Sunshine 4-day St.John's review

[NinaandGus]

I apologize in advance for the lack of pictures, but hopefully a verbal review will be enough :)

 

We took the 4 day cruise from NYC to St.John with my mother over the 4th of July weekend and just returned yesterday. I am married and pregnant and my mother is visually impaired. This was a birthday cruise for me, first cruise for me on Carnival and a first cruise on a big ship for my mother. I am in my 30's and my mother is in her 50's.

 

Embarkation was slow and for a pregnant lady, the standing was awful. However, I have no complaints otherwise, as our cabin was ready when we arrived and we loved it! We had booked cabin 6106, which is a handicapped cabin, great for my mother, who needed clear space to move. We had a window to the front of the ship and there was a nice little deck, that we liked sitting in a few times, enjoying the privacy and the ocean.

 

Muster drill was a disaster... Once again we had to stand in one place and wait for a bunch of people to arrive. People were crowding us and little kids would not stay still (understandably so). Either way, once that was done, we set to explore the ship, which by the way didnt leave until around 7-7.30pm if I remember correctly.

 

After muster we were hungry and went up to lido to get some pizza (one of the only options available at that hour). The pizza was delicious! It was made in tiny thin pies and had the perfect amount of cheese and sauce on it. We did not expect much of it, but were very pleasantly surprised!

 

The pool deck had gotten crowded and we decided to go indoors to explore. People had their kids running around and bumping into people... again, not very safe for a pregnant lady or a lady, who cannot see well. We did not end up spending much time on the pool deck, due to the fact that it was crowded. There were teenagers in the adults area as well.

 

One bad thing we noticed with the layout of the ship, is that in order to get to the back, where one has to sign up for anytime dining, you have to walk through the Casino. Not pleasant. Luckily we figured out after the first time that you could walk through the cabin hallway on the 6th floor directly to the back of the ship, so that did not bother us much after.

 

As I mentioned above, we had anytime dining and decided to get some more food around 6pm. We had a very nice waiter, Dalmacio from the Philippines, who serviced with a smile and humor! We enjoyed him very much! The food was good. We both had the salmon the first night and my mom enjoyed her favorite: shrimp.

 

We ended up spending the first night shopping and exploring and attended the battle of the sexes show. The people in charge of it were hilarious. I wish I remembered their names. It was a team made of a British girl and an Australian boy.

 

Thursday was sea day. We started the day with a pre-breakfast, as we were up and ready to go at 7am. We went to lido to get some coffee, juice and pastries to start the day off with and the sun deck was nice and calm in the morning. We sat at an empty deck bar and watched as people slowly got up to the deck.

 

After our pre-breakfast we went to brunch (yes, we ate a lot during this cruise). We ordered some omelettes and the sit down service was very nice. I recommend trying the brunch!

 

We ended up doing some more shopping and attended the art auction. No finds there. Later in the day we found some gifts from Carnival and a personalized message wishing me happy birthday on our state room mirror by our cabin steward, Omar. He greeted us every time we passed him in the hallway and seemed to be always in a good mood.

 

My mother absolutely loved the towel animals and the elephant she found in our room Thursday made her scream! Elephants are her favorite animals.

 

We attended the Studio VIP show, which was a dance show featuring 70's music. It was alright. We enjoyed it and most of the singers were very good.

 

Saturday we arrived in rainy St.John. We had ordered breakfast to our room, as we planned on eating it out on our "private" deck. It was wet, so we ate while watching TV instead! There was not much to do in St. John, but as we had never been to Canada before, we enjoyed seeing something different. We bought a Canada umbrella and started walking towards the market. The mall had shops aimed for tourists and we did not see much we wished to buy. We did find an amazing food place! There is an Ale house when you first walk into the mall on the ground floor. I have never had an avocado sandwich that tasted so good!! After eating, we explored a bit more and purchased a beer for my husband as a gift from a brewery down the street. It was very cold, so we headed back to the ship around 1pm.

 

I had a hair appointment in the afternoon, as I had received a $50 gift voucher for the spa. The spa personnel had informed me that I would not be able to get any of the spa treatments due to my pregnancy (not even a foot massage, which was news to me), so I got a shampoo and style, as it was my only option. The hair came out nice, but to be honest, if it wasnt free (excluding tip), I could have done it myself. The stylist however was very professional and pleasant.

 

At 5.30pm we had a birthday dinner at Cucina, the Italian restaurant. I did not like how it was situated right next to the buffet and people kept passing by in their robes and swimwear. This fact took away the feeling of being in an Italian restaurant (or in a restaurant at all). Our server was great and the food was good too. We also received a complimentary bottle of wine, which my mother had a glass of and the rest we donated to the next table.

