Just off sunshine

[Kitty9453]

Thanks everyone who has posted positives about the Sunshine, we leave on Friday 10/23 and are excited to be on this cruise. We have a balcony so if the public areas get too crowed I know we can catch a lovely breeze on our own balcony. We chose ATD as it gives us more freedom as to when we can eat, I am not worried about getting lost on the ship, it usually only takes a few turns about the ship to know where everything is - that's what the little maps and signage is for right? Anyone hear if the Hub App is going live this weekend? I am still waiting to hear about that. Can't wait!

 

I am sailing on the Sunshine Friday too.

[Podna's]

Please, if you had a positive experience, post a nice review. I do look at reviews and consider, with a grain of salt, what other cruisers think about a ship. I would not book a cruise on the Sunshine now because of the negative reviews. Some more positive reviews would bring up the averages and maybe give a more accurate assessment of the ship.

 

 

Thankfully for Carnival, most people including myself can care about the useless reviews here and the Sunshine will continue to sail at capacity. We all know someone with a negative experience will go out of their way to write a review were most people who have a positive experience will not. And as mentioned the Sunshine had one hec of a hole to dig out of from the inaugural period. Then there is the group of people that decided to give the ship low ratings because they missed Bermuda due to a hurricane. That's why I never go by the reviews. If I did I would have missed out on 2 wonderful vacations on the Sunshine. Can't wait for #3!

[kimmimom]

after all the negative reviews, but I LOVED her! I would sail her again in a heartbeat. Of course my goal is to sail ALL the ships, so I need to try new ones and not repeat. But I think she is the most beautiful and I LOVED the Havana Bar area to eat in, so much nicer than they typical indoor dining spaces on other ships

[sea wanderer]

Love the Sunshine! Did the western Carib. route on her last November had an absolutely wonderful time both ship and ports. Yes if you look closely you can see the Destiny, the upgrades were very nice! Yes, like all middle sized to large sized ships, there are areas of congestion but you learn to work with them. It's a middle sized ship with mega ship features. We are going on her again in Jan 17 on an Eastern Carib. route, can't wait to be on the Sunshine again! The crew was wonderful both room steward (Agung) and MDR wait staff (Georgica) interacted with me and my family like we were family.

[cruising maniac]

Too bad the ship got blamed for a hurricane.

[livn4cruzin]

Who was the CD?

[NCTribeFan]

I do so enjoy repeating myself in multiple threads. ;)

 

Here's the thing about reviews - if 1 person comes back here and writes a review of one sailing, you all DO realize that this is not a valid sample size, right? One person out of 2,000-3,000 writes a review and people think it's meaningful?

 

And we don't even get 1 review of every sailing of every ship!

 

Yet, people read these and make their cruising decisions based on this teeny, tiny sample size.

 

Didn't anyone take statistics? Sheesh, you don't even need to have taken stats to comprehend that any 1 person's viewpoint of their sailing doesn't mean anything (to anyone other than themselves)! The person in the cabin across the hall could have had a totally different impression of their sailing but because they didn't come here and write about it, it didn't happen? :confused:

 

I write a thorough review of every cruise. I hope people read and enjoying my viewpoint but I certainly hope NO ONE bases any decision on what I've said!

 

Stop taking the reviews so seriously, people!

 

For my upcoming Sunshine sailing, I didn't pick the ship. I picked the fabulous itinerary. It just happens to be Sunshine is the ship I'll be on for my Journeys cruise.

 

If I have identical itineraries and prices, I'll pick the ship I haven't sailed, just for a little variety. But that's the last thing I base my cruise decision on.

 

I'm on the Vista Inaugural sailing. I didn't book it to be on the Newest, Biggest, Shiniest ship. I booked because of the itinerary! I would've booked Fantasy to get this itinerary! Will it be fun to sail a brand-new ship? Maybe! I expect there to be some issues since it will have a new crew on a new layout with new venues and these things always take a while to work out the kinks. Will I notice? Probably not! I'll be too busy enjoying the wonderful excursions we have planned and relaxing on the few sea days.

[SesameStreetCruisers]

woohoo, be on her this Friday.... AGAIN. loved her last year and I'm sure the family will love her again.

[pcvtmom]

I sailed her in the Med for her inaugural season and plan on being on her again in 2016. Regardless of the negatives I keep reading, she REMAINS among my favorite Carnival ships, and I've been on 21 cruises with the line.

[mom of four]

Me too!!

[tandemcruzr]

Sailed her Nov 2014 on a B2B. Had a wonderful time. We are now booked on her in Jan 2016 on a B2B and also a B2B in April 2016, one leg will be a Journey's cruise.

 

We like the itineraries and we also like the ship. :)

[AmberTeka]

SUNSHINE LAYOUT

 

The Fifth Floor is always your friend.

 

Some wise person posted that when I was concerned about the Sunshine. so..when we needed to go somewhere............we took a short walk to the elevator, and went to the fifth floor. Never got lost. never had an issue getting anywhere.

 

I was worried about the Sunshine. Read the reviews. We were on it this past June for 8 days to Aruba.

 

We are going back around Christmas time for another 8 days.

We liked it just fine.

 

AS to seeing the Shows. I saw ALL FOUR. I did go early and lined up 30 minutes before time. The line was always short. We were always let in immediately. They had pre entertainment. I always got a seat close to the front. when the Hypnotist ( and I seldom go to those) appeared, My husband went with me...we walked in and had seats near the front. EVERY NIGHT. I could see empty seats in the Balcony.

the LATE show had more seats than the early show.

