Matt & Ashley's Carnival Sunshine Review (Canada, Pictures, FunTimes)

[DCCruiser1013]

The rain wasn’t terrible at this point, and I wanted to check out the upper decks of theSunshine, so we did that.

 

This is from Serenity looking over the main pool.

 

The Serenity pool.

 

The highest deck (14) of Serenity.

 

Looking forward over the glass on the top deck of Serenity. I'm only just now realizing how much ship there actually is forward of Serenity.

More from deck 14

 

Looking toward Pier 88 and the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum on the other side of it.

 

[DCCruiser1013]

The parking area is starting to fill up.

 

 

Serenity had lots of comfy seating/laying out options, including hammocks.

 

 

Deck 14 of Serenity had a line of chairs at a bar overlooking the back half of the ship. This became our favorite public spot in the ship and we spent a lot of time here. Look forward to more pictures (with better weather!) from these chairs.

 

[DCCruiser1013]

One more shot of the pool of Serenity. This is only the third ship we've been on, but this has to be one of the prettiest Serenity areas in the Carnival fleet. You can see the chairs I mentioned in my previous post up towards the top of this picture.

 

 

The chairs surrounding the pool.

 

 

One interesting thing about this ship is that the Serenity area (for adults) is in the front, while the waterworks, slides, and kids club areas are in the back. Ashley and I noticed this and started calling the Sunshine "The Mullet Ship" - business in the front, party in the back. Anyone? Tough crowd.

 

We back on deck 10 to check out the less serene part of the top decks. Looking back towards Serenity.

 

 

Smoking is allowed along the port side and they offer a nice seating area for folks (smoking optional).

 

 

More seating in the aft.

 

[DCCruiser1013]

The waterworks area includes 3 big slides. The green and blue slides race each other (you can't see the green one in this picture so much), and the yellow one is for third wheels.

 

 

There are a couple small slides and a big yellow bucket that dumps water every once in awhile. It actually seemed to tip over more frequently than the one on the Pride did. I'd blame the rain but at this point it wasn't raining that hard.

 

 

 

 

 

The west side of Manhattan from the Water Works area, with the George Washington Bridge barely visible towards the left.

 

[DCCruiser1013]

Up the next deck is the Sports Square area, highlighted by the ropes course that circles the deck.

 

 

Seating areas and a ping pong table.

 

 

Big chess!

 

 

Shuffleboard and cornhole.

 

 

Very wet pool tables.

 

 

A half basketball court.

 

[DCCruiser1013]

This has to be one of the biggest Foosball tables I've ever seen.

 

 

For reference, this is the one right next to it.

 

 

There was also a really big Twister area. I'm actually not sure how it's humanly possible to play on this.

 

 

If giant chess isn't your game, here's a giant checkerboard

 

 

With all the pieces in the nearby bench.

 

 

Now we're looking back towards Water Works, and we have a better view of the green slide.

 

[DCCruiser1013]

Back down to deck 9, here's a closer shot of the main pool.

 

 

After we walked around we decided to head back to the room to see if our bags had arrived, but not before we bought a couple drinks to take down to the room. A Thirsty Frog from the RedFrog Rum Bar for me, and a Green Iguana from the BlueIguana Tequila Bar for Ashley.

 

 

Oddly enough, as we walked through the stairway area to get to the room, we spotted Ashley’s bag amongst all the other luggage, but it had no luggage tag on it. Ashley asked the handlers if they were trying to find out who it belonged to, and looked at the airline tag that we kept on it to confirm that it belonged to her. They then allowed us to bring it back to the room. What a weird coincidence, and now Ashley could be BBQ free!

 

We hung out in the room for a bit more and I took a few more pictures from the balcony. This is one that I got better at as the cruise went along - the down the port side shot.

 

 

And here's from the divider looking back towards the door. I can't stress enough how much we loved this balcony. It offered a more than 180 degree panoramic view of our surroundings, which was amazing.

 

 

We were a little hungry so we decided to go down to deck 5 to sample some of the embarkation day-only BBQ that was set up at the Taste Bar. The meats they had were decent, but the mac and cheese was phenomenal. We made sure to be very careful with the sauces. As we left the room en route to the Taste Bar, we saw that my bag had arrived, so after we ate we headed back up to unpack. It’s a tradition for me to preorder chocolate-covered strawberries for Ashley to arrive on embarkation day, and they had arrived. Ashley ate one by the time I took this picture, so there were originally six.

