CJDepew

Booking this itinerary on the Adventure for Feb. 2020. Don't have questions but following along for the ride. Enjoy your cruise!

Just got off the Sunshine two weeks ago. She was rocking, but that's not unexpected in the Southern Caribbean during "westerly" season and 50+knot winds. I suspect you'll be sailing in calmer seas. I loved the Sunshine and there's plenty to do during days at sea.

Occasionally I see the Hilton mentioned here so wanted to do a quick review for anyone possibly interested. We ported at the older port, not under the bridge, and took a cab to the location. Cost was $20 for four of us. The staff was very welcoming, but the facility is looking a bit worn. Once we checked in and got our towels, we headed to the beach. It's even smaller than any of the YouTube videos make it out to be, and the sand was full of cigarette butts and rocks. We decided to make our way up one level, to an area that was in front of the swimming pool, but still had a great view of the water.

It rained intermittently during the first hour and a half of our visit, so some of the photos are not as bright as I'd like. We never did go into the water from the beach, but used the pool. We received a $25/pp food and beverage credit and found both food and drink to be a decent value.

There's also a small historical site, the remains of Ft. Piscaderabay, on the property. I included a few photos of that area. 

All in all, I would probably not recommend this outing if you're someone who likes a nice beach. We just didn't want to take the time the ride to Santa Barbara would have taken, because we wanted to see some of Willemstad too.

We were at the Barcelo two weeks ago on a day pass. It's very nice and clean. Towel service is provided. We were there on the afternoon pass because of being in port 1-10 pm. It was difficult finding chairs, much less any with shade. Drink service on the beach is spotty. There is a swim-up bar at the pool but it appeared they were taking care of those with AI hotel guest wristbands more quickly than the day pass wristbands. We ate dinner at their buffet, and I have to say, I've eaten better at Golden Corral, which was a disappointment. The beach and water were definitely worth it to us, though.

Was there on Monday, Feb 18. We were in port from 1-10, so it was an afternoon pass. The beach was extremely crowded by the time we arrived, but I suspect that even in the morning, the "chair hogs" have their towels on the chairs, just like on the ships.

It's very easy to access via taxi, and the front desk staff was very polite. Drink service on the beach was spotty, but there is a swim-up bar at the pool, which was beautiful. Your wristband color identifies you as a day-pass visitor, and in some cases it appeared that our services was not a fast as hotel guests.

We didn't eat in the restaurant for lunch, since we didn't want to waste any beach time, so we hit the buffet at dinner. In all honesty, I've had better buffet food at Golden Corral.

I will say the beach itself was very clean and the sand very fine. Even if it was an average day in Aruba, it was way better than February in Pittsburgh!

1 hour ago, Eliot Ness said:

 

Yes, we'll be on the Sunshine Feb 15 sailing.  If you go far enough down the right side of the beach you'll come to the conch graveyard, which was what I was really looking for.   Unlike Starfish beach in the Cayman's this isn't where conch's congregate or die, but where the restaurants dump the used conch shells after removing the insides for preparing dishes.  Maybe we didn't go down far enough, maybe most shells had already been picked up, but there weren't many shells at all, and the ones we saw were pretty weathered.  Still, it was pretty cool to be away from the crowds and to even see a couple of very weathered shells.

 

Since we didn't take any I can't say if Carnival allows it now or not, as it seems to vary as this thread mentions:

 

 

That's exactly what I want to see while I'm there. I've heard mixed results about taking a conch back, as long as there is no living organism inside.

On 2/6/2019 at 6:27 PM, Eliot Ness said:

 

Ditto for us.  Last time we stopped there we went right instead of left and it seemed much less crowded and pretty laid back.  None-the-less I didn't loose anything there and when we return in about a week I'll be slurping up Cheers drinks, enjoying empty food lines, and getting a decent spot on the Serenity.

We're on the Feb 15 sailing...not sure if you'll be along with us. We've never been there, but it was my intention to go to the right because in photos it appears much less crowded. Thanks for the info.

Hitting the Barcelo for an afternoon day pass in less than two weeks. Will report back when I  return.

Great review so far, NWA Cruiser. Glad you had a wonderful birthday!

18 hours ago, GeorgiaMomof4 said:

 

 

Us too!  Going on the 8 day Southern itinerary?

 

 

Yes, ma'am. So excited I can hardly stand it.

Thanks, all!

Looking forward to the remainder of your review. We board the Sunshine next week and I can't wait.

1 hour ago, klfrodo said:

 

Let me just share what happened to us.

 

We were excited and planned almost exactly what you are doing.

My wife did months of research. She even created a website devoted to this cruise. She took the time to learn html coding. She had links for transportation ideas, she had hotel links, excursion links, pricing, etc.

She even organized pre-cruise parties.

 

We probably had 50 people excited to go. Everyone put down their $25 deposit to hold the group cabins.

 

Then the subtle backstabbing began.

So and so say's they can get better pricing. So and so spoke to their SIL and were told that if you do this, then so and so gets better amenities. The subtle hints that so and so thinks your adjusting the prices to get yourself a better deal.

