Group Cruise on Carnival Sunshine May 30th

[sailingwithfriends]

Liars Club: This game is also held in the comedy club. The entertainment staff is on stage. Jaime gives them an uncommon word. One person knows the correct definition. The others make up a definition, usually with demonstrations. The audience guesses who are the liars and who is correct. My sides hurt at this game.

Gender Showdown: This game is held in the Liquid Lounge. The audience is divided into males and females. Questions are asked and the teams try and win points. At the end of the game, audience participation occurs. The participants get on the stage and have to demonstrate certain situations. One member of our group was on stage for the males. He played the part of Jaime’s boobs. (Those are his handin front of the man's shirt.)

 

Love and Marriage Show: There are 3 couples on the stage. A newlywed couple, a couple that has been married at least 20 years and the longest married couple.

Okay, I was prepared for this. This was the 3rd time I have attended this show. This was the 3rd time my parents have been the longest married couple. I have found out a lot about them and their sex life from these shows (like where I was conceived). My friends have found out a lot about my parents from these shows. My parents actually become “celebrities” after these shows.

This time, another couple from my group was the middle couple. They really entertained us with their answers. This show is also for adults only. Jaime ask the couples questions and then they receive points for matching answers. It is hilarious. Again, my parents won the game.

 

Karaoke: I have zero musical talent. However, a lot of the people in my group are very talented. Some of them make their living with their musical talents. We decided to try the karaoke in the Red Frog Pub on afternoon. I had no idea how popular this event is. There were some very talented people on board the ship. A few of them not so talented, but they were just enjoying themselves. I really enjoyed watching the little kids get up and sing. I got goose bumps from listening to a woman named Tara sing “God Bless America”. Karaoke is a great way to spend time in the afternoon. Max is a wonderful host.

[sailingwithfriends]

Magician:

One evening, a Magician named Bobby Borgia entertained us in the Liquid Lounge. I really enjoyed his show. I did figure out a couple of the acts. However, some of the people in my group were sitting next to him on the floor. We have no idea how he connected 3 rings together, or how he made his shadow move items. I understand that after the show, he will walk around the ship and practice magic for the people. I heard he did some amazing things.

Mardi Gras Party:

The party is held in the atrium after on of the performances in the Liquid Lounge. I was amazed at Jaime’s ability to get a crowd so excited and involved. She gets up on the bar and dances. She even did a split on the bar. (A drink was spilled and she made sure it was replaced.) Beads were thrown.

I highly advise you attend this party.

 

Ship’s Life Question and Answers:

Jaime and Weezy answered a lot of questions in the Liquid Lounge from cruisers. You could ask anything except about salaries. I learned Jaime was surprised to be moved to the Sunshine. She had planned on being on the Dream for a few more years. She expects to be on the Sunshine a few more years. Her cabin is behind the stage on deck 5. Jaime has been with Carnival for 7 years.

Weezy has been with Carnival for 13 years. Her cabin is on deck 0. Weezy has recently started a relationship with another employee on the ship. (They will answer almost any question.)

The Liquid Lounge has 850 seats.

Carnival has started using the Playlist Productions on 12 out of 24 of their ships. There are 16 shows total. That means you might see the same show on another cruise ship.

The ship’s officers have cabins on the same floors as guest. Most of the workers are on decks 0 and A and B (below deck 0).

Meals are served below deck for the staff. Employees are allowed to eat in the guest dining room, but must pay.

Internet is not free for the employees.

Employees are not allowed to work up to 10 months before taking a vacation. Vacation can last up to two months. When they return from vacation, they may be assigned a different ship. Most of the employees send their money home. If they own a car and park the car at the port, they have to pay to park. Most of them have gotten rid of their cars and take a taxi to shop when they are at their homeport. The employees work 10 hours a day. Most work a morning shift and then an evening shift.

The Question and Answer time was very interesting. I’m sure it’s different every time, based upon the questions asked.

