Review: Carnival Sunshine September 3, 2016 to NE and Canada

[mizLORInj]

Hello lovelies! (those who have sailed with Emma the CD will understand this greeting!)

 

We had not been on a Carnival ship in two years and were happy a new-to-NYC Carnival ship was here to try out. Full of excitement, we watched NY Harbor Webcam at 6:30am and saw the NCL Gem and Anthem of the Seas, followed by Carnival Splendor enter NY harbor. YAY—the ship made it here! Due to having an engagement on day of debarkation, we drove to the port. Normally we get a ride or take the train. We arrived around 11:15 and easily found a parking space. We did think it very odd that people were still getting off the ship at that hour. Took our bags on the escalator and checked the large ones with the porters outside the check-in level. Onward to security which had a very short line and we were through quickly. I did have two cans of soda that were inspected by security, but they did not ask to see the wine bottles.

 

We soon learned why there were short lines at security. Everyone was already through and in the next line for check-in. The line for the Diamond/Platinum/Suites check-in room was out the door and did not move. After a short time, some of us in that line were taken to another check-in line that moved slowly as there were not many check-in agents there yet. Learned that boarding was not going to start till 1:30 as debarkation had been delayed for some reason. Finally presented our passports, got pic taken, and back to another line to get our cruise cards since those were in the Diamond/Platinum/Suites lounge. At this time the lounge was packed so we took our cruise cards and waited outside the door against the wall. It was now 12:20. The line into the lounge was suddenly moving and we learned priority boarding was happening. Once onboard we dropped our stuff at our cabin and then headed to Mongolian Wok for lunch. We liked the Havana bar area and also had a few of the “Cuban bites.” Very tasty.

 

Decided to walk around a bit since Sunshine was new to us. Waterslides! Headed back to our cabin quickly to put our swimwear on and went down the slides a few times. Fun. It was hot and sunny out and no one else was on the slides! Was getting near time for our informal meet-n-greet (which would be our only CC M&G due to some breakdown on Carnival’s part) so we changed and headed to Red Frog poolside. Met up with Jamman54 (Jeff & Patti) and also Whimbrel Sailor (Jeff & Leesa). Hung out for awhile and had some fun. (was great to meet all of you!)

 

On to muster drill. When will Carnival get this right. Still the longest muster drills of the major cruise lines, and I haven’t been standing outside for a muster drill since my last Carnival cruise. Other cruise lines have you seated in restaurants, etc. and accomplish the same thing in a much quicker way. I did appreciate their clearly stating where smoking is permitted and where it is not. Also mentioned specifically was tossing things overboard since the week before our cruise is when the fire started from someone throwing a cigarette overboard that ended up catching a towel on fire on a lower deck. Yet I did get a whiff of cigarette smoke outside a few times. Also mid-ship on deck 6 always reeked of smoke in the corridor.

 

We did fixed early dining on this cruise after having read the horror stories about Your Time Dining. We saw the long lines on deck 5 for people who were checking in. Whimbrel Sailor said when they went to dinner there were usually short lines for check-in and they got their table # assignment and went right to their table, so it wasn’t so bad. Our table was in the mid-ship dining room and we ate there twice. We were in a row of tables for two and it was fine and the meals we had were good. Very happy there is still lobster in the dining room the first elegant night. It is now served with three average-sized shrimp. Only one person was assigned for drinks to that half of the room, so service was quite slow. That is not sufficient for the number of people in the area of the dining room. Note that if you want a chocolate melting cake with the batter cooked through you can request one well done, which I did. (vs. raw batter which is how it is usually served—that’s why it’s runny in the center)

 

I like the buffet stations vs. the other Carnival ships’ long counters. The pizza seemed to be on a sort of naan bread, and it was quite good. There was always something we could find that we liked so I think if you can’t find something tasty you are too picky! One thing we did not care for were the breakfast “eggs” at Blue Iguana. They were gross. Loved the assortment of hot sauces there. There are late night snacks in the buffet too—I think it was hot dogs, ham/cheese sandwich, chili and cookies. I miss the assortment of tea from former years. Liked the self-serve ice cream and frozen yogurt. Enjoyed the sea day brunch and we had a fun table of 12. The lox looked good, blueberry pancakes were tasty, ham, bacon, tomato soup all good.

 

We ate at the upcharge steakhouse. I had the lobster and it was very good as was the strip steak. Service and everything was to our liking. We did order a glass of champagne and it was lacking bubbles so I insisted they open a fresh bottle. Dead fly in the windowsill. This steakhouse does not have a good outside view--other Carnival ships' steakhouses on the top deck do.

 

Stopped at Java Café on our way out at either Saint John or Halifax and they had no coffee. What? Isn’t this a COFFEE bar?? They were willing to upsell you to something else.

