Sunshine Oct 23

[shellden]

A quick review of our recent sailing..

Hubby and I are in our late 40's , have cruised many times and are very easy to please.We had actually sailed on the Destiny when she was brand new. Chose this ship for the itinerary Aruba, Curacao,Grand Turk.

Will breakdown review:

Pre Cruise: Viplimo, Mike himself picked us up in Town Car very friendly would use him again in a heartbeat! Stay a Radisson Resort at the Port. It was fine placed in a new room way in the back nice room. Great pool bar meet some fellow cruisers had fun!

 

Embarkation : took about 1 hr, arrived after noon and boarded after 1.

 

Room Balcony Deck 6 mid # 6239, no issues great location cabin steward very friendly, laundry right up hall. no fridge

 

Food:We had no issues with food offerings, we tried to mix it up and felt we did a good job

 

Lido Buffet good, Pizza Yum, Cucina for lunch nice treat, Mongolian Wok always a favorite, Bluelguana great Breakfast Burrito!, Guys worth a try very heavy along with a Thirsty Frog(mouth is watering), Sea day Brunch Huevero Ranchero enjoyed, slow but decent service, Taste Bar for Breakfast (now has a toaster!) Love The French Toast!! , Also some tasty bites pre dinner. JiJi's Loved!! Steakhouse Surf and Turf worth the upcharge. Your time dining worked fine for us we never waited long even when we requested a specific station. Food good to great

 

Entertainment:

We actually never made it to any productions. Comedy was excellent (room is way to small) Some shows we stood but enjoyed anyway!! Deja Vu (band) excellent, Piano Bar OK , Casino very smokey but busy

Pool areas Chair Hogs on Steroids, Oh well we just went with it. Loved the Serenity Pool just hung out there. Not enough pool space for the amount of guest

 

 

Ports

Aruba we had visited before so planned a Ship day, ended up being overcast but we still enjoyed a quiet ship

 

Curacao: It Poured most the morning we had a Private snorkel tour booked, which we cancelled. Ended up taking a two hr Island tour for $20p/p. It was a great way to see the Island Love the colors and architecture of the buildings. They would have let you off in downtown but due to weather we headed back to ship.

 

Grand Turk: Water is Breathtaking, prettiest we have seen!! We did a Ship sponsored tour Catamaran Sailaway,Beach and Snorkel, had a blast Im sure the RumPunch helped, Then went to Margaritaville, played in the pool had a great time! Cant wait to return!!!!

 

Overall:

We had a great trip, relaxed and did as we wished. I don't think I would choose this ship again though and for no specific reason. It just was not our favorite. That being said I wouldn't dissuade anyone from sailing on Sunshine. So go and see for yourself any cruise is better then a day a work!!

 

Any question I will be happy to try to answer

[homeofthedogs]

Thank you for taking the time to write your review. Great information.

 

One question I have. Did you feel that the ship was too crowded? Friends of ours sailed her and hated it because they felt the ship was very overcrowded.

 

We are thinking of booking Sunshine for next year and need feedback on the subject. Thanks in advance.

[wantocruisemore]

Thanks for your review. We are considering a Sunshine cruise out of either Norfolk or Charleston because so close, but have seen a lot of negatives.

 

Can you tell me exactly why you would not cruise on it again? And what is your favorite ship for a comparisom?

[Beth]

We were also on this cruise. It is my favorite ship. Did not feel any more crowd then other ships. The comedy club is too small, but just go alittle early. Like that it has all the speciality restaurants. Also has the Havanna Bar area with Cuban food. JMHO

[micro yaya]

Did this same cruise room 2179 great room,quiet no movement.Love this ship,the best crew,shows terrific always found a seat no really long lines,our new favourite,made diamond this week too :)

[shellden]

wantocruisemore and homeofthedogs

 

I dont think it was more crowed then others, if you really like outdoor space that is where I found it most congested chairs are packed in, but doesn't break the vacation. The Serenity Deck is by far the best. We prefer the newer ships, Breeze, Freedom with the larger promenade great to sit and have a drink people watch. Like I said I dont think you will hate it food and service was good.

