Just off the Sunshine Western Caribbean -- any questions?

[RogueMonk]

I was on the January 3-10 Western Caribbean cruise on the Sunshine. If you have any questions, ask away.

 

It was a good cruise. Great weather. Good food. I didn't experience any of the negative things I heard about the Sunshine (except the cabin temp at night, which was too warm).

 

Jamie Dee was the best CD I've sailed with.

[getupgo]

What cabin were you in? I'm scheduled for March 5, 2016 for a 8 day and get nervous about bad reviews, especially vibrations.

[RogueMonk]

9174

[G-Luvs2cruise]

I was on the January 3-10 Western Caribbean cruise on the Sunshine. If you have any questions, ask away.

 

It was a good cruise. Great weather. Good food. I didn't experience any of the negative things I heard about the Sunshine (except the cabin temp at night, which was too warm).

 

Jamie Dee was the best CD I've sailed with.

 

We will be on the same ship in May. Ours is Eastern Caribbean. We are also staying on the Lido deck. Did you feel a lot of motion being on a higher deck? None of us have ever stayed that high up before. A little nervous that some of us may become nauseous.

 

Are both pools fresh water? Were they really crowded?

 

Glad to hear that you enjoyed you cruise!!! I have also read a lot of negative things about the ship. As someone said to me, People will take the time to write a negative review verses writing positive feedback. That is true! Thanks for allowing us to ask you questions.

[firsttimecruiser9876]

What was your favorite part of the boat/cruise? Any tips or advice for this boat?

[RogueMonk]

This is the highest we have ever stayed. And, really, we didn't notice the motion any more there than on lower decks. Sure, you feel it. But you feel it everywhere.

 

We loved the convenience of the Lido deck.

 

The pools/spas were crowded on the bright, sunny sea days. But no worse than other cruises.

 

The spas were fresh water. I didn't go into pools, but heard they were salt water.

 

 

Enjoy your cruise! I loved the sunshine.

[RogueMonk]

What was your favorite part of the boat/cruise? Any tips or advice for this boat?

 

The food in the dining room was actually quite good. The comedy shows were great. The serenity deck was great (if you left the kids at home). We had amazing weather, so that really helped make the cruise good. We found the staff/crew to be all quite nice, and everything to be pretty well run. Guy's burgers was really good.

 

Anything can be improved. I would have liked a cooler room at night. And debarkation was pretty chaotic. Carnival has cut back its "Vegas Style" shows, so a better show would have been nice. But that's just nit-picking.

[liquorstore]

any excursions? How were they? Worth the price? Thanks for the info

[RogueMonk]

Cozumel - we took a taxi into the town and wandered around.

 

Roatan - we did private tour of the island with Victor Boden of Boden Tours (google him). It was amazing! Well worth it.

 

Belize - we did the Altun Ha ruins. We did it through the ship, but price matched a better rate we found online (google around). It was enjoyable. Worth the price we paid.

 

Costa Maya - we just shopped around.

[G-Luvs2cruise]

Thank you RogueMonk! We are pretty excited about the Sunshine!

[hhalliv]

Good to hear good things about the Sunshine! We cruise the first week of March and am hoping Jamie stays on as CD, but I have a feeling we're going to miss her by a week as she has been on for months

[czimm]

We leave on the Sunshine Saturday! Did you try Jijis or Cucina? How was the Havana bar? Ive been to every port but Costa Maya - we are heading to the Tropicante for a relaxing beach morning. Do you remember what movies they showed at night on the big screen?

 

Thank you so much for sharing your experiences!

[airlinerob]

I'm on the same cruise 1/31. Excited! Can you tell us if they are using the same menus or the new ones?

 

Also, I hear they are testing new internet packages?

 

Do you happen to know who is working the Alchemy Bar?

 

 

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[SportsMomof4]

We will be on the same ship in May. Ours is Eastern Caribbean. We are also staying on the Lido deck. Did you feel a lot of motion being on a higher deck? None of us have ever stayed that high up before. A little nervous that some of us may become nauseous.

 

Are both pools fresh water? Were they really crowded?

 

Glad to hear that you enjoyed you cruise!!! I have also read a lot of negative things about the ship. As someone said to me, People will take the time to write a negative review verses writing positive feedback. That is true! Thanks for allowing us to ask you questions.