 

Disappointed that Java Café did not have that very tall chocolate cake anymore. We tried the chocolate cake from room service and it was just ok. The BLT was quite good though, and both were delivered quickly—maybe 15 minutes. The chocolate buffet the last sea day had a very good chocolate cake but not much else anymore.

 

Alchemy bar is awesome and we really liked the Ocean Plaza area too. Didn’t go into the piano bar but it was busy at night. Lots of fun activities in the atrium. Gym had good equipment.

 

The ship is in decent shape—not great—not bad. There are some sloppy things, like blue paint on our balcony that is clearly paint drips from the edges of the balcony floors. Just looked sloppy. Wear and tear outside due to weather and dampness is understandable. The cabin décor is very nice. I miss the amenities basket that used to be in the bathroom. We had a deck 6 aft cabin and it did have a refrigerator (so the site people keep referring to about which cabins or decks have refrigerators is outdated). The plug for the fridge wasn’t working well so maintenance replaced it shortly after we called about it. Also replaced a hinge on the divider between balconies that was broken. Minor things but they were addressed quickly which was appreciated. Outdoor areas seemed nicely maintained. Serenity multi-deck area was nice though the top deck was closed the 2 sea days due to wind. Pool area is crowded, but that's expected on a cruise ship.

 

If you have the patience to sit through the Excursions talk in the theater, a few excursions and other items were given away to attendees. (We saw it on tv later).

 

As you may know, Cruise Critic Meet n Greets were being sponsored and set up by Carnival for a few months now. Also, effective September 1st, an invitation to said M&G was supposed to be delivered to your cabin showing date and time. None of these things happened on this cruise for some reason. When I inquired at Guest Services they did not know anything about a meetup, and finally replied to me that they “were not informed by headquarters that this needed to be set up.” So my suggestion is have a meet-up plan just in case this happens on your cruise.

 

Emma was an entertaining CD--full of energy. We enjoyed her sing-alongs in the atrium and had a lot of fun there.

 

Loved the 70s and 80s songs played by Deja Vu in Ocean Plaza. Thought they were fabulous.

 

Two CC members (Whimbrel Sailor) who attended the Welcome Aboard show the first night won a VIP package for the cruise which included a bottle of champagne, bottle of wine with dinner, a meet n greet with Players club, meet the production cast, reserved seating for shows, drink coupons, etc. It was a great prize. Only 2 couples got this perk.

 

The tv seemed to have receiving issues quite often and the channels were not watchable. And it wasn’t like we were out in the middle of nowhere so I don’t understand why they were unavailable so often.

 

Playlist production shows are ok. I still miss the live band/orchestra with the 18 singers/dancers. We had seen 2 of the shows on this ship already (2 years ago! Time for a change!) Can’t recall the first one for sure--Get Down Tonight maybe, and Motor City, but they were good. Guests had the opportunity to participate in Motor City by showing up early and being selected. VIP winners were included. Epic Rock was awesome--if you like rock music. The Déjà vu guitarist played a bit before the show started—Ozzy, Def Leppard, Van Halen, and other excellent rock bands. The show is not for everyone—if you’re not a rocker, you might not enjoy it as much as we did. Singers and dancers were good. Comedians were entertaining but one early (non-adults only) show was not kid-friendly. I did not like how he picked on kids and I was glad the family sitting near us got up and left. I felt bad for their kids. Kids aren’t perfect and we were all kids once! The venue for comedy shows is way too small.

 

The platinum gift was a Tervis tumbler with graphics of the waterslides. Since we each already have two tumblers each that we don’t use often, we asked the cabin steward if there were any other options. He found a couple of packing cubes so we took those instead. Platinums now get 3 bags of laundry on a 7 nighter and a liter bottle of water (each) in addition to the free drink coupon (for breakfast, lunch or brunch use only). As mentioned earlier, we hadn’t been on Carnival in 2 years and last time it was one bag of laundry per person per cruise. Though we didn’t use the service this time, I’m glad they increased it.

 

There were two Platinum/Diamond parties on this ship—both on Friday afternoon. Passed around were mini sliders, sushi (too difficult to eat this way), and maybe one or two other things. Officers were present as was Emma and a few others. A nice party and it was held where the Comedians perform. I believe Diamonds had an additional party earlier in the cruise.

 

Back in NYC (Diamond/Platinum) Walk off-Debarkation began at 7:30am and was quick and easy.

 

Ports:

Due to the impending storm, we changed up ports—Portland was first instead of Boston, which was great because it was a beautiful day in Portland. Note the walk to excursions is quite far. We booked the Portland Schooner excursion directly and enjoyed the 2 hours sailing. The cruise line also books this and puts it with a land excursion. Wandered the waterfront area and enjoyed a very good lobster roll in one place and then ice cream at Beal’s. It was a lovely sailaway since it was sunny and water was calm. Lots of little islands in this area.

