krispi

We were on the Sunshine in September with early seating for a party of 9. We had a long, rectangular table by the window in the mid-ship dining room (the 1 story one, not the 2 story one in the rear). I don't recall seeing any large round tables in that room.

We took our 3 year old on the Sunshine last September, and she loved it! This was also my first cruise that wasn't on Royal Caribbean (and first cruise with a kid), but my previous cruises were on Majesty of the Seas in 2008 and Navigator of the Seas in 2011, so I know Royal has made big changes since then. Our daughter's favorite part of the ship was the Waterworks area. She loved the water slides for little kids. The main pool and Serenity pool did seem pretty crowded on sea days, but there was plenty of space for her to play at Waterworks. There's also a playground near the Waterworks area that the kids club uses sometimes, or you can use on your own when it's not in use by the club. We did take our daughter to the kids club a couple of evenings after dinner so we could try to enjoy some of the entertainment on board the ship. She loves being with mommy and daddy, so it was hit or miss whether she wanted to stay, but my niece and nephew spent a lot of time there, and they seemed to do great with the kids.

I enjoyed the variety of entertainment that Carnival has in the evenings. We could go to a comedy show, go to the piano bar, or sit in the Ocean Plaza and listen to live music. The main show times were hard to catch between dinner ending and the kids club hours, so we didn't really get to see much of those. The comedians that we saw were good, though.

I also enjoyed the variety of lunch options. Beside the buffet, there were Guy's burgers and Blue Iguana by the pool and the pasta and wok stations by the buffet. The wok line was always long, so I didn't get to try that. But it was very convenient to get a burger and a drink by the pool and get back to where my daughter was playing. We ate dinner as an extended family in the main dining room every night, so I didn't try any of the specialty options for dinner.

There were a few downsides compared to Royal. I thought the boat was harder to navigate, with not being able to walk through deck 3. It took a while to learn which elevators go where. We sailed right before dry dock, and I also noticed a lot of areas on the boat that needed maintenance. It also seemed like there was a lot more motion than I'd experienced before for the first day and a half, but it was smooth sailing after that. Overall, it was a great cruise and very family friendly. I would give Carnival another try in the future. In fact, my brother and my parents, who went with us, have already booked another trip on the Breeze for next year; the timing just didn't work for us.

I celebrated my 40th birthday on the Sunshine last September. The waiters in the dining room did bring a small dessert and sing. The cabin steward also left me coupons for the spa and the photo gallery. I had to spend a certain amount in the spa to be able to use the gift card though. I wanted to get a pedicure with it, but ended up having to get both the manicure and pedicure to apply the coupon. So it ended up costing about the same as if I'd just gotten the pedicure by itself. Oh well, it was my birthday present to myself and was one of the most long-lasting mani/pedis I've ever had...

Both the asian wok and the pasta are open and no additional charge for lunch. They are adjacent to the lido buffet, near the Havanna area in the back of the ship. The asian place tended to have long lines though. 

I saw that they had BBQ available in the Ocean Plaza on embarkation day but didn't try it. 

I was in Amber Cove in September with my 3 year old daughter and 5 year old nephew. I thought it was a family-friendly port, because I didn't have to load my kid on a bus to get anywhere and pray that she was patient during the ride. That said, there isn't much to do in port other than a large pool and some basic shopping. There is a bar and I think a zip line, but we didn't try either of those. There is a kids splash pad area with some smaller waterslides that they really enjoyed. Our kids were too small for the big waterslide though.

What we did, and what I would recommend if you're in port long enough, is we stayed on the ship while everyone else rushed to get off right after it docked. We had the waterworks area and the main pool almost to ourselves all morning. We ate lunch on the ship (for free) then got off after lunch, as other passengers were starting to return to the ship. That made the pools on land not so crowded either. 

We were on the Sunshine in September. The lido buffet was pretty crowded on embarkation day until the rooms were ready. That was the worst crowd we saw. Every time we went to the buffet, we ended up sitting in the back in the Havana area. It was the least crowded back there, and we could always find a table. Plus, it was handy that family always knew where to look for each other.

