myfamilyluvs2cruise

We have done CCL, RCL, NCL and Disney. We took a long break from Carnival, for no purposeful reason other than we wanted to try RCCL's brand new mega ships- and then sailed the Harmony on its 2nd voyage in the States, the Quantum- yuck the whole ship had Noro :( -and the Oasis twice. We went back on Carnival last Spring break after our long hiatus and sailed on the CCL Sunshine. I was super apprehensive especially after having been on the latest and greatest and reading some negative reviews about the Sunshine. But the itinerary was awesome and we wanted to mix it up. I have to say that we LOVED being back on Carnival. We thought the service was better and friendlier, the food was WAY better overall, and the vibe was fun. We definitely cannot knock the mega ships- their "WOW" factor is real- the shows are spectacular, the ships are decorated beautifully, the amentities are incredible. But, for the basics- food, service, live entertaiment in small comfy venues, personal attention, itinerary- we think Carnival does a better job overall. You might want to stick with the newest and biggest Carnival ships so they compare more favorably. I would also say that I personally think the shows on Carnival are not good at all- especially if you are comparing the RCCL or NCL's big stage Broadway productions, ice shows, Blue Man Group, aqua theater, etc. So if keep your expectations in line with reality you will be fine. But we personally prefer smaller venue live entertainment which Carnival totally excels at- piano bars, little bands here and there on the ships, etc. I definitely find the older ships to be asthetically not so pleasing, but that is just me. I can look past that when everything else is good. We are going back on the Sunshine in 3 weeks and can't wait! Can't hurt to give it a try! Good luck!

St Martin is reporting their port will be open on November 11th. Grand Turk is opening around then too. San Juan may take some time.

 

Pick a date or dates when you'd like to cruise. Pick a ship you'd like to cruise on. Itinerary may or may not be ideal at present time, but if they change it or not, at least you'll be on a ship you like at the time you like.

Yes- Thanks! I had NO idea they would be open so quick. That is actually really impressive!

I think most seasoned cruisers have been pleasantly surprised at some time in the past how quickly seemingly devastated ports have been able to reopen after storm damage. There really is a sense of urgency because so many locals' livelihoods depend on cruise tourism dollars. Keep in mind though that while a port may reopen, it could be that not everything will be open or accessible right away.

 

I totally agree with your thinking about wanting to spend your tourism dollars in these areas to help the local economy recover.

 

I hope you have a favorable outcome for your spring break cruise. I wouldn't hesitate to book if I were in your shoes.

I am sorry the person felt the need to give you the unhelpful "crystal ball" statement. smh......

For those of us actually here to help....here is what I hope will help you:

I've been following John Heald on Facebook to know which ports are already open. On my favorite ports (like Key West, San Juan, etc) I follow some of their pages and they are giving an excellent update.

 

Keep in mind that even if you book now, there could be issues with upcoming hurricanes.

 

When I first started cruising it was all about the port for me. Now I've learned to enjoy all the ship has to offer and if we have to re-route then I just get to experience a different, but wonderful port. Go with that mind set and you'll be happy. Hey, you're on a ship, in the ocean, and not at work! Kinda hard to complain, ya know? ;-)

Happy cruising to you!

Thank you so much ! Great advice, I did not even think to look on FB. You are awesome- :D

Hello!

I am sure there are some threads around this topic already, but my search did not pull anything up. I am trying to book a Spring Break cruise, but all of the ports listed on the sailings we want were affected with the hurricanes. Will the ships go there anyway? Any word? We would love to support the economy in these places, and dont care if the beaches are perfect, buildings are built, etc. But, not sure if we book something if it will actually materialize or not.

Thoughts?

We went to St. M for the 2ndx last year and did Bernards Tours. Enjoyed it and was thinking of doing the excursion with Capt. Bob of the motor boat, but I am not a fan of jumping off a boat and swimming to shore. Give me a beach or a dock any day. Can you tell me a bit more about the beach off the ship? You can walk to it? Any other details? Seems like something we would really enjoy doing! We will be on the Pride Journey cruise next January and the ship will stop at St. M so we're going to have a lot of decisions to make with all the ports of call.

