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

[DCCruiser1013]

 

There's a large chess set but...

 

 

It looks like the last chess game was a massacre!

 

 

[DCCruiser1013]

At around 8:15, we decided to head up to Lido to get breakfast. On the way I wanted to get a picture from our room. On the Sunshine, the stateroom corridors are totally straight, so you can see right down the hallway to the forward rooms! The Pride corridors sort of twist and turn, so this was totally new to us.

 

 

We went up to Lido at around 8:15 to get breakfast and bring it back down to the balcony.

 

 

Burritos from BlueIguana were our standard fare for breakfast on this cruise, but today we both got a few extras. I can’t say enough how awesome the burritos are, especially with the potatoes which add a little extra crunchy texture. The chicken sausage was actually pretty good on this cruise – it was a little funky tasting on the Pride. Ashley got some breakfast potatoes and one of the pastries that she goes on cruises for. She washed it all down with a carton of milk. Complementing my burrito is some bacon (sometimes there was a bacon police officer, sometimes there wasn’t) and a couple slices of banana bread. I actually brought a travel mug for coffee and used one of their coffee cups to fill it up. I wanted to avoid having to run up to Lido for every cup of coffee. It worked out pretty well. The weather was starting to clear up a little bit as we ate.

 

 

We’re heading north-northeast towards the Bay of Fundy

 

[nicole9s]

Can't tell you how I appreciate your review. We leave in 19 days for a 7 night on the Sunshine, and I'm studying your pictures and report like there's going to be a test! Keep up the good work, and thank you!

 

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[DCCruiser1013]

We hung out on the balcony until we decided to head down to Ocean Plaza. We were there are around 9:30 and played cards until General Knowledge trivia started at 10am. We got 13 out of 20 possible points. This is a picture of people going up to get their trivia sheets and pencils.

 

 

After trivia we headed back to the balcony to plan our afternoon. It was a chilly 61° so we didn’t last too long.

On the last cruise I slaughtered Ashley at air hockey and she wanted to redeem herself (I guess we’re pretty competitive). Half-priced hour at the arcade was at 11am so we thought we’d see how crazy it was.

 

It was crazy. We turned around and browsed the candy shop for a bit. We then decided to get a milkshake at Java Blue to share back at the room. We also got a couple of the puzzle papers that they have there with crosswords and Sudoku puzzles. Ashley and I had a Sudoku race, which she won.

 

At noon we went up to Lido to get lunch. Ashley wanted Mongolian Wok but the line was pretty long. There was no evidence of a wait at Cucina del Capitano’s pasta bar so we both ate there. We came to discover that the reason is that there was a difference in how you order. The method here involves filling out a paper indicating the type of pasta, sauce, and meats and veggies you want in your pasta. You can also get a Caesar salad and/or bread. They take your paper and hand you a pager that will buzz when your order is ready. The thing about this method is that you have no idea how many people are in front of you.

 

We filled out our paper and looked for seats. Before the cruise we had heard that it’s always easy to find a seat in the Havana Bar, but the secret may be out. We struggled to find a table but did eventually find one right by the pasta bar. We waited 10-15 minutes and the buzzer went off. Everything was pretty good.

[DCCruiser1013]

After we ate we headed down to the atrium and briefly watched the mixology contest that had been moved indoors due to the weather. I believe this gentleman is the one who won the contest.

 

 

The arcade was a little less crazy, so we headed over to the air hockey table. If you remember from my previous review, Ashley loves this kind of table – I’m not so much of a fan.

 

 

It starts off regular, but when someone scores, tons of little pucks come out and it’s utter chaos. Ashley always crushes me and this time was no different. After her victory we walked around and played a few other games. One game involved a pull handle (like on a pinball machine) and you tried to get the little ball to go into a hole with a high ticket amount. We swiped the card but noticed that the ball was already stuck from someone else’s play. I gave the machine a little nudge the free the ball, and we noticed that someone had swiped their card several times, putting about 15 credits (one credit per pull) on the machine. We used up the credits and got a ton of tickets. We visited the arcade a few more times on the cruise, and Ashley used the tickets to get prizes for her classroom, so the person who swiped their card donated to a good cause.

 

After the arcade we headed back to the room, where Ashley decided to take a nap while I headed to the casino to play blackjack for about an hour. I ended up winning the cost of the two beers I had while I was there. No complaints!

At about 3:15 we were east of Boston, heading right for St. John.