 

[DCCruiser1013]

Earlier I mentioned that the room had a refrigerator, which we were not expecting, but unfortunately it didn’t want to run. I pulled it out a little to see if there was a switch or something on the back, and I noticed someone had left a copy of the New York Times from July. If anyone left this to see how long it would take for someone to find it, I won the prize!

 

 

I gave up on the fridge (Should I have mentioned it to someone? Yeah probably. Did I? Nope.) and started to unpack.

 

 

At 3:45 we had to go down to our muster stations on deck 4. The rainy conditions made it a pretty tolerable experience, and it only lasted 20-25 minutes. Not too bad! We headed back to our room to be on our balcony for sailaway, and as we entered the room we noticed someone decided to hide away in our room to avoid mustering!

 

 

Shortly after 4:30 we started to pull away from the pier. Fair warning, we took a lot of sailaway pictures.

 

 

 

We're almost all the way backed out and ready to turn down the Hudson.

 

 

 

 

[DCCruiser1013]

 

The Intrepid sits in the foreground here, with the Empire State Building in the background.

 

 

 

We saw lots of these NY Waterways Ferries darting back and forth across the river.

 

 

Looking down the ship towards lower Manhattan

 

 

Going by Pier 88, the Intrepid, and Times Square way in the back.

 

[DCCruiser1013]

 

One more shot of the Intrepid

 

 

Looking down 42nd Street

 

 

 

Some newer buildings under construction, with some older building in the background.

 

 

A helicopter approached from down the Hudson River and landed on the waterfront near 30th Street.

 

[DCCruiser1013]

The driving range at the Golf Club at Chelsea Piers.

 

 

 

And the marina right next door.

 

 

One more shot of the Empire State Building still dominating the skyline.

 

 

And now we are getting closer to lower Manhattan

 

 

Pier 40

 

[DCCruiser1013]

The skyline of lower Manhattan, with the Freedom Tower rising above everything else.

 

 

On the other side of the river is the Hoboken Terminal.

 

 

In the background is the 56 Leonard Condominium Complex. Ashley said this building looks like the middle of a Jenga game.

 

 

More lower Manhattan

 

 

 

[DCCruiser1013]

 

 

 

 

This ferry driver was out of control. It looked like he almost capsized the boat with how fast he was going and how had he turned.

 

 

Governor's Island with a Staten Island Ferry in the foreground.

 

[DCCruiser1013]

Looking forward towards the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, which we will be going under shortly.

 

 

A boat of tourists on their way back from seeing the Statue of Liberty, with the Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal in the background.

 

 

 

 

The Brooklyn Bridge is way back there, with a Staten Island Ferry in the foreground docked at Whitehall Terminal.

 

 

The clouds were starting to get a bit darker over Manhattan.

 

[DCCruiser1013]

Now going by Ellis Island, a gateway for millions of immigrants coming to America from the 1890's to the early 1950's.

 

 

 

A closer view of the Staten Island Ferry, which runs between lower Manhattan and Staten Island all day. It's free, and it's a great way to get a closeup view of the Statue of Liberty as it sails right by it.

 

 

And now we are getting our first glimpse of the Statue of Liberty!

 

 

 

[DCCruiser1013]

The clouds are getting even heavier over Manhattan.

 

 

Ashley and I took a rare selfie.

 

 

 

Getting closer to the bridge!

 

 

 

[DCCruiser1013]

There's a tanker in the foreground, but towards the back you can see a Staten Island Ferry docked at the St. George Terminal in Staten Island.

 

 

Leaving New York behind.

 

 

A very large high school in Brooklyn.

 

 

We're about to go under the bridge.

 

[DCCruiser1013]

 

 

 

 

 

[DCCruiser1013]

Battery Weed at Ford Wadsworth - built to defend New York City from a naval attack.

 

 

Leaving New York Harbor

 

 

Starting to pass Coney Island in Brooklyn.

 

 

 

Last sailaway picture!

 

[DCCruiser1013]

Sailing out of New York City was breathtaking, despite the weather. This is a must for any cruiser's bucket list.

