MistyRo76

Spring break is typically early March (colleges) through to mid-April (elementary/middle/high school). We have cruised often in April and love it. Before having our daughter in school, we would book after mid-April to early May. School breaks are usually over and prices come down. Weather in the Caribbean is also ideal during that time! Go for it!

We sailed on the Sunshine this past October. It was myself and my husband (both in our late 40's) and our 9-year-old daughter. We sailed during many areas' fall break from school...so the ship was very full and there were alot of kids. If you are sailing off-season and not during traditional school breaks, you may not see as many kids on your sailing. Overall, we liked the Sunshine very much. It was our first time sailing from Charleston and we loved it. The port area is different than any other I've sailed. But everything seemed very organized and moved quickly! When you get off the ship, you'll have to take a coach bus to the parking area. The line for the coach took about 15 minutes. But that was the worst park of debarking. We loved seeing all of the dolphins in the harbor playing around the ship! They were everywhere! The ship itself was very nice! We had a forward balcony cabin on Deck 7. It was well located and near most everything! We had late assigned dining and enjoyed dinner in the main dining room 4 of the 5 nights of our cruise. One night, my husband and I enjoyed dinner together at JiJi Asian Kitchen. Highly recommend reserving a table at JiJi's. It was easily our best meal of the cruise! But the rest of our food was all good to above average. We also felt that dinner moved along at a good pace in the dining room! Most nights we were out of there in 60-75 minutes. We didn't take part in alot of the ship's entertainment. I saw one of the theater shows and it was just OK for me. We did go to the Deal or No Deal game show which was alot of fun! You can also buy a card and play along for the chance to win prizes. We won a free entry to Jackpot Bingo which we also did. We typically would take in some comedy but didn't this time - but overall the comedy shows are a personal preference and can me hit or miss for me. Our ports were Half Moon Cay and Nassau. Nassau isn't my favorite port and I would normally stay on the ship here. But the kiddo wanted to go to the beach so we walked to the "free" beach - Junkanoo Beach. I put free in quotes cause it's free if you throw a towel down and sit on the sand. Two chairs and an umbrella cost us $40 and a basic lunch cost us $60. Everything is ala carte and it's very crowded here. I find the Bahamas to be very expensive overall. Half Moon Cay is an amazing port! If they are available for your sailing, I would highly recommend getting a cabana! We shared one with the other family we were traveling with and it was well worth the money. But there's tons to do here and the beach is simply beautiful! Lunch is provided here, but you have pay for drinks separately.

The last two times I sailed, Oct. 22 on the Valor and Oct. 23 on the Sunshine, the $25 Fun Play for Platinum/Diamond members was given as cash at the casino cage.

Just seeing this...sorry I missed it! We only spent a short time one evening in the piano bar, but I thought the piano guy was very good and engaging! That makes all the difference for me. Some don't make alot of effort to engage with the crowd. My favorite piano bar guy on Carnival was Ed Rocks....this was years ago! But he was always doing fun toasts with the crowd, taking requests, making up songs about people in the crowd. Most time I've spent in a piano bar on a ship was that cruise. He was fantastic!

In Costa Maya, we did Jamie's at Blue Reef. I just double checked my notes and it was $52 pp all-inclusive. It's a small resort...but absolutely beautiful and peaceful. They only usually take 35 guests total, so it's not crowded at all. There were six of us girls here and we each had a large, nice lounge chair under a palapa. Plenty of shade. Our waitress was amazing and kept the drinks and food flowing! Her name is Digby! The bartender makes a lot of her own syrups for drinks from scratch. The drinks were awesome! And the food was too. The ceviche was some of the best I've had. There aren't any other amenties here like water inflatables for kids or massage huts. But it was a great day! There was a rooftop pool at the hotel here, but we stayed down on the beach. In Cozumel, we went to Nachi Cocom. It was $59 pp all inclusive. The food is a four-course lunch (appetizer, salad, entree, desert). It's a bit larger, but still caps out at 130 people total. I think when we were there, there were only 85 people or so (according to our host). Same kind of set up...we had reserved loungers under a palapa and a dedicated server who kept the drinks flowing. There is also a large pool at Nachi. The food was better at Jamie's, but for the price, everything here was great as well! Here's a link to my cruise review for this trip. You can find our Costa Maya day starting on Post 41 and our Cozumel day starting on post 51. BTW - HMC and Grand Turk are two of my favorite ports as well! Just so beautiful!