2.0 Playlist Productions:

This is the first cruise I’ve taken that didn’t have a live orchestra. The Sunshine has four different productions: Latin Nights, Motor City, Studio VIP and Epic Rock. I went to three of the productions. I really enjoyed the music in the Studio VIP and Motor City. One young lady in our group was able to get up on the stage and dance in the Studio VIP. The next day, they had a party for those that participated. (Photo is of performer and the young lady in our group that danced on stage.) I enjoyed the visual effects of the Epic Rock. Most of the people in my group felt this was the best performance. To me, it was a little loud. The older people in my group were ready to leave. The singers and dancers were pretty good. They were definitely better singers at the Epic Rock performance.

If you go to any of the performances in the Liquid Lounge, I suggest you go at least 30 minutes early if you have a lot of people that will need seats together. If there are only a few of you, you could probably find seats if you arrived 15 minutes early. The performances clear out quickly.

 

Comedy Club

I only attended two of these acts. The first one was an adult only by Dan Gabriel. He was very funny. He used some “adult” language, but not as bad as I have heard at other comedy clubs.

We did go to one of the Family Friendly acts. It was also funny.

My suggestion is if you are offended by sex jokes or bad language, stick to the Family Friendly acts.

The comedy is held in the Limelight Lounge. It was crowded, but we had seats together. There are actually 2 Family Friendly Acts and 3 Adult Comedy Acts each evening. If you can’t make it to one of them, there are other opportunities.

[sailingwithfriends]

Water Slides and Ropes Course

The first few days of our cruise, it was too windy for the slides or the ropes course to be open. Finally, when we were at Curacao, we had time to try these out. They may have been opened earlier, but we didn’t try. Our group had a really good time on the slides. Even my mother attempted them (once). I was the photographer at the end of the slide, so I didn’t try them. I can tell you that everyone that came out of the slide was laughing as they readjusted their swimwear. Some of our group would get off the slide and climb the stairs to do it again. My advice would be to have a nose plug. Don’t wear any jewelry. You can’t take any type of camera.

 

 

 

[sailingwithfriends]

The ropes course was closed on the day we tried, but did open up later on. Several people in my group tried it. There are actually two courses that run side by side. Once you select the course you want to attempt, you can’t switch to the other one. You must wear closed toed shoes. You cannot be wet at all. So if you have been on the slides or pool, you must dry off completely or change clothes. On the day our group did the ropes course, a little boy got about half way through and then wanted down. Two people in my group were right behind him, so they heard and saw all the interactions between the boy and the employees. They were very impressed with how the situation was handled. They gave the boy 3 choices. He could go ahead after waiting, he would go ahead with one of them with him the whole time or they could lower him. He chose to be lowered. I understand the men in my group were impressed at the safety measures used to lower him.

 

After the course was reopened, several people from my group finished the course. I understand that parts of it are easy and parts are challenging.

 

Red Frog Pub Games

There are a lot of games in the pub. We played foosball, table shuffle board and dominoes. Our group played in here several times.

 

[sailingwithfriends]

Sports Square

Some of the teenagers enjoyed the basketball court at night. From what I understand, some of them played until about 3:00 AM. (I wonder what it sounds like in the cabin below the court?). There is also a pool table, life-sized checkers and other games. This is a popular place for teenagers to hang out.

 

 

Alchemy Bar

You may wonder why I put this bar under the entertainment section of my review. On the Dream last year, I was very impressed with the bartender mixing and pour four martinis without mixing them up or spilling them. The bartender on this ship was able to mix and pour 12 different martinis. It was an amazing thing to witness.

 

Dive-In Movies

We had several people that attend the nightly movies on the Lido deck at the pool. There are two different movies that play each evening. The movies are recent releases. Popcorn and blankets are provided.

