Carnival Sunshine 8/8/15 8 day sailing review with pics

[Jeafl]

Anxiously awaiting your review since we're doing the same cruise March 5. I always love a good picture review! 😀

[jimbo5544]

So, we have been here a while now, and started doing reviews a couple years back. This cruise is the 4th this year for us (12/28 NYE cruise on the Breeze, February cruise on the Magic and an April cruise on the Breeze again same itin as NYE cruise).

 

This cruise we had a fund raiser cruise for a local Knight of Columbus council. We started the planning for this group on our fund raiser last summer. There were a couple of reasons we chose this cruise. The first was the itinerary, having done both eastern and western the last two years, this cruise offered us a couple of ports that the group had not experienced, these being Aruba and Curaçao. The second was, after sailing on the Breeze and then the Splendor, they wanted the features of Fun 2.0 on their next cruise, which limited down the options that were available. Lastly, we needed something that fit into school vacations. This group was a mix of seasoned cruisers from diamond down to red cards and fairly concentrated with past Carnival cruisers vs other lines.

[jimbo5544]

When we booked the group space, we were undecided on what room we wanted. One of the vista suites on five was open so we grabbed that, then a week or so later, one of captains suites opened up. We had sailed in the captains suite aboard the Liberty a couple of years back, so we decided the grab it.

Port Canaveral is an interesting port to sail out of from a couple of perspectives. Certainly the largest growing home port, every time we sail out of there, there appears to be new things and changes around the port itself. Flying in from the northeast, we began looking at competitive airfare and ended up with people flying from 3 airports into both Orlando and Tampa, some doing both pre and post cruise.

 

We ended up booking Country Inn and Suites for our pre cruise stay. We also rented mini vans on one way rentals to drive over, use for dinner that night, drop off most of the cruisers at the cruise port the next morning and the go drop the mini vans off at the rental offices and take the free shuttle back to the port.

 

We arrived at the port and checked in at the hotel late afternoon. After settling in, we went down the street to get some provisions for that evening as well as to bring on the ship. Upon return to the hotel, we settled in, sat by the pool with some cold ones for a while, and then decided to go to Fishlips for dinner. We ended eating upstairs in the bar area. Loud but good meal with Todd people. We went back to the hotel and ended up enjoying some fun and drinks and went to bed about midnight.

[jimbo5544]

Embarkation day.

 

We awoke early and went down to breakfast which is included in your stay here. After breakfast, I made a last minute pit stop at Publix down the street. After that our group been filtering downstairs and meeting up at the lobby. Around 10:30 we began our own shuttle service over to the ship. Country Inn and suites offers a free shuttle , but we would have to wait, so we decided to do it ourselves. Country Inn and Suites is the closest to the ships, but very near the Residence Inn and the Raddisonn.

 

After three quick drop offs, we brought back the two mini vans to Alamo. Did you hear the screeching brake sounds? That was my well made plans coming to an abrupt halt. The Alamo facility in Coca Beach was a nightmare. Easily the far busiest of any of the car rentals, we could not find a place to park in the drop off area. After 10 minutes or so someone said we were good to go just leave the cars there (no check in no walk thru nothing). So we did. Then I was told to find Kristi who could arrange a shuttle to the ship. There were at least 200 people in and outside the office, waiting to get a car or a transfer. We ended up splitting a cab we flagged down on the street who dropped someone off at Alamo. This was easily the worst car rental experience I have ever had.

[Cant_Wait1996]

Looking forward to it since we will be on the sunshine in June for our first cruise!

[ladygal4.4]

Not trying to derail your review....so feel free to answer this when you're free. Did you have problems with the Country Inn's breakfast? We stayed there several years ago, and it was so packed, it was very difficult to find a place to sit. And the waffle maker had a line about 1/2 mile or so

[jimbo5544]

Before we move onto the ship I couple of thoughts on staying in Port Canaveral pre-cruise. We have sailed out of Port Canaveral 3 times. We have stayed in 3 different places. The first time (sometime ago on the Pride) we stayed near the airport in Orlando. We flew in the night before the cruise and it was late. In the morning we headed over to the port (about 45 minutes from the airport).

The second time (on the Dream) we flew in the night before and transferred over to the port area and stayed at the Radisson, again an evening flight, so we arrived somewhat late. The Radisson was a hopping place the night before the cruise. This time we took the hotel shuttle over to the port (kind of a pain really, everyone wanted t get over to the ship). We enjoyed the Radisson (a little to pink for me but.....).

This cruise, due to us flying into different airports (we flew into Tampa for several reasons) and drove over (renting mini vans for one way rentals both ways). MapQuest told me it was 2 hours and 8 minutes to the port from the airport. Probably true without rush hour traffic........

[jimbo5544]

Looking forward to it since we will be on the sunshine in June for our first cruise!

Hopefully you won't be disappointed......;)

[jimbo5544]

Not trying to derail your review....so feel free to answer this when you're free. Did you have problems with the Country Inn's breakfast? We stayed there several years ago, and it was so packed, it was very difficult to find a place to sit. And the waffle maker had a line about 1/2 mile or so

Feel free to ask whenever, I enjoy to info exchange. I can see that it might be an issue. I can only add our point of reference. We are early risers....even on vacation. While it certainly was not empty, it was not full. That being said, when we left (me to go down to Publix for some last minute shopping, this was around 9 or so), the room was not quite full.

