rhinomike

We always book connecting cabins. But I would not do it online. Call Carnival and book it direct. Much easier and the website is not always 100% accurate when it comes to connecting cabins.

I have a little different view of the future of this port. The article shows nine ports that are within the same range of the West coast cruises that travel to Mazatlan. That means fuel economy for the cruise lines. They would also escape the environmental burdens that are placed on them by California restrictions.

 

I have made the Sea of Cortez cruise on HAL twice and would do this one in a heartbeat.

 

Rocky Point is a small town and shouldn't be very attractive to the drug thugs that are causing problems in some parts of Mexico. At any rate, the two furthest ports are Mazatlan and Cabo, and the cruise ships have recently started calling at Mazatlan after a two year hiatus.

Sorry. But there is drug violence in Puerto Penasco too. We go there every year for a week. But rethinking it now.

http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/national/4-dead-in-shootout-in-Rocky-Point-resort

Nope.

The Sunshine does not have a sushi station. The Bonsai Sushi is a resteraunt that only serves sushi. There is an additional fee.

We decided on Barcelona to Venice. We are going in June. Honestly I can't remember why we chose to leave from Barcelona but we did months of research before deciding.

We will be spending a whole month in Europe. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Grand Cayman lines was horrible on the cruise we went on out of NO also. Over an hour in line in the narror hallway. Very, very hot! Not the Sunshine. There was no diamond, priorarty or other off first, only Carnival excursions.

Yes. I am going to try to avoid ports that tender in the future.

99.99999% of the people with that letter do not ever need to show it so I am not sure what experience you might have.

 

someone with a 5 year old will probably not need to show the letter but that does not mean its not needed and might be requested

 

you can 'geeze' all you want. its carnivals rules. its on the website so there is no excuse if they decide to enforce it.

Remember. There are two sets of rules. Carnivals and customs. We were asked for our notarized letter from customs 1 time out of about 10 times traveling with my kids friends under 18.

It does happen. Carnival may not require it but US Customs does require it. They may not always ask for it but if they do you better have it. The agent told us if we didnt have it we could expect to be detained for at least 8 hours and possibly a fine.

If you travel with any minor that is not your child US Customs requires the notarized letter. I highly recommend having it.

Highlight of our trip. We were just there a few days ago. Loved it. We used Courtney Taylor tours.

Tip.... Bring water shoes.

Since the 18 year old is not your child.... They must be in a room connecting to your room. Or you must list you in one room and your significant other in the other room.... Once onboard you can change back to your spouses room. Nobody checks or even cares once onboard.

The few doors away only applies of they are your kids.

On yeah. 2 other issues.

Since we were late getting to Grand Cayman they decided to let passengers with excursions booked through Carnival get off the ship first. Even before Diamond, Platinum and FTTF. Lines and lines of passengers. After fighting with a supervisor we finally got escorted off. But it took us an hour. It was horrible. Lots of upset Platinum, Diamond and FTTF passengers. So much for priority tendering.

Also in Cozumel it took us an hour to board the ship. They had about 6 Carnival employees out there. Some trying to entertain but most just standing around. They should of done some line control or organization. Many, many passengers just wandered to the front of the line and cut in.... Nobody did anything about it. Not very fair to those of us standing in line. It was a mess.

I was just on the Sunshine and we were in Grand Cayman a few days ago. Getting off was horrible. Took us an hour and we are platinium. Getting back on was not bad.

I think all of the questions have been answered. If not let me know. I will do my best to answer them honestly.

Thanks for the review, we will be on her in April for the repositioning cruise to Port Canaveral and was wondering if the sunshine offered Luggage Express. Thanks in advance and have a great cruise.

No it did not. But we sailed out of New Orleans. I believe luggage express is based on ports not ships.

Oh sorry! I forgot. What nights are formal?

Cozumel day is the first elegant night 3rd day of cruise). The 2nd elegant night was the 2nd sea day. The day after Jamaica (6th day of cruise).

I board her in less than 2 weeks!

 

I'm wondering about the ship's time vs island times. Could you let me know if the ship stays on the same time all week and what the time difference is between the ships time and cozumel?

The ship time never changes. It stays the same as New Orleans. Central time. Cozumel and Grand Caymen are the same. Jamaica is 1 hour later. Eastern time.

Pleased to hear the small buckets have gone, but I take it the big bucket is still there:D (waterpark).

