Carnival Sunshine Cruise Reviews - Reviews

We booked this cruise because we saw the "documentary" on the Destiny's renovation into the Sunshine last year while on the Carnival Valor.  We were intrigued by the Sports Deck (and we never even ended up going back there once) and the Serenity Deck (loved, loved, loved it!).

Embarkation - We flew down to Miami from Ohio because two of our cabin mates live in South Florida.  We arrived Friday evening and then drove to the port Saturday morning.  From Weston, FL, it took us about three hours.  There was a bit of traffic when we arrived at the port around Noon.  We unloaded our bags at bag drop-off and then parked the car.  We had to wait for two friends who were arriving on a shuttle from Orlando.  Once everyone was at the port, we proceeded through the line around 12:45 p.m.  We were on the ship no later than 1:15p.m.  We carried on an entire carry-on size suitcase of mixers and 24 bottles of water.  Security didn't say a peep about our luggage or the water.  Easy peasy.  We were told the rooms would be ready at 1:30 p.m.  We went straight to our cabin to drop off half the mixers and then went to the other room to drop off the rest.  Both cabins had pre-ordered liquor through Bon Voyage and bottles were waiting for us when we opened the cabin doors.  We opted to indulge in a couple adult beverages before heading to lunch on Lido.

Lido - I did notice a sewer smell on the starboard side heading into the Lido Marketplace as you passed Guy's Burgers and the drink station.  It wasn't so powerful I felt nauseated, but I did smell it rather consistently through the cruise.  So I either walked through the port side or I walked very fast. LOL.  The space to walk in that area is narrower than on other ships.   The sewer smell was occasionally present on Deck 5 as you walked past the Shake Shack/Java Blue Café.  Speaking of the Shake Shack – I had the Vanilla Caramel Bourbon one…delish!

A few opted for Guy's Burgers, a couple went to the Deli with the others finding something on the buffet.  We sat in the back of the ship by the Havana Bar/Ji Ji's/Cucina del Capitano.  There was a lot of extra space available back there in the mornings and lunch.  At night, only the center section and extreme back area are available for public seating as the sides are reserved for Ji Ji's and Cucina del Capitano.

Went back to the cabin and waited for muster drill.  Because we were hanging out in our friend's spa cabin, we did muster drill in the comfort of the Liquid Lounge. :)   After muster, back to our cabin to continue our sail away celebrations.

We opted for the Lido buffet for dinner the first night.  There were plenty of choices to choose from.  We called it an early night as we were all exhausted from traveling.

First Sea Day - We slept in and woke up about 8:30.  Grabbed breakfast on Lido and then tried to find seating on the Serenity Deck.  Most of the chairs were occupied by the time we got up there, certainly there wasn't five chairs together.  We did manage to find two together and then three adjacent, so that worked out on the top deck.  It was a bit overcast, so it wasn't so much a sun day.  Dinner was our first elegant night.  We did our tour of various photo backdrops and then headed to the Late Seating for dinner in the MDR.  We had Michael in the Upper Sunrise Dining Room was great!  Every time we saw him working his tail off on the Lido deck during the day, he always had a smile on his face and addressed us by name. 

Monday - Cozumel.  We made recommendations at Nachi Cocum on the basis of a couple of friends' reviews.  It did not disappoint!  It was a quick cab ride there.  For six people it is $32/one way plus tip.  Cab fares are well advertised.  The resort was small, clean and the drinks were free flowing! The Carnival Glory was in port as well as a Disney vessel.  There were a few people already at the resort when we arrived.  We grabbed our chairs by the pool and let the day start.  We opted to do the Banana Boat.  What fun!  It was $15/pp and our jet ski driver tried to pitch us off the banana, but we four ladies held on! Victory! When we wanted to leave, we told our attendant and he called a cab.  It was there within 10 minutes.  Highly recommend Nachi Cocum!

Tuesday - Belize.  We opted to do our own thing this day.  Some tendered into port, others stayed on the ship.  This was the Chef's Table night.  If you have the chance, you should do it! The ability to see the galley in action. To have a reception with the chef, with various appetizers was truly wonderful!  I still remember every bite.  While I may not have been crazy about every dish, I tried everything! The wine is free flowing so if you like a basic white and a basic red, you are in luck! It was four different appetizers in the galley and then we went to see the Pastry Chef and learned how to make the famous Chocolate Melting Cake.  Very cool.  After that, they escorted us out of the galley.  Many of my friends thought that was it and we were done. I knew we were still in store for deliciousness!  A seven course meal waited for us in a reserved room in the Steakhouse.  If you are a foodie, the Chef’s Table is a must! We were beyond full by the time the sixth course came…never mind we still had the dessert course!  It was a highlight of the trip!