 

Boston. Weather wasn’t great but at least it wasn’t raining. We walked past Harpoon brewery and then stopped at Yankee Lobster for a lobster roll—another delicious one. Passed the Bacon Truck on the way and wished I hadn’t eaten the whole lobster roll since I’ve heard about this truck and wanted to try out something with bacon, but I was too full. Continued on our walk along the waterfront eventually ending up at the Marriott Long Wharf. Another nice sailaway. Aviation enthusiasts will enjoy where the ship docks—across the waterway from the airport. It was very cool watching the planes coming in.

 

Saint John. We were going to rent a car and go to the Fundy Trail to hike, but it was so foggy we walked by Avis and told them we’re not going to take the car. We’ve learned not to prepay these rentals. As we walked along the Harbor Passage trail the fog lifted and sun came out! Then came back and walked along restaurant row. Ended up eating at Grannan’s and the lobster roll was just ‘eh. Smaller than expected and since the pieces were chopped up so fine I have to wonder what else was in with the lobster. Enjoyed another Canadian favorite—Moosehead light lime beer. Wandered in the mall and found the dollar store (thanks for pointing this out Jeff!). Lots of good stuff. I got what I went there for—Canadian snack called Ringolos. Yum. And a few soda cans for about .75 each. Good deal. Stopped by Steamers where Jeff & Leesa got a lobster roll and free beer for wearing Steamers’ shirts. Love that a bagpiper played for our sailaway! We saw whales as we were about an hour out from the port. So cool!

 

Halifax. For some reason we got in late (though it was not far from Saint John) and debarkation was delayed quite a bit. Our first stop was Atlantic Superstore for a few of my favorite Canadian foods and of course some maple syrup. At their bakery there were pieces of chocolate cake to sample. YUM! Then dropped the stuff off back at the ship and took a taxi to the end of the waterfront. No judgments—we had walked 14K steps per day till that point! Enjoyed a lobster roll at Dave’s. Note Dave’s doesn’t honor currency exchange rates—so if you are charged $20CAD and pay with cash USD $20, you don’t get any change. The US rate today is about $15.20 for the $20CAD, so we overpaid for ours. Still, the heated lobster was fabulous. Just wandered around a bit more, tapped into the free wifi to post a few pics, and slowly made our way back to the ship. Note there is a Hertz rental place on the road across the street from the port—the side that faces the Westin hotel. Also Thrifty/Dollar rental at the Westin.

 

Random thoughts:

 

Don’t like that you can’t view your account on the tv, but I like that it’s on the Carnival app. You can print one out at the kiosk.

 

Bring hangers if you want to hang skirts or shorts, etc. Not sufficient hangers for us.

 

I love that this class of ship still has lifeboats tucked in so you can see straight down to the water.

 

Wish it had a lower deck that went all around the ship.

 

Loved the towel animals.

 

Remember the forward outside viewing decks on 7 and 8. Love it up there.

 

Mini golf on the top deck

 

Ropes course!

 

Bath towels were not bleached enough. Many had stains on them. Not appealing.

 

Fan of the outdoor movies.

 

Waterslides!

 

 

In summary: We liked the ship a lot and had a great time on this cruise.

Edited September 13, 2016 by mizLORInj

[Jamman54]

Hey Lori. It was a pleasure to meet you and Larry onboard. Great review! You pretty well summed everything up. No need for our review now. Just kidding!! :D Patti and I took well over 1,200 pictures and can't wait to share some of them with everyone. I should be starting in the next day or two. Please feel free to add any comments along the way. I'm sorry that our invites to the VIFP party were not for the same time. :( Also very sorry that the Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle never happened. :eek: Talking with everyone, I think we would have had a good turn out. On future cruises with the Meet & Mingle, I will be going to GS the first day to find out when and where it is being held. This way if somebody drops the ball again, it can be rectified.

[adkcruiser]

Thanks for the review. Leaving on the Sunshine Saturday!

[mizLORInj]

Hey Lori. It was a pleasure to meet you and Larry onboard. Great review! You pretty well summed everything up. No need for our review now. Just kidding!! :D Patti and I took well over 1,200 pictures and can't wait to share some of them with everyone. I should be starting in the next day or two. Please feel free to add any comments along the way. I'm sorry that our invites to the VIFP party were not for the same time. :( Also very sorry that the Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle never happened. :eek: Talking with everyone, I think we would have had a good turn out. On future cruises with the Meet & Mingle, I will be going to GS the first day to find out when and where it is being held. This way if somebody drops the ball again, it can be rectified.

 

You too Jeff. Looking forward to seeing your pics! I agree about checking in the first day to see when it's scheduled--so if it isn't, they can get it set up before the last day of the cruise!

[mizLORInj]

So sometimes people on this board ask if they can check in with those with whom they are traveling who are Platinum or Diamond or in a Suite. (or the Suites ask if they can keep their non-suite people with them-- you get the picture.)

