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Sunshine 4/29/16

thebosn119

By thebosn119,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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JennN

JennN

Posted
Posted (edited)
Thanks. How was the steakhouse do you know?

 

  • Steakhouse is fabulous, as always. Free bottle of wine if you book it on the first night!
     
  • The Serenity area is to die for! It's on the other side of the ship from the screaming kids (and adults) on the water slides! Love it.
     
  • We didn't go to elegant night for the first time ever and tried JiJi's. Very glad we did. It was yummy, low key and for $15 a person, very well worth it!
     
  • Havana Bar is a super great place - especially the first 3 days when no one know it's there. They have breakfast yummies and lunch snacks there too (free of charge!)
     
  • We ate at Capitan's (Italian) for lunch (it was free).
     
  • The spiked shakes, which was all my MIL and wife raved about the entire year wait until the cruise, weren't very good.
     
  • ALCHEMY BAR! Best place ever if you drink.

 

Hope that helps! Enjoy!

 

ETA - it's my favorite ship of the fleet that I've been on. We went last December and hit Cuacao, Aruba and Grand Turk. I loved the layout. It never felt crowded but I think that too depends on the time of year and how booked the ship is

Edited by JennN
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kay1864

kay1864

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The spiked shakes, which was all my MIL and wife raved about the entire year wait until the cruise, weren't very good.

The unspiked shakes aren't that great either. Plus there's an automatic surcharge/tip (15% IIRC) which means the posted price isn't what you pay. The $7.75 spiked shake ends up being almost $9.00.

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bar1068

bar1068

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Why I hated the ship. First I just want to say I have been on carnival 4 other times and other cruise lines. I also had read bad reviews about sunshine but took them with a grain of salt since I know that people do complaint about stupid things. You have to really be bad for me to not like you. So with that out of the way. We had inside statement on deck 1, very warm even with the air conditioner all the way up. Toilet would not flush everything down. We had to always use the toilet scrubber to push the toilet paper down (even for number 1). Most of the staff were not to happy. I had a confrontation with the room steward because she was not replenishing the bathroom (was only given one washcloth and used all the tissues but they never gave me a new box). Had to finally ask for ice. Second night no animal towel. Yes most of these things are small little incidental things but I go on a cruise to relax, not chase down a maid. Anyway had to go to guest services because they overcharged for bucket of beer and instead of just saying sorry, the lady argued with me. How many people would go up and try to get $7 for free. Casino was very small. Setup for the main lounge was so very strange. Entertainment staff was not too entertaining. They kept repeating their same old jokes (for instance Jemma in from Singapore, yes Singapore, and she was made in a petri dish. If you go on the cruise you will understand this). Pool is very very small. Wanted to see a move at night and it was very hard to find a lounge chair. Didn't like how they repeated the comedian shows. Would have preferred new shows. And the food was not that spectacular. I will eat anything but towards the end of the cruise we stopped going to the dining room. Desserts were also not that great. Debarkation was terrible also. We were supposed to get off around 7:30 but it wasn't until 8:30 that they allowed us of. Many areas of the common areas including elevators were very warm. And many of the elevators were out of service.

 

So don't go cancelling your cruise based on this. Just a little warning to maybe lower your expectations. For us not liking the ship, the week did go by fast. I just think next time I will go to NCL or RC.

 

Fortunately having previously sailed twice on the Sunshine, this "warning" is of no use to us, and not even close to our past 2 experiences. We are also booked on the April 29, 2016, 9 day cruise based solely on our previous 2 very enjoyable cruises on the Sunshine.

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thebosn119

thebosn119

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Fortunately having previously sailed twice on the Sunshine, this "warning" is of no use to us, and not even close to our past 2 experiences. We are also booked on the April 29, 2016, 9 day cruise based solely on our previous 2 very enjoyable cruises on the Sunshine.

The entire history of this ship seems to be a mixed bag. People seem to love it or hate it, nothing between. I'm catching the hint about crowds though that's good info and seems consistent. See you on the 29th!

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bar1068

bar1068

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The entire history of this ship seems to be a mixed bag. People seem to love it or hate it, nothing between. I'm catching the hint about crowds though that's good info and seems consistent. See you on the 29th!

