Almost Live - Carnival Sunshine June 6-11, 2022

[cruiserbrianj]

We were on the Sunshine about a week before you and we did not experience any of the negative issues that you mentioned regarding staffing. We got our drinks at the bar or lido without issue. Nobody was rude. Food in the MDR was really good (so good we just ate there all 5 nights). I personally like the port at Charleston because everyone isn't all in one area at one time and when they took 10 seconds to look at the 12 of pack of diet coke my son brought, neither of us were bothered. Everyone cruises different and has different experiences but we absolutely love the Sunshine, the staff and the port.

[mz-s]

3 minutes ago, cruiserbrianj said:

We were on the Sunshine about a week before you and we did not experience any of the negative issues that you mentioned regarding staffing. We got our drinks at the bar or lido without issue. Nobody was rude. Food in the MDR was really good (so good we just ate there all 5 nights). I personally like the port at Charleston because everyone isn't all in one area at one time and when they took 10 seconds to look at the 12 of pack of diet coke my son brought, neither of us were bothered. Everyone cruises different and has different experiences but we absolutely love the Sunshine, the staff and the port.

 

I for one will sorely miss the port of Charleston when homeport operations end there in 2024. The Sunshine I have less love lost for. It's not that I hate the ship or anything, I just wish Carnival was willing to go back and tweak some of the things that weren't great about their original renovation (like the poor flow of the Punchliner or Lido buffets).

[cruiserbrianj]

Just now, mz-s said:

 

I for one will sorely miss the port of Charleston when homeport operations end there in 2024. The Sunshine I have less love lost for. It's not that I hate the ship or anything, I just wish Carnival was willing to go back and tweak some of the things that weren't great about their original renovation (like the poor flow of the Punchliner or Lido buffets).

The flow going into the Lido does suck, I'll admit that. However, the Serenity deck(s) way make up for it in my opinion. I absolutely love that layout and it's the only one like that on Carnival ships.

[mz-s]

3 minutes ago, cruiserbrianj said:

The flow going into the Lido does suck, I'll admit that. However, the Serenity deck(s) way make up for it in my opinion. I absolutely love that layout and it's the only one like that on Carnival ships.

 

She certainly is one of a kind, for good or bad. Serenity is certainly one of the good parts of Sunshine, every time I am onboard her I spend much of my time up there. It's wonderful. My main frustration with her was it wouldn't have taken much for them to go back and tweak those few pain points like Lido. Instead they basically have done nothing to Sunshine for a decade since her renovation. I would still absolutely consider the renovation a success all things considered.

[wgeddings]

9 hours ago, Silent Penguin said:

I think I remember  the room service coffee tasting better than the dining room coffee (which is the worst coffee I ever tasted).  What do you think?   

I don’t drink coffee so can’t really answer.  
 

there were no hanging tags in our room but I never use them so did not enquirer.  Seems they were there in earlier cruises but I can believe Carnival discontinued it.  They made room service harder by making the pay version easy to find but the free version harder.  

[mz-s]

1 minute ago, wgeddings said:

I don’t drink coffee so can’t really answer.  
 

there were no hanging tags in our room but I never use them so did not enquirer.  Seems they were there in earlier cruises but I can believe Carnival discontinued it.  They made room service harder by making the pay version easy to find but the free version harder.  

 

How is that? Both "versions" of room service are accessible by calling the same number in your room, and you can get the menu for both by scanning the same QR code in your stateroom.

[wgeddings]

Room service readily available through HUB app is the one where items are $5 or more.  The only way to access the free menu is through a QR code usually on or near the main mirror in the room.  An inexperienced cruiser would not realize there are 2 menus, one free and one not.  Easy way for me to tell is the free one has PB&J but the pay one does not.  Free one is not available through HUB.   Yes, you call the same number to order but to see the menu to know what to order is different.  
 

parking is $105 for 5 days I think.  It changes so just Google port of Charleston parking for accurate up to date info.  We had a handicapped tag so it was free (which is rare).  
 

