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Sunshine comprehensive trip report 7/7/18 Eastern Caribbean


luckybecky
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Hello Cruisers!

 

We are recently off the Sunshine. We did an 8 day Eastern Caribbean and had a wonderful time! I'm going to give a very comprehensive trip report. I've written a small novel so if you like lots of detail I've got it for you. I have dozens of photos too.

 

I'll be honest right up front, there were a number of little issues, particularly service issues. If you are looking for a lot of Carnival cheerleading, you may be in the wrong place. I'm going to tell you the good and the bad. I'm just giving my honest opinion and you can take it or leave it. Your experience may be totally different.

 

In spite of small lapses here and there, I never let such things ruin my vacation. Stuff happens. No vacation is perfect. It's OK. We had a wonderful time and I hope that will also come through in my review.

 

So we started planning a vacation with some extended family members last fall. About 12 of us booked the Sunshine last October. We had looked for cruises out of either Port Canaveral or Tampa because that gave us many more options than the itineraires we can get out of our home port of Galveston; and because my niece and her husband, who were going to cruise with us, live in Tampa. We looked at all the available options on the cruise lines that sail from PortCanaveral and Tampa and settled on the Sunshine.

 

Unfortunately half of our group eventually backed out. We were bummed but that's what happens when you try to get lots of people to agree on anything I guess.

 

So it ended up being myself, my husband, our two adult children, my sister, and her husband. My sister and I booked balcony cabins next door to each other, and my kids selected a cheaper inside cabin right across the hall, all on deck six midship.

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Over the next several months we had a couple of small price reductions, and we received several upgrade offers. My kids received an offer to upgrade to a balcony at a good price. It was only a couple hundred more than they had paid for their inside cabin, and was several hundred dollars less than we paid for a cabin in the same category just two doors down. We thought it was a good deal so they took the upgrade.

 

I also received several upgrade offers to move up to deck 8 or 9 but didn't take them because we wanted to keep all our cabins close together. (And glad we did stay together, it was very convenient to just knock on each others' door or lean over the balcony to talk to each other.)

 

I am a huge planner so I started researching shore excursions right away. We rarely do excursions through the cruise line. We have found better prices, smaller groups, and have had great experiences with carefully researched outside providers. I also booked our air and we were set to go.

 

Our cruise was set to depart on Saturday July 7. We flew from Texas to Tampa on the afternoon of July 6. I never would try to fly in the same day I cruise, just in case of any flight issues. Plus this gave us time to see my niece her husband, who had decided not to go on the cruise with us after all. And, flights to and from Tampa were cheaper than flights to Orlando.

 

And we're off!

 

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Saturday July 7 Embarkation day

 

We got a rental car upon arrival, spent the night in Tampa and then the next morning drove to Port Canaveral.

 

We got a slightly later start than intended. By the time we filled up the rent car with gas, returned it, and waited for the shuttle to take us to the port, we were running late for our arrival time of 11:30-12:00. We sat in the shuttle for half an hour in line before we were allowed to pull in and unload. The luggage porters were few and seemed to be workingat a very leisurely pace.

 

Finally arrived at the terminal about 12:10. I had thought that if we were late, it was no problem. You just can't arrive early. In fact I have read that they won't even let you into the terminal early. However here they had two lines, one "On Time" and one "Early/Late." So maybe early arrivals are Ok, they are just directed to this line?

 

My sister and her husband had a 12:00-12:30 arrival time so they were directed to the On Time line, while my family was directed to the Early/Late line.

 

But as it turned out, we all got through our lines at approximately the same time and were in the same boarding zone. Security was a breeze. We got through it very fast.

 

I had a small collapsible cooler containing four bottles of wine. No one ever checked them or even opened the cooler.

 

Then we had about a 20 minute wait before our zone was called. Counting the time we sat in the shuttle waiting forluggage porters to allow us to unload, we were at the pier for about an hour or a little more before we got on board.

 

All aboard!

 

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It was close to 1pm when we got on board and like everyone else, we headed up to deck 9 for lunch.

 

The lido deck and buffet area were insanely busy. I got in line for the Mongolian Wok. I had read somewhere here or maybe on Jellybeans website that you should visit the Wok and Cucina Capitano for lunch early in the cruise "before everyone knows about them" and they get busy. Well, trust me, everyone already knows about them. :) It took awhile to get through the Wok line but my stirfry was delicious.

 

I was not impressed with the buffet area. The traffic flow seemed terrible, with several bottlenecks as you try to pass from the pool area (where Guy's Burgers and the burrito place are located), past the ice cream machines, into the main buffet area, and finally into the Havana Bar area where the Wok and Cucina are located. All these bottlenecks made it hard to move around the area especially if you are balancing a big plate of food and a drink.

 

On this first day it was especially chaotic since nobody knows where they are going.

 

More on the buffet: I thought the hot food selections were limited, especially fresh vegetables, and the salad bar was not as expansive as I would have liked. We never ate there for supper, only breakfast and lunch.

 

However, in addition to the specialty areas already mentioned, there was also the pizza place (I had a cheese pizza once and it was excellent!) and a deli where you could get sandwiches. There was no shortage of food as my waistline can attest!

 

We (especially my son) loved Guy's Burgers.

 

These photos were taken later in the cruise at a much less crowded time. On embarkation day it was a zoo.

 

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Edited by luckybecky
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More cabin photos. We have always loved our cabins on Carnival and they have been larger than cabins on so-called luxury lines. We really like the sofa that is large enough to comfortably seat two.

 

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We turned gold on this cruise. Then next day we were given two of those large water bottles for free, along with a couple of VIFP pins.

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I noticed a difference between our cabin 6202 and our kids' cabin 6190. They had more storage space, with an extra cabinet and 3 large shelves. However, their room was also noticably narrower, so there was less room to pass between the end of the bed and the wall. In our room, it was maybe 2 1/2 feet, and only maybe 18 inches in their room. Interesting to note that although these were very nearby each other, and same category, not all cabins are exactly alike.

 

Notice the extra shelves and cabinet next to the TV in our kids room, versus the bare wall next to the TV in our room.

 

 

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Here are a lot of photos of my ship tour on the first day

 

Sports bar:

 

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Casino:

 

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Casino Bar:

 

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One half of this bar was a designated smoking area. I am not particularly sensitive to smoke and did not find it to be bothersome. I think the air flow was pretty good and it didn't seem smoky in the casino. YMMV

 

 

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Shake spot and coffee bar:

 

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Fun hub computer area, right next to shake spot

 

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Here is where you sign in for anytime dining. It is on Deck 5 right by Ocean Plaza, near the Alchemy bar.

 

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