Carnival Sunshine Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Great ports of call. Carnival did great job by switching up the order of ports to skirt storm Hermaine. On board activities were so so. Food was mediocre but service by staff was excellent. Ship was clean but got tired of having to cross thru the casino to get from one end of the ship to the other for shows. Smoky smell in casino needs addressed. Would recommend this cruise though. 

First of all, When we got to the Terminal,The lines were a mile long. It took us almost  three hours to go through security and check in!!! Once on the Ship we were starving but had to go wright to the emergency drill. Then after that we could finally go to get lunch,but nothing open but Pizza.

Dinner service was horrible so we complained and we were seated in another section and it got much better. Shows were just ok, Comics were good!

Housekeeping was excellent!!

The specialty restaurants were delicious!!   

Ports of call for this trip nothing great except Boston.

My Wife and I have been on at least 10 Carnival cruises and by far this one was the worst!

Our captain varied from the schedule to keep us away from a hurricane, I am glad safety comes first.

The ship's staff was excellent in all ways. Our excusions were adjusted with the new schedule. 

I paid extra to have my baggage handled all the way to the airline, it was not as seemless as before but I never had to drag it long distances.

Never got the $50.00 cabin credit I was promised.  What's up with that?  What more can I say, I want the money that was promised.  Not impressed with any outfit that promises something that they do not deliver.  Talked to the Carnival office and they checked the computer and said that they found nothing about a credit to be put onto my charges.

When getting a deal like Carnival gives, you get what you pay for, not much. Carnival will use any and every opportunity to nickel and dime you. Almost felt harassed by staff continuously trying to sell something. Food is ok, but nothing to write home about.  Desserts are all but tasteless. If you go, just know what to expect and you can enjoy yourself in the ports of call. The best staff is the Housekeepers.  

We were on deck 1 inside cabin which was a decent size.  There weren't enough drawers compared to other Carnival ships and not enough hangers in the closets or selves.( fortunately I also bring my own extra hangers)   This would be a definite problem if more than 2 people were in the cabin. There was no mini fridge but our steward was great in getting us an Ice bucket and filling it with ice each day. We also missed the samples that they used to leave in the bathrooms.

This particular cruise had 1000 kids on board ( it was the last cruise before school started.)  Many were very rowdy and had no respect especially at night running around and banging on the walls.  We were very fortunate to be in a quiet area but heard many complaints from other passengers.  We normally travel to the caribbean in Sept but couldn't find a cruise leaving from NY at that time.

The food wasn't that great in the Lido deck  it was much better in the dining room.  We had your time dining and had to go to deck 5 to get a ticket when we were ready to eat each night and had to be in the dining room within 20 minutes.  We were able to have the same waiter each day ( Wilfredo was great) the restaurant was on deck 3.  They had to do it this way since it would avoid crowds at the entrance.

There wasn't enough entertainment during the day.  If we had poor weather we would have been very bored staying in the ship. I also heard other passengers saying the same thing.

We are non smokers and we couldn't spend time in the casino. It was horrible with the smoke.  You had to walk thru it many times to get to other parts of the ship.  Carnival should have alternate days smoking and non smoking in the casino so everyone can enjoy it.  I feel this is doable since the rest of the ship is non smoking.

The shows were ok. I have seen much better.  Every day it was a music theme from different decades.  After a while it seemed like the same thing.  They performed well but many times the singing was painfully off key.

The comedy shows were ok the PG ones were much funnier than the R shows .  We are in our 50's and enjoy comedy but the R shows weren't that great. The had 4 different comedians in the 9 days.  There were several times for the same shows so everyone would have a chance to see them.

The ports of calls were great, although getting off and on took time.

Embarkation on the first day was very smooth and quick. disembarking was crazy when we got back to NY  They told everyone to get off by their deck as it was announced but it was obvious many people got off when they felt like it and it took alot longer.

   The gift shops were ok; I didn't think there was enough variety of merchandise.

The photos seem to keep getting expensive 5x7 11.99  6x9 14.99 and 8x11 I think was about 22.00. 

