Carnival Sunshine - and some specific questions

[mantle]

Looking for comments on Carnival Sunshine

Some background- Senior couple who cruised last 2 years in Oct/Nov on Princess cruise line and last year on Legend. Realize Sunshine hold about 1.000 more people than Legend. Cruise is August 14th and school has not yet started for many - we have 3 Interior rooms on deck 6. In our room is 18 yr old granddaughter and other 2 rooms are 2 of our children families and each has minor - 6yr old and 10 yr old. So in total - 9 of us. We are aware of the camps for younger children and hopefully my children utilize it 

We have anytime dining and all rooms/people linked together

Looks like ship may be sold out as that 5 night cruise no longer listed

 

Some specific questions

Our arrival time for parking lot is 9;30-10. Surprise we got that early. About how long till we get on boat (1 Hr from getting into parking lot?) I read that Charleston takes much longer than most ports.

We also want to carry our luggage off the ship - what time does that start and aprox what time were you off the ship and into your car?

How about the crowds in the family pool? Will loungers be available day after 9AM will and shows. Lot of chair hogs out in AM? Realize we probably wont get many together

Do you think my 18 yr old granddaughter can use serenity area or do they check ages 

How is the upgrade of wi-fi to Starlink. I will have Premium wifi and will want to use a computer at least 1 day - Are there public computers - where are they? (Princess had a room full whereas Legend had few in the hall way).. 

Is casino smoking or no smoking. On the Legend, at night my wife had to wait for someone to get up. Can she expect that on the Sunshine

Lastly, how early do you need to get on line for the shows - On the Legend, they had to close doors/stop entry due to capacity for the comedy shows (they were in a smaller area - not in theater where production shows were). So they repeat the production shows each night (days 7 and 9) or is there just 1 show a night

 

Lastly - Realize it depends on weather but generally speaking did you need a light jacket or sweater at night - windy/chilly?

 

Any comments about your experience (likes and dislikes especially cruising in summer is greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

   

 

[audcc77]

You won’t need jackets as it’s going to be hot.  I bring a sweatshirt because sometimes the AC is freezing inside the comedy show.  
 

Unless you have early or late seating, it’s unlikely 9 people can sit together. I would try to change to early dining or be waitlisted. 
 

The casino has a nonsmoking side. There are plenty of slots unless you want a specific one all the time.  
 

If you want a front row seat for comedy or theater shows, show up 30 minutes prior to doors opening.  
 

Serenity is for over 21 but if your grand daughter looks over 21 and is quiet then nobody will notice.  They don’t check. 
 

Charleston has a strange boarding system.  You park, walk to the building, get checked in, sit in seats, then ride a bus across the parking lot to the terminal.  I’d show up to the parking gate at 9:15. What time you get on board depends on how fast the previous people get off the ship.  
 

premium Wi-Fi works pretty well.  I don’t know about starlink. 

[ninjacat123]

@mantle you didn't ask this but if your group is into Asian food, book a dinner at JiJi's!  So delicious and worth the $18/person upcharge in my opinion.  Cucina del Capitano is great as well ($18/person) but JiJi's is AWESOME! Bonsai Sushi is a nice break from the MDR and not too pricey.

Now I'm hungry😉 Have a great cruise!

Here is my review from my May 8-13 2023 cruise for my mom's bday with my two daughters.

 

Edited July 31, 2023 by ninjacat123
included my review

[mz-s]

3 hours ago, mantle said:

Looking for comments on Carnival Sunshine

Some background- Senior couple who cruised last 2 years in Oct/Nov on Princess cruise line and last year on Legend. Realize Sunshine hold about 1.000 more people than Legend. Cruise is August 14th and school has not yet started for many - we have 3 Interior rooms on deck 6. In our room is 18 yr old granddaughter and other 2 rooms are 2 of our children families and each has minor - 6yr old and 10 yr old. So in total - 9 of us. We are aware of the camps for younger children and hopefully my children utilize it 

We have anytime dining and all rooms/people linked together

Looks like ship may be sold out as that 5 night cruise no longer listed

 

Some specific questions

Our arrival time for parking lot is 9;30-10. Surprise we got that early. About how long till we get on boat (1 Hr from getting into parking lot?) I read that Charleston takes much longer than most ports.

