Just off the Carnival Sunshine this morning. Thoughts.

[OceanBound16]

I started this thread a few weeks ago and wanted to update the original:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2380049

 

OVERALL: Spent 8 days on the Sunshine and had really low expectations. My goal was to just go with the flow. As you see in the original thread I was skeptical about going. Overall, my experience was positive. Below I will tell you the Great, the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of my Carnival cruise.

 

THE GREAT:

1.) Carnival does customer service very well. They take it very seriously. I had FTTF (would buy again!) and Carnival tried very well to not only prioritize its VIP but also the general population. The room service attendants worked in an organized and militaristic fashion but with smiles and friendliness. Overall a wonderful crew, including all dining staff.

 

2.) The entertainment was top notch! I loved all the shows and Carnival really went all out to make sure everyone was having fun.

 

3.) These are the foods Carnival excels in: 1.) Room Service chocolate cake (better than anything served in the dining room). 2.) Breakfast burritos served at the Blue Iguana 3.) Guy's burgers and fries. On two occasions I ordered Peanut Butter and Jelly from room service and it was great! (I said I had low expectations!)

 

4.) Camp Carnival - excellent service and my 9 year old did not want to hang out with me. She would stay in the club for 2 hours at a time and not be bored. Sometimes when I picked her up she told me to come back in 5-10 minutes so she could finish her activities.

 

 

THE GOOD:

1.) Carnival's food. Carnival's food is not what I consider great but the trick is you must weed through all the bad stuff (try everything) to find the gold mines: dishes that Carnival excels in. You will find it. Not everything will be good. Pace yourself with the food. My first Lido lunch on embarkation day was terrible and I was expecting it to all be down hill from there.

 

THE BAD:

1.) The pool. There was no enforcement of pool rules. Everyday kids would be jumping and diving into a crowded pool without a care who they fell on. The parents did not care.

 

2.) Smokers: Our neighbors smoked on the balcony and dropped their ashes and cigarettes on the lifeboats below. Sometimes the ashes would blow over to our balcony where our swimsuits would be drying on the chairs. We completely ratted them out at Customer Service. Customer Service paid them a visit. Everything in their cabin smelled disgusting. We were told that they would be charged but we don't know what became of it.

 

3.) The sewer smell - it appeared periodically once in a blue moon but not enough to ruin the trip.

 

THE UGLY:

1.) Out of the 8 days I only got a good night's sleep on 1 of the days. Every single night between 10pm - 3am teens and children raced up and down the halls, shouting, laughing and slamming doors repeatedly. After 3am, things became quiet every night. Sometimes they would shout right in front of my door, just passing by. Adults too.

 

This one feature really and truly made me want to NOT book another trip. I am still on the fence. I loved the Carnival experience but this nearly ruined my vacation. I had earplugs but those didn't really help me. And plus my daughter complained as well.

 

2.) The general demographic for the trip was ethnically diverse and pretty good overall but there were 1 or 2 people that were low class (cursing at the dinner table with polite company next to them, talking about inappropriate topics (his mom having sex), under 21s getting alcohol from their grandparents or parents at the bar. Stuff like that. But again, this didn't ruin my trip like the nightly ruckus.

 

Again, overall, a positive experience and one I would do again but I don't think I am going to be an "every year" Carnival customer. Might do every other year or few years. Am seeking a more quiet type of trip with less kids or at least well behaved kids and a better sleeping experience.

Edited August 17, 2016 by OceanBound16

[pcvtmom]

Very fair review! The demographics for summer cruisers include the types of kids, young adults, and parents you describe, more than for fall, winter, and spring cruises. (Except for school holidays and spring break...) Having said that, it certainly isn't Carnival's fault that there are parents who do a lousy job of parenting. If possible, you might want to book your next cruise at a different time of the year and hope for a better overall experience. Thanks for taking the time to let us know how things went!

