Very discouraged about Sunshine

[CanadianDee]

Book a high deck to avoid the special smell on the Sunshine. Otherwise we loved our cruise on her

 

We were on Deck 5, Aft, and never really caught a whiff of the smell others have mentioned. Except one time, can't even remember where, and that was just the faintest of odors wafting on the breeze. Coulda been from the couple walking in front of us. ;-)

Edited March 20, 2015 by CanadianDee

[serene56]

We had a great time on The Sunshine. Just make sure you learn the route from the check in station to the proper dining room. To us it was a little confusing the first time we did it.

 

One thing I dislike about Carnival ships, and maybe all ships are this was, is that some decks don't go all the way through, they are broken up by the galley so you have to go up down and around to get to the dining room.

 

 

If you remember that only the aft elevator goes to the aft dining room.

and only the forward elevator goes to the midship dining room.

 

deck 5 goes all the way through.

 

Only the SPirit class ships do not have these dead ends

[getupgo]

Ugh! There's only one 4j cabin left and I'd have to do early saver to afford that which means commitment because comes with a penalty for canceling. Portholes are on deck 2. So I guess that comes with the odor. We sail twice a year and always have great cruises because we are easily entertained and pleased. This is the only time I've ever had a problem making a decision. Thank you for the snorkeling info. I have always heard the snorkeling is great there and that is the main reason we were wanting Aruba so I was surprised about the high wind report.

[Podna's]

Sailed twice on the Sunshine, once with a large group. Everyone loved it and quite a few booked her again.

In my opinion, the crowding issue is over rated. Yes it gets a little crowded on sea days but not any more than other cruises I've been on. As for this mysterious smell, no one I sailed with on both cruises smelled anything including many on the lower decks.

Enjoy your vacation! :)

[islandatsea]

We will be going on the Sunshine next February with an open mind about the ship. We know we will have a fun time like we have had on all of our Carnival cruises :) .

[Kristi Williamson]

We enjoyed the Sunshine and thought the YTD set-up was wonderful.

 

Getting your ticket on deck 5 kept the lines down to almost nothing no matter what time we ate. I think we only waited 5 minutes one night when we ate right at 6:30. You pick the ticket up, continue walking maybe 40 feet to your left past the Alchemy bar and either take the stairs or the elevator down to deck 3. The YTD dining room is RIGHT there. You hand them the ticket, they check for the number of guests on your ticket and lead you to your table. It's great.

 

Also, you'll be fine snorkeling in Aruba. It's windy, but it's the ocean. It's going to be windy everywhere. Aruba isn't that much more than any other Southern island, IMO.

 

Go. You'll have a great time.

[Jimmy Geegitz]

Just got off the Sunshine. I was on the cruise that missed Aruba due to high winds. It was windy all thru the cruise. It was a bit crowded but it was spring break and there were tons of kids. You do receive a ticket for YTD and a pager. The dining room is just down the stairs on deck 3. I actually like this setup because you receive your pager right by Ocean plaza and can sit and relax til you are called and then walk right in to your table. Better than standing in line. We loved the Sunshine. Our new favorite ship. Has tons of food options and a great waterpark and fabulous serenity area. Going again on her in 2016. And we rarely book the same ship twice. We like to check out new ships. We love the décor too.

[Jimmy Geegitz]

Aruba has great beaches but not the best island for snorkeling. I'm sure there are some good spots tho.

Edited March 20, 2015 by Jimmy Geegitz

[leedm]

OP, did you go through and read all of the comments? There are some neg. and there are some pos. but no ship is perfect. With a little planning of your breakfast, lunch and dinner times you should be OK. We sailed the Sunshine Feb 2014, BC7 and loved it. Sailing the Sunshine again on an 8 day Nov 2015. I say do it, find out for yourself.

 

Good Luck, and Smooth Seas

[Tutontow]

The one disappointing thing about cruising is that you always run the risk of missing a port due to weather. I'm hoping we do NOT miss HMC next month, I would be devestated. But I'm going in with the expectation that even if the chances are slim, it might happen to prepare myself for it. Nothing we can help there.

 

Any way you look at it, you will have a GREAT TIME on vacation. The Serenity area there would be reason enough for me to book. People say it's "crowded" but we thought it was extremely crowded on every other ship we have been on too, especially the Freedom and for some reason nobody complains about that. :rolleyes:

 

I plan on celebrating my birthday on April 15th at HMC. If we miss that stop due to weather my wife will be totally unbearable. The only thing I can hope for is they make it a sea day and I can play blackjack all day long.

