Surprising Experience on Carnival Sunshine - brilliantseas August 2022 Bahamas Review / Photos

[brilliantseas]

Welcome to another @brilliantseas trip report, this time aboard the Carnival Sunshine. This was our first time aboard the Carnival Sunshine, but my 18th Carnival cruise overall. Be sure to check out my other recent "live" trip reports Carnival Sunrise in a Grand Scenic Oceanview Stateroom, and my solo trip on Carnival Legend. 

 

Our Trip Itinerary:

Thursday, August 18 - Depart for Charlotte, NC

Friday, August 19 - First-time visit to Carowinds

Saturday, August 20 - Boarding the Carnival Sunshine in Charleston, SC

Sunday, August 21 - Fun Day at Sea

Monday, August 22 - Half Moon Cay, Bahamas

Tuesday, August 23 - Nassau, Bahamas

Wednesday, August 24 - Fun Day at Sea

Thursday, August 25 - Debarkation in Charleston

 

I received a great casino offer after having qualified on my last Carnival Legend cruise, and was able to not only receive a good price on one of the rare "double-length" 8A L-shaped balcony cabins on deck six aft, but also received free drinks in the casino.

 

Having sailed on sister ship Carnival Sunrise earlier this year, and having read several recent trip reports from others who have sailed on Carnival Sunshine, this trip was full of surprises, both good and bad. 

 

[WhiteOptima]

On Sunshine Oct 1 so anxious to read.  Noticed only 2 pools with 1 in Serenity area.

 

[brilliantseas]

We started our trip with a last minute change in itinerary. Our original plan was to fly to Charleston on Friday afternoon, spending the night at the Hilton Garden Inn Charleston Airport in North Charleston. A last minute change in work schedules allowed us to depart a day earlier and visit a friend in Charlotte on Friday, as well as our first visit to Carowinds. 

 

The weather forecast didn't look promising, but we ended up avoiding anything more than a sprinkle and had a great afternoon riding coasters with cooler temperatures and NO LINES! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Given the weather forecast and the fact that schools were already in session, the park was not at all crowded. I believe our longest wait of the day was a three cycle wait for Afterburn, which was only running a single train, and with poor efficiency. We waited four cycles for a front-row ride on Fury 325, however the ride associates seemed to be more engaged, and the ride was running two of three trains, so it moved much more quickly. 

 

Several of the park's rides, including a few of the coasters were closed. A few opened in the late afternoon, presumably as more employees were coming into work after school. Hurler and Carolina Cyclone were two of these attractions. Knowing the roughness of similar rides, we opted to skip Carolina Cyclone, and probably should have skipped Hurler as well. 

 

We were able to get several rides on Fury 325, Intimidator, and Copperhead Strike. After multiple rides in the front and back on each, I'd rank Fury 325 just above Copperhead Strike in terms of my favorite coaster in the park, although Intimidator also proved quite enjoyable. 

 

We had hoped to have lunch at Blue Ridge Country Kitchen, and were surprised to find it closed given the fact that it is one of their recently remodeled locations with better quality food than some of the smaller concessions. Instead, we opted for the BBQ station inside Harmony Hall, and were surprised to find that despite having a smoker directly behind the station, they were serving frozen heat-and-serve pulled pork. I guess staffing levels must be impacting what they are able to offer as I've had great house-smoked pulled pork at both Cedar Point and Kings Island this year. 

 

We departed the park in the early evening and made our way to Charleston via I-77 and I-26, arriving at our hotel in the 9:00 hour. 

 

[brilliantseas]

I travel frequently and prefer Hilton-branded hotels. For this trip, I had initially hoped to stay in the historic district, however the prices were more than three times what I was able to find near the airport. I opted to book the Hilton Garden Inn Charleston Airport in North Charleston, which is about eight miles from the port, having no expectations other than a clean room and a place to get a good night's rest before boarding the Sunshine the next morning. 