Hello!

Yes- the beach is very close to where the boat docks. It is a very short walk off the ship, and then once you walk through the gates you look left for the water taxi stand. It was like $5 or $7 for a round trip ticket. The big water taxis go more towards the the right side of the beach. The smaller taxis go to the left side of the beach. Either way, it is a short walk between the two sides with lots of shops and restaurants to check out on the way. You can taxi back from either side. As you walk by the beach, people will offer you chairs and umbrellas for money. We looked for good chairs by the water that had wifi and a bar close by.

There is jetskiing, parasailing, some snorkeling, and the water is beauiful there- very warm and clear.

If you have any other questions let me know!

Itinerary-

OK- This criteria is where the Sunshine SHINES!!!!

The Mega RCCL Ships have such BORING itineraries. Ok, that sounds really snobby. But, they are always the same few stops that are absolutely flooded with people. Every Western itinerary seems to take you to Labadee- which is not our favorite. Every Eastern is pretty much the same. I get that they can only get into certain ports because of ship size. We took a 9 day on Oasis last year and we went to St Kitts and they docked there for the first and still only I think time.- which was AWESOME. The Quantum was SOOO blah as well- Bayonne down to San Juan (which is cool) and then we missed Grand Cayman due to weather, and that was about it in 8 days. I love sea days- but with the whole ship that time (75% estimated by the crew) sick with the Norovirus- we were dying for a good stop or two on that one.

Enter the Sunshine- Grand Turk (a first for us!), San Juan, St Kitts and St Maarten . . . it was a WINNER!

We hung out at Margaritaville Beach on Grand Turk. So beautiful. Had a great waitress that brought us WAY too many "5 o'clock somewhere" drinks right down to our beach chairs. Just a quick tip for you regarding tipping- our bill included the gratuity. I inadvertently tipped an additional 20% because she was awesome. I don't regret it, but probably would have been a little lighter if I had noticed that BEFORE I wrote the tip in. No worries though. We got a huge hug and were glad to make her day. Our kids did the FlowRIder- so they got their fix even though they were not on RCCL. GREAT DAY- loved every part of that stop!

San Juan- We typically just go a couple of hours to Senor Frogs. Had fun, but I was a little alarmed when my chair was tipped backwards and people were blowing whistles at my to open my mouth for a shot of tequila- but we survived. :)

St Kitts- OMG. If you like snorkeling and catamarans- DEFINITELY do the Nevus sail. Carnival books the vendors all out so you really cannot find another vendor to take you. So, we bought this one through CCL. The boat was clean, the crew was AWESOME, the island of Nevus is super cool- we had about an hour right next to the Four Seasons. The snorkeling was really good. The food was so-so, but who cares? We had a whole ship filled with amazing food waiting for us when we got back. And, the drinks were ridiculously plentiful, strong and tasted really good. We made several friends on that boat, and most did not make it to dinner . . . so buyer beware on the drinks:). But it was a highlight trip. We will definitely do that one again!

St Maarten- We love the beach right across from the ship. After several years going to Orient Beach on that stop, we FINALLY decided to try the beach close by to the ship on our last cruise. We had such a great day that we could not believe we had missed out on that all those years and had paid all the cab fare going to Orient, and had endured our eyeballs burning at some of the swim attire (and lack there of). The last time we were at Orient, three women in their 50's sitting next to my teenage son took their tops off in the "family section" When another gentleman compained (he had little kids), they started talking to my son telling him that guy "just doesn't get our culture". The funny thing is they were from Virginia. :) Our son looked like he was going to die of embarrassment. So, we decided the next time to go a little more low key. We went to the spot close to the second water taxi stop- look for the orange umbrellas there. We paid $10 a chair, had wifi, super cheap drinks, great sun, no huge crowds as we were down from the main drag, and loved it. I highly recommend it.

So, all in all an amazing itinerary! Best one yet!

Thanks for the review. We are trying Carnival again for the first time in years and this review helped a lot in expectations. Appreciate you taking the time to post. :)

Hope you have a great trip!

