Never again.....

Item: Carnival Sunshine
Rating: 1.8
Author: brown525

Carnival Sunshine Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

brown525

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 44

Overall rating:

1.8 out of 5

Verified Review

8 Night Eastern Caribbean (New York Roundtrip)

Sail date: August 20, 2017

Ship: Carnival Sunshine

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 9167

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

I had planned to pass through this life without setting foot on a Carnival ship. however when my husband's family planed their family reunion on this ship I was obligated. After sailing on NCL, Disney and Royal this was nothing I was looking forward to. It was horrible experience from beginning to end and the Fun Ships milks its reputation on the paying customers actually providing the fun by constantly calling up folks to all types of nonsense for a free drink coupon... it was like a bad reality show for a week... the time in the ports are 4-7 hours and they highlight/signature show of the cruise was actually Lip Sync Battle of 2 customers chosen on the 2nd day...... I hope they at least got a free cruise in the future for being the headlining show on the cruise. I did not even bother to go see it. Don't waste your money save for a better cruise line.

Embarkation

1 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

Entertainment

1 out of 5

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

they make the best of it, but even service is less than average

Ship Quality

1 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

2 out of 5

ols ship, cabin not cleaned well daily just new towels and towel animals.

Ship tip

old ship, horrible shows, food is worse that local buffets and YOU are the entertainment....

Thumbs up

Ports of call

New York, New York

1 out of 5

this is where the cruise began and ended. Carnival markets it as an port which does not make sense just another way to squeeze more money and appear to offer more.

Thumbs Up 1

Amber Cove (Puerto Plata), Dominican Republic

4 out of 5

Only saving grace of the trip was that we paid for an all inclusive day at a private resort that included transportation, all beverages and cocktails and food. Once again the time in the port was only 8:00am to 4:00pm so we made the best of it. The only highlight of the cruise

Thumbs Up 2

Grand Turk Island

1 out of 5

the time on the island was only from 8:00am to 2:00pm. net even worth the time to really enjoy the already expensive excursions. To accommodate cruise lines they just put beach chairs right at the port so you cant really enjoy the crystal blue waters ans sealife because you are getting all the chemicals from the cruise ship docked right in front of you. I have never seen anything like it

Thumbs Up 1

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (Private Island) Did not visit port

Did not even bother to get off the ship

Thumbs Up 0

Disembarkation

1 out of 5

27 Comments

darkgreenturtle 7 years ago

Interesting how you reference previous cruises, but your profile doesn't have any listed. It's also notable that this is your only review. Hmmm

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sunshinel9ver 7 years ago

Brown525 achieved exactly what they wanted to. That is to get everyone upset. They are probably reading this and laughing their b- - - s off😎😎

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MrBill 7 years ago

I feel confident that you would have not enjoyed your own birthday party at your home.....if your husband's family paid for everything.

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levine 7 years ago

I've been sailing carnival since 2001 and I have no complaint. I am sorry this cruise didn't work out for you. LOL on your next vacation

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Glitterfairy 7 years ago

Wow, sounds like you had made up your mind that you were not going to like this cruise before it even started. So sorry your family (oh, oops, your HUSBAND'S family - must have been a SWELL time for him, BTW, with your attitude along for the ride) didn't choose a cruise line that you wanted, waah...I can actually hear you stomping your feet! Didn't go to shows, didn't do any excursions (how does Carnival "squeeze more money" if you tour NYC before/after cruise, by the way?) ONE Star for Embarkation, Food & Dining, Entertainment and Ship Quality with no explanation - just sounds like "I'm NOT going to like it and you can't make me". FYI, we LOVE Royal, but have "somehow" managed to enjoy Carnival as well.

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tbysty 7 years ago

port time is the same regardless of who you sail with. you are a ridiculous person. should have stayed home and let your family have a good time without looking at the puss on your face.

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kmkerr8 7 years ago

It's a little unclear, had you sailed Carnival in the past, and swore you never were again, or had you never sailed Carnival, but just made up your mind before hand that you would automatically hate it, or was it because your husbands family planned it? In any case, I get the feeling everyone around you knew just how disappointed you were.

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sunshine220 7 years ago

We had a great time on the Sunshine!

