this was our 9th carnival cruise. Sunshine very nice.

Ok, so I have some pros and cons.  Mostly this ship was very nice.  I was so worried due to many many poor reviews.  This was our 20th anniversary so this cruise was without the children.  We always cruise with them so this was a way more relaxing cruise than the others.  New Orleans was great.  It did take a little longer to get on the ship than the other ports we have sailed out of.  But we were still on the boat by 12:30.  

Let me say that the rennovation of this ship to me is nice.  I love the soft calming colors and decor.  All the other ships are very flashy and somewhat tacky.  The Sunshine is just low key and beautiful.  Very different.  I especially loved the decor of the Lido deck restaurant.  It was so relaxing and almost looked like a cafe.  Great sea green colors. 

We decided to splurge and stay in the spa balcony room.  This was so nice for us.  No smoking on the balconies up there so we had these huge sliding doors that could be left open to hear the ocean.  Very nice.  A big con was the elevator situation to the 12th floor.  It never came up there and we had to take the stairs every time!!  If you are someone who cannot take the stairs do not book the 11th or 12th deck.  I don't think it was really worth the spa amenities.  You get one body scrub and use of the spa rooms which are a steam room, dry sauna, aromatherapy steamroom and these heated chairs.  No big deal, but the heated chairs ARE AMAZING.  We were on them every day.  Very nice!!  You get 30% off spa services which we did not use because it was already way expensive.  

The food in the dining room for the 8:15 late dinner was delicious!!  Lobster, prime rib, steaks.. shrimp.  Very tasty and we had really good service.  My husband dreamed about Guys burgers every day.  They were really really good.  I loved the burrtio bar especially the breakfast burritos.  They had so many different salsas... yum.  Also the pizza is fantastic!!!  

I didn't have the deli sandwiches.  We did manage to have asian JJ's for lunch one day before everyone came back on board from excursions.  Otherwis the line was way too long... and not worth it.  

The activites were ok. Trivia most days and the usual hairy chest etc... not our thing.  The serenity deck was beautiful!!  

As for waiting for a seat for an hour for shows.. that never happened for us.  It was smaller but we always found a decent seat there.  The shows were pretty good and the juggler was great!!!  

I really really dislike A LOT having to walk through the casino to get to the promenade.  It was like this on the Dream as well and I cannot stand the smell of smoke.  Very poor floorplan.. guess they want to lure passerbys in??  

The cruise director Jamie was really great and energetic!!  One of the best we have had.  The others on the team not great at all.  

The ports were ok.  Jamaica unless you do some kina of all inclusive is SCARY.  

Grand Caymen was classy and clean and we snorkeled in Cozumel for the first time.  Very fun.

All in all a great vacation and a wonderful 20th memory!!!