As a gold member we did like that Carnival gave us some perks such as a complimentary cocktail, free liter of water we were also celebrating our anniversary and the gave us a voucher for a free dinner at either the chinese or italian restaurant  also a 25.00 gift card for a bottle of wine and a 50.00 gift card towards the Spa.

The ship itself was very nice and refurbished around 2012.  It wasn't the typical red wood theme but brass and marble.  Pool area was small and crowded.  We did love the serenity area for adults 21 and over.

We also thought the sports area was great; there was large water slides ping pong and pool tables  shuffle board   bean bag toss   twister   foos ball tables   mini golf and arial tight walking  there was also a separate play area for young kids.

There is also a self laundry service and ironing board/iron if you need it

Overall we had a decent time but  I don't think we would sail the Sunshine again.  Their other ships are bigger 

Had fun just missed the small amenities that they used to give.  The maitre'd

was snotty, but the workers were wonderful. Not really enough things to do , but the piano bar was great. Will definitely sail Carnival again, but not Journey.

I have to do this more often!  I was skeptical at first--being that it's hurricane season. Fortunately, everything went REALLY well.  The people running this ship kept ahead of Tropical Storm Hermine and we made it to NYC before the storm arrived here.  My thanks to the Captain and the crew!

I have excellent reviews for the Oceanview Stateroom that was so comfortable and especially for Augus our stateroom attendant.  He is a very friendly and respectful person.  He took great care of us all.  My niece would ask him everyday what animal would he be doing with the towels and he would keep it a surprise, which she enjoyed very much.  He was excellent in everything he did.

I want to compliment the Sunset Dining Room Team that attended us: Conrado, Stefan, Deena and Godfrey --EXCELLENT!!  They were ALL very professional, personable and attentive--they took really good care of us!  I was so impressed by them that I though, if I were an owner of a restaurant, I would hire them in a flash!

The Guy Burgers were delicious. I would have them as a snack 'round 3pm.

We visited San Juan, Puerto Rico and St. Martin, St. Thomas and Grand Turk/Caicos islands.  The employees AND the passengers were all friendly.  Overall, I had a lovely, lovely time!  (Can't wait to do it again.)

This was a family cruise to celebrate my 50th birthday. A total of eight family members went on the cruise, ranging in age from 8 years old to 50, and everyone had a great time. There was plenty for everyone to do, and the staff were great.

I have been on 5 cruises this was 2nd time for the carnival and Im just so very disappointed in the whole experience, to begin with the lay out of this ship is terrible you have to go through a very smoky casino to get to dinner the ship is way to small for the amount of people. Not much to do. The main shows in liquid lounge where awful they need to change them they really can not sing. the food was the worst i've ever had although our waiters were great Wisnawa and Kermith and a few others but our table placement was bad we where next to a pole and every night 2-3 times during our meal 3 of us had to get up push our chairs in so people could get by with walkers and wheelchairs. Never have i had such bad food. some of the crew where also very rude which i have never experienced before . My sister was told I didn't ask you if you wanted a drink when she was approached by a waiter and said no thank you she thought he was going to ask her if she wanted a drink I was shocked by how he talked to her. Then we had teenage kids running up and down our hallway screaming at anytime between 1-4 in the morning we where awoken 7 of the 9 nights with this kind of behavior we did complain but nothing was done. Our room service tags where also removed by these kids We are not the only floor that had this problem my daughter and her family where on deck 7 we where on 8 and they had the same problem also talked to people on deck 6 that also had this problem. My sister who is 76 was almost completely knocked off her feet twice by 5-7 teenagers when we was walking around pool area by the same group of kids. they never even tried to apologize or even act respectful at all. Disembarkation was a complete joke didnt get off until 10.45. We had hired a driver to be there at 10. I thought that was plenty late enough. well he wouldn't wait so we had to try and find another ride which ended in us having to take 2 cabs at double the cost of our original driver.. We did however never have a hard time finding a chair around the pool at anytime. This cruise cost me almost the same as my last cruise on the Celebrity going on a 14 day trip. I would never recommend this ship to anyone. Save your money go on a Celebrity 

My favorite part was:

the comedy shows

showtime

the dining room sstaff 

games on desk eg..scavenger hunt 

the music...

i would not take another cruise out of NYC ..

the teenagers were UN-ruly UN supervised, out of control,,,no behavior, disgusting, annoying, running around the ship...throwing their sandals from the higher deck down to the atrium...etc..

