Sunshine 7/26/14

[srjones1]

My wife and I just returned from a 7 day cruise aboard the Sunshine. Over the next few days I will be sharing my thoughts and experiences of our trip with the CC family. If anyone has any specific questions that I might could answer as part of the review please let me know.

 

For tonight... Day one.

 

We spent the night before at the Fairfield Inn in Titusville. We had accumulated enough points for a free nights stay and they offer a voucher for 40% off port parking. Our free night plus parking: $72. Great start!

 

We arrived at port around 11:15, dropped our bags and parked. DW is platinum so we breezed through the lines pretty quick. I had a carryon with 12 Pepsi's, 12 cans of juice, and 2 wine bottles. Security took it from the X-ray table to another table and opened it. He only opened the main compartment and looked past the other 3 zippers. I mentioned this to him and he ignored me. He barely looked at the drinks or bottles. Ok then...

 

We were directed to the Captains Lounge (?) and had our cards and account taken care of in 5 minutes. We were then sent upstairs. It was now about 11:40. Well, the priority boarding room was packed. Really packed. We finally boarded at 12:30. Something was said about ship inspections, but that's the longest we've ever had to wait. I felt bad for those downstairs cause I knew they would have to wait even longer.

 

We boarded and went straight to our cabin, 8527. Remind me later to explain, but I would advise against this cabin and the others around it. Strongly. We met our steward, Yoho, and prepped him with some $ to insure we were taken care of and he met our expectations and then some. I had asked for three buckets of ice at all times and he never let us down.

 

After that was handled we set out to tour the ship...

[tinyrose]

We boarded and went straight to our cabin, 8527. Remind me later to explain, but I would advise against this cabin and the others around it. Strongly.

 

I just looked at the deck plans and there is no 8527. ???? Just wondering as I am booked on the Sunshine in Nov and would really prefer not to be in a bad location.

Edited August 4, 2014 by tinyrose

[gregg204]

Nope no 8527, maybe 8327 which is under the lido deck?

[Seago2]

Looking forward to your review and bad cabin alert...

[thehare]

We're staying at the Quality Inn in Titusville before our August 16th cruise on the Sunshine--we got a free room using our points, too. But the Quality Inn doesn't participate in the 40% off port parking. :( I'd love to get that coupon!

 

Looking forward to your review!:D

[srjones1]

I just looked at the deck plans and there is no 8527. ???? Just wondering as I am booked on the Sunshine in Nov and would really prefer not to be in a bad location.

 

Oops, sorry. 8257. My folio # was 8523 and I kept making the same mistake on the ship.

[srjones1]

I'll go ahead and get the bad of the cabin out of the way. It is located directly below the ice cream and drinks on Lido but that wasn't the big problem. The problem is it is also below the automatic door that leads inside and under that door is a drain for water that is covered by an aluminum grating that is not secured but rather just loose. It took me days to figure this out but every time someone would step on the grating you could hear it in the room. I can't explain the sound to you but it was just plain annoying trying to go to sleep and hearing that "clank" every few minutes. Secondly, the staff roll large plastic bins loaded with dishes around at all times of the day and night and think of a heavy object on wheels rolling across a tile floor right above you. It sounded like thunder.

 

To be fair though, there are no cabins across the hall from this one. It's the cabin steward work areas. Also it is steps from the laundry area if you need to iron anything.

 

My advice to anyone would be to try and avoid deck 8 in this particular area.

 

I will definitely get a different cabin on our next Sunshine cruise.

[KPfromCT]

Thanks for the review. We are trying to decide between Sunshine and Dream for next April.

Looking forward to reading more.:D

[srjones1]

So we went out to tour the ship and it is definitely bigger than what I was used to. DW had been on it as the Destiny and she said it looked only vaguely familiar. Until now I had only cruised Fantasy class. I had researched the ship prior to leaving both on CC and YouTube and had some basic knowledge of the layout. The worst congestion of people is between Guys Burgers on starboard and Blue Iguana on port side going to inside area because of the narrow path to go inside the Lido eating area. It is barely wide enough for 2 and they put the drinks and ice cream in those areas right by the door. Just get used to hearing and saying "excuse me" in that 20 foot section. Otherwise it never really felt crowded to me as others have said.

 

The Serenity Deck is absolutely awesome. Hammocks, couches, even beds. I can't put words together to say how nice it is. Three levels of it too.

 

We went back to our room about 3 or so and arrived at the same time our bags did. We got unpacked and sat on the balcony a while. An announcement was made that we were being delayed by a sick employee and were waiting for an ambulance so we waited to actually move from the dock before we went back out. Sail away was just as usual. Same songs, same drinks, same etc.