[mmsydny4@aol.com]

Yes I agree. That's why we're booking a Halloween cruise for next year. Kids will be in school so not so many onboard and if they are most will be too young to be in the halls or over 18 (which some of those aren't any better). But with that being said we are leaving ours at home with grandparents and going to enjoy a worry free vacay and will be on the serenity deck where children aren't allowed some of the time. Did you happen to call guest services about the noise and if so did they do anything at all? Good review!

[A&Jfamily]

So sorry you had rude neighbors, on both the smoking and the 3 am hallway front. I don't blame you for ratting out the neighbors and am wondering if you called security about the kids. They can patrol the halls.

 

I can tell you that I have found such disturbances to be a rare occurrence. Only once, in more than 10 cruises, have I had to call. We were on a romantic getaway for much needed rest. After 11 pm, a family reunion on a 4 day cruise seemed to think that it was appropriate to pull the chairs and footstools into the hall, and have their drinks and hoot and holler...and slam the doors. One call and they were redirected to the wide variety of appropriate venues for such a gathering.

 

Perhaps you will feel it is worth another shot....

[BoDidly]

Fair enough review, I'll have to try the chocolate cäke , perhaps for breakfast :D. After all it's ingredients include eggs and milk ;).

[mizLORInj]

Thanks for your review. Looking forward to being on Sunshine soon.

 

I'll have to try that room service chocolate cake!

 

I'm hoping our neighbors aren't smokers. I am paying for a smoke-free balcony experience!

Edited August 18, 2016 by mizLORInj

[OceanBound16]

Did you happen to call guest services about the noise and if so did they do anything at all?

 

No I didn't want to seem like a complainer.

[mmsydny4@aol.com]

I understand. I'm one that doesn't care and will complain if people are being obnoxiously inconsiderate. No need for it. I mean we all pay good money for these cruises and most of it is for a relaxing fun vacation. I wish they had these like once a year where no children were allowed. I mean I love kids and I love my kids but every once in a while you just need a break from it all. Glad you had fun other than the noise.

[riclop]

Thanks for your thoughts.

[Dipsylee]

Thanks for the organized, thoughtful review. I do appreciate it. I have one suggestion for the noisy nights--try booking an aft cabin. We love the aft location because most passengers don't come to that part of the ship. It's just out of their way. So we get very little passenger traffic there. Just a thought.

[easyboy]

Very objective review. Thanks.

[HillBilly Bob]

Very fair review! ..... If possible, you might want to book your next cruise at a different time of the year....

 

Learned a long time ago the time of a booking can be completely different just by a week. A Christmas cruise will be jam packed with hubbub. The first week in January will cost less and the "hubbub" level has been dramatically reduced with school back in session. Summer cruises...NO WAY! We find middle of September until week before Thanksgiving is nice. First week in January until Spring Break also appears to be more relaxing. YMMV.

[louanne93]

Excellent review! Thanks for being honest, it is really appreciated!

[maldenmusic]

Good review. I have noticed the behaviors you described but luckily, not to the extent you experienced.

[Brighton Line]

Thank you for the concise and excellent review.

 

One thing, it is not okay to have ash blow off a balcony and blow somewhere for example like an air intake to the engine room or Galley but it is okay to dry clothes that can blow off the balcony and block the same air intakes?

Edited September 30, 2016 by Brighton Line

[A&Jfamily]

Solid review and I think you are spot on with your assessments. I will say that we have only had 1 experience with people being loud in the hall after 11 pm; and that was adults who pulled their chairs and footstools out like it was a southern front porch BBQ. One call to security and they were re-directed to the appropriate available venues for their impromptu party. And of course, we refrained from slamming our door as we went in and out at 6 and 7 am. As you noted, Carnival takes customer service very serious and they WILL deal with these types of noise complaints. So if that was your main concern, please travel again, and complain if there is inappropriate conduct.

[abisha]

I started this thread a few weeks ago and wanted to update the original:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2380049

 

OVERALL: Spent 8 days on the Sunshine and had really low expectations. My goal was to just go with the flow. As you see in the original thread I was skeptical about going. Overall, my experience was positive. Below I will tell you the Great, the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of my Carnival cruise.

