Carnival Sunshine Questions

[SSBrickNJ]

#1 We are non smokers. ONE reviewer on Cruise Critic said they were on the Sunshine as non smokers but the ventilation system (in their opinion) was not good and they could smell cigarette smoke throughout the ship (in non smoking areas). So, I'm seeking former Sunshine cruisers to either agree with that reviewer or hopefully disagree with her. 

#2 How was the Main Dining Room Food on the Sunshine?

#3 Share anything positive or negative to help me decide if this would be the good cruise for my family of three (Potential Cruise date 12/23/19 5 nights Charleston SC to Bahamas)

Myself(Steve)age 57 at sail date

Wife...younger than me(withholding age :)

Daughter age 18 at sail date

Thanks in advance for anyone's feedback 😉

[FSUDAVE]

We just came off a 13 day cruise on the Sunshine.  

 1.  Smokers gravitate to the casino area, so yes, in the casino its a little smokey.  However, I never smelled smoke in any other part of the ship.  Non smokers just want to complain in general about smokers I would guess.

2.  Food was better than most on our cruises.  It was a Journeys cruise so maybe that made a difference, but the dining room food was good. Many other areas to eat at and they were good.  For breakfast we ate in the very back, 9th floor, and they had an omelette station.  Outstanding!  You can also have lunch there for free, but at night there is an up-charge.  

3.  Its a great ship (our second time on it)  and the staff is very friendly and seems to enjoy their jobs.  Our CD - Mikey -- was really funny and outstanding. 

Great ship...you will have a blast!

Edited February 24, 2019 by FSUDAVE

[SSBrickNJ]

1 minute ago, FSUDAVE said:

We just came off a 13 day cruise on the Sunshine.  

 1.  Smokers gravitate to the casino area, so yes, in the casino its a little smokey.  However, I never smelled smoke in any other part of the ship.  Non smokers just want to ***** in general about smokers I would guess.

2.  Food was better than most on our cruise.  It was a Journeys cruise so maybe that made a difference, but the dining room food was good. Many other areas to eat at and they were good.  For breakfast we ate in the very back, 9th floor, and they had an omelette station.  Outstanding!  You can also have lunch there for free, but at night there is an up-charge.  

3.  Its a great ship (our second time on it)  and the staff is very friendly and seems to enjoy their jobs.  Our CD - Mikey -- was really funny and outstanding. 

Great ship...you will have a blast!

Thank you FSUDAVE!!!  I appreciate the feedback. Very helpful! 

[SSBrickNJ]

I think the photos of the MDR are attractive.

Some people who posted a review were a little negative re. the Main Dining Room food. We've cruised before and were never inclined to pay extra for the fee specialty restaurants.

Are there different main course options each night in the Main Dining Room.

We  are considering a short 5 night cruise out of Charleston SC......departing this Dec. 23rd

*
*
..............and I'm still interested in other opinions on if you can smell cigarette smoke in areas besides the casino.

[purplephenom]

the casino is really smoke filled. I don't gamble so I never walked into it, but I could smell the smoke a good way down the rest of the deck. I'm pretty sensitive to smoke though; others I was with weren't really bothered by it, except for right by the casino.  It's nothing i would complain about, but I did avoid the area when possible. 

 

The food was good, I thought. Dinners seemed to take around an hour and a half. 

 

I would absolutely sail the sunshine again. I loved the red frog pub to hang out. I only had 1 drink in the pub, the rest was just music/games. Ocean plaza was also a great place to sit and listen to music. And the alchemy bar is right there if that's your thing. 

 

I was on the sunshine last year and the fascination this year. I missed the ocean plaza/red frog pub. People say the sunshine is hard to get around, but on day 7 of our fascination cruise, people were still lost. I have the worlds worst sense of direction and found my way around both ships fairly easily. 

[beacha]

We have cruised twice on Sunshine-5 day from Norfolk. We don’t smoke and never smelled smoke except for near the Casino. The food was very good. The Serenity deck is the best we have ever experienced. There were plenty of chairs/loungers available in the late morning.

we liked the upstairs dining room, but on the second cruise we were assigned to the lower dining room. We didn’t like that space, and only ate there twice. We loved having breakfast in the Havana area every morning. Happy cruising!

[PhillyFan33579]

We just got off Sunshine yesterday and there were two big negatives, although we had a great time despite these issues. 

