3 Generations on the Sunshine! Feb 2017 Review

[bjd2]

Our cruise on the Sunshine was our favorite out of 8 great cruises. This is the first ship that we're going to repeat. I'm enjoying this review as it reminds me of many of the things that we loved about this ship. Thanks!

[heath7767]

MDR

Anytime Dining

Our group of 8 had Anytime Dining. We were assigned to the first floor of the Sunrise Restaurant, which has check-in on Deck 5 near the Taste Bar area.

We had never done Anytime Dining with a party of larger than 2 people, so I was hoping the wait times wouldn't be too bad. We thought about switching to a set dining time, but we had some later port evenings along with 3 unpredictable kids, so we ended up sticking with Anytime. I had also read reviews complaining about the checking in on different floors and wait times for dining on the Sunshine in general, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect.

As with many other aspects of the cruise, we didn't really experience anything negative about the Anytime Dining experience. Checking in on Deck 5 isn't bad at all, and it's a comfortable place to wait if necessary since the Taste Bar is right there. You can grab a bite, and sit and wait for your pager to go off while enjoying the live music in the Ocean Plaza.

Out of 8 nights, I think we only had to wait for a table twice, and we checked in for dinner at various times between 6:45 and 8. One wait was 10 minutes, and the other was 20. The longer wait was during the first elegant night, but 20 minutes is still very reasonable for a larger party.

MDR Service

Our service in the Sunrise Dining Room ranged from good to exceptional. Some nights there was a bit of a wait between courses, but the friendliness and kindness of the service staff made up for any minor inconvenience.

We all loved the singing and dancing during Showtime several nights, and my kids had never seen anything like it in a restaurant! Speaking of kids, I can't say enough good things about how the waitstaff dealt with my children. We had different servers each night, but they each gave so much attention to my children. They joked with them, they made them napkin hats, they offered to cut their food--just wonderful service. Most nights, they also brought out the kids' entrees along with the adult appetizers, so that kept the kids for having to wait too long.

We don't eat out a lot at home, so I was a bit worried about how my kids would do, but they loved dinner every night and visiting the dining room. We took a few coloring books and notebooks to keep them entertained, and they enjoyed writing and drawing about their day.

One of the things that made dining such a pleasant experience was the camaraderie that was evident among the staff members. They seemed to genuinely like each other and enjoy their jobs, and that kind of cheerfulness and enthusiasm is contagious.

The last night, the whole team gathered to congratulate one of the servers who had just become a father. They announced that they had collected enough money among the waitstaff to fly him home to meet his baby the next weekend (TEARS!!!)

MDR Food

This was our first experience with the American Table. To be honest, I prefer the old menus, but the American Table had plenty to offer. None of us went hungry, and several members of our party found multiple appetizers and entrees to enjoy many evenings.

I'm not sure if it's always included or if it was a special Valentine's Day menu, but the Beef Wellington offered one evening was the absolute best entree I enjoyed during the week. The meat was exceptionally tender, and they also offered the beef tenderloin as an entree the following night, so I enjoyed it twice!

Other favorites among our party included:

Appetizers:

-French Onion Soup

-Pork Fritas Ports of Call appetizer on San Juan night

-Chilled Strawberry Bisque

-Shrimp Cocktail

Entrees:

-Prime Rib

-Lobster

-Seafood pasta

-Tilapia

Desserts:

-Chocolate Melting Cake!!

-Bitter and Blanc

-Smores parfait

The appetizer flatbreads were definitely misses. Different varieties were offered on two different nights, and they just didn't have much taste. The shrimp entree on the 2nd elegant night was also a disappointment.

Overall, the food was wonderful! Our hot items were hot and our cold items were cold. I missed some of the variety from the older menu, but I wouldn't complain about the quality of the food. I thought the food quality and service were much better on this cruise than on our Pride cruise 2 years ago.

Random notes:

-The lack of tablecloths didn't bother me a bit. I don't think I would have noticed it if I hadn't read all of the complaints. The dining room still had an upscale look and feel to me.

-I think I would have been disappointed if we ended up in the Sunset Dining room. It's a one-story dining room that didn't look nearly as nice as the Sunrise, in my opinion.

-Some members of my group went to the dining room for breakfast/brunch almost every day, and they raved about the service and the quality of the food.

