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Carnival Sunshine: Curacao, Aruba and Grand Turk short review

chewie8008

By chewie8008,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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chewie8008

chewie8008

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Sitting here onboard waiting to get off. Thought I'd do a quick "review". Not going to do a great detailed review like some on here, but just thought I'd give information based on our experience.

 

I'll post pictures later.

 

Had an absolute blast. This was our 4th cruise and favorite one. Sunshine is a great ship. It has a few bottle necked areas but nothing too extreme. It has great entertainment and really enjoyed the food. Only went to the MDR once on elegant night and it was just "OK". Enjoyed the lido the rest of the week. Guys burgers are really good. We came off the Dream last year and it didn't have very good food at all. Sunshine definitely has the better food.

 

We stacked 5 ppl in one interior room and it actually wasn't bad at all once we rearranged our bedding.

 

Staff was great. We had Donkey as our CD and he was awesome.

 

Pool was ice cold. But kids loved it. Serenity area stayed packed during the day. Emptied at night. Water slides were fun but had a little longer lines than we experienced on Dream.

 

Curacao

 

What a great looking place. Buildings are vibrant colored and the Riff Fort area is really neat. We took a taxi to Blue Bay Beach. Great beach. It was slightly gloomy out so the water wasn't as good looking as it would have been on a sunny day. Did some snorkeling on our own and it was pretty good. Traveled back and crossed the floating bridge and had dinner at the Iguana Cafe on the waterfront while we watched a cruise ship leave through the narrow waterway. Was a really neat experience.

 

Aruba

 

We took a taxi to Arashi/Boca Catalina beach. Water was very very clear and great looking. Very rocky and good for snorkeling. Showed up just before all the snorkel tours arrived so we had it to ourselves. Then we took a taxi back to Eagle Beach. The water wasn't as clear but the color was picture perfect. The sand in the water was as soft as it gets. Both beaches are A++

Walked from the dock to shop a little. Found some nice things. Nice little area right from the dock.

 

Grand Turk

 

Easiest port by far. Just walk right off the ship and you're already at a postcard beach. We went to Margaritaville and used the free pool for about an hour and then walked to Jack's Shack. Got some Turk head beer, swam and played with Topher. Water there is crystal clear. Gorgeous water. Could do without the rusted eye-sore junky ship just down the beach from Jacks. But it wasn't a big deal.

 

All I can think of for now. I'll post some pictures when I get home. Great ports, great ship! Highly recommended!

 

Sent from my LG-D800 using Tapatalk

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Jenhem31

Jenhem31

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Glad you had a great time. I'm waiting to debark as well. I have some different feelings about the ship, but the ports were great. First time for us in Aruba and Curaçao but our third time in Grand Turk. We'd like to go back to Aruba for a week.

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chewie8008

chewie8008

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@Jenhem31 I understand. It definitely isn't a perfect ship. I do not like how they did a stadium seating type thing in the pool area for the loungers. It makes for very little foot traffic area through there. My main issue with Carnival Dream was that the food wasn't very good and that the open/close times where bad. The food was really good on Sunshine and Idk if it was just me getting out at different times, but I NEVER had an issue finding food on Sunshine, especially with Guys being open until 6.

 

One other thing that was really really good on this ship. The internet was really stable considering being surrounded by 1000 miles of sea. I heard many complain about stability issues but it was perfect for us. We paid $25 for the base package to use Facebook messenger to keep in contact with my in-laws. Never had a problem with sending or receiving and even made a short video call and also sent one short video to them back in the US. We also all got the $5 carnival hub app chat feature for the week. That way we could locate each other BC our rooms were on different floors. Never had issues sending or receiving. And the the carnival hub app is a 5 star app. Even if you don't want to pay $5 to use the chat feature you can use the app for free to see open/close times and it has a complete list of all entertainment with more details than your fun times will have. Makes things much easier. You can also track your sign and sail balance through the app.

 

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crusinpsychRN

crusinpsychRN

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Cucina was the best food on the ship! Besides Guy's.

 

Bathrooms are the smallest of any ship I've been on but the shower is big. Take a door stop--darn bathroom door would not stay open and kept hitting me in the back. Great cabin, OV. Lots of activities. Donkey was great. He did a Motown "trivia" in the atrium one night and we had a blast!

 

Didn't like the show Epic Rock, not my taste in music. Lots of people loved it.

 

Have to go to comedy club 35-45 minutes early to get a seat.

 

In MDR the waiter recognized me from past cruises. He was fabulous! Soulamon. Ask for his station.

