Our First Journeys Cruise

Carnival Sunshine Cruise Review to Caribbean - Southern

KevinQuinn

Contributor Level: Second Mate

60 Days Till Next Cruise

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 12

Helpful Votes: 261

Overall rating:

5 out of 5

11 Night Southern Caribbean Carnival Journeys (Charleston Roundtrip)

Sail date: December 03, 2019

Ship: Carnival Sunshine

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 4 years ago

Review summary

Carnival Cruise Review 3-14 December 2019 Carnival Sunshine My background is I am 63 years old, retired, and travel with my 63 year old wife. We have had seven previous cruises, all with Carnival. We booked this cruise on Carnival.com in May 2019. We booked a handicap room as my wife uses a mobility scooter. We picked stateroom #3102. On 3 December 2019 we arrived at the Port of Charleston SC at 11:00am with a scheduled arrival time of 12:00-12:30pm. This was our 3rd cruise from Charleston and it is such an easy port. Well organized with friendly people and free parking for ADA/Handicapped. We dropped off our luggage to the porters and parked our car. We proceeded on foot to Building #324 and were processed by Carnival personnel. They checked our boarding passes, passports and took security photographs. A short time later we were shuttle bussed to the terminal and there we cleared TSA. We boarded the ship at 11:40am. We went to the Lido deck for lunch (We had Guy’s Burgers and they were delicious) and then headed to our stateroom and unpacked. We met with our room steward (Ida Bagus) and he was welcoming. Our stateroom was ADA and the bathroom was huge with a large shower and a fold down seat. We completed the mandatory life boat drill and that went pretty smooth. The first two days were sea days and there was much to do aboard the ship. Mikey was our Cruise Director and he is a very talented person that is immediately likeable and fun. He was one of the two best Cruise Directors we have had so far. We met with Houston from the entertainment squad and had previously known him from our very last cruise on the Sunrise in May 2019. He was just as amazing and energetic as always and it was nice to see a familiar face. Our Head Waiter was Amhad . He and his staff were very good and attended to us closely during the entire trip. Day 3 brought us to St. Thomas and the island was excellent. We were able to do some touring locally on foot and the streets were good for scooter travel. Getting an excursion that is handicap friendly is still difficult at best. A lady named Brenda approached me on the street and asked if we would like a tour of the island. I told her that her small bus didn’t look as if it could handle a scooter. She asked if it broke down into parts and I said yes. We agreed of $25 each for the 2 hour tour. Her husband and I disassembled the scooter and found places on the small bus to put all the parts. It was funny seeing parts here and there but it worked out ok and we had a wonderful time on St. Thomas. I will go to trip advisor and write a nice review for them there if you would like to read it (Brenda & Franko’s Fun Tours) Day 4 was another sea day. Each sea day we met with a group we have met on facebook and played a nice friendly game called left, right, center. We met at 2:30pm of seadays in the Piano Lounge. Our evenings were filled with Playlist Entertainment in the Liquid Lounge. The Punchliner comedy Club always had a long line and we did not want to wait as the seating is very limited and it would be near impossible to get a scooter in if your not near the front of the line. Unfortunately, the 5th day of the cruise my wife woke up very sick with a severe pain in her side and it was bad enough to head to medical for treatment. The staff at medical was amazingly good, very professional and took great care of her. Dr. Saib and his staff were nothing short of fantastic. My wife was very much looking forward to this port call in particular as it was Aruba. She was unable medically to leave but the doctor did some magic and had her well enough by 4pm to leave the ship and visit Aruba. I have to mention I was a bit scared to see what the medical bill was going to be. My wife needed the doctor visit, blood work, urinalysis, and 4 prescriptions. The total bill was $249.70. Not bad considering it was an emergency and on a ship no less. We always have travel insurance and have filed a claim, seems easy so far. Day 6 was Bonaire and we had no excursion planned. We walked around the local area and shopped. Sightseeing included some local historic buildings and the waterfront. My wife was still not 100% so we just stayed local. Day 7 was a sea day and much to do on the ship. Carnival has a military appreciation event for veterans and their families. They put on an excellent presentation. There were a lot of veterans on this cruise including one World War II Coast Guardsman. Carnival appreciates veterans and you feel very proud when your service is acknowledged in public. Day 8 was a port call at Grand Turk. The last time we were there was 10 years ago and they have much improved the cruise port area. They have put in a wonderful shopping area with a king sized pool for your relaxation. My wife and I had a great lunch at Jimmy Buffet’s Margaretville. Beautiful island and very safe just like Aruba and Bonaire. Day 9 was a port call to Princess Cays, The Bahamas. This is a private island that Carnival owns and it is beautiful! They have some shops there (Only accept ships cards for payment) and a few bars. The water is amazing. You can swim with the beautiful fish, snorkel or just lay out at the beach. They have an included picnic lunch of hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken, salad and a lot of other foods too. Day 10 was the final sea day and it was horrible weather. Cloudy,cold and rained all day. Mikey hosted the Groove for St. Jude event and it was held indoors. They raised just over 11 thousand dollars! We had a wonderful sea day brunch with Isabel as our head waitress. She and her assistant (Anggik) were extraordinary! Day 11 We arrived in Charleston safely and debarkation was early and very smooth. Luggage was when they said it would be and plenty of porters to assist. The bus was timely and took us back to the parking area. What went well: Captain Borgogna, his officers and crew provided us with a safe voyage and that is much appreciated. Mikey and the entire crew provided for our needs and entertainment and that was appreciated. Edge, the magician was great, June the comedian was great, and Macio the comedian was also great. What was not up to par: The shops were out of model ships to sell and that was a disappointment for me as I always buy one the first time on board. The food was not as good as it has been in the past. Also I am beginning to see a lot of things that require and extra money charge. The main reason we began cruising and continue to do so, is because it is all inclusive. Who stood out and made our vacation better: Mikey (Cruise Director) Houston (Fun Squad) Ida and Theresa (Housekeeping) Ida (Food Service aka the Pizza Guy) and Isabel (Head Waitress for Sea Day Brunch) We have 4 more cruises currently booked with Carnival. One of which is a Journeys cruise. We would like to see more Journeys Cruises, maybe from Charleston SC, Jacksonville FL and Norfolk VA, if possible. The Journeys cruise is more relaxing and has an older crowd with less children. Very nice!