 

Not to be Missed Beauty

Okay, this is not a performance by the entertainment team. This is a wonderful, non-crowded adventure that you must witness to appreciate. We actually did this 3 evenings. Go forward on Deck 6. There will be a side door at the end of the hallway. Go through that door to another door. Open it carefully. It will be windy. Walk to the front of the ship. Look up at the beauty of the stars. If it is too windy, lie down on the deck and look up. You might want to bring a flashlight or your phone to provide light as you are walking in the dark. This is one of my favorite activities to do while on a cruise. You will be amazed at the number of stars you can see when there are no lights present. The first few days of our cruise, it was very windy. The last night, the winds were calm so we weren’t fighting our hair flying in our face.

 

 

 

 

Other Entertainment

There are a lot of productions and games we did not have the time (or energy) to participate in. I guess that means we will need to book another cruise soon.

Casino

As much as I loved the ship, I hated the casino. Normally, we budget a few dollars to play the slots on each cruise. On a former cruise, I won $1,241.00. However, the casino is a horrible place to be due to the cigarette smoke. You may be at a non-smoking machine, but it is next to a smoking machine. The smoker areas are spread out through the casino. We tried to play one morning before many people were in there. I learned smokers like to play early, so we didn’t stay long. Even walking through here (which you have to do a lot) is bad. I would put my hand over my nose just to walk through. Because of the poor ventilation, the casino didn’t get much of my money.

Having to walk through the casino was the worst part of our cruise.

[saltybones]

Great review ! More Please!

 

Sent from my VS950 4G using Tapatalk

[dotheyes]

Mardi Gras Party:

The party is held in the atrium after on of the performances in the Liquid

Lounge. I was amazed at Jaime’s ability to get a crowd so excited and

involved. She gets up on the bar and dances. She even did a split on the bar.

(A drink was spilled and she made sure it was replaced.) Beads were thrown.

 

I highly advise you attend this party.

 

We were on this cruise; in fact only a few cabins away from you 6336

you are right about the party great fun even for old fogies like us. We were

just below you because I can see one of the Mickey light up ears we were

wearing.

great review

dot

[sjcruiser]

What a great looking group!!! Thanks for posting the review!!! The Mardi Gras party was one of my favorite entertainment events on the Breeze. It was a really good time, along with getting the beads (which I also get at the Showboat in AC), and everyone has a good time doing the line dancing, whether we/they have any rhythm or can keep up or not. Thanks again.

[092306]

Really enjoying your review and pictures! The Sunshine looks like a great ship. I love your balcony and that you brought a doorbell!

[gred1994]

Love your review! Thanks so much!

 

You look just like your dad, by the way:)!

[sailingwithfriends]

Ports of Call

I generally try and pick one island to tour and see the culture and learn some history. I enjoy the port areas, but you really don’t know much about the island from shopping in the port area.

Aruba:

I selected the island of Aruba to book a group tour. I researched Trip Advisor and Cruise Critic to get recommendations. I selected Howard Folkes (HF Tours and Transfers) for our excursion. Because our group was so large and his bus only holds 22 people, his friend Sonny Binns carried the part of our group. Sonny also runs a tour service. We felt very safe with their driving. (In some countries, I am very nervous with the driving.) For $30.00 per person, he was able to drive us in a nice air-conditioned bus to The Cassibari Rock Formation, The Natural Bridge, The Alto Vista Chapel and the California Light House. He also drove us through residential neighborhoods, the cemetery and to a local grocery store for drinks and snacks. Howard told us a lot about the culture in Aruba.

 

 

From the Cassibari Rock Formation, you can see almost the entire island. Our cruise ship was in the distance. Howard said that on clear days, you can see Venezuela from on top of the rock. Also, if you want to use the restroom here, you must pay $1.00. Fresh water is scare in Aruba.

I will say that in all my travels, the area at the Natural Bridge is one of the most beautiful places I have ever witnessed. The Natural Bridge collapsed in 2005. The area is still beautiful.

 

 

 

 

 

[sailingwithfriends]

The area around the Natural Bridge is covered in rock piles. Tourists have piled thousands of piles of rocks all everywhere. Howard said the tradition started when a sailor stacked rocks in order to find his way back.

 

Salt builds up on the rocks. Because Aruba doesn’t get but a few inches of rain a year, the salt doesn’t get washed off. The salt looks like ice.

