Carnival Sunshine March 2019

[Tonimarieb]

Excited to be sailing on the Sunshine this March. We’ve done larger ships are we’re ready for something a little smaller. Loved the southern Caribbean itinerary and the waterpark and serenity deck on this ship. I know she had issues in October but curious if anyone has sailed recently?

[ProgRockCruiser]

We sailed on her in early December, Eastern Carib.

 

No issues, just the usual stuff that has been noted about her in general.  This is what I noted: certain areas bottle-neck a bit more easily than they do on other ships, the Limelight Club for comedy shows is awkward and gets full quickly, and you have to walk through the smoky casino to get from fore to aft or vice versa on Deck 5.

 

We liked Serenity, and there weren't actually all that many chair hogs, just lots of people!  And the Havana Bar area was great - never really filled up with folks, even near the end of the 8-day cruise.

 

Dang, now I am remembering what a great time we had, and I want to go back now!

[Snowdogg]

Just booked the April 6th sailing on Sunshine.  The Serenity area looks fantastic on this ship, Does anyone else have recent feedback ? Also curious,

 

 

[Tonimarieb]

16 minutes ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

We sailed on her in early December, Eastern Carib.

 

No issues, just the usual stuff that has been noted about her in general.  This is what I noted: certain areas bottle-neck a bit more easily than they do on other ships, the Limelight Club for comedy shows is awkward and gets full quickly, and you have to walk through the smoky casino to get from fore to aft or vice versa on Deck 5.

 

We liked Serenity, and there weren't actually all that many chair hogs, just lots of people!  And the Havana Bar area was great - never really filled up with folks, even near the end of the 8-day cruise.

 

Dang, now I am remembering what a great time we had, and I want to go back now!

I’ve heard lunch at the Havana Bar is great! 

 

[bluesman0711]

We were on board for the Dec 14th sailing to Aruba, Curacao, and Grand Turk. We really enjoy the Ocean Plaza layout of bandstand, Alchemy Bar, and Red Frog Pub which has one of the better layouts. The current house band of RB and the Sunshine Band are right up there with the best we've seen in 25 cruises. Having them perform here instead of a smokey stage in front of the casino bar on Conquest class ships allows the audience to sit on front of the band instead of finding seats along the sides facing the slot machines and smokers. 

 

The Piano Bar was disappointing with no fixed seating around the piano and the PBE playing an electronic keyboard sitting on top of the piano. We left after one song.

 

We had YTD in the Sunrise dining room deck 3 aft, and checked in at the Ocean Plaza on deck 5. For some reason this freaked out a lot of people who had never experienced it before, but it helped to keep a long line forming back into the elevator lobby.

 

The Serenity area is one of the best and we never had a problem getting a clam shell.

 

The lido buffet seemed to flow very well, and we enjoyed the omelet stations when we didn't eat in the dining room for brunch.

 

The cruise director Mikey was high energy and very funny.

 

We did not go to any comedy shows because of the poor design of the Limelight Lounge. We were not willing to stand in line for an hour to get a seat where you could actually see the stage. Late comers get to watch monitors on the sides.

 

The Liquid Lounge is smaller than other theaters and has movable seating on the floor that can make viewing the stage difficult if someone large is seated in front of you, and no tables to sit your drinks on.

 

Complaints aside, we still consider The Sunshine one of our favorite ships.

[ProgRockCruiser]

4 hours ago, bluesman0711 said:

We were on board for the Dec 14th sailing to Aruba, Curacao, and Grand Turk.  We really enjoy the Ocean Plaza layout of bandstand, Alchemy Bar, and Red Frog Pub which has one of the better layouts. The current house band of RB and the Sunshine Band are right up there with the best we've seen in 25 cruises. Having them perform here instead of a smokey stage in front of the casino bar on Conquest class ships allows the audience to sit on front of the band instead of finding seats along the sides facing the slot machines and smokers. 

 

A week after we returned from our Eastern Carib cruise!  Yeah, now that I think about it, that layout was pretty good - and we benefited in a way when we wanted to just sit at Alchemy - most of the customers would not sit at the bar, instead they'd go to the seating in front of the Ocean Plaza stage.

 

4 hours ago, bluesman0711 said:

 

The Piano Bar was disappointing with no fixed seating around the piano and the PBE playing an electronic keyboard sitting on top of the piano. We left after one song.

 

Oh, man, that's too bad.  We had Gilbert at the piano bar for our cruise - it was his last gig before going home to the Philippines for a break (I do not remember where he was going next).  But he was fantastic!

 

Amazing how a particular entertainer can make or break that place.  Never really enjoyed the Piano Bar much before that cruise, so hopefully our next one will have someone fun!

 

4 hours ago, bluesman0711 said:

The Serenity area is one of the best and we never had a problem getting a clam shell.

 

The lido buffet seemed to flow very well, and we enjoyed the omelet stations when we didn't eat in the dining room for brunch.

 

The cruise director Mikey was high energy and very funny.

 

Indeed, agree with all of this!

 

Dangit!  Now I reaaalllly want to get on a cruise tomorrow!  Have to wait until May...

[Tonimarieb]

Good to hear. Anyone with kids use the waterpark area. On prior larger ships it was very hard to find a chair near .

[BoDidly]

13 minutes ago, Tonimarieb said:

Good to hear. Anyone with kids use the waterpark area. On prior larger ships it was very hard to find a chair near .

Going be even harder to find a chair. Great water park though the kids will love it.

[bucksfan]

I’ve heard a lot of good things about RB & the Sunshine Band. Where on the ship do they play?

[ProgRockCruiser]

1 hour ago, bucksfan said:

I’ve heard a lot of good things about RB & the Sunshine Band. Where on the ship do they play?

 

Mostly at the Ocean Plaza stage near Alchemy / Red Frog Pub.

[stjohnbeachlover]

On 12/28/2018 at 10:02 PM, Tonimarieb said:

Excited to be sailing on the Sunshine this March. We’ve done larger ships are we’re ready for something a little smaller. Loved the southern Caribbean itinerary and the waterpark and serenity deck on this ship. I know she had issues in October but curious if anyone has sailed recently?

If you look under the research tab at the top of this page, then tap reviews there are several recent reviews there. You will have to tap ships and then find Carnival Sunshine. The reviews are either really good or really bad (some on the same sailing). We will be sailing on the Carnival Sunshine next week. I am getting excited!

[bigcraig]

LOVE the Sunshine 4 times(once it was the Destiny).

 

The Havana bar aft is awesome, delicious crocetas and pastilitos remind me of my time in Miami. Sorry if I can't spell properly.

[iamchrisstone]

I think that the Sunshine has gone through updates from when we sailed until you are about to sail, but here is a nice video of her at Christmas.