Carnival Sunshine Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Never sail if the weather has been bad. We had 3 days of rough seas both day and night. Rain, cold very windy weather.  Winds at night were up to 70 knots with no extra activities offered since you could not use the pools or any outdoor activities. No enough supplies for offered activities. Mainly trivia as far as main activities offered. There were no covers over decks to protect you from the elements or allow you to be warm and sit out side. The water works and that deck of activities disappointing my son and grandson. The spa was VERY expensive and after they only tried to sell you products that cost more than the treatment. When we got to Halifax NS there were no tours available to Peggy's Cove and the double decker buses stop selling tickets due to an accident which tied up the area. St. John's NB just see the changing rapids on you own the tour were boring and a waste of time and money. Food was average to below. The buffet let a lot to be desired as to the quality of food. We ate dinner ever night but one in the dinning room. If you have little ones Green eggs and ham breakfast was nice but the food was not great at all especially if you have picky eater or your an adult. For daily breakfast the buffet was your best option for choice. Never enough seating and VERY cold, even our food cooled off fast. In order to get a seat if you found one you had to leave a family member at the table to save it then get your food and allow the person who stayed get there food. The worst was getting sick the day we disembarked; I could not find any one to clean up the messes. I was told don't worry about it. Not an impressive trip but as they say you get what you pay for. BTW there is not local news or weather all is out of the Miami area. The

Cabin staff were hard working. Other than that it was the worst ship and cruise experience ever. After this experience we decided to never cruise Carnival again. The food was horrible, the entertainment was awful, the ship was disgusting. Our balcony wall was painted over rust, the balcony light was completely rusted. The drains around the outer floor was rusted. The bathroom fixtures were old and disgusting.  The furniture in public areas were absolutely filthy, warn out and. The cleaning staff worked hard day and night to keep the staterooms clean and our cabin staff, Ida, worked hard, went out of his way to accommodate us. In fact, it appeared all the staff worked hard. The age of the ship and it's condition was the problem. Also, the massage room in the spa was ice cold! 

Food was horrible.  Dining room food was not good.   Cabins were cold as heat did not work.  Shower flooded the bathroom.  Gentleman working at cash in desk in casino was rude.  Stated,  "do not use my pen,  use the one for guests only"  Seriously?

The air temperature in enclosed public areas, including restaurants, was uncomfortably cool/cold.  Many people, by necessity, wore cold weather clothing in these interior areas.  In restaurants, food, intended to be served hot, became cold before it could be eaten.  Never once did I see anyone from food service ever check the food temperature.

The quality and variety of food available at the restaurants and buffet was lacking. The menus at the restaurants and buffet were similar from day-to-day, with only minor changes in some categories. New choices very limited.  BORING!!!!  The temperature in the restaurant did not help the atmosphere.

NEEDS..........

Better control of HVAC.  More menu variety.

Loss of DIRECTV signal.  Message on screen indicated signal loss caused because of geographical position of ship.  Signal loss continued for last half of cruise.  Signal loss message was still displayed upon return to NYC port.  HOGWASH!!!!!!!

I thought the staff on the Carnival Sunshine were all friendly and nice.

Professional without a doubt.

This particular Ship was a little older than the boat on my last cruise, but no real complaints. They refurbished it nicely...

No rock climbing wall though :(

fell in Love with Halifax Port....

nice ship, good food and service. nice entertainment and Emma the cruise director was very good.

Will like to cruise again

Good shows

It should have an indoor swimming pool

Should show indoor movies

Casinos were good

The staff was very friendly. I think it was the best part. Plenty of food. Room was smaller compared to its picture during the booking.

The ship looked old, the windows were very dirty. When you look at the beautiful ocean, the windows just distracts you with their dirtiness. 

I had a good time, very good service in fine dining even in buffet, my suggestion regarding food for us Asian, during cold weather, we're looking for soup noodles. With entertainment, you should have 90's and discos for current, room attendant are very good no complain.

Food and Entertainment is excellent. Ill recommend Carnival Sunshine to everyone . The crews, stewards, dining waiters, hostesses are so attentive and hospitable. The entertainment director is vey lively and nice.