[sailingwithfriends]

Howard told us that the value of your home increases if you have a fence around your property. The nicer the fence, the higher the home value. Some of the fences are actually made with cactus.

 

Families share the buildings to be buried.

The Alto Vista Chapel was so peaceful. I felt as if we were interrupting someone’s personal time with God when we entered. A gentleman was in the chapel leaving flowers, lighting a candle and praying.

 

The California Lighthouse is named after the ship California. The ship wrecked in 1891. The lighthouse is no longer open to the public after it was used to commit suicide. Howard highly recommended the restaurant at the base of the lighthouse.

Howard explained the educational system to us. Children learn four languages including Spanish, English, French and Dutch. Students that are fluent in all four languages are allowed to go to college once they finish the 6th grade. If a student goes to college in the Netherlands, their education cost is free.

The median income for people in Aruba is between $18,000-$20,000 per year. Gasoline currently cost over $6.00 per gallon. He explained that most people live in communities so they can walk to stores, etc. rather than owning a car. Aruba also has a public transportation system that runs 365 days a year.

Aruba has a low unemployment rate.

There is government assisted housing, but you must work and help pay for it. After a few years, you will own the home.

I was excited about the ship not leaving port until 10:00 PM. That gave us the entire day to tour the island. We could then go back on the ship to shower and eat dinner. Then we could go back into the port to shop. Well, part of that worked out. The part that didn’t work out too well was the shopping part. Most of the main stores were closed. There were street markets opened that were lit up with a 75-watt light bulb. I didn’t really enjoy the shopping. I did find a few t-shirts inside the cruise terminal, but I had expected to be able to have several stores to browse.

I am very glad that I was able to explore and experience Aruba. I didn’t share my research with most of our group, so they were so surprised that Aruba is a desert.

 

The commercial on television only show the white sandy beaches. We did drive past the beaches, but didn’t have time to stop.

I enjoyed our private island tour, but I don’t think Aruba is a place that I would select to spend a week’s vacation.

[sailingwithfriends]

Curacao:

We decided that today would be our walking around the port and shopping day. The port area and city are very pretty. I felt safe walking around. My research explained all the colorful buildings. It seems the governor had a problem with migraines. He asked the people that owned building to paint them a color because the white buildings caused headaches. Later one, it was discovered that he owned stock in the paint store company. (I am assuming that is a true story.)

 

There were so many stores in the port area. If you walk through the Fort, you will come to a pedestrian swinging bridge. (The Queen Emma Pontoon Bridge). It can open and close to allow boats in. My father actually was on the bridge when the alarm went off and the gates closed. He had to wait until the bridge opened and then closed before they opened the gate again. After we boarded the ship, I noticed the bridge was totally opened for a tanker that was going to one of the oil refineries.

The streets of Willemstad are packed with tourist and natives. There are street vendors that sell souvenirs and well as vendors that sell fresh fish, fruits and vegetables. (If the smell of fish bothers you, I would avoid this area.)

An unpleasant experience was trying to find a public rest room. There is a large circular building down town that has a lot of different vendors. Inside that building, there are security guards. I approached a security guard and asked where the rest room was. He pointed me down a dark (scary) hallway inside the circular part of the building. After walking by several jail cell type rooms (bars on doors), I came to a rest room. It was for both mails and females. You had to pay $1.00 to use the nasty rest room. The toilets were disgusting. There was some liquid dish soap to use to wash your hands. The woman taking up the money was very scary. I advise you to find a different place to use the rest room. There is a McDonald’s downtown. I would go there next time.

There is a nice area in the Fort area to sit in the shade. The shops in this area are more expensive than the ones on the other side of the bridge.

There is free wi-fi in that area. So many people were checking their email and social media accounts in this area. (Of course my daughter could not wait to check her email.)

 

[sailingwithfriends]

Grand Turk:

 

Here is a photo of Grand Turk from our balcony.

