brilliantseas

With the rain rolling in, the line for the tenders was quite long. We opted to wait it out at the bar in the center of the shopping area. As the rain cleared out, so did the crowds. We were able to board the next tender with no wait.

The beach cleared out very quickly once the lightning and rain rolled in, which provided an excellent opportunity to get some photos of a less crowded beach.

Getting a little less crowded... Our "secret spot" is down near the last of the two-story cabanas. It is far less crowded; there is a restroom right behind the cabanas; and it is only a short walk to the pirate ship bar. We had two relaxing hours in the water and on the beach before a thunderstorm rolled in. It scared many people off of the beach and cut our visit short by around 90 minutes.

The brach area closest to the marina and tender pier can be quite crowded, but HMC has such an extensive stretch of beach, a more relaxed experience can be had just a few hundred yards down the beach.

As we boarded the tender for the quick ride to Half Moon Cay, we noticed rain in the distance. Just off the pier is a small pirate-themed water spray park for younger guests.

Day #3 was the highlight of the cruise, Half Moon Cay! We started the day with breakfast in the Lido Marketplace. I enjoyed a waffle with blueberry compote, ham and cheese omelet, seasoned potatoes, and melon. GF had pancakes, potatoes, and ham. It is nothing new, but Carnival utilizes pre-made / frozen pancakes and waffles thar are re-heated for service. The waffles are decent if you load them up with strawberry or blueberry compote, but I don't personally care for the pancakes. The waffles and skillet cake in the MDR are of better quality. We dined with a nice view of HMC!

Tonight's show was Studio VIP, a show I've seen on other ships in the past. The costumes and set pieces are slightly different, but the music and choreography are generally the same. It was entertaining, and I'd rank it #2 of 3 of the Playlist Productions shows on our 5-night cruise. After the Playlist show, we attended the last Punchliner Comedy show of the night, which I believe started at 9:00? It was somewhat disappointing to have the "late night" comedy shows starting at 8:00 and 9:00, but I understand crew shortages have many of the bartenders pulling double duty on deck and it isn't feasible to run all of the entertainment venues until midnight or later each night. We arrived just in time to get a pair of seats in the back right corner of the lounge. Those who arrived only a minute or two later ended up in one of the dreaded "side stage" seats that have to watch the show on a TV screen as they have no view of the stage. I'm thankful Carnival fixed this design flaw on the Sunrise and Radiance by positioning the stage along the port side of the lounge rather than the aft wall, eliminating most of the seats that have no view of the stage. One of the comedians actually made a joke of the people in the "side lounge" by peaking around the corner of the stage to waive to them at the start of the show.

Dinner in the MDR was enjoyable. This is elegant night on the five-night sailings, although as most are aware, Carnival no longer offers lobster on short sailings. I've gotten so used to sailing in the winter and dining after dark that I've forgotten what an amazing view you can have when dining before sunset! Appetizers consisted of the pork tart and spinach salad with bleu cheese dressing. We both ordered the grilled shrimp entree. I requested mine without the cream sauce and they were able to accommodate. I found this dish is better without the sauce, although I miss the old version with the mustard potatoes rather than the mixed vegetables. I had the creme brulee for dessert, while GF had the warm chocolate melting cake "Mickey style," as our waiter called it. The ice cream scoops are tiny, and GF highly recommends ordering Mickey style in the future. This waiter really got into "Showtime"! Snapchat-1174532215.mp4

We do not have handicap tags or need handicap parking. Just mentioning for others. I was not aware that those with handicap tags receive free parking in Charleston? Thank you for sharing.

We sailed with him on the Sunshine at the end of August.

Daytime entertainment consisted of a few rounds of trivia in Ocean Plaza, a little time in the casino, and time in the Serenity area and on the balcony. We also continued the tiny duck tradition.

The footprint for Limelight seems quite small?

Our first day at sea started with brunch in the aft dining room. We were fortunate enough to have a table with a great view! I started with a chia seed pudding. I'm saddened to hear that this item is disappearing from brunch menus as I write this as it is my favorite single item on the brunch menu. It is made with coconut milk and features bananas, strawberries, and coconut flake. I've tried making it at home but have not been able to get the flavor quite right. For an entree, I had the skillet cake and GF had the 12 hour French toast with sausage and hash browns. It was still early, but we're on vacation, so we both opted for dessert. GF ordered the chocolate cake, and I had the banana cream pie. We enjoyed our meal, although I think I would prefer a more traditional pancake breakfast as the skillet cake tends to be quite dense. GF had no complaints about the French toast.

