keelyhealthnut

Does anybody happen to know if you can get the caesar salad w/ or w/o anchovy like you could the old menu?

What a fantastic review. I hope that you know how much it is appreciated!! I very much enjoyed it, am now even MORE excited about our cruise on the Sunshine, and feel like I also got some valuable information. Thanks!

We had some samples on our last cruise on the Dream.

We just lost a family member as well. I'm so sorry. My thoughts are with you and yours.

We just booked the same room for a cruise on the Sunshine next year. It's actually the other Scenic Grand 9111, but I'm assuming that they should be pretty much identical. I am really looking forward to seeing the rest of your review and hearing more about the room!

Does anybody know when the May 2016 cruise dates for Caribbean itineraries will be released?

I have heard that about anytime dining on the Sunshine from a few others. I think we go with early dining this time around!

I swear by ginger for motion sickness and I got it practically every time I am even a passenger in a car.

For a cruise, I take ginger capsules, ginger chews, ginger tea, and a blend of essential oils that I make. There's also an essential oil blend called "motion eze" or something along those lines that I put on my temples. The wrist bands are also great to have!

There's also candied ginger that should work better than the ginger chews, but the flavor is too strong for me. You can find all of this at Whole Foods, if you have one close to you.

I would think that would be fairly easy. I would just be concerned about the cooking styles and that they may be cooked in non-paleo friendly oils. The seasonings could also have dairy or wheat components. However, if you're on vacation and not being super duper strict, then that might be okay.

Depending on what line you're on, nuts may be a little more difficult to come by. I'd bring some packaged nuts to snack on, just in case. I think that the snacking may be more of an issue so just come prepared.

Just in my experience and what our kids enjoyed on our cruise...honestly they were super impressed by the meals. Haha. We didn't avoid the MDR (I have heard that some with kids do) and they really enjoyed course after course of food. At home we always share a couple of plates to stay on budget so it was special to them. One got salad and the other got spring rolls as an appetizer every day. They had a hard time adjusting back to regular life after that! LOL Eating ice cream in the middle of the day, pizza before bed, room service. Yeah, they spent plenty of time very happily eating. :D

They loved hanging out on our balcony, breathing in the ocean air, feeling the breeze, and spending time together. They're pretty young, but they got a kick out of going up and down the clear elevators! Every night they looked forward to playing putt-putt and they really loved the live shows. We played board games in our room and card games in public areas.

They never set a foot in Camp Carnival and they only went swimming twice. There was plenty to do and the newness of it all is wonderful. I loved seeing it all through their eyes.

Speaking of water..................... Carnival has this new wonderful perk!

Hah! Burn. :p

I agree with many of you about the time that various food options are open. We tend to eat at off times as well. Even on vacation the kids are up at 6 or 7 so I'd much rather miss the crowds a bit and have an early lunch at 11. We also love a snack right before bed and default to pizza. Having Guys open later (or a sweet treat other than ice cream) would be wonderful. I know that there's room service, but we enjoy being out and about and grabbing a bite on Lido.

Plus, for some more crowded ships like the Sunshine, this would help ease up the congestion during the prime meal times.

Yes, I'd like to know the 8 day menu as well! Of course, our booking is so far in the future that it could change by then. LOL I just cannot miss the stuffed mushrooms and must adequately plan around that. ;) I wish that I were joking, but I'm so not!! :D

I am so confused with all of these different reviews. It seems that you either love or hate the Sunshine. We are booked for it, but got the Past Guest rate incase we wanted to change it. I am thinking of changing now. This will be our last family vacation for a while and I really want to make it count. :confused:

I love the idea of getting up early and getting everything packed to just enjoy the last day. We will definitely do that next time instead of scrambling to get it all packed and put outside the door that night. I also love the $5 idea. We will have to adopt those!

I will definitely make sure that we enjoy our last day more next time!

WOW! That is the saddest thing I have ever heard out of a teachers mouth!! You should be ashamed of yourself and I will thank GOD that my children will never have you and I will also pray for the little souls that have you as a teacher. Unbelievable!!