We also want to carry our luggage off the ship - what time does that start and aprox what time were you off the ship and into your car?

How about the crowds in the family pool? Will loungers be available day after 9AM will and shows. Lot of chair hogs out in AM? Realize we probably wont get many together

Do you think my 18 yr old granddaughter can use serenity area or do they check ages 

How is the upgrade of wi-fi to Starlink. I will have Premium wifi and will want to use a computer at least 1 day - Are there public computers - where are they? (Princess had a room full whereas Legend had few in the hall way).. 

Is casino smoking or no smoking. On the Legend, at night my wife had to wait for someone to get up. Can she expect that on the Sunshine

Lastly, how early do you need to get on line for the shows - On the Legend, they had to close doors/stop entry due to capacity for the comedy shows (they were in a smaller area - not in theater where production shows were). So they repeat the production shows each night (days 7 and 9) or is there just 1 show a night

 

Lastly - Realize it depends on weather but generally speaking did you need a light jacket or sweater at night - windy/chilly?

 

Any comments about your experience (likes and dislikes especially cruising in summer is greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

   

 

 

 

Most of this is fleet-wide stuff. The only thing you're asking that is actually "specific" to Sunshine is the first question. On an average day they start boarding at around 10:30-11, but so many things can affect that I wouldn't recommend you planning around it. 

 

On debarkation day, I am platinum so get priority debarkation. I am usually on I-26 by 7AM. Don't worry, the wait isn't much longer if you don't get priority.

 

The rest applies to every other ship in the fleet and is the same as every other ship for the most part.

Edited July 31, 2023 by mz-s

[HMC RET]

Might be a silly question but do you have to reserve a checkin for the parking lot too or is it based off of your check in. If so, how do you do this

[mz-s]

23 minutes ago, HMC RET said:

Might be a silly question but do you have to reserve a checkin for the parking lot too or is it based off of your check in. If so, how do you do this

 

Your port arrival appointment that you chose when you did online checkin is all you need to worry about. Usually when parking first opens, the traffic flow workers turn away folks who are obscenely early. But enforcement of that varies from week to week. Generally the lines at Charleston are pretty good these days, they were bad years ago but they've made great gains.

 

I believe you can prepay for parking on the SC Ports website via credit card, or pay when you arrive at the pier on embarkation day. If you happen to have a handicap placard or plate, parking is free per SC law.

[ninjacat123]

At Charleston I have found that the parking lot doesn't open up till 10am.  Maybe that has changed...

[Thenagers]

31 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

At Charleston I have found that the parking lot doesn't open up till 10am.  Maybe that has changed...

I have read that in recent reviews. I will be on the August 10-14 sailing with a 9:30 appointment so I will report back. I am not planning on getting there until right at 9:30. If like last year, I don’t want to spend an hour waiting in the building in those hard chairs!

[dbrucern]

Off Sunshine recently and will also be on the 14th cruise, you will line up on the street before they allow you in the parking lot which opened at 10am for us. In Charleston the streets are narrow so just be prepared. You can not prepay parking and they do not take cash. Charleston will be hot and humid but I do bring a light sweater for the Casino which can be cool at times. 

[ninjacat123]

2 minutes ago, dbrucern said:

Off Sunshine recently and will also be on the 14th cruise, you will line up on the street before they allow you in the parking lot which opened at 10am for us. In Charleston the streets are narrow so just be prepared. You can not prepay parking and they do not take cash. Charleston will be hot and humid but I do bring a light sweater for the Casino which can be cool at times. 

True!  The first time DH and I cruised on Sunshine, we could not get a straight answer from police, parking staff, etc. to find the entrance to the parking lot.  Eventually figured out it was the crazy long line along the fenced parking lot and we were allowed in enter at 10am. You line up on Washington Street then eventually turn on Laurens Street to the parking lot entrance.  Good luck!