-I missed being able to view the menus on the TV on the Sunshine! Wish they would add this or have the menus added to the Hub app.

[heath7767]

Thank you so much for taking the time to give a very nicely detailed review. You are giving me some great tips since we have an 8 yr old and our friends have an 8 and 4 yr old...whom are going in 4 weeks. I feel like I am right there with you!!

 

 

I do have a question. You said that there is plenty of seating around the waterworks to keep an eye on the kids. I personally dont want a lounge chair...just somewhere to sit, watch, and take pics. So, seating doesn't require waiting an hour for someone to get up and leave...especially when we have 4 adults wanting to sit together?

 

 

I'm excited for you--the kids are going to love it! Most of the seating around the Waterworks is bright orange lounge chairs, although there are a few upright chairs/tables with umbrellas. I'm sure it varies based on capacity, but we didn't have a problem finding seats. I'm not sure we would've found 4 together all the time, but finding a couple of chairs to put our stuff on wasn't an issue.

 

On our cruise, it really cleared out in the afternoons. There were a lot of little ones, so I'm guessing they were napping. Waterworks also wasn't super busy when it first opened in the mornings, but filled up quickly as the temperatures started rising.

[momin05]

Glad you came back to continue the review! Can't wait for the rest about the ship and ports! We are 39 days away from this itinerary☺.

[heath7767]

Glad you came back to continue the review! Can't wait for the rest about the ship and ports! We are 39 days away from this itinerary☺.

 

 

You're getting so close! And thanks--real life is kicking my pants since getting off the Sunshine, but writing this review is a fun way to remember how much fun we had. :D

[easyboy]

Enjoying reading your experiences on board. We too have never had a wait problem on Anytime Dining.

[jsglow]

We have decided on Anytime Dining for our upcoming Sunshine cruise (a first for us, always Early Dining before on other cruises) for two specific reasons. The first is because with all the restaurant choices, we think we might 'wander' from the MDR more than we usually do (which is almost never in the past). The second is because we too prefer the aft dining room and have heard that the middle on this ship is less attractive. Normally the two rooms are pretty comparable. So for us this seems to be the chance to try something a little different. Hope we like it. :D

[RTRMom]

When were the elegant nights for you guys? I can't remember if the first one was the second day or third day on the last 8 day we went on.

[heath7767]

When were the elegant nights for you guys? I can't remember if the first one was the second day or third day on the last 8 day we went on.

 

 

Elegant nights were the 2nd night and the 7th night...both were days at sea.

[heath7767]

We have decided on Anytime Dining for our upcoming Sunshine cruise (a first for us, always Early Dining before on other cruises) for two specific reasons. The first is because with all the restaurant choices, we think we might 'wander' from the MDR more than we usually do (which is almost never in the past). The second is because we too prefer the aft dining room and have heard that the middle on this ship is less attractive. Normally the two rooms are pretty comparable. So for us this seems to be the chance to try something a little different. Hope we like it. :D

 

 

It was a great experience for us, so I hope you like it, too! It's hard to beat the flexibility, especially because we were in port until 8 PM one night and 6 PM another day. I didn't try the alternate dining venues because I enjoyed the MDR so much, but I heard good things about them. And I agree, this is the first cruise that I even cared about the difference between the 2 dining rooms, but I thought the aesthetic difference was pretty drastic.

[heath7767]

OK, I'm going to take a break from the ship talk and share about the ports. I've cruised pretty extensively in the Eastern/Western Caribbean, but I had never visited any of these 4 ports before our trip. I ended up experiencing 2 of my favorite ports in all of my travels on this cruise: St. Kitts and San Juan.

This itinerary featured embarkation day, sea day, 4 port days in a row, then two more sea days and debarkation day. I know it has to be scheduled like this because of where you're traveling, but four sea days straight is kinda intense, especially when traveling with little ones. If I was making a perfect schedule, I would definitely have a sea day in the middle of the port days. However, the busy schedule was well worth it to experience all of these beautiful sites. I would do this itinerary again in a heartbeat!

Grand Turk:

This is such an easy port with both kids and grandparents! There were two ships in port that day, and we pulled in next to the Vista. That ship got in an hour before ours, and we didn't get off the ship until a little after 9, but we had no problems finding places to sit on the beach. We actually ended up with a comfortable clamshell a few rows back from the water, so we appreciated the shade.

