Sunshine Concerns

[angco1962]

I have been reading reviews about the Carnival Sunshine. Getting a little concerned. I always loved Carnival and have been on several of their ships and never was disappointed. The last few years we have done the Allure and Oasis on Royal. I know the Sunshine cannot but I am not complaining. I paid almost 1/2 of what I paid on the Royal cruises plus it is for an extra night and for ports I have never traveled to.

 

My concern is on sea days do I really have to get out there at 6am to reserve seats. I don't need to be near the pool but I want to make sure I can get a chair somewhere. I love to lounge on sea days.

 

Has anyone done MTD on the Sunshine? I have done it twice but was wondering about the wait on this ship.

 

I am pretty laid back so I don't take much of the bad reviews to heart as long as my room is clean and I can find something to eat. I am not a big foodie. I can always order room service.

 

Just worried about the sea days and my lounge chair.

[cruzeluver]

I would be skeptical of any report that says not a single lounger could be found anywhere on board. IF you do not care about location I am sure you will be fine.

[cruizinisthebest]

OP you should do a search on here as there are literally hundreds of threads about the Sunshine and some of the concerns you have.

 

I can tell you that I was told to head for Aft Deck 10 on sea days for a chair. That's what we plan to do. I don't like being right by the pool either, and I'm sure that beautiful serenity area will be pack with chair hogs. Between traveling with kids and not being one to jockey for position on deck, I doubt I will ever get to enjoy the Serenity area. I'm like you, I just want some place to sit and soak up the sun.

[hartsnvt]

We stayed away from the main pool and went to serenity as there are 3 decks of it. Found loungers no problem. I loved the sunshine.

[iRICKATRON]

i had these same concerns along with the over crowding issue. so i took precautions when i booked. booked cabin 11035 Spa Balcony. figured i could step outside the door grab a lounger with no problem. and with the MTD i heard the longest wait was about 15 mins

[ddlb]

OP - I could have written exactly what you have written! We are going on the 8 day cruise on the Sunshine to ports we have never been to for a fantastic price for a balcony. We even got $50 OBC + our $100 stock credit. My feeling is for the price we are paying I don't care if we have to wait for a table - I'll just bring a glass of wine with me and enjoy the view. If there are no loungers well I'm sure you will eventually find one especially like I asked in another post what is the worse that can happen if you remove a towel that has been "saving" a lounger for over an hour or so. I am betting my bottom dollar we will enjoy it but I must admit I have been reading every single review that has been posted since I booked. I'll find my way around the ship just fine too! ENJOY! And you know what I am seriously excited about the wifi pkg for $25 - such a deal to be able to be in touch with home and the dog sitter and the elderly mother etc. That to me is worth a few inconveniences if they should occur!

[sjcruiser]

We sailed on the Sunshine last summer, ands will be on her again this summer. We easily found loungers around the pool, or the deck above after breakfast. Also, Serenity was my main hangout spot during the day, and I could find a lounger, chaise or hammock without any problem. The hammocks are popular, so you may have a wait for that. I would just hang out at another seat nearby and sometimes make small talk with the person(s) currently using it, which let offered to me once they were done. I reciprocated it back to a couple what were on a chaise/sofa/sectional. The hammock I was in was in the direct sun, even though its under a pergola, and you can easily sunburn, which I found out the next day!!!

[Acosmo]

The Serenity Deck is anything but Serene, it's beautiful, but packed with people. On the first sea day, cushioned loungers around the hot tub/pool were saved at 7am, not all of them, but def groups of 3 and 4. Chair savers would come back and remove the stickers within the 40-45 mins of the deck patrol tagging them, then take off again, leaving the seats reserved until one person would come back and take the stickers off the next time. By noon the pool/hot tub was packed with bodies, couples, just standing in the water. Pretty funny to watch but annoying.

 

Even though our room was on the spa deck, 11, we went to Waterworks and found seats easily. The slides are fantastic, and it was a fun area to hang out, get cool in the water, not far from our room.

 

We liked that the Sunshine is a small ship, easy to get around and had no problem finding seats on deck, even at noon. Just not right at the pool/Serenity deck.

Edited May 18, 2015 by Acosmo

[xeroxme]

I will be doing the 8 day at the end of June. Sailed her as Destiny and thought it was a fun ship. I never lay out on a lounge chair. So you will have mine a DW. Im to hyper to just sit there.

In April on Splendor MTD had some 15 to 20 minute waits. They gave us a pager. We had a glass of wine and enjoyed ourselves. That was only on formal nights too. It was no biggie

[mlamont80]

We loved the sunshine and didn't have any problems. I recommended this ship to my parents and they just got back 2 days ago and they said it was their favorite cruise. A vacation is what you make of it. We didn't ever have problems finding chairs by the pool.

