Carnival Sunshine Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Carnival Sunshine exceeded our expectations!  All food venues were good, our cabin was kept extremely clean. Our only issue was the smoke filled casino. We had to pass through it to go to other venues.  

My favorites part of the cruise was the excursions.  We exited the ship in St. Kitts, Antigua, Martinique, St. Thomas, and San Juan PR.  I booked excursions at each port and they were outstanding: good sun, good fun, good service, expensive but worth it.  The shipboard food was great.  Comedy club was bad; couldn't get in there because once the first session filled up, the crowd would not depart and all latter shows were filled; the two nights we made it were great and bad (1st night).  The attempted to double charge me for Spa appointments that I paid for prior to getting on the ship.  All added charges were removed but only at my request.  Spa tried to upsell my wife by telling her should ignore the prepaid agreement and add a bunch of services and products without my consent.  Tried to contact Spa manager who did not return any of my calls.  I slipped and fell on the wet ship deck that was unmarked and was told I would have pay $185 to see the doctor to get treatment (roughed it out).  Had infected tooth, had to pay $185 to get antibiotic.  Shipboard entertainment was not as good as previous cruises I was on; thank God for excursions.  Was told that gratuity was included in overall cost but ship automatically charged me night before departure.  Had to wait extra half hour on ship at departure to resolve.  Ship's service personnel said the charges were optional and removed them at my request.  I'm talking about an additional $260 option if I did not catch it.  Overall, the cruise was great but I lack trust in accounting and sales departments.  Reevaluating whether my next cruise will be on Carnival.

This was our 8th Carnival Cruise and I've had great experiences with all of their other ships. Unfortunately, it seems with the Sunshine  they remodeled an older/smaller ship, added state rooms and took away entertainment space, and ended up with a pretty ship that so crowded with long lines, little seating in popular venues such as the liquid lounge (main show venue), pool area on lido and deck 10, and the comedy club was standing room only for 4 of the 5 shows I attended and we were even turned away from another comedy show after standing in line for 30 minutes. Dining took approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes each night. State room steward only offered to make up room one time per day at our choosing morning or evening  and did not respond to any of my four attempts to call him to report a broken door hinge and not working refrigerator. Overall, the cruise was a disappointment  and not even comparable with other Carnival cruises we have taken .

Positive: The boat looked pretty, Emma the cruise director was very charming,  The quality of the shows was great (if you could find a seat), and food was comparable with other cruises.  If you don't mind going to shows 30 minutes early, dining for nearly 2 hours, making up your own state room, and  going out on deck  at 7 AM  and this is the cruise for you :-) this is the cruise for you :) 

The staff were on their game for this cruise especially Jay from LA and Emma our charismatic Cruise Director. Steakhouse experience was top notch as was the food and the service. Easy to book reservation. Dining room staff especially Luis from Peru were great and very attentive to all our dining needs. Keep up the good work Sunshine.

Enjoyed trip, relaxing.  Disappointed we didn't receive our pin.Wish there had been pineapple on buffet.  Good service.Good steward.  Loved the Ports.Except for first night(way too loud),music good.  Emma dud a great job.

Our favorite part of the cruise was the number of days we were at sea.  We took this cruise to relax and that is what the days at sea allowed us to do.  We enjoyed the ports of call as well and the amount of time that we had to explore the islands.  The staff were very nice and accommodating.  We were disappointed that we did not get early seating.  8:15 pm a little to late for us to eat.  Service seemed to be a little slower at the late seating as well.

Great food, super friendly waiter staff, nice room with plenty of storage space, large shower,  good shows, however was overcrowded. Difficult to get in lounge shows (always filled to capacity); bingo fairly expensive; casino slots very tight.

The ports were great, I wish we had more time for each port. The food was exceptional which I was surprised by.  The staterooms were clean and roomy. The entertainment, however, was not great. They had a great band on the ship, but there was no large showroom for great shows. It seemed like the crew members put on the entertainment each night. They also repeated many daily activities around the ship, and I would have preferred more of a variety.  

The food was amazing. I recommend the Steakhouse, JiJi's Kitchen, Chef's Table and Bonsi Sushi! The Tacos on the Lido Deck were awesome!!