 

 

A little before 4:00 we headed down to the Ocean Plaza to partake in Urban Myth Trivia, but when we walked in we saw the mass of people that was still there from the 3:15 bingo session. It was insane! We decided to opt out of trivia and spend the rest of the afternoon on the balcony.

 

 

The sun was trying to peek through the clouds!

 

 

Tonight was cruise elegant night in the dining room, so we started to get dressed at around 5. We decided to head down to the atrium before dinner for a couple drinks.

 

[DCCruiser1013]

At 6 we headed to dinner

 

 

 

Ashley started with the baked stuffed mushrooms and heart of iceberg, radicchio and red onions salad. For her entrée she ordered the Filet Mignon from the steakhouse, with a baked potato on the side. For dessert she got crème brulee. Everything was good, and I had a few bites of her filet so I can confirm that it was delicious.

 

I started with a Caesar salad and a shrimp cocktail. My entrée was the prime rib, which was fantastic. I also had the crème brulee for dessert. I’ll be honest, this was my first time ever having crème brulee, and I really enjoyed it.

Ashley and I have noticed something about getting baked potatoes on Carnival. When they bring it to you, it’s not cut or anything, which is totally fine. However, after they drop it off they ask you if you want sour cream and bacon. If you do, you need to immediately get to work on cutting your potato open, because they are usually back within 20 seconds, ready to dollop your potato with sour cream and bacon. It’s just turned into a funny routine for us.

 

While we were ordering the maître-d came by to make sure we were happy with the table and the service, and we gave him two thumbs up. It was really nice of him to come by.

 

After dinner we headed back to the room to catch the sunset from our balcony

 

[DCCruiser1013]

Rery hadn’t made up the room yet, and she came by while we were on the balcony, so we got out of her way. On our way she chatted with us about the fog horn that had apparently been blowing earlier in the day. We were actually nervous about the potential for the fog horn to keep us awake and bought ear plugs prior to the cruise, but we had no idea it had been blowing. I imagine if we were further forward it would have been louder.

We headed to the sports bar to hang out for a bit, then watched the Captain’s toast in the atrium.

 

Then we decided to head topside to hold court at our favorite spot.

 

After a few minutes we headed back to the room to see that someone had pilfered Ashley’s sunglasses!

 

 

We headed out onto the balcony to get one more sunset shot. This one is a little blurry but it was very pretty.

 

[DCCruiser1013]

We headed down to the Red Frog Pub for a few minutes before we went to line up for our first comedy show of the cruise. We had heard about the tiny venue causing issues for people who show up late, so we made sure to arrive early for every show. The show was at 10:00. We showed up at 9:25 and were 3rd and 4th in line. They cleared the 9:00 show when it ended and let us in. We got these seats, which we stuck with for all the shows we went to.

 

 

For those who are curious, they did ID people who looked like they might not be 18 yet, and we did see someone get kicked out, despite their parents being there. The comedian, Jason Blanchard, was very funny.

 

After the comedy show, Ashley and I went up to Lido to share a late night pizza. The wait was about 20 minutes. We also made some frozen lemonade, which we learned about on these forums. Basically you fill up a cup halfway with lemonade, then you fill the rest up with vanilla soft serve (leave room for mixing!). Then you stir like mad. It takes some time to get the right consistency, but it’s pretty delicious once you’re done.

 

 

By about 11:40 we were heading into the Bay of Fundy.

 

 

The moon was very pretty so I tried to get a picture, but it didn’t turn out so well.

 

 

We finally crashed at around midnight.

[DCCruiser1013]

Day 3 - Wednesday, August 9 – St. John, New Brunswick

 

Not sure why, but the format for the FunTimes today and tomorrow was a little off.

 

Disclaimer:St. John is 1 hour ahead of ship time, but for the purposes of this review, all of the times will remain on ship time.

 

I got up at 5:00 to watch the sunrise and noticed we were pulling into St. John, so I stayed out for a while to take some pictures. It was chilly!

 

 

 

[DCCruiser1013]

 

 

 

 

 

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The tide was very low.

 

 

 

You can see the shadow of the ship over the shore.

 

 

 

[DCCruiser1013]

 

 

 

 

Looking back towards the Bay of Fundy.

 

[pirate4me2]

Eagerly following along! We are doing the 7 day sailing in October. I adore the Sunshine and cannot wait for this different itinerary!

 

 

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[DCCruiser1013]

We've arrived!