My favorite part of the cruise was interacting with crew members. The crew especially entertainment crew was amazing. I have an 8yr old son who was head over heals for the cruise director Emma. Emma had so much energy. Autuum, Angelo, and Mingyong to name a few were also terrific. As usual the maintenance staff and dining staff were amazing. My family was fortunate to dine with wait staff Conrado from Colorado, Min, Ayo, and Deena Reade.

I had a small hiccup with kiddie carnival staff. My son and god daughter both made complaints that the staff were being too harsh and mean to the children. I spoke with the staff and they promised to look into it. This is my 4th carnival cruise and 7th overall cruise and this was the 1st time I ever got a complaint from my son. 

The worst part of my vacation was the unsupervised children running around the ship causing havoc all times of the day. Back in the day carnival used to have a curfew for all minors under the age of midnight. I strongly ask that you go back to it. The kids were running around the ship, riding the elevators after hours, fighting, cursing, bullying, and being extremely disrespectful to adults. I personally stopped 4 fights and 2 people from bullying younger kids. I did not allow my 16yr old cousin to attend teen camp because I did not want him around those kinds of kids. They even pushed the emergency button on the 10th floor next to camp and ran. Luckily a staff member was nearby and was able to close it back. Every adult I spoke to had the same complaint. This was my 1st time sailing out of my home town NY and I am not sure I will do it again.

On the other hand, DJ Surge was the man of the hour at night time. He plays the best music and had the crowd on their feet each and every time. The other DJ that came on towards the end of the ship was not too great. He played a lot of old school music and most of the people in the club were young. I believe DJ Surge should be the main DJ on the ship. He interacts with the guest during the day, extremely polite, and definitely easy on the eyes. Plus the crowd loved him.

The ports were went to were really nice. The excursions could be a little more pocket friendly. It was smooth getting on and off the ship. The beaches were beautiful.

The movies that played on the big screen were nice but if you want to draw a huge crowd then the movies need to be more up to date, At least movies that came out this year would be great.

I am looking for another journey cruise to take my son on next year, hopefully it turns out to be better than this.

The comedy shows, food and overall service was amazing. The staff was so accommodating. I just wish there was better ventilation in the casino because just walking through it, you leave smelling like cigarette smoke after literally 10 seconds. Also, more enforcement of adult only areas is needed, because kids would sneak into places they were not supposed to be in, however like I said overall I still had a great time. 

I don't really have a favorite part of the cruise, it was an ok cruise, not much going on that I could see the shops were boring not much stuff in them I've spent more money on other cruise lines at the shops the food was good the drinks were light the shows were ok, 

The whole cruise and boat needs improvement, the Boat was much too small for the amount of people on it!! The staff could benefit from diversity training. There need to be more security to curtail the wayward teenagers that ran in packs and took over the Lido deck every night. Too many bad experiences on one cruise!!

  Our Family of 5 booked this cruise two months before the departure date, and our room was one of three left on deck one, at the time being a Platinum member I just new we would get upgraded, to a nicer location than what we had, At the time of booking we were told by the carnival rep to call back frequently to see if there were any other rooms available for (5) people, as there were none at the time of booking, we called twice a week until the day of departure, nothing was available and we were told at that time to board and ask the customer service desk, what they can do for us. we did, and was also told at the desk "awww" that Carnival had employee service people working on board and all of the rooms were being used by their employees, so we would have to stay in our reserved room. That wasn't what I had in mind, being a platinum member, but ok we worked with it. Being past carnival cruisers we just new we could overlook the room and still have a wonderful time.

