Our Second Cruise On The Sunshine, It Was Fantastic

Short and sweet.

Getting on and off was a breeze (we had a suite)

Cabin was spotless the whole time.

Food was good, some was great. Had breakfast everyday in the MDR and once they realized we need two cups of coffee per person at all times all was good.

We ate at the steakhouse and La Cucina they both were excellent.

Adrian our server at dinner was fantastic.

The casino was fun, but alas only my SIL had any luck. In addition to winning some money on LIR she also was awarded a free cruise.

We all had DOU cards from the get go and drink service was great.

Every staff member we dealt with was genuinely helpful and friendly.

HMC was fantastic as always.

Nassau we took the water taxi to Atlantis. I didn't realize there is a little bit of a walk from where it docks to Atlantis. All three of us were dripping sweat when we got to the casino. We took a cab from Atlantis to the fish fry. The fish fry, as always, was a lot of fun. The people down there are so friendly and fun.

Freeport just isn't my cup of tea so we hung out at Senor Frogs. It was fun but for me they could skip this port.

The only two negatives we encountered were trying to find the tender when we arrived at HMC. The CD sent everyone to a floor / exit that was not opened. 200 or so of us wandered around for 20 minutes or so and all of us grew frustrated with the CCL staff members who kept repeating what the CD had announced. Finally they realized no one had gotten down to open the exit we were supposed to be using.

The other thing is when you have three people sitting at a table for four, we request they remove the other place setting to give us more room. The server we had at breakfast one morning acts like this is going to kill him. I don't know about you but it gives me the creeps knowing people have been breathing and eating around my dishes before I sit down. I know they serve thousands per day but I still feel it should be like any other restaurant where they remove the extra place settings.

All in all it was a lot of fun. It was my SIL first cruise and she is sold on cruising. She has the Fascination booked for December. We have the Valor booked for January.

Thanks for your posting. We will be sailing in about nine weeks on the Sunshine for the first time. It's always nice to read a positive review. I was a little nervous about booking this ship because it was an older ship that had been revamped.

Thanks for your posting. We will be sailing in about nine weeks on the Sunshine for the first time. It's always nice to read a positive review. I was a little nervous about booking this ship because it was an older ship that had been revamped.

We had a blast both times we sailed her. The Staff was some of the best we have encountered. We were doing well in the casino so we missed formal night and wound up at the Lido Buffet for dinner. All three of us were amazed how good the food was. I guess the really do up the buffet on formal night.

The best advice I can give you is get real familiar with the deck plans before you sail. For us it seemed easier to go to deck five and then go to the forward or aft and go down or up. It just seems to have more dead ends than the other ships. Of course I am direction challenged.

You will have a good time.

Thanks for sharing! Going on her in 2 weeks!! Can't wait, how did u get the DOU cards so quickly? Any games we should try that seemed luckier than others? Lol:)

Thanks for sharing! Going on her in 2 weeks!! Can't wait, how did u get the DOU cards so quickly? Any games we should try that seemed luckier than others? Lol:)

We were on a "free" casino cruise so my wife and I had drink cards waiting for us. My SIL hit 1500 points on her SS card the first night, you only need 1000 on a five night cruise for a DOU card so you can see she likes to gamble.

The casino host pretty much gave her free drinks until she hit the magic mark.

By far our best luck was on let it ride. Minimum bets except $10.00 on the three card bonus space. My SIL hit four, three card straight flushes during our cruise. With ten dollars out those pay $400.00 on the three card bonus alone. Then you get payed on the other spot also.

Thanks for the review. I love reading reviews of ships I am booked on. I was on the Sunshine in January, and will be on an 11 day Journey cruise in November. I had so much fun, but I am really looking forward to this solo cruise. I spent a lot of time making sure everyone else was having fun, and kind of being the "cruise guide" for them. Now I will be able to relax and see and do everything I want to do. I sailed twice when this ship was the Destiny, and felt like the Sunshine was a completely new ship. I can't wait to enjoy the Serenity deck near the waterfall. I only got there once, so this is going to be marvelous!!