 

THE GREAT:

1.) Carnival does customer service very well. They take it very seriously. I had FTTF (would buy again!) and Carnival tried very well to not only prioritize its VIP but also the general population. The room service attendants worked in an organized and militaristic fashion but with smiles and friendliness. Overall a wonderful crew, including all dining staff.

 

2.) The entertainment was top notch! I loved all the shows and Carnival really went all out to make sure everyone was having fun.

 

3.) These are the foods Carnival excels in: 1.) Room Service chocolate cake (better than anything served in the dining room). 2.) Breakfast burritos served at the Blue Iguana 3.) Guy's burgers and fries. On two occasions I ordered Peanut Butter and Jelly from room service and it was great! (I said I had low expectations!)

 

4.) Camp Carnival - excellent service and my 9 year old did not want to hang out with me. She would stay in the club for 2 hours at a time and not be bored. Sometimes when I picked her up she told me to come back in 5-10 minutes so she could finish her activities.

 

 

THE GOOD:

1.) Carnival's food. Carnival's food is not what I consider great but the trick is you must weed through all the bad stuff (try everything) to find the gold mines: dishes that Carnival excels in. You will find it. Not everything will be good. Pace yourself with the food. My first Lido lunch on embarkation day was terrible and I was expecting it to all be down hill from there.

 

THE BAD:

1.) The pool. There was no enforcement of pool rules. Everyday kids would be jumping and diving into a crowded pool without a care who they fell on. The parents did not care.

 

2.) Smokers: Our neighbors smoked on the balcony and dropped their ashes and cigarettes on the lifeboats below. Sometimes the ashes would blow over to our balcony where our swimsuits would be drying on the chairs. We completely ratted them out at Customer Service. Customer Service paid them a visit. Everything in their cabin smelled disgusting. We were told that they would be charged but we don't know what became of it.

 

3.) The sewer smell - it appeared periodically once in a blue moon but not enough to ruin the trip.

 

THE UGLY:

1.) Out of the 8 days I only got a good night's sleep on 1 of the days. Every single night between 10pm - 3am teens and children raced up and down the halls, shouting, laughing and slamming doors repeatedly. After 3am, things became quiet every night. Sometimes they would shout right in front of my door, just passing by. Adults too.

 

This one feature really and truly made me want to NOT book another trip. I am still on the fence. I loved the Carnival experience but this nearly ruined my vacation. I had earplugs but those didn't really help me. And plus my daughter complained as well.

 

2.) The general demographic for the trip was ethnically diverse and pretty good overall but there were 1 or 2 people that were low class (cursing at the dinner table with polite company next to them, talking about inappropriate topics (his mom having sex), under 21s getting alcohol from their grandparents or parents at the bar. Stuff like that. But again, this didn't ruin my trip like the nightly ruckus.

 

Again, overall, a positive experience and one I would do again but I don't think I am going to be an "every year" Carnival customer. Might do every other year or few years. Am seeking a more quiet type of trip with less kids or at least well behaved kids and a better sleeping experience.

 

The stuff on your "ugly" list can happen anywhere else as I am sure you know. I've seen it on other cruise lines too. People will be people. I was taking a nap one afternoon, and the guy in the cabin next to me went out on his balcony and blast his radio so everyone else could hear it, and on top of it, he started to blow the whistle on his lifejacket along with beat of the music...ugh! Luckily he did this on last day only. If it was entire trip, then I would have had a chat with the hotel director and filed a complaint of course.

 

I enjoyed the Sunshine (also sailed on her when she was the Destiny). My only complaint (but not really a complaint but something very noticeable), was the size of the buffet. It was so small...smallest I've ever seen on a cruise ship. Food was fine. They also had the omelett station in the havanah bar, but if you wanted the remaining "items/fixings" to go with your omelette, you had to go back to the buffet, stand in long line to get your other items, and in meantime your omelett would be cold. Or vice versa...get your other items in buffet and then go get omelette in Havana bar, and other hot items would be old. It should all be in one area....one flow.

 

They also did enforce the rule for underage people who invaded the adults only serenity area, which was good.