 

The Hilton Garden Inn Charleston Airport is an older Garden Inn, and although the public areas appeared well-kept, the rooms have seen better days. The furniture was well worn; the bathtub stained, with the non-skid texture on the tub's surface peeling, and one of the lights in the bathroom flickered on and then quickly went out each time it was turned on, leaving the bathroom very dim. 

 

The location was convenient enough, but I likely would not stay here again on a future trip. 

[brilliantseas]

As a Platinum VIFP cruiser with Carnival, I had access to early online check-in, and had a wide variety of check-in times to choose from. Not wanting to arrive too early and being stuck waiting in the terminal for boarding to begin, I opted for the 11:00 to 11:30 check-in window. I believe the earliest window as 10:00 to 10:30. 

 

We slept in, loaded up the car, and headed over to the port around 10:30, with the plan to be parked and in the terminal by 11:00. 

 

This was our first time sailing out of Charleston, and although I had heard about the odd and less-than-efficient check-in and boarding process in this port, I was still surprised at just how inefficient it was. 

 

Entry into the parking lot involves showing your boarding pass at the parking lot gate, and then proceeding to a row of tents with a few lanes for luggage drop-off. This actually went quite quickly, and it didn't take more than a few minutes to be waived into a drop-off position, where a porter quickly unloaded both of our bags without a need for us to get out of the car. From there, we proceeded to another area to pay for parking. Parking at the Port of Charleston is $21 per day, or $105 for our 5-night sailing. While not as expensive as Miami or New York, this was more expensive than most of the other ports I have sailed out of recently, especially for a deteriorating surface lot. For comparison, the Port of Baltimore was only $15 per day, or the same $105 for a 7-night cruise. 

 

After paying for parking, we were directed to follow a winding path with several employees providing direction. Those in need of handicap parking are directed to a small area near the front of the lot, where they have access to what appear to be 8-passenger golf cart shuttles. All others arriving early are waived into specific spots, beginning at the very back of the lot, around 300 yards from the "terminal." 

 

I use the word terminal loosely in Charleston as the first part of the check-in process doesn't actually take place in a terminal, but rather in a large industrial warehouse with a screening tent and several connected trailers placed inside. Outside the warehouse, they have three rows of queues set up, one for the current arrival appointment window, one for the next arrival appointment window, and a third for those who are more than 30-minutes early. Those who are within their window are allowed immediately inside the warehouse, with those in the next arrival window allowed in periodically if there is a break in the line for those who are "on time". Once you've made it through the exterior queue and an employee has verified your arrival appointment time on your boarding pass, you enter a large tent, just inside the warehouse. This was the longest wait of the entire check-in process, as there are a series of switchback queues with no separate queue for suite guests or platinum/diamond VIFP. The line moves quickly, but with hundreds of people ahead of us, it still took around 20 minutes to make our way to the end of the line. At this point, you're directed to an employee who verifies that your health questionnaires have been completed online, and also checks your vaccination card. 

 

Note that despite completing the pre-arrival vaccination record verification electronically using the VeriFLY app, the employees at Charleston were not accepting a "green / ready to travel" status on VeriFLY, and had to see each of our original vaccination cards before giving us a clearance stamp. The employee who was checking our records was not well trained, and had to ask for a supervisor as he couldn't remember whether it was Pfizer, Moderna, or J&J that was the single-dose vaccine. Keep in mind that we traveled after Carnival dropped the vaccine mandate and the only question should have been whether or not a test was required. After a very brief delay and a quick thumbs-up from the supervisor, we exited the tent and were directed across the interior of the warehouse and up a switchback ramp, into a series of connected temporary trailers that appear to have been the original "terminal" setup before COVID required additional health screenings. 

 

Inside the trailers, we encountered another long series of switchback queues, however this area had separate queues for suites guests and platinum/diamond VIFP. There was a crowd control employee stationed at the entrance and quickly waived us into the platinum/diamond queue, bypassing nearly the entire line. Within minutes, we were directed to a check-in station, where our passports were scanned and we were directed to a waiting area and instructed to wait until our boarding number was called. Fortunately, these boarding group numbers are pre-assigned based upon your check-in appointment time rather than when you get to the waiting room, and by the time we were through the process, they were already calling our boarding group. 

