Yet Another Sunshine Review

[Lacaena]

Hi everybody! My DH and I returned a couple of weeks ago from the Carnival Sunshine. There seem to have been a lot of reviews on her lately but I thought I’d add my $.02. I usually do a review on a timeline kind of basis but this time I thought I’d do it a little differently and do it by topic, so if there’s one topic that interests you skip ahead :)

 

First off, let me say that we did have a good time on vacation, although at times my review may not reflect that. I am a firm believer that any day on a cruise is a good day and most people who have an awful vacation ruin it for themselves, barring certain obvious catastrophes. I’m sure I’ll probably have a few comments along the lines of “we’re better off without you” or “you just can’t please some people.” Please don’t take what I have to say as me being a nit picky ______ (insert choice word here). I’m just trying to let other people know what our thoughts were on the cruise, the ship, the line in general, etc. Unless I specifically say that we complained about something to the appropriate person then we didn’t say anything, which means it probably wasn’t a huge deal to us just a minor annoyance. Anyway, on to the review:

 

 

The Cabin:

 

We stayed in a Grand Suite on deck 7. I could not find pictures of any grand suites on Sunshine on CC so I will try and post pictures below. We had originally booked a balcony but we got an upgrade call a couple of weeks before we left. It was a good deal so we took it. Partially because we had just done a suite on NCL and wanted to compare the experience and partially because we didn’t have FTTF and really didn’t want to sit in port forever to board. (It should be noted that the NCL suite was a Haven and was significantly more expensive, so we didn’t expect a comparable experience on Carnival. If anybody has questions about NCL, our Haven experience, or how the suite life compares feel free to ask.)

 

The suite boarding experience was good. You are ushered through the checkin area to a priority checkin section where they check you in at little tables with comfy chairs. Then you sit in an area with couches before you proceed upstairs to a cordoned off area with ballroom style chairs all in a row facing the window, it was a little weird I felt like I was going to a lecture or something. We were ushered through the comfortable section with barely a chance for our butts to touch the couches, which was great. Then, unfortunately, we had to wait upstairs in the not so great chairs for approximately half an hour to 45 min. Then we were on the ship! Not too bad. Our suite perks pretty much ended there (except for priority debark).

 

I know that this is a contested topic, but I think Carnival needs to work on their suite perks. They just aren’t that great. As for the room itself:

 

The pros:

the cabin was very large, much larger than we needed or expected

our room steward was great

we had a nice long balcony and lots of windows

there was a dressing area with a sink and seat

we had a jacuzzi tub

the decor was much less typical Carnival and more understated

good location mid-ship

TONS of storage and plenty of outlets

 

The cons:

nothing drained, neither of our two sinks, nor the tub. The plugs sat upside down on the counter and side of the tub the entire cruise. I’m sorry but that just grosses me out.

the tub was set up a bit high (I presume to accommodate the inner workings of the jacuzzi) which caused the shower head to be right in your face, I’m 5’1” and it was perfect for me so I’m pretty sure anyone approaching 6’ would have the shower head in their chest and be grazing their head on the ceiling.

there was also no convenient hold bar to help get in and out over the high side of the tub (it should maybe be mentioned that I’m a lawyer so sometimes I just can’t get liability out of my head lol). This was not a big deal for us but I can see that it definitely might be for others.

the dressing area with vanity was great but it was so dimly lit that I couldn’t sit in there to do my hair or makeup so it was kind of a wasted area.

the toilet did not like to flush down anything (sorry if that’s gross but it was a huge annoyance) even one little piece of paper would get stuck to the bottom and not flush. We ended up having to keep a glass near the sink and add water to the toilet every time we wanted to flush it.

In addition to the toilet not flushing there were these weird little black flakes in the water the whole time. Just weird.

 

Overall thoughts on the room. It was nice and large, balcony was nice. Some issues, but nothing that had us running to guest services. In general, although it was nice to have a big room and try out the suite situation on Carnival, I don’t think we would pay for the upgrade on Carnival again.

 

It's L shaped, so a bit hard to get all in one pic, sorry :(

 

 

 

 

The dressing area:

[Cruisegirl6]

Thank you and want to hear more lol....did you not call maintenance about your draining issues? If I have a problem I immediately call maintenance to fix the issues and never not have them fixed.