Waterworks was a bit crowded with families on sea days. We could always find a chair, but it might not be where we wanted in order to keep an eye on our daughter. If we waited around long enough, someone would leave, and we'd be able to get a chair in a more "prime" location. Watwerworks was our favorite area on sea days. Even though there were lots of kids there, the waterslides kept things moving, so it didn't feel as crowded as the pool. Sunshine only has 1 main pool, so we didn't even attempt the "people soup" situation on sea days. 

Other than that , the interior of the ship didn't feel too crowded. Our favorite spot to chill was listening to live music in the Ocean Plaza. There was always seating available. If you go to the show late, it was hard to find a seat, but if you got there a little early, that wasn't a problem. There never seemed to be a crowd in the Red Frog pub. We were able to find seats easily in the piano bar. We went to a couple of the earlier family-friendly comedy shows and were able to get seats with no problem. The later comedy shows did have long lines to get in. There were some dance party activities in the lobby at night where it was hard to find a spot near the railing to see. But it was a really fun atmosphere, so we didn't mind the crowds. Mikey the cruise director was awesome! He made the events a lot of fun.

We were on the Sunshine in September, and my family members stayed in these rooms. When I popped in to visit in the evenings, they always seemed pretty quiet, even though there was music going on in the Ocean Plaza. They were actually a little more roomy than my balcony cabin up on deck 7. I didn't sleep in one of them though, although I didn't hear any complaints from family. I will say they were convenient for getting to the cruise ship activities on deck 5. My brother picked these rooms because they have fridges, and he said the ones on the lower decks didn't. 

On the Sunshine, the Havana bar is at the very back of the lido buffet area. It's actually where we sat every time we ate at the buffet because it wasn't as crowded. I did see live music there at least one afternoon, but it was more for atmosphere - people were sitting and eating, no dancing, etc. I can't speak to the noise in the cabins below or what the area was like at night, as we were only there for breakfast and lunch. 

If you're open to other lines, Carnival allows 2 year olds in the kids club for no extra fee, and they don't have to be potty trained.

We did a Carnival cruise a couple of months ago, and my daughter, neice, and nephew really liked their kids program. What worked for us is for my daughter to eat dinner with us, then we'd drop her off at the kids club when she was done eating (usually between main course and dessert for us). We could then enjoy the evening entertainment until 10:00. If we wanted her to stay after 10:00, we would've had to pay a fee. My neice and nephew ate dinner with the kids camp, and they enjoyed that as well - an option if you wanted to try a specialty restaurant.

I had only cruised Royal Caribbean prior to that trip and was a bit skeptical of Carnival. There are things that Royal does better, but other things I enjoyed more on Carnival. Overall, we had a great trip.

5 hours ago, matymil said:

Since Amber Cove is Carnivals port, is it a lot like Grand Turk? Meaning you don't really have to stray to far from the port to have stuff to do? We were supposed to go a few years ago but the port flooded 😞

We were just at both ports in September. Amber Cove is kind of like Grand Turk, in that you can just get off the ship and enjoy the large, really nice pool there. If you just want to go swimming and use the water slide, there's no need to book an excursion. Unlike Grand Turk, there's no beach at Amber Cove and you can't easily walk around outside the port area - where at Grand Turk you can wander down the beach if you want. 

The playground has a wall around it with a gate that can be opened or closed. The kids camp only goes out to the playground at certain times. I imagine they close the gate then to keep the kids contained. When the kids camp isn't using the playground, it is open for other kids to use, and the kids at the camp are kept inside. We went up there with my daughter, neice, and nephew (ages 2.5 - 5.5) one night after dinner to play before they went to the camp. Another night, when I dropped my daughter off, all the kids were outside playing, but I couldn't see how they had it set up. She made it safe and sound. :)  If you're still uncomfortable, you can check the activities schedule and just not send them to camp when they will be on the playground.

