Wouldn't recommend it!

Item: Carnival Sunshine
Rating: 3.6
Author: PaulaTim

Carnival Sunshine Cruise Review to Caribbean - Bahamas

PaulaTim

Contributor Level: Second Mate

153 Days Till Next Cruise

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 4

Helpful Votes: 109

Overall rating:

3.6 out of 5

5 Night Bahamas (Charleston Roundtrip)

Sail date: March 02, 2024

Ship: Carnival Sunshine

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 1575

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 8 months ago

Review summary

Honestly we wouldn't book this again. I can definitely see why Charleston cruise port is ending this year. The Sunshine is falling apart. I was shocked by the amount of caution signs over rusted floor areas raised up and broken. This ship needs scrapped. It's unbelievable tiny lido, pool area and lacking any real Carnival features. The fantasy class ships are 100% better than this ship by far.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

Embarking even though very disorganized compared to other cruise ports was okay.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Food was okay for the most part ~ we ate at the pasta bar which was the best part of the cruise food.

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

The ship is older and not much activities. Honestly the worst carnival ship we ever been on.

Entertainment

4 out of 5

The ship was really rocky , so the shows were stationary for the most part. The singers are very talented

Children's Programs

1 out of 5

Worst camp ocean ever ~ they treated the kids poorly. There was no choice and had then sitting more in circle time than letting them play. The kids asked to play games and was told no they had certain things out or they could do nothing. Sharks 9-11.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Staff was amazing per usual

Ship Quality

1 out of 5

This ship is falling apart. When you see floor rusting and falling apart constantly, there's an issue. The ship is rusty and not kept up very well, Carnival scrapped better ships this this one by far!

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

Our room steward was amazing "Sue" the room was always clean.

Ship tip

Skip this ship, Carnival has way better ships by far. (No sunshine class)

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Charleston, South Carolina

3 out of 5

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (Private Island)

5 out of 5

Nassau, Bahamas

5 out of 5

We did Black Beards pirate adventure and had an amazing tour and pirate adventure. The crew dress up like pirates and does an entire reenactment.

Thumbs Up 0

Disembarkation

3 out of 5

Again disorganized compared to other ports but it was okay.

12 Comments

Ally57 8 months ago

Worst cruise I ever went on. We went out Florida but did not like the ship at all.

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monty62 8 months ago

I lived in the Charleston area, and the locals hated the cruise ship being there . I'm sure the city was not going to update the port knowing once the Sunshine was gone, that was it for cruise ships.

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cbyron3 8 months ago

I'll be one her for her final Charleston cruise on New Years this year and my 5th time out of Charleston on her. Always enjoy it. Great serenity deck, decent thermal spas, great crew. I'll miss her and the Charleston port. Chill compared to Miami or Canaveral.

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Gwbigdog 8 months ago

Thanks for sharing

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JerseyGail 8 months ago

I agree cruising out of Charleston is awful and the ship was old and small. Worse cruise I’ve been on

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javawoody 8 months ago

Appreciate your view

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PaulaTim 8 months ago

Dkantouth~ it's very disorganized. Prior to parking you pass a luggage area to offload your checked bags. Then park to get shuttled to another area where you stand in line to get on another shuttle or bus that takes you to customs. ~ reverse for disembarking. Problem with disembark the porters are rough with everyone's luggage. The entire process is odd and not very seemless from embark to disembark. I've never seen any other port work the way Charleston does.

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byhisgrace 8 months ago

Thanks for your review

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dkantouth 8 months ago

Would appreciate why Charleston is a bad port. Understand concerns about the ship, but the two are not related. Thanks for sharing.

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cruising2004 8 months ago

Sorry you were disappointed with your cruise. Thank you for your review.

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HeavySeas 8 months ago

Thanks for sharing

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AuntPinkie 8 months ago

Appreciate your details. Sorry this cruise didn’t meet your expectations.

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