izzypooch

I was ready to buy Voom package online because website says 20 percent discount from buying during cruise but I am Diamond which I believe means I would have $29 something off coupon on my card. Does anyone know if you have to chose one or the other or can I still buy online and get credit applied once I get on board?

Also when it says one device that means one device at a time right?

Does anyone know if there might be designated handicap parking spots in the main parking lot across the street from the terminal?

Well that's sort of what I figured -- one 2-devise package...but it's the wording that is confusing. To me, "16.79 adult per day" means 16.79 per person per day. Go figure.

I am going to purchase the 30% discounted pre-cruise package BUT I'm not clear which package I need to get. I want unlimited for myself and my husband. We will both be using our own phones or ipads - sometimes simultaneously. So is it the Voom Surf voyage - 1 device at 9.09 adult per day (i assume that means per person) and then select both of us as guests? If so, then what is the Voom surf package -2 devices at 16.79 adult per day?

Last time we were on Oasis it was $10 which took us by surprise., we aren't big time gamblers; $5 3-card and roulette is about as rich as I feel comfortable with. Someone said we had just been on a special cruise for high rollers. So has anyone been in the casino recently? If so, what was the table limits? I'm so hoping on my Sept 3rd cruise it will be $5.

For anyone who has done a B2B on the Oasis recently, was wondering if you got a free lunch at Giovanni's. We received this on the Allure last year and it was a nice treat.

Do you remember what day they offered the small laundry bag special?

For anyone who has recently purchased Voom internet on Oasis, could you advise was it $15 per day for single device or $20? Website says $15 but Several days ago I got an email urging me to pre-purchase at $20!

Also, I'm assuming that means one device at a time? In other words I can logout on my iPad and then let husband login on his phone?

Thanks!

Does anyone have a current list of discounts loaded on seapass card per level. i'm particularly interest in internet for diamond level.

OP again with update on my update. Tonight I turned off my phone and turned it back on and the chat feature worked including with all parties on board that also have signed up for chat. Yeah! Glad I tried that.

I am the OP so here's my update and clarification for how to use the hub app. Download it from the android play store or iPhone app store before you board. It is free unless you want chat feature which is one time fee of $5. You don't need to purchase internet package. Instructions are clear as to how to set it up. Just put phone in airplane mode, then connect to ship wifi.

Sunshine update: we could purchase the chat feature for free because it explained still bata (in other words still tweaking). Well it is great for showing activities, open times of food venues, checking onboard account, etc. first couple days was loving that husband and I (in same room) could chat. We never could connect with others we knew on board. Then about third day, the entire chat feature was down and still is down. Bummer. But i'm sure if they have it working on Breeze it will eventually be working correctly on Sunshine..

Also the internet packages are well worth the price too in my opinion. I paid $60 for around-the-clock wifi. And you can use the same account for as many devices as you want. You just have to have only one logged on at a time. I am checking email, reading news, taking my time on Facebook, even playing a few games of Candy Crush- just like at home.

I am currently on Sunshine. My husband and I and 2 other couples downloaded the app before boarding and logged in as soon as we got on board. We signed up for chat -- which was free, surprise, because it is still bata. This is apparently only second cruise in use. Well it is great as far as maps, what's going on around ship etc, but unfortunately we couldn't get the chat function working between couples. Hubby and I could. i suppose cause we are same room?

Anyway just wanted to let others know is is an awesome feature once they get kinks out and/or was anybody on Sunshine last cruise that was able to chat with others not in The same room? Maybe we're all missing something. We add the people's ID to contacts, it says it is sending invite but nothing shows up on the in invited person's phone. As I said, my husband and I were able to connect so that's great. And it's free.

We have priority boarding which I think means rooms will be ready as soon as we board (it's been a while is why I say I think). But how do you show you are priority and allowed to go through the closed doors?

Is it a one time fee of $5 or $5 a day?

I just got off the Allure and they offered various packages (with faster speeds for skping etc. but gone is the pay so much per minute option or a package that offered 60 minutes to be used as you wanted.

Now the closest thing is a plan for 1 hour (at about $19) that has to be used within a 24 hour period. So, for someone like me who used to only need an hour for an entire cruise (just on a few minutes each evening to check important emails from home) I now had to buy a 60 minute package every other day and make sure I got on line at 6 pm the first night and 5 pm the second night to be within my 24 hour timeframe. I was not a happy camper.

The only saving grace is that the speed is much faster and because hubby and I are both Diamond, we each had a discount on our cards that made those first two packages free.

Still, I wish they would have kept the old buy 60 minutes to use when you want option for people like me.

