Is Sunshine always so dirty?

[Momto3girlsintheCarolinas]

We just got back from a five-day on Sunshine. This was only our second Carnival cruise, but we have cruised other lines.  I do not remember the first cruise (On Paradise) being so dirty.  Every window was filthy.  The floors were sticky.  Here were fixtures and furniture that looked like it hadn't been cleaned in months.

 

Overall, we loved the cruise.  It was better than we expected.  We're considering doing the Sunshiine again, but is it always this dirty?  Or was this an unusual thing?

[Iamthesea]

Thank you for the report.  Doesn't sound too encouraging to me.   I take my daughters and grandchildren on the Sunshine next March. 🤔  How was the behavior with other passengers?  I have watched several questionable videos.  

[trvlgirlmq]

I just sailed on Sunshine in September. My 2nd time on her. Awful food, the worst of any cruise I have ever been on. There is a window on Lido across from the burrito place that has 3 large cracks that are very noticeable. We found a cockroach in our bathroom and another in the bathroom on Lifo beside Blue Iguana. I have never seen a bug in a cruise ship. That ship is a disgrace and we cancelled our annual fall trip for 2024. I put all of this in my post cruise survey.

[mz-s]

1 hour ago, Momto3girlsintheCarolinas said:

We just got back from a five-day on Sunshine. This was only our second Carnival cruise, but we have cruised other lines.  I do not remember the first cruise (On Paradise) being so dirty.  Every window was filthy.  The floors were sticky.  Here were fixtures and furniture that looked like it hadn't been cleaned in months.

 

Overall, we loved the cruise.  It was better than we expected.  We're considering doing the Sunshiine again, but is it always this dirty?  Or was this an unusual thing?

 

Carnival is not known for the maintenance of their ships. Rather they're known for how rusty and worn they often appear in port, alongside ships from other lines.

 

The Sunshine is the oldest ship in their fleet. They renovated it in 2013 but haven't really touched it since.

[1stresponder2086]

1 hour ago, Iamthesea said:

Thank you for the report.  Doesn't sound too encouraging to me.   I take my daughters and grandchildren on the Sunshine next March. 🤔  How was the behavior with other passengers?  I have watched several questionable videos.  

Passenger behavior can vary week to week

[pcvtmom]

I've been on the Sunshine many times, and I've never noticed it being dirty.  It's one of my family's favorite ships in the fleet.  It has the best Serenity area!  Perhaps it is due for an update, since we've not been on it since a few weeks before everything shut down for Covid.

[haehaehaley]

I got married on the Sunshine in April. It wasn’t dirty at all then. I remained in my wedding dress the entire embarkation day and the bottom of my dress had no sign of dirt at all. I also wore white tennis shoes after the ceremony under my dress and the bottoms were perfectly white even after walking around the ship all day. 

Edited October 16, 2023 by haehaehaley

[Destiny0315]

2 hours ago, trvlgirlmq said:

There is a window on Lido across from the burrito place that has 3 large cracks that are very noticeable.

Just got off the Venezia (2019 ship) and there was a 2ft long crack in a large aft window in the main dining room, so the age of the ship is not the problem in that case. 

[Momto3girlsintheCarolinas]

3 hours ago, Iamthesea said:

  How was the behavior with other passengers?  I have watched several questionable videos.  

It was no better or worse than any other cruise we have been on.  It was October, so that might have helped.

[Momto3girlsintheCarolinas]

2 hours ago, trvlgirlmq said:

Awful food, the worst of any cruise I have ever been on. 

The menu changes next week, but I agree  The food was hit or miss.  I have never sent back a meal, but we had to order something else a couple of times because the meal was not edible.  Some of the food was outstanding.  But the menu was very limited and repetitive.  I'll be interested in what others say about the new menu.

[Momto3girlsintheCarolinas]

2 hours ago, trvlgirlmq said:

We found a cockroach in our bathroom and another in the bathroom on Lifo beside Blue Iguana. I have never seen a bug in a cruise ship.

 

Yep.  I think I'm out.  Bugs are one of the lines I won't cross.  Ew.

[Iamthesea]

Thanks all!  I'd love to cancel the cruise and try to find something else, but airfare would have a play in any other cruise.  This cruise is drivable.  Also, I would lose the $250 deposit if we cancelled. 

[kikimom]

I believe the ship is due to go to dry dock for refreshing next month.  I was on it last month and thought it was definitely time for that, but did not find it dirty - just well-worn.

 

 

[mz-s]

Sunshine's last dry dock was cut a little short due to her needing to be rushed back into service to take over for Horizon. Recall this was back when Horizon had the propulsion issue and had to have an emergency dry dock for repairs.

 

So that may have explained why in early 2022 she had splintered deck railings, dirty windows, and worn carpet - they didn't have time to get to those things during her dry dock. But I don't see how anybody could excuse them now. Carnival's ships are generally in port every other day, give or take, there are plenty of opportunities to replace worn carpet or clean dirty exteriors.

[cynt]

Bugs no excuse! 

 

Stop cruising on old ships or stop complaining about old ships being old. I always tell 1st time cruisers and picky people to book the shiniest newest ship available. Cheap isn't always good.  I have a home port 4.5 hrs from my home but I still fly to FL to get on the latest and the greatest. Thank goodness they just built a new terminal so now we get the larger ships in Galveston. 

 

My husband is fairly new to cruising. He wants to go on an old ship. I told just told him No. 1. I don't want to hear his mouth. 2. I don't want him to hear my mouth. LOL!!! 

