Valor vs Sunshine

[Cruisegirl6]

Cloud666 thank you for the reassurance about the Marriott and all that info. i definitely will join that board thank you and I am surprise all the night spots closed down very odd.

 

I am so glad to hear that people here prefer the Valor over the Sunshine, glad I made the right choice. :D

[Cloud666]

Do the Valor. Sunshine feels like a glorified ferry. The outdoor stuff is fine if it's open (so, it's great when you are in port).I won't say the staff were globally terrible because there were a few really nice staff members that we felt sorry for having to work on the ship.

 

Now that I think about it, I agree with you about the water slides. They were only operational in port. I believe the miniature golf had the same problem . Too windy at sea....nice ideas but bad design ....

 

The public venues and promenade areas were way too small and narrow for the number of people on board. I went on Sunshine twice because of the ports, price, Serenity Deck and the restaurants. Like I said in another post, the restaurants were excellent and I am a Sushi junkie

[Cloud666]

Cloud666 thank you for the reassurance about the Marriott and all that info. i definitely will join that board thank you and I am surprise all the night spots closed down very odd.

 

I am so glad to hear that people here prefer the Valor over the Sunshine, glad I made the right choice. :D

 

I don't think they all closed down. Some went out of business but others might have moved to the new area I mentioned by the high rise hotels. Many new ones opened there too. It's sort of the "new downtown" by the high rises. You will see what I mean when you get there. You will enjoy it.... Just bring $$$$.... It's become expensive eating dinner in Aruba.

[primadonut]

Now that I think about it, I agree with you about the water slides. They were only operational in port. I believe the miniature golf had the same problem . Too windy at sea....nice ideas but bad design ....

 

The public venues and promenade areas were way too small and narrow for the number of people on board.

 

It did feel cramped in general. although if you didn't have your heart set on somewhere specific there was always somewhere to sit etc. The best tip I learned in this forum prior to sailing was to eat by the Havana Bar. :-)

[Cloud666]

It did feel cramped in general. although if you didn't have your heart set on somewhere specific there was always somewhere to sit etc. The best tip I learned in this forum prior to sailing was to eat by the Havana Bar. :-)

 

It's the forgotten bar on the ship....always a seat

[primadonut]

It's the forgotten bar on the ship....always a seat

 

agreed :-) they are trying to turn it into a nightclub-type place now because they had to stop the late nights in the theatre due to the noise complaints from sleeping passengers. We never got a chance to go for the late night music there but I wonder how successful it is going to be. It is probably the nicest spot on the ship but I just can't see it working like a nightclub.

[onegroundcafe]

We have sailed the Valor three times, about to be a fourth and the Sunshine once...technically twice (Destiny). We sailed the Sunshine because my DD (8 at the time of sailing) really wanted to do a ship with the ropes course. We did the ropes course twice on the sailing but as others mentioned the ropes course and the slides seemed to be closed more than they were open.

We did enjoy the Havana Bar area with the Mongolian Grill and the Make your own pasta bar and we enjoyed Guy's Burger's and Blue Iguana.

That being said we would choose the Valor over Sunshine. The Valor seems less crowded and has more pools, the Sunshine only has one for children. We also enjoy Fish and Chips and the Sunshine did not have that option.

Either way you go you will have a great time, good luck choosing!

[Cruisegirl6]

Hi Cloud666 we are prepared to pay for the food, we want to dine at Passions, Matthews on the Beach, Yemangi, Screaming Eagle, Madam Janette, Suisse Chalet, Daniels Steak & Chop, White Modern Cuisine, and have two other open nights wanted Chefs Table but there are some new negative reviews. We know for two people to eat dinner alone be around $200 plus....depending on how many drinks we have.

 

People don't realize how much they saving taking a cruise vacation vs. a land island caribbean vacation.

[pb19]

We have been on the Sunshine twice. Not crazy about the theater ( unusual seating..we miss the traditional seats with tables) or comedy club ( too small). However, we really enjoyed the serenity decks ( three levels) and the adult pool. Also, it has a nice choice of restaurants .... We are Sushi junkies...

 

We are sailing on the Valor again in May. We chose it for the ports.( Aruba, Curaçao and the Turks ).

 

Each ship has its pros and cons. Choose your cruise for ports and price. You will enjoy either ship.

