k2excursion

That picture provided earlier should be exactly how your room is set up. Carnival rooms tend to stay true to that setup for quad balcony or OV rooms, except on their small ships. That upper bunk & sofabed are pretty much the exact same size as the standard twin beds, so they are fine for a full-grown adult.

I would also prefer to not be on deck 6, because there are many noisy spots on deck 5. The rooms above the noisy spots tend to be the last rooms picked, so you could get assigned one of those. But you never know. Plenty of people end up with good assignments. I am just one that would prefer to pick my own spot.

Sunshine is one of the older ships in the fleet. The older ships don't have fridges in every room. It wasn't until Conquest & Spirit class that we started having fridges in every room. Sunshine (formerly Destiny) is older than those ships. Previous poster is correct that you should be able to get a fridge through special needs.

Regarding sofa lengths, it's true that this ship uses shorter sofas for some of the rooms. This is a unique aspect of Sunshine, Triumph, & Victory. However, those shorter sofas are never meant to also be a bed. I'm guessing that you have 8328 booked, since I'm seeing something on a website saying that it has a single sofa bed for a 3rd person, so that sofa should be the normal long one. cruiselinerooms dot com shows 1 picture of the sofa tucked away around the corner, but it's not a good enough pic to tell for sure if it's the long one or not. It looks like the long one to me. I would want to stick with that, because the aft wraps are very nice!

This ship is in a class by itself. When they changed it from the Destiny to the Sunshine, a lot of changes were made. Many things got eliminated on the ship, to make room for more staterooms, more bars, different food stations, a big serenity area, a ropes course, & new waterslides. Some of the eliminations include a much smaller theater, but the shows aren't that great, as well as the shrinking of other nighttime venues. Also, only 1 real pool, as the serenity "pool" is very tiny. There are plenty of claims that the ship is very crowded, with all the added staterooms, but many people have said that it didn't seem any worse than other ships. Learn which places tend to get crowded & when, then avoid those spots at those times.

We were on it last week.

 

1) The packs of children are super annoying. Mine are 9, 7 and 5, and while I know we are conservative, I was amazed at the number of 9-11 year olds running around the ship (literally RUNNING) with no adult supervision. WTH. I don't even let my daughter wait at the bus stop by herself, let alone run around a ship full of drunk strangers.

 

2) The food was way better on our March 2016 trip than it was in April of 2014. Steaks were moist and juicy, food was the proper temperature. Obviously in the last 2 years there has been a change in management for the better. The hummus has vastly improved at Tandoor. Yum!!!

 

3) Entertainment was way way way better than 2014 in terms of talent. Singers were good, dancers were good, and the band was excellent. I'm a music teacher, and in 2014, we walked out of the shows most nights. It is much better now.

 

4) Steakhouse--I was underwhelmed with the steakhouse this trip. We've eaten there before and had the wow factor. It was OK, but not $70 plus a tip amazing. We won't do it again. There were several families in there with kids being kids, and I can have slow service with loud kids in the dining room for free.

 

5) Bottomless Bubbles--the bar tenders take FOREVER to get you sodas. I swear they wait on every alcohol customer first. From the time I would get to the bar to the time I would leave having signed my slip (which is stupid since I have the sticker on my card to make me have to sign a ticket) could be 15-20 minutes. My drink was always long gone before I got the ticket to sign it. In the dining room, I was lucky if I got two cups of Coke a night. The waiter came around at the beginning and never checks back unless you flag someone down. Very annoying. I for sure did not get my money's worth out of the Bubbles program.

 

6) Comedy Club--fantastic. Loved it. Wish it was bigger because some shows we couldn't get a seat when we showed up 10 minutes before showtime. I would love if they would host Punchliners in the main theater instead.

 

7) Room steward--only saw him 3 times the whole cruise. Never saw the paper picking what I wanted. Finally left him a note to get robes and more than 2 bath towels. They should at least leave 3 in there--a girl needs a hair towel and a body towel! Was not overly impressed--we've had some great ones before and this one didn't even come introduce himself at all on embarkation day. We didn't see him til the evening of the first sea day.

