Almost afraid to ask...Sunshine/Elation

[drpclarke]

(ooo, I know I will get some haters...I am sorry..)

 

I went on Sunshine in February 2020. I've gone on mostly Carnival and Royal Caribbean cruises, and this one was the worst, hands down. I love being on a cruise, but man, the bad smells and the gawdawful food did me in.

 

Now my son is wanting to book the Sunshine or the Elation for a trip for himself and his grandma. Looking at the reviews for Sunshine, it looks like it hasn't improved at all, so I told him to look at Elation. Now that I am looking at the reviews for Elation, it looks to be as awful as Sunshine.

 

Anyone out there been on both and can provide a comparison??

Thanks!

Rachel

[mondello]

I was on Sunshine 12/26-12/31 and us 3 had a good cruise. Sunshine was in drydock Oct. 21-Dec. 5, 2021. Can't speak for Elation but, I'd definitely book Sunshine again. Good variety of dining venues and great crew. Note, although we were moved from Horizon to Sunshine we were given $450 OBC for our 2 cabins, in addition to our previous $200 OBC. This on top of an already great casino rate. Although Sunshine is also aging, the upgrades added in the conversion from Destiny and subsequent drydock refreshings, we found the ship clean and service was great.

[mz-s]

Reviews generally trend negative as the only people who will take the time to write one generally had a bad experience and want to talk about it.

 

FWIW I like the Sunshine. Never had anything but great food on her, including my cruise earlier this year.

 

Never been on Elation but I loved Ecstasy and Fantasy. I'd probably choose Elation just because that class of ship is nearly extinct and who knows how much longer the Elation and Paradise will be around. Although interestingly, Sunshine is older than both so she may not live as long as them!

[cruizergal70]

Why are you booking based on ship? What about the itinerary?

[Knights on the Beach]

Here's a recent good review of Sunshine that ninjacat posted.  Based on her comments, I'd be happy to book Sunshine.  Our son and DIL loved it 3 years ago for their honeymoon.

 

 

[mz-s]

9 minutes ago, cruizergal70 said:

Why are you booking based on ship? What about the itinerary?

 

Charleston and Jacksonville itineraries are pretty much the same.

[Illbcruzn4life]

9 minutes ago, cruizergal70 said:

Why are you booking based on ship? What about the itinerary?

maybe they are basing it on ships that are homeported near them so they could drive instead of fly?

[drpclarke]

My son is booking the trip as a 75th birthday present for his grandma...so to be honest, he's choosing the cruise based on price and proximity to home, so he can drive.

I know you "get what you pay for", but he's all of 23 years old and so proud of this gift that I can't burst his bubble...I just want it to be a great experience for both (with minimal complaints from my mother 😀🙄)

 

Rachel

Edited April 21, 2022 by drpclarke

[mavrick2oo]

15 minutes ago, drpclarke said:

My son is booking the trip as a 75th birthday present for his grandma...so to be honest, he's choosing the cruise based on price and proximity to home, so he can drive.

I know you "get what you pay for", but he's all of 23 years old and so proud of this gift that I can't burst his bubble...I just want it to be a great experience for both (with minimal complaints from my mother 😀🙄)

 

Rachel

This is such a lovely gift. The gift of time together. I hope they have a wonderful time and get plenty of pictures together! I'm actually in tears over it, I'm so touched. 

Edited April 21, 2022 by mavrick2oo

[Joe817]

12 minutes ago, drpclarke said:

My son is booking the trip as a 75th birthday present for his grandma...so to be honest, he's choosing the cruise based on price and proximity to home, so he can drive.

I know you "get what you pay for", but he's all of 23 years old and so proud of this gift that I can't burst his bubble...I just want it to be a great experience for both (with minimal complaints from my mother 😀🙄)

 

Rachel

What a wonderful surprise for her, and such a great and noble offer for him. I know you must be very proud of him. I would be! I have a suggestion, and offer it in the utmost respects. How about booking a cruise separate and apart from her and not telling her about it? And then once on board "SURPRISE!!" How would that set with her?   Just an idea. 

[drpclarke]

9 minutes ago, mavrick2oo said:

This is such a lovely gift. The gift of time together. I hope they have a wonderful time and get plenty of pictures together! I'm actually in tears over it, I'm so touched. 

I know! So proud of him. He's headed to medical school in the Caribbean this fall, so he was telling me he needs to take her on a vacation now. Blew my mind. Guess we did something right :0)

[groundloop]

I haven't been on Sunshine ( or any of her sister ships) yet, although I just booked a cruise on Sunshine for early next year.

 

I was on Elation just before the Covid shutdown and had no complaints (other than the tropical storm force winds and 20+ foot seas we got into the final night).

 

To be honest I think I'll prefer the Sunshine over Elation based on the layout, but if the itinerary and price pointed me to Elation I wouldn't hesitate to go.

 

 

[cruisefanatic2713]

On 4/21/2022 at 6:41 PM, drpclarke said:

My son is booking the trip as a 75th birthday present for his grandma...so to be honest, he's choosing the cruise based on price and proximity to home, so he can drive.

I know you "get what you pay for", but he's all of 23 years old and so proud of this gift that I can't burst his bubble...I just want it to be a great experience for both (with minimal complaints from my mother 😀🙄)

 

Rachel

I'm actually trying to do this same thing for my grandmother. I'm 26 and she is almost 91 and in great shape but doesn't like to get out much. I'm hoping she'll say yes! the best gift is time spent together!