 

I'm still a cruise newbie...been on the Sunshine twice. Theater took a little bit of standing in line. Wasn't a big deal to us but maybe it was because we didn't know any better. We loved The Sunshine and would do it again in a skinny minute if the ports were right. LOL

[Cloud666]

Hi Cloud666 we are prepared to pay for the food, we want to dine at Passions, Matthews on the Beach, Yemangi, Screaming Eagle, Madam Janette, Suisse Chalet, Daniels Steak & Chop, White Modern Cuisine, and have two other open nights wanted Chefs Table but there are some new negative reviews. We know for two people to eat dinner alone be around $200 plus....depending on how many drinks we have.

 

People don't realize how much they saving taking a cruise vacation vs. a land island caribbean vacation.

 

The $200 plus is an accurate number. We have been to most of those restaurants and they are all very good. However, I suggest you post the list on the Aruba bb site, to get current reviews and to make sure all are still in business. I'm confident you will have many suggestions for your two open nights.

 

A new trend is now developing in Aruba. At one time, it was unheard of to buy an all inclusive hotel package. However, with more people cruising and as you said, realizing the value of having meals included and with the high cost of dinner on the island, all inclusive packages are in demand and hotels are now offering them.

[Cloud666]

I'm still a cruise newbie...been on the Sunshine twice. Theater took a little bit of standing in line. Wasn't a big deal to us but maybe it was because we didn't know any better. We loved The Sunshine and would do it again in a skinny minute if the ports were right. LOL

 

I see you will be on the Valor this weekend. We were on the Liberty two years ago on Super Bowl day. We had a blast. One big party.

[MrsT3030]

We have been on the Sunshine twice. Not crazy about the theater ( unusual seating..we miss the traditional seats with tables) or comedy club ( too small). However, we really enjoyed the serenity decks ( three levels) and the adult pool. Also, it has a nice choice of restaurants .... We are Sushi junkies...

 

We are sailing on the Valor again in May. We chose it for the ports.( Aruba, Curaçao and the Turks ).

 

Each ship has its pros and cons. Choose your cruise for ports and price. You will enjoy either ship.

 

 

 

We are on that cruise too :) we booked the sunshine but I had some concerns over the ports so I was able to transfer onto the Valor cruise on May 8th. First time cruising with Carnival (RCL and DCL only in the past) and I'm really looking forward to it.

[Cruisegirl6]

Cloud666 I will definitely post today on that site thank you. I have kept up with reviews and to my astonishment Chefs Tables has gone negative so I think I take that off the list and there are a couple new restaurants people are raving about which I may just add to my list.

 

I would do the all inclusive but not in Aruba only because we want to try those restaurants, but another reason is we are going with family who will be at the Marriott Ocean club a reason why we chose the Marriott resort. We were considering Cancun instead of Aruba there we definitely would of gotten the all inclusive but I feel Aruba was the better choice.

[dfencecoach]

I have made my decision and I booked the Valor yesterday. Thanks for your help.

[Cruisegirl6]

Wonderful and perfect choice!! Get your countdown on lol

[keelyhealthnut]

I am so confused with all of these different reviews. It seems that you either love or hate the Sunshine. We are booked for it, but got the Past Guest rate incase we wanted to change it. I am thinking of changing now. This will be our last family vacation for a while and I really want to make it count. :confused:

[THL1313]

we are trying to decide between sunshine, valor or dream. We have been on the dream (LOVED IT) and sunshine (loved it, but it was crowded and slides never open), but have not been on Valor.

 

2 DB's, 12 and 17 so they want the outdoor stuff.........slides, basketball, etc....

 

this would be for thanksgiving 2015.........

[ConsiderThatDiemCarped]

Don't listen to the bitching and wining of those who try to say that they have been on X amount of cruises and they know best. If anything, they are snooty, condescending, and completely lost connection with the feeling of being new or newer to the cruise world. We got off the Sunshine this past January. Food is great. Entertainment is great. Sushi is great. Comedy club is great. Gym is great. Kids club is great. We were 13 people ranging from 7 months old to 94 years old. All but the kids have been on other cruise ships and cruise lines. We all had an amazing time. The staff is great. The rooms are great. Everything was great and it sounds like people love to complain about anything they can.