 

When it came time for the remainder of the deposit, we were down to 25 people going.

By the time we were at Pay in Full time, we were down to 10 people going.

 

These 10 people had a blast and hold on to our lifetime memories,,,, but,,,, NEVER AGAIN!!

 

Now, we announce that we are taking a cruise, here are the dates, here's the ship,,,, please if interested,, we would love for you to join us. If you need a TA, here's who we use. Hope to see you

Yes!!! This exactly. We have a FB page for the large group and post the link to the specific cruise we are taking and a message to comment when they are booked so we can add them to the actual cruise group. We tell them to book using whatever method they choose, so all of that griping and moaning is out of the equation. Life is so much easier that way, and we can still have fun with the know-it-alls without wanting to stab them with a fork.

1 hour ago, klfrodo said:

Biggest tip?

Go to a travel agent.

Even family can be difficult. The TA takes you out of the family dynamic.

 

Know that group pricing is higher priced. Those amenities are not free as a group. They have to get paid for somehow.

I agree with this totally. We did a group of 24 three years ago and I would have pulled my hair out if I would have had to wrangle all those people. Used a TA and she passed along extra OBC to us as well.

Looks like we're hitting Alaska during the summer of 2020. Ports will be Juneau, Skagway and Ketchican. My husband and I would love an opportunity to see (or attempt to see) some land species native to Alaska. Any tour suggestions for those ports?

Thanks

11 hours ago, KimEadler said:

I just booked 3 cabins on Sunshine for July 8, all on Deck 8.  I called Carnival to check if there were fridges.  None of the three rooms have fridges.  8163 (balcony), 8175 (interior), 8206 (interior).

If you are on FB there is a group for Carnival Sunshine Funship cruisers. I posted a comment asking if anyone had been in 8159, as we're booked there on Feb 15. Found out it not only had a refrigerator but actual photos of that cabin were shared. You may have some luck there.

1 hour ago, javaldez77 said:

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2642506119125266&id=144285012280735

Thank you!

Just wondering if anyone has this info yet. Cannot find it on JH's FB page but may have missed it.

From John Heald on FB yesterday:

So this morning in my live video I mentioned the delicious scrumptious gorgeous sensational cakes that are served for Lido deserts at lunchtime each day. These cakes are now on the:

CARNIVAL DREAM 
CARNIVAL VISTA 
CARNIVAL HORIZON
CARNIVAL MAGIC
CARNIVAL BREEZE
CARNIVAL PARADISE
CARNIVAL LIBERTY 
CARNIVAL SPLENDOR
CARNIVAL FASCINATION
CARNIVAL FREEDOM
CARNIVAL VALOR
CARNIVAL GLORY
CARNIVAL CONQUEST 
CARNIVAL MIRACLE

On 1/14/2019 at 12:04 AM, GeorgiaMomof4 said:

I've read with interest about the new cakes being offered on some of the ships.  I've never been a real fan of the 

desserts on Lido (except for the key lime pie) and I'm wondering if the Sunshine has the new cakes on the buffet yet?

 

We sail mid February and I'm really hoping they will be available by that time.

 

Anyone know?

 

 

Don't know about the cakes, but am on the Feb 15 cruise as well. And I am a cake fiend. Will be disappointed if they're the usual, old Styrofoam.

27 minutes ago, Hatteras51 said:

There is tons of shopping around Barcelo,  but a lot of them don't open until dinner time.

Thank you! We have the afternoon pass there, from 1-9. Am sure we will be ready to head out about the time the shops are opening.

On 9/30/2018 at 2:35 PM, Hatteras51 said:

 

The shops near the cruise port close at 6:00. The stores in Palm Beach are open until at least 9:00. A lot of the jewelry stores are located in both areas. They close up the downtown stores and head to the Palm Beach stores in the evenings. Just take the bus or taxi to Palm Beach, grab a bite to eat and enjoy the shopping. There's lots to see and do.

Wondering if you're familiar with the area near the Barcelo on Palm Beach? The hubby and I aren't big dollar shoppers, but do like to look around. Designer goods and jewelry aren't our thing, but we do like to take home mementos. Any suggestions would be appreciated. 

On 1/4/2019 at 12:22 AM, canadarocks said:

Just an FYI, Caribbean Day Pass dot com offers an afternoon AI at the Barcelo Aruba from 1:00pm-9:00pm. 

Thanks! 

We're visiting Aruba in February, but are a late arrival at 1pm, so an AI is out. We'd like to visit Palm Beach for the afternoon and I'm wondering what would be the best access point to have the cab drop us off. We're the only ship in port that day, so hopefully things aren't too crowded. Hoping for chairs and some shade. Any suggestions would be great.

Thanks

On ‎10‎/‎20‎/‎2018 at 12:44 PM, bup1224 said:

I have not been on a cruise excursion as I live here but the snorkeling was pretty good there a few weeks ago and has been consistently good IMO in the past 10 months.  You can also take a taxi there, current rates for taxis are in the picture

Thank you for the info on Blue Bay Beach. I believe you've sold us on a visit there in February.