 

After dinner we attended the Hasbro game show, which they advertise as an amazing experience... it was not as expected. They hyped about it on TV with life-sized board games and we looked forward to that. They did not do those games and due to all the hype we got disappointed.

 

Later at night we did go see the love and marriage show, which was very funny and truly enjoyable. I do have to comment on it being 18+ and people still bringing their children to watch the show.

 

Overall a very nice birthday day!

 

Sunday was another sea day and we took this day more laid-back. We started with brunch and found ourselves at tea in the afternoon. The tea service was a disappointment, as they gave us one salmon finger sandwich and one cucumber finger sandwich, not more. They also used the same pliers for the fist and the vegetarian, which could be very bad news for someone allergic to fish!

We did another art auction and my mother was one missing person away from winning "guess the price". We then had some more pizza and went to sing karaoke. Karaoke was only an hour long, so not everyone got to sing. I suppose they offered it every night, but it was at the same time as the shows, so we did not attend previously (however would have loved to, but had to make a choice). Sunday was an early night for us and as I said, we mostly just relaxed and walked around.

 

Disembarkation on Monday was a disaster on the 3rd floor. It was jam-packed with rude people, trying to tell you to get in the back of the line, when you are just exiting an elevator. It's not like the ship is not going to let you off and give you a free cruise! Everyone will be getting off the ship.

After getting pushed around off the ship, the rest was a breeze and we were walking at a good pace to the taxi line, which also moved quickly.

 

Overall I give this cruise 4/5 stars. My mother and myself enjoyed the (mostly) friendly staff and the atmosphere on the ship.

 

Positives:

Staff, Programming (things to do), Food, Cleanliness, Awesome cabin at an awesome price.

 

Negatives:

Rude people, people hanging out in swimsuits at the buffet, lack of vegetarian food options during lunch, Programming (everything fun scheduled at the same time).

 

Feel free to ask any questions.

[Clarea]

Excellent report, thanks.:)

[Shih-tzu]

Sorry about the weather - that's the 1st thing I though of when I woke up Saturday morning.....what a wet day for those coming into port on the Sunshine. (it's not always like this tho......)

[mizLORInj]

Thanks for your review. I'm looking forward to trying out Sunshine soon. Waterslides! woohoo!

 

This Italian restaurant you mention--is it an upcharge or included-in-cruise-fare eatery?

 

 

Edited July 6, 2016 by mizLORInj

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[stephlauryn]

We r on the Sunshine in 21 days:D same itinerary! Was wondering about weather and things to do. Thanks so much for your review.:cool:

[Fla Senior]

Thanks for your review. I'm looking forward to trying out Sunshine soon. Waterslides! woohoo!

 

This Italian restaurant you mention--is it an upcharge or included-in-cruise-fare eatery?

 

 

It is free for lunch and a charge for dinner ($15 I think). Lunch is a limited menu. They give you a card and you select type of pasta, meat, sauce, veggies. They prepare and serve in a bowl. Bread is included. Dinner is a full Italian dinner served family style.

[Keith1010]

Thank you for takin the time to write your review.

 

Keith

[mizLORInj]

 

It is free for lunch and a charge for dinner ($15 I think). Lunch is a limited menu. They give you a card and you select type of pasta, meat, sauce, veggies. They prepare and serve in a bowl. Bread is included. Dinner is a full Italian dinner served family style.

 

Ah, so this is the place that is upstairs from the buffet on some other Carnival ships. Got it. Thanks. i remember doing the card thing once or twice.

Edited July 6, 2016 by mizLORInj

[NinaandGus]

Thanks for your review. I'm looking forward to trying out Sunshine soon. Waterslides! woohoo!

 

This Italian restaurant you mention--is it an upcharge or included-in-cruise-fare eatery?

 

 

 

Hi! The Italian restaurant is an upcharge restaurant. We got a free meal due to my birthday. In my opinion, the food was just as good as any other meal on the ship.

[NinaandGus]

We r on the Sunshine in 21 days:D same itinerary! Was wondering about weather and things to do. Thanks so much for your review.:cool:

 

I would have loved to have explored St.Johns more! The rain and cold wind just made in unbearable after we got half soaked! A very calm place and I would suggest walking around, as there is some beautiful architecture.

[JaniceB]

Happy birthday and thank you for the review of your cruise!

Edited July 6, 2016 by JaniceB