[jimbo5544]

We found the Country Inn and Suites to be a fine hotel for pre cruise stay. They say they are the closet hotel to the port (and they are correct, if only by a couple of feet to the Residence Inn and the Radisson among others). The staff was friendly and attentive and the rooms were fine. To top that, we got a deal, so it worked out just fine.

[jimbo5544]

After all of the transferring and Alamo disaster (remember the Alamo will have new meaning for me from now on) I finally arrived at the port (this time to board) around 11:20. My wife (and my brother and his wife who were also traveling with us) were waiting for me and we were escorted into the VIP area (my brother and his wife are Platinum, we are Diamond, and would have been able to go into the priority area anyway due to staying in the Captain's Suite). We got a newbie working the VIP check in but it went fairly quickly, and before we knew it we were heading out just as they were announcing Zone 1.

The rest of our group was already checked in (some already on the ship) and the rest waiting to board. Other than the battle of the Alamo, the was the easiest embarkation process we have done in the 3 other cruises we have done this year (Miami, Galveston, Miami).

[jimbo5544]

Not trying to derail your review....so feel free to answer this when you're free. Did you have problems with the Country Inn's breakfast? We stayed there several years ago, and it was so packed, it was very difficult to find a place to sit. And the waffle maker had a line about 1/2 mile or so

By the way, you will be getting off as we board her again in February for our "saints cruise" Saint Maarten, Saint Kitts, San Juan and Grand Turk (yeah I know Grand Turk does not have a "saint" in the name).;)

[kybluecruiser]

Cant wait for more jimbo!!!!

[jimbo5544]

Cant wait for more jimbo!!!!

More coming tomorrow, loading of the pic's is a bit of a chore. When are we going to cruise together? Knocked another one off the list of people here I want to cruise with (Tom and Cheryl) on this sailing.

[kybluecruiser]

More coming tomorrow, loading of the pic's is a bit of a chore. When are we going to cruise together? Knocked another one off the list of people here I want to cruise with (Tom and Cheryl) on this sailing.

 

We'll i am looking at the pride April of 2016. Lol

[ladygal4.4]

By the way, you will be getting off as we board her again in February for our "saints cruise" Saint Maarten, Saint Kitts, San Juan and Grand Turk (yeah I know Grand Turk does not have a "saint" in the name).;)

 

 

I would have preferred that cruise, but I am determined to let my oldest son have one last time in Camp Carnival, so we're going during the week of his birthday. He'll be turning 12 in Grand Turk

[kindatravelsavy19]

Of course following this thread for some great insight for our Feb. cruise!:)

[dst]

Looking forward to the photos of the ship - we are doing the five day (as a quick get away) in a few weeks :)

[jimbo5544]

I would have preferred that cruise, but I am determined to let my oldest son have one last time in Camp Carnival, so we're going during the week of his birthday. He'll be turning 12 in Grand Turk

 

From someone who raised 5 kids cruising on Carnival and who has spent more than a couple birthdays on a Carnival ship, I can't argue those points.

[jimbo5544]

Of course following this thread for some great insight for our Feb. cruise!:)

 

I can tell you that I have no reservations about sailing on the Sunshine again when we cruise her with you in February. Hope my review can give you some insight.

[jimbo5544]

Looking forward to the photos of the ship - we are doing the five day (as a quick get away) in a few weeks :)

I will begin posting some pics of the ship starting today. If you don't see something that you wanted, reach out and if I have a pic of it I will post it.

[Jeafl]

Funny that you should mention Alamo. Just this morning. I was looking for a one-way rental from MCO to Port Canaveral and Alamo came up. I am trying to book Hertz because we are staying at the Residence Inn and there is a Hertz right next door, which would make drop off easy. Not sure what to do about Alamo now. We are traveling with my parents who get stressed over any delays and think if you get to the port after 10:00 am you are "late".😬

[J and J]

Funny that you should mention Alamo. Just this morning. I was looking for a one-way rental from MCO to Port Canaveral and Alamo came up. I am trying to book Hertz because we are staying at the Residence Inn and there is a Hertz right next door, which would make drop off easy. Not sure what to do about Alamo now. We are traveling with my parents who get stressed over any delays and think if you get to the port after 10:00 am you are "late".[emoji51]

 

 

We were on this cruise too. We used Avis and had no issues.

[scm200]

following with great interest - we are sailing Oct 23rd and would love to see recent pictures of the Sunshine, we are very familiar with Conquest Class ships and the Triumph, but not the Sunshine

[jimbo5544]

Funny that you should mention Alamo. Just this morning. I was looking for a one-way rental from MCO to Port Canaveral and Alamo came up. I am trying to book Hertz because we are staying at the Residence Inn and there is a Hertz right next door, which would make drop off easy. Not sure what to do about Alamo now. We are traveling with my parents who get stressed over any delays and think if you get to the port after 10:00 am you are "late".😬

 

We had members of our group (not traveling from airport to hotel with us) who had used Hertz. No issues at all. I can only tell you of my experience, which as I mentioned was let's say, less than what I had expected. We use Alamo all the time, and especially in Florida (we have a condo on the west coast and go down 6 to 8 times a year). They were, and are my preferred car rental. This was clearly a case of a small office being over run with people returning and trying to rent vehicles, mostly tied to cruises.

 

The only other factor I can give you to consider is the number of ships in for that day. For the day in question for us it was the Sunshine and Disney Fantasy. If it were one ship, it might make a difference. As another consideration, the day we returned (we used Dollar for our return rental, just from a pricing perspective), it was the Sunshine and Freedom of the Seas which would add about another 2,500 people to the mix. Food for thought.