 

Carnival surely has to work on its perks for people in suites....totally agree! Another reason why we won't get a suite on Carnival..and honestly, its not worth it to me as the rooms are nothing more than a bit larger a bit larger sofa but yes, the tub in the bathroom is nice and the bathrooms are decorated better but certainly not worth the extra money in my opinion. I am glad you told me about the issue with the shower, never knew that been years since I had a suite on Carnival and probably never will unless they add perks to having one.

 

So far I agree with what you said, hoping to hear more from you and thank you.

[islandatsea]

Thanks for taking the time for this review. Our cruise is on the Sunshine next year so interested in how everyone thought about the ship.

[kelkel2]

Thanks for doing your review!!! Can't wait to see your pictures!!

[Lacaena]

Thank you and want to hear more lol....did you not call maintenance about your draining issues? If I have a problem I immediately call maintenance to fix the issues and never not have them fixed.

 

Nope, not really worth my time. If I had called about anything it would have been about the toilet not flushing, but I thought that might not really be a fixable issue. So I didn't bother. I know some people think that if you don't make a complaint you don't have the right to complain when you get home. And I pretty much agree with that. Dealing with maintenance or complaining would have just made me more frustrated than dealing with it. I guess I was just surprised that it was like that when we got there. Obviously the room steward (who was great in all other respects) or someone else knew and just didn't care.

[Lacaena]

Smoking:

 

This is a short topic, but I wanted to comment. DH and I were ecstatic when they banned smoking on balconies. After this cruise, I wish they’d bring smoking on balconies back! It’s not SO bad, usually it blows away really quickly and even if I can smell it I don’t stink of it. However, when people are all standing around in the designated smoking area of the casino bar, which on occasion you must walk through to get from point a to point b it’s TERRIBLE. It was fish-bowled like a college dorm room. I wish I were exaggerating. I had to cover my face with my shirt, I’m sensitive to smoke. More than one smoker laughed at me for that but I don’t care.

 

 

The Spa:

 

Ok... so we LOVE spas. Maybe my hopes were too high... We knew we wanted spa passes and so we went and toured the spa on embarkation day. We both love heated tile loungers and could spend hours on them. We also really like thalassotherapy pools. So we toured the spa, no pool (which I already knew and thought I had told DH about but he claimed I didn’t) not even a hot tub. Half of the heated tile loungers were cold and the other half room temperature. I asked the lady giving us the tour and she said they had just turned them on, they get nice and warm. Ok. So the pass was relatively inexpensive, $169 for the two of us for the week and according to the girl who gave the tour there was free salt scrub. So we bought it. BIG mistake!

 

We went to the spa on the first sea day. All the heated tile loungers were still coolish. Definitely not warm enough to warm through a towel and seep into your skin. We wanted to sit in the scented steam room but it was so scented it made our eyes sting, ok not a big deal maybe some people like it that way. At least it wasn’t broken or smelling like sweaty socks like some other reports that I had heard. So we went into the regular steam room. It was ok, some minor complaints: the shape of the wall made super hot water regularly drip onto you and it stung, when it released new steam it was very loud which is not super relaxing. After our brief stint in the steam room we went to lay on a lounger. I will say that they have a nice ergonomic shape to them, but they were certainly not hot, I know they’re not supposed to be HOT. These were just barely warm. Only warm enough so that they didn’t seem cold when you sat on them. 30 seconds in a cold one and it would have been as warm as the warm ones just from my body temp. So after a few minutes in the steam room and a few minutes in a “heated” tile lounger we decided to check out the rain showers. I thought this might be were the scrub was, nope. And one was broken. They have 3 buttons with 3 types of showers, one is like warm rain, one is like cool mist, and I forget the third one. My shower worked fine but only the regular button on DH’s worked. So we decided to go back to the cabin. On the way out I ran into another spa worker and asked about the scrub. Turns out, it’s not included. Ok... not a huge deal but a little bummed.