Wednesday – Roatan.  We had decided to stay on the ship here too.  The port has changed so much since I was here last in 2008.  Had I known about the beach area, I might have opted to go there, but as it was, I was happy to procure our seats in front of the waterfall pool on the first level of the Serenity Deck.  The pool was fresh water, which was a nice surprise. The last time I went into a cruise pool, it was salt water.  It was a hot day, so the proximity to the pool came in quite handy.  It is a small pool itself, but it does have a “beach entry” surrounding it so you can sit/lay there with a bit of water on you to cool off.

Thursday – Costa Maya.  This was a new port.  We signed up to the Catamaran through Carnival.  We had to be on the pier by 7:30 a.m. (ugh), but we made it by 7:45 and were still able to get on the bus.  The catamaran was smaller than I had been on previously, but it was nice just the same.  The bad news was that there wasn’t any wind this day, so we couldn’t sail.  So after everyone had snorkeled (I didn’t but my friends said it was some of the best snorkeling they’d done), we had to motor it back to the pier.  As such, we were back on the ship by 11:15 a.m.  So we grabbed breakfast (it was being served until 12) and then found a couple of chairs to get some more sun. It was another hot day, so we didn’t last too long out there.

Friday – Sea Day.  We took over two couch areas on the top level of the Serenity Deck this morning (there were five of us) and had a relaxing morning at sea!  That area was under an air conditioning unit of some sort, because it had cool air blowing. So cool that I was actually cold and had to cover up with a towel! It was some of the best napping I did all cruise! LOL.  We made reservations for the Steakhouse this night and while it was delicious as always, after our experience at Chef’s Table it was a bit of a letdown.  That and their stupid corkage fee.  The bottles were opened in our cabin and yet they were going to charge $10 to pour a $5 bottle of wine.  We declined their service and just drank our wine after leaving the Steakhouse.  (And I don’t want to get into an argument on the corkage fee…it was my understanding it was for “opening” the wine…)  This day was also International Talk Like a Pirate Day and while the decorations were sparse and the activites limited, one of my friends had gone to her local Halloween store and procured several items for us to be pirates.  We had a good laugh taking pictures with our pirate gear.

Saturday – Disembarkation.  Why is it that even if you didn’t buy one souvenir, your luggage is always heavier on the way home?  I’m convinced because all the fun you had is woven into your clothing!  LOL We elected to do self-assist with our luggage.  We met our friends for breakfast at 8 a.m. and by 9:00 a.m. we had our luggage with us in Ocean Plaza on Deck 5, waiting to be called.  It was organized, but a slow process.  We didn’t get off ship until a little before 10 a.m.  We finally passed through customs at 10:14 a.m. (I know because I looked at the time and 10/14 is my birthday).  No problems with customs, got the luggage to the car and away we were!

Overall, we had a great time and as with anything, it is what you make of it and who you were with.  I was lucky to be traveling with two of my oldest friends since 6th grade and my two newest besties and one of their husbands. 

Cabin review -

This is where the renovation failed.  We were four adult women in a balcony cabin.  The upper bed was a full sized bed that lowered from the ceiling, but the third bed was a "fold out" from the couch and it was not full length.  The balcony cabins that fit four are made for travelers with small children, not anyone over 5'4. 

The shower, however was an A+.  It was a larger shower than the standard corner.  I could have sat down and extended my legs fully on the floor.  It was nice night hitting the sides of the wall at every turn.

Made was our room steward and he was awesome!

Perhaps we have been spoiled by other cruise lines but this cruise was not what we had hoped for.  Why nothing was necessarily bad it had the feeling that they were doing the minimum to get by.  As a way of comparison it was like  we had become accustomed to staying in Hiltons or Marriotts and were now staying at a Days Inn.

While the evening meal was good the food at other meals was only adequate.  It was a surprise to have the Lido buffet close while we were considering choices; they literally pulled the blind down in front of us and told us they were closed.

