Carnival Sunshine or Conquest?

[Kqueen]

Our family of four- two adults and teens ages 13&16 are planning to take a Carnival cruise this July. We are stuck between the Carnival Sunshine 8 day eastern Caribbean cruise which visits grand turk, San juan, st kitts, and st Maarten. Our other option would be the 8 day Carnival Conquest 8 day southern Caribbean which visits grand Turk, curaçao, and Aruba. They are both leaving from Florida, so the airfare is relatively the same. Although in my opinion, the sunshine looks more fun, it got worse reviews than the conquest. My question is: Which ship/cruise do you think we would enjoy more and why? Thank you so much!

[winddawn]

Our family of four- two adults and teens ages 13&16 are planning to take a Carnival cruise this July. We are stuck between the Carnival Sunshine 8 day eastern Caribbean cruise which visits grand turk, San juan, st kitts, and st Maarten. Our other option would be the 8 day Carnival Conquest 8 day southern Caribbean which visits grand Turk, curaçao, and Aruba. They are both leaving from Florida, so the airfare is relatively the same. Although in my opinion, the sunshine looks more fun, it got worse reviews than the conquest. My question is: Which ship/cruise do you think we would enjoy more and why? Thank you so much!

One difference I can think of is Conquest does not have an adult Serenity area while Sunshine has a Serenity area with a waterfall. Also Sunshine has Cucina del Capitano restaurant and Conquest does not. I've cruised on both ships and had a great cruise on both ships. I honestly don't understand the negative reviews Sunshine gets. Both of those are great itineraries. I would pick Sunshine.

Edited June 25, 2015 by winddawn

[love my grandkids]

We would do Conquest for two reasons

 

Aruba and Curacao are two of our favorite ports.

 

We enjoy the comedy club and Sunshine is way too small and hard to get seats for adult shows.

[golfb4cruzing]

You couldn't pay me to go back on the Destiny again. Our worst cruise ever. Trying Conquest for first time. Also I think the Southern route is the best overall.

[tattoos]

We sailed on the Conquest in May and loved the ship. Not having a dedicated Serenity area was not a deal breaker for us, didn't miss it at all.

 

Curacao and Aruba were fantastic ports of call and I've already booked another 8 nighter on the Conquest for next April, same itinerary, can't wait.

 

In Aruba we booked the Kukoo Kunuku bus excursion and had a great time.

 

In Curacao, we took a shared taxi to Sea Aquarium beach at the BLVD Shops, lovely. In the evening we strolled through the RIF Fort, had a drink, and watched the pontoon bridge open and close, it is beautifully lit up at night.

[DeanDeeDee]

My vote is for the Conquest. Not only because of the better itinerary, but I like the ship. No serenity, but does have the adults-only pool in the back of the ship.

[psk2347]

Sunshine all the way! The only downside of the sunshine is the comedy club is too small. However, if you really want to go to a comedy club you can do that back on land.

[denrusk]

Been on both, the sunshine is way too crowded. I know all ships are, I have been on 10, but the sunshine is by far the worse. We love every ship we have been on except that one. We have been on some more than once, but not that one. Normally I would pick based on itinerary and price, but when it comes to sunshine, I would stay away. Yes they have a nice serenity area, by 7 am it is full, as are all of the other deck spaces! Yes, they have added a bunch of nice features and venues to the ship, however, in that process other spaces had to be made smaller or removed. The show theatre is a joke, the comedy club, well, you guessed it, also a joke, and not in a good way! There are some nice features on the ship, however, it is very crowded.

[Kqueen]

Thank you everyone for your helpful responses[emoji4] At this point, we are leaning towards the conquest.

[Macklovin38]

Thank you for asking this question- it's exactly what I came on here for! I'm torn between the two as well.

[love my grandkids]

If the sunshine was so brilliant think they would have sunshined other ships such as fantasy class.

[stormgrey11]

We have been on both for our last two cruises and while you can't go wrong with either one, I would cruise on the Sunshine as the Sunshine provides an additional "fun" factor for kids and teens that the Conquest does not have. Carnival Waterworks, the rope course, sportsquare etc

[bjd2]

While the Sunshine did have some areas that seemed a little more crowded (nothing that ruined our cruise), she also had many more things that we loved. The Serenity for one, Havana area at the back was always nearly empty, Cucina, Bonsai, JiJi's. We would choose the Sunshine over Conquest.