My research of Grand Turk lead me to decide that this would be a beach day. I knew that as soon as you get off the ship, there is a nice shopping area in the port. Margaritaville is located next to the ship. There are chairs available. Margaritaville has a pool that is free to use. I also read that Margaritaville food and drinks were expensive.

(Photos of chairs at Margaritaville taken from our balcony.)

 

 

I also read about Jack’s Shack. My research said that Jack’s Shack was right past Margaritaville and would not be as crowded. The prices were more reasonable. The food had great reviews. So our group decided that we would walk down to Jack’s Shack. You can get to Jack’s Shack by walking on the beach or by road. If you walk by road, you leave the port area and turn left. You will walk about ½ mile before you see the sign for the restaurant. We had some people in our group that had some mobility issues, so we decided to use the road. I kept thinking it would be any minute, but the walk was a little further than it looks if you walk by beach.

 

When we got to Jack’s Shack, one of the workers set up about 6 chairs and an umbrella. He only charged us $10.00 for all the chairs and umbrella. We ended up playing in the ocean almost the entire time. We brought our own water toys. We purchased them a few years ago and they fold into a little carry pouch. They have been a good investments because they don’t take up much room and they are sturdy.

Jack owns a famous dog called Topher. All the people in my group loved watching Topher dig. He swam and played with everyone.

[sailingwithfriends]

Several people in our group decided to go snorkeling in Grand Turk. They booked the excursion through Carnival called, “Sail Grand Turk and Snorkel”. The cost was $69.99 per adult. On this excursion, you board a catamaran and take a 45-minute ride to the coral reef. I believe everyone in the group enjoyed this excursion. The only complaint was that there were two other boatloads of people snorkeling in the same area. It was a little crowded. After they returned from the excursion, this group joined us at Jack’s Shack.

 

 

[sailingwithfriends]

After the snorkelers joined the rest of our group, most of us played in the water for a while. Some of the people in our group played volleyball.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The water climbing toys do not belong to Jack's Shack. You can go to the area next to Jack's to pay for all day play. I believe it was about $10.00 per day.

Soon people decided to eat and drink. The food is not cheap. A hamburger is $9.00. Chicken is $10.00. The jerk chicken was supposed to be great. I never found out because my husband could not find his money, sign-and-sail card or driver’s license. He knew he had them when the debarked the catamaran because he tipped the workers. Then he walked down to Jack’s Shack by the beach and played in the water a little while. Once he realized those items were missing, we spent time looking around the beach. He put on his mask, snorkel and fins and search the water. It could not be found.

We headed back to the ship, not knowing what we would have to do to get him back on board without his sign and sail card or his identification. There were some port security people walking around. My husband asked them if anyone had turned in a baggie with his stuff in it. (He had put it in a zipper part of his bathing suit). They had not seen it. We then proceeded to try and get on the ship. The lady that was looking at sign and sail cards didn’t speak very clear English. At times, I wasn’t sure if she was speaking to us or someone else. Finally, one of her supervisors searched an area of lost-and-found. It was not there. It was about 2:30 and we needed to be on the ship by 3:30. That security person passed us on to another security person. He walked us to the ship. If felt so bad. He bypassed everyone waiting in line. I told him it bothered me, but he said he was not going to stand in line. He then broke in front of the people in the area where you scan you sign and sail card. A Carnival worker took my card and said I could get on board. He then asked my husband for his name. He typed it in the computer and pulled up his photo. That was all he had to do. We then went straight to Guest Services to get a new card, with a new folio number. We are now dealing with replacing his driver’s license. If you live in Georgia, that is not an easy thing to do. You have to file a police report, in case someone tries to use your license to commit fraud. You then need to take several pieces of identification to the DMV in order to get a replacement. With my husband’s work schedule, he will finally get this all taken care of next Tuesday.

