MistyRo76

We are booked on the Carnival Sunshine for this October. Right now it’s me, my hubby and our daughter who will be 9 at the time of the sailing. She has been on 2 cruises but both were when she was 3 and younger so she doesn’t really remember them. Our stops are Half Moon Cay and Nassau. I haven’t been to Nassau in years and often would just stay on the ship there. But I want to get off the ship and give the kiddo a great experience. Looking at Carnival excursions, the one that caught my eye was the swimming with the pigs one. Anyone have experience with this excursion? Any good excursions or beaches we should look into that aren’t thru the cruise line? Looking for something more than just a basic beach day, would like an experience that is new to her. Any suggestions??

I have been eyeing this sailing on the Sunshine for my daughter's fall break this October since I got off my last cruise LAST October. But life kept getting in the way of me sitting down to get it booked until today! Super excited as this will be our first time on the Sunshine, first time going out of Charleston and first time driving to the port. It's also the kiddos first cruise since she was 3 and we're keeping a surprise for her until her birthday in August! And we're going to head to Charleston 3 days early and explore the city a bit. One thing that did surprise me though, was how booked up this cruise was right now especially considering it's still 7 months away! There are only about 3-4 balconies showing available so we were lucky to get one on Deck 7, our preferred location! Only Spa interiors left, 2 portholes, and a handful of Oceanviews and Suites. This seems very early to be that booked up!

That's a GREAT idea! We took my husbands kids on a cruise when they were 8 and 11. They are super pick eaters, especially his son. We told them that they had to try at least one new food at lunch and dinner every day of the cruise. My step son learned he liked fried chicken and he enjoyed the short ribs. I counted that as a win. When we had our daughter, we didn't cater to her the way his older kids were catered too. She always was given what we were having for dinner with the one exception being if we were having something highly spicy (like chili or a spicy curry - we do enjoy spicy foods!). She's 9 now and most people comment on what a good eater she is - she eats about every kind of meat, has never met a fruit she doesn't like, enjoys most veggies (green beans are a big NO for her though), and doesn't drink sodas. We'll occasionally allow her a soda when we are out somewhere - but usually after a couple sips, she's over it. We just booked a cruise for this October and it'll be her first since she was 3. I'm excited for her to be exposed to even more types of food on this vacation! It's good for them to get out of their comfort zones!

He prefers beer to mixed drinks...but Carnival does have some nice "mocktail" options on most of the bar menus as well as just asking for the standard virgin daiquiri or something. I'm sure he'll try some of those as well!

Yeah…I figured maybe we’ll buy a couple six packs and try to carry it on. We’re driving to the port this time, if they don’t allow it, we can also walk it back out to the car. Bigger picture - it would be nice to see Carnival get with the times and expand their offerings in this area. I know many people who aren’t necessarily alcoholics/problem drinkers, that are giving up alcohol just for health reasons.

Doing a Google search, it looks like Heineken is the only non-alcoholic beer that Carnival carries on board. Does anyone know if this is still accurate? A member of our group on our next cruise is an alcoholic but still enjoys the taste of beer. He has found quite a few really good NA beers that are carridr by the local liquor store. The Heineken one is just ok for him. With a wider variety of NA options (beers, craft mocktails, even NA seltzers that can give a relaxed/floaty feel) becoming available at local bars and the push toward an NA lifestyle becoming more mainstream, it would be nice to see Carnival follow suit! Also, curious why Csrnival’s allotted carry on amount of non-alcoholic beverages doesn’t extend to NA beers. Any insights on this? It would be different if Carnival had a robust selection to offer onboard but one option would get old on a week long cruise.

I hadn't seen the new no speakers policy! That's a bummer as I like to have a small speaker in our cabin to play music from my downloaded playlists. I guess I can play it from my phone speaker - but it won't sound as good! (I know - first world problem! LOL). I mean, I get the reasoning behind it. But with everyone having smart phones with speakers, people can just play from those on deck if they really want their own music. I wouldn't force our music on anyone else - it's for our cabin only while we are getting ready for dinner usually. We don't even take it out on our balcony!

You may also want to reach out to the Special Services team (I think that's what they are called, but I could be wrong) before you sail. I would think hearing loss would be considered a disability and they would be able to make accommodations for your wife to ensure that she feels as comfortable and cared for as possible while in the dining room. This may save you the hassle of having to recreate the wheel every time you check in for dinner. Thanks!

