Had fun but ship was way too crowded. Only went because of the ports

Item: Carnival Sunshine
Rating: 3
Author: chvygrl10

Carnival Sunshine Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

chvygrl10

Contributor Level: Cruise Director

Cruises: 2-3 cruises

Reviews: 2

Helpful Votes: 19

Overall rating:

3 out of 5

10 Night Eastern Caribbean Carnival Journeys (Charleston Roundtrip)

Sail date: May 30, 2016

Ship: Carnival Sunshine

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 8276

Traveled as: Singles/Friends

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

My favorite part were the ports. St Kitts & San Juan were my 2 favorite favorite but they were all great. Also loved Antigua. We had a balcony cabin & it had a small fridge which was nice. The main dining room food was always good but I wasn't impressed with the buffet. I loved the Blue Iguana Cantina & the Pasta Bar. For some reason mine & my mom's pictures kept getting switched on our sign & sail cards & it caused some problems. When we were in St Kitts I had been on & off the ship several times & the last time I left my mom to do some more shopping & went back to the room. Somehow the cards were both showing my mom's picture & it took me 45 minutes to get on the ship. No one could explain why this was happening. We also heard other people having problems with their accounts too. All in all the ports were the best part of the trip. I wouldn't go back on the Sunshine again but I don't regret taking the cruise at all. It was just too crowded for me since they added more cabins, the buffet wasn't really that great & there were leaks up & down deck 8 & I believe 7 too. I did like the serenity deck but if you didn't get there by 7:30 or 8 you wouldn't get a chair by the pool with the waterfall. That's with any ship though. We just found other places to lay out & look out over the ocean. That was better anyway. The good outweighed the bad but I did want to give a fair review

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Everything was good except the buffet

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

There were a lot we missed simply because I have Fibromyalgia & had to take a nap sometimes. So I can't really say it applies.

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Loved the 70s/80s show in the Liquid Lounge. The 50s show was good too

Children's Programs

Doesn't apply

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Katrina from the USA at guest services was wonderful & Jennifer from the Philippines, our steward on Deck 8 for Cabin 8276 was awesome. Katrina was so great we gave her a tip too.

Ship Quality

1 out of 5

I personally didn't care for the ship design. Adding more cabins wasn't a good idea. Our cabin was clean as was most of the ship but there were leaks all up & down the hall on deck 8. They had industrial dryers at the aft & also the very forward trying to dry the soaked carpet on both deck 8 & also 7 when I walked down to it to get to a deck to take some good pictures. It seemed to be from a room the housekeeping staff was going in & out of a lot but I couldn't tell what was in there. Our sprinkler system on deck 8 leaked but they worked on it for 2 days & got it fixed

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Our cabin was wonderful. It even had a small fridge. The balcony was wonderful. The room was always clean & Jennifer our steward was awesome. I think we ended up giving her $40 or $50 in tips throughout the week.

Ship tip

If you do Anytime Dining & don't want to go to through the Casino head toward the Aft of the ship on whatever deck you're on. Go to deck 5 from there & get your ticket then back down to 3. I believe it's the last bank of elevators as you head to the back. We never had to wait but we always ate early

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