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After dinner entertainment centered around the piano bar on our first evening, where we discovered the highlight entertainer of the cruise, Zach Daniels. He is certainly in the top two piano bar entertainers I've encountered in all of my cruises. He's high energy, engaging, and unlike most piano bar entertainers that take a 15-minute break every hour, Zach generally performs for three hours straight without letting the crowd lose the energy. As a result, the piano bar was standing room only every night. Truly a highlight of this cruise! Snapchat-1467156180.mp4

Multiple trivias are held per day. Some are a little stale (Friends Trivia), while others incorporate different elements, such as theme song trivia or team-based Wheely Big Trivia (think Trivial Pursuit). In my experience, Harry Potter Trivia, Game of Thrones Trivia, and Big Bang Theory Trivia can be standing room only, while the early morning general trivia or Carnival Cruise Line Trivia may only have a handful of participants, depending upon what time they are scheduled.

I did not screen capture menus on this sailing, but the menu was almost identical as previous Carnival cruises, with the exception that the menu was still featuring some of the Cucina del Capitano favorites that were added during the temporary closure of Cucina in June and July. Cucina has since re-opened, but the additional selections remain on the MDR menu, at least for now. We had your time dining, which was assigned to the aft dining room. A first for us was the fact that they were using both the upper and lower levels of the aft dining room for YTD, and you could be assigned to either level based upon when you check in. We dined on deck 4 (upper level) one night, and on deck 3 (lower level) the other two nights we chose to dine in the MDR. We skipped nights 3 and 4 and chose alternate dining options as these are our least favorite of the Carnival MDR menus. On the first night, GF had calamari, shrimp cocktail, and the vegetable lasagna. I ordered the roasted corn and poblano soup and chicken quesadilla appetizers, and the chicken parmesan from the Cucina del Capitano favorites menu for my entree. We both had tiramisu for dessert. Calamari appetizer Shrimp cocktail appetizer Roasted corn and poblano soup appetizer Chicken quesadilla appetizer Vegetable lasagna entree Chicken parmesan with spaghetti entree Tiramisu dessert The calamari is your average frozen calamari. It was well prepared and not overcooked/rubbery. The roasted corn and poblano soup had an unusual bitter note, which I don't remember from previous cruises. I usually enjoy this soup, but it was a bit "off" on this sailing. The chicken quesadilla was exactly as I remembered it from previous cruises. New cruisers should note that the quesadillas don't have much cheese in them. Instead, they are filled with a mixture of seasoned chicken, black beans, onions, and green pepper. I personally like it, but those who are expecting cheese and chicken in a tortilla may be disappointed. GF noted that the vegetable lasagna had A LOT of vegetables stuffed inside. Again, a little lighter on the cheese and heavier on the vegetable filling. My chicken parmesan was disappointing, especially given the fact that Carnival promotes this as a signature item from Cucina del Capitano. I've had it once previously, at Cucina del Capitano on Carnival Magic, and this entree reminded me why I don't book Cucina on Carnival sailings. The chicken was pounded thin, but somehow still very tough. It is topped with what tastes like canned marinara sauce and some melted cheese, served over a bed of very dry spaghetti. I did not finish this entree. For dessert, we both had the tiramisu, which was delicious, as always. It remains one of my "top 3" Carnival desserts.

I'm only kidding, of course. Here is a photo of the "waterfall pool" in the Serenity Deck adults-only area. We found the pool to be quite crowded, and the water appeared very cloudy throughout the cruise. We did not partake. The hot tub on deck 14, at the top of the waterfall, was less crowded, perhaps because of the August temperatures and direct exposure to the sun? One positive of the large, three-deck Serenity area on Carnival Sunshine was that we were always able to find loungers available, even on sea days. They may have been right next to the restroom, but they were available.

We noticed the Serenity pool had some unusual pool rules. I guess this is a part of Carnival's initiative to increase onboard spending? No more happy hour at Red Frog Pub, and drinking is mandatory in the Serenity pool.

Would love to know where Leigh Xuereb is these days. He was supposed to be returning to Carnival Legend in July following a vacation, but he went missing from the Carnival schedule and I can only assume he moved on to a new role. I've had many great cruise directors in 18 cruises with Carnival. Some were very high energy and were seemingly everywhere. Butch Begovitch, Jaime Dee, and Mike Pack come to mind. At the opposite end of the spectrum are cruise directors like "Skippy" and Leigh Xuereb, who were strong, professional cruise directors who had a presence, but more relaxed than their younger counterparts. ...and then there is TJ Partida, who is currently on the Sunshine and will take over on Carnival Vista in early 2023. TJ is far and away the most abrasive cruise director I've encountered in 21 cruises across four lines. He earns credit for being high energy, but starting every introduction with "Say Hey TJ-ayyyyyyyyyyyy" and ending every PA announcement with the traditional "ciao for now," followed by a loud ""See yaaaaaaaa!" in his best Jersey Shore frat boy impersonation will quickly wear on your nerves. TJ would have made an excellent MTV host in the late 90s, but not everyone wants Jersey Shore from their cruise director. He actually did a wonderful job hosting shows and leading dance parties; he just needs to tone down the over the top intro and outro a bit.