We spent a couple of hours just enjoying the beach and beautiful, clear water. I brought some cheap sand buckets and shovels along for my kids, and my 3 year-old spent most of the time digging in the sand. The older kids enjoyed plenty of time in the calm water.

Since none of us had visited Grand Turk before, we were interested in seeing the island. My parents located an inexpensive city tour for $20 PP, and the kids were free, so we spent the afternoon exploring the island for around 2 hours or so. The tour provided a really nice overview in a comfortable, air conditioned vehicle. I was actually really surprised by the poverty on Grand Turk. The residents were kind and gracious, but we saw many areas with sad living conditions.

My kids loved seeing and petting the roaming donkeys on our tour, and we visited an old church, scenic lighthouse, and small shopping area. We all thought the tour was an excellent value.

When we returned, we still had a couple of hours in port. By this time, a lot of the crowds had thinned out, and my kids absolutely loved spending an hour or so in the pool.The pool next to Margaritaville is HUGE with plenty of seating. We spent most of our time in the zero-entry area so my toddler could get in and out independently. My older kids also really enjoyed watching people try out the flow rider. The pool water felt especially nice after the sand and salt of the ocean.

Grand Turk was a great first port, and you can't beat the convenience for both young and older visitors. It's very possible to spend a comfortable day there without spending any extra money, which is always appreciated! The dock is close enough that you could easily even walk back on board for lunch if you wanted to.

Oh, and for shell collectors, the CD made an announcement a couple of times before we debarked that you couldn't bring any shells back on board from Grand Turk. A saw a few conch shells being discarded while re-boarding from those who didn't listen! I didn't hear this announcement about any of the other ports, so it must have been specific to regulations on this island.

We really enjoyed a relaxing day here in beautiful weather, so this stop made us look forward to the rest of the itinerary even more.

[RTRMom]

Elegant nights were the 2nd night and the 7th night...both were days at sea.

 

 

 

Thank you! I was trying to decide which night to eat in the JiJi restaurant. This helps.

[easyboy]

Since none of us had visited Grand Turk before, we were interested in seeing the island. My parents located an inexpensive city tour for $20 PP, and the kids were free, so we spent the afternoon exploring the island for around 2 hours or so. The tour provided a really nice overview in a comfortable, air conditioned vehicle. I was actually really surprised by the poverty on Grand Turk. The residents were kind and gracious, but we saw many areas with sad living conditions.

Did your parents book this before the cruise or when already in port?

[cruzeluver]

Fellow Sunshine fan here! We too did not experience the common complaints we had read on CC prior to sailing. We are not loyal to Carnival or any line as we like variety, but Sunshine was the first Carnival ship we liked enough to book a second time, and that says a lot!

 

Enjoying your review very much.

[jsglow]

It was a great experience for us, so I hope you like it, too! It's hard to beat the flexibility, especially because we were in port until 8 PM one night and 6 PM another day. I didn't try the alternate dining venues because I enjoyed the MDR so much, but I heard good things about them. And I agree, this is the first cruise that I even cared about the difference between the 2 dining rooms, but I thought the aesthetic difference was pretty drastic.

 

 

Interesting. We're doing the same eastern trip you did but they've altered the order a little, maybe because of the port schedule that other ships do in winter rather than spring. We sail all the way out to St. Maarten first, then Kitts, San Juan (departing early at 2p), then Turks. Other than the slightly truncated stay in PR, all of our other ports are 'normal' time slots.

[kbeer15]

Really loving your review. Would love to try the Sunshine someday.

 

 

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[heath7767]

Did your parents book this before the cruise or when already in port?

 

They just booked in port. There were several vendors in the shopping area that had small booths offering tours, and they walked around and chatted with a few until they found an itinerary/price/personality that worked for us. They booked in mid-morning for a 1 pm tour. There were plenty of options, and the tour operators weren't pushy.

[heath7767]

Fellow Sunshine fan here! We too did not experience the common complaints we had read on CC prior to sailing. We are not loyal to Carnival or any line as we like variety, but Sunshine was the first Carnival ship we liked enough to book a second time, and that says a lot!

 

Enjoying your review very much.

