Not so much sunshine on the Sunshine 1/13

[topofE]

I really enjoy reading about the food :) We are seriously thinking about the Sunshine (literally and figuratively).....I have heard great things about the Sunshine since it's been re-done. Is there a serenity deck?

 

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YES and they have the BEST serenity deck! It's got it's own pool and waterfall. It is gorgeous up there. Best serenity deck out of the 5 ships I have been on for sure.

[topofE]

I think that is about it for the food. The Mongolian Wok smelled great but I skipped it. I have had it on other ships but I don't care for the sauces. The lines were always long though so I know people loved it. We didn't eat at the sushi place but we walked past it and it was very cute. Across from the steakhouse which we also never ate at. On the last night I stumbled upon the Taste Bar and I am disappointed I didn't find it sooner. They were serving super tiny grilled cheeses with several kinds of cheese and super tiny cups of tomato soup. It smelled delicious and I will be SURE to make it a point to check it out on future cruises. I don't know if it was always grilled cheese and tomato or if it was just that night but I look forward to, and dread the thought of someone pointing out all the delicious options that were available there every day.

 

We ate in the dining room twice. I had some chicken thing with mashed potatoes and green beans. My dad had steak. I had the melting chocolate cake. I get why everyone loves it but I have a ick factor when it comes to undercooked food. WHich I know this isn't...but the gooeyness of it still takes away from it for me a bit. I also don't eat gooey butter cake and that is a STL staple so there is that. But the flavor of the cake was delicious. Rich, warm, creamy vanilla ice cream. It was delicious. I also had some appetizer that was chicken tenders. It was adorable. LIke 2 little chicken bites. The sauce was great and spicy. Whatever it was called, if you see it, get it. The servers all danced to Pharell WIlliams Happy. WIth the brown mounty hat and everything. They pulled my kid up, who is a complete ham so she loved it. The bread of course, was on point. The service was much quicker than our experience in the past. We had anytime dining. It was a long wait for a table...probably 30 minutes. Which isn't LONG. But long when you are already hungry. Of course my kid and dad found their way to the arcade during those 30 minutes to blow more of the allowance so they didn't mind the wait. Once we got our table it all went very quickly. But, as on other cruises, don't plan on going to a show an hour after you go to dinner. Despite being served quickly, it was still a long-ish wait for a table and a long meal so we missed the shows both nights that we went to the dining room.

[topofE]

Oh and they have a burrito bar outside on Lido. It looked great but their hours never caught me right. It was either with a super long line or else they were closed. According to my funtimes it was 12-230pm. They also had breakfast burritos from 730-1030. They looked good. I never saw anyone with uneaten burritos so they seemed quite popular. If I didn't love the Italian and the carvery so much I probably would've made more of an effort to try the burritos but I assure you, I ate more than my fair share on this trip.

 

I tried another Guy's burger. They have that burger with an entire patty made up of bacon. LIke it is "quilted" into it's own little patty. I went there and ordered a bacon cheeseburger. They gave me a cheeseburger and told me to get the bacon off their little condiment stand. Which had some like greasy bacon bits soaking in oil. It didn't look appetizing and I was slightly disappointed. I didn't eat the bacon from there but maybe someone else can tell me if my judgement was off and they were really delicious. I don't know why I didn't get the bacon patty thing. Maybe I ordered it wrong since I said bacon cheeseburger and not the name that is on the menu for bacon cheeseburger. Flying pig burger or something. Or maybe because it ws like 545 and they were trying to close up at 6. Either way, the burger was fine baconless and my stomach issues didn't come back.

 

The kid liked the cookies on the buffet and ate them every day.

 

I tried dessert on the buffet every day (more like every meal) and I wasn't blown away by them. They all have a certain taste to them. Like the chocolate isn't very chocolaty or something. Very European maybe. Like not very sweet, not very chocolaty, not very lemony. I had a mixed berry cobbler one day that was am-ah-zing. I also had a peanut butter chocolate pie that was great with a mini bowl of ice cream. Other than that, the cupcakes, cakes, etc all have a distinct taste in their frosting that I didn't love. Is it buttercream? Some European frosting maybe?