From other reviews we knew that the entertainment would not be good and this was certainly the case.

The cruise was selected primarily for its itinerary and we want to try Carnival.  Now that we have done this it is unlikely we will return.

We have been on Carnival Sunshine before so that is what makes this last cruise not sooo good.  The 'your time dining' was just awful...the service was poor and wait time was very bad...food was just okay...not over the top.  

Our balcony room was terrific until water was on the carpet for four days...big noisy machine in room to dry it all out...thank goodness we had the balcony to go out to and get away from the noise.  

We were very pleased with the renovation of the Destiny....very unique décor thru ship.

We were equally pleased with the boutique food concept....the Italian and Asian eatery as well as the Blue Iguana were way above average cruise fair.....But, the best was Guy's burgers...we split one every day.

The amount of deck space devoted to adults has increased dramatically....but the pools on this ship are lacking in capacity.

The dinning was excellent as always and the service impeccable....aesthetically however the dinning rooms are nicer on other ships in the fleet.

Our cabin was only an ocean view but renovated and nice and roomy.

The bars on the ship all offered unique drinks and fantastic staff....most unique is the Alchemy Bar.

The main shows in the Liquid Lounge were unbelievable.....we have been cruising for years and never have been impressed this much with the singers, dancers, choreography, and set production...Fantastic!

The ports of call rotate but we were so happy to be able to visit Aruba and Curacao again and we were totally impressed with Grand Turk.

I was very disappointed in dining arrangements.  First of all, we could not get a table for two in the early or late dining room because we were told it was too small and only had larger tables.  So we had to do the anytime dining.   We had to go up to deck 5 every night before dining, wait in line to get a table number, registered at a counter, get a printed receipt,  and then go down two decks to the actual dining room. We had a different table each night.  We asked for table for two but they were actually only eight or ten inches apart so you heard everything the other table was saying.  We had different waiters every night so we did not get the pleasure of knowing our servers.  We ended up getting a table for 4 a couple nights and had more privacy.  Another thing I need to mention is the lack of enforcement of the dining room rules.  There were people in the formal dining room with flip flops, hats, tank tops, etc., and nothing was ever said to them.   If you have rules, they need to be enforced.  Lastly, the VIP disembark process was a joke.  There were people waiting in the designated area that were clearly not VIP's.  They had different color cards hanging around their necks in clear view so you could tell they weren't.  Nothing was said to them either.  There needs to be someone enforcing that rule as soon as the person enters.

In all my 30 plus years of cruising, I've never been on a cruise ship that was hot, I couldn't stay in my cabin long,because it was so  hot, I couldn't open the curtain at all because the sun would would have it burning up,I tried to open the curtain the first day and we had to close it an go up to the lido to get cool, you noticed I said cool, because you couldn't cold any place. Other people thru out the ship was talking about how hot it was and that was the first time they had been hot on a ship. It was hot in the dinning room, so hot on the elevators until I would walk up and down the stairs, hot in the halls and the liquid lounge hot, you couldn't enjoy the nice shows, we had to leave 2 nights it was so hot, those places are always very cold, but not this ship,  and  worst of all it was HOT in my cabin #1547. they sent house keeping twice and the 2nd time I wanted to be in the cabin to see where he was putting the thermometer for it to register 72, he was putting it on the dresser right where the air vent could blow right on it. I asked him to put it over by my bed or in the bathroom where it was very hot and he said Carnival tells him where to sit it so I just said OK under the air vent , he said as long as it registered between 70-75 it was  within carnival's standards .  It was my husband's birthday and our anniversary and we had to do the worst I've ever heard of, we had to stand in line every night to get a beeper or a paper slip to be able to go to the Dinning room to eat even after we got the beeper, we still had to stand in line at the door of the dinning room before we could go in, I asked the girls could we get assigned seating and they said the matr-d would call or send a note and we never heard from him. We are going on the Splendor with a group that we go on carnival with every Oct. this year we are going Thanksgiving week, if we have the experience we had on the sunshine, we will say good-by to carnival all of us. I heard people said they would go in the Havana to get cool, that answered why every time we tried to go in it was crowded. I've been on most of the cruise lines and have never experienced anything like this Very disappointed and we are VIFP members,  jesse and Alma Hale

The herding of passengers at various times during the cruise was most unpleasant.  The hogging of lounge chairs by some was more than annoying.  The high priced Carnival endorsed excursion was horrendous.  The loud and raucous atmosphere was disturbing.  The term " Serenity" was misleading. The staff was most gracious and food enjoyable.  But unfortunately the negative aspects of the cruise seem to prevail and therefor reduces(or eliminates) my desire to cruise on Carnival in the future.