 

Pool is fresh water as well. With 1 pool, yes it's crowded :eek:

[SportsMomof4]

I agree about the room temperature....way too warm at night!

[AD n' ED]

I'm on the same cruise 1/31. Excited! Can you tell us if they are using the same menus or the new ones? Also, I hear they are testing new internet packages? Do you happen to know who is working the Alchemy Bar?

 

 

- Same menus

- I don't remember all details but we paid $99 for their fastest internet package (apparently 3X faster than $60(?+/-) tried to FaceTime once but kept cutting out. Not bad however for satellite internet. Price was for whole cruise and DH and I shared, you could only log into one device at a time. Normally just left DH's phone connected.

- Alchemy was our Fav place for pre- or post-dinner drinks! Maya and Miroslav and I don't quite remember the third (Miro maybe?) all from Serbia and all terrific!

 

We loved loved loved the Sunshine!! Folks complained about navigating around but we've been on other similar ships and were used to the fact you cannot get front to back on deck 3 due to the galley btw dining rooms and deck 4 when the nightclub is in use. Cuccina was great, but we never got the chance to try JiJi's.

 

(Just adding here that we never had an issue with temp in the room, but did notice that the AC is tied to the balcony door. If your door was open, the AC clicked off....also no mini fridges in the rooms which we were disappointed with)

 

 

 

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Edited January 12, 2015 by AD n' ED

[cruizinisthebest]

Thanks for the feedback. So glad you enjoyed your trip!

[G-Luvs2cruise]

Thank you SportsMomof4! I had heard that the Serenity deck pool was fresh water but was not sure. I am glad. I don't like the salt water pools. I guess it is a dumb questions to ask if the pool is crowded. LOL! Every pool is always crowded.

[G-Luvs2cruise]

- Same menus

- I don't remember all details but we paid $99 for their fastest internet package (apparently 3X faster than $60(?+/-) tried to FaceTime once but kept cutting out. Not bad however for satellite internet. Price was for whole cruise and DH and I shared' date=' you could only log into one device at a time. Normally just left DH's phone connected.

- Alchemy was our Fav place for pre- or post-dinner drinks! Maya and Miroslav and I don't quite remember the third (Miro maybe?) all from Serbia and all terrific!

 

We loved loved loved the Sunshine!! Folks complained about navigating around but we've been on other similar ships and were used to the fact you cannot get front to back on deck 3 due to the galley btw dining rooms and deck 4 when the nightclub is in use. Cuccina was great, but we never got the chance to try JiJi's.

 

(Just adding here that we never had an issue with temp in the room, but did notice that the AC is tied to the balcony door. If your door was open, the AC clicked off....also no mini fridges in the rooms which we were disappointed with)

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk[/quote']

 

Thanks for the tip on the AC in the balcony rooms! This is our first balcony room and was wondering if we could leave the door open at night. Now I know I will not be doing that. LOL!

[MarkAndSandy]

Which nights were formal aka cruise elegant?

[gaynelle]

Which dining room did you like best?

[jpsec318]

We leave on the Sunshine Saturday! Did you try Jijis or Cucina? How was the Havana bar? Ive been to every port but Costa Maya - we are heading to the Tropicante for a relaxing beach morning. Do you remember what movies they showed at night on the big screen?

 

Thank you so much for sharing your experiences!

 

We are leaving Saturday also!

[Crusin' from Fl]

Appreciated your notes on the ship. I too am leaving on Saturday and I am sooooooo looking forward to this trip!

 

Sunshine, here I come!

[CrimsonTideGal]

JiJis is wonderful. I ate there twice. Cucina was ok, I had eaten a lot of pasta that week so I really wasnt in the mood for it that night but it was good. Sushi bar was good. Steakhouse was just ok. Didnt get great service the night I was there but steak was good but not as good as I had on the Dream. Buffet was awful. Main Dining room was good. My biggest complaint about this ship was lack of air conditioning, and lack of furniture in the rooms. I had no bed side tables, chair, hangers, shelves in closet, fridge or hair dryer. Had plenty of room for a chair. Interior was VERY large, just had nothing in it. I had a bed and a footstool. Took 3 days of a 11 night cruise to get a chair. I heard this was hit and miss on items in your room. Going to give this ship one more try next month.

[mtsnd1900]

Any chance you have the Fun Times for the Western trip (current ones)? we leave in a few weeks. Also, to ride along with above - what nights are the formal nights?

 

Thanks!