[jimbo5544]

from post #20: We ended that night pretty early. Our early morning start and the stress of travelling and the on again off again rainy weather was enough to convince us to call it a night early. Our room steward had asked my dad if we wanted morning or evening service. He said morning but I flagged him down and said that while we didn't need turn down service, the kid NEEDED a towel animal. I wasn't sure if he caught it all but my family is big on going with the flow so we weren't too worried. When we got to our room, the beds were turned down, the animal was there and we slept soundly while the boat rocked us to sleep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So the stewards are still playing fast and loose with this trial program I guess. Very disappointing to hear.

 

 

 

 

 

Bill

 

 

Thanks for the link, I looked twice and did not see it. My experience has been that they offer morning, evening or both (saw the card). On our last cruise we decided to try one and picked evening. Our room was made up every morning as well. Later in the week I asked the RS that we had said evening and he said the rooms on either side wanted both so he did for us as well (our status might have had a play in that who knows). I asked him what the client feedback was and he said about half actually preferred once a day. Of the ones picking both about half always had the snoozin sign out. While there has been much discussion regarding this topic, my feedback is that yet is a non issue for the vast majority.

 

 

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[KPfromCT]

I didn't eat the bacon from there but maybe someone else can tell me if my judgement was off and they were really delicious. I don't know why I didn't get the bacon patty thing. Maybe I ordered it wrong since I said bacon cheeseburger and not the name that is on the menu for bacon cheeseburger. Flying pig burger or something. Or maybe because it ws like 545 and they were trying to close up at 6. Either way, the burger was fine baconless and my stomach issues didn't come back.

 

You need to order what they call the "pig patty":D:D

It's a heart attack in a bun.......:D

Kidding. I've never had one, but the pictures make my heart race. lol

I usually get the straight up and put some caramelized onions on it and call it a day.:D

 

Really enjoying your review! Thanks for taking the time!!!!

[topofE]

I think that covers it for food.

 

The movies were out on the Lido:

Ms Perigriene's home (I have no idea how to spell it!)

Trolls

Sully

Suicide Squad

The Secret Life of Pets

Central Intelligence

Magnificent Seven

A Bond movie I think

One of the Bourne movies

 

The kid watched Trolls with grandpa. I caught bits and pieces of Sully. And I snored/drooled through Central Intelligence. The kid kept waking me up and saying she wanted to go to the room. Apparently I would mumble something to her and go back to sleep. The movie looked funny though so I will still have to check it out.

 

We used walkie talkies. I know they are poopood on here in cc but we love them. I have an over the shoulder purse that I emptied out and put the camp carnival schedule in with a walkie talkie and tied up the strap to make it shorter. The rule was that the kid had to walkie me whenever she was basically in any common area. So she could stay in kids club till they closed. Or swim. Or waterslide. Or eat. Or arcade. But I wanted to know when she was in transit anywhere. The hallways are where *I* think anything shady can happen and this way I could plan to meet her wherever she was. She pretty much stayed close to us but her newfound freedom was appreciated since I keep a pretty short leash on her at home. At the kids club they let her either leave the purse at their desk or she could keep it with her. At 945pm, right before it switched over to a fee, the kids club would go through and ask which kids needed to have their rooms called or were allowed to check themselves out and what their plan was. I appreciated that. With her walkie talkie and her freedom she was more than happy to be my gopher so I appreciated that as well. She would go get me an ice cream cone, she would go ask the service desk questions, she'd go find me a banana. Really, any excuse to get out of homework and to "roam" the ship was welcome by her.

[topofE]

Speaking of kids roaming the ship...

 

It was a bit much...but just a bit. Only saw kids literally running up and down the halls one night. But we were on 7 so there is no reason to be on that floor except to be in the halls so maybe that was a part of it. The few kids that we interacted with in the arcade were all polite. The kid found a friend in the kid's club and we seemed to run into them everywhere we went so that is always nice.