I really enjoyed so much my 7 days cruise.  A lot of activities, very clean , good food and entertainment.  I spend time with 20 people of my family and we do not have any complain about our cruise.  Things could be better? of course, always.  Better show, better musical groups, better prices on pictures, free sodas, etc.  We always will ask for more.

These cabins seem to be an after thought. Felt like we were in a closet!!!  24 cruises and we were put in a closet. Did not like the Destiny and the refurbish did NOT improve her

small stateroom (like Rhode Island)

nothing exceptional about food even at "special" extra cost restaurants

table companions indicates fares they paid was much less

This would of been a amazing experience for our family and so many others that were on-board if the management on-board would have a better attitude towards there own workers and in return they would treat the passengers betters, those employees that are good are overshadowed by the bad.

Poor Customer Service on the ship and one swimming pool for 3,000+ passengers...what? The service is lacking big time. Excellent destinations, but horrible service on the ship. The dining, was nothing better than your typical Golden Corral Buffet restaurant. Room steward did nothing special only the bare minimum. One pool for 3,000+ passengers. Give me a break!!! The employee moral on the ship is sad. Tells me there is poor management.

Service was wonderful.  If dining room food was just a touch better, I would have rated it 5 stars.

The entertainment was awesome and Camp Carnival was a wonderful experience for the kids.  This rates pretty high on the list of cruises that we have taken.  We will definitely cruise with Carnival again in the very near future.

Great crew, food was pretty good in the main dining room, service was excellent. Stayed in spa rooms worth the money because of the quiet atmosphere. Comedy shows were really good . Sea side theater is fun. Great ship ,don't listen to the bad reviews about this ship no problems here.

We had a great time on board the Sunshine.  The crew was wonderful and very helpful.  Our room steward was Awesome.  He left us some great little presents each night and was willing to get me a bucket of ice at least twice a day.  The food was good and the drinks were Awesome!

The only bad thing was the pools were so small and we were packed in them on the sea days.  You could get in and stand next to your new friends and that was about it.  

One other suggestion:  Do not pay to go on the beach excursions.  Most of all the places that you get at, you can catch a taxi and get there a lot cheaper.  We traveled to St. Thomas, San Juan and Grand Turk.  The beach at Grand Turk is right next to the port.  If you want to do something really special then book an excursion.  

Liked everything but the smoking they let go on the ship. Food was good in the dinningroom on the Lido deck fair. The pizza was bad way to thin and greasey. Staff was great rooms very clean and nice.They need to vent the smoke out of the casino you have to walk through there to get to the dinning room. On the top deck they let the smoking go on where they were not to smoke and would not tell them to stop.

The Ship was smaller than I expected. The comedy shows were crowed.The food in the dining room was good. The wait staff was exceptional. They were ,Headwaiter Mustika,Team Waiter Kadek,Asst.Team      Waiter Drmytro.They made dining every night special.

Comedy Club (Punchliners) is to small, Main Theater is also smaller and can not accomadate the guests, This causes families to wait in lines of sometimes 1 hr to make sure they get into a show. Carnival is looking to use space on there ships and turn it into money making areas, some of the Lido deck Buffet area seating has been turned into  the Havana bar where Carnival can make money at night instead of that area being dead. Overall we made the best of the cruise but will not return back to the Sunshine because of its design. Many people on the cruise and at some Ports also had the same complaints.

The food, especially in the dining room, was excellent.  The wait staff was exceptional!  Our cabin steward was also excellent.  I would give it 3 1/2 stars, but could not get the half star to show.   The shows were very good - top notch.   The down side:  The music everywhere was very loud, which made it impossible to read on deck.     We were anticipating and looking forward to dancing while on this cruise; however, there were really no places or music to ballroom dance,  It would have been nice to dance a waltz on our anniversary!  This cruise was more for the younger crowd, though my "young at heart" husband did win the Hairy Chest Contest.