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Getting ready to sail and as always packing is my major proble. Don't want to take too much and don't want to take too little and hope everything gets there without too many wrinkles. So how exactly do you guys de-wrinkle clothes. Spray? Bathroom steam? And if steam, how exactly do I do it?

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Was wondering on which day of cruise they offer the laundry bag special. Thanks.

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Went online this afternoon and made reservations for our B2B in October/November of this year. When finished I pulled up the calendar planner which shows each day's show/activity as purchased but at the top of the page is reads: " online reservations for one or more items in your cart are unavailable at this time. Please inquire onboard for last minute availability". I got a confirmation email for each cruise which again shows what I picked date and time wise as purchased with no mention of problems.

So has this happened to anyone else? Is it a glitch in their website or do you think I don't have the reservations? Should I call somebody and if so who?

Thanks.

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was on the same sailing. There was a crying baby in the steakhouse when we were there on Tues evening. I wonder if we were there at the same time.

The call was Brightstar. I also wonder if the passenger was okay.

Yes, Tuesday evening about 7:30 or 8:00 pm.

Thanks for the catch about the medical alert. Bright Star is correct.

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How difficult is it to find a cab from Atlantis back to the ship?

Very easy. Just walk outside the main entrance and they are lined up. Most are vans that hold 8-10 people so they like to fill them before they take off and you sometimes have to wait till they get a full capacity but other than that no problem. Our rate was $4 per person each way.

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The itinerary for this cruise was first day at sea, then Key West, Nassau, and Freeport. We had visited all of these places many times so we didn’t even get off at Freeport and only got off at Key West long enough to scoot on over to Kermits and get a slice of key lime pie and some key-lime white-chocolate cookies to take home. We did grab a taxi and go over to Atlantis to play in their casino for a few hours but most of this cruise was spent on the ship.

Something new to me for a Carnival cruise was the gathering of towel animals on the lido deck one morning. What a surprise. I wish I had a picture but my cell phone was locked away in the safe so no pictures at all on this cruise. Anyway, they had all the regulars sitting all around along with several big alligators or iguanas (not sure which). It was cute.

I did hear of one little incident: met a young gal on the elevator one day who was limping pretty badly. She said she had gotten hurt coming down the water slide. She went to the infirmary and met up with a couple more people who had been hurt too. She said the slide was too fast; that it just shot you out the end like a cannon and that they had actually closed it down to try to figure out what was going on. However, I saw it was back in operation the next day.

Also they had some kind of emergency announcement on the last night about midnight. Operation starburst I think. Anybody know what that means? The next morning the cruise director made mention of it and said to keep the family in our thoughts and prayers.

So, bottom line, it was a very enjoyable cruise. The ship was really nice, updated, modern and clean. And to top it off we had perfect weather and calm sailing. I think there may be some more Sunshine in my future!

It was our first experience with anytime dinning and for us, it worked great. We knew going in we were probably going to spend most nights just doing the Marketplace buffet but I told my husband I have to have chocolate melting cake at least once so we went to the dining room the first night when we could dress more casually.

I like the way the anytime dining was set up. You went to a check-in station on promenade deck 5 to sign in and get a pager. That way you didn’t have to loiter around the entrance to the dining room, you could get a drink at a nearby bar while you waited. They even had a little tasting station right there where nibbles were set out. Nice touch. We showed up at about 7 pm and only had to wait about 15 minutes. Maybe the fact that there were just two of us helped. Don’t know. Anyway, the meal that night was very good.

Husband had a pasta with peppers and sausage that he raved about and I had the braised short ribs (pot roast) and mashed potatoes which was also yummy. The chocolate melting cake was just the way I like it – cooked enough that the outside was cake-like but still runny on the inside. I knew when they got my CMC right it was going to be good cruise!

As I mentioned before, we did go to Fahrenheit 555, the steakhouse, one night. This was sort of a new experience for us as we’re pretty casual people when we cruise and really never saw the need to pay extra to eat. But we ate in the steakhouse when we cruised the Oasis (Royal) last year and it was so good we decided to give Carnival’s a try too. Yep, Carnival’s was really, really good too.

The servers treat you like you are special. They brought out cute little complimentary starters. I had a little scooped out potato with potato soup and my husband was given a sampling of something salmon. We weren’t sure what all the garnishes were but he said it was good so that’s all that mattered. I had the filet and he had a rib eye that were both excellent. We had a caramelized apple tart for dessert that was to die for.

I liked that they spaced out the dessert from the main entrees enough that I actually had room to eat the whole thing! All in all, we were there for two hours, but it was a really nice experience and one I would do again

Oh, here’s another thing I liked about the steakhouse. There was a family sitting in back with small children and one of them started crying loudly (throwing a tantrum actually). The maitre’d was there in a flash. The father took the child out and came back in about ten minutes with everything under control. Now, I know these things happen when you have children and I’m sure the father would have done that on his own too, but I liked how the maitre’d was pro-active to insure the comfort of the rest of the patrons rather than just ignoring the situation.