 

There were quite a few people in/around the food area wearing a bikini and that was it. I know that a pullover sundress and flipflops aren't exactly a hazmat suit but still...I could deal without boobs and barefeet at the carvery during one of my 19 trips there. If they were running in to get a butter, fine. It is what it is. But...I don't know. I am no prude at all but really, teens wearing skimpy bikinis and standing in the pizza line for 10 minutes was a little bit much for my taste.

 

Aside from a handful of those instances though, I thought the people on this ship were really really great. No fights or rudeness. I saw a couple meltdowns at the service desk the last day but I think that is standard across all the ships when the balance due sheet comes out.

 

Of course the weather did not cooperate AT ALL. It was super super windy, a little bit nippy, overcast, and drizzly for what seemed like the whole first half of the trip. I finally asked a worker about the rocking of the ship and if it was the size of the ship or the age or what. (I know the Dream has those stabilizers under it. Is it Carnival wide or just some ships or what? But to be fair, we have had some really really rough waves on the Dream too. To where they had to close the pool cause kids were literally getting tossed out of it.) Anyway, the worker said that this was the rockiest she had ever felt and she had been with Carnival for 8 months on this ship. She said it has never been this windy or this rocky ever. So there is that. It was a bummer that the waterslides and the ropes course always seemed to be closed. Of course for safety, I am not upset by that. Just in general, it was a bummer because our physical activities were limited to walking back and forth to the meat section of the buffet for 3 days it seemed like. (by "we" I do mean "me".)

[topofE]

I have 4 ports and the suite and the spa left to cover and then I think that is it. Going to see if I can figure out how to get some pics on here but I will be back! Thanks everyone for reading and for the positive words. I DO love Carnival. I love the value for my money for sure. But I am not a cheerleader for them. I think that there are areas they can improve. BUT, my family is really easy going so we figure the worst day on vacation is better than the best day at work. I've got a lot of information about our ports but sadly, the boss is acting like he wants me to work or something so I will have to sign off for now :/

[cruise pup]

Where did you see a cook cracking eggs? Maybe those eggs being cracked where going to be used to make poached eggs for the eggs benedict. I believe the scrambles eggs on the buffet are made from powder.

 

Up at the buffet area. They don't do eggs Benedict or poached eggs in the buffet and the eggs were going into a single bowl which means they weren't meant for individual cooking. So either scrambled eggs or omelet s.

[cruise pup]

My dad is the opposite of a person you would want in a blind study. If he thinks he is getting sick, he will get sick. If he thinks the snoring pills will work, he thinks he won't snore. I probably could've stuck a Dora the Explorer sticker behind his ear and he would've not been seasick.

 

I think I knew the engine was in the bottom. That makes the most sense. But would the smokestack be THAT LOUD? I have never sat up against the 10th floor wall on another ship so maybe I just haven't noticed but you really had to shout to hear the person sitting next to you. Of course, it was incredibly windy the entire time so they didn't help the voices carry either.

 

Our closed down breakfast buffet here used to use powered eggs that everyone complained about but I liked. I figured they were the same. If they WERE real eggs than that is kindof even sadder to me because they were really not good. Very runny and kind of like a spoonful of yellow mush. And I LOVE eggs. I love eggs in a boat, with a goat, in the air, under a stair, boiled, broiled, chopped, on bread, in omelets, scrambled, etc. But these were simply not good at all. Eggs won't make or break a cruise for me though. I ate enough bacon to make up for it for sure!

 

Very funny about the Dora bandage! The noise by the funnel might be from an exhaust system. Whatever, better there than by your cabin. ;)

[luv2trvlnow]

Up at the buffet area. They don't do eggs Benedict or poached eggs in the buffet and the eggs were going into a single bowl which means they weren't meant for individual cooking. So either scrambled eggs or omelet s.

 

OK. I think I know what it is. If you order eggs over easy at the omelet station they go into a small refrigerator there and pull out eggs that have been cracked into small dishes. About 3 or 4 eggs in each. They pour out however many you ask for. Maybe the cook was cracking the eggs for that. I always get 2 eggs over medium at the omelet station and those eggs are already cracked.