[mz-s]

21 minutes ago, cynt said:

Bugs no excuse! 

 

Stop cruising on old ships or stop complaining about old ships being old. I always tell 1st time cruisers and picky people to book the shiniest newest ship available. Cheap isn't always good.  I have a home port 4.5 hrs from my home but I still fly to FL to get on the latest and the greatest. Thank goodness they just built a new terminal so now we get the larger ships in Galveston. 

 

My husband is fairly new to cruising. He wants to go on an old ship. I told just told him No. 1. I don't want to hear his mouth. 2. I don't want him to hear my mouth. LOL!!! 

 

A ship being old should mean things like it's smaller, the hallways are more narrow, things like that. It shouldn't mean you have to worry about bugs or dirty/sticky floors. Carnival should have better standards than that. Sadly - they often don't.

[Iamthesea]

1 hour ago, cynt said:

Bugs no excuse! 

 

Stop cruising on old ships or stop complaining about old ships being old. I always tell 1st time cruisers and picky people to book the shiniest newest ship available. Cheap isn't always good. 

The Carnival Sunshine is not cheap!   It's prices are at a premium because of the home port of Charleston.  Pricing on other Carnival cruises, plus some of the better lines (we are HAL and Celebrity people) are less expensive.  We could have flown to Florida, but the airfare for 5 people is ridiculous!  We picked the Sunshine because it is a 5 hour drive from us,  plus we love Charleston!  Just back from a two week stay at a nearby beach.

[momin05]

6 hours ago, Momto3girlsintheCarolinas said:

The menu changes next week, but I agree  The food was hit or miss.  I have never sent back a meal, but we had to order something else a couple of times because the meal was not edible.  Some of the food was outstanding.  But the menu was very limited and repetitive.  I'll be interested in what others say about the new menu.

We sail on Thursday…first sailing with the new menus. I will report back on that. I have a feeling they may be working through some kinks. But fingers crossed…

 

We sailed Sunshine in July and I didn’t necessarily notice any cleanliness issues. I always wear slippers in the room…I don’t care what any ship or hotel does, you can’t expect carpets as clean as your house.  Common areas were fine.  We had bad experiences with rowdy kids/teens. I had read many people say that on here but had never experienced it before. Hoping that won’t be an issue in October. It is college fall break so hoping we aren’t dealing with an abundance of drunken college kids. 

[Iamthesea]

Are you sailing on the Sunshine next week, or another Carnival ship?

 

Yikes, the college crowd.  Looking forward to a report when you return.

[live.love.cruise]

13 hours ago, Momto3girlsintheCarolinas said:

We just got back from a five-day on Sunshine. This was only our second Carnival cruise, but we have cruised other lines.  I do not remember the first cruise (On Paradise) being so dirty.  Every window was filthy.  The floors were sticky.  Here were fixtures and furniture that looked like it hadn't been cleaned in months.

 

Overall, we loved the cruise.  It was better than we expected.  We're considering doing the Sunshiine again, but is it always this dirty?  Or was this an unusual thing?

Yes, it was in the same condition when we sailed for New Years earlier this year. We stayed in a "suite" that was old/ worn and the curtains were so dusty as if no one had cleaned or stayed in the cabin for years lol. This was my least favorite ship/cruise. It wasn't even worth the casino rate we paid. A couple months later we sailed another "older" ship (Pride) and it was completely different. The ship was very clean , well maintained, and the staff seemed happy. I can't say the same about the Sunshine. There's enough ships out there to try another one. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Stick93]

She has been crying for years - the Sunshined ships are in my opinion the worst in the fleet with the Sunshine being the best one they did - but they are old, too many people and poorly kept up. Carnivals product is the same on every ship I have been on. Pick a different ship but the last time I was on the magic (which is much younger and a better class ship) it was also not kept up too well. 

[jsglow]

1 hour ago, Stick93 said:

She has been crying for years - the Sunshined ships are in my opinion the worst in the fleet with the Sunshine being the best one they did - but they are old, too many people and poorly kept up. Carnivals product is the same on every ship I have been on. Pick a different ship but the last time I was on the magic (which is much younger and a better class ship) it was also not kept up too well. 

I've been on all three Sunshine class ships and like them a great deal, especially for a shorter cruise. Admittedly, it has been a few years for Sunshine herself so I can't comment on her current condition.

[Iamthesea]

15 hours ago, kikimom said:

I believe the ship is due to go to dry dock for refreshing next month.  I was on it last month and thought it was definitely time for that, but did not find it dirty - just well-worn.

 

 

Could you point to where you have seen this?  I cannot find anything. All I see is the following:

Drydock: Carnival Sunshine – January 4, 2025 – February 15, 2025

[kikimom]

29 minutes ago, Iamthesea said:

Could you point to where you have seen this?  I cannot find anything. All I see is the following:

Drydock: Carnival Sunshine – January 4, 2025 – February 15, 2025

I don't remember exactly where I saw it, but it likely was in a comment on a thread here.

[mz-s]

Sunshine isn't going in for a dry dock until 2025 according to goccl, Carnival's travel agent info website. This is just after her stint at Charleston and just before she begins homeport operations in Norfolk. It's a rather long dry dock as well, hopefully she'll be getting some MUCH needed TLC.

 

https://help.goccl.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1565/~/carnival-sunshine-(sh)-fact-sheet