Great Cruise Director & Staff, Overpopulated & Chopped up Ship

Carnival Sunshine Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

MrsMeek1

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 45

Overall rating:

2 out of 5

8 Night Eastern Caribbean (Port Canaveral Roundtrip)

Sail date: June 06, 2015

Ship: Carnival Sunshine

Cabin type: Suite

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 9 years ago

Review summary

So, we just got back from an 8 day cruise aboard the Sunshine. I take an average of one cruise per year. This was the most . . . "unique" ship I've ever been aboard. On the positive side, the excursions for Turks & Caicos, St. Kitts and St. Maarten were all great. The cruise Director, Jaime was friendly and awesome. Now, for the unique parts, I wish I had known about beforehand. 1. The ship has apparently been refurbished & reorganized. This has caused a lot of dead ends as you try to travel around the cruise ship. You have to go up a level or two, then walk down to get to something that was located on the same level you started. Most of the time staff would tell us to go up to level 5 to traverse from one end of the ship to the other, which meant walking through the casino. So, if you have asthma or an aversion to cigarette smoke, this may be bit unhealthy or uncomfortable for you. 2. Before we cruised, I noticed the ship was smaller than one of my favorite Carnival cruise ships, but oddly had a "capacity" for way more people. Once aboard, I found out how this was made possible. Personal & public space is at a premium aboard the Sunshine. I normally stay in a Carnival suite. My suite aboard the Sunshine was the tiniest I've ever encountered. There were too many people crammed into the public spaces. For example, obtaining a seat at the comedy show required my family to stand in line for an hour because the Punchline comedy room is so small in comparison to the amount of people. Another example is the Lido and Serenity deck situation. On the first day we wanted to swim, but were disappointed to see both pools were full of more flesh than water. The next day, we got there earlier and still had to circle, hunt and stake out a comfortable deck chair. We really had to plan and time our pool time correctly to avoid the most overcrowded times. 3. With a ship being that overcrowded, you may find yourself retreating to your suite more often. Perhaps you may consider watching a movie or tv show within that comfort. However, we were often met with blank or dying channels. We were told this was because of satellite problems due to our location in the ocean. Luckily, we had a private balcony and spent most of our time out there.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

There were too many people on board. Everything was overcrowded.

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Everything was too crowded.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

The cruise director, captain and staff did a great job handling a medical emergency and consequent coast guard heliport extraction that caused us to fall behind schedule. They unlocked Internet access to major airlines to help those of us who missed flights.

Ship Quality

1 out of 5

They added more rooms. Now, my suite was too tiny. The redesign caused a lot of dead ends and a very confusing layout. Getting from one end of the ship to another was often difficult. Staff would often tell us to do up to deck 5 and go through the casino then come back down to get to another location on the same floor where you started.

Ports of call

Port Canaveral, Florida

5 out of 5

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

5 out of 5

Basseterre, St. Kitts

5 out of 5

San Juan, Puerto Rico

1 out of 5

Grand Turk Island

5 out of 5

Traveler Photos

28 Comments

mrsmeek 9 years ago

You're welcome. I hope you have a great time.

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wants2cruise 9 years ago

Thanks!

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mrsmeek 9 years ago

When you walk off the ship, you'll go down a long walk way. The water will be to your left. Keep going straight. You'll see the entrance for the water taxi, off to left near the water, after you pass the St. Maarten officials and a few stands on your left. The shops and tour taxis will be to your right. It was hands down, the best looking, best cared for beach we saw out of all four stops.

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wants2cruise 9 years ago

Where do you catch it?

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mrsmeek 9 years ago

The water taxi is a good bargain. It takes you around to the beach etc. all day (on and off) for about $4.00. It was great because many of the excursions had become redundant by the time we got to St. Maarten. So, it was a good change of pace.

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wants2cruise 9 years ago

What did you do in St. Maarten? That is the only port on this cruise we haven't been to before. Haven't decided what to do there.

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mrsmeek 9 years ago

Exactly. Carnival has always been cheaper, plus they had larger rooms and more activities. It just seems to get more crowded every time.

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wants2cruise 9 years ago

I've only been on 5, Nov will be 6. They have all been on Carnival. Seems like every time I think about trying another line, I always find the better prices on Carnival.

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mrsmeek 9 years ago

Sounds nice. Great staff can make a trip awesome. I've been researching the crowding issue and it is believed to be due to booking policies of some cruise lines. I've been loyal to Carnival & I seem to end up on RC every couple of years, but I l think I'm going branch out & try Celebrity and Norwegian again.