Edited October 20, 2015 by AmberTeka

[scm200]

woohoo, be on her this Friday.... AGAIN. loved her last year and I'm sure the family will love her again.

 

we are on this cruise Friday too, glad to be trying a new ship, I have sailed on Fantasy, Triumph, a bunch of Conquest Class ships and a bunch of NCL ships - small and bigger ships both.

 

can't wait to get there, and I hear that Jamie Dee is a great CD so it should be a lovely trip - I chose the ship for the Itinerary to be honest, we did a similar cruise on the Freedom that was good, so I know we will be fine with this..... See all you 10/23 Sunshine cruisers there.....

[pmoniz]

Please, if you had a positive experience, post a nice review. I do look at reviews and consider, with a grain of salt, what other cruisers think about a ship. I would not book a cruise on the Sunshine now because of the negative reviews. Some more positive reviews would bring up the averages and maybe give a more accurate assessment of the ship.

 

You seriously wouldn't book a cruise because of reviews, but say you take them with a grain of salt?? I think I've read bad reviews on every ship I've been on so far. Glad I didn't listen to them. You know what they say about peoples opinions...

 

99.9% of the things people write negative about just seem ridiculous to me. Crowding on Lido - every ship I've been on! Difficult layout - yep a few ships had them - deal with it! Etc. etc. Vacation is what you make of it on land and sea. I just can't understand how people can be so negative all the time! I'm grateful to be able to even go on vacation!

[tiggerlover]

We loved the Sunshine. :p No complaints from us! The service, food, entertainment, drinks, etc were awesome. Not to mention a very attentive entertainment staff led by the energetic Jaime Dee. I've never seen such a caring crew.

This ship has the largest variety of food on any ship I have seen. Our room was kept clean and I wish we could have taken our room steward home with us.

As for us, we will definitely sail on the Sunshine again! :)

[Kristi Williamson]

Another Sunshine lover here!! We actually think that some things about this ship beat out the Breeze, which is saying something because the Breeze is fabulous!

 

Serenity deck? Best in the fleet!

 

Waterpark? FABULOUS!!!!!

 

The little area aft where the Italian eatery and cuban areas are? LOVED THEM!!! And these were never, ever full or even felt packed right at peak hours.

 

Deck 5? Love it. All of it. Love it! Extra seating, small lunch buffet, easy to navigate, the Alchemy Bar right stinkin' there and all the gorgeous views, plus the sea day BBQ.

 

There were so many great things about the Sunshine that we're taking the 10 day out of Charleston on her in May. Can't wait!:D:p

 

Anyone who wouldn't cruise a ship based on a few reviews is probably missing a lot of great opportunities, but whatever...more room for me.

[SesameStreetCruisers]

another Friday Sunshine cruiser here and we were on her last year and booked her again just for the water park section for the kiddos

[ilovetexas]

I've been on several Carnival ships and Sunshine is my favorite! And yes, I've been on the Breeze, too. We are booked for a Sunshine Journey's cruise next spring and I can't wait.

 

I'm okay with everyone assuming it's a bad ship based on reviews...less crowded for me!

[jimbo5544]

There are 533 reviews of the Sunshine here on Cruise Critic. More than enough for me to see the trending positives and negatives. The highest rating of cruise reviewers who loved the Sunshine that I saw was 63%, today it is 61%. The Sunshine is the lowest rated ship in the Carnival fleet and probably will always be. I would assume the 533 reviewers actually sailed on the Sunshine. I mostly sail Carnival but I will not sail the Sunshine...

 

Seems everyone posting here is pretty happy.....go figure.

[mamawsnest]

We were on the Sunshine last month at this time and loved her. The ports were extra hot but we loved the ship. Never had problems with the shows, crowding, service, anything.

[balcony bound]

Add me to the list of Sunshine lovers - our second sailing on the Sunshine will be next week and I can't wait.

[mama_hao]

Thanks for the tip about the 5th floor. That will come in extra handy since our family(2 rooms) is on the 6th! We are sailing her Dec 9th for a Journey cruise. I've read the reviews, both good and bad, and figure 'Eh :cool:we'll see.' If its good great, if it's not it is a port heavy cruise we'll make the best of it.

[BamaLady#13]

I'm looking forward to my first cruise on the Sunshine, but have one concern. Since it was actually an older ship, how's the air conditioning? We are booked in a balcony room on the ninth deck. I'm warm natured and having a cool room to sleep in can make or destroy my cruise. I'm taking a small fan just in case, but still have concerns. Also, what are my chances of having it taken?

[A&Jfamily]

I'm looking forward to my first cruise on the Sunshine, but have one concern. Since it was actually an older ship, how's the air conditioning? We are booked in a balcony room on the ninth deck. I'm warm natured and having a cool room to sleep in can make or destroy my cruise. I'm taking a small fan just in case, but still have concerns. Also, what are my chances of having it taken?

 

No issues with our room temp and we were on 7th or 8th in the L shaped balcony. Hubby always travels with a small fan because he likes moving air, regardless of the ice box we are sleeping in and it has never been taken. Just make sure you have an extension cord.

[BiscayneBay460]

BamaLady, just off Sunshine last Sunday. We were in balcony cabin 7277 and kids had interior 7279. I just about froze! Had to sleep with blankets.

 

I am planning my first cruise review about the Sunshine. Hope to get to it this weekend.