 

8) Sharks and Rays Snorkel/Caye Caulker excursion through Carnival in Belize--AMAZING. Caye Caulker was so cool! Will definitely do this one again.

(3) The Dream is one of the few remaining Carnival ships that has held onto the good entertainment, and Dream is the best of all of them. I'm glad that you enjoyed this aspect of the Dream, as I always have, but this is definitely not the standard for Carnival ships.

(6) The Dream's comedy club is too small, but if you sail the Magic or Breeze (sister ships), theirs is even smaller than Dream's.

(7) My parents just sailed the Magic, and they had the same thing. Only 2 towels were provided, so they requested to have 3. I guess it's the standard now to only provide 1 per person unless you ask for more.

Thanks for your review. I will say that I have been on the Dream twice and never had an issue with a lot of movement. For whatever reason there must have been big swells. That can happen even without bad weather.

I haven't had much movement either in 3 sailings aboard the Dream. On my first sailing, we had some rough waters, and the ship seemed to handle it very well. I was actually quite impressed in how stable the Dream seemed. It could have been a fluky thing on this sailing. Perhaps the waters of the Gulf have been especially rough this month. Some other reports lead me to think that this is the case. And it's true what you said. The only time I have ever gotten motion sickness was on board the smallest ship I've been on, the Holiday, and there was no bad weather at all when the ship was rocking horribly.

I have been hearing scattered reports of the AC issue on the Dream and other Carnival ships. They really should get a better hold on that, and they need to stop telling people that 74 or 76 is good enough. It would be for me, but not for many people. My last time on Dream was in the forward of deck 1 in a deluxe OV room, and it was so terribly cold. We had to turn down the AC, as I thought icicles were about to form. So that would be a good spot for those that like it cold.

You do miss some things by doing late dining. You will see the main shows. They will either do your show after dinner or before, so check the schedule carefully. The "late" show might be at 7:00. The family comedy shows, which is all I care for, are usually taking place during late dining. Dance classes or other games that might be going on at night are usually during late dining. I have only had 1 cruise with Hasbro, and one night, it was at 7:30. One time seeing that was enough.

For us, it's always been left as a bed the whole time, which is fine with us. That's what we prefer. But as others have said, you can request whatever you want.

Only on my 1st 2 cruises did the extra beds (the uppers) get put away by day, which was annoying for us 3rd/4th persons, as we had nowhere to even sit during the day.

I agree with the previous poster. If all 3 rooms have 2 people in them each, and 1 person of the 6 needs to cancel, then you should put the remaining person in one of the other rooms, which would then require moving to a room that can sleep 3 people. The reason for that is that a solo has to pay 2 cruise fares. The same price as 2 people, minus taxes for 1. This would be in addition to any penalties paid for the cancelled person. It would actually be cheaper to not cancel the person & only have the 1 person show up for the cruise. But if you move that remaining person to one of the other rooms, then the only money you're out (before final payment) is the $50 penalty, and the remaining deposit held for a future cruise. My friends actually did this exact thing. One person cancelled, so they combined 2 ES bookings into one, putting everyone in the same room. And there was no penalty for doing that, only the penalty for the person who was cancelled. If you have to cancel the person after final payment, standard penalties apply, the lowest of which is the entire deposit. I'm not sure if you could combine 2 bookings into 1 after final payment. My friends did it before final payment.

You can upgrade with ES, paying whatever the difference in price is, if there is any, but no penalty. You can also change rooms to another within the same category. Downgrading is not allowed, not even for a fee.

Okay, maybe I will just post on the Cozumel port of call board for suggestions on what might be appropriate for just a few hours. I can't imagine booking a tour to chichen itza or Tulum leaving after noon even if they would let us.

For just a few hours of something to do, go to one of the beach clubs. There are tons of options. Paradise Beach is great for a pay-as-you-go option, and they have a lot of fun water toys for the kids & active adults. Mr Sanchos has some of those fun options, in addition to an optional all-inclusive food/drink deal. Nachi Cocum is great for couples looking for something more peaceful & quiet, as they limit how many can go there, and it includes a lunch & drinks. Just keep in mind that these beach clubs will close at a certain time, so Paradise Beach might be your best bet, so you don't waste money on an all-inclusive deal that you only utilize for 2-3 hours. Paradise Beach tends to be busy, but with that arrival time, you'll see plenty of people leaving from there shortly after you arrive.