Red Frog Pub on Sunshine discontinued the happy hour promotion as of my August 20 cruise. We were very disappointed, and we weren't the only ones asking about it. We took advantage on our Sunrise sailing in February and made a point to hit RFP before going to our room on Sunshine, but the promotion is no longer. The bartenders didn't know why, only that it had been discontinued.

I got just a little ahead of myself in following the timeline of our first day as we also made a quick stop at Red Frog Pub prior to rooms being available at 1:30. Those who have sailed on Carnival in the past two years are likely familiar with the "secret" happy hours at the Red Frog Pub, which included 1/2 price fishbowl drinks or sometimes pitchers if they were running low on fishbowls. I believe happy hour timing varied slightly based upon embarkation schedule, but on most ships was between noon and 2:00 PM, and only in the Red Frog. We enjoyed it on the Sunrise in the spring and made a point to hit Red Frog for happy hour on Sunshine as well. Surprise... No more happy hour, and we weren't the only ones who were disappointed. The bartender said it had been discontinued. No happy hour meant no fishbowl or pitcher for us. I opted for a ThirstyFrog Caribbean Wheat on draft, while GF had a Caribbean Tea cocktail. She enjoyed the cocktail, however my beer was flat, which was disappointing as I typically enjoy this beer that is brewed exclusively for Carnival ships. Another surprise about the Red Frog that we'd later find out is despite featuring a small stage for a soloist or duo near the bar, Red Frog had no live entertainment throughout the cruise. Yes, there is the Ocean Plaza stage outside, and having both stages playing at the same time may cause some challenges with spillover noise, but the result of not having entertainment in Red Frog was that it was almost completely empty aside from embarkation day. It seems as though it's only function was to serve as an overflow bar for Ocean Plaza when the band was playing and the Alchemy Bar was too busy to get a drink. What a shame, and what a waste of prime lounge space.

I alluded to surprises in the title of this review. I had read other trip reports complaining of excess wear-and-tear and generally poor condition of the cabins. The actual cabin itself appeared to be well maintained. I found the linens to appear new and the mattress to be comfortable. The bathroom had a small bit of rust around the doorframe, but was otherwise in decent shape aside from the toilet. I know the ships use "grey water" for flushing toilets, but in 21 cruises, 18 of which have been on Carnival, I've never actually seen the toilets have grey/black streaks staining the bowl, or with water that occasionally had tiny pieces of what appeared to be ash floating in the water. I can only guess that the ship has been fitted with a scrubber system for the exhaust and the waste water is being used in the grey water system for deck washing and toilets rather than being pumped overboard. The water from the sink and shower ran clear. The other area of our cabin which was really showing its age was the balcony. The wooden railing was rotting in places, the faux-teak flooring discolored, the tint on the glass bubbling and peeling at the edges, and the support bar for the lounger back was missing, so the extra seat on the double length balcony (regular balconies only feature two upright chairs) could only be used in the fully flat position. There was also a bit of rust showing in the balcony area, although this is somewhat normal on cruise ships and wasn't at a level that I would consider excessive. Fortunately, all of the public areas on the ship seemed very well maintained, and the refreshed aesthetic post-conversion feels much more modern than other mid-late 90s era Farcus-designed ships.

We were fortunate enough to be able to book one of the rare L-shaped balcony cabins near the aft of the ship. I believe there are only 12 of these on the ship. They wrap around a crew stairwell, which results in an odd shape, but with a balcony that is roughly twice the length of a standard balcony, while still being available at a standard balcony price. The room shares a strange little entryway area with the coveted "aft wrap" balcony cabins that are much more expensive. There is a door to this secret entryway that can be closed and locked; accessible only with a sail & sign card, however it was propped open for the duration of our cruise, posing only a minor obstacle as we turned the corner to enter our room. We never experienced any noise from the crew stairwell, and my only complaint with the shape of the room is that the bathroom door is right next to the bed, and the door opens in rather than out as it does in most cabins. Here is our little private entryway, which can be closed off from the main hallway by another door with window. Two cabins share this entryway, with ours being the one on the left. Here is a quick video tour of the L-shaped cabin. Snapchat-1542536689.mp4

After lunch, we took the opportunity to explore the upper decks for a bit, killing time before rooms were ready at 1:30. View up toward the Serenity Deck area, which actually spans three decks, and features a waterfall pool with an adults-only hot tub at the top of the waterfall. Across the river, we could see the U.S.S. Yorktown carrier museum at Patriot's Point, as well as two of the Civil War era forts at the mouth of the harbor. The lighting wasn't great for photography, but the last photo is Fort Sumter, which can be visited by ferry.