[cloudninecat]

T.... (walking into the bar...maybe some day I will learn port from starboard and be able to use directions like someone who has been on half a dozen ships). ...

When looking toward the front of the ship port is always on your left. Just remember they both are 4 letter words. ;)

[nicole9s]

Love your review, you're so funny! We're on the Sunshine in September, so I'm happy to read anything about it. Good tip on the soda gun location, btw!

 

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[RW20]

Those kids might have been mine. We were on the same sailing as you in Ocean Suite 7174. So my kids could have been running to the room.

 

The ship was quite rocky. My 9 year old son spent a fair bit of time sitting on the balcony on those first few days watching the horizon.

 

Actually on this sailing there were a lot less kids than the Jan 24th from 2015. The kids club had grouped the 6-8 and 9-11 kids together. Because of this the 4 boys in our group had no interest in going to the kids club at all.

 

I would also love to hear how you get the pictures to load. I have all the funtimes except for the disembarkation day and could post them. I have tried but only had issues.

 

Speaking of kids roaming the ship...

 

It was a bit much...but just a bit. Only saw kids literally running up and down the halls one night. But we were on 7 so there is no reason to be on that floor except to be in the halls so maybe that was a part of it. The few kids that we interacted with in the arcade were all polite. The kid found a friend in the kid's club and we seemed to run into them everywhere we went so that is always nice.

 

There were quite a few people in/around the food area wearing a bikini and that was it. I know that a pullover sundress and flipflops aren't exactly a hazmat suit but still...I could deal without boobs and barefeet at the carvery during one of my 19 trips there. If they were running in to get a butter, fine. It is what it is. But...I don't know. I am no prude at all but really, teens wearing skimpy bikinis and standing in the pizza line for 10 minutes was a little bit much for my taste.

 

Aside from a handful of those instances though, I thought the people on this ship were really really great. No fights or rudeness. I saw a couple meltdowns at the service desk the last day but I think that is standard across all the ships when the balance due sheet comes out.

 

Of course the weather did not cooperate AT ALL. It was super super windy, a little bit nippy, overcast, and drizzly for what seemed like the whole first half of the trip. I finally asked a worker about the rocking of the ship and if it was the size of the ship or the age or what. (I know the Dream has those stabilizers under it. Is it Carnival wide or just some ships or what? But to be fair, we have had some really really rough waves on the Dream too. To where they had to close the pool cause kids were literally getting tossed out of it.) Anyway, the worker said that this was the rockiest she had ever felt and she had been with Carnival for 8 months on this ship. She said it has never been this windy or this rocky ever. So there is that. It was a bummer that the waterslides and the ropes course always seemed to be closed. Of course for safety, I am not upset by that. Just in general, it was a bummer because our physical activities were limited to walking back and forth to the meat section of the buffet for 3 days it seemed like. (by "we" I do mean "me".)

[topofE]

Those kids might have been mine. We were on the same sailing as you in Ocean Suite 7174. So my kids could have been running to the room.

 

Oh yeah we were right down the hall from you then! Oh I wouldn't fuss about kids running to the room. I probably ran pretty quick that first night after Guy's too! I mean like running back and forth and yucking it up. But I went out and gave the kids "the mom look" and didn't hear another peep. So really, I am not even complaining about it. We just heard kids goofing off in the hallway once and even then it was for like 1 minute tops. I thought the kids were in general very well behaved on this ship. AND the adults. Really, everyone was polite. Everyone had to wait for everyone on every stairwell cause of how rocky it was so everyone could hold the handrails. I never felt rushed or with people trying to push past me. Really, all in all, this was probably the most polite and friendly cruise I have EVER been on. By the staff and the other cruisers for sure.

[topofE]

If anything, I should amend my post. I started out thinking of the buffet boobs and maybe misspoke when I talked about the kids in the halls being "a bit much". The kids were great. The boobs at the buffet were a bit much. I spoke to a handful of kids in elevators and a few asked me the time in the Lido buffet a few times. Always super polite. Quiet-ish. I mean, they are kids and it's their vacation too! But I never did that exaggerated, "where are the parents?!" look around the area. I saw kids doing homework. My kid thinks she was the only one being tortured but I sat next to a teen at the Lido buffet one night while he did some project. Now I am rambling. Your kids were great I am sure. Every single interaction with every kid I had was polite and courteous.