If your sailing does offer a Carnival-based excursion to Tulum or Chichen Itza (they probably won't with that arrival time), but if they do, they will take care of you. You won't be left behind.

2 elegant nights. Night 2 is pretty much a guarantee for the 1st one. Since day 6 is a sea day for you, that will most likely be the 2nd one.

It does vary from sailing to sailing. If all goes according to plan, the ship could actually be docked shortly after 6am, and self-assist could begin before 7am. I have had that happen before. On all my cruises, it seems like self-assist has always began before 8am. In fact, as platinum, they send a letter the day before stating when platinum self-assist will begin. And on my cruises, regular self-assist always begins before that stated time for platinum. However, there could always be delays.

Actually quite interesting:

 

Who is making better profit?

 

Carnival at $700ish pp on aging, but long ago paid off ships

Or

RCI at more than double that on state of the art, but likely debt laden ships?

 

Two totally different strategies, and I really wonder which one is better business.

Excellent point! I think that's what it really comes down to. Different strategies. Both can work, but I don't know which one is better. One might end up prevailing in the long run, or they may both be quite successful.

I don't necessarily see Carnival being slower to build new ships as them not keeping up. I just see it as a different strategy. Carnival's significant cutbacks/changes have bothered me, causing me to cutback on cruising, but again, it's just a strategy. Time will tell if it works for the long run. It seems to be working in the short run.

Carnival packing people onto smaller ships (worse space-to-guest ratios) is simply another strategy. It's pretty clear that they have never had much intent to decrease the crowds on their ships by comparison to other cruiselines. I sometimes do feel the crowding, but I have experienced far worse on land based vacations.

Is this a Carnival-based excursion? If so, you won't have anything to worry about. They will get you onto a tender very quickly & get you on your tour in time.

If this isn't a Carnival-based excursion, then that complicates things. Where is your cruise leaving from? Galveston? Miami? What time of year? The reason I ask those things is because of possible differences in what time it is. Ship time will be 7:00 arrival, but depending on these factors (time zones & daylight savings issues), it could possibly be 6:00 or 8:00 island time when you arrive. Many independent tour companies in Grand Cayman do not adjust their starting time to match your ship time when there is a difference. Some do, but not all. It's best to verify this ahead of time, rather than just assuming that they do.

If it is indeed 1 hour that you have to reach your non-Carnival tour meeting spot, you will most likely be just fine. Grand Cayman's tender ride is very short, and they are really good at getting people off the ship quickly. We weren't platinum/no FTTF & had a non-Carnival tour, and we still were off the ship and at our meeting spot in well under an hour.

I definitely would go for it! It looks like fun. The waterpark in my hometown is supposed to have one of these ready to go this coming summer, although they haven't even started yet.

Any card will do.

This post was in response to needing to put your card into a slot in order to keep the lights on in your stateroom. Yes, any card will work in there. Bring an old gift card. Or, even folded up paper will work. We tore off part of the Fun Times, folded it, and used it for the slot. But if we left it in there when the stewards would be coming by, they would throw it away. So the last one out would put it in the drawer.

Some people may wonder why we wouldn't just use the S&S card. It's because we didn't all do everything all at the exact same times. When you're leaving someone else in the room & you take your card with you, the lights go out on them. Many people have had the lights go out on them while showering because of this, and their roommate didn't know (and is long gone) because it takes about 30 seconds for the lights to go out. Or, someone waking up must find their S&S card in the dark in order to get any light.

Entertainment is never the reason to sail Carnival. No real surprise it was the biggest disappointment.

What you said is definitely true...now. It didn't used to be that way with Carnival. They used to have good entertainment that was very enjoyable. Dream still does, as does a few other ships. And the new style of entertainment is still enjoyable for some people, and they do look forward to it on their cruises.

Like I said, if we send someone's expectations through the roof, we're setting them up for disappointment, not just in regards to entertainment, but with everything. If we present a balanced report, that will be better for them & their overall experience.