 

A recent article came out about Air BnB. We have never used it, but my brother has a room in his house on there. The article was explaining how all the rooms on Air BnB have a four star or higher rating. The reasoning? People are sheep and if they read a bad review, they change their expectations to negative and start looking for problems that they can report. Imagine if we all focused on the positive. We would start looking for the good and reporting on it.

 

People, form your own opinions and forget about this stupid rating system. I would have given the Sunshine a 98% satisfaction and I have 2 kids constantly trying to give me a reason to complain. I would definitely sail the Sunshine again.

[Margarita Mom]

The last ten years I have been fortunate enough to cruise on 13 ships in Carnival's fleet and the Sunshine is the only ship I will not book again for the reasons other posters have stated. Funny I don't feel condescending or snooty. Just a girl with an opinion on an opinion foruum.

[nwo4life]

We loved the Sunshine and are looking forward to be on her again in October. It is very different than other Carnival ships, it almost feels like a different cruise line.

[ftrref]

Just off the sunshine one week ago and as others have posted we will not sail this particuler ship again. My wife and i are both platinum with over 80 days sailed on carnival and we love carnival but this ship has problems.If you like to go to the shows in main theatre or the comedy club you have to go 30 to 40 min, ahead of time and stand in line. there is not enough staff onboard for the amount of passengers and service is very slow. As other reviews have stated this ship is crowded and it feels so. We will contuinue to sail carnival as we have always had a great time and think there is value in the product that carnival offers just not on sunshine.

[ConsiderThatDiemCarped]

Margaritasmom,

 

My comment was specifically derived from your previous comment. And yes, your comment is the definition of snooty and condescending. Maybe you had 1 too many margaritas.

 

Fttrf: not crowded. Plenty of space. I watched every comedy show and never had to get there 30 minutes early. Not for the shows either. Saw all of them but 1 I didn't want to but could have. No wait for food or service. Great service. Plenty of staff.

 

Oh, I see what's happening. You guys that sail too often forget that you are supposed to be nice to the staff so you get bad service. You think that because you are platinum that that means something and you should get every thing first. Ship was never crowded. No lines except to tender. You want it and you want it now!

 

If you are booked on the sunshine, enjoy your wonderful cruise. If you are trying to decide, you will have a great time on any ship or you will have a bad time on every ship. You choose. It's your attitude that makes all the difference. If you are sailing on the valor January 30th 2016, I will see you there.

 

Just for reference, the valor only has 73% satisfaction and yet was just voted 1 of the top ten ships to sail this year based on reviews from last year.

 

Don't believe the hype.

[Margarita Mom]

Margaritasmom,

 

My comment was specifically derived from your previous comment. And yes, your comment is the definition of snooty and condescending. Maybe you had 1 too many margaritas.

 

Fttrf: not crowded. Plenty of space. I watched every comedy show and never had to get there 30 minutes early. Not for the shows either. Saw all of them but 1 I didn't want to but could have. No wait for food or service. Great service. Plenty of staff.

 

Oh, I see what's happening. You guys that sail too often forget that you are supposed to be nice to the staff so you get bad service. You think that because you are platinum that that means something and you should get every thing first. Ship was never crowded. No lines except to tender. You want it and you want it now!

 

If you are booked on the sunshine, enjoy your wonderful cruise. If you are trying to decide, you will have a great time on any ship or you will have a bad time on every ship. You choose. It's your attitude that makes all the difference. If you are sailing on the valor January 30th 2016, I will see you there.

 

Just for reference, the valor only has 73% satisfaction and yet was just voted 1 of the top ten ships to sail this year based on reviews from last year.

 

Don't believe the hype.

 

People like you are the reason I stopped coming to this board. You have nothing better to do than make snide and rude comments. I have a right to my opinion as much as you do. Don't bother directing anymore of your comments to me, I don't waste my time with people like you.

[ftrref]

I posted my opinion of my experiance on the sunshine yours my be different. I did not say there were not good things about sunshine but there are negatives as well and i simply pointed them out. We have sailed ten different carnival ships and loved them all just not this one. Enjoy your future sunhine sailings.

[ConsiderThatDiemCarped]

Margarita,

 

I'm sure that with all your negativity you won't be missed too much here. I love how you write that you don't waste time with people like me, while wasting time with me. I also love your empty comments that don't help others make decisions at all, rather just confuse them or make them upset about their already payed for, upcoming vacation. At least provide constructive criticism.

 

Maybe one less drink and one more thank you to the staff would go a long way.