Epic Rock was the show tonight and early show was packed!  I have to say that even though I have seen it several times on other ships, this was the best.  The giant video backdrop really added to it and the performers really gave 110%.  Not the best singers but the tried harder.  
 

Many more details after I get back home tomorrow.  
 

Tommy

 

 

[momin05]

Good clarification on the room service. 
 

Thank you so much for posting this while on your vacation. It has been really helpful and made me even more excited about boarding tomorrow (if that is possible)!  

Leave her in good shape for us!

[jolyroger]

On 6/8/2022 at 3:38 PM, ninjacat123 said:

My mom and I were on Sunshine beginning of April.  If you happen to see in MDR Joseph, Ronnie and I Wayan please say hi from Bethany and her mom.  If you go to Alchemy and see Dusan (pronounced Doosh-an), Evan and Zoltan please tell them I miss my Fiery Tropical Martinis made with Mezcal.  I don't know where staff from Cucina would be, but if you see Gaiza tell her hi from us as well.

Just in case you don't have anything to do🤣thanks!!

We were on the Sunshine in March and spent pretty much every nite at Alchemy. We loved  Dusan , Zoltan and Evan! Especially we said " Do what ever you'd like " for a drink! They truly put on a show!

[jolyroger]

We Cruised in March on the Sunshine after receiving offers for basically a free cruise. Living 1 1/2 hrs away driving there versas like you said 6 to Canaveral was great as well. The port is pretty sad, but we never really encountered any rudeness. But I can see like every where, everyone is short staffed. Nice reliving our cruise through your review, we've been on the Sunshine  before and loved her. Gonna miss her being so close to home!

[Silent Penguin]

15 hours ago, wgeddings said:

 They made room service harder by making the pay version easy to find but the free version harder.  

I was thinking the same thing last month when I was on the Elation.

[wgeddings]

More details to come but I wanted to clarify about the port (esp a 9:30 check in).  First, you have to keep in mind Charleston does NOT like having the port (yes some do but those with power do not).  As you get to the port it is easy to see why.  There is tons of construction happening all around it.  Then there is huge parking lot and lots of prime real estate begging for offices, restaurants and condos.  Cruising brings in $$ but not compared to the offices, restaurants and condos.   Tourism is not lacking in Charleston anyway so losing cruise tourism is not likely to matter to anyone except those of us who want to cruise out of there.  Port personnel want to keep it open.  Anyway, you have to keep in mind that “they” do not want to encourage cruising so making the port difficult is preferable to “them”.  
 

Embarkation you have to enter the parking lot through a curving path.  Although the information says they check to be sure all passengers in the vehicle have valid boarding passes, no one checked.  Then you reach tellers who take payment for your parking (check port of Charleston website for current rates and note handicap parking is free). You then get to a porter area where they take your luggage.  Fast and efficient enough but be careful that they do not take your carry-on by mistake.  In 2019 a porter told me he had to take my bag with sodas in it and then the sodas were confiscated because I did not “carry them on”.  You are welcome to tip these porters but be aware none of these will be putting your luggage on the ship or delivering it to your stateroom so tip or no tip has no impact on your luggage.  
 

After the porters you are directed where to park.  Then you can walk to the first staging area or catch a shuttle. The first staging area is part warehouse, part tent.  Here the usual cattle queue with multiple check-in points.  Moved reasonably well.  We used VeriFly and everything was smooth.    From there we proceeded to another building, like a temporary classroom.  Here we were chevked in again and had our pictures taken. Went smooth enough and then we exited that building to board a shuttle to the ship.  The driver watched with disinterest as I struggled to board with my carry-on and his comment was only that I needed to keep it on my lap.  The entire ride to the ship (no walking allowed because you have to exit the secure area and then re-enter for the ship) the driver gave a spiel about he needed tips (and I refrained that the best tip was be nicer to passengers).  
 

Then you proceed to another building where you have to go through security.  I had sodas in my bag in the carton but the X-ray tech insisted I had to go have a very rude woman “inspect” my sodas.  While doing that, she noticed my power bar (that I have taken on 6 cruises in the last 9 months) and decided it was not allowed.  She was quite rude about.  Then we walk a little further, up a flight of stairs, and your boarding pass is scanned to let you proceed to the ship (which means walking up several ramps).  
 

