worst cruise I have ever been on with Carnival

Item: Carnival Sunshine
Rating: 1
Author: larryjohn51

Carnival Sunshine Cruise Review to Caribbean - Southern

larryjohn51

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 10

Overall rating:

1 out of 5

8 Night Southern Caribbean (Port Canaveral Roundtrip)

Sail date: April 28, 2017

Ship: Carnival Sunshine

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: 1469

Traveled as: Singles/Friends

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

The cruise was fair, very disappointed about the Carnival Cruise lines Itinerary. First stop was May 1, Aruba the port we most wanted to go to and was looking forward to and it was CLOSED due to a holiday. Spent a total of 1 hr. wandering around to see if there was anything to do. Nothing. Other ports were good. The ship was just ok. Expected better seeing it was redone and renamed but was just ok. Kids, oh boy there was so many kids and majority of then were unruly and not teens, small kids. Screaming and running all over the Lido deck and in the lido pool. Food in the Market Place was cold most of the time, Breakfast for sure every morning. Serenity deck was nice but seems Carnival put it in the most windiest place on this ship. Dining room was fine, food was fine.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5

Entertainment

1 out of 5

Some shows were cancelled movies were ok

Children's Programs

3 out of 5

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

fair

Ship tip

Guys Burgers Rock, Cruise on another ship.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Port Canaveral, Florida

3 out of 5

Oranjestad, Aruba

1 out of 5

Willemstad, Curacao

3 out of 5

Grand Turk Island

3 out of 5

14 Comments

dmbdriver1 7 years ago

having one bad port is not the cruise line's fault but cold food is and my wife and me used that cruise line once and had the same thing with the food no matter where we ate. and entertainment well I have better at my high school then what was that ship. but you do sometimes get what you pay for.

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sigrom 7 years ago

Been on this ship 3 times & loved it! No issues with anything! Going again next spring.

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Lbkladybug 7 years ago

I was on the Sunshine twice and love it!!!

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tayoung 7 years ago

I was worried BEFORE the cruise that everything would be closed but it ended up being my favorite cruise to date! I loved the ship, I loved our excursions and I loved Canada more than I thought I would. On vacation I don't sweat the small stuff ð

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tdukes77 7 years ago

yes when folks complain of kids is sad true kids need to be respectful but they are also on vacation if you go to a beach you dont complain that kids are running around a beach you move to a spot thats more quiet. The point im making is if you dont like kids find vacations that dont include them and goodluck. carnival is the fun ship. On my experience the kids clubs offer a scavenger hunt and the kids run around in groups and search the ship for items its a part of the vacation. I had one of my best cruises on sunshine last thanksgiving. I met alot of fun families and have no regrets. cant wait till next summer till i go on the vista!

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KDees 7 years ago

Key is researching BEFORE booking....or if your limited to travel on certain dates then "roll with the punches"

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yahtn 7 years ago

Agreed twangster, it sounds like they missed an opportunity to have a unique and memorable time in Aruba. I'm sure there was a festival or some sort of public event they could have participated in. A two minute web search shows it was Labor Day, no surprise everything was closed.

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tayoung 7 years ago

Good point twangster. However the cruise lines deal with these ports all the time and I think it would be helpful if they put a small notation with that particular cruise that it is a holiday so that we know what we need to research! You can't compare an airline flight to a cruise because the cruise IS your vacation which many choose by destination! I don't expect them to be responsible for my experience at port but a heads up about holidays would be nice. Not everyone has time to read everything there is to know about that country before booking. I did do the research before my cruise and that is how I realized it was a holiday. Luckily my experience in Canada on Thanksgiving was not affected. Any shops that were along our excursion stayed open. But until that happened I never even gave the idea it could happen a thought.

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KDees 7 years ago

OMG i was just about to respond but twangster you said it all! I always do my own research prior to a vacation. I love when people expect you to live your life and take responsibility for theirs too....smh

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twangster 7 years ago

I always find it very interesting when people have the expectations that the cruise line is responsible for their experience in a foreign country. If you take a flight to France on July 14 should the airline be required to tell you that is Bastille Day? In America we force our workforce to work on national and religious holidays. Other countries respect their culture and traditions and the workforce can take time to participate in them, leaving things like stores closed. Who has it right and who has it wrong? Perhaps if you had researched your trip you could have found a way to participate in their special day and the culture of the country you visited.

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tayoung 7 years ago

I disagree! My husband and I don't party and drink and love Carnival. Yes a lot of that goes on but it's not just Carnival, you can't tell me other cruise lines don't offer drink packages! Carnival has a lot of things for kids of all ages and more affordable for families which is why it can get so crazy. But we usually cruise when kids are in school and not on holidays and I think that makes a difference. Also if young people partying is an issue steer clear of spring break for the college students.

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sunshinel9ver 7 years ago

tayoung I have been on the Sunshine twice and loved it as well. There are so many choices for places to eat. Parents who do not care are the ones that should be punished, not the kids. So many parents just turn their kids loose and do not care. It is a shame. If you don't book a cruise when school is out, during Spring Break or on holidays you will not see as many kids.

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dmbdriver1 7 years ago

that's what you get with carnival most only take those ships to party and drink. that's why they are called the party ships.

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tayoung 7 years ago

In October we took the Sunshine to Canada. It was their Thanksgiving holiday the day we were in St. John. I was upset that nobody informed us of this when we booked (directly through Carnival). But the port and shops connected to the port, and excursions still were open. But for those wanting to explore the city would be disappointed because most things shut down. Other than that my experience on the Sunshine was much different, it was actually my favorite cruise of the 3 I had been on.

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