 

I must be the luckiest parent ever because we live in a school district that values family and all forms of "education". From our district handbook, "Family vacations arranged in advance with the school administration are excused absences". "Students shall make up all assignments missed during excused absences, with credit awarded."

 

Our oldest just turned 21 and is a Junior in college, our second child is 18 and is a Freshman in college and our youngest is in 8th grade. They have been on 4 cruises and we are getting ready to take our 8th grader on her 5th cruise. They have learned so much from these experiences. The highlight was the year that we visited an orphanage in Roatan. I had researched the orphanage before and learned of their needs. We got a private driver who took us to a local grocery store (believe me-that was educational) and bought the orphanage their food needs for a month. My sons bought a basketball for the kids and we spent the entire afternoon playing, talking, and loving on these children. BELIEVE me this was educational!!

 

If you ask any of my kids about the standout moments of their lives I will assure you the experience at that orphanage will rank very high to the top. Learning is not just done in a classroom-the world is a classroom and we should encourage all to grab ahold of it even if that means a few days of school are missed.

 

So thankful for our school district and our awesome teachers that understand what education really is!

How wonderful to read. A huge lesson in empathy right there and not one that is attainable in a book. These are the kinds of things that I want to share with my kids. They are very young right now, but I know that my 4 year old has such a tender heart. The 3 year old is a little firecracker and really needs to experience these things to truly understand them though.

I'm loving following along! Thanks for the live review. Such a great idea!

What internet package did you purchase? How is the speed? It was so slow on the Dream last year that I rarely used it.

How bad are the anytime dining lines? Dream lines weren't ever longer than 10 or 15 minutes. I don't know if my preschoolers will tolerate any longer than that. ;) We may sign up for early dining, in that case...

Well, we've only sailed twice. LOL The Dream was most definitely better than the Triumph!

We are pretty disappointed in this change. We are on a tight budget when we cruise and the comp brunch drink was such a nice luxury for me. I really enjoyed it.

If anybody is interested, it's actually "Plasa Bieu" and I tracked down tons of reviews and info on Trip Advisor. Seems really cool! :)

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g147278-d2105905-Reviews-Plaza_Bieu-Willemstad_Curacao.html

I just booked the Sunshine headed to Aruba, Grand Turk, and Curacao April 2016!:D Since we booked early we were able to get one of the two scenic ocean view rooms available on the Sunshine. Very exciting! All of the assistance and opinions are very appreciated. Happy cruising!

I ran across the mention of Plaza Bieu elsewhere and I can't seem to find any mention of it on here. It's like a big food stall with a bunch of local food. It seems like a really neat way to experience some local Curacao flavor. Has anybody been there?

I am *so* glad that I posted this. Thank you all so much for helping me think my way through this decision. It's probably the last time that we will cruise for a while so I really want to make it count.

Thank you for the review!! I am thinking of sailing on the Sunshine next year.

I'm curious - Did you like your cruise enough to sail Carnival again?

 

- 8 day on Conquest...St. Maarten, NA ; St Kitts, WI; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Grand Turk

 

- 7 day on Glory...Half Moon Cay, The Bahamas; St. Thomas, USVI; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Grand Turk

 

- 8 day on Sunshine...St. Maarten, NA ; St Kitts, WI; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Grand Turk

 

- 8 day on Sunshine...Curacao; Aruba; Grand Turk

 

Before I can say more I need to know more what you want:

My next question is do you prefer more port days or sea days or it doesn't matter.

Usually I would want to get in as many port days as possible. However, we are following this cruise with a week at Disney World with extended family so I am thinking that more chill sea days might be appropriate. (That was painful to say - I love ports! haha) I think right now I am leaning towards the 8 day on Sunshine...Curacao; Aruba; Grand Turk. Looking into it more, the Sunshine has a lot for my kiddos to do. However, I have heard some negative things about the ship so I am a bit wary.