 

All in all, embarkation day was about as smooth as my last four cruises and the ship had impressed me so far. At this point though I wasn't sure I would like it as much as my previous cruises. I guess because I was so used to the other ships.

 

That evening we headed for the casino. It is very nice and a bit larger than the others I've been in. We went to the Roulette table as always and DW immediately got social with the dealers and pit bosses. Nothing really to say about the casino here. They're all about the same. BUT, quick tip. DW is very outgoing and talkative and we had our "Drinks on Us" card when we walked in the second night. We barely spent $100 together so get to know your dealers and pit bosses. It pays because table games aren't bound by points like slots are. They do swipe your card and record your buy in's but the pit bosses monitor your play time and per hand/spin bets and it's all manually recorded.

[sjcruiser]

Thanks for beginning the review. We'll be on board in less than two weeks. I thought I had family members who'll have cabins in this area as one of them said they're close to the laundry room, but I think they have their rooms mixed up because they are more forward, with rooms overtop.

[gred1994]

We leave in 40 days! Can't wait to hear the rest of your review!

[tandemcruzr]

B2B in November. Looking forward to more.

[srjones1]

Day 2: First stop, Nassau. We have been here many times before so we never left the ship. That's the first time we had done this and it was pretty nice. There couldn't have been 500 passengers on that ship. We had our pick of chairs. That doesn't happen often.

 

 

I'll insert this here at the risk of getting nastygrams from some...we both smoke so we naturally chose chairs near the pool where smoking is permitted. So for the sake of others that smoke, it is only allowed on deck 10 starboard near the DJ. On sea days it was packed. Really packed. I did read in the Funtimes that smoking is allowed on deck 3 somewhere but I never checked into it. Of course balconies are smoking for now and we did smoke there but I talked with my immediate neighbors on the first day and everything was cool.

 

I took this opportunity to walk the ship some more but I failed to take my phone to get pictures. Sorry.

 

Question... When I get back to work and have scanning abilities would it be beneficial to anyone to post pictures of the Funtimes? I have all of them except embarkation day.

[lharry]

 

question... When i get back to work and have scanning abilities would it be beneficial to anyone to post pictures of the funtimes? I have all of them except embarkation day.

 

absolutely!!! :)

[mamajules]

Question... When I get back to work and have scanning abilities would it be beneficial to anyone to post pictures of the Funtimes? I have all of them except embarkation day.

 

Please do! Would love to see them. Sailing on Sunshine Sept. 20.

[srjones1]

Correction... Smoking is allowed on Deck 10 PORT, not starboard. I was so turned around on this ship I couldn't keep up with which way I was going.

[Shayneele]

So excited to read your review. We leave in 10 days on the sunshine. I so can't wait. I am excited about the ropes course did you do that?

[LibbyJanesMommy]

Would love to see copies of the fun times please!

[srjones1]

I watched kids on the ropes course but I never actually did it. It looks fun. That entire area looks great. I wanted to try the slides but the lines... Ugh. Our next cruise will be on the same ship with our kids and I'm guessing they will bounce from the waterworks to the deli all day long.

 

I'll post the Funtimes papers Friday night when I get back to work. I can't do them at home.

[srjones1]

Day 3: Fun day at sea.

 

I have to admit this... My wife is a reformed chair hog. On our first cruise together she told me you had to get by the pool by 6-7 and leave a towel to get a chair. I didn't argue with her because I knew no better. I found CC before our second cruise though. But even before CC I though it seemed kind of crappy. Anyway, we slept in that day and while she was getting ready she kept fussing about how I wouldn't let her go claim a chair. I assured her we'd find a chair or have belongings moved from a chair unattended for an hour or so. No one can say that's rude or otherwise. They have a big big sin that says 40 minutes so an hour is plenty. Maybe I'm the jerk here, I don't know, but I have no problem asking to have things moved. So we head on up to the smoking area on deck 10 above the pool and, wait for it... There were chairs open. I had to throw in a "told ya so". I got a dirty look but we had chairs.

 

The lido deck music bounced between a DJ and some chick playing guitar and singing on one of the sea days. Might have been this one. I'm not sure.

 

The sun bathing was short lived once she realized the casino was open and we get free drinks though... Two more chairs were available then. Lol

 

So our fun day at sea became our fun day at the tables. I didn't care after a few drinks.

[my1stcruise]

Enjoying your review! Looking forward to perusing the fun times!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[srjones1]

I uploaded all the Funtimes in an entirely new thread so they would be easier to find in a search.

[srjones1]

Some cabin pictures