 

We exited a door on the side of the trailers and made our way down a ramp to the parking area outside of the warehouse. From here, we were directed to one of several busses that would take us to the ship, which is docked around 1/4 mile from the check-in terminal. The busses ranged from mini shuttle busses to full size motor coaches. We were directed to one of the smaller shuttles for a quick drive over to the "Charleston Passenger Terminal". There is space for approximately four shuttles to unload at a time, and we encountered a brief wait while other shuttles unloaded. When it was our turn to pull up in front of the terminal, we quickly unloaded and were directed inside. 

 

The passenger terminal appears to be a relic of the past, and may have served smaller ferries or other vessels. It isn't built for a major cruise ship, which is why most of the actual check-in process takes place in a large industrial warehouse down the street. Inside, we queued for security (metal detection and carry-on x-ray) before being directed up a set of stairs and finally into the boarding bridge. 

[brilliantseas]

The entire process, from parking to stepping onboard the ship, took just over an hour. We benefitted from the platinum queue, and I suspect others likely took closer to 90 minutes to complete the boarding and check-in process. 

 

Here is our first view of the ship, taken from the handicap parking area. 

 

 

The warehouses directly adjacent to the pier are used for loading food and supplies. The small passenger terminal is at the foreward-most section of the pier. The bridge in the far left distance connects the passenger terminal to the road. In the distance is the historic Custom House. 

 

 

 

[shof515]

sailing out of charleston in January, it looks this terminal is very confusing. with the state it is in, it makes sense that carnival did not renew their contract with the port

[brilliantseas]

Just now, shof515 said:

sailing out of charleston in January, it looks this terminal is very confusing. with the state it is in, it makes sense that carnival did not renew their contract with the port

 

It was the City of Charleston that opted not to renew the contract. The parking area and some of the warehouses are to be demolished in 2024 to make way for a mixed-use waterfront development with residential units and a waterfront walkway / recreation space. 

 

My understanding is that the old passenger terminal will remain, and Charleston will still allow cruise ships to visit seasonally as a port-of-call, however they no longer want to be an embarkation port. 

 

The area immediately surrounding the old watetfront warehouses and parking lot is built up with luxury apartments and condos, and they have long been pushing for redevelopment of the remainder of the old port area into something more visually pleasing. Charleston intends to use the proceeds from the redevelopment to fund expansion of the container terminal, located across the river. 

[brilliantseas]

Upon Boarding, you enter into the forward atrium and are asked to proceed to your muster station to complete the last piece of the "virtual muster," which involves a quick scan of your boarding pass (sail and sign cards aren't available until rooms are ready at 1:30) and a 60-second life vest demonstration. Once that was out of the way, we were free to head to lunch on the Lido Deck. 

 

 

 

Given that we were in one of the early boarding groups, the Lido Marketplace was not yet overly busy. Upon spotting JiJi Asian Kitchen, which doubles as a Mongolian wok station during lunch hours, we quickly jumped at the opportunity to build our own Asian noodle bowls without the long wait that you normally encounter at the Mongolian wok stations on other ships.

 

We each had a noodle bowl with various vegetables and shrimp. I opted for the "medium spicy" Thai BBQ sauce, while GF had the black bean sauce. I also grabbed a piece of foccacia bread from the self-service counter at Cucina del Capitano, which also doubles as a build-your-own Italian pasta station during lunch. I found the Thai BBQ to be a bit more than "medium" heat level, but not as hot as the szechuan sauce, which is the hottest option. 

 

We ate in the Havana Bar dining area on the aft of the ship, which sits between the JiJi and Cucina concepts. 

 

 

 

Prior to the renovation and conversion from Carnival Destiny to Carnival Sunshine, this area used to be the aft pool. I found it interesting that Carnival opted not to enclose this area and add the JiJi and Cucina concepts in the same space when they converted Triumph and Victory. I guess despite the popularity of the three-deck Serenity area with the waterfall pool, they decided the additional restaurants weren't worth the expense of moving a pool during these follow-up conversions. It leaves Carnival Sunshine unique in being the only one of the three ships in the class with an enclosed aft dining area in place of the aft pool. I actually preferred this over the layout of the Sunrise.

