Carnival Sunshine is a decent mid size ship. We had a wonderful time together on this cruise. Enjoyed the entertainment and casino and spa. The only real disappointment was the MDR food and service.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Embarkation was fairly smooth. We were alerted the night before that our port arrival time was delayed by 3 hours due to the previous cruise returning a few hours late. It was not a big deal. We just didn't have the time to explore the ship like we usually do before our 6pm dinner. Since it was New Year's Eve, it was a formal night but we didn't get our luggage until after dinnertime so we enjoyed our first dinner in jeans and shorts!
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
We were very disappointed in the MDR. It was the first time in 9 cruises that both the food and the service was lacking. One night we left the MDR after looking at the menu. Just nothing interested us. The food in the MDR has changed so much just even in ten years. Boring and bland and very small portions. We are used to the head waiter doing the main serving at the table but ours introduced himself the first night and then we hardly saw him again. We wondered if they were either short staffed or training the #3 guy on the team (his English was poor and couldn't answer our questions or got our orders mixed up). Two nights we enjoyed the Italian restaurant and Fahrenheit 555. The Italian dinner was the best meal and service of the week. We really enjoyed our experience there. The steak house was a mixed bag. The presentations were lovely to look at but the best thing I ate all night was the wasabi mashed potatoes. I could have licked the bowl! Steak was tender but lacking in flavor and the lobster was slightly overcooked. The cheesecake was enormous and enough for two - delish! Nice atmosphere and good service.
Alchemy Bar
5 out of 5
Best drinks on the ship are at the Alchemy Bar! Their version of the chocolate martini is pure alcohol but tasted like chocolate milk. Mmmm!
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
Since it was cooler and windy most of our trip, we did not use the water slides or pools. While the Serenity deck is on three decks, I could never find an open chair on sea days. This area was always crowded and one day as I was walking around looking for a chair, there was a loud group of people in the pool. Definitely not a serenity deck that day!
If you love pools on your ship, the Sunshine probably isn't for you. Other than the small pool on serenity, there is only one main pool and that wasn't very large either.
Sunshine Casino
4 out of 5
First time we walked away with more money that we started with! And that was playing slots. We had a lot of fun in the casino. Even though we are non-smokers, this is the first Carnival ship that had decent ventilation. Even though we'd leave the area smelling a little smoke on our clothes, it was nothing like other ships we've been on where you don't even want to pass through the area for the smoke. We could sit at the slots (always selecting ones away from smokers) and enjoy a hour or so. The smoke seemed to get pulled up and out of the space.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
Evening shows were very good and the cast and Cruise Director were personable and friendly. The Liquid Lounge is smaller than most theaters on ships and we missed the little table in front of our seats to put drinks and bingo cards. The sound system is lacking in that venue as we had a hard time hearing individual solos for the music being too loud. However, we enjoyed all of the musical entertainment.
Service and Staff
3 out of 5
Our room steward, Henry, was awesome! Disappointed in MDR wait staff. Missed the "meet the captain" that we are used to on a formal night. We saw the captain once on New Year's Eve and never saw him or any other officers the rest of the week.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
We were fine with the layout. Typical of Carnival ships so we felt at home. I didn't see a lot of cleaning happening throughout the ship other than our staterooms. Usually you see people wiping down the elevator pads, hand rails, etc. but I never saw that happen. The public restrooms were not well maintained.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Average sized cabin for Carnival. Plenty of storage space and two closets for our clothes and things although we couldn't fit our suitcases under the bed as we can on other cruise lines. Bathroom is small but adequate. Our cabin was close enough to two sets of elevators without a lot of walking so that was nice.
We love Cozumel. We do a different excursion each time we are there - there's always something to do! We did the Dolphinaris VIP swim with the dolphins. Enjoyed our interaction with the dolphins and the extra special treatment via the VIP program.
Belize is flat and the city is mostly poor. We did the excursion to the Belize Zoo (an hour bus drive each way) and loved our tour guide and seeing animals we've never seen before. It's not a port I would care to return to though.
This is a port we'd love to explore some more. We did the Maya Key Private Island Snorkel, lunch, and interaction with the Capuchin monkeys. They are so funny! There is a lot to do on this island - nice beach areas, birds, mammals, sea lions to learn about and interact with, snorkeling, etc.
We had a short amount of time here so we stayed in the cruise line built port area. It was one of the nicest and biggest ports we've been to. We enjoyed walking around, shopping, eating/drinking. If we go back and have a longer stay, we may actually get out of the port area!
*Cruiseline.com is not a booking agent or travel agency,
and does not charge any service fees to users of our site. Our partners
(travel agencies and cruise lines) provide prices, which we list for our
users' convenience. Cruiseline.com does not guarantee any specific rates or
prices. While prices are updated daily, please check with the booking site
for the exact amount. Cruiseline.com is not responsible for content on
external web sites.
Contact us
Submitting...
Need help from a personal vacation planner?
Loading...
Find the perfect cruise with weekly tips and cruise deals for as little as $30/night!
Sign up for weekly cruise deals
Join other subscribers and get the best
cruise deals of the week in your inbox every Thursday.