Disenbarking was bad.  First, the cruise director had announced it would be a “silent disembark”.  Meaning there would not be announcement so we were all to watch channel 14 for when we could leave.  Normally we carry everything off but decided to check most of our luggage so we would not have to wrestle it onto shuttles.  Turns out luggage pickup was right as you get off the ship so we still had to roll the luggage but at least they had porters this time to load/unload the shuttles.  Many people opted to skip the shuttles and walk but I don’t recommend it.  Why was it a “silent disembak” you may ask.  Because all the folks in the condos can tolerate the construction noise but not the sound of a ships speakers apparently.  
 

We left our room at 8:30 and got to our car at 9:45 (admittedly I had to stop at guest services due to yet another guest service blunder I’ll explain later.  As we exited the parking lot, no new cars were being allowed in and there was a huge crowd waiting.  If someone got something to check-in at 9:30, that is NOT going to happen.  New cars are not allowed to enter until the cars there have left. I believe they do not let anyone into the parking lot until close to 11:00 and right at 11:00 I imagine the mob descending on the facilities will cause quite a backup.  
 

For those considering parking off site, check Lyft and Uber to see what the ride will be back and forth.  When I checked, rideshares were quite high.  

[Drazil65]

Disembark for us the last week of May was easy and smooth, we did self disembark and had a couple announcements for the self disembark passengers well before 7 am.  We were walking off the ship and onto the parking lot shuttle at 650.  We were in our car and pulling out of the parking lot by 715 am.  Home before noon with an hour stop for breakfast.  

[l2f]

18 hours ago, wgeddings said:

After the porters you are directed where to park.  Then you can walk to the first staging area or catch a shuttle. The first staging area is part warehouse, part tent.  Here the usual cattle queue with multiple check-in points.  Moved reasonably well.  We used VeriFly and everything was smooth.    From there we proceeded to another building, like a temporary classroom.  Here we were checked in again and had our pictures taken. Went smooth enough and then we exited that building to board a shuttle to the ship.  The driver watched with disinterest as I struggled to board with my carry-on and his comment was only that I needed to keep it on my lap.  The entire ride to the ship (no walking allowed because you have to exit the secure area and then re-enter for the ship) the driver gave a spiel about he needed tips (and I refrained that the best tip was be nicer to passengers).  

 

Is this always the case or this driver on this day didn't have the motivation to stow check bags?

 

We are going to take our first cruise from Charleston, and since we are driving to port, were considering 1 large suitcase as our carryon.  I would imagine the standard airline carryon bag is quite the struggle to sit on anyone's lap.  Let alone a larger one.

[ninjacat123]

6 minutes ago, l2f said:

 

Is this always the case or this driver on this day didn't have the motivation to stow check bags?

 

We are going to take our first cruise from Charleston, and since we are driving to port, were considering 1 large suitcase as our carryon.  I would imagine the standard airline carryon bag is quite the struggle to sit on anyone's lap.  Let alone a larger one.

On my shuttle in the Charleston port, I had my carryon next to me on the shuttle floor.  It's not a lengthy drive to the terminal but I wouldn't have been comfortable with my carryon on my lap.

[wgeddings]

52 minutes ago, l2f said:

 

Is this always the case or this driver on this day didn't have the motivation to stow check bags?

 

We are going to take our first cruise from Charleston, and since we are driving to port, were considering 1 large suitcase as our carryon.  I would imagine the standard airline carryon bag is quite the struggle to sit on anyone's lap.  Let alone a larger one.

My gut feeling is it was probably just that particular driver.  The later driver was not rude, but not nice, and also had a tip basket but did not harp on it.  

[l2f]

thanks

[wgeddings]

As promised, more details.  