We just went on the Carnival Sunshine with my 3 yeard old daughter, plus my 2.5 year old neice and 5.5 year old nephew. They had a great time at Camp Carnival! My daughter went to camp a few nights after dinner so that we could enjoy some of the entertainment around the ship. We dropped her off after we ate our main courses but before dessert was served, because she wanted to eat with us. My neice and nephew ate dinner with the camp a couple of times and enjoyed that as well. They also went to camp during the day one sea day. The staff had lots of activities for the kids - crafts and coloring, play dough, toys to play with, movies, and an outdoor playground. Because our kids were younger, we also got a free cellphone to keep for the duration of the cruise. We could use it to call and check on the kids, or the camp staff could call us if there was an issue.

I'm not sure about the Dream, but the Sunshine has a waterworks area that was great on sea days. The main pool was pretty crowded, so we spent a lot of time on the waterslides. One day in port, we waited to get off the ship until after lunch and got to enjoy the main pool almost to ourselves that morning. The kids loved that too.

You can check the kids in and out anytime during the open times of the club. On our recent Sunshine cruise, the 2-5 year old kids made crafts, watched movies, sang and danced, and played outside on the playground when the weather permitted. Sometimes they also had freeplay, where they just played with whatever toys they wanted in the camp.

Totally agree with you on everything (except the salesman, I didn't encounter him). Just got off the Sunshine yesterday and while there was sewage smell it was sporadic (mostly in the lower decks) and nothing to cry over. Our bathroom smelled like urine from day one, it was unbearable but we figured out pretty quickly that it wasn't urine, it was the shower curtain that smelled, our steward tried cleaning and spraying febreze and it didn't work and he quickly changed the curtain out and problem solved. On the last day, the smell was back so I think it happens because the shower curtain gets wet and it dries without sunlight so its always damp.

 

Regarding the motion on the ship, this was by far the worst. Yes, there was a hurricane and storm around us but the captain kept saying it was far away and we were safe. The second night I was not able to sleep as I felt we for sure weren't going to make it to morning without something happening to the ship. It rocked side to side and jumped up and down, it was the first time I ever experienced that. The aft, especially in the Sunrise DR was terrible, it would shake, literally shake and rumble.

We were on the next sailing, and there was lots of motion for the first day and a half or so. It was definitely hard to sleep at first, and it felt to me like most of the motion was front to back. Luckily we were well armed with motion sickness medicine! But by the end of the cruise, the water was so smooth, I could barely feel any movement at all. I think it must have something to do with the time of the year and the hurricanes. My September, 2008 cruise 10 years ago on the Majesty of the Seas was similar - rough water the first night with a hurricane out at sea, but then very calm afterward. Majesty is an older ship too, so perhaps that also has something to do with it.

We didn't have any issues with urine or sewage smells. We did notice areas in need of general maintenance, though - lots of rust, dirty carpets in the stairwells, holes in the bedroom curtains, and so forth. My sister-in-law talked to a guy onboard who own a company that Carnival contracts out for maintanance. It seems he was there to do an inventory before the ship goes into drydock.

Does anyone have pictures of the MDR menus for the 5-day cruise? I'm going in February, and I'm trying to decide which night to go to Ji Ji. I won't go on the first or second night because I want to be in the MDR on those nights.

No, unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of the menus. Trying to figure out what to order for ourselves and the kids was hectic enough! None of the nights stood out to me for having a better menu than the others.

I used the Carnival Hub app. It won't do anything except countdown until you get on the ship.

Sunrise back in Port Canaveral:

Docked next to the Disney Dream:

And saying goodbye:

Balcony view forward:

And aft:

Mikey the cruise director was hilarious. Here he is on the atrium bar on Motown night:

Carnival Pride sailing away:

Towel animals on the lido deck (this was the morning of Grand Turk, right before we got off the ship.)

A few pictures of the Grand Turk beach:

Docked next to the Pride in Grand Turk:

Ship peeking out over the shops:

Here's a view of the port area from the ship. You can see the pool area to the right, the sky bar in the middle, and shopping to the left.

Close up of the cabanas (which we didn't use:))

Close up of the sky bar (didn't go there either):

Ship docked in Amber Cove:

Serenity area:

Here you can see part of the ropes course (which we didn't do) as well as the playground that's attached to Camp Ocean:

Main pool deck: