From Destiny to Sunshine: A Pictorial Retrospective And More!

[DarthGrady]

The mini golf course remains in place around the funnel, but its "landscaping" has been removed. It is much more sterile and pastel.

 

 

 

 

 

The old mini golf course

 

 

[DarthGrady]

Another one from the new sports area. Who thinks this might get abused by tipsy club goers at 3 am?

 

 

The ship's spa area was renovated and expanded to entice folks to book the new spa cabins. I'm not a fan of this, as regular guests now have to pay to use the steam and sauna rooms. These were features that used to be free, just another item on an ever growing and very concerning list.

 

 

Odd options for the shower

 

 

The new salon

 

[DarthGrady]

The gym remains largely unchanged. Although when they added the new rooms above the bridge (more on those later), it took away the view of the ocean that folks on the treadmills used to enjoy.

 

 

 

 

[DarthGrady]

Some photos of the new kids play rooms and teen discos. They were built in the area that used to be the buffet balcony.

 

 

 

 

 

[DarthGrady]

I recall commenting on one of the sliding glass doors that lead into the buffet balcony being shattered out when we were on in 2010. Those doors seem to be gone, and now lead into bathrooms for people at the water park. Oddly, they left the motion sensors in place. Maybe they're still in there and just permanently retracted.

 

Now

 

And then

 

I forgot to include these earlier, its one of the cabin hallways. The change was pretty drastic. It is sad that the old light fixtures had to go, they had pictures of the older Fantasy Class ships on them. Once upon a time, each Carnival ship had a theme. Destiny's theme was being an homage to the history of Carnival Cruise Lines. Sadly themes and homages would be seldom noticed nowadays, guest demographics throughout the industry have changed much over the last two decades.

 

The new

 

 

The old

 

 

 

Edited December 10, 2014 by DarthGrady

[DarthGrady]

The sports bar remains in place just forward of the casino, but it was heavily renovated and is now apparently sponsored by Electronic Arts (EA).

 

 

 

There is also a candy shop located right next to the arcade

 

 

I also got to visit a couple of the new rooms they built on what was once an open observation deck above the bridge. This one is just an ocean view, but the view straight off the bow is pretty nice.

 

 

 

[DarthGrady]

And for the grand finale, I'll post some pics of the new Captains Suite, #9115. There are two of them, both built on the old observation deck above the bridge. You get a double treat of huge forward facing windows, and a balcony which is the entire deck above the bridge wing. You really can't get a room with a better view anywhere. The only big downside is that everyone else can't enjoy the bridge wings anymore. They are one of my favorite places to watch sail away, and I'm certainly never going to be spending the money for a CS room.

 

 

The living room

 

 

The main closet

 

 

The master bathroom

 

 

 

The bedroom

 

[DarthGrady]

The bedroom facing forward

 

 

More living room

 

 

The second bathroom with walk-in shower

 

 

The awesome bridge wing balcony

 

 

 

[DarthGrady]

That's it! I think that covered everything. Thanks to everyone that left positive comments. I hope everyone enjoyed taking this little stroll down memory lane with me!

 

[barbeecat]

This is great..have sailed the Destiny and am sailing the Sunshine in March..thanks for doing this!!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

[DarthGrady]

This is great..have sailed the Destiny and am sailing the Sunshine in March..thanks for doing this!!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

You're welcome! Enjoy the cruise, and don't miss Guy's Burgers. ;)

[buckirj1]

This was outstanding! Thanks so much for your hard work. Carnival public areas are usually nobody's idea of attractive, but the Sunshine looks quite nice.

[golfb4cruzing]

Absolutely hated the Destiny. Surprised the wife with a suite for her birthday cruise. Toilet reversed on Day2, flooded the entire suite and out in the hallway and the rest of the week, we had damp stinking carpet. We haven't been back to Carnival since.

[DarthGrady]

Absolutely hated the Destiny. Surprised the wife with a suite for her birthday cruise. Toilet reversed on Day2, flooded the entire suite and out in the hallway and the rest of the week, we had damp stinking carpet. We haven't been back to Carnival since.

 

That would do it, sorry to hear about such a bad experience. We had a similar thing happen to us on RCI. Got an aft junior suite on the Radiance. We had a small fresh water leak in the bathroom, but luckily it didn't cause any other problems.

 

Apparently one of the other suites had more problems and complained a lot. We sort of got lumped in with them, for the better as it turned out, as RCI gave us a $140 future cruise credit for our trouble.

[campdaan]

That was awesome, Darth.

 

Looks like they beat the Farcus out of the Destiny.

[DarthGrady]

This was outstanding! Thanks so much for your hard work. Carnival public areas are usually nobody's idea of attractive, but the Sunshine looks quite nice.

Thanks! Yes, the public areas are a far cry from the old "Vegas-y" look.

[falkcor]

One of the biggest exterior changes, aside from the gigantic water park now gracing her aft decks, is the new balconies added up front. It gives the ship an odd "big forehead" look, similar to NCL's Epic. Form has always followed function with Carnival's ship designs, so this isn't entirely out of place.

 

 

grady, great idea - and well executed! i enjoyed seeing the comparisons.

 

i agree with you entirely though, and the 'odd big forehead' analogy is perfectly fitting.

