Dining Room and Lunch on Lido Need Improvement

Carnival Sunshine Cruise Review to Canada, New England, New York

tkldogs2015

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 2

Helpful Votes: 30

Overall rating:

2 out of 5

Verified Review

5 Night Canada/New England (New York Roundtrip)

Sail date: June 25, 2016

Ship: Carnival Sunshine

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 3141

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

The dining room wait times were extraordinarily long. Just to place the order took far too long, then the wait for the food, the dessert order, wait for the dessert, etc.

Example. The couple sitting next to us ordering very similar food at the same time we ordered were served their entrees when we were eating our dessert. It seemed to be very disorganized with too few waiters. We could never make it to the show after our dinner, so we had to go to the show first (not our preference) before eating. Some of the Lido Deck food stations would shut down early despite dozens of people waiting to get their food. Most upsetting were the lack of clean tables. Many people were clearing a dirty table themselves just so they could sit and eat--piling more dirty dishes onto a neighboring table. Bus boys were very hard to find and had a huge area to clean--far too big for them to keep up.

The entertainment was very good, and the cruise director was great. The cabin stewardess was exceptional as well. The poor waiters were pleasant and trying, but it was a mess during the evening at the dining room.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5

Food was tasty but service (wait times) were unacceptable.

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Children's Programs

3 out of 5

N/A

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Stewardess was very nice and our room was immaculate!

Ship tip

We liked the voyage to Canada--just fix the dining/lunch problems related in the comments above.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

New York, New York

5 out of 5

Saint John, New Brunswick

5 out of 5

Halifax, Nova Scotia

5 out of 5

27 Comments

lorrie1002 8 years ago

We did my time dining... 4 of us....sometimes we were at dinner for 2 hours....they were very slow...but were friendly n kind enough...i felt it was the food coming out of the kitchen we tried to eat between 6 and 630...so we had plenty of time to make the shows

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chvygrl10 8 years ago

Peaceharmonync, I've got a question that's totally off subject. What's the deal with your cute little Dachshund? Is it a service dog or did you just add pictures of it at the beach to your page?

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alanathep 8 years ago

Since going on a few cruises, it would help if the wait staff that are together spoke the same language. I mean that in the nicest way possible! If they can't understand each other, they can't effectively serve. On other ships, I've noticed they have groups of servers that speak the same language and we get such better service...something to ponder!

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peaceharmonync 8 years ago

Each dining room has their own wait staff...the dining times are scheduled early and late and there are 2 shows to accommodate your dining time....for a reason.. If you do late dining, then you must attend the early show...period...! You can select anytime dining and then arrange your entertainment around the time you choose. The dining experience is supposed to last close to 2 hours...its not fast food...there are many other options for fast..such as the Lido buffet ...pizza...etc...its all what you make off it...remember there are over 3000 guests they are trying really hard to please and for the cost factor...lighten up !!

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chvygrl10 8 years ago

There was only one MDR on the Fantasy for both. It worked out fine but it wasn't as crowded as the Sunshine & I agree with rdavis123 I believe Sunshine220 is wrong. Each dining room has their own waiters & each section has it's own assigned waiters. You are asked every night if you would like the same waiter.

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badlcho 8 years ago

Yes there usually is tweety402010.

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tweety402010 8 years ago

Isn't there a separate dining room for your time dining? On the splendor there wasm

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evelyngambino 8 years ago

What dining room where you in? We had 6pm seating in sunset and we're done by 7 every night.

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chvygrl10 8 years ago

But you are asked if you would like the same waiters & if you go at the same time you usually get the same table or the one right beside it. So you can have the same waiter if you choose to

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rdavis123 8 years ago

Think you are very wrong sunshine 220. The waiters all have assigned sections no matter whether it's assigned seating or anytime. We've cruised 14 times now and use anytime dining whenever it is available. You can request a waiter and also make reservations so you never have to wait and can get a waiter that knows your likes.

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sunshine220 8 years ago

If you get the your time dining no matter what ship you don't get your own person waiter assigned to you the waiters that wait on the scheduled dinner guests run in between when they are serving those guests to wait on the your time dinner guests which can make getting your food slower which even though convenient we decided not to do it again

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chvygrl10 8 years ago

We were there when they opened on our cruise for your time dining & never had a problem. What time were the shows you were trying to see? Our time dining opened around 5:00 so we were in line for a ticket around 4:45 & done in plenty of time to get in line half an hour early to get a good seat. Those were the earliest shows too so I can't imagine what went wrong with your dining. Did you ever say anything to anyone? Or tell them you were in a hurry because you had a show to get to? That's usually all you have to do. Or ask to sit somewhere else when you get your ticket & tell them why

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rogerellenborland 8 years ago

We always do your time dining. We get there when It first opens and are always done eating in time to make the show.

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marilee 8 years ago

We have had no problems with the 6:00 dining and with plenty of time to watch what we wanted

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momof4boys95980708 8 years ago

I not u....lol

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momof4boys95980708 8 years ago

U agree. We went last Oct and it was the same......enjoyed our cruise but defiantly not our favorite due to the same issues

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bpcharle 8 years ago

B.S. , your time dining is the way to go , been doing it 4 years and never had a problem, if u got a show to go 2 , I'd suggest getting there earlier, or , there's always the buffet on lido .

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rdavis123 8 years ago

Also something else besides asking for the same waiters. You can make a reservation for dinner. We always find a waiter we like request their section and make a reservation either at night for the next night or in the morning. Works great for us

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cooper71 8 years ago

I have to agree with badlcho and tkldogs2015 , we have been on the sunshine 2× and the dining room service is very slow. Our 2nd time on the ship we choose late seating and catched the shows 1st. But the waiters were very very nice.

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desjardins 8 years ago

I did not know that

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badlcho 8 years ago

If you do decide to try your time dining keep in mind you can ask to be seated with the same wait staff every night if you like them. Some people don't know that you can do that.

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desjardins 8 years ago

Maybe we might have to try it. We really enjoy interacting with out wait staff as well as getting to know "our neighbors" . dinner is always entertaining for us guess we will just have to see.

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badlcho 8 years ago

We always do your time dining and never had any issues except on the Sunshine. We like it because it gives you more flexibility. It's worth trying.

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desjardins 8 years ago

We have never chosen your time dining. Everyone we talk to always had to wait. I just hope it goes smooth for us. We love the shows and comedians ... Don't want to miss them due to dinner. Due to sail in August and January. Maybe they will work the kinks out.

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badlcho 8 years ago

We had your time dining and would get there before they opened for check in. We didn't have to wait for our table but OMG the service was so slow. I don't know if they are short staffed or what. Don't be scared though desjardins, the Sunshine is a beautiful ship and we did enjoy ourselves despite the slow service in the dining room.

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desjardins 8 years ago

Which dining time did you choose? Wonder if this is the norm? Planning 2 trips on the sunshine. Never sailed her before. Now I'm scared

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badlcho 8 years ago

I agree with you on the dining room on the Sunshine. The servers were super friendly but oh my goodness the service was exceptionally slow. We missed all the shows also because of the slow service. We didn't have any issues with the Lido which was nice. We enjoyed our time on the Sunshine but certainly not one of our favorite ships.

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