[sailingwithfriends]

Final Comments on our experiences on the Sunshine

We really had a great time on the ship. On the first three days, the boat rocked a lot. The waves were rough, so that caused the water slides and ropes course to be closed. A lot of people in our group ended up being queasy and had to take motion sickness pills. Neither my husband nor I had any problems. It was difficult to walk in a straight line at times. I ended up laughing so hard at the people attempting to walk in front of me I walked into a wall in our hallway. After a few days, the waters calmed down and we had no problems. Anytime you sail on a ship, you are at the mercy of mother nature.

 

On the second sea day (Sunday), the ship lost power. I was sitting out on our balcony looking at the wake. I noticed the ship's path veered to the right. My husband was in the cabin and said the lights went off. This was the first time I heard an announcement in our cabin or on our deck. (There are several announcements made in the hallways throughout the day). First the Captain came on the intercom and said there were problems but the engineers were working on it and should have it corrected soon. Then Jaime, the Cruise Director, came on and repeated what he said. I guess she wanted to make sure that everyone understood. The Captain has a thick accent. Now I wasn't worried at all. I knew Carnival had spent a lot of money to make sure there is back-up equipment on board. However, I had a small panic attack when I realized my parents and a few other people had just left to go eat Brunch. One of the people with them was a little fearful of the ship having problems. All I could think is they are probably stuck in an elevator. That would just be the worse thing since I had constantly assured her that there would be no problems. I took off running down the hallway and down the stairs to the dining room. They were all fine. As a matter of fact, they were looking at it as an adventure. There only fear was their food would not be cooked. They were actually telling my dad he was lucky he had ordered his steak rare, because it would probably be ready. There food did arrive with no problem. We had laughed several times in the last few weeks about people demanding a free cruise when any little problem occurred on their cruise. My dad was laughing and saying he hoped the power stayed off for a while so he could get a free cruise. While I was in the dining room, I noticed the employees kept working and acted like nothing was wrong. The power did come back on after a few minutes. That was the end of that adventure.

 

I would like to comment on the employees. Every single employee was nice, friendly and hardworking. When I ran into one of our servers in another part of the ship, they smiled and called me by name. In the buffet areas, the tables were cleaned quickly. Some of the employees walked around and asked if we needed any more drink, etc. Our room was always clean. Our room steward did not have an outgoing, friendly personality, but he did also speak. He made sure we always had ice and even extra ice in our cooler that we kept in the bathroom. It appeared he had a lot more rooms to care for than I've observed in the past. One of the ladies in group spoke to him. He said someone was out sick, so he was having to take care of more rooms than normal. He did have people helping him.

 

Our deck was washed down twice during our trip. We did receive a letter the night before telling us the hours it would happen. Since we had an aft balcony, we generally didn't sit outside during the heat of the day, so it was not a problem for us. It is amazing how much salt had built up on the rail during the beginning of the cruise.

 

The workers were also scraping and painting some of the balconies above us. I'm not sure how that affected the occupants. I know maintenance work has to be done. I realize that if you have a balcony, you might not be able to use it for a few minutes each day. Upkeep on a ship is not something you can put off.

 

I would like to praise an employee. I have no idea who he/she is. I just know that at sometime during the cruise, I misplaced my Nook Electronic Reader. My husband went to Guest Services and it was there. He just had to tell them what color the case was. I returned to guest services and asked the worker if she knew which employee found the Nook. She did have a record of it. I did leave a $10.00 tip to the honest employee. I saw the Guest Services worker take out an envelope and write the worker's name on it and put the money in the envelope.

 

When my husband lost his driver's license, sign-and-sail card and money, he spoke a carnival employee in the port area. The employee's name was Erin. My husband had no money and it was hot. She gave him two bottles of water at no cost. That was a very kind act.

 

Debarkation took a little longer than normal. Even though my husband and I had FTTF, we chose to exit the ship with our group. For some reason, customs was taking their sweet time letting people off the ship. We sat around and socialized on Deck 5. We did not get off the ship until about 10:00 AM. I'm glad we didn't have an airplane to catch. It had nothing to do with the ship. It was totally a Custom's issue. I did see police with a drug sniffing dog. I read later that two fire-trucks and two ambulances were parked outside the ship.