 

while i think a lot of the interior / amenities upgrades are stellar and look great, they really did a number on the exterior / ship itself. i think it looks terrible. i think it's even more awkward looking than the welded on balconies on fantasy class ships (which i don't think are attractive to begin with - and look pretty 'ghetto' with the balcony additions)...

 

i also agree with your comment about the additional cabins. a few additional cabins, like those above the bridge they've been adding to conquest class ships and sunshine, sure - great rooms. but they got really greedy on the sunshine refit - it's absurd how many more cabins they added to this ship, and i hope they do not repeat that exercise. slice off the aft portion of promenade, cut up the theater to add more cabins and render a space not well suited to either of it's current dual functions, and add a few more decks of cabins too - while taking away so much common areas? whoever thought that was a great idea should be fired.

 

i enjoyed my first cruise on destiny (unlike apparently some others here!), and i'm almost sad they so defiled the old girl :(

 

anyhow, enjoyed your comparison and glad to see it - i miss your reviews and such here :)

[DarthGrady]

grady, great idea - and well executed! i enjoyed seeing the comparisons.

 

i agree with you entirely though, and the 'odd big forehead' analogy is perfectly fitting.

 

while i think a lot of the interior / amenities upgrades are stellar and look great, they really did a number on the exterior / ship itself. i think it looks terrible. i think it's even more awkward looking than the welded on balconies on fantasy class ships (which i don't think are attractive to begin with - and look pretty 'ghetto' with the balcony additions)...

 

i also agree with your comment about the additional cabins. a few additional cabins, like those above the bridge they've been adding to conquest class ships and sunshine, sure - great rooms. but they got really greedy on the sunshine refit - it's absurd how many more cabins they added to this ship, and i hope they do not repeat that exercise. slice off the aft portion of promenade, cut up the theater to add more cabins and render a space not well suited to either of it's current dual functions, and add a few more decks of cabins too - while taking away so much common areas? whoever thought that was a great idea should be fired.

 

i enjoyed my first cruise on destiny (unlike apparently some others here!), and i'm almost sad they so defiled the old girl :(

 

anyhow, enjoyed your comparison and glad to see it - i miss your reviews and such here :)

 

Thanks Mark!

 

You're spot on about the cobbled on Fantasy Class balconies, they look terrible. And the cabin additions are greed, plain and simple. With that awful Gerry Cahill at the helm, the company only cares about profit. Providing a nice cruise comes second. They will squeeze every penny out of each ship, and shoehorn as many people on board as they can get away with.

 

I do miss CCL sometimes, and it'll get worse now that my yearly guys cruise has also moved to RCI. But it's hard to come back when they take away from the already meager past guest program, charge for formerly free amenities, and continue to add passengers to existing vessels.

 

Maybe someday, when the company decides that guest satisfaction should come before shareholder satisfaction in the hospitality industry.

 

I'll climb down off my soapbox now. ;) :D

 

Good to talk to you again Mark, hopefully we'll get to talk ship over beers on a cruise someday!

[DarthGrady]

That was awesome, Darth.

 

Looks like they beat the Farcus out of the Destiny.

Yes they did. With blow torches, sledge hammers and lots of new plastic. :D

[Swampbaby]

This has been a wonderful and detailed "review". The more I saw of your "now" pictures, the more excited I am getting about our February cruise on the Sunshine. We've only been on the Fantasy and Freedom but have to say the décor appears much nicer on the Sunshine. That "in your face" décor just really isn't for me.

 

Thanks you very much for taking the time and effort to detail the differences, improvements, and yes, even the minus (thinking the Liquid Lounge was a real miss).

[DarthGrady]

This has been a wonderful and detailed "review". The more I saw of your "now" pictures, the more excited I am getting about our February cruise on the Sunshine. We've only been on the Fantasy and Freedom but have to say the décor appears much nicer on the Sunshine. That "in your face" décor just really isn't for me.

 

Thanks you very much for taking the time and effort to detail the differences, improvements, and yes, even the minus (thinking the Liquid Lounge was a real miss).

You're most welcome, hope you enjoy the cruise!

[kelkel2]

Thank you for all the hard work and the wonderful pictures! We have sunshine booked for Jan. 2016 and can't wait! We debated between the Sunshine and the Breeze and went for the Sunshine. We are so excited for our choice. I am so looking forward to seeing the new modern Carnival decor! I love the look and the features. The cabins look beautiful!

[cruizinisthebest]

Great photo review!

 

I started reading your EOS one last night. Really enjoying it. There are enough links in your siggy to keep me occupied right till we cruise next year! Thanks!!!

[mouche]

Just wanted to say again how thankful I am that you took the time to do this!!! I loved it!!!:)

[DarthGrady]

Thank you for all the hard work and the wonderful pictures! We have sunshine booked for Jan. 2016 and can't wait! We debated between the Sunshine and the Breeze and went for the Sunshine. We are so excited for our choice. I am so looking forward to seeing the new modern Carnival decor! I love the look and the features. The cabins look beautiful!

 

Great photo review!

 

I started reading your EOS one last night. Really enjoying it. There are enough links in your siggy to keep me occupied right till we cruise next year! Thanks!!!

 

Just wanted to say again how thankful I am that you took the time to do this!!! I loved it!!!:)

Thanks to all for the compliments, I really enjoyed posting it up! It's nice to go back and revisit the old stuff, lots of good memories from that cruise.