[joeyancho]

I agree about the banana bread. For extra enjoyment spread some butter on it......heavenly!

[meatloafsfan]

Great review so far. We're on the Sunshine in May (aft balcony deck 5) and I really can't wait. The Sunshine has been on my wish list for a while now.

 

One tip if you don't like warm cans of soda and can't stop for soda before boarding -

 

The funshops online sell soda for $10 for a 6 pack. Yes it's expensive but for the cost of your soda package ($6.50 a day x 5 days + gratuity), you can get 24 cans of soda delivered to your cabin to keep in the fridge. Which is almost 5 cans per day.

 

For us, it works out better than the soda package on Carnival (and we've tried to haul soda on board, and I won't be doing that again).

[topofE]

Port Day 1!! Grand Turk

 

We read through the shore excursions book but with the weather still not cooperating like we'd like we decided to just walk around and explore a little. We got off the boat and walked through Margeritaville to the free beach there. The first couple rows of chairs you had to pay for. $20 each was what we were quoted but we decided to just go to the first "free" row since we had a good view of the kid swimming from there and an umbrella.

 

The water was a little bit chilly. The kind where it felt fine once you were in but the 2 crucial lady parts were very difficult to get under the surface! The kid and I swam out to the buoy. The waves were pulling us in so it was a very exhausting swim out there! Water was nice, we saw some small fish. No sharks that I could see. Bought a couple cans of soda from the guys walking around with little igloo coolers. They were $2 I believe. For some insane reason I forgot to bring the kid's snorkel gear on this ship even though it was bought pretty much just for cruising. They were renting them out there on the beach though. $20 for some fancy full face mask and $15 for a cheapo set. I decided to just go buy a set for $20 and we'd just donate it to someone coming on the ship after us (*more on this later). But the 1 shop there that sold snorkel gear was selling it for $25! So I decided to go back to the ship and get a set from the store. As I am sure everyone knows, the stores are closed when in port. The shore excursion desk sells just the tube part, but not the mask. So no good. By the time I got back to the beach, the clouds were coming back and it was starting to sprinkle. We decided to go walk around the shops and go back on the ship and grab some food.

 

I asked a security guard at the beach about going into town away from the port. She said we would have to take a cab because it was too far away. We walked down the beach a ways trying to see if there was anything else to do here but we came up empty handed.

 

Oh! They have that NASA exhibit. When you come off the ship, to the left is the beach and pool and to the right is the NASA exhibit. Straight ahead is the shops. A little towards the left was a little craft fair type of set of shops. Nothing in the shops stood out as something that we HAD to have. SHirts were the typical port priced/style of shirt.

 

The NASA thing was kind of cool. Once we walked through and read all the info, we saw there was a much more secluded section of free beach down that way with chairs. By then the kid said that pizza was calling her name though so we ended up calling it a day and going to grab food.

[topofE]

Hasbro Game Show

 

It was clearly listed in the Fun Times. It was either the second or third night. The kid was very excited about this. We ended up getting there super early, like the doors weren't open yet because the kid was sure that if we sat in the front row she would get picked. We had a long discussion about cheering even if you aren't picked so I was curious as to how this would turn out. We met a wonderful woman that gave the kid a pep talk about how you have to act CRAZY to get on the "show". Like jumping up and down and screaming and waving your hands crazy. We got in, sat in the front row, watched the commercials and ads for the game and all the hasbro games. Then it was show time.

 

They did a great job of keeping everyone pumped and getting audience participation. She didn't get picked. However, our "team" (the left half of the audience) lost like every competition so she wasn't out much besides her 2 minutes of fame. The wonderful pep talk woman was picked though. She got a consolation prize of a travel pocket electronic Yahtzee and to my surprise, she ran over and gave it to the kid. A small gesture to her maybe but it meant everything to the kid. She loved the toy, she loved that she "won" it. She apparently loves Yahtzee even though she had never played it before. She carried it around for the rest of the trip (since mean old mom made her leave the tablet at home for the trip) and is now some Yahtzee prodigy.

