Carnival Sunshine Review 8/8/2015 Sailing

J and J · August 26, 2015

It's taken me a bit to find time to start our trip review here.

My husband and I took this cruise to celebrate our 25th anniversary and the Sunshine didn't disappoint.

Embarkation:

We had flown into Orlando the day before and enjoyed the evening at Universal Citywalk and stayed at the Caribe Royal (thanks to our Expedia Voyager Elite points). We rented a car from Avis.

Started out on Saturday morning driving from Orlando to Port Canaveral and dropped our rental car at Avis. Started out a bit disorganized but the guy in charge got it moving quickly. Avis provides shuttle to the port. Dropped us of right in front around 11ish, porter was there right away to grab our bags.

Went right to the entrance and through security, then sent to the FTTF desk. No wait, she checked us in within minutes and we were sent to sit in the FTTF section. We were a bit early so had to sit. Boarding went like clock work and we were on the ship in no time. We headed right up to the Lido Deck to the Marketplace to grab some lunch. We heard about the Havana Bar, so headed back there. Sat right by the windows and watched the brief heavy rain push through. Havana has snacks so we grabbed a few of those. And went to the Mongolian Wok and had stir fry for lunch.

After lunch we headed to our cabin 6373 Premium Vista Balcony (Wrap Balcony). Room was very nice size, a bit larger then a regular balcony cabin. The big wow in this cabin is the balcony. It is huge!!!! 2 lounge chairs, 2 little tables, and 5 chairs. This particular cabin would only accommodate 2 people (unless you have a small child). The sofa was shorter then the average balcony sofa.

More to come.....

emmak8 · August 26, 2015

Waiting forth rest of your review.

J and J · August 26, 2015

Embarkation:

FTTF was worth the money. Quick to get on the ship. Also, nice when we had to use guest services.

Muster Drill....not the greatest...we had to file out into lines, with each new line everyone had to back up a few steps...a little too close for comfort for me. But I get it and why they do it.

Went back to the cabin and our luggage had arrived. I had mention earlier the heavy rain that passed through...my suitcase got a lot of it...a few things got wet/damp...not too big of a deal. Just wish they had something to cover the luggage pallets with when that happens. May have to look into on of those hard suitcases ; )

Dinner...MDR...we had early seating...since there were only 2 of us they gave us a table for 2. We were in the middle of an isle w/ very little space on either side of us...not the most enjoyable seat in the house. We knew we'd only be in the dining room 3 nights, so I didn't feel the need to fuss about it. Food was good (nothing to write home about), I did find something I liked the 3 nights we ate there. Service was good, they did what they were supposed to in a timely manner but they were the least friendly/fun of any wait staff we've had on any of our cruises.

Casino was alot of fun. We usually just play slots, no huge wins, but no big losses. My husband was actually ahead by the end of the cruise. I loved watching the people try to get the stacks of $1 bills ($100 each pack) with the claw. It always drew a pretty big crowd. Smoking I didn't think was a terrible issue in the casino. I am not a smoker. Waiters with drinks were always around to take your order.

Be back later or tomorrow...feel free to ask questions....

Edited August 26, 2015 by J and J

J and J · August 27, 2015

Food:

Breakfast was the Taste Bar, not crowded and comfortable seating in the Ocean Plaza area. Daily coffee from Java Blue right next to the Taste Bar. By mid week she knew my drink order and my husbands. Wonderful service. It was a nice change from the bustling Marketplace on the Lido deck. One evening while in the casino, I popped over to the Shake Spot to try a spiked shake, it was good, kind of weak on the alcohol though.

We did the Sea Day Brunch on our last sea day. Food was very good. Their banana cream pie is so good.

On debarkation day, we ate in the MDR. My husband had asked for an apple, they didn't have any but the waiter treked somewhere on the ship and not only brought him 1 but 3 apples.

Lunch was usually up at the Marketplace. A lot of days we'd just head back to the Havana Bar where they had a few different things which were all tasty. Had Mongolian Wok one day, love stir fry but the lines could get pretty long. Everyone must love stir fry too!

Dinner:

3 nights in the MDR. As I said earlier, we always found something on the menu and it was good. Had to have warm chocolate melting cake each time. Our anniversary was on the 11th but we had dinner in Aruba. The next night we were in the MDR and at dessert we ordered our usual WCMC when they brought it, they also brought a piece of apple pie with a candle and sang happy anniversary to the happy birthday tune. It was a nice touch.

Cucina Del Capitano: ($15 PP)

This was worth the extra price. Food was very good. I'd do this one again.

The Steakhouse: ($35 PP)

We always do this on any Carnival ship we are on. Food was excellent. And service was fabulous. Our waitress even remembered us a few days later when we saw her elsewhere on the ship. Chef came out an asked us how everything was, which I thought was nice.