[foreverafter5804]

Some specific questions

Our arrival time for parking lot is 9;30-10. Surprise we got that early. About how long till we get on boat (1 Hr from getting into parking lot?) It really depends on when they start to board. There is usually a rush at the very beginning, then areound 1030 you drive right in and are on the ship in less than 45 minutes I read that Charleston takes much longer than most ports. This is not true...we live in Charleston and have been on over 20 cruises from there. Years ago it was a cluster, but they have a great process in place now

We also want to carry our luggage off the ship - what time does that start and aprox what time were you off the ship and into your car? We carry ours off and are back in our car by 0730

How about the crowds in the family pool? Usually really crowded Will loungers be available day after 9AM depends on where you want to sit, there will be loungers available, just not by the pool as those tend to fill up quickly will and shows. Lot of chair hogs out in AM? Absolutly, there are many peopole who " save chairs" if you mention something to a Carnival employee they will enforce their 45 minute rule. Realize we probably wont get many together

Do you think my 18 yr old granddaughter can use serenity area or do they check ages I have never seen them check ages, but the age is 21

How is the upgrade of wi-fi to Starlink We haven't been on The Sunshine since the internet upgrade. I will have Premium wifi and will want to use a computer at least 1 day - Are there public computers - where are they?  I have never had to use a computer so I can't answer this question.(Princess had a room full whereas Legend had few in the hall way).. 

Is casino smoking or no smoking Casino is Smoking and NON...there is a NON_Smoking side, unfortunately this isn't enforced. The entire place is smokey. On the Legend, at night my wife had to wait for someone to get up The casino can get pretty crowded at night. Can she expect that on the Sunshine

Lastly, how early do you need to get on line for the shows This is the one downfall of the beautiful Sunshine...the auditorium in small. You will need to get there early to get a seat. The comedy shows are even smaller so make sure you get in line early - On the Legend, they had to close doors/stop entry due to capacity for the comedy shows (they were in a smaller area - not in theater where production shows were). So they repeat the production shows each night (days 7 and 9) or is there just 1 show a night

 

Lastly - Realize it depends on weather but generally speaking did you need a light jacket or sweater at night - windy/chilly? I always bring a light sweater, but have never really needed it on a Summer Cruise

 

Any comments about your experience (likes and dislikes especially cruising in summer is greatly appreciated. Thanks We live in Charleston and have been on over 20 cruises from here, Including Victory, Fantasy, Estasy and several on Sunshine. Sunshine is our favorite ship and we think Charleston is an easy port to navigate. 

[mantle]

Thanks for taking the time to respond. The responses were very helpful

Less than 2 weeks till cruise

[momin05]

Just got off Sunshine yesterday. I will add a few thoughts:

 

We had 12 people, had anytime dining, and never had a problem with seating. They always seated us at a table for all 12 and we never waited more than 5 minutes for our table to be ready. The HUB works great for this. We usually ate early but the last night it was after 7pm and it still was not a problem getting a table for 12. 
 

ocean plaza and red frog pub were cold. Everywhere else was fine. 
 

Boarding: we had 930 arrival appt but couldn’t manage to get there that early. On previous cruises, I have gotten there before they opened the parking and I will say it is just so frustrating to sit there. This time, we arrived at 10:20, drove right up to the pay area (no line of cars at all), parked, walked into the check-in warehouse (again no line at all).  They had already called all priority to board so we got checked in and walked right onto the shuttle bus.  (Ok, this part would have been true if we were by ourselves, but our family members had trouble with their boarding pass printouts so their check in took a while. While we were waiting on them, they started boarding the non-priority groups.) The non-priority people were waiting in chairs to be called. When we got to security, there were maybe 8 people in line. It was our best experience ever in Charleston. We turned off of Laurens street at 10:20 and we’re on board at 11 (would have been sooner if not for boarding pass issue). I wouldn’t show up early and wait in that line to park again. Just too frustrating. Honestly, I don’t know how they do it. We pulled out of the parking lot yesterday at 9:06 and we were on the very front end of the luggage groups. All the luggage was still in the warehouse when we left…still a lot of people to disembark. And people were already waiting to park.  Ugh…

 

Internet was so-so.  In most parts of the ship, it was pretty good…both the hub app and the value internet. We couldn’t get it in our cabin down on deck 1. Had to stand in the hall or at least close to the door for it to work. 
 

I am happy to answer other questions if you have them, while it is fresh on my mind.