My family sailed on the Sunshine back in October. We loved it...and loved sailing from Charleston! Unfortunately, I didn't get to experience the awesome Serenity area cause we had our 9 year old with us! But it looked amazing! For elegant night - nice slacks and a collared shirt are appropriate for men. It really depends on the maître d on whether or not someone is not allowed in. But as long as people don't push the dress code too far, I think you'll be fine. There was usually music in the Atrium and Ocean Plaza in the evenings and it tended to run the gamut of genres. I'm sure you'll find something you like. The shows in the main lounge are also decent and they aren't too long, usually only 30-40 minutes. You can also take in their Deal or No Deal game show - it was a really fun time and you may win some $$ if you buy some cards and play along. We won entry to play Jackpot Bingo on the last day. And you also have the comedy shows which range from family friendly to R-Rated. The week we sailed in October was fall break for us and alot of others cause our ship was packed and there were a TON of kids. I wouldn't expect that to be the case when you're sailing as President's Day holiday is the following week. That would be the next possible long weekend where lots of people want to get away from the cold weather! There were terrible lines for alot of the kids programming (Build-A-Bear at sea), but most other wait times were as I would expect to find. We missed the new menus by a week, which I was bummed about! But I've heard mostly good things about them! They brought back some of my old faves like the Pumpkin Soup, Cheesecake and Key Lime Pie! I also highly recommend booking one night at JiJi's Asian Kitchen. It's a small upcharge, but very reasonable! It was the best meal we had all week! Sunshine is one of the few ships with a JiJi's, so take advantage while you're on here! Other than our night at JiJi's, we only ate at in the Main Dining Room. As others have said, everyone over 21 in a cabin has to buy the Cheers Package. My husband doesn't drink, but I can easily make Cheers worth it for me if I'm not sailing with the kiddo! But with him not drinking, it definitely wasn't worth it. He paid for his specialty coffee every day and I only had a 2-3 drinks most days, and that was perfect for us! All in all, we loved our time on the Sunshine!

I just did a five day cruise to Nassau and Half Moon Cay after having not been to the Bahamas in probably 8-10 years. Nassau has never been my favorite port and the last time we were there years ago we just stayed on the ship. But we had our 9 year-old with us this time, so we knew we'd be getting off the ship. The Bahamas have some nice beaches and I'm sure there are fun things to do there. But my biggest gripe with Nassau is how ridiculously expensive it has gotten. We did the "free" beach (Junkanoo Beach) as none of the excursions in Nassau held much appeal and were very pricey and the cost of doing a day pass at a decent resort would have set us back $500 or more for our family of three. Even at the "free" beach we still managed to spend over $100. The beach itself is free and we could have probably plopped our towels down on the sand, but it was mega hot when we were there so we wanted some shade and I'm not that young anymore and my back would have hated me for sitting on the sand for very long. The cost of two lounge chairs and an umbrella was $30. Plus the chairs were squished together so tight that your neighbor next to you was practically on top of you. We then paid $70 for a very basic lunch - cheeseburger and fries for the kiddo, an appetizer for the hubby and a shrimp and rice meal for me plus two sodas. It took almost 90 minutes just to get our food. There were no other amenities here other than the restrooms which were filthy. I get that you get what you pay for...but it's hard to justify $500 for a beach day (that doesn't even include all drinks and food) at a resort here. Especially after having been to Cozumel and Costa Maya on my previous cruise. In Cozumel, we paid $65 per person for an all-inclusive day at a beautiful resort. Included all food, drinks (alcohol included), had a pool, gorgeous beach, and the service was amazing! In Costa Maya, we paid $52 for the same type of package. And both places limit their capacity so it's not overcrowded. It was peaceful, relaxing and fun! Now, Half Moon Cay on the other hand is amazing and one of my favorite cruise stops! The water is beautiful, the activites on the island are reasonably priced (the three of us did a stingray encounter for $150 total), the food is included, and there is a ton to do! We even splurged and got a cabana (shared the cost with the family we were traveling with). And this was the way to go! It was absolutely worth it to have our own private space. All that being said - YMMV and you may end up loving the Bahamas as a whole. You won't know until you try it. If we do book a cruise that has Nassau as a stop in the future, I will most likely stay on the ship. And I doubt that I would ever book a cruise that ONLY stops in the Bahamas again.

