Carnival Sunshine ?'s

[floridabum]

On the Sunshine right now waiting to disembark. This was our 5th cruise with Carnival and all I will say is we will avoid this ship from here on out. We still had a awesome cruise vacation with some of the best port stops.

 

 

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[BND]

We board Sunshine in two weeks. It'll be our first CCL cruise in almost 6 years. I will say we have never, in 16 cruises had a bad one. Every cruise is different. We've been on ships that have had reviews saying how horrible the ship was and we look at each other and think "what was this person smoking"? A cruise is what you make of it. Layouts are a non-issue. You just learn it and go. I will say, our cruises on Glory have been our favorite on CCL. The Miracle was just very gaudy, especially the "grape" dining room. I know they have toned it down some, but seriously? And the Fantasy, being our first cruise, we didn't realize how small it was. There will always be people who love and those who hate a ship. We go in with an open mind and are always happy to be cruising, especially to new ports. This will be our first time to Aruba and Curacao and our second to Grand Turk, so lots to look forward to. Plus we're traveling with friends we rarely get to see.

 

I do have to say, when we were asked to go on this trip by our friends, the ship was supposed to be the Dream, but they moved it and swapped it with Sunshine.

Edited January 24, 2015 by BND

[krismas_tina]

We were on the Sunshine in 2013, and I thought it was great then, but I really think what made it great was the friends we made onboard and the fact that we were in Europe. There was nothing horrible about the ship, and there were a few great things (Havana Bar, Serenity). But I prefer the Breeze or even Conquest class. Every ship feels crowded to me, maybe because we travel in the summer, but the Sunshine just felt cramped. Especially that main theater.

Would I sail her again? Sure, if the price was right and the ports were interesting. But I wouldn't go out of my way to go back.

 

 

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[Cruzn4fun14]

We sailed her 10 mo ago and will likely book again for this fall. I had read the varying reviews prior and had concerns but we had on issues (me,wife,11yrold). I would still pick the Breeze over the sunshine mainly for the slightly larger size and the outer deck 5 that you can walk around the ship on. You do lose one pool as the back is all water slides but enjoyed them with my son. The serenity adults area to me is the best of the fleet so far. Great choice of extra places to eat & yeah I live at Guys burgers for most lunches.

We had an ocean view room 2248. I too did not have any issues or notice any leaks,smells,etc. Some neat things to me were the automatic hand washing stations they had-great for kids; the self serve beer station where you can swipe your card & fill your glass.

[Dazzies]

We were on the Sunshine last May and loved it. It was our first Carnival experience. We had 2 spa balconies on deck 10. Those cabins were wonderful, mainly because there were not as many rooms on those decks - less traffic. The spa was very peaceful, and I enjoyed using the thermal loungers but didn't try any other services there. Our cabin stewards were great. The food was fine - we aren't picky. JiJi's was probably the best meal I've ever had ANYWHERE, and Mongolian Wok for lunch was delicious. Never had trouble finding a couple of seats in Serenity. Comedy club was good, other shows okay. Never had trouble getting in, but we always went 30 minutes before. We had our 4 kids with us: 3 boys in Circle C, and a girl in the younger age group. The boys went the first night and met kids to hang out with, and then didn't spend much time in the club. Our girl just thought the kids club was okay - she went a few times when we suggested some of the activities sounded fun. We would sail Sunshine again anytime we could.

 

 

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[weredawg]

We were on Sunshine in June and going again in March. We had a Lido Balcony. Loved that location also, but those were sold out so we got a spa balcony for March. Sunshine was not my favorite ship, but was really not the worst either. Summer cruises are really crowded and the Sunshine is a small ship. I just felt a little cramped and crowded trying to move around. Because of the crowd and little space, the lines for the comedy club were outragous. People waiting 45 minutes before the show and others getting turned away because of it filling to capasity. Needless to say we never made it inside. Like I said it wasnt my favorite ship, but wasnt so bad that we didnt pick her for our upcoming cruise. It will be what you make of it. I had read a lot of negatives about her before we cruised, but figured I could be the only judge as to how I felt about her. Be positive and you will have a positive experience.

[dayday]

We got off the Sunshine yesterday and I think it would be hard for me to have a bad cruise but this was my least favorite ship so far. I think carnival got greedy with this ship to take away public areas to add more cabins and people. Thank goodness we had a balcony because it was so crowded on sea days that is where we spent a lot of our time at.

[mommiemudd]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2114397

 

Above link is to my review from October. There were both pros and cons but the pros outweighed the cons for us. Kids loved all the activities. Although we were cruised in October and there were not a lot of kids onboard. We never felt crowded but we don't typically hang out by the pool. We found loungers in the same place everyday. We had early dinner and would then go right to the comedy club and hang out waiting for the show so we always had front row seats. I had read all the bad reviews beforehand so we knew how to avoid most of the problems. We knew how to navigate the ship before we got onboard. The only thing that was really bad was the temp of the cabin and the dining room. Hopefully they get that fixed. We loved the atmosphere of the Havana Bar area. We ate there all the time. But we choose a cruise based on ports not on the ship. We also don't have to be entertained. I just need a book and a chair. So our expectations are different than others.