   The ship is indeed beautiful but so many of the wonderful things about carnival was taken away and or up charged, for no apparent reason. Charging $2.00 for a cup of tea after dinner is ridicules, having no dish in our bathroom of dental freebee's ie tooth paste, or mouth-wash, was disappointing, as well as scaling way down on the variety of food in the dining room, passing off a gourmet dinner in the dining room with fried chicken, that was way way over cooked, and it almost felt like a frozen from a box piece of weaver chicken, is un-acceptable, filet mignon that you couldn't even tell was a meat product, it looked like a piece of already chewed overcooked slab of fat and grizzle, served on my plate for dinner un-acceptable, offering tofu as a main course dinner option and overcooking just about everything that came on a plate and served for me and my family's dinner, is completely, un-acceptable, the service at our table was awful, and we were at most times leaving close to last out of the dining-room because of the poor service, it was terribly slow, our waiter was very un-attentive at times and seemed to care more about the larger tables that our 5 person table, Shame on you Carnival. what happened to having three different people taking care of your dining table at dinner? we felt that we were almost forced to pay the up charge for hopefully a better meal, we kept the faith, hoping and praying that tomorrow's dinner would be better than the night before, but that never happened for us, night after night a disappointing meal, i was almost embarrassed because i was the one that wanted to cruise again with carnival, my husband didn't.

So between the nickel and dimming everywhere around us and the disappointing meals on this cruise it has completely pushed my husband and i over the edge and after so many years of cruising with Carnival we will now look at other cruise lines for our future vacations.

  Wise up Carnival and stop being so cheap with your guests that work all year for their one week vacation, and spoil your guests, like you use to. 

Not very active activities.  Had better times at other cruises.  This is my 13th cruise and I feel I did not get my money worth.  This included the food at the set time of our dinner.  The waiters were great, but the food was never cooked to order or I did not get my food.  Usually the shows and the food are the highlight of the cruise, but not this time.

My 4 kids and I just returned from this cruise. We had a great time. Things have changed over the years I guess as there were less shows. There was always a comedian that you could see if that's what you like. We loved our waitstaff and hope to show them Boston when they come here later this year. These guys work very hard as well as the employees that clean your room.

The ship had 2 pools. One for adults and one for everyone, however the pools were too small for the amount of people cruising. 

I don't like the drink package deal. If your over 21 and want to buy the liquor deal, your allowed up to 15 drinks a day. If you have more than 1 person in your cabin that wants to buy the package, then every one else over 21 has to buy the package. ($440. each) We were casual drinkers that had 5 drinks in 8 days. If we bought the package, it would have been over $880.00. What's the downside of this? If people are buying this package, they're encouraged to drink more because they paid for it. One person isn't allowed to drink that was over 21 and they would still have to buy the liquor package. Next time I will research further to see if I got a letter from a doctor, that the liquor package wouldn't be required. Perhaps they can have a 5 drink package a day. 

They had a raffle ticket that you would earn for every $50 you spent and every day they would pick 1 ticket from a box and give a $100. gift away. For the amount people are spending and the crowd that shows up to hopefully win as you have to be present, they should be giving away 5 $100. gifts or an assortment of prizes. 

The casino would have been fun to go and try your luck, but the cigarette smoke in the area was too strong. I have nothing against smokers, but it was tough to walk through, 

Stopping at the different islands was fun. I was happy we all went on our own and didn't do the excursions as the prices were too high for a family of 5. 

My son and I had a wonderful time on our cruise and will definitely cruise again.  We enjoyed the food, the shows and the hospitality on our trip.  Our Room Stewards, Sweca and Rosser were great.  They took care of us and we enjoyed how nice they were to us.  As a suggestion, I think it would be good to be allowed to have the bottomless bubbles apply to room service charges and change for delivery.  Most of the time when you are ordering a drink, you are ordering food as well.  I was a bit dismayed to know that the beverage package that I prepaid for did not apply to room service.  Also, I think that two hanging ropes in the shower would be great.  Often times we had to hang our 2 swim suits and rash guards on the same line and it took a lot fo time to dry if there were two it would make the drying processes quicker.  Thank you for a most wonderful trip and I look forward to traveling again with Carnival.

It was an incredible experience for my entire family, there were plenty of activities and programs for all ages. It was my second cruise but the first for my children. They were beside themselves and all carnival had to offer. They made so much memories during the 8 days. Thank you Carnival Sunshine!