Sunshine Review - Western Caribbean 7/14

[cacroozr]

Just got off the Sunshine for our Western Caribbean cruise last week! In short -- it was amazing!

 

This was our first family cruise. It was me, dh and my two boys, ages 12 and 9.

 

We flew from Cali and rented a car to get from the airport to Port Canaveral. Did some research and for 4 people, this was the most cost effective way to go. Easy drive -- literally take the on-ramp to the highway and stay on it. No turns, no navigating anywhere. About a 45 min drive. Stayed the night before the cruise at the Holiday Inn Express. It was fine, a standard Holiday Inn Express. It's next door to the Publix grocery store so we were able to go next door to get some staples for the cruise.

 

The next morning we drove to Avis to drop off the car and then they shuttled us to the port. We dropped off the car at 10:30 and it was already busy. I'd probably shoot for 10am next time on that. We got to the port by 11:15 and they were already boarding and had just opened to all zones. We checked in and walked right on board.

 

We had FTTF so went straight to our room. We booked a scenic ocean view, room 9122. It was an amazing room. The couch and the bunk were made up as beds already for the boys and there was still plenty of room for all. Plenty of space for everything. One tall closet, one shorter closet with drawers underneath and one closet with shelves. Everything had a spot with tons of space to spare. Our steward was Komang. He stopped by and introduced himself and then greeted us by name every time after that. He was responsive whenever we needed anything.

 

We had early seating in the dining room. We were at a table for eight but the other family only showed up twice the whole cruise. We actually ate in the dining room every night but one. The food was good and there was always something yummy on the menu. We did not partake in the pay restaurants. It didn't make sense to pay extra for when the food we could get for free was so good. We ate breakfast at the buffet most days. Scrambled eggs didn't look so good but the rest was standard breakfast fare. Dh got an omelet one morning and a burrito a couple of mornings. Said both were great. Lunch was at the buffet as well. Sometimes buffet, sometimes Guys, sometimes tacos. All was good. We had dinner at the buffet one night. They weren't serving anything that really spoke to me, but dh liked his part. They always had the deli, pizza and a salad bar so there was always something. My oldest son ate pizza at nearly every meal, even breakfast. Never too much of a wait there. The other son ventured out more with his food, but once he figured out he could get a grilled cheese at the deli, that was usually what he ate. Loved the 24hr ice cream!

 

There was apparently 1200 kids on this cruise. It didn't seem that bad but I think the kids clubs were stretched a bit. My oldest loved Circle C, but programming didn't really start until 8 or 9 at night and then went until midnight usually. They were using the Circle C space for Camp Carnival before that time for the 9-11 crowd. My youngest is a bit shy and never wanted to go to Camp Carnival so I can't really speak to that. Not a lot of activities that would appeal to that age group on the schedule.

 

We went to most of the shows and they were okay. They did get better as the week progressed. Only went to one comedy show on our last night. It is a weird room. You wait outside until the doors open, go in and then there's an introduction of the comic and then the show and before you know it it's over. Seemed kind of short to me, but was enjoyable. They had a juggler comedy show one night - Marcus Monroe. If you get a chance and he's on your cruise, go see that one. It the best show. The kids absolutely loved it.

 

I'm sure the ship was full, but it only felt really crowded a few times. The first sea day of course as everyone came out to explore everything. And breakfast was usually a little crazy. A certain amount of chair hogging on deck but I was able to find a chair everything I went to find one, it just might not be in the location I wanted.

 

We had the Western Caribbean itinerary. When you have four in the family, excursions can get expensive so we didn't do too much. On Cozumel, we just got off and walked around. They have a nice port area with a lot of shops and a couple of restaurants. We got back on the ship early and then spent the afternoon by the non-crowded waterslides while everyone else was still in port.

 

In Belize, we did the Xunitunich Mayan ruins tour through Carnival. It's about a 2 hour bus ride, but it was a great way to see Belize and learn about the country. The tour guides were great and informative. The ruins are amazing. And you get lunch, which was really good. It's definitely a full-day tour. We were on the first tender off and the last one back. My only complaint was that it was so hot there, but that's not really anyone's fault!

 

In Mahogany Bay, we rented a cabana. It made it my favorite day of the entire cruise. The cabana is a small room with air-conditioning and then they have a shaded porch with loungers and a hammock and another set of loungers in the sun. The beach is semi-private in that it's fenced off. People can walk by, but fewer people did. They had security to keep people off your loungers and hammock and there was a waiter to bring you food. The water was great. Earlier in the day you could see lots of fish -- as the day progressed and more people got in the water, the fish disappeared. I would do this one again in a heartbeat.

 

Costa Maya has a port area with a swimming pool. We just wandered round and shopped a bit. We were only in port from 7-2 and I didn't want to get up too early.

 

We did self-assist debarkation and were off the ship by 7:20. Took the Avis shuttle back and rented another car to go back to the airport. Our flight wasn't until 6pm, so we went to Kennedy Space Center for the day. If you love space, it's a must-see. I wish we had more time to spend there. Next time, I'll plan for the entire day there!

 

Overall, it was a great cruise!! I'd definitely do it again. I saw no buckets, smelled no unusual smells, saw no pack of wild kids running around, didn't run into rude people. There was tons of stuff to do and I usually had to make a choice between multiple things I wanted to do. The kids had a great time too. No internet for a week and it was so nice to reconnect as a family! Now they are all asking when our next cruise is!!!

[travelerblue]

Thank you for your review. We are sailing on the Sunshine in September and it is our first Carnival cruise. There have been so many mixed reviews but we are going with good friends so I know we will have a blast no matter what.

[Seago2]

Thanks for the review! Sounds great!

[onegroundcafe]

Thanks for your review!

[imluvncruzn]

Thanks for your review! How was the tendering process for Belize?

[hartsnvt]

Thanks so much for your review! We are going in August and can't wait!

[pbmsmile]

How early were you able to book the cabana? We are sailing in March and none of the Mahogany Bay beach cabanas, flying chairs, clamshells are available yet!? Kinda weird that they are holding them back. How much was the cabana if you don't mind me asking.... :confused:

[ammoore36]

Thank you for the review. Sailing on her, August 9th. Can't wait !!!!

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for taking the time to write and post a review of your cruise. Glad you had a amazing time.

[cacroozr]

Thanks for your review! How was the tendering process for Belize?

 

It was pretty easy. We had a Carnival excursion, so they had us meet in the Liquid Lounge and then escorted us to the tenders by excursion. There was another tender for non-Carnival excursions and those were done by getting a ticket. On the way back, you just stood in line first come, first serve. At the end of the day, it was a long line and it was hot but not much you could do with it I think.

[cacroozr]

How early were you able to book the cabana? We are sailing in March and none of the Mahogany Bay beach cabanas, flying chairs, clamshells are available yet!? Kinda weird that they are holding them back. How much was the cabana if you don't mind me asking.... :confused:

 

We booked the cabana about 2 or 3 months ago probably. We didn't even book out cruise until Feb so by the time we were looking at excursions everything was there. The cabana was $249 for up to four people. With that we got the cabana and two floats for the water (which is normally a separate rental fee).

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[Keith1010]

Glad that you enjoyed the cruise.

 

Keith

[gred1994]

Thanks! We are going on the Sunshine in September. Can't wait!

[EasyBreezy83]

Sounds awesome! I'm eyeballing this ship, and a scenic room for our next cruise, so it was nice to read your experience.