 

We wrapped up lunch with slices of peanut butter smores cake and creamsicle cake from the dessert station. Both were quite good; superior to the desserts that are offering in the Lido Marketplace during dinner hours. 

 

[brilliantseas]

After lunch, we took the opportunity to explore the upper decks for a bit, killing time before rooms were ready at 1:30. 

 

 

View up toward the Serenity Deck area, which actually spans three decks, and features a waterfall pool with an adults-only hot tub at the top of the waterfall. 

 

Across the river, we could see the U.S.S. Yorktown carrier museum at Patriot's Point, as well as two of the Civil War era forts at the mouth of the harbor. The lighting wasn't great for photography, but the last photo is Fort Sumter, which can be visited by ferry. 

 

 

 

[brilliantseas]

We were fortunate enough to be able to book one of the rare L-shaped balcony cabins near the aft of the ship. I believe there are only 12 of these on the ship. They wrap around a crew stairwell, which results in an odd shape, but with a balcony that is roughly twice the length of a standard balcony, while still being available at a standard balcony price. The room shares a strange little entryway area with the coveted "aft wrap" balcony cabins that are much more expensive. There is a door to this secret entryway that can be closed and locked; accessible only with a sail & sign card, however it was propped open for the duration of our cruise, posing only a minor obstacle as we turned the corner to enter our room. 

 

We never experienced any noise from the crew stairwell, and my only complaint with the shape of the room is that the bathroom door is right next to the bed, and the door opens in rather than out as it does in most cabins. 

 

Here is our little private entryway, which can be closed off from the main hallway by another door with window. Two cabins share this entryway, with ours being the one on the left. 

 

 

Here is a quick video tour of the L-shaped cabin. 

 

 

 

 

[brilliantseas]

I alluded to surprises in the title of this review. I had read other trip reports complaining of excess wear-and-tear and generally poor condition of the cabins. 

 

The actual cabin itself appeared to be well maintained. I found the linens to appear new and the mattress to be comfortable. 

 

The bathroom had a small bit of rust around the doorframe, but was otherwise in decent shape aside from the toilet. I know the ships use "grey water" for flushing toilets, but in 21 cruises, 18 of which have been on Carnival, I've never actually seen the toilets have grey/black streaks staining the bowl, or with water that occasionally had tiny pieces of what appeared to be ash floating in the water. I can only guess that the ship has been fitted with a scrubber system for the exhaust and the waste water is being used in the grey water system for deck washing and toilets rather than being pumped overboard. The water from the sink and shower ran clear. 

 

The other area of our cabin which was really showing its age was the balcony. The wooden railing was rotting in places, the faux-teak flooring discolored, the tint on the glass bubbling and peeling at the edges, and the support bar for the lounger back was missing, so the extra seat on the double length balcony (regular balconies only feature two upright chairs) could only be used in the fully flat position. There was also a bit of rust showing in the balcony area, although this is somewhat normal on cruise ships and wasn't at a level that I would consider excessive. 

 

Fortunately, all of the public areas on the ship seemed very well maintained, and the refreshed aesthetic post-conversion feels much more modern than other mid-late 90s era Farcus-designed ships. 

 

[brilliantseas]

I got just a little ahead of myself in following the timeline of our first day as we also made a quick stop at Red Frog Pub prior to rooms being available at 1:30. Those who have sailed on Carnival in the past two years are likely familiar with the "secret" happy hours at the Red Frog Pub, which included 1/2 price fishbowl drinks or sometimes pitchers if they were running low on fishbowls. 

 

I believe happy hour timing varied slightly based upon embarkation schedule, but on most ships was between noon and 2:00 PM, and only in the Red Frog. We enjoyed it on the Sunrise in the spring and made a point to hit Red Frog for happy hour on Sunshine as well. 