[Tutontow]

If you remember that only the aft elevator goes to the aft dining room.

and only the forward elevator goes to the midship dining room.

 

deck 5 goes all the way through.

 

Only the SPirit class ships do not have these dead ends

 

Thank you and thank you again. I just printed that to bring with me in April. After too many adult beverages in the casino I have been known to give up trying to navigate the dead ends and I wind up at the buffet.

[LizzieTrowbridge]

Just got off the Sunshine today. No problem with crowds at all. Never waited in line at any if the food venues. Had a great cruise!

[fuddrules]

Just got off the Sunshine today. No problem with crowds at all. Never waited in line at any if the food venues. Had a great cruise!

 

The number of people that will ever remember this post.......over/under odds = 1

[LizzieTrowbridge]

Sunshine's Serenity area is really nice, loved the pool and water fall. However, the serenity pool is within earshot of all the noise around the main pool so if you are really looking for quiet you have to move away from the serenity pool to a higher serenity deck

[LizzieTrowbridge]

We never saw much of a line for the YTD tickets except for the first night. That said, we prefer late dining because we love having the same wait staff.

[LizzieTrowbridge]

OP, aside from the stop in Aruba and the concerns about crowds, what is most important to you? Where do you spend most of your sea day time?

[denrusk]

We were on the Sunshine last week. It was our 9th Carnival cruise. We had a great time. We did miss our stop at Aruba due to the winds and the trip down to the area was really bad due to the rough waters. The ship itself is very crowded, however, we have not been on a ship that was not crowded! The lido area is really setup nice to handle the crowds and there are a lot of food options. The one area that would get a really bad review from us is the lack of lounge chairs anywhere outside. We have never been on a ship that we could not find a single open seat anywhere after 8am. We did get up early enough, 730, one day and found a place to sit, and even then the choices were very limited! We watched, and I am not exaggerating, hundreds of people walk by with towels in hand looking for chairs just as we did ourselves on other days. They have used all the deck space for other things. Also, we like to sit and have a drink on the promenade deck on most ships and watch people some evenings and there are no seats like that on sunshine. Again, they filled all of those spaces with other things. We would sail on Sunshine again, but not if there were other options.

[momin05]

Which dining room is YTD?

[sailingwithfriends]

We sailed to Aruba on the Sunshine the last week of May last year. We really enjoyed it. We didn't do My Time Dining, but I observed how it worked. You go to Deck 5 to check in. (They have the food samples nearby.) There are a lot of seats and music playing. When it is your time, you simply go down a flight of stairs. I believe they do it this way because it would be too crowded to check in at the restaurant. If there is a wait, you can be comfortable.

I have only heard of the ship not being able to dock in Aruba once. That doesn't mean it hasn't happened before, but I don't think it is a common occurrence.

[Newhm]

I booked for March 5, 2016 cruise on Sunshine to Aruba because I've always wanted to go snorkeling there, but my hubby will only sail out if Port Carnival or Tampa. Now I am reading that Aruba is always windy in March and the ship did not even stop there last week. That coupled with the horrible reviews of overcrowding has got me ready to cancel. To further complicate things, I see where anytime dining requires you to go to a separate deck to get a ticket. Why is that? Which dining room is designated for anytime dining? I usually don't pay attention to reviews but these issues are not based on opinions but hard facts. Can anyone offer any encouragement? I really want to go to Aruba but not just to sail past it.

 

I just got off of the boat. We had anytime dining. We checked in in the 5th floor and we were given a pager so we knew when our table was ready (on the 3rd floor). I actually liked it better because I was able to do other things and then come back.

I didn't think the boat was overcrowded and we were at full capacity. The only thing I had to show up early to was the comedy show.

[getupgo]

We sailed the Sunshine in February and, while it wasn't our favourite ship (this was our first cruise with Carnival), we had a great time.

 

Crowded? Yeah, but we were always able to find quiet areas. The crew was friendly and pleasant.

 

The food was good, but not great, in my opinion. My husband loved the food. :-) Our four year-old granddaughter loved the main dining room and thought the frog legs were awesome. She had two plates of them - it was the first thing she told her preschool class about.

 

Go in with a good attitude, you'll have a great time. :-)

Final decision! I am keeping our reservation but switched from port hole cabin to 4J mostly due to ETinCA's caution about odor on lower decks. I appreciate y'all taking the time to help me with this. I love this site and enjoy reading it so much. Thank you all.

