Carnival Sunshine Jan 21, 2017 Questions

[Shroy]

Hi Everyone,

 

I am new to Carnival and could say new to Cruising, my wife and two girls cruised on the Disney Infinity in 2015.

 

My wife and I will be going alone no the Carnival Sunshine on January 21, 2017 and I had a few questions.

 

Do you save money by using the PYOB tap? I want to try this first alone cruise without purchasing the Cheers package just to see how much we will actually drink so we know for future cruises whether its worth it. The PYOB tap i would assume you save on gratuities? Anyone know the cost of this and whether is cost efficient?

 

We have sailed with Disney Infinity out of Port Canaveral thus this is why we choose Sunshine as well as it was a good experience. We opted to stay at the expensive airport hotel and take the Carnival Shuttle the next day. Does anyone know what time the first shuttle leaves the airport?

 

We also booked a Guaranteed Balcony. When is the earliest that you have been assigned a room? Should I expect 2 weeks before the cruise?

 

 

I am sure i will have many more questions.

 

Thanks

Shawn

[tandemcruzr]

I did it once and got half a glass of head and half a glass of beer. :( After that, I let the bar tenders do what they do better than what I did. :D

 

Don't remember the cost.

[mishka422]

I'll be on that sailing as well. Just checked availability and you may end up with a great balcony on the guarantee as all but a couple of the 8b balconies are sold out and most available are spa balcony. Fingers crossed for you!

 

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[skrufy]

Sailed The Sunshine about a year and a half ago. Used the PYOB once and got a good pouring. The price I think was $3.95 a glass. As for the guaratee, some have gotten thier cabin assigned 6 months out and others have gotten it when they dropped thier luggage off with the porter.

[RW20]

With the PYOB just remember to keep the tap pulled. Once you let the tap go back it stops.

[Shroy]

This is great news! How do i know I wont get a deck 6-7 balcony? Where can you see how many of the rooms are booked? Sorry i am new to this.

Edited December 1, 2016 by Shroy

[Shroy]

I just checked on the Carnival Website and it shows 1 stateroom left on deck 6 and 1 on deck 9 with balcony. I am assuming this is good news? Only midship left.

[woodman]

Wife and I have sailed the Sunshine 2 times and will be on her next March as well as Jan 7 2017. We love the Sunshine and I think it has some of the best food of any Carnival ship. Love the Red Frog Pub and the Thirsty Frog beer on tap. Yes I have used the self serve tap on the Lido, there are 2 of them. You pay by the once and I have never had a problem getting a good pour. Just don't pull to hard on the tap as they break off fairly easy. Its about $4. a beer not bad. You just have to go to the Lido to get your beer but its all fun you will love the Sunshine. Has a great crew as well. We can't wait.

[rjrpar]

This is great news! How do i know I wont get a deck 6-7 balcony? Where can you see how many of the rooms are booked? Sorry i am new to this.

 

 

You might get any balcony. If you didn't want deck 6 or 7, you should have picked your own room and paid a little more.

 

 

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[tandemcruzr]

This is great news! How do i know I wont get a deck 6-7 balcony? Where can you see how many of the rooms are booked? Sorry i am new to this.

 

We have been on the Sunshine for 3 B2B cruises -- all on deck 6 balconies. Would do them again in a minute. :)

 

What is your concern?

[keishashadow]

OP um no DCL Infinity ship. Maybe u r thinking of the Fantasy?

Lots of options from MCO to port hotels besides the Hyatt & ship transfers.

Many of the nearby airport hotels have sailing pkg including shuttle

 

Same with hotels in cocoa beach

 

We do land & sea and park the rental at port for convenience

 

 

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Edited December 2, 2016 by keishashadow

[sana216]

I use goportcanavereal for hotel and all transportation to and from airport to cruise and back to airport. We are only paying $144 for this cruise for their package. You can pick a hotel closer to the port and better shuttle times.

[PatLuv]

We'll be on this sailing also.Our second time on Sunshine.Love this ship.Are they still doing normal dining,and not American Table? I hope so as we have anytime dining,and hate the way the table for 2 are set up on the other ships.So we went to Lido every night for dinner!

[mishka422]

I'm pretty sure they have gone to American Table menu

 

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[tandemcruzr]

We'll be on this sailing also.Our second time on Sunshine.Love this ship.Are they still doing normal dining,and not American Table? I hope so as we have anytime dining,and hate the way the table for 2 are set up on the other ships.So we went to Lido every night for dinner!

 

e-mail the MaitreD and request a table for two at a booth. e-mail address is shmaitred@carnival.com. Send it about a week before your embarkation date.

 

Good luck. :)

[flcruiser08]

No insights on your questions but just wanted to say we'll be sailing with you! We just upgraded to a balcony last week for only $90 for 4 people so I'm guessing there's a lot left. Is there a problem with 6 and 7th floor balconies?

[Cruzn4fun14]

The pour your own taps--you save about a dollar a beer plus any tip. Try to pour down the side of the glass or you will end up with half beer and half foam..I did better after first fail.

Room assignment- we have opted for guaranteed room maybe twice. Most recently on Splendor last year and did not get room assignment till less than a week before sail date. You cannot always go by what rooms showed available for guessing location as I assume they have to hold enough rooms for any such bookings and they may upsell other balcony cabins to suites last minute so new ones may open up.

*Shuttle from airport -they will have several but you will have to wait till it is full to leave so time can vary. What we do now when we leave from PC is stay at the airport Hyatt then rent a car & drive to PC, several rental car locations there by the port then drop it off and take rental bus shuttle to the ship. For 3 of us it ends up being cheaper then the carnival shuttle & we control our departure time and can always make a last minute stop at Publix or Walmart if you forgot something or want to carry on drinks,etc.

[cloudydrms]

I'm curious what the PYOW in the Library of the Sunshine costs? Does it vary based on brand/variety?

 

Cindy