Overall Carnival is your budget /Wal-mart of the high seas. And it's not really cheap. Spend the extra $500 and go on a better ship. AND KNOW If you don't buy direct from Carnival and do go thru i.e. you will be treated like you are not a Carnival customers/cruiser.
Embarkation
2 out of 5
You park way far away, check in, ride a bus for a mile and then go through customs.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
2 out of 5
It's Carnival.
Onboard Activities
2 out of 5
Everything was closed above Lido b/c of high winds, so we didn't get to enjoy water park, slides, other pool or Serenity Adult Area at all.
Entertainment
3 out of 5
The live performers were good as always!
Children's Programs
4 out of 5
The kids enjoyed the kids camp and programs.
Service and Staff
3 out of 5
They didn't seem to be as friendly as on most Carnival ships, but kept up with the crowds
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
The Sunshine is an older ship with minimal amenities.
Cabin / Stateroom
1 out of 5
Dont ever let them put you on 1 st floor!!! You are way far away and the boat rocking and going on was terrible, worse cruise I ever took. I was supposed to be on 5 and got kicked to the 1st floor b/c I did not buy from Carnival directly, for the first time EVER! and so they can change a lot of your choices and etc to accommodate the other guests and you can 't do anything. it's like being a 2nd class cruiser.
easy to exit and get off the boat but getting back to your car was another hour excursion. You had to wait in long bus lines to get back shuttled back to your car. It took along time as the process was not great.
Every season presents a challenge: too hot, too cold, hurricane, children all over the place. We take those chances when booking a cruise. And yes, the story with being moved from deck 5 to 1 sounds strange.
I think sunshine is one of the oldest ships in the fleet. One of a kind. Id be sad missing out on Serenity because that waterfall pool is awesome! However I would not sail her again. My favorite Serenity area of all time, but she is small and older.
I have never heard of having your cabin moved regardless of who you do or don’t book through unless you don’t pick and book the cabin and deck you want and instead choice the option to be assigned a cabin by them and when you go that route this is the chance you take …. And the cost of your cruise reflects that choice as you get a cheaper rate.
First floor???? Rocking compared to deck 5? 1568 is about 3/4th the way back, but the higher you go, the more rocking there is. Have been in a deck 1 window cabin on another Carnival ship and it had less movement than up higher (but we were amidships). January 3, wasn’t there still a major storm going on back east?
Although I once had Carnival move me from my cheap deck one cabin up to deck 6 once and then to deck 8 because we were next to the noisy teen club (a Marriott ‘cruises only’ booking).
I wonder about this review since they appear to mostly be blaming the ship for outside issues that the ship had no control over.
I agree 100% with you. I just came off of their newest ship (the Celebration) and while it was a beautiful ship, it was still Carnival. The buffet was closed at various times. This may be a post-Covid thing but it was a lot different than in the past. Also, the food was disappointing and I'm not a foodie.
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