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Henryseafood 7 years ago

I have read many of these debates in the years I have been on these types of sites and the answer is some like apples and some like oranges I have sailed both and find them very different I for one would be fine if I never sail carnival again it was not a bad experience just different I love the Royal experience and find that from embarkation to disembarkation I am satisfied when I embark on carnival my personality begins to compare everything to royal and as I said before they are different The main difference that enticed me to try carnival was the cheap price that is no longer the part of the equation as the prices are pretty much the same for similar cruises I suspect there is some underlying problem with this person and there cruise but he has the right to express his opinion as everyone else has the right to theirs but I am a little taken back by the amount of personal attacks he has had to field please be kind we are all here because we love cruising

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Kimluvs2cruise 7 years ago

I've been on the Sunshine 3 times. My husband & I have really enjoyed this ship. We are not party goers...we like to relax. We book our cabin in the Cloud 9 spa. Nothing wrong with Carnival. Sounds like you are the problem.

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IkeDeb 7 years ago

Our cruises with Carnival has been the opposite. Loved all of them.

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Thomas4 7 years ago

Seem to me people either love or hate carnival. I sailed twice with them and would say it was ok. First cruise on the liberty was awesome. 2nd cruise on sunshine (or at that time it was with the old name destiny) was not as good as on the liberty. There was a massive delay due to engine problems causing a delay on the recent cruise. Due to that embarkation was a mess. We had to wait in a overcrowded waiting area for several hours. It was hot in there, nothing to drink. The only seat was the floor. They did absolutely nothing. No safety check or anything. So we spent several hours waiting and waiting with hundreds of people in a small area. But that was the fault of port of Miami. Not carnivals fault. But that is what people keep in mind. So that delay resulted in a change of itinerary. But every passenger automatically received an onboard credit für the inconvenience. Overall we enjoyed it even with that negative start. I remembered I was very upset on the first 2 days of that cruise. But then I thought these negative attitude would ruin my vacation. So after that it became better and it turned out to be a very nice cruise. I would love to cruise carnival again.

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OceanSky 7 years ago

I'm sorry, brown525, but the first sentence in your review makes it pretty clear that you got on that ship with every intention of having the worst time you could possible have! Why the hell did you even go on the cruise if you were SO sure you would hate it that you'd already made up your mind to never cruise Carnival? I'm betting your fellow passengers really appreciated your open and cheerfully disposition! I know that not every cruise is fabulous. Sometimes unplanned things happen, the weather turns bad, or your steak gets overcooked. But there's always good things and high points, too. Good luck finding perfection on your future non Carnival cruises.

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CrystalM69 7 years ago

Summer12, October will be my first Carnival cruise also:)

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summer12 7 years ago

Your negative remarks about Carnival will not ruin my time on the Sunshine in October. This will be my first Carnival Cruise and I will have a great time no matter what!

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juchi 7 years ago

The reality is that some ships are better than others, also some vacations have bad moments. On my last cruise on carnival, I put $5 in a slot machine to show my Son how they work, and the machine eat it. It didnt let me play at all, when I told the casino manager, he treated me like I was lying and of course I didnt like that at all and I let him know but at the end we ended out having lot of fun. Is what you make of it. Carnival is fun, they all fun.

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aliciakb 7 years ago

Sounds like you had your mind made up before you even set sail. 🤔🤧🙉👎

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tisha2378 7 years ago

I booked the Sunshine two years in a row. We have to change ships because no boats are docking in Norfolk, VA after Oct....so Magic here we come. Love to party, love Carnival!!!!

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Deniseg 7 years ago

Been on 9 Carnival cruises and have the 10th booked. I loved all of them. Some had their moments but your vacation is what you make of it. I make mine great.

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RealNefarious 7 years ago

sunshine will be in fl in nov.

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tjturner 7 years ago

Neither have I , but really doesn't matter- we live in the Midwest so we always fly in

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Beachum 7 years ago

tjturner love the Sunshine as well fun ship!! wish it weren't in Charleston as I live in Florida but never been to Charleston

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tjturner 7 years ago

Each to their own , but the Sunshine is my favorite by far . How can you not enjoy yourself???

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IkeDeb 7 years ago

We have had five Carnival cruises and have two more in the recent future. We have a great time on every cruise. Carvinal for us is great. Sorry, you had a bad time.

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tjturner 7 years ago

Amen to that

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majmom96 7 years ago

Sounds like cruising is not your thing. And as far as time in ports, I see a lot of people complaining about that. But I think people forget that a cruiseline is a business, and they also want to make money by people being on the ship. So I think there's a nice balance on most itineraries between time in port and time on the ship. And who doesn't appreciate that you're on a floating hotel and don't have to pack/unpack every day! That's the bonus of cruising! If people wNt more time in port, they should just go to a resort at the port of their choosing and stay as long as they like. Plus, the itineraries show how much time is in each port, so if it looks to short at ports you want to visit, I'd recommend choosing a different itinerary. Fortunately, cruising isn't for everyone.

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OnDeckWithCB 7 years ago

Which Carnival Cruise was it?

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