Barbara

Helpful hints: During breakfast and lunch go to aft section. Havana Bar area (huge area) to eat breakfast and lunch and you have two speciality restaurants back there that serve omelette's in the morning and during lunch serves items (free) from pay dinner menus. Never crowded......the ship does get crowded by we laid out by the water works....usually no chair issues. The shows and comedy, need to arrive early. Casino smoking area is crowded....nuisance but no big deal. Loved it last year and booked again this year. YTD dining you get better dining room in my opinion...aft...always request table in very back....

 

We cruised the Sunshine last May and every day was windy. That seems to be a Southern Caribbean thing, but it was never too bad. Aruba wasn't any more windy than the other islands we've been to so maybe we had an off day if everyone else says the wind is bad.

 

As for the Sunshine, we never felt like the ship was overcrowded. I keep reading those reviews about overcrowding and general dislike of the ship itself, but we found 99% of those reviews to be unfounded.

 

Our only issue while on the ship was with the family in the cabin next to ours. They were very loud, constantly slamming any door or drawer that could be forced closed. I don't think they ever slept. They also left trash and food everywhere. The kids would just drop their ice cream cones on the floor when they were done with them along with other things so the poor housekeeping staff were constantly shampooing the carpets. Other than some flagrantly rude passengers, our cruise was one of the best we've had to date.

 

I just got off of the boat. We had anytime dining. We checked in in the 5th floor and we were given a pager so we knew when our table was ready (on the 3rd floor). I actually liked it better because I was able to do other things and then come back.

I didn't think the boat was overcrowded and we were at full capacity. The only thing I had to show up early to was the comedy show.

[getupgo]

Helpful hints: During breakfast and lunch go to aft section. Havana Bar area (huge area) to eat breakfast and lunch and you have two speciality restaurants back there that serve omelette's in the morning and during lunch serves items (free) from pay dinner menus. Never crowded......the ship does get crowded by we laid out by the water works....usually no chair issues. The shows and comedy, need to arrive early. Casino smoking area is crowded....nuisance but no big deal. Loved it last year and booked again this year. YTD dining you get better dining room in my opinion...aft...always request table in very back....

I cannot find the Havana bar on the Deck Plan.. Have they renamed it? I appreciate your hints and instructions very much.

[Cruise life]

It's in the middle between El Capitano and Ji Jis. We were there in the mornings for Cuban coffees quite often last January.

Edited March 31, 2015 by Cruise life

[Cruise life]

I booked for March 5, 2016 cruise on Sunshine to Aruba because I've always wanted to go snorkeling there, but my hubby will only sail out if Port Carnival or Tampa. Now I am reading that Aruba is always windy in March and the ship did not even stop there last week. That coupled with the horrible reviews of overcrowding has got me ready to cancel. To further complicate things, I see where anytime dining requires you to go to a separate deck to get a ticket. Why is that? Which dining room is designated for anytime dining? I usually don't pay attention to reviews but these issues are not based on opinions but hard facts. Can anyone offer any encouragement? I really want to go to Aruba but not just to sail past it.

 

 

We are supposed to stop there next week, so I'll let you know! We were on the Sunshine in January, and we just went to the YTD table set up by the Taste Bar right at 5:30. We always got a ticket to go straight down to 3 to eat. If we were much later, say 6pm, we got a buzzer and went across the hall to the Red Frog Pub, or just sat anywhere in the vicinity...there are seats everywhere in this location and usually entertainment playing.

ITA if you want a good seat at the comedy show, go at least 20-30 minutes early to get a seat in the middle or you will be viewing a monitor. After the show, you are escorted out and take the stairs around to get back in line if you want to see the next performer. Our son did this every night and said it was crowded getting in for the second show- you can't stay for both shows unless you go around and get back in line.

The Serenity area is 3 decks and rarely is completely full. The waterfall area is beautiful.

The Havana area is extra seating for breakfast back by Ji Jis where the omelet stations are. Even if you get a burrito at Blue Iguana, you can carry your food back there and sit in the aft section, have a cuban coffee ($).

Enjoy, we had a great time! Don't worry about the rankings...if missing Aruba is going to ruin your cruise, you may want to do land vacations. Cruising requires some flexibility when it comes to safety and docking. I know it's a bummer to miss a port- we've missed 2 or 3 in 14 cruises- but I'd rather be safe than in a ship with a hole in the hull.

[getupgo]

Found it. You are really a very nice person to take your time to help me. I am now feeling very positive about this cruise. Thank you very much.