[sandij]

We sailed on her more than a year ago and I love to read in the sun. I never had a problem finding a lounge chair, now I don't like being too close to the pool (do loud and busy) so maybe that made the difference. A lovely ship really.

[bingo3]

I read the reviews with a grain of salt. I also look at the poster and see how many posts and reviews they have written. If it says 0 posts and 1 review, I am hesitant to trust them if it is all negative. Personally, I think finding chairs on almost any ship is a challenge at certain times on sea days. And I have been on some of the biggest ships. :)

[eponym]

...

 

Just worried about the sea days and my lounge chair.

 

No one here can assure you that the decks aren't crowded on sea days, or that whenever you show up there will be a pair of loungers with your name on them.

 

Book it, be wise and have fun!

[Rock712]

I read the reviews with a grain of salt. I also look at the poster and see how many posts and reviews they have written. If it says 0 posts and 1 review, I am hesitant to trust them if it is all negative. Personally, I think finding chairs on almost any ship is a challenge at certain times on sea days. And I have been on some of the biggest ships. :)

 

Bingo , couldn't agree more. We've been on the bigger ( Glory , Liberty , Splendor ) and smaller ( Miracle , Paradise ) and all presented the same basic challenges on sea day finding chairs in the main pool area , seating in Lido , etc.

[jolyroger]

Bingo , couldn't agree more. We've been on the bigger ( Glory , Liberty , Splendor ) and smaller ( Miracle , Paradise ) and all presented the same basic challenges on sea day finding chairs in the main pool area , seating in Lido , etc.

 

And I will agree with you as well as the person you originally quoted! Before I sailed on the Sunshine in april, I read every review, good and bad(lots of those) and took each one with a whole salt shaker....not just a grain of salt!.Can I say we absolutely loved this ship.. After Cruising the Breeze twice then this ship, to us it was like a mini Breeze. No complaints of funky smells or rude staff or overcrowding... and food and service was great..Could always find a deckchair and that's looking around 9am! We also had a spa balcony cabin 11026, best location ever! walk two doors down and there's the serenity deck. Would not hesitate to book this location or the ship actually. To the OP, go have a great time, if you go looking for all the negative, that's all you'll find!

[volmoma]

And I will agree with you as well as the person you originally quoted! Before I sailed on the Sunshine in april, I read every review, good and bad(lots of those) and took each one with a whole salt shaker....not just a grain of salt!.Can I say we absolutely loved this ship.. After Cruising the Breeze twice then this ship, to us it was like a mini Breeze. No complaints of funky smells or rude staff or overcrowding... and food and service was great..Could always find a deckchair and that's looking around 9am! We also had a spa balcony cabin 11026, best location ever! walk two doors down and there's the serenity deck. Would not hesitate to book this location or the ship actually. To the OP, go have a great time, if you go looking for all the negative, that's all you'll find!

 

 

We were booked on the Dream in August out of New Orleans. We sailed the Sunshine in February and absolutely loved everything about her...we had a Spa deck balcony. We had no problems with pool chairs even with all the chogs (chair hogs). My husband just changed our booking to the Sunshine in August, even tho it cost us $$ to change and it cost more than the Dream, BUT, that's how much we both loved it..[emoji173]️ MY [emoji295]️!!!!

[Acosmo]

After Cruising the Breeze twice then this ship, to us it was like a mini Breeze. No complaints of funky smells or rude staff or overcrowding... and food and service was great.. To the OP, go have a great time, if you go looking for all the negative, that's all you'll find!

 

Great post and so true. Loved how easy it was to get around on this ship, like a small neighborhood. Taste Bar, to Bonsai Sushi, to Comedy Club, back to lobby, out to the movies under the stars, easy-easy-easy to get around.

[Acosmo]

And the best Water Slides - EVER.

[zephyrhillscruisers]

From last May....if I may

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2049019

 

 

We're returning to the Sunshine for the November Cruise to Key West and the Bahamas.

[sseuorosal]

I would be skeptical of any report that says not a single lounger could be found anywhere on board.

[jolyroger]

And the best Water Slides - EVER.

Omg ,yes definitely! ! I think we went on them more than our kids,lol!

[AmberTeka]

we sail on the Sunshine in less than six weeks. I love hearing the good comments. And like being warned by the not so good...where to avoid crowds and such.

 

thank you all for taking the time to post here. This site is a GOLDMINE of information,..that you can trust.

[deadmoney]

We just returned Saturday from our Sunshine cruise.

I would not hesitate one second to book this again.

Never saw any problems with loungers, we were booked on the Lido deck and every time I went by there were empty chairs.

It was also cool that they at times had popcorn available during the movies.

 

These are just my observations and your mileage may vary:)