 

We were on the Sunshine in July and really enjoyed our cruise. My only main issue was how slow the service was in the dinning room and Luke warm/cold food. Hopefully that is resolved now too.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

Service in the MDR was fine. Food was not hot just warm.... Just like every other Carnival ship I have been on..... Well any ship I have been on. It is never pipping hot in the MDR. But warm enough. We enjoyed the MDR every night for dinner and twice for Brunch.

Our cruise is over. We are on the plane heading back to California. Sorry I didn't post much. Lots of family time.

Overall I like the Sunshine. Never saw a bucket. Not once and we were all over the ship. No list. Beautiful ship. Mostly new. The cabins are great. The bathrooms seem brand new. Crew is good. Comparible with any other Carnival ship crew. As a whole I feel Carnival Service has gone down hill since gratuities were added to your sail and sign card several years ago. But that's just my 2 cents. Not trying to start a debate.

Here are a few cons. Not cons of the ship. I believe these are issues with Carnival as a whole.... We were happy with the ship.

We left Cozumel 20 minutes late. No big deal. When we left there was still 4 ships in Port. The next day we are told we will arrive in Grand Caymen 1 hour late due to head winds. Ok. When we pull into port 2 of the ships we left in Cozumel were already anchored. Did they not have head winds? I felt like we were lied to for some reason. Not sure. It kind of messed up our private excursion to Sting Ray City. No big deal. Things happen. But be honest with us.

The issue with the water slides as I stated earlier. The 3rd sea day we had rough seas. But the slides were open. WTH? Not sure what went on there.

The rope course is only open a few hours a day on Sea Days. There is always a long line. Why not keep it open all day if it is a popular attraction?

Not very many activities. We had 3 sea days and we got bored. We are not lay around the pool all day people. The only thing to do is Trivia and plenty of Bingo.

My biggest complaint... One night the playlist show was cancelled do to rough seas. Ok. I understand that. No problem. But what did they replace the show with........ BINGO! Really??? After 6 rounds of Bingo I have had enough. That Bingo must be a big money maker for Carnival. They could of come up with something else to entertain us.

Another issue... We had a few issues that I took up with Guest Services. Their attitude is too bad. This is the way it is.... Not at all impressed with their effort to resolve my issues.

Over all I loved the Sunshine. But as far as Carnival as a whole I am a little disappointed. For my family we are going to start exploring other lines. We love the 4 day cruise out of Long Beach. We will continue to do that cruise with Carnival. But for our longer cruises we are going to try some other lines.

I am not good at reviews. So if you have any questions about the ship ask away. I am going to go back threw the thread and answer questions now.

If you are thinking about booking the Sunshine or have already booked and are worried about buckets, list or anything else you have read..... Don't worry. It is not an issue. Coming from a regular honest person. The ship is fine. You will not have any issues with the ship.

Our 2nd sea day. The water slides were closed the first sea day. Now again today. I complained to a supervisor. They said it is due to rough seas????? Really. I have been on around 35 cruises. This is perfectly smooth. Never had that happen before.

There has been a few instances where I feel Carnival has lied to us. I will explain more when I return.

Right now I am sitting at the very back of the ship. In the Havana Bar. All alone. Looking out the window. The only thing I can see is the NCL Jewel or Jade (can't remember which one). She is running along our side about a mile out.

When you get back, can you let me know about what time you lose cell phone service going down the river?

 

Thanks!

I think we lost reception about 6 hours down the river. I bought the Internet package. I am an early riser and I play on my iPad while everyone else sleeps in...

I am not much of a review writer. But if anyone has questions.... Ask away. I will give you honest answers based on facts.

I think 5 guys is a little greasy.

But the Guys burgers I have had on several different hips are not too greasy.

Probably greasy to some healthy person that lives on salad. Nothing wrong with that. That is my wife.

But I'm on vacation and I'm having a burger. I even order a double.

Kids love the rope area. Pool tables, foosball, shuffle board, basketball. Fun area for my 4 teenage sons. They played while we enjoyed sailing down the Mississippi.

Where's the other half! :eek:

Lol. I'm a big guy. That was only one bite. I couldn't wait to take the pic. I had to have a bite.

yayy! Good to hear. What deck is your cabin? Looking forward to more feeback. Have a good time!

Normally we just get a cheap inside cabin. We are never in our room. But in order to get 2 connecting cabins we had to get ocean view. We are on deck 2.

That's great! I like an objective review and really want one since we will be on the Sunshine in May!

Looking forward to your report!

Have a great cruise!

 

 

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No list at all. And I don't even drink. Lol.

In fact there was water on the deck near the water slides and my wife commented as to why it is puddled up and not running off the deck. I thought to myself "so much for the reported list".