 

First, the Limelight Lounge where they hold comedy shows is ridiculously small for the number of passengers on the ship. Additionally, a good percentage of the seats have limited to no view of the stage and can only watch TVs in the lounge to see the comedians. 

 

Second, although very nice to look at, the Serenity area is anything but serene, to quote my wife.  For starters, on the first two sea days, every chair/lounger was occupied/claimed by 7:30 AM on deck 11, where the pool is located. Also, it is literally like you are at the Lido pool, since you can clearly hear music and activities on the Lido deck on deck 11 and 12 in the Serenity area. Deck 14 in the Serenity area is a little quieter, but it gets very windy up there and it was closed numerous times during our cruise due to excessive wind.

 

At the D&P party I talked to several of the senior officers about these issues. They said both areas are a frequent source of complaints, which is why they are changing the Limelight Lounge layout and not duplicating the Serenity area on Radiance and Sunrise. 

 

Overall I think Sunshine is a good ship, but if you like going to comedy shows and/or you like a quiet Serenity area, I would consider another ship.  If these issues aren’t important to you, than no doubt in my mind you will enjoy Sunshine. 

[schazzy]

1 hour ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

First, the Limelight Lounge where they hold comedy shows is ridiculously small for the number of passengers on the ship. Additionally, a good percentage of the seats have limited to no view of the stage and can only watch TVs in the lounge to see the comedians. 

 

This is really the only thing we've seen so far that really we really don't like, we enjoy the comedy shows and try to see as many as we can, but I'm sure there will be plenty of other things to do if we can't get seats in the Limelight Lounge.

[KimEadler]

We will be on the Sunshine for our 2nd sailing this July.  We can't wait!  We loved it!  We did not notice the smell of smoke anywhere but the casino.  The comedy club was a little hard to get in to see a show ....you just have to be willing to go a little early and stand in line.  We love the Serenity deck!  We actually loved that it was near the lido deck!  We were able to get a chair on the glass wall and watch the "fun" of the lido deck - without having to be in the middle of the madness! lol Yes, you can hear it - but not at the volume that is on lido!  In fact, this is why we have booked the Sunshine again!  We are taking our adult children this time, and cannot wait to share the Sunshine with them!  Enjoy!

[maryhou]

28 days until we will be onboard....... I'm hoping it's fabulous.  I am NOT a fan of smoking wither.  I wish half the casingo games were smoking and the other half non smoking.  Yes I understand that you'd still smell smoke but not quite as bad if 3/4 people at your table weren't blowing smoke your way 

[K_e_short]

My family (husband, myself, 11 year old son) sailed last year for March Break.

 

The smoke smell in the casino was a big issue and the air filtration system on either entrance smelled very gross. If you are going to gamble and don't smoke you will struggle to stay in the casino.

 

The rest of the ship is awesome. We ate at the buffet all but one night so can't comment on the MDR.

 

The waterslide is awesome if any of you are interested in that. I didn't feel crowded on the ship, even though I knew it was booked full. Staff were great.

 

[BoDidly]

2 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

We just got off Sunshine yesterday and there were two big negatives, although we had a great time despite these issues. 

 

First, the Limelight Lounge where they hold comedy shows is ridiculously small for the number of passengers on the ship. Additionally, a good percentage of the seats have limited to no view of the stage and can only watch TVs in the lounge to see the comedians. 

 

Second, although very nice to look at, the Serenity area is anything but serene, to quote my wife.  For starters, on the first two sea days, every chair/lounger was occupied/claimed by 7:30 AM on deck 11, where the pool is located. Also, it is literally like you are at the Lido pool, since you can clearly hear music and activities on the Lido deck on deck 11 and 12 in the Serenity area. Deck 14 in the Serenity area is a little quieter, but it gets very windy up there and it was closed numerous times during our cruise due to excessive wind.

 

At the D&P party I talked to several of the senior officers about these issues. They said both areas are a frequent source of complaints, which is why they are changing the Limelight Lounge layout and not duplicating the Serenity area on Radiance and Sunrise. 

 

Overall I think Sunshine is a good ship, but if you like going to comedy shows and/or you like a quiet Serenity area, I would consider another ship.  If these issues aren’t important to you, than no doubt in my mind you will enjoy Sunshine. 

My thoughts are the same , packed but doable.

[coscab]

The smoke from the casino spills into the sports bar because it opens into it and many smokers stand just outside the large opening into the sports bar and smoke, they are watching the tvs, not gambling because there are no machines right there, so if you plan on using the sports bar it might bother you, other than that and the casino and the hallway outside the other end of the casino where the elevators are we did not notice any smoke smell. 