At this point, the best piece of advice I can give you is to not set your expectations so immensely high, as this thread might have already done. When expectations go through the roof, you are likely to be disappointed, which is what happened to me with the Breeze, although it was only disappointing in a few ways. Before Breeze, I sailed Dream, hearing terrible things about it beforehand, and Dream became my very favorite ship of all, by a mile. And it still is, even after sailing Breeze. So many things were done wrong on the Breeze by comparison, but she is still a great ship.

The waterpark & ropes course are great. I enjoyed the 3D theater. Plenty of great food options by day, but be aware that many things shut down early, so later on in the evenings, it's pizza only. I also loved the free pasta bar for lunch, and people who pay for the dinner there seem to really like that as well. The lanai BBQ wasn't that great, didn't try the hot dogs, great burritos for both breakfast & lunch at the Cantina, good Girls burgers. Don't expect good theater shows. That was the main disappointment. No live music for the shows, half the performers, only 30 minutes, animation instead of props.

Don't worry, I'm trying to delete my membership on this board; Ive been accused of so many things, even faking who I am and being a troll; some posts to me were from your old timers and were even considered rude by YOUR own moderators and removed! No time in my life to stick around here and be insulted people who dont even know me, and who have no sense of Humor (and who said Carnival was supposed the be the FUN SHIP !) I still wish y'all the best and many happy cruise ship tablecloths to come !

I understand how you feel, & I'm sorry that this all happened to you. I also hope that you stick around. There are plenty of people here that do support you, myself included. It's unfortunate that the negativity & attacks has grown so much lately, but there's still plenty of good around here. Your input & contributions can help make these boards better. But either way, I wish you all the best in your future travels.

I can see where you are coming from. When I responded to HelloKitty I did not mention elevators, also I do realize that your post is to her and not me. I like Lido as to get to the room easily, without having to use an elevator. As my hands are always full. Other decks we go to, we take the stairs, to try to work off some of that food we are just walking steps to pick up, from our balcony room.:eek:

True. And also, if you want a balcony, only Dream class & Vista have balconies on deck 2. I'm happy with interiors/portholes/OVs. I stayed on deck 7 on the Valor, and basically used the stairs for everything, except for getting off/on the ship. I enjoyed that spot too. 1-2 flights of stairs feels like nothing to me.

It's a 7 day cruise. Night 2 we are at sea. Night 5 is San Juan Puerto Rico and we leave port 4pm and it's my birthday, so kinda hoping to get all fancy smancy!!! :D

If Night 6 is a sea day, they'll probably use that for the 2nd elegant night. That has been my experience with 7-day cruises when Day 6 is a sea day. But if Day 6 is also a port day, leaving after 4pm, then Night 5 might be your birthday elegant night. My mom had her birthday on elegant night several years ago. Even if it isn't, get all dressed up anyway.:) You'll draw a lot of attention. Happy Birthday, & have a great cruise!

I am with you on a lot of things ! I also am mostly confined as well by school vacations, in which the prices nearly double ! I also love the Lido as it cuts down on all the "elevator time." I also have been only cruising from Galveston. I can usually get there in 5 hours. Right now RCI has a 30% sale that makes the pricing very competitive. I guess you just have to look around for sales. I really hate that everything gets so expensive when kids are out of school. As far as Disney, everything I wouldconsider STARTS @ 1500.00, and that's for ONE PERSON !

Since you mentioned the elevator time issue, I'll propose some food for thought, not that I insist that you change your mind to my way of thinking. I totally love staying down on the low decks, because of cutting down on overall elevator time. The question would be: when you stay on lido deck, when do you need elevators? For going to/from the dining room, going to/from entertainment, getting off/on the ship when in port, & debarkation. Provided, of course, that you do those things. Those are the times that the elevators are totally slammed, and you might have very long waits when coming from/going to the lido deck. Meanwhile, people like me who are staying on deck 2 just take 1-2 flights of stairs, and we're where we want to be in seconds. For me, to get to lido deck, I do indeed take the elevators. However, there is hardly ever any wait for elevators at those times, because the crowds are very scattered for going to & coming from the lido deck when deck 2 people need them. I only need elevators from about 8am-5pm (sea days), & maybe after 10pm. Never much wait at those times. I should mention that I'm not needing to go back & forth to my room 30 times during that 8-5 timeframe. I go back 1 or 2 times during that time.

