1st Cruise....Loved it!

Carnival Sunshine Cruise Review

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 38

Overall rating:

4.7 out of 5
Carnival Sunshine

5 Night Bahamas (Charleston Roundtrip)

Sail date: November 02, 2019

Ship: Carnival Sunshine

Cabin type: Suite

Cabin number: 7182

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 4 years ago

Review summary

We loved our first cruise and can't wait to get back on another ship! And even though we had a rough start we enjoyed ourselves. It was amazing!

Embarkation

4 out of 5
Embarkation was an experience. Our boarding was delayed until later that evening due to a medical emergency on the cruise before ours. We were told not to arrive at the cruise terminal until between 7-10 pm. We went to the terminal area earlier in the day to see it because it would be dark when we were told to arrive and since we had some time to kill. Cars were all over the streets with people standing outside waiting because of the delay. We drove around town a bit and then returned to our hotel to wait for our shuttle. We arrived at the terminal shortly before 7 and it was a nightmare. It seemed like nobody knew what they were supposed to do. We got in line only to be told after a few minutes we were in the wrong line. That line was for passengers debarking the ship and making their way to their cars. So we left the line and walked the other direction but continued to see more people line up in the previous line. We turned around and came back and were told that it was the correct line. We decided to carry on all of our luggage so we could unpack as soon as we got to our cabin. Once we made it into the first building everything went rather quickly since we were priority. We made it onto one of the first shuttles to the ship and were one of the first to board. Muster drill was cold and a little hectic, but that was to be expected. We had no idea when sail away would actually be and I think most of us were somewhere on lido eating when it took place. So we missed out on that. Too dark to see much anyway. Even with the slow start everything turned out ok and we were just excited to be on our first cruise!

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Guy's Burger Joint

5 out of 5

Love these burgers and fries. Be advised they serve them plain and you have to go to the topping bar to fix it up. I was under the impression you could request the ringer and that's what you would be served, but that was not the case.

Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse

5 out of 5

Food was amazing!

Lido Marketplace

3 out of 5

Didn't care much for the buffet food. Only tried a few desserts that really were not that great and breakfast. The sea day brunch was much better. The ice cream was always melted and had to be in a bowl.

BlueIguana Cantina

5 out of 5

Tacos were delicious and the burritos are huge. I didn't get to try a bowl, but they looked amazing.

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Carnival Waterworks

3 out of 5

Closed for cleaning the one day we went. Didn't have a chance to get back so can't give it a fair rating. I gave it 3 stars because the slides looked fun!

Serenity Pool

5 out of 5

Loved it!

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5
Bed was comfortable, cabin was very roomy, and clean. Loved the extra dressing area. The air didn't seem to work well, it stayed pretty warm. Had one issue with the water in the shower completely shutting off while I was in there. It did return within 5-10 minutes, but it felt like an eternity. I don't know if that was a ship issue or just our cabin. All in all we loved having a suite!

Ship tip

Enjoy yourself, you're on a cruise! Things can and do go wrong, but make the best of it and have fun.

Ports of call

Charleston, South Carolina

5 out of 5
Charleston is beautiful, but we spent more time in Mount Pleasant since that is where we booked our hotel.

Nassau, Bahamas

5 out of 5
We did not do an excursion since this was our first visit to Nassau. We walked around the shops awhile and that was basically it. We were not impressed by what we saw since we stayed so close to the port. If we ever went back I would either book an excursion or stay on the ship.

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (Private Island)

5 out of 5
Most beautiful place I have ever seen! Water is so clear and the sand is like flour. My husband and I did the water bikes and it was fun, but oh so exhausting. The included lunch was nice. They have several food lines set up that moved rather quickly, but the drink station was a mess. It took some time to make it through that line.

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
We did self assist and chose to wait until a little later to debark the ship. We ate a leisurely breakfast and hung around and talked to a few passengers before heading down. The line was long, but the process went rather quickly.
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