I too am boarding in 30 days and the Sunshine reviews are getting better and better:D

Have so much fun!

Good information and something to look forward to ... we're on the Sunshine in 8 days!

Have so much fun!!

Thanks for the comments!

Condition of the ship-

I had read that it was pretty worn and somewhat dirty on several reviews. I will say that I did see some signs of wear, the new renovation "sparkle" has worn off. And that could be because our most recent cruise was literally brand new (which I wouldn't recommend either as brand new ship sometimes equals service issues) but the comparison might be subconscious. But overall, the ship looked quite clean. I will say I was a little surprised by hand sanitizer and hand soap being out quite a bit. This was shocking as on RCCL you are assaulted with huge blobs of hand sanitizer every where you go. But, otherwise everything was clean and tidy.

Entertainment-

OK, I have to say there really is no comparison to the "WOW" factor on the other ships. If you want Broadway shows, ice capades type shows, Blue Man Group, aqua theaters, Cirque D'Soleil - well, RCCL and NCL are hands down the better choice. I think Carnival has made strides in compared to 5 years ago, but it really cannot compare in our opinion.

However, that is just one facet of entertainment in my mind. We loved the Piano Bar, the Ocean Plaza entertainment- especially Broken Taillight and the atrium singers. Sometimes those smaller venues are super enjoyable and even our teens loved joining us. The comedy was fun, the magician was good, and the poolside entertaiment was also great. I think it really depends on what you like to do. On RCCL we like the Pub at night, as it is one of the only small venues that plays later in the night. I loved that Carnval had a bunch of choices, and they were not "knock your socks off" wow, but they were very enjoyable and fun and accessible.

Also, it really is hard to compare all the crazy things on the mega ships to the Carnival Sunshine. But, the slides were cool, although in a very cramped area. The ropes course was neat. But we really enjoyed the Serenity area down by the waterfall. There is so little pool deck for the rest of the people with young kids- and that really was apparent on sea days. It was almost impossible to get a chair if you weren't out there at the crack of dawn. But the Serenity deck always had some availability and it was peaceful and the drink service was decent. After walking around for 45 minutes trying to find a spot outside of the Serenity area, we resorted to putting sunglasses and a hat on our 14 year old daughter- sneaking her into the adults area. We covered her head up with a towel the whole time she laid out in the sun so no one could see her cute little face on a 5'5'' body. Please don't judge me . . . no one would have known she was a kid as she just calmly laid in the sun listening to music and there were chairs to spare. But without a balcony room, it was the only way to get her a spot in the sun.

The one thing I think could use a little work was the Atrium parties at night. Super fun competitons between "Team 1 and Team 2," It was all about dancing and singing to the 70's or 80's. It was lively and fun- but the guy who ran it loved to get everyone screaming on each side to win over and over and over in any given round. I kind of felt like- "please stop and let's move on to the next song dude . . . " it was a bit much and kind of seemed like he just loved everyone applauding on his cue. :) I think they could reformat that just a bit and have a winner. But it was fun!

The CD, Nathan was good. He was always upbeat and positive, even with bad weather, was encouraging everyone to have fun. He was also very accessible. I watched him help an older disabled gentleman up the stairs, and he did not realize anyone was watching him- so it was not for show. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy who wanted everyone to have a great trip!

All in all, we really enjoyed our entertainment. Was it super glizty and cool- well . . . not really. But it was fun, lively and there was plenty of it to be had. Carnival did a great job!

Amith was AWESOME!!! We got to deal with him on our 3/25 sailing on the Sunshine. We traveled with a large party (14 of us) and all had Anytime Dining. The first night he managed to get us a table all together, then promised we would have the same table every night at 7:15pm. He never disappointed. It was really nice to have an "in between" fixed dinner time, with the same wait staff the entire trip. He was really great.

He truly is amazing and a huge asset to CCL!