Ji Ji's: ($15 PP)

We tried this out too. Service was a bit disorganized and slow. Food was very good. I'd do this one again.

Chef's Table: ($75 PP):

Well worth the price. This was our first experience doing this. Takes place during the early dinner seating. We met in the Sunrise Lobby & Bar and were given champagne. The Sous Chef from the Sunrise met us and we headed to the Sunrise Dining Room. There we proceeded to the galley where the Sous Chef told us how the galley is organized and works. Amazing to see! We got to try multiple unique appetizers, all very good. Then we proceeded to the pastry area (my favorite) and the Pastry Chef demonstrated how they make the WCMC. Then we headed to a special room in the Steakhouse where we were met by Executive Chef Vivek Menon. He was a wonderful host. They took a picture of the group. We then proceed to eat 7 courses with a break in the middle. Unlimited red and white wine were served. During the break the ships magician came and did a variety of tricks for us, I thought he was great. All the food was excellent, these are things you won't see in the MDR. At the end we were given a copy of our menu, the group picture, and Vivek autographed a copy the the WCMC recipe. (Can't wait to try it). It was a wonderful experience.

We would pop up to the Marketplace late evening for snacks. I liked that they had frozen yogurt in addition to the regular soft serve. The small chocolate chip cookies were a must for me every night...YUMMM!! We also had the pizza. I liked it, the crust was good. They would also serve up other snacks, though we didn't try them.

And for some reason, not sure why, we never ended up at Guy's or the Blue Iguana Cantina. We have been to both on other ships and really liked both.

Think that covers food...

Jeafl · August 28, 2015

Great review! It's always nice to read positive things about the Sunshine.

Edited August 28, 2015 by Jeafl

dst · August 28, 2015

Great start - thanks for doing the review - any photos of the ship?

2.7k · August 28, 2015

Thanks for the review! Thinking of booking the Sunshine next summer. Great to hear so many positives.

J and J · August 28, 2015

I do have pictures but haven't downloaded off my camera yet, then have to figure out how to post. It's been a busy work week, will have more review tomorrow. We are pretty easy going cruisers, so you see little things I wasn't overly thrilled with but I honestly don't have anything bad to say about the Sunshine. I would go on the Sunshine again. Loved the 8 night trip, it was our first.

J and J · August 28, 2015

Look at Jimbo5544, he is writing a review as well, he has some fabulous pictures. He was on the same cruise, we were lucky enough to meet him our first day at sea for our meet and greet (it was a tiny group this trip). He has cruised way more then we have, so he may have another perspective. Though I get the feeling from his review so far, he liked the Sunshine as well.

Edited August 28, 2015 by J and J

Mfunnye · August 28, 2015

Great review. Very excited about seeing all the upgrades to this ship. ( sailed on the Destiny in 2010).

J and J · August 28, 2015

Great review. Very excited about seeing all the upgrades to this ship. ( sailed on the Destiny in 2010).

That will be cool for you. You'll have to write a review. Would be interesting to see the comparison of old and new.

marty1950 · August 28, 2015

Hey there J and J, Great start for your review. We will be on the Sunshine in Oct. Coild you tell us what day the Taste Bar is open thanks Gary:)

dst · August 28, 2015

I do have pictures but haven't downloaded off my camera yet, then have to figure out how to post. It's been a busy work week, will have more review tomorrow. We are pretty easy going cruisers, so you see little things I wasn't overly thrilled with but I honestly don't have anything bad to say about the Sunshine. I would go on the Sunshine again. Loved the 8 night trip, it was our first.

Thanks - I am reading your review and Jimbos.......love the positive reviews

:)

Rochmom · August 28, 2015

We'll be on the Sunshine in two weeks - thanks for doing a great review so far, I love the tips on different things to try and where to avoid the crowds! Will be subscribing.

jimbo5544 · August 28, 2015

Look at Jimbo5544, he is writing a review as well, he has some fabulous pictures. He was on the same cruise, we were lucky enough to meet him our first day at sea for our meet and greet (it was a tiny group this trip). He has cruised way more then we have, so he may have another perspective. Though I get the feeling from his review so far, he liked the Sunshine as well.

It was nice meeting you as well! We did very much enjoy the Sunshine! Hope we can cruise again sometime. Thanks for nice words on the pictures. When I got home and uploaded them I was a little disappointed in the number I took, as in I thought I had taken more. I will have to work on that in the future.....;)

J and J · August 28, 2015

Hey there J and J, Great start for your review. We will be on the Sunshine in Oct. Coild you tell us what day the Taste Bar is open thanks Gary:)

Sure, 8-10AM for continental breakfast at the Taste Bar in the Ocean Plaza area, plenty of nice comfortable seating in that area. And the I think starting around 5:30PM it becomes the taste bar, with different appetizer sizes from different restraunts on the ship are available.