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slwillwin

slwillwin

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Glad you had a great time. I'm waiting to debark as well. I have some different feelings about the ship, but the ports were great. First time for us in Aruba and Curaçao but our third time in Grand Turk. We'd like to go back to Aruba for a week.

 

What did you do in Aruba and Curaçao? We are going in August with our two kids. The wife and I spent a week in Aruba at the RUI and it was great.

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griz400

griz400

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Just off Sunshine as well, not real impressed, they did a makeover -- (2.0 conversion) ... guess that was ok, but from I have read before sailing, it was revamped to hold more people ... not a good thing ... We was on the 8 day sailing, with 3 ports, 4 cruise days , only 2 small pools, 1 hot tub on serenity deck, the other 2 hot tubs continually filled with children, very small lounge for the comedy club, ( this is one of our favorite things on other ships) . This ship is not meant for this sailing with 4 seadays .. ( they didn't have seaday brunch on 1 day)... live and learn i guess.. a 7 day with 4 ports may do well on this ship .. ports were nice, and sun off the coast of Venezuela is real hot ..

Our take is it seemed way to crowded, we had our time dining with a check in at the Taste bar, ( they had you wait there if needed ) which is a good thing, instead of waiting out front by elevators, They should post the menu there, and then you can decide if it is there, or another restaurant ( Italian is the best ) ..

Buffet is way sub-par to any other carnival ship, deli is good as always, pizza was always burnt on bottom, table cloths only on formal nights, when they serve dessert, by then there is sweat rings from ice water, sodas, etc, then they put your silverware for dessert on a dirty table .. not a good thing..

Sunshine was our least favorite Carnival ship

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heatherhudson15

heatherhudson15

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Sunshine is our favorite ship of all the fleet. I have been in 16 cruises with Carnival. Already booked for Magic next March then the Vista for March 2018.

Her food is by far the best! We love the updated 2.0 features. Loved Epic Rock and VIP. All the staff were super friendly and a attentive. I would agree that on Sea Days the deck space is crowded but still worked for us. We had 13 in our party.

 

To OP, glad you had a good time. Appreciate that review.

 

 

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chewie8008

chewie8008

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Don't forget the Pour Your Own Beer station. If you like beer, those are super convenient. Cheaper and quicker than bar service! Had my fair share of Thirsty Frog. Had a few nights of the 1am thirsty frog and an entire pizza to the room. Now I'm eating burger king.😟

 

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Jenhem31

Jenhem31

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What did you do in Aruba and Curaçao? We are going in August with our two kids. The wife and I spent a week in Aruba at the RUI and it was great.

 

 

In Curaçao we just walked around town. We found a bar and had a couple drinks. In Aruba we did the Mi Dushi snorkeling excursion. Best excursion we've ever done. Hit 3 spots, one over a shipwreck which was a huge military ship. We had an awesome lunch and open bar after.

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Micahs Grandad

Micahs Grandad

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Cucina was the best food on the ship! Besides Guy's.

 

Bathrooms are the smallest of any ship I've been on but the shower is big. Take a door stop--darn bathroom door would not stay open and kept hitting me in the back. Great cabin, OV. Lots of activities. Donkey was great. He did a Motown "trivia" in the atrium one night and we had a blast!

 

Didn't like the show Epic Rock, not my taste in music. Lots of people loved it.

 

Have to go to comedy club 35-45 minutes early to get a seat.

 

In MDR the waiter recognized me from past cruises. He was fabulous! Soulamon. Ask for his station.

 

We dont like playlist shows but thought epic rock was rather good.

 

Biggest reason we will not sail on Sunshine is the comedy club is pitifully small. Apparently the Vista will be the same.

 

Lucky for us Carnival has lots of other ships.

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nc2sc

nc2sc

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In Curaçao we just walked around town. We found a bar and had a couple drinks. In Aruba we did the Mi Dushi snorkeling excursion. Best excursion we've ever done. Hit 3 spots, one over a shipwreck which was a huge military ship. We had an awesome lunch and open bar after.

 

I did that excursion a few years ago, and agree it was awesome...

And Curacao is great for a lazy port day to walk around. Very cool looking, convenient and friendly...

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chewie8008

chewie8008

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Didn't get in the hot tub but did feel of the water and it seemed just warm. Which I guess is the idea BC you wouldn't want a traditionally 'hot' tub in 80°+ weather? Might want to go to the hot tub on serenity area, the two by the pool were filled with kids. Water slides were great.

 

Sent from my LG-D800 using Tapatalk

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