 

On the way back to the room we decided that we probably wouldn’t use the spa again as our impetus for buying the spa pass was the heated loungers. We decided to complain. Ugh I hate complaining. I wasn’t sure if I should go to guest services or the spa. I figured I’d start at guest services. The worker at guest services literally said to me “what do you want me to do about it.” And not in a nice how can I help you kind of way, but in a snotty I don’t give a s--t about your problem kind of way. I was blown away, she really couldn’t have cared less. So up to the spa we went to talk with the spa manager. At first she was not receptive to what I was saying at all. She gave all kinds of excuses, we can’t sell the pass now, we can’t give refunds because the system doesn’t let us, etc. And she kind of treated us like we were idiots. Well I’m not going to just roll over and walk away, sorry. I explained to her that it’s not really the situation of the spa, we had a chance to tour it. It’s that the worker either intentionally deceived us or was just ill informed, either way it’s not ok in my book. Eventually she realized that we weren’t going to just go away and started to take us seriously. She insisted that she couldn’t do a refund, so she offered spa credit for $169, plus a free scrub, plus we could continue to access the spa all week if we wanted to. Wow, that was way more than I was expecting. In the end she did right by us.

 

A little note to the end of this story. We didn’t end up using the spa at all the rest of the week, we honestly weren’t interested. I got a 75 minute special on the last sea day which was a body brushing, massage, and spa facial. It was enjoyable but I wouldn’t have wanted to pay for it. It was $171, guess what they did! They REFUNDED the $169 and charged the $171, apparently they can do refunds.

 

Random side note, with the spa pass you get a hospital style bracelet. The color changes each day so you have to get a new one. Once you put it on you can’t take it off without ruining it. The lady at the spa told me that if you remove it you can’t go to the spa the rest of the day. Just an FYI incase there’s anyone out there like me who hates having to wear wristbands on a semi-permanent basis, especially when you’re trying to look cute.

 

Still to come... The food, the ship, the ports, and the entertainment.

 

If anyone has specific questions please feel free to ask!

[SeaGoingDAD]

I'm following a review on the Carnival page about a VIFP cruiser who has sewage all over her bathroom, and they won't move her. They are only supplying her with air freshener. She is sleeping on the Lido deck.

[Lacaena]

I'm following a review on the Carnival page about a VIFP cruiser who has sewage all over her bathroom, and they won't move her. They are only supplying her with air freshener. She is sleeping on the Lido deck.

 

 

Wow, just wow...

[SE NC]

I'm following a review on the Carnival page about a VIFP cruiser who has sewage all over her bathroom, and they won't move her. They are only supplying her with air freshener. She is sleeping on the Lido deck.

 

Where is this page? What's the tittle? I can't seem to find it? Please advise!

[SeaGoingDAD]

Where is this page? What's the tittle? I can't seem to find it? Please advise!

 

It's on the Carnival Cruise Line Facebook page.

[SeaGoingDAD]

https://www.facebook.com/Carnival/posts/10152868424009584

[hhalliv]

Thanks for the details and great pictures! I sail in three weeks in a spa suite, so am not so happy reading your spa review. Apparently this has been a problem on the ship for a while based on other reviews, so it's nice to know going in.

[Cruisegirl6]

Lacaena, I understand but its never a bother to call they always come to fix things asap actually as fast as I get off the phone within moments maintenance is there. I couldn't deal with a toilet not flushing right, I give you credit for your patience!

[SeaGoingDAD]

https://www.facebook.com/Carnival/posts/10152868424009584

 

Seems to be in jump mode:

 

https://www.facebook.com/Carnival/posts/10152869767589584

[SeaGoingDAD]

The story is getting some traction. It's now made its way here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=45613839#post45613839

[Lacaena]

The Food:

 

**Food Porn is at the end of the post!

 

The pros:

- more specialty dining than you usually get on Carnival

- the specialty dining that we tried (sushi, JiJi’s Asian Kitchen, and Steakhouse) was all very good and good prices. These were a true lifesaver for us!

- you could usually get reservations on short notice or even walk in to the specialty restaurants and staff was great!

- buffet food was kind of hit or miss but overall decent and they had some awesome little pastries in the morning at the Cuban bar

- crowds were handled pretty well in the buffet area and tables were turned over pretty quickly

 

The cons:

Main Dining... oh where to start.