We found the ship extremely cold to the point of uncomfortable near the Alchemy bar and in the Red Frog Pub which is also the area where trivia etc is played so we avoided that area except when getting our any time dining table assigned, would have liked to participate in a few games but even with a sweatshirt I was still uncomfortable. 

We really enjoyed the ship other those few complaints.

[schazzy]

34 minutes ago, K_e_short said:

We ate at the buffet all but one night so can't comment on the MDR.

 

How was the dinner buffet? I'm sure we will eat there if we don't feel like the MDR.

[SSBrickNJ]

2 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

We just got off Sunshine yesterday and there were two big negatives, although we had a great time despite these issues. 

 

First, the Limelight Lounge where they hold comedy shows is ridiculously small for the number of passengers on the ship. Additionally, a good percentage of the seats have limited to no view of the stage and can only watch TVs in the lounge to see the comedians. 

 

Second, although very nice to look at, the Serenity area is anything but serene, to quote my wife.  For starters, on the first two sea days, every chair/lounger was occupied/claimed by 7:30 AM on deck 11, where the pool is located. Also, it is literally like you are at the Lido pool, since you can clearly hear music and activities on the Lido deck on deck 11 and 12 in the Serenity area. Deck 14 in the Serenity area is a little quieter, but it gets very windy up there and it was closed numerous times during our cruise due to excessive wind.

 

At the D&P party I talked to several of the senior officers about these issues. They said both areas are a frequent source of complaints, which is why they are changing the Limelight Lounge layout and not duplicating the Serenity area on Radiance and Sunrise. 

 

Overall I think Sunshine is a good ship, but if you like going to comedy shows and/or you like a quiet Serenity area, I would consider another ship.  If these issues aren’t important to you, than no doubt in my mind you will enjoy Sunshine. 

When we cruise we like to go to each ship's Broadway style theater venue. We liked the Main Dining Room experience....ya know meeting your two waiters and having the same 2 each day of the cruise. We like helping ourselves to soft serve ice cream whenever we feel like it. We like not having to do any dishes or laundry. We like karaoke. Does this ship have karaoke?

I think the 2 disappointments for you will not be an issue for us. Thank you so much for your post!

[SSBrickNJ]

27 minutes ago, coscab said:

The smoke from the casino spills into the sports bar because it opens into it and many smokers stand just outside the large opening into the sports bar and smoke, they are watching the tvs, not gambling because there are no machines right there, so if you plan on using the sports bar it might bother you, other than that and the casino and the hallway outside the other end of the casino where the elevators are we did not notice any smoke smell. 

We found the ship extremely cold to the point of uncomfortable near the Alchemy bar and in the Red Frog Pub which is also the area where trivia etc is played so we avoided that area except when getting our any time dining table assigned, would have liked to participate in a few games but even with a sweatshirt I was still uncomfortable. 

We really enjoyed the ship other those few complaints.

I do not drink actually.

But here's a question. Would we ever need to pass through the Casino to get from Point A to Point B?

Royal Caribbean is often like that. We've found ourselves on the Casino deck....we are on one side of that deck and we want to get to the karaoke lounge on the other side. The only way to do it was to pass through the Casino.....or go up a deck....walk that deck and then go back down a deck.

Edited February 25, 2019 by SSBrickNJ
improve my grammar

[SSBrickNJ]

So many helpful responses. 

Don't stop now.

Tell me about the buffet eatery. Or the theater shows. I'm interested in any pros or cons re. this ship.

[purplephenom]

43 minutes ago, SSBrickNJ said:

I do not drink actually.

But here's a question. Would we ever need to pass through the Casino to get from Point A to Point B?

Royal Caribbean is often like that. We've found ourselves on the Casino deck....we are on one side of that deck and we want to get to the karaoke lounge on the other side. The only way to do it was to pass through the Casino.....or go up a deck....walk that deck and then go back down a deck.

 

Need to? No you could probably avoid it. But it’s a very convenient way to go thru the ship, and there’s a lot going on there. So you likely will

[Eliot Ness]

We also just got off an 8 day cruise on the Sunshine and also had a very good experience.   We had YTD but requested the same waiter, Raymond, for each meal and received very good service and the MDR food was good.  I was impressed with the service and how friendly the staff were.  As an example in the buffet I heard an older gentleman ask a worker where he could get a Coke and instead of pointing him to the Havana bar took his S&S card and brought him a Coke.   Food on the Lido was good in pretty much all areas and workers were constantly cleaning off tables and doing it with a smile.

