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Sunshine Review 2/20 until 2/28

LPut714

By LPut714,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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hhalliv

hhalliv

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Lucky you!!! Escaping all our snow huh???

 

Take care of that ship, we sail on her soon!!! :)

 

Yes we are! More snow expected tonight, but I have an eye plastered on the forecast for Saturday incase I have to move our flights lol

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LPut714

LPut714

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Just off the Sunshine this morning. Probably one of our best Carnival cruises? Will post highlights once we get home to cold Michigan

 

Review of Carnival Sunshine 2/20-2/28

Probably our best Carnival Cruise

Background-I am 60, DH is 65-we are retired so love to travel. We have done 18 cruises-11 Carnival, 5 RC and 2 NCL. We have learned to make the cruise our own as you are not going to please 2000+ people. After reading all the negative reviews I was leery of this ship (as I was of the Epic) but we had nothing to worry about. I am not going to do a minute by minute review but just highlight different things-so if you have any questions ask away.

 

We had originally booked the Sunshine on a free interior room offer thru Carnival. I had asked Jennifer my wonderful CCL agent if this cruise becomes a Premier Casino cruise can we convert it-no problem. We had done a Premier cruise on the Freedom last year and loved all the special perks. Well in November I did get a Premier Cruise offer and our trip was listed as one of them-a quick call and it was switched over-I think I had to pay $4/person more.

 

Being from Michigan and not knowing what the weather would be like we always fly down the day before the cruise (and always get travel insurance). Flew on Southwest-quick plane change in Atlanta. We were in Orlando shortly after 10a. Collected bags (no fee) and headed to Budget car rental.

 

I had book an economy car several months out for about $50 then kept watching the prices-on 2/3 I was able to get the same car (Ford Focus) for $39.12 including all taxes and charges. We were given a one category booking at the time of pick up to a Hyundai Elantra. I had packed our GPS so got that hooked up and headed to Cocoa Beach-about 45 minutes from MCO. We had been there last year so were quite familiar with the area.

 

I had gotten a blind pick room on Hotwire-knowing the location but not the hotel. It turned out to be Comfort Inn and Suites on North Atlantic in Cocoa Beach. Got it for $75 including all taxes. Was it a 5 star definitely not. But it was clean, water hot and fine for one night. Room wasn’t ready so we headed to McDonald’s for lunch-able to use buy one get one coupon. Then had to find wine and vodka for our rum runners-alcohol isn’t sold in grocery stores as it is in Michigan. We stopped at the ABC wine and spirits store on Atlantic. Great selection and prices. Filled the rum runners back in the room, had a few beers and then headed out to dinner. Had read good reviews about Madd Jacks Grillin Shack-it was ok-we split a two meet platter. Plenty of food so went home full.

 

Up around 6:30a showered and headed to breakfast at the hotel. Good selection so filled our tummies for a while.

 

We packed up all our luggage then went to top off our gas ($2.36/gallon). We dropping the car back pm Astronaut Blvd. We had checked yesterday what time the shuttles were running and told they started at 10:30am. We got there at 10am and they were loading up a van to go to the Sunshine. We were at the port before 11am.

 

This cruise we became Platinum so along with the Premier cruise perks we had priority boarding. We were processed in and given our keys in 5 minutes. Then told us to wait in this very nice lounge with comfy chairs. We were on the boat by 11:30am. Being Platinum we were able to go right to our room and drop of hand luggage. Our allotted two bottles of wine was in our back pack and not taken out for exam.

 

I am just going to highlight certain things on each area-so as not to bore everyone.

 

Ship-extremely clean. No trash any where. Did notice food trays in the halls in the morning but they were promptly picked up. We didn’t notice any sewage smells or see any buckets for drips. If you remember deck 5 is your friend you can get to the front to back quite easily. Were there crowds-nothing more than we have found on other ships. We noticed the bottlenecks at Guy’s and by Blue Iguana-so you just walk by the tables to avoid. Very nice décor throughout the ship-more subdued than the Destiny. Deck 9 is your food deck, Deck 10 outside. We don’t use the elevators so plenty of stairs around-stairwells located by the elevators. Loved the serenity deck-they were tagging items that had been left for more than 40 minutes. Loved the shadey areas after so many days in the sun.

 

 

Room 7202-We had an inside on deck 7 mid ship. Loved this location-two decks down to casino and 2 decks up to the food. Room had a lot of storage-3 closets-one for dresses; the next had two rods that would hold shirts or shorter items. The third closet held life jackets which we just put under the bed and used the large shelf. Smaller safe in that closet-did hold ipad, ipad mini, gps, wallet, money without problem. It is set by a 4 digit pin. The dresser has 3 drawers-the top which holds the hair dryer. Large vanity mirror with light. 2 shelves to the right of mirror. On the left was a cupboard with two good size shelves. At first I didn’t think we would have enough room but then ended up with spaces I didn’t use. I always use the over the door shoe holder for smaller items. I noticed 3 electric plugs-2 on the desk and one behind the tv-I brought a 3 plug adapter (not a power strip which is a no no) and had no prob charging up items. There is also a plug in bathroom for electric shaver. The first thing we noticed is they have done away with bedside tables. We used the vanity stool on one side and a suitcase stood up on the other side just to catch watch, glasses, etc. Plenty of room under the bed to store cases. Closets had about 6 hangers in each. Two terry robes provided. Flat screen about 32” but not equipped with interactive menu-i.e. menus, bill, etc. But there are two self serve kiosks to check your bill and avoid lines at guest services (which there was none). Shower was one of the largest we have ever had-great water pressure and temp. Has cloth curtain so at times water would run outside but quickly drained behind the toilet. Toilet is set at an angle but worked fine. No bar in shower for ladies to shave there legs. Shampoo and shower gel in shower. Bar of soap on sink counter. Four glass shelves to store items. Very comfortable-at times it did feel warm but we were able to cool it down. Our first two days at sea the winds were hitting the boat on the side so we would feel vibrations now and then. Extremely comfortable mattress, foam like. Loved how nice and dark the interior cabin was. Cabin steward Cha Cha and Jenn were excellent-requested ice bucket for wine-it was promptly produced and kept filled. Greeted by our names after the first day. We never asked for anything else as they were very efficient. Towel animals and chocolates each night.

