Ok, I’m not a huge Carnival fan but I love to cruise. This over all was a fun time as long as you compare it to what Carnival is and not what RC is. The way the ship is laid out is great. The big pluses are the deck and the pools and Sunshine’s CD Mikey. Would I do it again? Not any time soon but maybe.. way down the road. 5 days is enough time on this ship. The best part of any cruise is time spent with family and the memories made. 💗
Embarkation
5 out of 5
They have improved this process since our first Carnival Cruise out of Charleston. Thankful that they take your luggage from the car before you park and take it to the ship. Years ago you had to schlep it yourself to the terminal. Ruined a pair of sandals and a fresh pedicure that time. Surprisingly fast and efficient this time and grateful for the busses that take you to the terminal after checking in.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Lido food is just meh, except breakfast it was actually mostly good. Dinner in the dining room was always good. Service was slow and some nights unorganized. Waiters seemed frazzled and not sure who ordered what and getting your drink ordered was always like pulling teeth. Our family still enjoyed eating in the main dining room however. I believe My Time Dining has taken away the special bond you used to develop with your wait staff away. It’s the price you pay for the flexibility. We tried to request the same table after our second night but were told that was not possible with the MTD option. Brunch in the dining room was very good but the staff was still unorganized and coffee and water refills took forever. 40 minutes for an omelet that never came... those kind of issues.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
Kids (ages 17 and over) did the rock wall and the slide and enjoyed it. The Serenity Pool area was relaxing & we were always able to find chairs. The seating to passengers on this ship is a huge PLUS! This alone makes cruising so much more relaxing for us as we love that part of cruising, sitting in the sun. If you don’t have to be next to the pool you will be happy!
BAD experience with the Spa manager Jelana. She was very dismissive with my oldest daughter that needed her nail fixed. Gave her 8:30 pm (only avail time left) to have one nail fixed. Daughter didn’t make it as dinner ran so late. She went back the next morning and explained and asked for another time and she told her she had “nothing”- I went and asked and suddenly there were multiple appts available. I called her out on it right then and there. My son got a hair cut and the barber did a great job. The nail lady did a great job. Jelana needs to work on her approach with the public.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
We went to several shows. The comedians were funny. The 80’s Rock show was FABULOUS! I’m an 80’s chick and knew the words to all the songs. The entertainers are very talented. The piano bar was fun, Giovanni mixes it up a little each night so it’s not the exact thing if you go more than once. Mikey was the CD and he is really good at his job. He’s everywhere and approachable. He’s entertaining, he’s warm, he’s just very very special in a good way. He kept reminding us that we were all family since we were on this cruise together and you know I believe that really made a difference with others being more considerate to one another.
Service and Staff
3 out of 5
So I’m not sure what was happening here. I know that working on a cruise ship is not an easy job. Our room steward just seemed to be MIA. We hardly ever saw him. Turn down was hit or miss. First day I had a feeling this was not going to go so well. We realized there was no electrical outlet next to the bed for my husbands C-PAP machine. I found our steward and told him about the problem. He brought us a power strip. There was still nothing close by the bed to plug that into. (This is an engineering problem on this ship that needs to be resolved... night stands should all have an outlet for cell phones and such like most hotels do) my husband is having to figure this out like how do we do this without running it across the floor to the bed without us tripping over the cord. On the 3rd evening of the 5 night cruise the steward just dropped off like 6 of each towels and we literally never saw him again until the morning we were getting off the boat.
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
I’ll just post the pics here.. yes that’s blood on the curtains and that stain may be old but YUCK! Throw the sheets out if they won’t wash clean.
Cabin / Stateroom
3 out of 5
Enjoyed having a balcony as we have never done that before and now we are spoiled! The room was a bit larger as well and that was nice. Not enough electrical outlets at the bedside. Room was “clean” with exception of the blood stains on the curtains and the stain on the sheet. I was disappointed that we had upgraded to this type room and these things were over looked..
Ship tip
I guess if things aren’t up to par go to guest services. In retrospect I should have done that but not wanting to be “that person” and trying to realize it was the holidays and being a grump would make everyone else with me feel miserable I just rolled with it. I did find someone and request to have the sheets changed. Don’t buy the pixels package before the cruise. The people that waited got a better deal and didn’t have to pay extra for the digital images on a flash drive with the deal they offered on the ship. If you want to have the same wait staff at dinner each evening pick a time and don’t do MTD.
Bought our excursion through cruiseline.com thought it was a swim with the dolphins excursion but it was a dolphin experience - perhaps I did not read carefully?! Met next to Senior Frogs and got our arm bands and waited and waited.. finally we got on a ferry to Balmoral Island & were taken to Balmoral Island Resort for the “dolphin-experience” which turned out to be ok. After we used the beach for a couple of hours before heading back on a ferry to Nassau.
We were starving by then so we ate at Conch N' Kalik Bar And Grill. Food was ok. Nassau has rats. Big ones. The rats are not inside the restaurant and it’s not the restaurant that has rats... Nassau has rats. The waitress over charged us for one of our appetizers by $10 and we questioned her, without looking she knew which one so look over your check. They only accept cash so just just about shorted herself her tip.
We were on the ship the same dates as you but our experience was totally different! It was AWESOME!!! The staff was friendly, our room was AWESOME and super clean! The Alchemy bar ROCKED IT every night. HMC was perfect and you have to get off the boat and walk a little ways.... We pretty much had the beach area to ourselves!! The tendering to the island was very well organized. We met so many fun people on this cruise!!! Can't wait to go again! Maybe cruising is just not for you...
Boy, what a nit picker. You can always find something to complain about IF you look for it. You sure spent a large portion of your cruising doing just that. If you spent half as much time enjoying a great cruise you would have a better experience. Love the Sunshine and Carnival.
Half moon cay is perfection. Tendering is part of the experience and I GUARANTEE that if you walked down the beach a little further you would have had 100 yards to yourself. If you choose to stay in the crowded area that's on you.
*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.