 

Mikey was perhaps the best cruise director we've had to date and with Raymond being our favorite waiter that's two #1's for the Sunshine.

 

The Alchemy Bar was another bright spot with three very friendly "drink masters" with Bojan being my favorite...... and I've got to say The Deal Closer goes down very smooth.  It was almost as enjoyable watching them mix and create as it was to drink.

 

OK, the casino will be smokey, or at least it was on our cruise, but I was able to handle it and I didn't notice the smoke anywhere else.  It could also get pretty crowded at times, especially the first night, but it probably varies from cruise to cruise.  Because of the complaints about the comedy club seating and long lines we didn't even attempt to attend a show.

 

We saw two main shows, Motor City and Epic Rock and were able to get decent seats for both and they were good shows.  We also went to a magic show one night that was also very good.

 

Now to me the ship seemed a bit more crowded than I expected.  Usually I can wander up to deck 10 and find an empty spot in the shade to read but empty seats were hard to find, even on the Serenity where I noticed some spots were saved for over two hours without anyone returning.  I'd eventually find a spot and on port days it was never an issue.  There were usually seats available on deck 3 near the lobby bar.

 

We loved our cabin, a corner aft ocean-view on deck 2; it was quiet and just a short elevator ride to deck 5 or 9 where the action and food are located.

 

While I think I preferred the Conquest class a bit better, we'd sail the Sunshine again in a heartbeat.  My biggest gripe really isn't about the ship, it is Carnival renaming her.  To me it just takes away from the ships history to have a name change even with all the changes, but that's just my feelings on the subject. 

[PhillyFan33579]

3 minutes ago, Eliot Ness said:

 

The Alchemy Bar was another bright spot with three very friendly "drink masters" with Bojan being my favorite...... and I've got to say The Deal Closer goes down very smooth.  It was almost as enjoyable watching them mix and create as it was to drink.

 

We spent time at the Alchemy Bar every night and I was very surprised that the bar was never crowded when we were there. My wife and I were able to find two seats at the bar every time we went there. That has never happened before on previous cruises. Bojan was my favorite too simply because he made most of my drinks, but I also liked Parviz and Ilian. 

[SSBrickNJ]

49 minutes ago, Eliot Ness said:

We also just got off an 8 day cruise on the Sunshine and also had a very good experience.   We had YTD but requested the same waiter, Raymond, for each meal and received very good service and the MDR food was good.  I was impressed with the service and how friendly the staff were.  As an example in the buffet I heard an older gentleman ask a worker where he could get a Coke and instead of pointing him to the Havana bar took his S&S card and brought him a Coke.   Food on the Lido was good in pretty much all areas and workers were constantly cleaning off tables and doing it with a smile.

 

Mikey was perhaps the best cruise director we've had to date and with Raymond being our favorite waiter that's two #1's for the Sunshine.

 

The Alchemy Bar was another bright spot with three very friendly "drink masters" with Bojan being my favorite...... and I've got to say The Deal Closer goes down very smooth.  It was almost as enjoyable watching them mix and create as it was to drink.

 

OK, the casino will be smokey, or at least it was on our cruise, but I was able to handle it and I didn't notice the smoke anywhere else.  It could also get pretty crowded at times, especially the first night, but it probably varies from cruise to cruise.  Because of the complaints about the comedy club seating and long lines we didn't even attempt to attend a show.

 

We saw two main shows, Motor City and Epic Rock and were able to get decent seats for both and they were good shows.  We also went to a magic show one night that was also very good.

 

Now to me the ship seemed a bit more crowded than I expected.  Usually I can wander up to deck 10 and find an empty spot in the shade to read but empty seats were hard to find, even on the Serenity where I noticed some spots were saved for over two hours without anyone returning.  I'd eventually find a spot and on port days it was never an issue.  There were usually seats available on deck 3 near the lobby bar.

 

We loved our cabin, a corner aft ocean-view on deck 2; it was quiet and just a short elevator ride to deck 5 or 9 where the action and food are located.

 

While I think I preferred the Conquest class a bit better, we'd sail the Sunshine again in a heartbeat.  My biggest gripe really isn't about the ship, it is Carnival renaming her.  To me it just takes away from the ships history to have a name change even with all the changes, but that's just my feelings on the subject. 

Thank you for going above and beyond with your very complete answer. 

