Cruise #19 Charleston South Carolina

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 13

Helpful Votes: 294

Review summary

This was our 19th cruise with Carnival and the 9th on the Sunshine. Embarkation was smooth as always as Charleston has an excellent ground crew assisting passengers both in parking and security. It took about 25 minutes from parking our car to walking the gangway. The debarkation process, which is normally smooth, was a complete disaster. The lines from the ship, getting your luggage and getting to your car took over an hour and a half. The cruise was wonderful. The ports were excellent and the weather was perfect. The shows, entertainers and music were all fantastic. The food on the Lido deck was also fantastic. The deli had a nice new menu with about 16 choices and many of those could be modified. Carnival closes the deli and pizza at about 11 pm and opens midnight buffet. We were up late one night and tried it. It was pretty good with a nice variety of food. They had chicken fingers, pizza, hot dogs and many other items to choose from. Guys Burgers is always a good lunch onboard. We only used the main dining room one night out of 10. It was elegant night and they had lobster and prime rib. We had the prime rib and it was fantastic! Our displeasure with the MDR continues to be the menu selections and the extraordinary amount of time it takes to get served. Our 5pm dinner took over 2 ½ hours. It may have been more but we informed the head waiter we had a 7:45 appointment with the character artist. We had the appetizer and main but skipped desert and we just made our appointment time. The GOOD: Pretty much everything on the cruise was great. This was a journeys cruise so the crowd was older with very few kids. The music was our generation and the holiday spirit was very much alive with the Christmas decorations, Christmas tree and Christmas show. The ship was constantly cleaned and sparkling. The Captain could not port at Grand Turk for safety reasons and was able to find an alternate port at Nassau for us. That was better than an additional sea day. The NOT SO GOOD: Carnival has yet to fully accommodate the handicapped. They allow for early entry into the shows at the main theater but not every show, it depends on what member of the fun squad you get, The comedy club never accommodated the wheelchairs and scooters first and someone will surely get hurt by the crowd rushing in. Many people push and shove those who are handicapped. There are so few that they could let them in first, get settled and then let everyone else in. Then the handicapped could leave last. The 6 CREW Members that made our cruise great: James Love, Cruise Director. This was our second cruise with James as the director. He is simply the best of all the directors as his energy is never ending. He is professional, personal and all around fun. His appreciation for the military is amazing. He cares from the heart for the military and this is evidenced by his desire to show the love. He suspends the taped portion of the event during taps and then plays a perfect rendition of taps on his trumpet. It is heartfelt and brings tears to many eyes as well as mine. Joncor (Our room steward) and Ayu (His assistant steward). They were a simply an amazing team. From the moment we stepped into our room they made sure everything was perfect. Being handicapped we need more care than the average cruiser and they were there for us every step of the way. These two are some of the best we have had in our 19 cruises. Christina (Fun squad, Mexico). Whoever hired this young lady deserves a huge raise. She is simply fantastic at her job. She has a perfect balance of her professional responsibilities and her attention to detail. She was ever ready to assist with our ADA needs and spent some personal quality time with us. She is an aspiring singer and very much looking forward to the day Carnival gives her the opportunity to become a singer onboard. Please hire no more signers without giving Christina an audition. Florie (Housekeeping, Zimbabwe). Another amazing crew member that made this journeys cruise just perfect, A big smile and huge hug every time we encountered her on the Lido deck. She is bursting with energy and portrays the best life has to offer. Beaver (Guys Burgers). An excellent crew member that is both professional and helpful. She has an infectious smile coupled with a “Fun” attitude that makes you want to be right where you are, on that ship, at that time, having lunch at Guy’s!

Embarkation

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

Onboard Activities

Entertainment

Service and Staff

Ship Quality

Cabin / Stateroom

Ports of call

Charleston, South Carolina

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Amber Cove (Puerto Plata), Dominican Republic

Disembarkation