I'm not a huge gambler - usually plan for no more than $100/day of gambling funds. And I play blackjack almost exclusively - no slots, but sometimes I'll venture out to other table games for a few hands. On my last cruise, I came out about $400 ahead! Every night I walked away from the table either even or up. I played the Fun 21 - blackjacks pay out right away regardless of what the dealer has. There are also some other differences to regular blackjack plus the side bets. Don't get sucked into those. While it's nice if you manage to hit one, you'll probably spend more than you win on the other hands you lose the side bets!

Years ago I was on a cruise to the Western Caribbean. We were at our last stop in Ocho Rios and the ship was having some scheduled maintenance work done while in port. They had said that there would be periods while we were docked in OR that the power would be offline. We got back on the ship and lights were working and we were preparing to depart (or so we thought!). I decided to hop in the shower and start getting ready for dinner. While I'm in the shower, the lights go off...and there was no water! I had conditioner in my hair and was in the middle of shaving my legs! My very prepared roomie, had a small flashlight, so I used that light to finish shaving and used one of the big bottles of water to rinse out my hair. We were in an interior cabin so it was pitch black in our room. Thankfully the lights came back on about 10 minutes later and stayed on this time. Come to find out, we were late leaving OR because the maintenance work took longer than expected. It was interesting for sure!

Well, clearly I'm going to have to book a cruise from NYC sooner rather than later! 🙂 We've sailed from Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Port Canaveral, Tampa, New Orleans, Charleston and Long Beach. And I've found they each offer something different. Those Miami skyline views are breathtaking! And it'll never get old going past all those big oceanfront mansions and yachts and all the people waving as you pass South Beach! Going under the bridge as you leave Tampa was unforgettable! Sailing down the Mississippi from NOLA was a new experience for me and was neat to see. But our last cruise out of Charleston may have topped the list for one reason only - the dolphins! They were everywhere along side our cruise ship while we were docked in port and along side as was left the harbor. 20 cruises and that was by far the most dolphins I've ever seen! They were everywhere!

Hubby will humor me and cruise occasionally. And he’s actually looking forward to cruising Alaska, hopefully in 2025. He quit drinking so Husband Daycare for him would need to include awesome coffee and a place to enjoy smoking a pipe! We make it work though! And I enjoy some cruises with my girlfriends from time to time too! thanks again!

Another fantastic review from our dynamic cruising duo - Jeff & Patti! It’s so nice to see two people enjoying their well-deserved retirement so immensely! I hope to be able to do the same some day! Unfortunately my self-proclaimed curmudgeon hubby isn’t as much of a cruise fan as I…so I see some solo travels in my retirement future! Eagarly awaiting your Tribe cruise review!

There is a difference between the ship(s) I WANT to book next and what I WILL book next! lol I really want to get on Mardi Gras/Celebration/Jubilee sometime soon! But lately we’ve been more limited to shorter cruises. I currently have a cabin on hold on the Sunrise to Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios for a 5 day fall break cruise next October with my kiddo and sister - girls cruise!!! We can’t leave dad home alone to fend for himself for too long! 😉😜🤣 For me and the kid, 5 days is a good length! It’s almost a week with our travel day before. And our last cruise with the kid was on the Sunshine, which she loved. Sunrise is similar so it should be a great option for us!

yes - Sunshine was our last cruise just a month ago and we were in the mid dining room for set dining time. And I do agree that using those names for the dining rooms does make it very confusing! 🙂

Now I'm going to have to go back and re-read your Sunrise review and check out everything the ship has to offer! Guess work will have to wait! 🙂

Thanks! I assume there are no major noise concerns in that area from the bridge? And looks like nothing above the cabin.

