Very Good Cruise

In spite of being a rather small cruise terminal in buildings that were adapted to the purpose, Charleston exceeded all expectations for the embarkation process. Signage was plentiful and clearly guided the Lyft driver to the proper drop-off point. Staff members were abundant to direct the flow and the luggage porters were at the point of drop-off to immediately check the bags. Inside the terminal, there are many fully staffed check-in desks and it literally took about a minute to complete the check-in. We experienced a short, pleasant wait for the shuttle bus to transfer us to the boarding terminal at pier side. The security screening moved quickly and was performed thoroughly and professionally. Everyone working at the Charleston cruise terminal was extremely hospitable and quite friendly. I have cruised many times before from various venues and this embarkation experience has to be the absolute best ever. Congratulations to all of the fine folks working at Charleston cruise terminal; you nailed it!

The main dining room service was very slow and a bit frustrating. In my opinion, there were far too few servers trying to perform the duties in this dining room, the Sunset (forward) Dining Room. We never saw a headwaiter. Apparently, Carnival has eliminated the Bus Boy and Assistant Waiter positions. The waiters were doing all that they could in a very courteous way but they were simply over-tasked with the number of guests assigned to each waiter. My entree' was "forgotten" by my waiter on the first night for almost an hour and my waiter was no where to be seen. The next night was my birthday and it got completely overlooked in the dining room for the first time ever. Royal Caribbean got it right every time. The food was "good". Not compelling nor was it innovative or exciting. The nightly menu options were limited, especially the dessert options. This is most likely a Carnival policy rather than being a characteristic of this specific vessel. After two nights of disappointment and disenchantment in the main dining room, we chose to eat at the Lido Deck buffet for the remaining two nights of the cruise. In my opinion, the variety and options of the buffet paled in comparison to other cruise line buffets. The buffet was clean but items that had been depleted were sometimes slow to be replenished. My wife really enjoyed JiJi's Asian for lunch buffet, although the queue was always long and very slow to move forward. My favorite food experience on Carnival Sunshine was by far Guy's Burgers. Delicious burgers served virtually instantly and first class french fries. I publicly admit to partaking in Guy's Burgers each day of the cruise and my weighing scale is verifying it this week. Although we did not dine at any of the specialty restaurants, I did have an opportunity to participate in a food tasting event with the chef from the steakhouse. It was of excellent quality,

Our assigned dining time precluded attendance at most of the shows and performances that interested us. The late seating coupled with my aforementioned comments on the slow service in the dining room did not allow much of an opportunity for entertainment in the evenings. I realize that I could have requested a revision to our dining arrangements but we opted to exercise other options since this was only a four day cruise. I did attend the Military Honor presentation and I have to say that Carnival excelled in the production and performance of this tribute to members of the uniformed services, especially military member, past and present. Carnival leaves the other cruise lines in the dust when comparing other's efforts toward military recognition and appreciation. The cruise director, Adam, was an excellent host and established a personal bond with those in attendance, be they veteran, active duty, retired or military family member. From this veteran US Navy CPO, I extend a hearty "Bravo Zulu" (Well Done) to Adam and to Carnival.

Our cabin steward was outstanding. Just a dedicated, hardworking and delightful lady. Her duties were performed flawlessly and unimposing. The waiter for the two nights that we chose to dine in the main dining room was friendly and energetic but he was also extremely over-tasked which lead to missteps and very slow service. We witnessed diners at the second table from ours get food dumped on to them (by some other waiter) from the waiter service counter behind and above their seating position. I expected to see those diners wearing a pancho raincoat on the next evening which was "elegant" night but there was a different set of diners there. Speaking of "elegant night" in the dining room, there are widely published "rules" for attire for each evening's meal in the dining room. Carnival seemed to go to great effort to publish these "rules" in the Fun Times, in the pre-cruise information and on the Carnival Hub app. There was ZERO effort extended to enforcing these "rules". Diners showed up and were accommodated while wearing baseball hats, shorts, men in tank tops, flip flops, sports/basketball shorts, and anything else that was forbidden in those published rules, even on "elegant night". There was no observed Maitre' D or headwaiter or anyone else attempting to enforce the published rules and establish a level of decorum in the dining room. I suggest that Carnival either eliminate the "rules" and admit that dinner is actually a free-for-all and a come-as-you are event and stop pretending to be "elegant". After all, the tables were set with a tablecloth only on the one "elegant" night. It appeared that the dining room management staff were reassigned to rove the dining room hawking "shots" for sale which added another ironic twist to the attempt at elegant dining. SMH. Don't waste your time packing a suit or formal attire for a Carnival cruise. Apparently you will be vastly overdressed and outnumbered by the slobs.

The ship layout was of the "old school" design with a confusing and interrupted "flow" along the main public decks. There was no flow between the two main dining rooms other than going to a deck or two above or below deck 3 because the galley was located between the dining rooms. I witnessed a lot of confusion with guest arriving at the wrong dining room and having to receive a convoluted explanation on how to get to the proper dining venue. Most, not all, of the public areas were always clean and tidy. All spaces were well-maintained and did not appear worn or dated. Overall, the public spaces appeared fresh and up to date. I did notice that the handrails on the ladders (stairways) between decks always felt grimy and sticky. Not once during the entire cruise did I observe any crew members wiping down the handrails or other surfaces in common areas or inside of the lifts (elevators). There appeared to be a shortage of hand sanitizing dispensers, especially at the dining room entrances and buffet entrances. Those that I did observe were mostly in an awkward location for the flow of guests into the food service areas. There was no "handwashing monitor" staff person present at any time that I entered a food service space. Other cruise lines are much more vigilant and accommodating in the interest of clean hands entering the food service areas.

The cabin was adequate in size and amenities. It had an abundance of storage. The bed was very comfortable. Our cabin was quiet of noises from the deck above and below save for the occasional door-slammer entering or exiting cabins or balconies. I notice this behavior in hotels also and it makes me wonder if these people also slam the doors in their own home too.

Most efficient disembarkation ever. We left our cabin to disembark at 0820 on the last morning and we walked through the door at home at 0927, an hour and seven minutes later.