 

When we finally got off the ship and went to get our luggage, it was so easy to spot. We had the only suitcases left in Zone 3. The rest of our group was in Zone 12. The problem was the porters were no longer working in our zone. There was no way we could take 6 suitcases by ourselves. I heard my parents yelling my name. They happened to be standing on the other side of the half-wall. Their porter said he could take our bags. He contacted his supervisor and she said no problem. We gave him a good tip for saving us.

 

These are my opinions of the Sunshine. I really like the ship. I thought the beds were very comfortable.

Once you figure out how to get through the middle section of the ship on decks 3 and 4, it is fine. I did not find the ship to be any more crowded than any other ship I have been on. I actually think the buffet area was less crowded than any other ship I have been on. I love the decor. It was very clean. I do think the public restaurants were a little tight. I wondered what someone in a wheelchair would do if they needed to use a public restroom. I love the paper towels hanging on the doors of the rest rooms. You use them to open the door. There is a trash can right outside the door. I loved the automatic hand washers in the food areas. One washer was out of soap every time I used it. I'm not sure why the soap wasn't replaced. The elevators were slow, but I didn't think they were as slow as some of the other ships I have been on. I enjoyed all the food on the ship. There are so many options.

 

What I do not like about the ship is the smell of smoke in the casino. I have no problem with the people that are smoking. They have every right to smoke. What I feel Carnival needs to do is not allow their smoke to interfere with my breathing. This could be taken care of by moving the smoking areas in closer to the walls, rather than in the aisles. They could also set up some type of ventilation system to eliminate the smoke.

 

The man in the cabin next to us smoked a cigar every night. It was actually a sweet smelling cigar so it didn't really bother me. Because we had such a large balcony, I could always move if it bothered me.

 

I hope my review will give you some insights or answer any question you have about the Sunshine. Let me know if you have any questions. I'll do my best to answer them.

 

I'm now ready to start planning my next cruise.

[ibcnusoon]

We headed back to the ship, not knowing what we would have to do to get him back on board without his sign and sail card or his identification. There were some port security people walking around. My husband asked them if anyone had turned in a baggie with his stuff in it. (He had put it in a zipper part of his bathing suit). They had not seen it. We then proceeded to try and get on the ship. The lady that was looking at sign and sail cards didn’t speak very clear English. At times, I wasn’t sure if she was speaking to us or someone else. Finally, one of her supervisors searched an area of lost-and-found. It was not there. It was about 2:30 and we needed to be on the ship by 3:30. That security person passed us on to another security person. He walked us to the ship. If felt so bad. He bypassed everyone waiting in line. I told him it bothered me, but he said he was not going to stand in line. He then broke in front of the people in the area where you scan you sign and sail card. A Carnival worker took my card and said I could get on board. He then asked my husband for his name. He typed it in the computer and pulled up his photo. That was all he had to do. We then went straight to Guest Services to get a new card, with a new folio number. We are now dealing with replacing his driver’s license. If you live in Georgia, that is not an easy thing to do. You have to file a police report, in case someone tries to use your license to commit fraud. You then need to take several pieces of identification to the DMV in order to get a replacement. With my husband’s work schedule, he will finally get this all taken care of next Tuesday.

 

Oh no! Sorry to hear that!

 

Something similar happened to my DH. We were flying to Florida to see my in-laws and while in line for TSA, DH noticed that he forgot his wallet with all forms of ID at home. We explained the situation to the agent, DH was taken in a back room, ask a bunch of questions, they fiddled around on the computer and about 20 minutes later said, ok, you can fly. Whew! On the flight home, we arrived at the airport early, explained to them the situation, bing bang boom - agent says ok, go ahead, have a nice flight.

 

just thought I'd let you know that, in case you ever fly with your DH and he loses his ID again.

[sailingwithfriends]

One more tidbit, one of the teenagers in our group loved the teen club. Every night after dinner, he couldn't wait to go join his new friends. I think the sports square is also a good place for the teenagers to meet new friends.