We didn't do 'Your Time Dining' this time around but in hind sight, I think it would have been fine. You check in at a table situated close to the Taste Bar. If you had a wait, I think it wouldn't have been bad, you could grab a sample from the Taste Bar and sit somewhere in the Ocean Plaza area until it was time for your table. Alchemy Bar and Red Frog Pub are right there. Along w/ Java Blue/Shake Spot and Internet Cafe. I can't really comment on wait times since we didn't try it but now that I've seen the area for it, I think it's actually kind of nice. If we are on the Sunshine again, we'll try it out.

Edited August 28, 2015 by J and J

cruisin blue · August 28, 2015

I can't wait to hear what you did at each port. I will be on this itinerary in October. I'm already enjoying Jimbo's review and now I am enjoying yours too!

Thanks for taking the time to review your cruise.

J and J · August 28, 2015

Port Stops:

Aruba - we originally were going to grab a cab and go out to Palm Beach for the after noon. A fellow meet and greet passenger advised us as we were all getting on the ship Saturday that there was going to be a time change, we heard routine maintenance and someone else said wind issues. It was originally 1PM-10PM and then it changed to 3PM-11PM. We opted not to go out to Palm Beach this trip. Since this was our first time in Aruba we decided to explore the port within walking distance from the ship. When we got to the main road off the ship, facing the main road we went to the right. Right there is a restaurant called the Paddock, (http://paddock-aruba.com/), we grabbed a snack and drink, sat at the waters edge and had a nice view of our ship and the beautiful water. We then left there and kept heading right down to the Renaissance Hotel through the Marketplace (if I recall mostly restaurants and oooo for Starbucks fans, there was one there). We headed down by the water, beautiful view, lot of rocks. We found a big iguana sunning himself on one of the rocks. Followed that path down past the hotel (wanted to check it out) then back up to the main road. We crossed over and somewhere walking back the other way is the big I love Aruba sign you see in pictures. We went in and out of shops as we walked along. The Renaissance has a mall on that side of the street which was pretty nice. There was an open water area, where we saw a small boat come right into the mall area and then head out with some people (maybe a hotel service, not sure). We then headed to the other end of the shopping area to go to Diamonds International and found a piece to go under my wedding rings, they were so nice there. I had 2 people working with me and they hunted for the perfect piece to fit with my existing wedding ring set. It is now nothing short of spectacular, thanks to their help. They even sized it up for me so I could wear it the rest of our trip. Highly recommend them. We decided to head to Iguana Joes (http://www.iguanajoesaruba.com) for dinner. It was up stairs, open air, we were lucky enough to sit right by the edge, so the view was great for people watching. Food was really good and portions were big. Drinks were the bomb. It was conveniently located right where we had to go to head back to the ship. We got back on the ship around 9:30. I was sad we didn't have portside balcony this trip, I love to watch the stragglers getting back on the ship to good natured heckling. But I did make my husband head to Deck 3 out on the portside deck so we could observe, pretty tame this trip. I liked Aruba but think next time there, I would go to the Eagle/Palm Beach area for the actual beaches. Would have been nice to see the full sunset. Glad Jimbo posted nice pictures of that : )

Edited August 28, 2015 by J and J

J and J · August 31, 2015

Curacao

This was our first time in Curacao. We decided to cab it out to the Seaquarium Beach area. We walked across the floating bridge and there was an information booth right across the street, the lady was able to direct us to a cab right there - it was $40 RT. The driver set a time with us to come back to the Beach area to pick us up.

The Beach Blvd is where we got dropped off. It has lots of shops, bars, restaurants. Plenty of beach areas with seating, you just pay for your seats, umbrella etc.... We didn't end up on the beach. We popped over to the Seaquarium, it is very small and a bit pricey for what is there. We took in a dolphin show (included in the price) while we were there, which was really good. Cab was back by 12:30PM.

Driver took us back to downtown Curacao in the shopping area and gave us directions for where everything was. Loved walking around that area, the architecture is so interesting with all of the vibrant colors on the buildings. We ate at the Flying Iguana which is right on the waterfront by the floating bridge. Food and drinks were good and reasonably priced. A man was walking around with his 2 iguanas and I had my pictures taken them, I gave him $10 bucks. We crossed back over the bridge and wandered through the Renaissance Hotel shopping area, which interestingly was built around a fort. Then headed back to the ship, some little shops, vendors on the way back.

I loved Curacao, would consider a week long trip here.

Edited August 31, 2015 by J and J

mbrownferrier · September 10, 2015

Thanks for taking the time to write such a detailed review. Now I'm even more excited to enjoy the Sunshine on Oct 23rd 2015! Would you be able to post copies of the Fun Times? Love to try and plan a little a head of time.