Has anyone been on the Carnival Sunshine recently?

[Gamecock_Cruiser]

3 hours ago, Iamthesea said:

Thanks for your honest review.  Doesn't sound too good!  Some things can be overlooked, but after taking a look at the latest Member Reviews last night, I am seriously thinking my idea is not so smart!  We may end up at the beach again!

A hotel at the beach probably isn't much different at the moment. They are under staffed and overworked too. Out of 8 cruises so far, I have never had a bad cruise. I may have dislike some thing here and there, but nothing to make me not want to go back.JMO

[Iamthesea]

Thanks for that.  It's a hard decision, so I am leaving it up to the girls.  They took a Carnival cruise by themselves out of Charleston about 11 years ago.  Both were college graduates.  I think the ship was the Fantasy, or started with a F.  The ship was run down, they stayed in an Inside with bunks, and the cliental was not the greatest, but they had a good time.  That cruise topic has come up many times over the years. 😁   

 

So after reading the reviews of bad food, less than stellar service, smoky areas, rusty steel, and overcrowding, I have told them not to expect much from this cruise.  They are used to having Balcony and Suites when they cruise with us.  They have been on other Carnival ships, Disney, RCCL, and Celebrity. 

 

We have a house at the beach, so the service will come from Mama!!! 🤣 

 

I'll let y'all know what we decide!  Thank you again!!!

Edited June 22, 2023 by Iamthesea

[Iamthesea]

Well, looks like our decision was made for us.  🤔🤨🙄  My daughter (the one with the children) texted me a frantic message last evening.  Here is the text in verbatim "Don't book cruise...Repeat...don't book!  I'm at a parent meeting for L - she has her Nashville comp that week - Jan.4-7.  She and I will be in Nashville 😞"  "I am in meeting now with schedule...call you later."

 

Needless to say that we are all upset that the cruise is not going to work out. 😢  Especially me after doing all the research!  About 10 minutes before the text, I had just finished re-reading ninjacat123's lovely review (make notes about JiJi's, and the JW Distillery in Nassau) and was in the middle of watching a wonderful deck by deck ship tour VIDEO on the Carnival Sunshine.  Since the video was only 5 months old, I was encouraged and excited about the ship.  It looked great!!!  Much better than I anticipated it would look.  I was going to finish the video and go ahead and book the cruise online.  Then I had planned to transfer the booking to my TA during the July 4th sale.  I was onboard and had even picked out our staterooms!  😭  Maybe another time.

 

Thank you all once again. I really appreciated the advice.😉

[ninjacat123]

3 minutes ago, Iamthesea said:

Well, looks like our decision was made for us.  🤔🤨🙄  My daughter (the one with the children) texted me a frantic message last evening.  Here is the text in verbatim "Don't book cruise...Repeat...don't book!  I'm at a parent meeting for L - she has her Nashville comp that week - Jan.4-7.  She and I will be in Nashville 😞"  "I am in meeting now with schedule...call you later."

 

Needless to say that we are all upset that the cruise is not going to work out. 😢  Especially me after doing all the research!  About 10 minutes before the text, I had just finished re-reading ninjacat123's lovely review (make notes about JiJi's, and the JW Distillery in Nassau) and was in the middle of watching a wonderful deck by deck ship tour VIDEO on the Carnival Sunshine.  Since the video was only 5 months old, I was encouraged and excited about the ship.  It looked great!!!  Much better than I anticipated it would look.  I was going to finish the video and go ahead and book the cruise online.  Then I had planned to transfer the booking to my TA during the July 4th sale.  I was onboard and had even picked out our staterooms!  😭  Maybe another time.

 

Thank you all once again. I really appreciated the advice.😉

Well pooh!  Now I'm curious, what is her daughter competing in?  I'm a swim mom with many competitions (swim meets) that have taking precedence over the rest of life😉.

[Iamthesea]

No, it is dance...for a 6 year old!  Her mother has said that she would never be interested in anything competitive with her children that involved travel.   And yet here we are!!!  Obviously, I don't have much say, but I think my granddaughter is too young.  I went to an out-of-town competition in April and was not impressed. 

 

Anyway, I came back on this thread with an update.  We are going to book a cruise on the ship for daughter (she is a teacher) and grandchildren's Spring Break at the end of March.

 

We are looking at the Ocean Views on Deck 1.  

 

 

Edited June 27, 2023 by Iamthesea

[ninjacat123]

14 hours ago, Iamthesea said:

No, it is dance...for a 6 year old!  Her mother has said that she would never be interested in anything competitive with her children that involved travel.   And yet here we are!!!  Obviously, I don't have much say, but I think my granddaughter is too young.  I went to an out-of-town competition in April and was not impressed. 

 

Anyway, I came back on this thread with an update.  We are going to book a cruise on the ship for daughter (she is a teacher) and grandchildren's Spring Break at the end of March.

 

We are looking at the Ocean Views on Deck 1.  

 

 

Ooooo, dance is just as time consuming as swim and you have to buy all those cute dance costumes!  If the granddaughter is enthusiastic about going to practice, yay!  Watching 3 hour swim meets for your child to swim a total of maybe 5 minutes of the whole meet is .....nuts!  My DDs did it for 13 years and my heart races when I watch a swim meet.  Crazy swim mom.

Yay!  I'm glad you are looking at Sunshine for Spring Break.  I just booked Sunshine for Thanksgiving 2024.  Maybe I can get my DDs to race in the Lido pool.  Not!🤣

[Iamthesea]

Yes, very expensive to be a part of any traveling group.

