Some Sunshine Questions

I am thinking about booking the Sunshine and I have a few questions. The last time I sailed on Carnival was about 2 years ago.

1. If I book any rate before 90 days...do I get that "guaranteed lowest price"?

2. The gym...how are things there? Are machines (treadmill specific) usually available or are there waits?

3. Entertainment: The last time I was on Carnival it was a lot of "passenger made" entertainment. I prefer "professional" shows (even "not the best" quality if preferable to passengers) in the theatre. And, the atrium entertainment was really awful (singers couldn't carry a tune) on the last couple of cruises. Is this still the norm?

4. I see there is a sauna in the spa area. Is that "included" or for an extra fee?

We love the Sunshine. We did it on New England and just booked a 13 day cruise. Used the gym every morning. No waits. Plenty of equipment. Spa is excellent. We bought the spa package to use sauna, hot tables etc. shows were also fine and excellent comedy shows

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We love the Sunshine. We did it on New England and just booked a 13 day cruise. Used the gym every morning. No waits. Plenty of equipment. Spa is excellent. We bought the spa package to use sauna, hot tables etc. shows were also fine and excellent comedy shows

 

 

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On the deck plan it shows "sauna room/lockers" and another area called "thermal suites".

On prior Carnival cruises I think "sauna room/lockers" was included in the fare, and "thermal suites" was extra. Would the locker room and sauna still be included?

We purchased the thermal spa package. I am not sure if they had a free included sauna.

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I'm giving this a bump because surely someone must have more to say about the Sunshine.

I'm giving this a bump because surely someone must have more to say about the Sunshine.

I think there were so many bad reviews when the Sunshine was re-launched, people got tired of reading them all the time.

Lido and Serenity always packed from 8am on.

We just got off the Sunshine yesterday and had a great time. I think performers change ships, but if you catch Eden Parker in the Piano Bar, you are in for a great night! We ended up in the Piano Bar every night because it was so much fun. Watched one of the comedians and he was decent. We would hit the serenity deck after lunch and found chairs every day. Our only complaint was I think each bar could use one more bartender and pay more attention to who is next to be served. But we really enjoyed our trip.

So far, all the entertainment has been very similar on all our Carnival cruises. The Sunshine has been my least favorite ship, but that is just my opinion. And I know on the Legend last month, you could use the sauna without paying anything.

We just got off the Sunshine last week and loved it. We stayed in a spa cabin so all of the thermal stuff was included. They have a shower and small sauna that is available outside the gym for everyone. But the thermal suites (2 steam rooms and a sauna plus thermal chairs) are well worth the value. We were on a Journeys cruise for 11 days and we used the spa every day. Also the gym was not overcrowded and really nice. The serenity decks 11, 12, and 14 were always crowded but we could usually find a lounger somewhere. The only Serenity bar is on 14 and the pool is on 11 - so that's not convenient. But the pool/waterfall on 11 is nice. Shows were good and not overly guest (I dislike that as well), but the show lounge is small. Motown, 50's, Epic rock and roll. We never made the piano bar and I have no idea why. :confused: The also showed 2 movies every day on the Dive In screen (with popcorn) - 7:30 and 10:30 - and I liked that. They were always crowded. We felt like this was one of our favorite ships.

We got off the Sunshine last week also, loved the ship (2nd time we've cruised on her). They did say in one of the comedy shows that they were going to redo the Limelight (comedy club) when they put the Sunshine into drydock, which is a good thing. The setup has alway been horrible in there.

Hubby says the gym stayed busy, but never so much that you couldn't get on any machines or treadmills.

Just got off Sunshine last month. A few answers:

-The gym was typically busy, but I worked out 3 times on the treadmill, and there was always one available.

-The professional shows were tremendous- and I consider myself pretty hard to please on this. For my cruise, the atrium entertainment was often a Philippino that would sing country music- and he was awesome! Also, a husband/wife band performing Latino music, which was tremendous.

-I also used the sauna. It was free & very good. Helped get my sweat on.

Lido and Serenity always packed from 8am on.

We just got back from the Sunshine yesterday, and found that as well. We've sailed on Carnival 15 times on 10 different ships, and the Sunshine was by far our least favorite.

Interestingly, we sailed in a spa suite, and it was one of our favorite cabins on Carnival. It had a sitting room separate from the bedroom, which was very convenient for us. The bathroom was larger than the one we had in our hotel room in Charleston, and the deck was great.

As mentioned above, the crowds in certain areas of the ship were horrendous, including Serenity and Lido. Also, the service (one of the main reasons we sail Carnival) in many areas of the ship seemed lacking. I don't know if that was related to a problem on Sunshine, or something that is fleet wide since we last cruised in late 2015.

Kevin C