Cruise was pretty good overall. My family of 5, 3 kids are all teenagers (13,15,18). Wife and I was our 3rd time cruise, but its been 8+ years since last cruise (first on Carnival), kids first time cruise... So it was exciting to see the kids reactions to things for first time, although being older they dont show there excitement like younger age kids, but they said they really enjoyed it. Teen club(s) helped them meet new friends that they were able to hang out with during the trip. The water slides were fun, however the lines were long when open, probably because it was not open until noon each day, and the last day they did not open at all.. in my opinion they just didnt want to open or supply workers to open or whatever. They claimed it was due to wind, but was open the day before with even more wind. Kids were not happy about only 1 small pool. The were not allowed in serinity area (21 and older only), and the main pool was packed and mostly small kids. So we never got in : /

Workers were overall friendly, but not overly. Some bartenders or pool waiters seemed bothered, but that is the case anywhere I guess, some good.. some bad. Room steward "houston" (spelled different) was super nice and always smiling and calling me by my name when I saw him. All 5 of us in one room with ocean view and he contstantly kept our room / bathroom tidy and full of towels. The room was bigger than I thought, even when the rollaway bed was out we still had room to get around the room and get to bathroom. 

We had late dining and first nite were stuck in a booth with a chair on end, and was sort of in a corner. I was pretty upset we were packed in. It might be ok if the kids were smaller, but they are young adults and we felt crammed. Also the waiter was friendly but didnt engage with us. I spoke to maiterdee(?) and requested a larger table and more friendly and engaging waiter, being the kids first time I wanted them to experience what I remembered was cool about my past cruise waiter/waitress. The next night they put is in a large round table in the center of the balcony looking over the whole restaurant, it was great! They also had a complimentary bottle of champaine on ice waiting on us, and we had a very pleasant and engaging waitress (and staff). Her name was Florica from Romania, and she was great! I was very pleased they honored my request and we stayed at the same table and staff the remainder on the cruise. 

The food btw was pretty good. I never had anything I didnt like and Florica brought me doubles or let me try multiple dinners if I wanted to try different things or wanted more food. It wasnt the best I have ever ate, but overall was pretty good. While on food...Guys burger joint was awesome! and the burrito bar was also really good. Buffet was as expected and just OK, but plenty of choices. Wife and I only ate there for breakfast to be fair. We ate Guys or Burrito for lunch (when on the ship...4 days were were on land during lunch), and we ate the Sushi bar one night for dinner, it was really good sushi! although had to pay extra, but we spent $35 for 4 of us, so not bad.

Shows could have been better. I thought I remembered them more fun. Comedy magic shoe was best one. Hasbro game show was OK. The other were singing shows were just ok as well, IMO. 

We did have a BIG NEGATIVE with a spa worker named Alex. I was using the spin bike in a room all by myself and was there for half hour, wy wife was also there doing situps etc., when Alex walked in and said I could not use the bike and was for classes only. I told him I was almost done and he stood there and accused me of untieing the rope from the spin bikes. I told him it was not roped and I only moved the bike to center of room so I could look out the window at the land / port we were at. He kept standing there and threatend to call security, and again said there was no way I didnt untie the bike because he personally had tied them up hours before. I got really upset and we were in each others face at this point. So not to "lose it" further I left and spoke to a assist. manager that got me knowhere. I then filed a complaint with guest services and spoke to ship manager (George) and he was supposed to get back with me and never did. After a couple of days of checking back with guest services, we finally were able to speak to spa manager and she explained the bikes were usable if not being used for a class. I was even more mad knowing this and the guy (Alex) made such a big deal about me using one. She said he would be "spoken" to and would be reported in his file, but that didnt make me feel better. She offered "free" use of the steam or heated area of the spa, but that sounded nothing more than the sauna we have back home, so that was not even a nice gesture imo...wife and i never went back to gym / spa.

Despite this bad incident we did enjoy the trip and ship was clean. Would have liked to stay at one port overnight or at least into the night. We had to leave each day by 5pm or so (2pm last port day). So if not a early riser then you dont have long at each port. I would do this trip again if the price was right. Our trip was about $700-$800+ less on Carnival than other cruise lines. I am pleased with the savings and overal with the ship / cruise. I am sure you get what you pay for compared to other companies, but if your not a long time cruiser or real picky, then Carnival should be fine.