Hello all! I had asked a few weeks back on opinions choosing between the Sunrise and Freedom for a mother-daughter cruise next fall over my kiddo’s. Turns out her break is actually going to be the week after I originally thought it would be. Looking at those itineraries, the only decent option for a 5 day (or less) cruise is on the Sunrise going to Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios. So that’s what we are going to do. My sister is also planning on joining us and would share a cabin with us. Looking at cabin options for three, I found that the corner Grand Scenic Oceanview cabin is available is available for this cruise! I snagged it on a 48 hour hold! We’ve never stayed in one of these cabins before, but they look amazing! From a video tour of the room, I found online, I see the couch can be made into a single or double sleeper which would be great for my daughter. For those who’ve stayed in these cabins before - specifically on the Sunrise - what were your thoughts? How was the location, space in the room for 3 people, etc. Would love to hear it all! Thanks!

I enjoy the secret decks. And on our last cruise on the Sunshine there were some deck chairs placed on the secret deck on 7. These are great spots for taking sunset pics of your balcony is on the wrong side. My kiddo also thought it was really cool that she knew about this “secret” deck.

I think the “secret” nickname works as it’s not a public space that most people would just stumble upon. You have to really know it’s there and go there intentionally.

I am getting ready to book a cruise for next year on the Sunrise. Just wondering which dining room is currently being used for Your Time Dining and which is used for Assigned Dining. This seems to vary by ship. Last year when I cruise, we had set dining and it was in the AFT dining room. This past month we also had set dining and it was in the FWD dining room. Thanks!

I’m sensing a theme here….🤣🤣🤣

haha...yeah, being that close to a port makes a difference. Don't blame ya there! Closest port to me is probably Charleston which we just cruised from last month and it was a 9-10 hour drive. So other than that one, we always fly! I'll do Canaveral for a certain ship or itinerary...but all things being equal, I'll chose Miami!

I would prefer to sail out of Miami any day! I don't enjoy the hour plus drive from Orlando airport to the Port Canaveral area. And Cocoa Beach/Port Canaveral doesn't offer as much in the way of things to do/see in my opinion. With Miami, you have the option of flying into either Miami or Ft. Lauderdale. From where I live, there are direct flights to FLL and it always seems to be cheaper than when I check airfare to Miami or Orlando. Lots of fun areas to stay at in Miami pre-cruise - Bayside, Brickell, South Beach/Miami Beach/Hollywood Ft Lauderdale area. Lots to see/do. I can't speak on the Magic as I've never sailed her. But we enjoyed the Vista very much!

Hello! I am looking at a mother/daughter cruise next fall break and Ocho Rios will be one of our stops. I've done a lot of the points of interest in Ocho Rios already (Dunn's River Falls, Blue Hole, River Tubing, Ziplining, Mystic Mountain, Horseback Riding, Scotchies) but it's been quite a while since I've been here (probably 2017 was my last visit). Last time my kiddo was 3 and we did Blue Hole. The guides were great and held her and walked her across the more difficult parts of the hiking and held her while we jumped. She did do one of the smaller jumps with me though! And seemed to love it! Trying to figure out what to do with her this trip to OR! Are there are any private tour companies that offer dolphin encounters? I see our cruiseline (Carnival) offers a dolphin excursion), but would prefer to book through a private tour company if able. My daughter swam with stingrays on our last cruise and is dying to swim with dolphins. Would love to combine this with either a trip to the falls or Blue Hole if possible. Also, considering the possibility of just having a fun beach day at a resort. Resorts for a Day offers the RUI for a day pass. Are there any others we should look at? All-inclusive preferred w/ pools/waterslides and beach access. Thanks!

Scotchie's is 100% worth the drive there! Been several times when visiting Ocho Rios and it's always great! Not sure what else you're doing in Ocho Rios, but if you're doing any private tours anywhere else, see if they will add in a stop at Scotchie's. We've done that several times and it has worked out great! Our tour driver just takes us there and waits for us to eat usually after the rest of the tour is completed. Then they drive us back to the ship.