Excellent Cruise!
Carnival Sunshine Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern
8 Night Eastern Caribbean (Port Canaveral Roundtrip)
Sail date: December 19, 2014
Ship: Carnival Sunshine
Cabin type: Inside
Cabin number: 9204
Traveled as: Family (older children)
Reviewed: 9 years ago
Review summary
This was our 4th Carnival cruise, and it was fantastic! The embarkation process, which I had dreaded, went incredibly smoothly. From the time we walked into the terminal to the time we were on board was no more than 15 minutes. (We arrived to the terminal at about 11:45.) I couldn't believe it! (Debarkation was another story, as there were 5 ships in port trying to unload and reload, but that wasn't Carnival's fault. We waited over an hour for our prepaid shuttle, and we weren't the only ones, and it wasnt just the company we were using, TraveLynx. Lots of people were waiting and complaining, and they were using different companies. Just be prepared. Do your research ahead of time, and if there will be multiple ships arriving and departing when you return, get off the ship as early as possible.) When we arrived to our room, our cabin steward met us, shook our hands and asked for our names (4 of us). For the duration of the cruise, he called each of us by name. The same thing happened with our dining room staff. They called us by name, too. The cruise director on this ship is Jaime Dee, and she is the best cruise director I've seen yet-- fantastic personality, excellent communication skills, and a positive, fun entertainer. We attended a service on Christmas morning, which she co-hosted with another of the crew, and she did an outstanding job, which was impressive because she is Jewish (which we had discovered earlier in the cruise through a personal conversation). Because of Jaime's role in the service, I was thinking what a happier place this world would be if we could all respect one another's beliefs. Anyway, that's a side note, but I found it to be personally meaningful. For the first time, we stayed on the lido deck. It was not noisy in the room, but I wouldn't recommend the last room on the hall (on the pool end) because the door to the pool is always opening and that's where the noise originates. The entertainment was great as well. The nightly shows were well done with fantastic choreography. They warned that one of the shows was rated PG13 due to the costumes (I'd say due to some of the dance moves, too), but we loved it, and so did our teenage kids. It was not my favorite ship, due to the layout (e.g., all seats in the comedy club can't see the stage so there are tv screens, which doesn't make since to go watch a live comedy show but then have to see it on a screen). Also, there were several restaurants that cost extra (e.g., the sushi bar costs on this ship, but it didn't cost on the last ship, the Fantasy, and there was an Asian restaurant that cost extra); however, the ship was clean and well maintained, and we had a marvelous holiday trip!Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Entertainment
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
Check out the karaoke because it's a live band accompanying the singers, and even when someone can't sing, the band is great and worth hearing!