 

Crew-absolutely everyone we met had a smile on there face and greet you with Hello or Good Morning. They all seemed to be enjoying what they were doing. Never encountered a grumpy employee. This was our second cruise having Jamie Dee as a cruise director-she is one of the best. Endless energy and involved in everything. She was starting on a 6 week vacation as we got off the ship but she will then be returning to the Sunshine.

 

Food-We noticed an improvement in the overall quality of the food on the Lido deck-salads were very fresh with a lot more choices of toppings. Marketplace is set up with 2 identical stations-there is no rhyme or reason to which way people go thru the lines-but not a big deal. We would always get our food and head out aft to eat in the Havana bar area. Havana bar has snacks out for breakfast and lunch, love to try them. Loved JiJi’s for lunch stir fry-protein choices rotate chicken, beef, shrimp, calamari, salmon, mussels/clams. Very good-go early as the line gets long. Did Guy’s burger day we boarded-very good. Did try Cucina Del Capitano one day for lunch-you pick pasta, protein, sauce etc. It was ok. Attended the Sea Day brunch one day-seemed to take a long time-food warm at best. Steak and Eggs wasn’t good. Loved stopping for pizza-always fresh and hot out of the oven-5 different choices. Plenty of Coffee/Juice stations-we would mix iced tea/lemonade with our in room vodka (take smaller bubba kegs). Missed not having area where you could eat outside-but honestly some of our days at sea were very windy so your food may have gone overboard. Didn’t do any of the pay food venues.

We had MTD and usually went about 5:30-5:45pm and never had to wait once. You check in on deck 5 and then a short was down to deck 3. Several nights they have food samples at the Taste bar which is nice. They also serve smaller breakfast here. We requested the same wait staff each night-Christopher and Alexandra-they were GREAT!!! Table 432. Made dining fun-addressed us by our names after first day. Was the food gourmet-no. But it was hot every time and if there was something we didn’t like it was promptly replaced. Dinner never took more than one to one and a half hours-moved along very quickly. Of course I think having a great time helps. We used room service only for breakfasts-coffee/juice etc. It was delivered on time-tip give. I do like that RC calls to let you know they are on there way vs. just knocking on the door.

 

Casino-being that we were on a casino cruise we spent a lot of time here. They had raffles, slot tournaments, cruise giveaways to keep us busy. They would also leave us gifts in our room-coffee mugs, tervis cups, 3 in 1 game boards, cookies, wine. It was fun to see what each day would bring. The casino is on the smaller side and yes it does get very smokey especially at the end of the casino bar. You can avoid the casino area by walking on another deck. We really enjoyed our week meeting a lot of great people. Hopefully there will be another Premier Cruise in the future. I did manage to win one jackpot. A man won $20,000 on our cruise-hopefully he brought most of it home.

 

Entertainment-We didn’t go to any of the production shows. I was looking forward to seeing Epic Rock the last night but ended up getting a really bad head cold and just laid low. We loved Run for Cover band who appeared on Ocean Plaza a lot-very good talent. We did go to see Bobbie Borgia the Magician and Martin Monroe the juggler in the theater-post renovation is it one deck smaller but we never had a problem finding a seat-we usually sat on the second level. We did go to 3 18+ comedy shows-a couple we were able to just walk in right before it started. It didn’t appear as if they were turning folks away. We often would stand by the bar or by the wall if we couldn’t get a seat. Yes the layout of the comedy location is strange but we still enjoyed it.

 

Ports-Grand Turk 8a-2p-we just hung out at Margaritaville and made use of pool. Get there early to use wi fi as it does seem to get saturated the more people come. St. Thomas-1-9p walked into town and shopped. Purchased tanzanite ring/earrings and watch from our friend at Jewels Forever. Great people to work with. San Juan 8a-6p-hopped on one of the free trollies and got to see a good part of Old San Juan. We then did some walking in the area checking out many stores. St. Maarten 8a-4p-you can take a water taxi to Phillipsburg when you get off the ship $7 for all day. We opted to walk as they have a nice boardwalk. Was able to pick up wifi along the way. We took a local bus ($2/person each way) to Maho. We stayed on the beach till about noon and were able to see some planes land/take off-a lot of fun. On the way back to the shop with stopped at Amsterdam Cheese and Liquor store-lots of great samples and $1 beers.

 

Off the ship by 9:30am-claimed luggage and thru customs. I had arranged Travel Lynx for return transportation to Orlando airport-$30/person. Took about 45 minutes. Dropped off at terminal A. Return flight wasn’t until 4:15p so couldn’t check in bags until 4 hours prior to flight-sort of a pain but understand.

 

Over all we loved the cruise. Can’t really find anything negative. Again go and enjoy the Sunshine-don’t sweat the small stuff, life is too short.

 

 

Any questions I will try and answer

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LPut714

LPut714

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Too bad you missed Epic Rock. We went to all the shows all week and that was the best. Sitting up front to the side makes a difference too.

Yeah I was doing great till Fri am then I felt like the wind just got knocked out of my sails-still not feeling too good. Will have to try and see it next time.

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