[Guest BasicSailor]

Older folks enjoy watching movies, right. Especially in the open air on Lido.  Sunshine wins out on this one.

[snowballs mom]

We were on the Elation February 14th sailing. We enjoyed the ship and had a great time. I like the old-style decor, and the Serenity deck is at the back of the ship, so we could relax and watch the wake. The only issue we had was when we had a day of very rough seas. The ship is old and small and the stabilizers do not work that well so there was a lot of rocking - I ended up seasick and spent the afternoon lying in bed. 

[wgeddings]

We were on Elation after Christmas 2021.  I had been on Horizon and MSC a few months before.  I was very disappointed in Elation.  It felt old and small (because it was).  Daughter and boyfriend went on Sunshine in Feb 2022 and raved about the good food.   We are going on Sunshine in about 12 days.  Went on Sunshine before and it was okay then but with the dry dock, I am excited about it.  Many options on Sunshine are similar to Horizon (JiJi Asian, Mongolian Wok, Havana lounge, etc) so hands down Sunshine is preferred.  Last 2 cruises have been on Liberty and were nice but I am expecting Sunshine to meet or exceed Liberty.  
 

my advice is Sunshine.  I would probably not cruise before I went on Elation again.  

[rfnc07]

We took our first cruise on the Sunshine in April. There was a little bit of a musty smell when we first get on board, but that went away pretty quickly. 
 

We had a great time, which is great considering it’s only 3 hours for us to get to Charleston, so it’s great for us to go for a long weekend. 

[iriecruising]

While I cant compare these exact ships I can tell you I was on the sister ships for both recently. I was on Sunrise in March and Paradise this month and If I had to choose one to repeat it would be Sunshine. The ship is bigger, I liked the layout more and the fact it had more open air decks. My Dad was 75 and was on Sunrise with me and it wasnt so big that he could not get around. P.S. if Grandma is mobility challenged talk to carnival before boarding and they will provide you with some really valuable info on services they provide and ways to make cruising easier. I wrote a review that included a lot of those here on Cruise Critic. 

[freewilly]

I have cruised both. The sunshine twice in 2022 and Elation in 2009. The two ships do not even compare. The Sunshine has been updated with added rooms and dining choices. 101 tons.. the Elation is my least favorite ship of my 25 cruises. It is small and very limited in its offerings. Look at the deck plans of both to compare the amenities. 

Edited May 25, 2022 by freewilly

[tmg698]

When Sunshine was in Port Canaveral we sailed on her 2 years (2018 & 2019) in a row she is one of our favorite ships. Really love the layout. 

[susan1957]

On 4/21/2022 at 7:01 PM, mz-s said:

Reviews generally trend negative as the only people who will take the time to write one generally had a bad experience and want to talk about it.

 

FWIW I like the Sunshine. Never had anything but great food on her, including my cruise earlier this year.

 

Never been on Elation but I loved Ecstasy and Fantasy. I'd probably choose Elation just because that class of ship is nearly extinct and who knows how much longer the Elation and Paradise will be around. Although interestingly, Sunshine is older than both so she may not live as long as them!

I completely agree....most people only tend to write reviews if something went wrong....sad...because most of the time, the positive OUT WEIGHT the negative reviews.....

[pcvtmom]

We love the Sunshine, and have been on her numerous times. She ranks among our favorite Carnival ships (and we'll soon be Diamond status).  She has the absolute BEST Serenity area! I would sail on her again in a heartbeat. 😀

[ProgRockCruiser]

14 hours ago, freewilly said:

I have cruised both. The sunshine twice in 2022 and Elation in 2009. The two ships do not even compare. The Sunshine has been updated with added rooms and dining choices. 101 tons.. the Elation is my least favorite ship of my 25 cruises. It is small and very limited in its offerings. Look at the deck plans of both to compare the amenities. 

The Elation has changed dramatically since 2009.  You might want to check her out again, or at least peruse reviews from other people from the last year, or even the year pre-COVID.  We were on her in 2019, and she was quite nice, and that was before she got some upgrades like Alchemy bar.

 

We sailed on Sunshine in 2018, and that was very enjoyable too - I cannot speak for her current state, but we quite enjoyed the layout and amenities!

 

As others have noted, people who have bad experiences (for whatever reason) will always be noticed and remembered more than those who have a pleasant experience and don't shout it from the roof tops.

[CarnivalShips480]

Sunshine will leave Charleston in 2024

[Silent Penguin]

My daughter and I just got off the Elation on Saturday.  While it is definitely the smallest cruise ship I've ever been on, I was enchanted by its ornate decor and plentitude of windows and comfortable public spaces.  It was such a different experience for us after sailing on the medium and large ships.  We kind of liked having everything so close.  We just got off the Vista a couple months ago, and while it offered way more entertainment, shopping, and dining options, the ship wasn't nearly as comfortable to navigate (narrow hallways) and had a very different vibe.   There was only two things about the  Elation I didn't like.  One was that it has only one pool.  There were only 1300 passengers (capacity 2100)  on the ship when we sailed last week, so it wasn't a problem, but I can't imagine trying to enjoy the pool area when the ship is full.  Similarly, the buffet is very small. THere is very limited selection.   Furthermore,  if  the ship had been even a little more populated, I'm pretty sure the buffet lines would have been irritatingly long and just a general madhouse.