[Bostwick girl]

We had a group of 18 on the Sunshine November 8th cruise, family and friends ranging in age from 4 to 74. Everyone had a great time. We were all on deck 8, 4 balcony rooms, 4 interior rooms, all had the same cabin stewards. Maria was absolutely fantastic, she learned our names very quickly, we all were so pleased with our service, just an awesome person and her assistants as well.  Never needed to ask for anything.

 

i never heard any complaints about the food. Most of us ate in the MDR, early dining most nights, some did buffet some nights. We had good service, not the best ever, but good especially for our large group. No one had breakfast in the MDR, mostly buffet for breakfast and lunch. There were 2 omelette stations so if you came early there were no long lines. After DH and I discovered a small breakfast bar was in the Ocean Galley on deck 5 every day,  we had our breakfast there, it was quiet and not crowded. After that we would go to the casino to play in peace and quiet, lol and also before it got too smoky. It amazes me that you can have one non smoking machine right next to a smoking machine, no sense to that, and people don't seem to pay attention. In answer to the original posters question, yes you do have to walk thru the casino, as the promenade goes right thru it and there are machines on both sides of the walkway. We usually don't stay in there too long in the evenings because it is smoky.

 

i did like the newly designed buffet areas, seemed to flow a lot better and didn't look as crowded. We never ate in the Havana bar area, but some of our friends did and really enjoyed it. on this cruise, we didn't do the steakhouse so can't comment on that, although we usually do when we cruise and have found them to be very good.

 

We only went to one of the shows which we enjoyed very much. Our son, DIL and their friends were chosen out of the line waiting to go in the theater to participate in the show, it was so fun to watch them! The cruise director Mikey was the best one I've ever had in 24 cruises! So full of energy and fun! His '80's music trivia show was awesome!  

 

We didnt do the pool areas, but the younger ones in the group did, and had no complaints. They all enjoyed their excursions in Aruba, Curaçao and Grand Turk. We just did walking around in Curaçao, they have really updated the port area since we were there a few years ago, and had to go to Margaritaville for one of those awesome giant nachos.

 

The kids really enjoyed the waterslides, pool areas and ropes courses, they played up there for hours. They also loved Camp Ocean, the crew there were really good with kids. We had 4, 5 and 8 year olds and they all loved it. They also loved the build a bear workshop. 

 

This cruise was booked over a year in advance and we looked forward to it so much. We had two adult first time cruisers, and they're now hooked. We all enjoyed the Sunshine and would definitely sail on her again.

[13cheermom]

Totally agree with all the positive comments on the Sunshine, first sailed on her in Mediterranean for 12-days and loved it.  So we booked it again 2 more cruises and have another one upcoming this year.  So glad it is coming to Charleston for a few cruises.  Yes there are some flaws with comedy club and main theatre set-up, however there are so many unique features that you don't find on any other ship that make up for it for us.  We really liked serenity area and the fact it had an adults only pool to enjoy.  The Havana area alone is a great place to sit and eat and enjoy the wake view at the back of the ship.  But we don't use the casino, so that's not important to us.  The comedy club, you just have to plan ahead of time to wait in line, we do really enjoy the comedy shows.  I know the ship is older, but has the appearance of the newer ones and also has all the amenities we really enjoy on a ship.  I say you should try it for yourself and see how it suits your families needs. 

[NWACruiser]

I was also on the 13 day Journeys cruise.  There are pluses and minuses to the ship.  We had a great time while on the ship.

 

I have a review of the cruise here:  

At the end of the review I critique the ship.   

 

 

[Andersoncd]

I have sailed the Sunshine twice in the past 3 years. The smoke smell around the casino starts out weak in the AM, but grows quite strong by early evening. However, did not notice the smell anywhere else. As for the Limelight lounge, we experienced the over-crowding on the first cruise, but adjusted for it the second time. Just show up about 20-30 minutes early. They don't open the lounge until 20 minutes before showtime (maybe it was 30?). Anyway, go straight in a claim your seats. They are serving drinks before the show. As far as the main theater, you may also want to show up at least 15 minutes early. There are some obstructed view seats that will be the only ones available if you wait until showtime to get there. 

 

Don't know if it suits you, but the second time on the Sunshine, we switched to the late seating dinner. We found that the dining room and the theaters were all less crowded at the later shows than the earlier ones. Seems like 65%-75% of folks all opt for the early seating option at dinner, and the early shows. If you don't have a problem staying up a little later, you may want to try this.