As Beth and Microyaya stated they loved it so it is all a personal thing.

 

FYI Im looking to cruise in May on the Valor, Older smaller so obviously it didn't have that much negative affect.

 

Go and see for yourself!!

[bubbles4ever]

I to was on this sailing and I felt it to crowded. We didn't get off the ship in Grand Turk just so we could have some time on the Serenity deck before all the places were taken. Also the traffic flow in the Lido buffet wasn't there. People just kind of wandered or stood around making it difficult to get from point A to point B. Other than that I enjoyed the trip but I don't see myself booking on this ship again.

[NCTribeFan]

I don't "do" some of the places that people complain about - the comedy club, the lido buffet, baking by the pool all day. I'll be on her in a couple of weeks for 11 nights but only 2 sea days, so time on the ship will be rather limited.

 

I sail to get to the ports. Any nice things on the ship are just extras. I'm a morning person, so imagine I'll find a spot on Serenity for a few hours. Want to check out the wine bar in the Library.

 

All ship casinos are busy and smokey. Ours will be a Premier Casino sailing and I expect it will be even more so. I'm still puzzled as to why the non-smoking banks of machines can't be located on one side (along with the non-smoking tables) and the smoking on the other (by the smoking end of the bar). Why can't Carnival to do that to alleviate some of the problems for us non-smokers?

 

I'm looking forward to my cruise and encourage people to NOT book their cruise vacations based on a handful of reviews. As I continually point out, even if you get TWO WHOLE REVIEWS of one particular sailing, that is absolutely in no way statistically relevant!

 

I'm still writing my Splendor Bermuda review. Two of us are writing them. That's two people out of about 3,000. And our experiences were rather different.

 

Even if you do sail a particular ship and think it's perfect or horrible, the people next door may feel exactly the opposite.

 

Small sample sizes, people!

 

Anyway, thanks for posting. I'll write a full review when I get home since I know people are interested in reading about the Journey sailings.

[jean87510]

we were on the 10/31 sailing and I did observe the following:

 

1. ALWAYS got a seat on serenity even on the sea days. Reason was because people actually got up at 6am and snagged their seat for the day (or so they thought). They had to leave for the lunch which was when I snuck in and enjoyed a couple of hours relaxing.

2. Regarding the coveted clam shells on serenity. Yes, they are nice but the mattress pad does slide a lot so I found myself readjusting a lot

3. Under the waterslide is much quieter and has more shade. Plus if you get hot, go down the slide. Favorite area to sit on the ship.

4. Thanks to too many posts and couple of youtube videos, the havana bar secret place to eat is out. VERY crowded all the time in there.

5. NEVER once had ANY problems getting into ANY show. Did not stand in line at all. Do not understand what everyone was complaining about. I never waited for any comedy acts or for the liquid lounge.

6. Food in the sea day brunch in MDR was awful. Found plastic wrap on my brunch and my sons.

7. Sushi was the best thing there and well priced. Get the bento box for $10. Very filling

8. La cucina food was not very good and waitresses are a tad bit curt with you. One gave me an eyeroll when I told her I didn't order tomato sauce and I had to show her my ticket. This was lunch. It took 15 to 20 minutes to make and it is ehh.

9. Water slides are the best.

10. Never had a line at guest services. Also, did NOT purchase fttf.

11. Got on ship in 15 minutes at port canaveral. Got off ship in 20 minutes in port canaveral.

12. Outdoor movies were GREAT. Popcorn is an excellent idea.

[pmoniz]

Thank you for posting your review of your cruise on the Sunshine!! We'll be cruising on her in March (can't wait!)

 

I, too, find it odd that people would base their decisions on cruising on a particular ship or not just because some people have negative reviews. I find more positive reviews than negative about the Sunshine. Everyone raved about the Dream and I thought it wasn't that great! But that's me!

 

I've found every ship I've been on feeling crowded at some point, lido area full of people not knowing if they are coming or going. Chair hogs, etc. But, it's vacation...who cares! I make it a point to go on any vacation (land or cruise) and just have fun!! It beats work!