 

It was almost 6:00 by the time we left New York Harbor so we headed down to the dining room. We were led to our table, and the location couldn’t have been better!

 

 

We then met our dining staff, led by Adrian, assisted by Novia and Chotmapa. This was a fantastic crew, and we loved talking to all three of them.

 

 

Ashley started with a garden salad and calamari. Her entrée was the roast chicken, which she really enjoyed on the Pride but not so much this time. She finished with the pie, which was apple.

 

I started with a Caesar salad and the calamari. My entrée was the sweet & sour shrimp, and for dessert I got the chocolate melting cake. Everything was great, but the melting cake was a little runny, which happens sometimes. Ashley and I also split the fig & date pudding.

 

While we were sitting for dinner we noticed the ship started to rock a lot more. We were fine but as we looked around the dining room we noticed several people with their heads down on the tables, and some rushedly exited the dining room.

 

We headed back to our room after dinner and met our stewardess, Rery. She was super friendly, and she offered me the Comfort Matters card to fill out myself. My only requests were twice-a-day service and ice, and she didn’t seem to take issue with either. We briefly stepped out onto the balcony before we headed out for the evening.

 

[DCCruiser1013]

We first visited the Red Frog Pub, but the guitar player that was performing in there was just about to take a break, so we just walked over to the Alchemy Bar to listen to the band playing in the Ocean Plaza. In the evenings the live music alternates between the two venues, so there is always someone performing in one of them. At the Alchemy Bar, Ashley got the Deal Closer (which she loves), and I asked for the Alchemist to make a whiskey sour.

 

We decided to keep the tradition of attending the Welcome Aboard Show alive (though we don’t necessarily expect it to be great), and on the way we stopped in the Fun Shops to buy a souvenir magnet.

 

 

We then headed into the Liquid Lounge for the Welcome Aboard Show. Our cruise director for this voyage was Emma, who we both really liked. She was always very cheerful and pleasant to listen to. Her voice kind of sounded like someone who would be narrating fairy tales. She seemed especially great with kids.

 

The Liquid Lounge hosted a bingo session right before the show, and that was starting to wrap up.

 

 

Almost showtime. You may notice the seats on the floor are actual chairs. The lounge doubles as the nightclub, and they remove the chairs as part of the transition to nightclub time. Ashley and I aren't really fans of this setup, but we didn't spend a ton of time in here so it didn't really matter.

 

 

Emma brought a kid up on stage and recited a nice poem about smiling.

 

 

After the Welcome Aboard Show we decided to head to the piano bar. Roddy was the pianist for this cruise, and this evening he was a little under the weather, but he soldiered through. On some songs he asked for the people who requested them to come sing, one of whom was phenomenal! After we each had a drink (Ashley had the Ragtime, which is her new favorite cruise drink), Ashley and I decided to head off to bed after a long day.

[DCCruiser1013]

Alright everyone, it's bedtime for me as I have to go back to work tomorrow.:loudcry:

 

Coming up tomorrow afternoon - Day 2 - Interior tour and Fun Day at Sea!

[rn4t5]

Doing the 7 day Canada/New England in September. Thank you for posting the Day 1 Fun Times but would you please post the other side that shows all the activities too. Following.

[DCCruiser1013]

Thanks for the review.

 

Thanks for following along!

 

Doing the 7 day Canada/New England in September. Thank you for posting the Day 1 Fun Times but would you please post the other side that shows all the activities too. Following.

 

The other side should also be there, right under the front page. Is it not showing up? If you're looking for the list of activities by time, it's actually on the top page, left side. That's just the way the paper unfolds.

[Cyber Kat]

Thanks so much! Especially enjoyed the room pics. We had an aft wrap on the Splendor awhile back and I've been wanting to do another.

 

The room on the Splendor was a little bigger I think but the Sunshine balcony looks bigger and that's what it's all about anyway :)

 

We have done the NY sail away a number of times and it never gets old. It's always so awesome.

 

When you emailed the maitre d did you get a response? We would love to also have a table for 2 in the aft dining room and I hate to wait until we board and stand on the line.

 

Thanks also for the menus. My husband says I'm the only one who plans meals [emoji12]

 

Looking forward to the rest!

 

 

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