[bakersdozen12]

One thing, it is not okay to have ash blow off a balcony and blow somewhere for example like an air intake to the engine room or Galley but it is okay to dry clothes that can blow off the balcony and block the same air intakes?

 

 

That's why they have a rule about not leaving anything out on the balcony. I sincerely hope the OP was not leaving their swimsuits on the balcony when they were not out there.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[sea wanderer]

Good synopsis. The issue with the guests in the hallways is one of the reasons we are careful of when we book and where on the ship we stay. Our last cruise on the NCL Escape we were in the aft most port balcony room on deck 13 and it was wonderfully quiet, did not hear a thing. We will be in room 9111 on the Sunshine in January, looking forward to another quiet room.

[laurien]

We have learned being in at the very front -forward cabins and very back -aft cabins results in the quietest cabins - no much foot traffic . Now that is what we book

, more walking to get to the cabin but very quiet at night .

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[JaniceB]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

 

I think signs should be posted after a certain hour that remind people that not everyone is a night owl.

[Maraprince]

I started this thread a few weeks ago and wanted to update the original:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2380049

 

OVERALL: Spent 8 days on the Sunshine and had really low expectations. My goal was to just go with the flow. As you see in the original thread I was skeptical about going. Overall, my experience was positive. Below I will tell you the Great, the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of my Carnival cruise.

 

THE GREAT:

1.) Carnival does customer service very well. They take it very seriously. I had FTTF (would buy again!) and Carnival tried very well to not only prioritize its VIP but also the general population. The room service attendants worked in an organized and militaristic fashion but with smiles and friendliness. Overall a wonderful crew, including all dining staff.

 

2.) The entertainment was top notch! I loved all the shows and Carnival really went all out to make sure everyone was having fun.

 

3.) These are the foods Carnival excels in: 1.) Room Service chocolate cake (better than anything served in the dining room). 2.) Breakfast burritos served at the Blue Iguana 3.) Guy's burgers and fries. On two occasions I ordered Peanut Butter and Jelly from room service and it was great! (I said I had low expectations!)

 

4.) Camp Carnival - excellent service and my 9 year old did not want to hang out with me. She would stay in the club for 2 hours at a time and not be bored. Sometimes when I picked her up she told me to come back in 5-10 minutes so she could finish her activities.

 

 

THE GOOD:

1.) Carnival's food. Carnival's food is not what I consider great but the trick is you must weed through all the bad stuff (try everything) to find the gold mines: dishes that Carnival excels in. You will find it. Not everything will be good. Pace yourself with the food. My first Lido lunch on embarkation day was terrible and I was expecting it to all be down hill from there.

 

First time we encountered the American Table menu in the dining room and it made a welcome change from the usual Carnival menu. The only thing I missed was cheesecake! Pizza was great, Guy's Burgers were better than expected, like the afternoon pasta dishes made to order. Liked that there was 2 omelette stations and 4 buffet stations. Also, the Taste Bar had breakfast available as well except for omelettes.

 

Great system that spread out passengers so it really wasn't difficult to get a seat if you headed to the Havana Bar area in the very back of the ship.

 

THE BAD:

1.) The pool. There was no enforcement of pool rules. Everyday kids would be jumping and diving into a crowded pool without a care who they fell on. The parents did not care.

 

Too cool on our sailing for the pool. But passengers did use the hot tubs.

 

2.) Smokers: Our neighbors smoked on the balcony and dropped their ashes and cigarettes on the lifeboats below. Sometimes the ashes would blow over to our balcony where our swimsuits would be drying on the chairs. We completely ratted them out at Customer Service. Customer Service paid them a visit. Everything in their cabin smelled disgusting. We were told that they would be charged but we don't know what became of it.

 

Since we were doing Canada/NE, we booked an outside cabin. No smoke on the balcony problems. Cabin held 4 people but we were only 2.

 

3.) The sewer smell - it appeared periodically once in a blue moon but not enough to ruin the trip.

 

No sewer smell. We were in the newly added cabins on deck 5.