Food-

This is a loaded topic for me. I really enjoy good food. I am not super picky, I just like clean unprocessed food. One more little wrench is that our whole family has to be Gluten Free, so this is always a dilemma. We are not super reactive, so I hate to make a big deal out of it. I know some people have the misfortune of getting really sick with the slightest cross contamination. We are fortunate to not be in that boat. But, we still eat 100% GF as we know there are serious health risks to our family with ingesting gluten. So I am always torn about how much of an issue to make of it. On RCCL it is hard because disclosing it often really limits our options as they cannot be 100% sure the food has not crossed paths in the kitchen with a molecule of gluten so they will not let us order items that are naturally GF. Their GF breads and pizza are awful, so we are better off not saying anything and just ordering around the issue off the menu. On NCL, they have great breads and pastas, but If we don't tell them ahead of time, they may not have enough GF product on board to accomodate everyone. So, I was not sure how it would be handled on Carnival. This was complicated by the fact that we could not get a set dining time, and Anytime Dining can be a disaster for people with food issues. It is hard for the servers and the kitchen.

All that to say Carnival was WONDERFUL! I had emailed the maitreD and he said to come and see him. His name was Amith- and he was A+ with customer service. I hope he ends up running Carnival some day. Great personality, accomodating, available but not intrusive. He told us that on every sailing he has 400 people that do not get want they want, and his job is to find a way to make them happy. He gave us an assigned dining time in the Sunrise Dining Room- which was the Anytime Dining section. So we had the same waiters every night. We were able to order off the menu for the next day so our food would be ready, and I was SHOCKED at the things they could make GF. We know better than to ask for certain dishes GF as there is usually no way to make them. Well, I am here to say they figured out a way! Crispy fried shrimp! (Haven't had those in 9 years!) It was SO great.

Our waiters were Mohammed and Renato- always smiling, always accomodating, the best! I would venture to say that they along with Amith were among the very best we ever sailed with- and that includes Disney!

The food was good in MDR. Loved the Blue Iguana, but the chicken had bones and gristle in it, but everything else was great. Guy's was AMAZING- those burgers are so much better than any others we have had a seas. And, the fries- WOW. Definitely fresh, not the frozen papery ones most cruise lines offer. The lunch at the back of the ship was excellent! One again, the made to order pasta from Cucina was incredible, especially for being GF. The mongolian wok at JiJi for lunch was also super good. Overall- the non-specialty dining as so much better than anything we had on NCL or RCCL.

As far as specialty dining we enjoyed Farenheit 555- great service and food the first night on board. We enjoyed Bonzai Sushi for lunch- good quality. And, the Chef's Table was SO good. We had been on a waiting list, and because of demand they opened another night. We have done Chef's Table on RCCL and on Carnival in the past. We really loved the menu this time! They were able to accomodate every course from a GF standpoint. The whole experience was really great. We brought our teens and they loved it too. My daughter (who wants to be a chef) got to make the WCMC. She loved it!

Overall, the dining was better than RCCL or NCL.

Embarkation-

No problem. Quick and easy. We have higher status on RCCL, but even with that, we were onboard and ready to have fun within 45 minutes of arriving at the port.

Stateroom- We had two connecting OV rooms on the third floor just steps from where we embarked. They were spacious and clean. We have always had balcony rooms, so there were times where I really missed the fresh air. (Especially as we had one very rough weather night and morning). But our staterooms had lots of storage, were more spacious than RCCL. Our attendant did a great job keeping everything tidy and neat. We never met him/her- but it was like having a magical fairy room straighening upper. Whoever they were did a good job. At the end of the trip my daughter wrote them a note and left additional tip on our bed with the note as we were unsure who to hand it too.

I would say that the location of those rooms was AWESOME! Just steps to everything. But then again, the ship was small enough that nothing was a long walk. The only thing is that it was LOUD at night. So much happening in the atrium and we were usually there for the fun, but if you don't like noise, this would not be the location for you.

Overall, I would say a good solid tie with RCCL.

Hello-

We returned last week after an 8 day sailing on the Carnival Sunshine. As you can see from my signature, we like to jump around a bit. But, we have not been on Carnival for some time. Most recently, we have been on the Harmony of the Seas, NCL's Pride of America, the Oasis of the Seas twice, and NCL's Epic. We were looking for a GREAT itinerary for a last minute spring break cruise. The Sunshine fit the bill- as it had a WAY better and more interesting itinerary than any of the Mega ships we have been on recently. We decided to take the plunge, even after reading negative review after negative review.