 

Rough - we have been on cruises most of the year and normally the roughest is around Thanksgiving.  However, the first day or so of this cruise was rougher than normal.  None of our group got seasick but you felt the boat swaying a lot.  It smoothed out later in the week and some might have been due to weather Mon/Tues but people usually ask how calm or rough it was.  I STRONGLY recommend that everyone go to Walgreens, CVS or Walmart and get a pair of SeaBands.  SeaBands are like wristbands with half a marble on them that press on a pressure point on your wrist.  I did not believe they would work but they really did for me and my family.  

 

Guest Services - and I use that term loosely because customer service is NOT good.  There was usually a long line for this so I try to avoid it but most of the time that is impossible.  From our April cruise, we had problems I will not go into here and as a result Carnival gave me, wife and daughter each a $50 OBC for our next cruise.  I told them thank you but I wanted something in writing.  "Oh, it is on your VIFP account so it will automatically be applied.".   I said "no offense but I have seldom had anything you tell me be the truth so please put it in writing."   They did.  Of course, on this cruise, it was not on any of our accounts.  So I had to go to "Guest Services" and wait in the line.  Of course their response was that there was no such credit and they have no record of it anyway.  BAM - here is the e-mail with the person's name and info and proof it should be there.  He seemed so disappointed that he might have to do something so resorted to "I will check on it and we will let you know."   I also e-mailed the customer service rep who sent me the e-mail about being sure it was on my account.  The next morning, bright and early, Guest Services called the cabin to wake us up to say that it was applied.  Then they waited a few minutes for us to go back to sleep to call again and ask if we wanted it applied.  We said yes, and went back to bed.  A few minutes later, they called a third time to let us know that it was applied.  Then later in the day left messages on the phone that it was applied.  Somehow, even correcting their errors managed to become even more annoying!

 

"FREE" Drink on last night - As gold members, we were supposed to get a free drink the last night of the cruise.   We ordered from a lady at the Lobby Bar but we could not understand her due to her very heavy Russian accent, the loud music and her mask.  She kept putting in the information wrong and trying to tell us something but we could not understand her.  She realized it was supposed to be free so kept re-entering it.  Finally she just said she would take care of it later and made the drinks and we thanked her.  Next morning, as we were preparing to disembark, I looked at our bill and sure enough, we were charged for those 2 drinks.  So I had to go back to guest services and wait.  Again.  This time a guy named Sebastian tried to help.  It only took him 3 tries to understand were supposed to get those free and several minutes of looking at the bill to try to come up with why that was incorrect until he finally agreed and removed the charges.  He printed a new bill showing that I was to receive $37.08.  Then he tried to give me that in cash.  So it was another good wait while he kept trying to enter something over and over again.  Then he finally said "Oh, it was part of your gift card.".   I had used a $500 gift card to pay the other charges which totaled $462.92.  Reasonable thought and he said that the $37.08 was going to remain on my gift card.  I asked him to check to verify it and he said that they cannot but he assured me it was there.  Yeah, right.  Got home and checked the gift card balance and it was $0.00.   So I have contacted Carnival about that and we will see.  Bottom line, if someone from Carnival tells you anything, get proof and it is safe to assume it is not true.  Yeah, sour attitude and sorry if that offends everyone but they seem to do something like this every cruise.  

 

Nassau, Bahamas and Half-Moon Cay - Those were our two stops.  I think every cruise I have been on for the last 6 has stopped at Nassau so I did not get off the boat nor did my wife.  My daughter and her friend walked to the straw market and around town a little since the friend had not been there before.  We did no excursions.   At Half-Moon Cay, my wife, daughter and friend all got off the boat and said the water was fabulous.  It was good as usual.  Nothing really to report other than the water was always a great temperature and of course beautiful. 