 

THE UGLY:

1.) Out of the 8 days I only got a good night's sleep on 1 of the days. Every single night between 10pm - 3am teens and children raced up and down the halls, shouting, laughing and slamming doors repeatedly. After 3am, things became quiet every night. Sometimes they would shout right in front of my door, just passing by. Adults too.

 

This one feature really and truly made me want to NOT book another trip. I am still on the fence. I loved the Carnival experience but this nearly ruined my vacation. I had earplugs but those didn't really help me. And plus my daughter complained as well.

 

No problems with either kids running in the hallways or with loud neighbors. Before boarding we were concerned about noise/smoke from the Casino/Red Frog Bar which had live entertainment and also the Alchemy bar. Live band usually ended around 12:00 so there was no noise issue even when we were in our cabin. Our trouble sleeping first night was due to a drastic drop in the cabin temperature around 3-4 AM. We went to Guest Services the next morning to ask for someone to check on the thermostat and also for extra blankets. The engineer took a temperature reading and shut off the vent completely. He explained that the ship takes in fresh air from outside. So, if the outside temps drop, it will cold in the ship. Once we dressed for bed in layers and used the extra blankets we slept quite well. Overall many of the public areas were very cold and passenger wore their outside jackets.

 

2.) The general demographic for the trip was ethnically diverse and pretty good overall but there were 1 or 2 people that were low class (cursing at the dinner table with polite company next to them, talking about inappropriate topics (his mom having sex), under 21s getting alcohol from their grandparents or parents at the bar. Stuff like that. But again, this didn't ruin my trip like the nightly ruckus.

 

Again, overall, a positive experience and one I would do again but I don't think I am going to be an "every year" Carnival customer. Might do every other year or few years. Am seeking a more quiet type of trip with less kids or at least well behaved kids and a better sleeping experience.

 

We met such lovely people even during lunch in the buffet the first day. I even was hugged by one passenger when I told her she could share our table. Then there was the enchanting family (adults) from N. Mexico that we ate with another time. Our table mates were from Texas, PA and opposite sides of Honolulu. Great conversations at dinner every night.

 

If there were teens on board, we did not see or hear them. We did some children who were very young and always with their parents. Crew members made a fuss over some of the little ones. [ COLOR]

 

MARAPRINCE

Edited October 3, 2016 by Maraprince

[Maraprince]

I started this thread a few weeks ago and wanted to update the original:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2380049

 

OVERALL: Spent 8 days on the Sunshine and had really low expectations. My goal was to just go with the flow. As you see in the original thread I was skeptical about going. Overall, my experience was positive. Below I will tell you the Great, the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of my Carnival cruise.

 

THE GREAT:

1.) Carnival does customer service very well. They take it very seriously. I had FTTF (would buy again!) and Carnival tried very well to not only prioritize its VIP but also the general population. The room service attendants worked in an organized and militaristic fashion but with smiles and friendliness. Overall a wonderful crew, including all dining staff.

 

2.) The entertainment was top notch! I loved all the shows and Carnival really went all out to make sure everyone was having fun.

 

3.) These are the foods Carnival excels in: 1.) Room Service chocolate cake (better than anything served in the dining room). 2.) Breakfast burritos served at the Blue Iguana 3.) Guy's burgers and fries. On two occasions I ordered Peanut Butter and Jelly from room service and it was great! (I said I had low expectations!)

 

4.) Camp Carnival - excellent service and my 9 year old did not want to hang out with me. She would stay in the club for 2 hours at a time and not be bored. Sometimes when I picked her up she told me to come back in 5-10 minutes so she could finish her activities.

 

 

THE GOOD:

1.) Carnival's food. Carnival's food is not what I consider great but the trick is you must weed through all the bad stuff (try everything) to find the gold mines: dishes that Carnival excels in. You will find it. Not everything will be good. Pace yourself with the food. My first Lido lunch on embarkation day was terrible and I was expecting it to all be down hill from there.

 

First time we encountered the American Table menu in the dining room and it made a welcome change from the usual Carnival menu. The only thing I missed was cheesecake! Pizza was great, Guy's Burgers were better than expected, like the afternoon pasta dishes made to order. Liked that there was 2 omelette stations and 4 buffet stations. Also, the Taste Bar had breakfast available as well except for omelettes.