[FloridaMommyof3]

My son (15 at the time) wore a giant gaudy sombrero to Hasbro and was picked to play. You need to really stand out to get picked. It was so much fun watching him up on stage.

[RW20]

The Hasbro show is a highlight of our cruise for the kids. Last year my oldest got picked but didn't win.

 

My friend's son Zach won on our sailing! He was an instant celebrity on the ship. His mom missed the show because she was not well that day. So the next day she was walking around the ship and everyone was saying hi to Zach and asking to see him strike his pose.

 

 

Hasbro Game Show

 

It was clearly listed in the Fun Times. It was either the second or third night. The kid was very excited about this. We ended up getting there super early, like the doors weren't open yet because the kid was sure that if we sat in the front row she would get picked. We had a long discussion about cheering even if you aren't picked so I was curious as to how this would turn out. We met a wonderful woman that gave the kid a pep talk about how you have to act CRAZY to get on the "show". Like jumping up and down and screaming and waving your hands crazy. We got in, sat in the front row, watched the commercials and ads for the game and all the hasbro games. Then it was show time.

 

They did a great job of keeping everyone pumped and getting audience participation. She didn't get picked. However, our "team" (the left half of the audience) lost like every competition so she wasn't out much besides her 2 minutes of fame. The wonderful pep talk woman was picked though. She got a consolation prize of a travel pocket electronic Yahtzee and to my surprise, she ran over and gave it to the kid. A small gesture to her maybe but it meant everything to the kid. She loved the toy, she loved that she "won" it. She apparently loves Yahtzee even though she had never played it before. She carried it around for the rest of the trip (since mean old mom made her leave the tablet at home for the trip) and is now some Yahtzee prodigy.

[dawnjaelithe]

I have 4 ports and the suite and the spa left to cover and then I think that is it. Going to see if I can figure out how to get some pics on here but I will be back! Thanks everyone for reading and for the positive words. I DO love Carnival. I love the value for my money for sure. But I am not a cheerleader for them. I think that there are areas they can improve. BUT, my family is really easy going so we figure the worst day on vacation is better than the best day at work. I've got a lot of information about our ports but sadly, the boss is acting like he wants me to work or something so I will have to sign off for now :/

 

You are cracking me up! I love your review. My 14 y/o son and I are leaving in 51 days on the Splendor, so I'm really enjoying this.

 

Also, yay Missouri! I'm from CoMo. :)

[RTRMom]

Hasbro Game Show

 

It was clearly listed in the Fun Times. It was either the second or third night. The kid was very excited about this. We ended up getting there super early, like the doors weren't open yet because the kid was sure that if we sat in the front row she would get picked. We had a long discussion about cheering even if you aren't picked so I was curious as to how this would turn out. We met a wonderful woman that gave the kid a pep talk about how you have to act CRAZY to get on the "show". Like jumping up and down and screaming and waving your hands crazy. We got in, sat in the front row, watched the commercials and ads for the game and all the hasbro games. Then it was show time.

 

They did a great job of keeping everyone pumped and getting audience participation. She didn't get picked. However, our "team" (the left half of the audience) lost like every competition so she wasn't out much besides her 2 minutes of fame. The wonderful pep talk woman was picked though. She got a consolation prize of a travel pocket electronic Yahtzee and to my surprise, she ran over and gave it to the kid. A small gesture to her maybe but it meant everything to the kid. She loved the toy, she loved that she "won" it. She apparently loves Yahtzee even though she had never played it before. She carried it around for the rest of the trip (since mean old mom made her leave the tablet at home for the trip) and is now some Yahtzee prodigy.

 

 

That was nice of that woman. We have never done the Hasbro Gameshow, so we will definitely check it out this time. Sounds like fun.

[easyboy]

Enjoying your review. Following along.