Even though we booked 4+ months out, both set dining times were full so we were bumped to Your Time Dining (or whatever they call it). The dining room is down on deck 3 but you have to check in on deck 5 between the casino and the alchemy bar. The line was usually VERY long just to check in. We only did MDR one night because the line was usually so bad. The night we did it, it took about 1 hour from getting in line to checking in, getting a pager, going back to check in when the pager buzzed, going and waiting in line at the dining room, and getting seated. We spoke with a lady at brunch after formal night and she said she got in line to checkin on formal night around 6:15 and didn’t have food in front of her until 9:00!

When you get the buzzer they tell you that you must wait on deck 5 with it. This means that your choices are casino or bars. Amazing that you must wait only in places where you can spend money killing time. That kind of irked me.

 

When we did sit down in the MDR it took quite a while for the waiter to come over. He was SUPER nice and explained that food had just come out of the kitchen and he likes to get it to people asap so he doesn’t greet new tables until it’s all out. We get that, no big deal.

 

Sea Day Brunch... this was SO bad it was comical! Our first one went ok but the food frankly sucked. I had filet mignon and eggs and the steak had a lot of sinew and was quite tough. Eggs were overcooked. Eh whatever nbd. Well the last sea day I convinced hubby to give it another go. Well... on the upside the food quality was steady (bad but steady) on the downside we saw 4 different waiters. None of them had any idea what the other had done. After we saw our first waiter and got a cup of coffee we didn’t see anyone again for a VERY long time. So long that the gentleman at the table next to us got up and went to the server station and grabbed the coffee carafe to refresh everyone in our section. We were all laughing that we’d have to tip him. Then we had no cream so we had to scrounge it from another table. Us three tables in a row had to share one set of salt and pepper shakers. It was just bad, but we all had a good laugh and moved on.

 

Last thing, the selection in the buffet has dwindled a bunch! I thought maybe it was just me but when I got home I spoke with several friends who are avid Carnival cruisers and they had noticed the same thing. There are far more repeats of food and just not that many options.

 

Overall thoughts on dining. MDR was not good at all in our opinion! The food was just blah. It seems clear that this ship is overcrowded and it showed in more than one area, but this was a big one. It seems as though with the extra cabins which were added during her revamp there just isn’t enough common space. Like the dining rooms. This is just a guess, but I think that because of the extra guests there is a larger proportion of YTD because they can’t accommodate even close to half the guests at once. Again, just a guess maybe I’m way off. What I can say is that there seems to be an abnormally large portion of guests with YTD which apparently leads to a far less structured dining room. Instead of the majority of apps all coming out at once, then mains, etc. the staff is left with a constant flow of diners leading to disorganization and much slower service. The staff in the MDR seemed overworked and frazzled. I think Carnival needs to look into exactly what is going on with the MDR situation on this ship.

 

However, specialty restaurants were great!

 

JiJi Food - everything was amazing! We went twice.

 

Nanjing-Style Duck (app)

 

Slow-Braised Pork Belly (app)

 

Chairman Mao's Master Stock Pig (entree) - there's actually delicious pork under all that spinach!

 

Singapore Chili Shrimp - this was spicier than expected but very flavorful!

 

Hakka Style Noodles (side)

[Lacaena]

JiJi Desserts

 

Caramelized Crepes

 

Fried Wonton - this was not what I was expecting but it was possibly the best thing I ate the whole cruise! But if tapioca pearls aren't your thing you may want to skip it.

[Lacaena]

Fahrenheit 555 (aka The Steakhouse)

 

We also went here twice, very good!

 

Amuse Buche - Unfortunately I rarely catch the entirety of the description of these and even if I do, I then fail to remember, sorry for the vague descriptions.

 

Prosciutto and melon on a stick

 

Duck Confit with fresh peach and peach sorbet

 

This had lobster under the sorbet, I can't remember what the rest of it was though.

 

This was some kind of Molecular Gastronomy thing. It was good, no idea what it was now.

[Lacaena]

Carpaccio (app)

 

Filet Mignon (main)

 

Cowboy Steak (main)

 

Cheesecake - it's ENORMOUS! and only ok. We found that the desserts in the steakhouse were kind of a throw away. But everything else is so good that it doesn't really matter! The second time we went, we skipped dessert there and sought it out elsewhere.

 

Apple Fritter thing

[Cruisegirl6]

H-u-n-g-r-y lol

[cruisingbajan]

C

 

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