 

Noise - This time we had 2 4J cabins.  Those are outside cabins with obstructed views on Deck 3 that are billed at about the inside rate.  We could see out of our windows and see the bottom of the lifeboats (or "survival craft" as they are now called).   There was a walkway outside the window too but I was pretty happy because you had a good enough view.  Then I learned why they were cheaper.  Boy was it loud!  Crew working on things sounded like they were in the cabin with us.  People walking on the walkway or the walkway above sounded like stampeding elephants.  In Nassau, they were conducting a life boat drill for the crew so we were awakened nice and early by what sounded like a group of people kicking buckets against our window (no idea what it really was but I think it was crew getting the lifeboats ready on Deck 4).  I am NOT complaining, because no one said it would be quiet, I am just saying that I will think long and hard before getting another cabin like this.  That combined with the fact that the cruise director made announcements every 2 second (okay, not really but it felt like that) which came right into the cabin through the speakers outside the cabin meant lots of noise.  I do not know it was speakers in the hallway or on the walkway that made all announcements so loud but one or the other did.  

 

Havana Bar - In April we were on the Liberty.  I figured out the difference with the Sunshine and the Liberty and similar ships.  On Liberty, at the back of the boat, through the buffet, is another pool and the seafood shack and Pizza Pirate are located there. Other boats are similar.  On Sunshine, they removed that pool and enclosed that area.  Now that area on the Sunshine houses the Havana Bar and JiJi Asian restaurant and Cucino de Capitano.   The Havana Bar was a nice uncrowded area to eat or drink or watch the waves.  The 2 restaurants were great and I ate at the Mongolian Wok (which is the JiJi Asian place for lunch) everyday.  The Cucino de Capitano is closed for dinner but has a pasta bar for lunch (you fill out a piece of paper and they cook your pasta for you).  

 

Overall - I really liked the Sunshine and would definitely sail on her again.  I did not like the port of Charleston but I liked how much closer it was.  I did not like the noise in our cabin but otherwise it was a good cabin.  The food was above average and our cabin steward (Henry) and our MDR servers were terrific.  Guest services were a nightmare as usual.  Casino was okay but people determined to see if they could smoke an entire pack of cigarettes in 15 min or less remained annoying.  Bartenders remain a bad part since there are too few of them and thus they get very surly.  

 

Your cruise might be different but these are my opinions.  Happy Cruising!

 

Tommy

 

[mz-s]

18 hours ago, l2f said:

 

Is this always the case or this driver on this day didn't have the motivation to stow check bags?

 

We are going to take our first cruise from Charleston, and since we are driving to port, were considering 1 large suitcase as our carryon.  I would imagine the standard airline carryon bag is quite the struggle to sit on anyone's lap.  Let alone a larger one.

 

Carnival has dimensions on their site about size restrictions for carry-ons. They have to fit in the X-ray machines or you will have to check the bag.

 

The shuttles to the port during embarkation do not have luggage storage.

 

Usually the shuttles aren't slammed full (they have enough of them so the shuttles aren't a choke point) so you can keep your carry-on in the seat beside you.

[mz-s]

26 minutes ago, wgeddings said:

As promised, more details.  

 

Rough - we have been on cruises most of the year and normally the roughest is around Thanksgiving.  However, the first day or so of this cruise was rougher than normal.  None of our group got seasick but you felt the boat swaying a lot.  It smoothed out later in the week and some might have been due to weather Mon/Tues but people usually ask how calm or rough it was.  I STRONGLY recommend that everyone go to Walgreens, CVS or Walmart and get a pair of SeaBands.  SeaBands are like wristbands with half a marble on them that press on a pressure point on your wrist.  I did not believe they would work but they really did for me and my family.  

 

Guest Services - and I use that term loosely because customer service is NOT good.  There was usually a long line for this so I try to avoid it but most of the time that is impossible.  From our April cruise, we had problems I will not go into here and as a result Carnival gave me, wife and daughter each a $50 OBC for our next cruise.  I told them thank you but I wanted something in writing.  "Oh, it is on your VIFP account so it will automatically be applied.".   I said "no offense but I have seldom had anything you tell me be the truth so please put it in writing."   They did.  Of course, on this cruise, it was not on any of our accounts.  So I had to go to "Guest Services" and wait in the line.  Of course their response was that there was no such credit and they have no record of it anyway.  BAM - here is the e-mail with the person's name and info and proof it should be there.  He seemed so disappointed that he might have to do something so resorted to "I will check on it and we will let you know."   I also e-mailed the customer service rep who sent me the e-mail about being sure it was on my account.  The next morning, bright and early, Guest Services called the cabin to wake us up to say that it was applied.  Then they waited a few minutes for us to go back to sleep to call again and ask if we wanted it applied.  We said yes, and went back to bed.  A few minutes later, they called a third time to let us know that it was applied.  Then later in the day left messages on the phone that it was applied.  Somehow, even correcting their errors managed to become even more annoying!