When we were on the Valor in October, I scheduled an appointment to have a fun up-do done for formal night My friend who also got her hair done inquired about makeup and they said they do make up. She was specifically asking about lashes - and they said if we brought lash strips along, they would put them on for us. I had brought some along and was dreading putting them on myself. So I added that on to my hair-do and it all worked out great. But from the sounds of it, they do offer full-make up service as well. FWIW - this was totally worth it in my opinion. I wouldn't spend the money to do it more than one per cruise. But I loved getting pampered and not having to do my own hair for once - cause I have ALOT of hair! LOL Here is a pic of my up-do! She did a great job!

Perhaps whoever is working with you on your wedding could assist in securing reservations for your group together at the steakhouse? I've never done the steakhouse before with people from multiple cabins, but I would guess someone on here has! If all else fails, you can always reach out to John Heald and see if he can assist!

They may not gain anything from the initially booking that is transferred over. But they would certainly be incentivized to assist in hopes of gaining a future frequent cruiser as a customer. At least I would think so! I"ve had people who we've cruised with who booked themselves online before we booked, but then had our PVP take over the booking and then continued to use our PVP for many future cruises. Our PVP was happy to assist.

I've never heard of this either...I would call the main Carnival # just to double check though. It may also be worth seeing if you can switch the bookings you made yourself online over to a Carnival Personal Vacation Planner. They can keep an eye out for stuff like this and alert you to any issues. Plus it's much easier dealing with issues with a PVP vs. calling the main service number and waiting.

TSA Pre-check is EVERYTHING! I got it initially when I was traveling regularly for work...but now, even for the 2-3 times a year a may fly, I can't imagine not having it. Even when the pre-check line looks longer than the regular line, it's still worth it just to not have to take off your shoes, drag everything out of your luggage, and basically disrobe! It's a game-changer! You're gonna LOVE it! As always, stellar review....you take us right along with you each and every time! And you and W are too cute together! BTW - I've noticed his Bengals hats/shirts in previous reviews. Is he from Cincy? I live just south of the city in the Kentucky (i.e. the "good side of the Ohio River"). 🙂

Did you snap a pic of the printed Chef's Table menu? I'm curioius see how all the dishes are described. We did it on the Paradise in 2019 and it was amazing! I'd love to do it again!

We need a dislike reaction option! 👎

We do the same thing! One of my favorites was "Crocs w/ Socks". I would giggle every time I said it! Then we had another guy we just called "New Yawk"...cause every time we saw him he was always telling someone he from there....loudly!

Looks like a perfect spot for @Jamman54! 🤣

My pleasure! And here are the age groups for the Youth programs: Penguins® Ages 2-5 Stingrays® Ages 6-8 Sharks® Ages 9-11 Circle “C”® Ages 12-14 Club O2® Ages 15-17 You can absolutely get an additional key made for their room. I think it would be a good idea if for nothing else than to keep 'em honest knowing that mom and dad could walk in at any time! lol I agree with another poster who said to book a balcony for your cabin and them across the hall. But if connecting staterooms are preferred, try working with a travel agent or PVP who can probably more easily locate the available connecting rooms. They do seem to be few and far between on Carnival.

Below is the policy on booking cabins with minors. So the way you have it should be fine as long as they are no more than 3 cabins from you. Guests 13 - 17 years of age Can be separated by up to 3 staterooms from a relative or guardian (25 years of age or older). Guests 18 – 20 years of age Do not have any restrictions and may book whatever location they prefer. I assume that since you would have a 17 year old in the cabin with the 18 and 20 year olds, the policy would default to the one specific to Guests 13-17 years of age.

This is the first time I've ever heard or read about a Silent Deck Party on Carnival. What a fun and interesting concept! Hope it's on my next cruise!

This is nothing "new". My first cruise was in 1997 and we could smell weed in our hallway (didn't have a balcony back then as I was a poor college student) all week long. And in fact, the morning of embarkation, we had the drug dogs in our hallway going in each and every cabin looking for the guilty party. We thought it was the college aged guys a few cabins down from us, but I heard from several people in our hallway that it ended up being the couple in their late 60's/early 70's who had a cabin at the very end of our hallway.

THIS 👆 I could really give two hoots if someone wants to get a good weed buzz on while cruising! But the smell of most weed is pervasive, invasive and hard to stomach for alot of people. I really don't enjoy the smell of it at all. When I travel to cities where it's legal and I have to go through a haze of it just walking down the road, the smell is overwhelming sometimes. But there are so many other forms of it now that you can ingest to get high that there is zero reason for impacting someone else's vacation by having your fumes permeate their balcony.

It's definitely the texture!

If you haven't already, hopefully someday you'll have a chance to visit Havana! Talk about beautiful architecture! The detail and colors and textures are really something to behold. There's even a mysterious beauty to the buildings that are falling apart - like you KNOW those walls have seen some things. And the food in Havana is amazing!

That was kind of my initial thinking!