[pretzellover]

We sailed the Sunshine Aug. 2014. Loved it.Beautiful ship. Comedy Club does get too crowded because its U shape so get there early. Also the main pool gets crowded with kids so we spent a lot of time at Serenity. Serenity on Sunshine is wonderful!

 

We had a center extended aft stateroom. The balcony floor gets very hot so keep spare flip flops by the door. It is great to be able to sit out there without all the wind. I did my toenails out there all the time!:cool:

 

Have fun!

[l2c4fun]

We just got off the Sunshine yesterday.

 

Pros:

Large Serenity deck with a beautiful pool - always able to find chairs

 

Room on spa deck so we had access to the heated loungers in the spa

 

Never really had to wait for breakfast burritos at the Cantina.

 

Ship sailed smoothly.

 

Ji Ji's for lunch was really good.

 

Cons:

This was the first cruise that I've ever had to wait for more than a couple minutes to be seated for Your Time Dining. Two nights had long waits - the first time we waited over an hour for seating for 8 of us. The second time we threw in the towel after about 40 minutes and went to the buffet - I needed to eat due to blood sugar. It would have been nice if they could have given us some idea of how long the wait would be.

 

Wait Staff in dining room was hit or miss. One night the waiter mixed up every course with my DH and the other gentleman at the table. They told him and exchanged their plates in front of him and he continued doing it wrong for the rest of the meal. It was kind of funny after a while.

 

Elevators - only 2 elevators go to floor 11 spa rooms. One was broken on arriving - we expected it from reading reviews. Then one day the other elevator was also shut down. Not a huge deal to us because we normally take the stairs but we had a gentleman on the floor that used a motorized scooter. I believe both elevators were fixed when we left.

 

Musical entertainment - nothing really drew us in. We went to the pub one night to listen and there wasn't a soul in there. It was bizarre. On the Breeze last year that was the place everyone seemed to hang out.

 

Comedy Club - most nights they only offered one family friendly show and it was difficult to get seats. I have no idea how full the adult only shows were. I think the placement of the comedy club is better on the Sunshine (4) than it is on the Breeze.

 

 

 

All in all, we enjoyed our cruise. We don't cruise to be entertained. We cruise to relax and snorkel.

Edited January 26, 2015 by l2c4fun

[wags_in_the_peg]

we just got off the Sunshine, loved the Serenity deck pool on hot days, great idea, 1st time we've ever had adults pool, negative is that only 1 hot tub and was always packed. some people complain about serenity being too loud because of music, but theres tons of chairs at front where you cant hear. anytime dining for 12 was long wait first day and next day they sent us a apology note and a few treats, how awesome is that? other days were better but after we had Anna on day 3, we only requested her and she was awesome, but did have to wait. but really liked waiting on deck 5 as there was live music, shuffle board in red frog or casino. food was great most of time but did have a few so-so dishes. pizza is unreal good as was guy's burgers. lunch burrito and Asian stirfry was also awesome. I never ate buffet once as too many other freshly made options. yeah Asian and omelettes were 15 minutes lineups but who cares, they are fresh! waterslides were awesome for kids and FAST! sports square was lots of fun. camp wasn't as popular with kids, mostly free time with little structure (or so it appeared). epic rock show was amazing and Motown and Studio VIP were decent as well. not a fan of the magician really. adult comedy shows were awesome (went to 3) and 1 of the 2 family shows were good. didn't eat at any paid restaurants and don't plan on unless I have too. overall great vacation. room 8259 is nicely located, but very loud at night. across from "pantry" and workers are going in and out and door slamming all night. also wind was making vent noises. wife and I took well advantage of the cheers program, saving a few hundred $ for sure. cheers to vacation, boo to going back work!

[getupgo]

We are booked on Sunshine for March 2016 because it goes to Aruba out if Port Canaveral and I have never been. We cruise to snorkel. I don't expect luxury and am on Deck 2 for the first time in my life and my first 8 day cruise. I'll keep watching the reviews because I have plenty of time to cancel with no penalty. I'm getting discouraged but not ready to throw in the towel yet.

[TIMMYJAM]

Hi, my wife and I were on the Sunshine for our 10th anniversary cruise this past October. We had a grand time. Our room attendant was probably the best crew person we have ever ran into. He took care of us like we were is family. I had the room decorated before we boarded and He (i assume the room attendant does all the set up) made it awesome. The Casino staff was really great with me. I thought most of the staff was really good. I did notice it felt crowded, expecially on the one rainy sea day it was miserable in the public areas. The rest of the sea days, the pool and chairs around it were way too packed. We could not find a chair and I would rather not lay out than have to be up at 8am on vacation just to find a chair. The MDR was great and we were seated with 4 really awesome couples and made fast friends. Also, I think Port Canveral is the best port we have been out of. Give the Sunshine a try.