 

"FREE" Drink on last night - As gold members, we were supposed to get a free drink the last night of the cruise.   We ordered from a lady at the Lobby Bar but we could not understand her due to her very heavy Russian accent, the loud music and her mask.  She kept putting in the information wrong and trying to tell us something but we could not understand her.  She realized it was supposed to be free so kept re-entering it.  Finally she just said she would take care of it later and made the drinks and we thanked her.  Next morning, as we were preparing to disembark, I looked at our bill and sure enough, we were charged for those 2 drinks.  So I had to go back to guest services and wait.  Again.  This time a guy named Sebastian tried to help.  It only took him 3 tries to understand were supposed to get those free and several minutes of looking at the bill to try to come up with why that was incorrect until he finally agreed and removed the charges.  He printed a new bill showing that I was to receive $37.08.  Then he tried to give me that in cash.  So it was another good wait while he kept trying to enter something over and over again.  Then he finally said "Oh, it was part of your gift card.".   I had used a $500 gift card to pay the other charges which totaled $462.92.  Reasonable thought and he said that the $37.08 was going to remain on my gift card.  I asked him to check to verify it and he said that they cannot but he assured me it was there.  Yeah, right.  Got home and checked the gift card balance and it was $0.00.   So I have contacted Carnival about that and we will see.  Bottom line, if someone from Carnival tells you anything, get proof and it is safe to assume it is not true.  Yeah, sour attitude and sorry if that offends everyone but they seem to do something like this every cruise.  

 

Nassau, Bahamas and Half-Moon Cay - Those were our two stops.  I think every cruise I have been on for the last 6 has stopped at Nassau so I did not get off the boat nor did my wife.  My daughter and her friend walked to the straw market and around town a little since the friend had not been there before.  We did no excursions.   At Half-Moon Cay, my wife, daughter and friend all got off the boat and said the water was fabulous.  It was good as usual.  Nothing really to report other than the water was always a great temperature and of course beautiful. 

 

Noise - This time we had 2 4J cabins.  Those are outside cabins with obstructed views on Deck 3 that are billed at about the inside rate.  We could see out of our windows and see the bottom of the lifeboats (or "survival craft" as they are now called).   There was a walkway outside the window too but I was pretty happy because you had a good enough view.  Then I learned why they were cheaper.  Boy was it loud!  Crew working on things sounded like they were in the cabin with us.  People walking on the walkway or the walkway above sounded like stampeding elephants.  In Nassau, they were conducting a life boat drill for the crew so we were awakened nice and early by what sounded like a group of people kicking buckets against our window (no idea what it really was but I think it was crew getting the lifeboats ready on Deck 4).  I am NOT complaining, because no one said it would be quiet, I am just saying that I will think long and hard before getting another cabin like this.  That combined with the fact that the cruise director made announcements every 2 second (okay, not really but it felt like that) which came right into the cabin through the speakers outside the cabin meant lots of noise.  I do not know it was speakers in the hallway or on the walkway that made all announcements so loud but one or the other did.  

 

Havana Bar - In April we were on the Liberty.  I figured out the difference with the Sunshine and the Liberty and similar ships.  On Liberty, at the back of the boat, through the buffet, is another pool and the seafood shack and Pizza Pirate are located there. Other boats are similar.  On Sunshine, they removed that pool and enclosed that area.  Now that area on the Sunshine houses the Havana Bar and JiJi Asian restaurant and Cucino de Capitano.   The Havana Bar was a nice uncrowded area to eat or drink or watch the waves.  The 2 restaurants were great and I ate at the Mongolian Wok (which is the JiJi Asian place for lunch) everyday.  The Cucino de Capitano is closed for dinner but has a pasta bar for lunch (you fill out a piece of paper and they cook your pasta for you).  