Again, just food for thought. I despise spending tons of time on elevators, which is the exact reason that I totally love deck 2. I have stayed up around lido deck twice before, & deck 1 or 2 seven times (including my last 4), so I have had experience with both. I found that the convenience of being up high wasn't as good as the convenience of deck 2. Just simply my opinion, not shared by all. (One more note about deck 2--I never stay below the noisy galley/kitchen; below the dining room is perfect.)

Night 2 is almost always an elegant night, whether that is a port day or a sea day.

The 2nd elegant night on a 7-day cruise will be either night 5 or night 6. If one of those 2 is a port day & the other is a sea day, then elegant night will most likely be on the sea day. If they are both port days, then it's hard to say. They usually will then go with whichever day is leaving port the earliest, but that's not a guarantee. If your cruise is longer than 7 days, that will complicate things more.

There was a mexican midnight buffet on our last 7 day Sunshine after we left the port of Cozumel on day 6. There was also a deck party that night.

Was that the full Mexican buffet, served in the regular buffet line, or just a couple things, such as chips & dip? I have taken one cruise on a ship with the Blue Iguana cantina (which Sunshine also has), and because of the cantina, they were not allowed to serve the Mexican buffet. The cantina had exclusive rights to Mexican food, but since it's closed during the evening times, the only thing we had that night was chips & dip, on the stand right by the cantina. For me, that doesn't count as a Mexican buffet, nor did it satisfy the hunger for all of us that were dancing at the deck party. Pizza station was slammed. It would be great if they got rid of that silly rule about the stands having exclusive rights.

Magic & Breeze have the regular on/off switch, but to keep the lights on, you must insert a card (or folded paper) into the slot. I wouldn't think that Sunshine had these, except maybe where they added staterooms in the renovation. (They could have added the slots to the old rooms, and maybe I just haven't heard about it.) Thankfully, Dream does not have this terribly annoying feature!

It's highly unlikely to find someone who has been in your exact room. But, I can tell you that 1329 is a basic deluxe oceanview room. If you can find pics of any deluxe OV rooms out there, that's what yours will look like. Perhaps with the beds oriented the other direction. That room does have a connecting door to 1325. So 1329 will have the bed & sofa on the right side of the room as you enter.

First off, love this! LMAO! Second, disregard the cheerleaders and the blame they like to push onto the OPs here. I agree, this is suppose to be a forum to post your thoughts, observations and opinions. Those of us that accept that everyone has flaws including Carnival will continue to support each other.

Agreed! OP, I also enjoyed the sarcasm in your apologies. The dead bolt & the do not disturb sign can be brought up as a suggestion for future reference, but it shouldn't be used as a way of blaming you for what happened. That's just rude. Although, in an open public forum like this, people have equal right to be rude & mean. It just doesn't reflect very well on Carnival passengers in general. Most Carnival passengers are not like that, but onlookers & prospects might think that we are, causing them to feel that they should never take a Carnival cruise. I often wonder if those that are referred to as Carnival cheerleaders are actually trying to hurt Carnival.

I hope that people can understand that a "mile long" line at customer service is obviously an exaggeration. At least, it should be obvious. I know that some people dislike exaggerations, but pretending to take it literally doesn't accomplish anything. Also, I also wasn't aware that platinum had their own special line at customer service until I was told about it.

Thanks everyone for all the great answers, and the pics were a huge help.

I was looking at cabin # 2293, does anyone know what is above that cabin?

If galley is above, what is a good cabin number? I don't especially like being too far at the bow, and much prefer midship.

2293 is below a seating area in the lobby. I have not seen any complaints from people that have stayed below the the lobby, even though there is some light music that plays in the atrium in the evenings. Maybe the noise gets blocked out.

Deck plans are not to scale from deck 2 to deck 3, so it's hard to say exactly where the dining room begins, which is very good to be under. I would guess about 2288 or 2315 are the start of the dining room extensions. 2334/2361 are right at the edge of the galley, but still under the dining room, and those are the most midship rooms you can get while still not being under the galley. I would probably go a few rooms up from that just to be totally sure.