 

Having a hard time finding connecting cabins, so may have to settle for cabins that are next to each other.  The only good ones that I see are almost right outside the mid elevator/stairwell lobby.  Has anyone stayed in this location.  Worried about passenger (voices) noise.  I did read a review where someone said that the excursion people lines up in this area to get off of the ship.  Said she had a hard time getting back to her room after dinner.  It wasn't clear if she could hear the people from her room.  

[Iamthesea]

Correction:  I said that the staterooms were near the mid-ship elevators.  It is actually the forward facing section of the forward elevators and stairway.

 

Also, we want to avoid being near the laundry rooms.  Any idea where those are on Deck 1?

[mlshum]

On 6/20/2023 at 11:17 AM, Iamthesea said:

With no answers to my questions, the Sunshine doesn't look like a promising choice!  LOL

Sorry, missed your post earlier.  I was on Sunshine in February.  She looks fine, as you’d expect an older ship to be.  If you want pics from February I did a full review with pictures.  It can be accessed on the ship name drop down.  Hopefully the pictures will help you make a decision.  Happy sailing!

[Iamthesea]

Thank you. Looking forward to reading it, thoroughly.  I did scan through quickly to see you had an Interior stateroom.  Was it near the elevators, stairs or the laundry room?  If so, did you hear noise?

[Iamthesea]

We booked!!!  Now I have a lot of reading and video watching to do. 😀

[MistyRo76]

On 6/20/2023 at 3:23 PM, Iamthesea said:

 

 

Have a great trip, and if we decided to go on the ship in January, I will be on the lookout for your review.  We may be in Charleston at the same time!  We go to the beach from 9/28 - 10/5.  For a few years, when we are out sitting on the beach, I have seen the Sunshine either coming into the port or leaving across the wide blue ocean.  I have wanted to try it out for so long.  It is sad that cruise ships will not longer be allowed to sail out, but I certainly understand why.  We have previously sailed from Charleston on the Glory.  And I can remember when the Celebrity Mercury was there. 😉

 

Thanks again for all of the comments and suggestions, everyone!

We will just miss each other as we are driving in from KY on 10/6! Is there a beach nearby that you'd recommend? We want to see as much as of the area as possible in our short time there! We are staying in the Mt. Pleasant area! 

[Iamthesea]

We may still be there!  Trying to talk DH into getting another beach place for 4 nights, or even trying out the 4 night Sunshine leaving port on the 5th.   Are you coming in for a cruise, or just visiting the area of Charleston?

 

If staying in Mount Pleasant (that's where my daughter lived, and where we will stay one or two nights, pre-cruise) the closest public beach is Isle of Palms.   Takes about 15 minutes.  The IOP Connector Bridge goes from Mt. Pleasant to Isle of Palms.  At the bottom of the bridge, take a left and follow the road around past a beautiful white church.  As you round the corner, the public beach access begins.  You can park in designated parking spots along that beach front road.  It's pretty long, but very crowded on the weekends.  We vacation at the end of the road at a private resort called Wild Dunes. 

 

If you turn left at the light, the road will lead you to Sullivan's Island.  It's public, but smaller with less parking.  Both Isle of Palms and Sullivan's Island have some good restaurants.  Check for reservations.

 

We think the SC beaches are some of the prettiest in the U.S.

[NCsonny]

8 hours ago, MistyRo76 said:

We will just miss each other as we are driving in from KY on 10/6! Is there a beach nearby that you'd recommend? We want to see as much as of the area as possible in our short time there! We are staying in the Mt. Pleasant area! 

f you've got plenty of time,,,  driving from KY, maybe drive down NC Outer Banks.  If you're doing that, there are a couple ferry rides.  Good to get a reservation for Ocracoke heading south. The national seashore beaches are very inviting.

[Iamthesea]

I found the answer to one of my questions a few post back. Here is a good link for those wondering about the Sunshine laundry room locations.  LAUNDRY.

 

I have a couple of other questions about our  stateroom location and hoping for some answers.  We have side-by-side OV staterooms1454 and 1456 booked.

 

Below are photos of our staterooms on Deck 1 Forward.  Thanks to Melinda of MidLifeStyle Twins for these photos that I screened shot from her video's on Youtube.  If you have not seen any of her cruise video's, they are awesome!!!

 

In the first photo, I am curious what the small area is between the stairs and the stateroom hallway.  A yellow arrow points to the section in both the photo, and on the attached deck plan.

 

In the second photo, I have drawn an arrow to our staterooms on the deck plan, and also circled them in the photo.  The 3rd photo shows the stateroom location in proximity to the stairwell/elevator area.

 

There is a divider door in the hallway that is situated between our staterooms.  Could the doors location (thickness in that area) have any affect on the stateroom as far as size goes?  For instance, a bulge taking away from bathroom or closet space.  What about the metal door (marked in orange) next to the first cabin.  Anyone know what that is and if it could be a potential noise problem?  I notice in the photo that it is opened.  Lastly, has anyone ever stayed in an area like this outside of the stairwell/elevator bank and experience a lot of noise?  I expect some noise, especially with sound traveling through the door grates, but the location seems pretty good.  I am not worried about hearing the elevator bing.  Only people noise.

 

Any while I am asking, I know that the stateroom doors are not metal, but what about those grates?

 

Any other problems that I am not considering with this location.  They are the only two  'close together' staterooms for our sailing that are currently available.

 

Edited July 2, 2023 by Iamthesea