 

 

I laid back down until about 6:30 when the room service coffee we requested the night before we arrived. I took a few more pictures before we went up to get breakfast burritos at 7:30. We quickly ate them on the balcony before heading down just before 8am to debark. The Bay of Fundy is known for having the highest tidal range in the world, so before we headed down I took a picture ofthe water line at the nearby docks for comparison later when the tide would be higher. Low tide was about an hour before this picture was taken.

[DCCruiser1013]

We collected our things and started to head down to the lower decks just before 8:00, when we got the announcement that we could go ahead and debark. Perfect timing! We walked off the ship, though a tent they had set up with various shops, and onto Water Street. Here’s the ship from St. John.

 

 

St. John is a really beautiful town, it’s very hilly though.

 

 

We continued up Water Street towards Market Square to Avis to pick up our rental car. The folks there were very friendly, and didn’t push any of the extra coverage on me. We reserved a sedan but they had a Dodge Journey SUV for us, which worked just fine. The price was $67 CAD, which is about $53 US Dollars. By 8:25 we were on our way to St. Martins and the Fundy Trail Parkway!

 

 

In Canada, the gas prices are labeled by cents per liter. In this case, the gas is 106.9 cents per liter, which equates to $3.18 US Dollars per gallon.

 

 

There’s a pretty large oil refinery on the way.

 

 

And some more scenic areas

 

[DCCruiser1013]

It’s a very easy drive to St. Martin’s, not much traffic and the road is mostly lined with pine trees.

 

 

 

And you get some nice bay views as well

 

 

Pretty soon we were entering St. Martins. It was still closer to low tide so the fishing boats couldn’t go out just yet.

 

 

 

Lobster traps ready to go

 

[DCCruiser1013]

Then we crossed the covered bridge and were heading towards the St. Martins Sea Caves.

 

 

 

Carnival offers excursions to this area, but if you are concerned about cost, renting a car is really the way to go if you are venturing out with more people than just yourself.

 

 

 

 

This is a very rocky beach, with sea caves sitting on the northeast end. This was a brief stop for us on the way, so we didn’t venture into the caves.

 

[DCCruiser1013]

Soon after we left St. Martins, we were at the entrance to the Fundy Trail Parkway.

 

 

The Parkway runs 19km long and offers a couple dozen beautiful scenic lookouts onto the Bay of Fundy and the forested surroundings. The cost is $8.50 CAD per person. You can also hike along their footpaths, but we didn’t have enough time for that.

 

 

We pulled up to the gate to pay, but the credit card machine didn’t seem to be working. The attendant was kind enough to just let us in. I’ve reached out to the non-profit organization to see if we can make a donation in lieu of payment at the gate.

 

Our first stop was at Fownes Head Lookout, which offered a trail down to an observation deck looking at Flower Pot Rock

 

 

It was a pretty steep hike down to the observation deck.

 

 

[DCCruiser1013]

Flower Pot Rock

 

 

 

 

Melvin Beach Lookout

 

 

 

[DCCruiser1013]

Our rental car parked at the Melvin Beach Lookout

 

 

Our next step stop was at the Fuller Falls Observation Decks

 

 

The staircase going down to the lower observation deck was pretty intimidating...

 

 

But it offered a great closeup of the falls.

 

 

 

Time to head back up the stairs to the parking lot.

 

[DCCruiser1013]

Our next stop was at Black Point Lookout

 

 

 

Then onward to Davidson Lookout

 

 

Then we continued onward for a bit, skipping a few lookouts.

 

 

To the Interpretive Centre Lookout

 

 

The Interpretive Centre

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Then immediately after - the Big Salmon River Lookout

 

 

 

Then we continued down the parkway

 

 

Then we arrived at the final lookout - the Long Beach Observation Deck

 

 

The weather was absolutely perfect, by the way.

 

 

[DCCruiser1013]

Then we headed back to the entrance. On the way we stopped at the Tuft's Point Lookout. This Lookout overlooked Long Beach, which we just saw.

 

 

 

And the Cranberry Brook Lookout

 

 

The parkway got pretty steep and twisty at some points. It was a lot of fun to drive on.

 

 

 

There was also a suspension bridge over the Big Salmon River

 

[DCCruiser1013]

By 11:45 we were exiting the Parkway. It was a great way to spend the morning and we highly recommend it.

 

 

We headed back to the St. Martin's Sea Caves to see the tide had come in. Quoting pictures for comparison

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DCCruiser1013]

And then we continued into St. Martins. This is apparently the only place in the world where one can take a picture that includes two covered bridges and a lighthouse. So here you go.

 

 

The tide has come in.

 

 

 

 

We headed back down to St. John. Look out for moose!