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wants2cruise 9 years ago

The ship is so tropical looking and beautiful. I loved the look of it. We loved the Italian Restaurant. That was the first ship we were on that had it. We enjoyed Jimmy's C side BBQ. Loved our hostess and wait staff. The ship is big and yes areas are really crowded at time, but we had a great experience. Awesome ports too!

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mrsmeek 9 years ago

I hope you aren't either. May I ask what you enjoyed about the Breeze? It's been mentioned a lot, but I've never been on that one.

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wants2cruise 9 years ago

I liked the Pride, but my favorite so far was the Breeze. We loved it so much we almost did the same exact cruise this November. We decided on the Sunshine instead. Sure hope we aren't disappointed!

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mrsmeek 9 years ago

What you say is true. We didn't have as tough of a time at the comedy club on the Pride, though. It probably depends on the crowd you end up sailing with and possibly the headliner. I enjoy all my cruises, but I think I enjoy the Pride the most.

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wants2cruise 9 years ago

It seems that the last couple cruises I have been on (Breeze, Pride) have had the same issue with the comedy clubs. Seems like they want to keep them in a smaller more intimate venue, but then they are so crowded it is almost impossible to find a seat. Especially if you have late dining which we always opt.

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jenne252 9 years ago

I will say, we had late dining on Valor, and chose it again for our Sunshine cruise, and we did not have an issue with crowding after about 530pm nor with the late comedy show. So I'm not sure if that was a fluke on Valor, or if we are considered to be "off peak" time or something with late dining

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mrsmeek 9 years ago

Thanks for letting me know about the Valor. Next time, I will pay more attention to the ship's "specs", meaning the size of the ship in relation to the number of staterooms (assigned capacity.) When I do compare the specs from my favorite ships to the ships that are more crowded, I can see the difference, now.

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jenne252 9 years ago

I have only ever been on Carnival Valor, but I think the walking up and down to get somewhere is similar. We were on a 7 night with only 1 sea day, and found it hard to get into hot tubs or pools except the day we stayed on board instead of viewing St. Lucia.

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boots9789 9 years ago

Honestly we spent most our time at the waterpark wasn't lot people back there. I thought food except guys was eh okay. The room are much tiny.

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mrsmeek 9 years ago

You are right about Guy's. The fries at Guy's Burger joint are kind of amazing and addicting.

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Jason5150 9 years ago

I agree with MrsMeek1. The ship is chopped up and the public spaces are tightly packed. That being said, I am sailing on the Sunshine again in January because the ship does have many nice updates that the "smaller" ships do not. The food selections are exemplary on this ship, particularly guys burgers and the Mexican burrito place. The pros and cons are almost equal though on this ship.

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mrsmeek 9 years ago

^kib1965^

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mrsmeek 9 years ago

We really did have a fantastic time. I always do. I have no idea why kib166 is so overly concerned with my review, though.

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kib1965 9 years ago

can't please everybody.

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sixela 9 years ago

If these were the only issues you encountered while on board, sounds like you had a fantastic time!!!

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mrsmeek 9 years ago

I'm glad that your sailing on the Sunshine had more space. Perhaps the fact that the tv's were down accounted for the extra press of humanity in the public spaces during my sailing. I am only reporting what my family experienced. Have you ever sailed on the Pride? Have you ever sailed on the Imagination? We're you aboard this particular sailing of the Sunshine? I have not experienced the same level of overcrowding on those other ships or on other cruise lines' ships in over 18 years of sailing. My family made the best of it, as well. My family always got a seat at the comedy show, as well. AFTER, we learned that getting a seat required getting there one hour before the set. The comedy club issue is a fact that the even the staff mentioned. This is not a matter of opinion. I don't think it's fair to mislead people who may honestly want to know our experiences. I don't own stock in Carnival, Royal Caribbean or Norwegian. So, I have no interest in sugar coating actually happened.

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kib1965 9 years ago

I had the same overcrowding issue on the Freedom. We didn't think that the Sunshine was any more crowded than any other ship we've been on. it's what you make of it. We always were able to find room in the comedy club or near the serenity deck.

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mrsmeek 9 years ago

I wholeheartedly disagree. I never experienced this problem to this degree on the Pride, the Imagination or on the Norwegian or Royal Caribbean ships I've been aboard.

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erikacarnes 9 years ago

We had the same issue with the pools, lounge chairs and hot tubs on the Dream and it's the one of the larger ships so I think that comes with all cruises!

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