favorite line.

[gregg204]

We were on the Sunshine a few months back and had a great time. None of the issues you pointed out existed. As mentioned above this ship did have issues out of dry dock and probably should have spent more time there before allowing passengers aboard. A lot a negative reviews came out at that time. Lately I've been seeing all positive reviews on the Sunshine. She's a beautiful ship and I hope to sail on her again soon.

[pbmsmile]

The original pot stirrer who who started this thread has only 18 posts so either he is new to cruising...new to carnival...or just wants to STIR THE POT!:rolleyes: My vote~ grab a big spoon and start stirring Pete C :mad:

[golfb4cruzing]

It's nice to see the Pom Pom Patrol is still alive and defending.:D

[cdamion]

I have not been on Sunshine. However, the fact that Splendor is the second worst makes me question whether to pay attention at all. Splendor is probably my favorite ship in the fleet.

[Pete C]

Ah, just because I am new to the board doesn't mean I am a pot stirrer. This is advertised as their new ship, and it has the most issues. IMO Carnival should be concerned about that. The latest review is a real horror story! It's not just here either...user reviews of this ship are bad on other sites as well. Seeing those concerns me that certain rooms have persistent issues Carnival needs to address.

 

This ship is going to be at my home port soon and I wanted this ship to be a home run for Carnival. It has such a nice design and all the 2.0 features. The reviews will not stop me from booking it as I anticipated it for so long, but I'd like to see more positive reviews to balance out the negative.

[gregg204]

Ah, just because I am new to the board doesn't mean I am a pot stirrer. This is advertised as their new ship, and it has the most issues. IMO Carnival should be concerned about that. The latest review is a real horror story! It's not just here either...user reviews of this ship are bad on other sites as well. Seeing those concerns me that certain rooms have persistent issues Carnival needs to address.

 

 

 

This ship is going to be at my home port soon and I wanted this ship to be a home run for Carnival. It has such a nice design and all the 2.0 features. The reviews will not stop me from booking it as I anticipated it for so long, but I'd like to see more positive reviews to balance out the negative.

 

 

You have to remember, someone that has a bad experience will go out of their way to tell all. A much higher % of the negative experiences will write a review. Hec if I did a review on my Sunshine cruise I'd give it 10 out of 5 but I'm not into the review writing. Also you'd be surprised how many people on this board downs the Sunshine because they "heard" it was a bad ship. Those amuse me the most.

[OCruisers]

Send us Sunshine! Many of us would be thrilled to have her in Charleston! :D

LuLu

~~~

[Seavoyage]

Goodness - hope the negative stuff is not true....:-( most of the reviews on the board are positive...we are booked in a corner wrap - so I guess if we have to avoid the ship that can be our escape or perhaps prison:rolleyes:

 

But really - How bad can it be if you are out sailing on the ocean!

[cruizinisthebest]

I'm excited for my cruise this Summer on the Sunshine just as I always am any time I get the opportunity to travel. I still hear reports that the Sensation is nothing but a drunken party ship with unruly kids, yet I've sailed her twice and experienced no such thing. I might have seen a drunk or two and run into some hyper kids, but the overall experience was a great one and I wouldn't hesitate to sail her or any other ship I've been on again.

 

There were a lot of justifiably negative reviews of the Sunshine when she first re-entered service. But I'm sure many of the same people who are quick to rah rah the OPs point, know that sewage smell complaints exist on the Dream Class ships too. I've read many comments on that myself, so let's not act like the Sunshine is the only ship with that issue. And toilets DO back up. On any ship. Not worried about the crowds, because we always cruise in the Summer when the ships are packed anyway.

 

I read every Sunshine review and it's been a good while since I've seen anything mentioned about the buckets. So that seems to be resolved, which is good because I simply didn't find it acceptable to pay thousands of dollars to cruise on a ship with buckets in the hallway. Still, seeing them wouldn't guide an entire review about my vacation experience.

 

I'll go and judge for myself as should everyone if you really want to have a certified opinion of the ship. As for being a cheerleader, if you choose to latch on to the negative all of the time then you're a negative cheerleader. And if I'm going to contribute I would rather lean towards the positive than the negative. So don't call names and try to insult unless you're willing to recognize you're doing the same thing.

Edited April 2, 2014 by cruizinisthebest

[Lace]

I believe there are some that would like to erase those bad reviews of the Sunshine, especially those from 2013. One would assume those some would be Carnival executives. Unfortunately, actual events do not just go away. Therefore, Sunshine fans will have to wait till the good outweigh the bad.

 

The bad news is a friend of mine just returned from her a coir of weeks ago. She said deck 9 was just a mess as far as crowds goes, with one pool for 3000. And the Serenity area on deck 10 was just as bad. As she says, it was just too much stuff crammed onto such a small ship. Which made me laugh knowing at one time, this was the largest cruise ship in the world.

[ljslight]

I sailed the Sunshine 2-16-14. I smelled the sewage smell several times in the main lobby. I had to leave my room for several hours because the air conditioner leaked all over our bed on deck 6. That same morning our toilets would not flush and it affected the whole side of our floor. The next day down the hall tehy had to repair a leak that was all over the floor!

But I still had a great crusie. I would rather sail the dream or freedom. My next cruise is on the Breeze next year.

[gregg204]

a friend of mine just returned from her a coir of weeks ago. She said deck 9 was just a mess as far as crowds goes, with one pool for 3000. And the Serenity area on deck 10 was just as bad. As she says, it was just too much stuff crammed onto such a small ship. Which made me laugh knowing at one time, this was the largest cruise ship in the world.

 

We had just over 3000 on our cruise. It was crowded but not anymore than any other cruise I've been on. Looks like we were lucky too. All 3000 guest didn't want to use the pool like on your friends cruise.

[LMaxwell]

Maintenance issues can crop up unexpectedly and / or be remedied one cruise to the next. I lend some weight to repeated observations of a maintenance nature if spread across a long enough time.

 

However what is more striking is the notations about the basic design of the ship and increased PAX with many small venues. Just seems like a ship where you are going to notice crowds or feel the squeeze from time to time. And there's nothing that they can or will do to alleviate that. I don't even mind a drip bucket, I mind the congestion and crowd dispersal issues.

 

I think if you have to pay to fly there are better choices in the Carnival fleet.