 

Surprise... No more happy hour, and we weren't the only ones who were disappointed. The bartender said it had been discontinued. No happy hour meant no fishbowl or pitcher for us. I opted for a ThirstyFrog Caribbean Wheat on draft, while GF had a Caribbean Tea cocktail. She enjoyed the cocktail, however my beer was flat, which was disappointing as I typically enjoy this beer that is brewed exclusively for Carnival ships. 

 

 

Another surprise about the Red Frog that we'd later find out is despite featuring a small stage for a soloist or duo near the bar, Red Frog had no live entertainment throughout the cruise. Yes, there is the Ocean Plaza stage outside, and having both stages playing at the same time may cause some challenges with spillover noise, but the result of not having entertainment in Red Frog was that it was almost completely empty aside from embarkation day. It seems as though it's only function was to serve as an overflow bar for Ocean Plaza when the band was playing and the Alchemy Bar was too busy to get a drink. What a shame, and what a waste of prime lounge space. 

[NYHartChapp]

4 hours ago, shof515 said:

sailing out of charleston in January, it looks this terminal is very confusing. with the state it is in, it makes sense that carnival did not renew their contract with the port

Quite the opposite…City of Charleston did not renew with Carnival.

[Dthomas1]

17 hours ago, shof515 said:

sailing out of charleston in January, it looks this terminal is very confusing. with the state it is in, it makes sense that carnival did not renew their contract with the port

The city did not renew Carnival's contract due to building condos etc. on the site.

[brilliantseas]

We noticed the Serenity pool had some unusual pool rules. I guess this is a part of Carnival's initiative to increase onboard spending? No more happy hour at Red Frog Pub, and drinking is mandatory in the Serenity pool. 

 

 

 

[brilliantseas]

I'm only kidding, of course. Here is a photo of the "waterfall pool" in the Serenity Deck adults-only area. We found the pool to be quite crowded, and the water appeared very cloudy throughout the cruise. We did not partake. The hot tub on deck 14, at the top of the waterfall, was less crowded, perhaps because of the August temperatures and direct exposure to the sun? 

 

 

One positive of the large, three-deck Serenity area on Carnival Sunshine was that we were always able to find loungers available, even on sea days. They may have been right next to the restroom, but they were available. 

[brilliantseas]

I did not screen capture menus on this sailing, but the menu was almost identical as previous Carnival cruises, with the exception that the menu was still featuring some of the Cucina del Capitano favorites that were added during the temporary closure of Cucina in June and July. Cucina has since re-opened, but the additional selections remain on the MDR menu, at least for now. 

 

We had your time dining, which was assigned to the aft dining room. A first for us was the fact that they were using both the upper and lower levels of the aft dining room for YTD, and you could be assigned to either level based upon when you check in. We dined on deck 4 (upper level) one night, and on deck 3 (lower level) the other two nights we chose to dine in the MDR. We skipped nights 3 and 4 and chose alternate dining options as these are our least favorite of the Carnival MDR menus. 

 

On the first night, GF had calamari, shrimp cocktail, and the vegetable lasagna. I ordered the roasted corn and poblano soup and chicken quesadilla appetizers, and the chicken parmesan from the Cucina del Capitano favorites menu for my entree. We both had tiramisu for dessert. 

 

Calamari appetizer

 

Shrimp cocktail appetizer

 

Roasted corn and poblano soup appetizer

 

Chicken quesadilla appetizer

 

Vegetable lasagna entree

 

Chicken parmesan with spaghetti entree

 

Tiramisu dessert

 

The calamari is your average frozen calamari. It was well prepared and not overcooked/rubbery. 

 

The roasted corn and poblano soup had an unusual bitter note, which I don't remember from previous cruises. I usually enjoy this soup, but it was a bit "off" on this sailing. 

 

The chicken quesadilla was exactly as I remembered it from previous cruises. New cruisers should note that the quesadillas don't have much cheese in them. Instead, they are filled with a mixture of seasoned chicken, black beans, onions, and green pepper. I personally like it, but those who are expecting cheese and chicken in a tortilla may be disappointed. 