We were on a "free" casino cruise so my wife and I had drink cards waiting for us. My SIL hit 1500 points on her SS card the first night, you only need 1000 on a five night cruise for a DOU card so you can see she likes to gamble.

 

The casino host pretty much gave her free drinks until she hit the magic mark.

 

By far our best luck was on let it ride. Minimum bets except $10.00 on the three card bonus space. My SIL hit four, three card straight flushes during our cruise. With ten dollars out those pay $400.00 on the three card bonus alone. Then you get payed on the other spot also.

Thanks for sharing with us! Love hearing great stories about an upcoming cruise! Makes u that more excited!!!!!:)

Was wondering when debarkation was, thinking of booking a flight at 1100 out of Orlando in October. Looking forward to sailing on the Sunshine!

Good review! We loved the Sunshine, too!

Was wondering when debarkation was, thinking of booking a flight at 1100 out of Orlando in October. Looking forward to sailing on the Sunshine!

It depends on what zone you are in. I believe they start at 8:30 AM. They went all the way up to zone 31. We were in zone 3 and we were off the ship, through customs and back in Tampa by 11:30 AM.

I think if you have an early flight they let you off first. Of course there is always self assist where they let you off first.

Me personally I wouldn't do it. I have been on two cruises where we got back way late. I am talking like five hours late. I would look for a later flight and leisurely get off the ship and have a nice lunch in Cocoa Beach.

Thanks for the info!! The Sunshine is up next for us! :)

Thanks for the info!! The Sunshine is up next for us! :)

Jeff, if you drive into Cocoa Beach I recommend La Quinta on Atlantic Blvd. They have a dive bar there that is a blast. The hotel is reasonably priced and they give you a 40% off coupon for parking at the port. Our room was clean. They offer a free basic breakfast. We went to Denny's which is next door. I know several other hotels offer a shuttle service but when I get off the ship I want to get into my car and go.

Here is a list of hotels that offer a 40% off voucher

http://www.portcanaveral.com/PortCanaveral/media/Cruise-Assets/Parking-Voucher-Program_3.pdf

Jeff, if you drive into Cocoa Beach I recommend La Quinta on Atlantic Blvd. They have a dive bar there that is a blast. The hotel is reasonably priced and they give you a 40% off coupon for parking at the port. Our room was clean. They offer a free basic breakfast. We went to Denny's which is next door. I know several other hotels offer a shuttle service but when I get off the ship I want to get into my car and go.

 

Here is a list of hotels that offer a 40% off voucher

 

http://www.portcanaveral.com/PortCanaveral/media/Cruise-Assets/Parking-Voucher-Program_3.pdf

Thanks so much for posting all of that great info, but we'll be sailing on the Sunshine out of NYC next summer. :)

Thanks so much for posting all of that great info, but we'll be sailing on the Sunshine out of NYC next summer. :)

Wow, I didn't know she was moving!

Wow, I didn't know she was moving!

The Sunshine is doing the NYC summer itineraries next year instead of the Splendor.

The Sunshine is doing the NYC summer itineraries next year instead of the Splendor.

We are booked on the Sunshine for August. I sure can't wait for this cruise. Is it really as crowded as some people say it is?

Love the Sunshine...she's my favorite ship. I put very little stock into ship reviews, and the posts about Sunshine actually in the forum are usually more positive.

We are booked on the Sunshine for August. I sure can't wait for this cruise. Is it really as crowded as some people say it is?

We have been on 6 different CCL ships. The Sunshine didn't feel any more crowded than the others. Of course we spend most of our time in the casino and the Lido for a late night snack. We didn't do any shows or sunbathing.

I will say it again the staff was wonderful.

Love the Sunshine...she's my favorite ship. I put very little stock into ship reviews, and the posts about Sunshine actually in the forum are usually more positive.

It is funny (or sad) how some people will let one or two negatives ruin a 7 day cruise. It seems like some people go on a cruise just to look for negatives. I understand that yes, some issues are bad enough to ruin your cruise but I still laugh about the butter being to hard or the prime rib being too rare.

For us, we like to look for positives and we usually find them and dwell on those.

We had serious issues on the Dream and CCL bent over backwards to make us happy, which they did.