Okay, all you foodies, here’s my report. The Guy’s Burgers, in all their greasy wonderfulness, were a big step up from the hamburgers Carnival used to serve on the lido deck. But I wasn’t crazy about the fries. I actually longed for the old McDonald-style fries they used to serve.

Really enjoyed the Blue Iguana place although I never even tried the burritos. I had a couple of chicken tacos for lunch that pleased my tummy in a big way.

We ate at Cucina del Capitano for lunch one day which was a nice Italian fix.

The rest of the time, except for the first night when we did anytime dining, and one night when we ate in the steakhouse, we just visited the Marketplace buffet. What can I say? It’s typical cruise-ship buffet food. Some things were really good. Some things were so bad I took one bite and pushed it aside. Most stuff was just fine. Oh, we had pizza one late night too and I wasn’t impressed. But, hey, as everyone on here is always saying, food is very subjective. All in all, I’d give the Sunshine’s food offerings a B+.

Here’s tip #1, if the seating spaces are crowded in the main dining area, go on back to where the two specialty restaurants – JiJi’s Asian Kitchen and Cucina del Capitano -- are and sit there. It was always less crowded and it’s convenient because there is a beverage station back there and you can get your sodas or drinks at the Havana Bar. In the mornings, that’s where the omelet lines are.

Here’s tip #2, when you are back there be sure to walk to the side of the bar and check out the Cuban inspired tidbits they have to eat. In the morning they had a sausage and plantain quiche and some really yummy guava-filled puff pastry goodies. One lunch day they had mini pressed Cuban sandwiches and fried pork pies and little mocha cupcakes with tiny tubes of coffee inserted in the frosting that you squirted on top for an extra jolt. You don't see those every day!

We spent every night in the casino and popped in and out on the one sea day too. We both had coupons for some casino play chips. I wondered if we would have a problem since the actual rate we paid wasn’t the casino rate but when we took our coupons to the casino cage on the first night they had our names on their list, no problem.

The play chips work like this. You can’t cash them in for money; you have to play them on the table games. If you make a $5 bet and win, the dealer pays you your winnings AND replaces the play chip with a real chip. If you lose, well, naturally you lose the play chip.

I actually got real lucky by being an airhead. I play roulette a lot and usually play the inside numbers, putting a $1 color chip on various numbers. So I walk up and put five of the $5 chips out on my “regular” numbers. As the wheel is spinning and the dealer has already called “no more bets” I realized I had just bet $25 instead of $5. Yikes. But one of my numbers actually hit so I was generously rewarded for my stupidity!

I’d say the casino was about standard size: 1 crap table, 2 roulette tables, 2 3-card poker tables, various black-jack and other tables and a couple of video texas hold-em tables. Mostly penny slots with a pretty good variety. Half of the casino is smoke free but you know how that goes. It helps a little, but it’s still a very smoky place.

With every cruise I connect with some dealers more than others so by the end of this cruise I had three or four dealers who were my favorites but they all were friendly and fun.

One thing I liked about the casino was that the dealers took your sail and sign card to monitor your play every time. They practically insisted even if you were only buying in for $20. They swiped the card right there. You didn’t have to wait for the pit boss to take it and bring it back. I have no idea how they track players. But at least it seemed like they were giving me credit for every $1 I used to buy chips.

The casino got pretty crowded in the evenings, especially if you like certain slot machines or certain tables. Sometimes you had to just keep milling around until a spot opened up and you could jump in. I'd rather it be that way, though, than being the only one at a table. Playing at a table with fun people and a fun dealer really enhance the losing experience. LOL.

Now, remember, this review isn’t a complete review of all the Sunshine has by any stretch. There were a lot of activities we didn’t do and some places we never even saw despite its size. We basically booked this cruise to eat, gamble and relax and that’s what we did.

I did check out the Serenity area which is located forward on three levels. There are plenty of loungers plus a few hammocks, some double-wide loungers beneath clam-shell covers and a few umbrella-covered loungers/chairs. There are two hot tubs and a small pool with a waterfalls and two bars. There are tables and chairs close to the bars.

I’ve read a few complaints that because the Serenity area is so close to the outdoor theater screen, which is constantly showing movies or concerts or just blaring music, that there is little serenity. But I didn’t find it too much of a problem. I just meandered to the forward-most part of the ship to get a little bit farther away from the music. Now, I spent time there on port days when it undoubtedly wasn’t as crowded but I never had a problem finding a good spot.