 

Well, I don't get the crowd thing. As some have said, crowds really don't seem any different than other Carnival ships. Main/Lido pool crowded..lounges always full..blah blah....we rarely look to sit by pool and look for better views on other decks.

 

Other contributions to the mixed bag am I convinced are "reviews" or comments from people that did not even sail on the Sunshine. Some may have sailed the Destiny...but what puts them off and leads to the crowding comments is the rooms that were added. Again to me, it's just another ship crowd wise.

 

Then there were the out right lies told prior to the Sunshines TA. There was a group who insisted the Sunshine would never make it across the Atlantic because the modifications made were not designed properly and built so poorly which when fully fueled, the Sunshine would list so badly it could not sail the distance across the Atlantic, unless it started out with less fuel, and "filled up" part way across!! Some of the most outrageous stuff I've ever read on here,and NONE of it was even remotely true.

 

All I know is, I'll look forward to a great time on the Sunshine next April. See you on board!!

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thebosn119

thebosn119

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  • Steakhouse is fabulous, as always. Free bottle of wine if you book it on the first night!
     
  • The Serenity area is to die for! It's on the other side of the ship from the screaming kids (and adults) on the water slides! Love it.
     
  • We didn't go to elegant night for the first time ever and tried JiJi's. Very glad we did. It was yummy, low key and for $15 a person, very well worth it!
     
  • Havana Bar is a super great place - especially the first 3 days when no one know it's there. They have breakfast yummies and lunch snacks there too (free of charge!)
     
  • We ate at Capitan's (Italian) for lunch (it was free).
     
  • The spiked shakes, which was all my MIL and wife raved about the entire year wait until the cruise, weren't very good.
     
  • ALCHEMY BAR! Best place ever if you drink.

 

Hope that helps! Enjoy!

 

ETA - it's my favorite ship of the fleet that I've been on. We went last December and hit Cuacao, Aruba and Grand Turk. I loved the layout. It never felt crowded but I think that too depends on the time of year and how booked the ship is

Great stuff! Good info on the bar first few days. Same deal on, the Breeze I think, in the Havana Bar. And I'll definitely try to hit steakhouse on first night, I heard about the free wine!

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tandemcruzr

tandemcruzr

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We have sailed a B2B on the Sunshine last Nov and have 2 more B2B's booked -- next Jan and April (24th and 29th.)

 

Lido buffet can get crowded at prime lunch time, but we waited 'til a little later and everything was fine. We always took our lunch plates to the Havana Bar area.

 

Both the Italian and Asian stations do omelets in the morning -- 1 station at the Italian and 2 stations at the Asian. Not usually crowded.

 

Enjoyed the Steakhouse -- good food and good service. We had late dining in the MDR and had the same waitstaff team both weeks. They found out I like creme brulee for desert and it was available on several nights.

 

Looking forward to Jan and April -- especially the Journey Cruise 4/29. :)

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thebosn119

thebosn119

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We have sailed a B2B on the Sunshine last Nov and have 2 more B2B's booked -- next Jan and April (24th and 29th.)

 

Lido buffet can get crowded at prime lunch time, but we waited 'til a little later and everything was fine. We always took our lunch plates to the Havana Bar area.

 

Both the Italian and Asian stations do omelets in the morning -- 1 station at the Italian and 2 stations at the Asian. Not usually crowded.

 

Enjoyed the Steakhouse -- good food and good service. We had late dining in the MDR and had the same waitstaff team both weeks. They found out I like creme brulee for desert and it was available on several nights.

 

Looking forward to Jan and April -- especially the Journey Cruise 4/29. :)

Thanks for the info and see you 4/29!

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thebosn119

thebosn119

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We're there on the 29th also. First time to all of the ports , first time on the Sunshine. Reviews are so mixed on this ship not even paying attention to them anymore. Going with an open mind and plan on having a blast !!!

Agreed. My wife and I always make our own fun anyway, I just can't get a feel for the ship when the reviews are almost all at one end of the spectrum or the other.

 

I do appreciate ALL the info though. Looking forward to the 4/29 cruise!

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