Had a great time on the Carnival Sunshine. The food was really great  with a lot of choices. The staff was very friendly and the staff greeted you by name. The ports were great the only bad thing was the Aruba was closed for their labor day holiday so a lot of shops were closed

Great ship - refurbished several years ago and in good condition. The staff keep it pristine. We found the dining room service poor to fair. The specialty restaurants are worth the money. The ports were great! 4 sea days - we loved the Serenity area on this ship - loved that it had a pool. Best entertainment was Magic and Music they are great! All in all a good cruise. 

The staff was fantastic. Our room Stuart alethea was amazing and dining staff angel and dejan the best ever! There was always something to do Emma keep the activities list super long!

Do not sail on this ship if you want to have a good time. Ship is old and rusty. It's not handicap accessible. Had problems going everywhere in my wheelchair.

This was a fun time for our group of 7.  Plenty of variety for young and old with the ship offerings.  The first timers were overwhelmed with all that they could do and eat :)  We long time cruisers noticed the probably industry wide cutbacks that have occurred over the years, but still enjoyed as little or as much as we wanted to do.

The redesign of the ship made it very beautiful, fresh and new, but the added passenger capacity also decreased the public area size so sometimes a bit crowded.  The dining staff were among the best we ever had so very pleased with them even though initial booking linked all of our bookings to sit together at dinner but we ended up split between two far apart tables when we got our table assignment on our cruise cards.  The maitre de did arrange aa table together but not at our requested dining time.

The food & entertainment were fantastic! Loved the specialty restaurants. The itinerary was fabulous. The ship is absolutely beautiful. Overall, a great value for the money. 

GOOD POINTS.

Friendly and helpful staff. Stateroom nicely furnished and clean with lots of storage space. Embarkation and disembarkation smooth. Taste bar is a good idea. Rock and roll evening in the theatre was very good.

BAD POINTS.

Far too many people on board for the facilities provided. For example, we were unable to find empty seats in the piano bar. Size of lido market place totally inadequate at the first meal after embarkation. Staff not vigilant enough in ensuring hand washing before entering dining areas, preventing people from entering the lido market place in swimwear and bare feet, and supervising sunbed use. Food sometimes not hot in dining rooms. Our room was directly below the serenity deck and we were regularly bothered by the loud  sound of chairs being scraped across the floor above. We have noticed that many of these points have already been raised by other cruisers, so COME ON CARNIVAL, DO SOMETHING ABOUT THESE ISSUES

The friendly and helpful staff. The food was good and plenty full. The only concern that I had was when I was comming up the hallway from my room on Thursday 4/27 in the morning I noticed that water was leaking around the small lights over the door way of room 9177. I approached one of your staff members no sure what department she worked in but I know she was wearing a light blue shirt. I told her about the issue at hand and she told me that there was nothing she could do and I was to call house keeping. What really confuses me it that I know that electric and water don't mix well and can cause fire. The fact that this employee wasn't concern really scares me and I wish that I got her name so that she could be taught the importance of safety. I was able to talk to another staff member and they did take action. Please at the next staff meeting that you guys have stress the importance of the issue that I stated above. God forbidden if there was smoke or fire around that light it scares me on how that employee would have reacted. She would have tried to push it off as she did with me. Every second counts when there is a situation and for every delay it could spell disaster.  

This Cruise was the best I have been on so far, but for those

Who get sea sickness really easy don't get the front of the ship

Other then that I rate this cruise ship 5 star

My favorite part of cruise was the Grand Turk port. The most important issue throughout the cruise was a sewer smell that would go thru the ship in all different common areas! Even near the lobby bar area & eatery area.

Our cabin was not ready around 11:00pm, we have 3 adults on the room and the person in charge to fix our room forget to split the full bed and get ready the 3rd bed, we have to call housekeeping around 11, the guy came and he can not open the bed on the wall, he called the supervisor and the supervisor answer said I have to many rooms to check.  Our cabin was 1619, every day we have to asked him to leave extra towel and soap. 

The food was ok, I cruise before and the food was better.  We have a good time on the excursion and show.

We had a great time, the ship is an old one with a new look.  I see they added more rooms when they remolded it to accommodate more people.  Only one small pool, not enough chairs on the deck, lines everywhere you went .  The crew and all employees were very good.  I will not go back on the Sunshine only due to the fact the ship seems like it cannot accommodate a full passenger list.