One of my favorite parts of the cruise was the dining experience.  The staff was well dressed!  The entertainment they had each evening was wonderful.  They were profession, spoke well English.  They were also eager to serve and quick with service.

First, the good. The staff was friendly and very helpful. The food in the dining room was very good and the staff very professional. The ship had a lot of nice little bars and areas. I suggest that you explore as soon as you can to find them. Guys Burgers are great! Very nice water rides and activities on upper deck.

The bad...food in the buffet is not good. Stick to the dining room. You can sign up for "your time dining" for more convenience. Also, the Wok and Italian for lunch is not great. A few small shops. However, there is not one that sells basics you may have forgotten...toothpaste, pain medications etc.  The shows were poor. Not the quality of others ships. Room was ok, lots of storage but a little tight. We had some bad weather while in port(not Carnivals fault) however everything on the ship is shut down, nothing to do for 9 hours, especially for kids.

All in all, it was ok but your $ can be better spent on another ship.

carnival has made cruising a sickening.cheap but very expensive vacation the spa would not give out as much as a robe. I had to fight to get carnival to give me the liquor I had purchased. I realized the staff had no idea how to disembark. I did not find their uniforms to be proper.

the food was good and staff very nice

the drinking, so very loud everywhere, the pool area was too crazy

we have done many cruies over the years.    I think for me the ships are too big so many people 

i would to find out if there are still smaller ships

My favorite part of the ship were the crew members that made my experience fantastic.  Emma Nixon (cruise director), Andrew (crew member with the mostest). Tom & Jo (dance teachers) Min (Cabin Steward for 9162) Divan, Dorothy, Jovana, Mike in the Sunrise Dining Restaurant.

Gayan and Natasha in the Cloud 9 Spa.  The entire staff at the sushi restaurant.  Ruxandra and Elena at guest services.  Clarke at the Red Frog Pub.  The beautiful and talented latin singer who primarily sang at the Havana Bar, and the hardest working pizza maker I have ever met who manned the pizza to all the loud, drunk, rude passengers. He never lost his cool.

What I will say having cruised on the Splendor, I did have more fun activities and experiences with the crew that made us feel more welcome.  But I will say I did not run into anyone nasty or rude.  Although, tired most people were very pleasant, tired but personable.

However, those individuals mentioned above, went out of their way to create a memorable EXPERIENCE

Enjoyed the staff and the food. Excursions could have been better. The ship needs an overhaul. Disappointed the pool area did not have a cover so we could enjoy the pool in cool and rainy weather. 

We had a wonderful time on the cruise.  Emma the cruise director was amazing at entertaining the folks in the atrium area of the ship.  The shows, and staff were very good.  If we needed anything big or small they were their to get it for us. 

The best part of this cruise was the staff, they were helpful and pleasant. They are Carnival's best asset. Getting on and off the ship was easy, we carried our own luggage off and was out in a half hour.

A complete review of my cruise can be found here:

http://www.bapcentral.com/2016%20Carnival/2016Cruise.htm

It includes everything I found aboard the Carnival Sunshine and the port excursions.

Summary:

JiJi dining room on ship was excellent. Comedians were fantastic. Food was average in other areas of ship.

We sailed with a group of four.  Fun for all on a very nice itinerary to Boston, Portland and the Canadian cities of St Johns and Halifax.  The crew was really friendly all around the ship  It was obvious that their kindness and warmth were a priority up and down the chain of command.  The food was wonderful, especially in light of the opposite experience with Royal Caribbean on a recent cruise.  Carnival's food service was far superior.   

Our room was nice and we had a large balcony which we enjoyed. The housekeeping crew were great and greeted us by name. The food in the Lido buffet was poor quality and generally luke warm to cold by the time you sat down to eat. The dining room food was a bit better and was at least hot. I was really looking forward to afternoon tea but was highly disappointed. They only had Lipton tea unless you paid an extra 1.95 for a different kind. Not much of a selection of finger sandwiches or goodies. If you wanted milk in your tea, they brought the milk and poured it into your tea. If you had a second cup, you had to ask for milk again. There were lots of entertainment and activity options. The spa was very pushy in selling additional services and their products.