 

Overall - I really liked the Sunshine and would definitely sail on her again.  I did not like the port of Charleston but I liked how much closer it was.  I did not like the noise in our cabin but otherwise it was a good cabin.  The food was above average and our cabin steward (Henry) and our MDR servers were terrific.  Guest services were a nightmare as usual.  Casino was okay but people determined to see if they could smoke an entire pack of cigarettes in 15 min or less remained annoying.  Bartenders remain a bad part since there are too few of them and thus they get very surly.  

 

Your cruise might be different but these are my opinions.  Happy Cruising!

 

Tommy

 

 

I believe they will issue you a new gift card with your refund on it. They can't reload a gift card that has been zeroed out. I think the check-out paperwork used to mention that. Of course now that the ship is mostly paperless I have no idea where that is documented anymore - probably Carnival's FAQ page, but I don't know how they expect guests to know it.

 

I have noticed the first night of a Charleston cruise to have a lot of movement. I guess sailing against the gulfstream is part of it but I'm not really sure.

[wgeddings]

23 hours ago, mz-s said:

 

Carnival has dimensions on their site about size restrictions for carry-ons. They have to fit in the X-ray machines or you will have to check the bag.

 

The shuttles to the port during embarkation do not have luggage storage.

 

Usually the shuttles aren't slammed full (they have enough of them so the shuttles aren't a choke point) so you can keep your carry-on in the seat beside you.

This had nothing to do with size restrictions.  I stand by my caution about making sure the porters do not grab your carry on. 

[wgeddings]

23 hours ago, mz-s said:

 

I believe they will issue you a new gift card with your refund on it. They can't reload a gift card that has been zeroed out. I think the check-out paperwork used to mention that. Of course now that the ship is mostly paperless I have no idea where that is documented anymore - probably Carnival's FAQ page, but I don't know how they expect guests to know it.

 

I have noticed the first night of a Charleston cruise to have a lot of movement. I guess sailing against the gulfstream is part of it but I'm not really sure.

You might be right about it being a little rough going against the gulfstream.  At least that makes sense to me.  I was not complaining about it because it was not a problem but just wanted others to be aware and not to worry that the whole trip would be like that.  

 

Also, I got a call from someone at Carnival who confirmed that they cannot just reload a gift card.  Sebastian was full of bull although the customer service rep made it sound at first like it was my fault for not knowing that and correcting Sebastian.  She was nice though.  Their system showed that a new gift card was issued to me and e-mailed to me but I did not receive it.  So yet another fun thing with Carnival's guest services and she said she would try to run it down and have them re-issue.  She has been helpful. 

Edited June 14, 2022 by wgeddings

[mz-s]

6 minutes ago, wgeddings said:

This had nothing to do with size restrictions.  I stand by my caution about making sure the porters do not grab your carry on. 

 

I was not talking about your experience in my post, I was replying to someone who said they wanted to carry on one large bag. If it's too large they will have to check it.

[wgeddings]

3 hours ago, mz-s said:

 

I was not talking about your experience in my post, I was replying to someone who said they wanted to carry on one large bag. If it's too large they will have to check it.

Ah, i see.  

[l2f]

On 6/13/2022 at 11:01 AM, mz-s said:

 

Carnival has dimensions on their site about size restrictions for carry-ons. They have to fit in the X-ray machines or you will have to check the bag.

 

The shuttles to the port during embarkation do not have luggage storage.

 

Usually the shuttles aren't slammed full (they have enough of them so the shuttles aren't a choke point) so you can keep your carry-on in the seat beside you.

 

3 hours ago, mz-s said:

 

I was not talking about your experience in my post, I was replying to someone who said they wanted to carry on one large bag. If it's too large they will have to check it.

I'm not worried about the dimensions for our large luggage.  According to Carnival website, dimensions are 16" height and 24" width, and no length.  You would lay your luggage on its back for these measurements.  I was more concerned about a debate with the driver on carrying a large bag onto the shuttle.

Thanks everyone