 

As we joined the long line that was probably 20 people outside the Lounge, the people in front of us were not happy that two who were traveling with them were sent to the regular check-in line. They said they had not been sent away on other cruises. Well if everyone brought two more, the platinum lounge would have been fuller sooner, so I actually appreciate that no one else was allowed there this time around. That was the September 3 experience anyway!

 

AND OMG I just glanced over the first couple sentences of my review -- i said Splendor instead of SUNSHINE entering NY harbor. DER to me!

Edited September 13, 2016 by mizLORInj

[NYcruzzer]

We were on same cruise. Your review was very well written and informative. Looking forward to Jamman54's pic review as well so we can relive our wonderful vacation..

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[SenatorsFan]

Thanks for the review. I had to laugh when you mentioned Ringolos. I haven't had them in years! I remember how my friends and I used to put them on our fingers like rings, and eat them that way. :D:eek:

Heather

[Warm Breezes]

Thanks for the review. I had to laugh when you mentioned Ringolos. I haven't had them in years! I remember how my friends and I used to put them on our fingers like rings, and eat them that way. :D:eek:

Heather

 

Okay...what are Ringolos?

[easyboy]

Thanks for the review

[mizLORInj]

Thanks for the review. I had to laugh when you mentioned Ringolos. I haven't had them in years! I remember how my friends and I used to put them on our fingers like rings, and eat them that way. :D:eek:

Heather

 

YES! My nephew still eats them that way!

 

 

Okay...what are Ringolos?

 

A delicious and spicy potato-based snack--sort of like a chip but not exactly. If you do a search, you'll find the purple bag with a picture of the cute little rings--and also pics of people wearing them on their fingers as SenatorsFan said. :-)

Edited September 14, 2016 by mizLORInj

[cruisincastro2012]

Great Review!! We will be sailing Oct 17th!!!!:D:D:D:D

[Maraprince]

Any idea if Guest Services can be contacted prior to the sailing to be sure they have the information of guests who signed up for the M & G? We will be on the 9/24 sailing of the Sunshine and our M & G coordinator is hearing about Guest Services' failure on the last 2 sailings to receive any information from Miami about a M Y& G.:eek:

 

We would also like to incorporate a gift exchange and it doesn't make sense to have participants purchase gifts and then keep on waiting for a M & G that doesn't happen.:(

 

MARAPRINCE

[mizLORInj]

Any idea if Guest Services can be contacted prior to the sailing to be sure they have the information of guests who signed up for the M & G? We will be on the 9/24 sailing of the Sunshine and our M & G coordinator is hearing about Guest Services' failure on the last 2 sailings to receive any information from Miami about a M Y& G.:eek:

 

We would also like to incorporate a gift exchange and it doesn't make sense to have participants purchase gifts and then keep on waiting for a M & G that doesn't happen.:(

 

MARAPRINCE

 

Based on last week's experience, I would go to Guest Services upon boarding. That is enough time for them to get it together and get notification out to those who are interested. I know Jamman54 plans to check in with GS as soon as he boards Sunshine next month to check.

Edited September 14, 2016 by mizLORInj

[Clarea]

Thanks for the report.

[mizLORInj]

I am looking at the Sunshine on the Saint John port webcam and wishing I was still on it!

http://www.kroooz-cams.com/portcams/canada/st_john1.php

[ilovedale3]

Thanks so much for the review! DH and I will be on this cruise Sept. 24!

[tracy b]

Can you tell me about the dollar store in St John...and where is the mall?

[mizLORInj]

Can you tell me about the dollar store in St John...and where is the mall?

 

Sure. It is in the Brunswick Square mall. Come out of the ship port and turn left onto Water Street. When you get to King Street, cross over and head uphill. You will see a candy store across the street on the right at some point; the entrance to the mall is on the next block on the left.

 

The map of the mall is here: brunswicksquare.ca

Dollar store is on level 1--hover over bottom right store and you'll see it's the Dollar store.

 

[mizLORInj]

One thing I forgot to mention earlier.

 

The DISCO PARTY (I think it was called 70s party) in the Liquid Lounge one night was so much fun--I wished it was longer than an hour! I liked how they blocked off the theater-style seating with curtains so it felt more nightclubby.

[tracy b]

Sure. It is in the Brunswick Square mall. Come out of the ship port and turn left onto Water Street. When you get to King Street, cross over and head uphill. You will see a candy store across the street on the right at some point; the entrance to the mall is on the next block on the left.

 

The map of the mall is here: brunswicksquare.ca

Dollar store is on level 1--hover over bottom right store and you'll see it's the Dollar store.

 

 

thanks! i'll tell you how i do

[hp_slash]

Thank you so much for your review! FI and I are going on the Oct 8 sailing. It's his first cruise and we can't wait!! :D