 

GF noted that the vegetable lasagna had A LOT of vegetables stuffed inside. Again, a little lighter on the cheese and heavier on the vegetable filling. 

 

My chicken parmesan was disappointing, especially given the fact that Carnival promotes this as a signature item from Cucina del Capitano. I've had it once previously, at Cucina del Capitano on Carnival Magic, and this entree reminded me why I don't book Cucina on Carnival sailings. The chicken was pounded thin, but somehow still very tough. It is topped with what tastes like canned marinara sauce and some melted cheese, served over a bed of very dry spaghetti. I did not finish this entree. 

 

For dessert, we both had the tiramisu, which was delicious, as always. It remains one of my "top 3" Carnival desserts. 

[brilliantseas]

After dinner entertainment centered around the piano bar on our first evening, where we discovered the highlight entertainer of the cruise, Zach Daniels. He is certainly in the top two piano bar entertainers I've encountered in all of my cruises. He's high energy, engaging, and unlike most piano bar entertainers that take a 15-minute break every hour, Zach generally performs for three hours straight without letting the crowd lose the energy. As a result, the piano bar was standing room only every night. Truly a highlight of this cruise!

 

 

[brilliantseas]

 

 

[brilliantseas]

Our first day at sea started with brunch in the aft dining room. We were fortunate enough to have a table with a great view!

 

 

I started with a chia seed pudding. I'm saddened to hear that this item is disappearing from brunch menus as I write this as it is my favorite single item on the brunch menu. It is made with coconut milk and features bananas, strawberries, and coconut flake. I've tried making it at home but have not been able to get the flavor quite right. 

 

 

For an entree, I had the skillet cake and GF had the 12 hour French toast with sausage and hash browns. 

 

 

 

It was still early, but we're on vacation, so we both opted for dessert. GF ordered the chocolate cake, and I had the banana cream pie. 

 

 

 

We enjoyed our meal, although I think I would prefer a more traditional pancake breakfast as the skillet cake tends to be quite dense. GF had no complaints about the French toast. 

 

[brilliantseas]

Daytime entertainment consisted of a few rounds of trivia in Ocean Plaza, a little time in the casino, and time in the Serenity area and on the balcony. We also continued the tiny duck tradition. 

 

 

 

 

 

[kikimom]

Loving your review!  I'm on the Sunshine in 19 days (Spa balcony-5 day Bahamas) and have one of the L-shaped balcony cabins for an 8 day eastern Caribbean cruise next September.  Thanks for sharing!

[bguppies]

On 9/4/2022 at 3:30 PM, brilliantseas said:

 

 

Entry into the parking lot involves showing your boarding pass at the parking lot gate, and then proceeding to a row of tents with a few lanes for luggage drop-off. This actually went quite quickly, and it didn't take more than a few minutes to be waived into a drop-off position, where a porter quickly unloaded both of our bags without a need for us to get out of the car. From there, we proceeded to another area to pay for parking. Parking at the Port of Charleston is $21 per day, or $105 for our 5-night sailing. While not as expensive as Miami or New York, this was more expensive than most of the other ports I have sailed out of recently, especially for a deteriorating surface lot. For comparison, the Port of Baltimore was only $15 per day, or the same $105 for a 7-night cruise. 

 

After paying for parking, we were directed to follow a winding path with several employees providing direction. Those in need of handicap parking are directed to a small area near the front of the lot, where they have access to what appear to be 8-passenger golf cart shuttles. All others arriving early are waived into specific spots, beginning at the very back of the lot, around 300 yards from the "terminal." 

 

 

Why did you pay for parking if you had handicap tags?

Parking for valid handicap tags is complimentary in Charleston.

[brilliantseas]

On 9/7/2022 at 2:54 PM, bguppies said:

Why did you pay for parking if you had handicap tags?

Parking for valid handicap tags is complimentary in Charleston.

 

We do not have handicap tags or need handicap parking. Just mentioning for others. I was not aware that those with handicap tags receive free parking in Charleston? Thank you for sharing.