[jenniferop]

Thank you for your honest, detailed review! DH and I are eagerly awaiting our (2) Sunshine cruises we have scheduled for later this year. Your review has made we wish that the end of August was closer than 79 days away!!

 

 

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[ShellLoves2cruise]

Thank you for your review ~ we sailed on the Sunshine 5/17 and I agree with everything you said about the ship! I also was confused about the way they had the smoking set up in the casino with the machines intermingled but that was really my only complaint ~ we loved the decor....we knew our way around the ship within 2 days, never felt crowded and always was able to find a lounger by the pool! I loved the 3 tiered Serenity deck ~ I will definitely sail on the Sunshine again!!

[travelerblue]

Lunch:

One thing about this ship is there are so many options for lunch. I am amazed when I hear or read complaints about the food. I tried several of the lunch spots.

Guys Burgers: Good burger and fries. I actually had it twice during the cruise. I never had to wait for a burger.

Cucina Del Capitano: This is restaurant is located in the back of the ship. You are given an order sheet where you bubble in the type of pasta, the sauce, the meat and toppings you want. You can also order garlic bread and a Caesar salad. I had an Alfredo sauce with chicken and lots and lots of vegetables. They give you a pager. You can find a table and get your drink while they prepare your food to your liking. It took about 5 minutes. The food was fantastic.

The Deli: On the day we were in Aruba, we docked at 1:00. This was the only time I saw the crowds and lines. Everyone was trying to get lunch before getting off the ship. I decided the deli line was the shortest. I order a turkey sandwich on a country roll. It was one of the best sandwiches I have ever had. It took about 7-8 minutes to get my order, but it was worth it. After I got my sandwich I went to the salad bar and got some fruit and potato salad. The fruit was very fresh and the potato salad was good.

BlueIguana Cantina: This was one of my favorite lunch places. I also ate here twice. The burritos are wonderful. But my favorite food was the watermelon salsa on the toppings bar. I simply ate it with a spoon. There was always 4 or 5 people in line, but it went quickly.

Havana Bar: This was my surprise lunch choice. There is a fried coconut pie that was heavenly. The other food is very delicious. You can almost miss the food. It is located in a little area beside the bar. Make sure you check it out.

Room Service: I hadn’t planned on eating lunch through room service, but when we returned from Grand Turk that was the only hot food available at 3:30. I ordered a grilled cheese sandwich and it was wonderful. I tipped the deliverer $2.00. She delivered two sandwiches (one for my husband) and drinks in about 10 minutes.

Marketplace: I never ate a complete meal from the buffet for lunch. However, I did select desserts and salads from there. There was almost never a line. What I ate was good. My husband ate there a few days and enjoyed his food. On the last sea day, there is a chocolate dessert bar. They do have more than chocolate, but almost everything chocolate you can think of to enjoy.

JiJi Mongolian Wok: I never ate here but had planned to do so. This is the one place where I always saw lines. It is obviously good because so many people wanted to eat there.

Pizza: I also never ate the pizza. I heard mixed reviews. The younger people in my group loved it. The older people didn’t care for it too much.

There is also ice cream and frozen yogurt 24 hours a day. I tried something new and really enjoyed it. I grabbed a coffee cup and put about ¼ cup of coffee in it. Then I added vanilla soft serve. Mix it up and it is delicious.

Beverages: I love the fact that you can get ice, water, lemonade, tea, coffee and hot chocolate all day. The coffee is a little strong. My parents would actually add hot water to it. I just used a lot of flavored creamers that I brought onto the ship with me.

 

Thank you for all the great lunch tips and reviews. We will be sailing on the Sunshine in September and it is our 1st Carnival cruise. I am really going to try to remember all these great lunch ideas!

[Eng23]

Nice review. I just need a 70" screen to read it all without scrolling left and right because of how wide the posts are! :eek::D

[sjcruiser]

Still loving the review and photos. Grand turk and Curacao brought back memories when I was there and can't wait to return. Thanks again for sharing!!!