 

I like variety, too, and I would be thrilled to sail on the Sunshine again. Would love to try her other 8-day itinerary that visits Aruba and Curacao!

[heath7767]

Really loving your review. Would love to try the Sunshine someday.

 

 

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Thanks for following along! We really loved the Sunshine and would highly recommend it. :)

[easyboy]

They just booked in port. There were several vendors in the shopping area that had small booths offering tours, and they walked around and chatted with a few until they found an itinerary/price/personality that worked for us. They booked in mid-morning for a 1 pm tour. There were plenty of options, and the tour operators weren't pushy.

Nice to know! Thank you for the response.

[heath7767]

Sorry for the delay in updating! On to San Juan....

San Juan

We LOVED San Juan! Our ship didn't arrive there until 1 PM in the afternoon, and we had incredible views of the forts and the city pulling into the port. I would definitely recommend heading on deck or out to your balcony and soaking in the views as you arrive.

Seeing the forts was our big priority at this port, and they didn't disappoint. I knew this day would involve some walking, so I brought along a cheap umbrella stroller for my 3 year old. It was a bit of a pain during embarkation since we couldn't check it, but well worth it to have the stroller for this port!

Since we debarked around 1, it was already hot when we got off the ship. We used a GPS app on our phone to walk to the closer fort, Castillo de San Cristobal. It was a pretty easy walk that probably took around 15 minutes. The last bit is uphill, but nothing too challenging unless you have mobility issues. I was very thankful that we brought along the stroller for the 3 year old since it would have been very difficult for a little one

Since they are National Parks, the price to enter the forts is very reasonable: 5 dollars for adults and free for kids.Keep your receipt, and you can enter both forts for the price of one.

All 3 of my kids (and all of the adults) LOVED the forts! My older 2 are boys, and they loved exploring and pretending. We spent a couple of hours there and could have easily spent longer. When we were ready to leave, I asked one of the employees about the free trolley. He explained what I needed to be looking for: a small trolley with open-air sides. After waiting about 5 minutes, we saw the trolley. Just a note: be standing RIGHT by the stop if you want to get on the trolley on a busy day. It was a mad rush to get on, so you won't have a seat if you wait around!

We enjoyed the trolley ride to el Morro. Another note: When you arrive at el Morro, the trolley will make a stop at the bottom of the hill. However, you do NOT have to get off here if you're going to the fort. It keeps going and will drop you off right at the entrance, so you can save yourself a long walk.

El Morro had gorgeous views that can't be missed, so we loved this stop as well. After exploring the fort, my kids had fun running around in the huge open grassy area and rolling down the slight hills. We had brought along some kites to fly, but didn't have much luck with that.

The trolley picked us up at El Morro, and we rode it back into town. By this time, my kids were exhausted, so my little family decided to head back to the ship. The other adults in our group stayed to spend a couple of hours walking around Old Town, and they really enjoyed seeing more sights and doing a little shopping.

There's a Walgreens that's very convenient to the pier, so I stopped in for a second to get some more seasickness meds. (More on the seasickness later!!)

We bought a couple of things for the kids from the vendors near the pier before we re-boarded.

San Juan definitely exceeded our expectations. We really felt like we were in Europe instead of in the Caribbean! We felt extremely safe, and the free trolley was a real convenience and a nice way to see more of the city. The vendors were enthusiastic, but polite and not too pushy. We all decided we would love to go back and spend a week or so in San Juan another time.

Oh, and I think I mentioned this in my food post, but me and several others in my group thought that the pork fritas appetizer on the San Juan Ports of Call menu was one of the best things we ate all week. It was delicious!!

[Psychobueller]

We were surprised by how much we loved San Juan as well when we docked there on our cruise recently. Will definitely go back!

 

 

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[keishashadow]

Really like the ship too, a repeat customer lol. Have never parked offsite @ PC but it's getting expensive in the garages. How much was the service you used?

 

 

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[heath7767]

Really like the ship too, a repeat customer lol. Have never parked offsite @ PC but it's getting expensive in the garages. How much was the service you used?

 

 

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We used Lots of Honor and had an excellent experience. It was $6.50 per day, so we saved quite a bit over the port prices for an 8-day cruise.

[RTRMom]

Just wanted to update that we just got off the Sunshine today. We had a great cruise and the kids loved it. Thank you again for your review!