We had a great trip- I will keep this brief, but I wanted to give a quick snyopsis on our trip for any of you that are curious about what it is like to jump from the big guys back down to an older smaller ship with two teenagers (who LOVE flow-riding and ziplining and aqua shows . .. ) in tow.

I would love to know if you see many teens? Is it a fun ship for them? We have done many RCCL Carnival, NCL and Disney, and while we really want to try Celebrity- the ships look beautiful- I want to make sure it would not be boring for them. We are considering a cruise on her this summer. Any opinion you have would be great!

We are sailing on the Sunshine in a month or so- and we have no dining assignment either. I am fine with early or late, just don't want YTD. What are the chances we will get an assigned time?

Man, I have to disagree :o Sorrentos pizza on Royal is not even as good as most frozen pizzas Ive bought from the store, at least on the Royal ships Ive been on. Carnivals pizza is handmade from scratch using fresh ingredients. Really no comparison to me in the two? You are right though, its subjective :)

I am so with you! Sorrentos is awful, especially for gluten free pizza. Gross. Carnival Magic's GF pizza is THE best I have ever had, anywhere. That cruise was over three years ago, and I still think about the pizza. :D

As you can see from my signature- we try all different kinds of cruises. However, we have taken a little hiatus from Carnival for no particular reason- and we are going back next month- after a lot of deliberation- on the Sunshine. I am hopeful it will not be disappointing- as we have never really ever had a "bad" cruise. The reviews are kind of worrisome though!

In my opinion, I think the food is WAY better on Carnival! I really do not care for the food on RCCL at all- it all tastes the same to me no matter the venue. RCCL is mind-blowing in terms of the stage entertainment and ship size- but I think Carnival has way better night life and music. I think the staterooms are generally bigger with more storage on Carnival. There are give and takes, and so much of it has to do with the ship itself.

For example, we just did Harmony of the Seas over Thanksgiving- which is the biggest and newest ship in the world. All I can say about the ship is WOW! The entertainment is AMAZING and the ship is beautiful. But to be honest, the food was the WORST we have encountered in all our cruising, and the service was really poor on all levels. ( To be fair, I think they were still working out the bugs). We had a great time however, and certainly have no regrets about going. Nothing is ever perfect, it is just what you make of it.

I think the biggest challenge is not to compare everything in your head all the time. But if you are a go with the flow kind of person- it should be a great cruise! That being said, I will see after our upcoming cruise if I can take my own advice!

Have fun!

Glory's first sailing after dry dock will be March 11. I would wait to sail on her until until at 3/25 the earliest. That would be two weeks after dry dock in case they are still doing unfinished work it should be done by then. You can't lose on the Glory seeing that it will have fresh painting and carpets plus the waterworks and new slides.

That is also a good point! Thanks!

Love the Glory! The size is perfect and the design kinks of the previous ships like the Triumph and Destiny class are worked out. Like the adult pool in the back and the mdr food was pretty good. plus it has many of the 2.0 features.Crew kept it clean and the crew was really nice but I like meeting everyone and knowing where they are from!

Good point! Thanks!

Might just end up being a blessing in disguise that the Sunshine is almost sold out! I bet you would have a great time on the Glory especially if you liked Freedom. I fell in love with Valor and they are all Conquest class ships. I wish I was sitting at one of the tables on the back of lido watching the wake behind me eating some ice cream right now!

Thanks! Me too! :D

Not sure if this will help or hinder your decision. We've sailed on the Navigator and absolutely loved it. I think it's my favorite ship out of 18 cruises (and we just got off the Vista). We are going on the Glory in June due to itinerary and sail dates. We've done the Carnival Liberty and liked it, so we think the Glory will be great, especially with the waterworks upgrade. That being said Navigator of the Seas is an all- time favorite ship. GREAT activities, love the promenade, perfect sized ship, never crowded feeling.

VERY helpful! Thanks for your advice!

Glory is a better and newer ship than Sunshine

Thanks!