 

Great system that spread out passengers so it really wasn't difficult to get a seat if you headed to the Havana Bar area in the very back of the ship.

 

THE BAD:

1.) The pool. There was no enforcement of pool rules. Everyday kids would be jumping and diving into a crowded pool without a care who they fell on. The parents did not care.

 

Too cool on our sailing for the pool. But passengers did use the hot tubs.

 

2.) Smokers: Our neighbors smoked on the balcony and dropped their ashes and cigarettes on the lifeboats below. Sometimes the ashes would blow over to our balcony where our swimsuits would be drying on the chairs. We completely ratted them out at Customer Service. Customer Service paid them a visit. Everything in their cabin smelled disgusting. We were told that they would be charged but we don't know what became of it.

 

Since we were doing Canada/NE, we booked an outside cabin. No smoke on the balcony problems. Cabin held 4 people but we were only 2.

 

3.) The sewer smell - it appeared periodically once in a blue moon but not enough to ruin the trip.

 

No sewer smell. We were in the newly added cabins on deck 5.

 

THE UGLY:

1.) Out of the 8 days I only got a good night's sleep on 1 of the days. Every single night between 10pm - 3am teens and children raced up and down the halls, shouting, laughing and slamming doors repeatedly. After 3am, things became quiet every night. Sometimes they would shout right in front of my door, just passing by. Adults too.

 

This one feature really and truly made me want to NOT book another trip. I am still on the fence. I loved the Carnival experience but this nearly ruined my vacation. I had earplugs but those didn't really help me. And plus my daughter complained as well.

 

No problems with either kids running in the hallways or with loud neighbors. Before boarding we were concerned about noise/smoke from the Casino/Red Frog Bar which had live entertainment and also the Alchemy bar. Live band usually ended around 12:00 so there was no noise issue even when we were in our cabin. Our trouble sleeping first night was due to a drastic drop in the cabin temperature around 3-4 AM. We went to Guest Services the next morning to ask for someone to check on the thermostat and also for extra blankets. The engineer took a temperature reading and shut off the vent completely. He explained that the ship takes in fresh air from outside. So, if the outside temps drop, it will cold in the ship. Once we dressed for bed in layers and used the extra blankets we slept quite well. Overall many of the public areas were very cold and passenger wore their outside jackets.

 

2.) The general demographic for the trip was ethnically diverse and pretty good overall but there were 1 or 2 people that were low class (cursing at the dinner table with polite company next to them, talking about inappropriate topics (his mom having sex), under 21s getting alcohol from their grandparents or parents at the bar. Stuff like that. But again, this didn't ruin my trip like the nightly ruckus.

 

Again, overall, a positive experience and one I would do again but I don't think I am going to be an "every year" Carnival customer. Might do every other year or few years. Am seeking a more quiet type of trip with less kids or at least well behaved kids and a better sleeping experience.

 

We met such lovely people even during lunch in the buffet the first day. I even was hugged by one passenger when I told her she could share our table. Then there was the enchanting family (adults) from N. Mexico that we ate with another time. Our table mates were from Texas, PA and opposite sides of Honolulu. Great conversations at dinner every night.

 

If there were teens on board, we did not see or hear them. We did some children who were very young and always with their parents. Crew members made a fuss over some of the little ones. [

MARAPRINCE

Edited October 3, 2016 by Maraprince

[A.S.]

Maraprince,

 

Did you happen to notice if coffee was available at the Taste Bar before 8AM?

 

We are staying in the same area you were on Deck 5.

 

Thanks

[Maraprince]

Maraprince,

 

Did you happen to notice if coffee was available at the Taste Bar before 8AM?

 

We are staying in the same area you were on Deck 5.

 

Thanks

 

I believe since it is considered as "Continental" even thought it has every item except for made to order eggs/omelettes, it opens at 6:30 AM. It's a true blessing for those who need that morning coffee to get going!

 

 

MARAPRINCE