The Sunshine Was Pretty Sunny!

[bwelborn]

I'm not going to give a full review; there are a few other detailed ones floating around right now. I will give some basic observations about the ship.

 

Just a little info about me as a cruiser; I cruise frequently and on various lines, but Carnival the most. I book all ranges of cabins and will do a large ship or tiny one-anything goes.

 

After I was on the ship for one day I was absolutely shocked that I kept reading how awful the Sunshine was and how everyone is so apprehensive about booking it. I kept looking around wondering what was so bad. The boat looks very modern, has sleek and clean public areas, and the staff seemed very happy.

 

Food-I try and stay in the specialty restaurants if at all possible. I feel like the main dining room is like banquet food, but for the relative low cost of a cruise per night, I don't mind to pay extra in another dining venue. I did have two meals in the dining room and had excellent service, food was average as expected. I did get a steakhouse filet and it was the same cut of meat as in the steakhouse restaurant. We did JiJi's and it was excellent as was the Farenheit 555.

 

The Lido-I thought this was the neatest, cleanest, and most appealing Lido of any Carnival ship. Food was generally good. Guy's Burger and the Taco Bar were very good also.

 

Serenity Deck is fabulous; I had a balcony on the lido deck but would probably book a spa cabin on deck 10 or 11 next time for the quick access to Serenity. You can't beat walking out of your cabin right to the pool. I wish they would put fridges in all cabins. I don't know what their excuse is for not doing that because the cabin has plenty of room to add one.

 

Comedy club was great, two good comedians. Alchemy bar drinks were wonderful and inventive.

 

We missed Half Moon which I expected since the water was very choppy the day before. Carnival should put a disclaimer on the booking info saying that the port is about a 50/50 shot. We've missed it six times and have only made it twice, but I knew this when I booked. Lot's of unhappy people when the announcement was made.

 

And back to the complaints about The Sunshine. My father in law struck up a conversation with a woman eating in the Lido. She started telling us how horrible the cruise was and that her husband had decided not to leave the cabin again until debarkation (this was the last day) because of the awful conditions. I almost burst out laughing at her. She felt like she should have had concierge service throughout her cruise. I mean, you don't check into the Motel 6 and expect Four Seasons service. I am convinced that many cruisers have overblown expectations of what they should get for their fare.

 

Any questions, I will be glad to answer!

[dec2007w3boys]

No questions - but thanks for posting your review! We sail on her in December after four cruises on the Breeze. You start to get a little apprehensive after reading the bad - but will a ten day cruise to a few ports I haven't been too - I am so excited! Great to read your comments.

[bwelborn]

Yes, it's funny. We went on RCCL out of Port Canaveral back in May and the cab driver looked over at the Sunshine and said, you don't want to go on that boat.

[vamartha]

Thanks for your review. I'll get to check it out in 34 days!

[bingo3]

Thanks so much for sharing! I sail her in May.

debbie

[isismommy]

Just sailed her last month and sailing her again 2weeks from today!!! Thought the crew was the best!!! :)

[bobnbetty]

We sailed in early September on the Sunshine. Our first and only time because we like to try a different ship every time we cruise which is usually 2-3x's a year. I too heard/read picture so many negative things about the ship but I still went. I wanted to see for myself. Went with an open mind, saw the negative and the positive of the ship and by far it was not anywhere near as bad as some people said. Overall, did not care for it but still we had a great time doing what we wanted to...getting away from every day living, rest and relax for 5 days.

[bobnbetty]

I should proof read more before posting, want to apologize for the "heard/read picture", should have been "heard/read".

[shibby sails]

I was also on the Sunshine 10/18-10/23. I am platinum so have been on a lot of carnival cruises. This ship was hands down the best laid out ship and cleanest I have been on in a while. The complainers of this ship are just that, complainers. They either don't sail much or like was said before expect too much for Wal Mart prices. There are so many options for food I don't see how you can complain about he variety. One guy during the safety briefing next to me said how long is this going to last, I didn't pay for this. I wanted to slap him silly. After we missed HMC, which can't be helped, I heard passengers saying we paid for three ports and only got two we should get money back. Read your contract. I laugh at these people and just go about having a good time. The Sunshine will not disappoint if you know how to cruise and have a good time. Oh yeah, and don't let the small stuff bother you.

[tbo]

Thank you for posting your review. We will be sailing on Sunshine in late January 2016. Our first cruise since 2002 and I'm so excited that I don't let the negative reviews cloud my view one bit. We are just ready to GO! I think that things will have to really, really bad for me to be disappointed.

[Harrier1961]

My wife and I sailed the Sunshine in March and loved it.

I am fully convinced that all of the whiners about the Sunshine either have never sailed her or just want to bitch.

Was the ship perfect? No, no ship is.

Is the layout a little wonky due to being upgraded?

Yes, but nothing bad or enough to ruin a cruise.

Does the ship have good things about her?

YES! The many food choices - awesome. The Serenty Deck is awesome; who doesn't love a waterfall. The Ocean Plaza is awesome for just chilling and listening to the live music in the evenings!!!

While not my favorite ship, we are booked to sail her again in April.

 

Andy.

[Jeafl]

Thank you for sharing your experience. Did you find it hard to get a seat in the Serenity area on sea days?

[bwelborn]

Yes, all of the seating on all three of the serenity decks were plagued with chair hogs. It normally doesn't bother me much and I can usually get a chair when someone vacates, but I will honestly say that someone should be monitoring these decks. You just couldn't get a lounger. On the last sea day we sat at a small table in straight back chairs for the vast majority of the day. When you walked the decks and looked around at any given time about 50% of seating was vacant with towels draped across. They were taken early in the morning as well. It's one thing to be gone for an hour, but it's quite another to take up a group of loungers for the whole day and sit in them for only an hour or two. I also watched a group take up five loungers AND a huge hammock for a total of two people. The woman would go from the lounger to the hammock depending on the sun. That's just wrong. At about 3pm each day they would start to come open.

[jolyroger]

Glad you had a great cruise on the Sunshine. We cruised on the Sunshine this past April and like you as many others read so many horrible reviews. I take them with a grain of salt, and I agree some people, you just cant please no matter what. After cruising on the Breeze twice prior we knew we would like the interior and upgrades on the Sunshine, it looked like a mini Breeze.. Well we absolutely loved the ship ! We had booked a Spa balcony on deck 11, which was great! Close to serenity and a walk away from lido deck. Like anything certain times were busier than others as far as finding a chair, but nothing terrible. Food was great, ship was beautiful...We would not hesitate to book again!

[ilovetexas]

Please stop posting nice things about Sunshine. I like that everyone thinks she's awful...that way it won't be crowded for my Journey's cruise!

 

Sunshine is my favorite Carnival ship so far and I can't imagine a current ship in the fleet beating her. Maybe it was just the cruise experience, it was my first solo. No kids, no husband, no responsibilities for anyone other than myself. :D BUT, I still think it was largely the ship and while on the Breeze this past summer, I chose to book the Sunshine again.

 

I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise!

[OKC Cruisers]

We will be boarding Sunshine in 31 days for her first "Journeys" cruise and we are very excited. We have found that if you are inclined to find the negative in everything, then that's the kind of cruise you shall have.

 

It's a cruise...go forth and ENJOY! :D