We are what you would call “frequent cruisers” We have completed 10 cruises, and have another one booked this coming January. Our experiences cover 3 day – 14 day cruises, so we feel we have a pretty good idea of what to expect when heading out for fun in the sun. Unfortunately, the Carnival Sunshine fell significantly short of expectations. If it appeared that we were the only ones who were dissatisfied, I would not have made the decision to post this comment. However, the number of unhappy cruisers were too numerous to be ignored, as were the lines at the Guest Services desk where passengers complained nonstop over the 8 day trip. To avoid anyone thinking I am too negative, I will begin by stating there are 3 positives to my 8 day cruise. #1-Our cabin was on deck 7. Our cabin steward was Maddie, who did an outstanding job (along with his team) to be efficient and responsive to our needs. The cabin was spotless, and whenever we walked through the hallways, everyone was polite, smiling, and very friendly. #2-the Playlist Players provided 4 shows that were excellent-a bit short, but full of energy, dancing, and great singing. Considering there is no actual theater on this ship, they did a great job with what space they had available. #3 My final positive is this-My October 2014 cruise on the Carnival Sunshine is positively my final cruise with Carnival. In past years, I’ve seen a decline in Carnival’s service, but this time was the last time I will waste my money and vacation. There are so many other cruise lines that care about the passengers having a positive experience.

The ship itself is very old, and not efficiently laid out. I had read online that the ship was refurbished in 2013, but come to find out, the only thing that was done was 200 additional cabins were added. The public areas are not able to accommodate the additional numbers of passengers. The pool deck is overcrowded, and there are too many areas that create bottle necks when trying to get around. The opening that leads from the pool deck to the buffet area is so narrow it is not possible for a wheelchair or scooter to pass at the same time as another passenger is walking through. The traffic jam is further complicated by the location of the self-service beverage dispensers. The buffet area has a self-pouring beer tap. $3.95 for up to 14oz of Bud Light. Swipe your card, and you dispense the beer yourself into a glass. There is absolutely no mention on this sign that a gratuity charge is being added for this. You think since this is a do it yourself item, you are truly paying $3.95 each time you dispense your own beer. WRONG-there is a gratuity charge added to this purchase. Shouldn’t this charge be a disclosed?? We didn’t utilize the main dining room often because we chose anytime dining. It turns out this was a bad idea. To go to dinner on the 3rd deck, you have to line up on the 5th deck-in a line that extends all the way back into the casino. You wait to get a “ticket” which you can then take down to the 3rd deck and get a table for dinner. If you are not in line at 5:00 or sooner, you can expect to wait for hours to get into the dining room. We ended up at the buffet a lot, which was pretty bad too. Food would be put out at 6:15AM or so for breakfast, and the shades were kept down till 7:30AM. It seems to be this would be unsafe food handling, and let’s not even mention the fact that food that was supposed to be hot was cold-not warm, or cool-but cold. If you wanted warm food, just head on over to the salad bar where the lettuce, potato salad, and fruit was all room temperature. It was very obvious the intention was to “encourage” us to use the additional restaurants that cost extra. I don’t mind paying for good food, but really resent the fact that the inclusive offerings were so limited, not maintained at a safe temperature, and of really bad quality. I could really go on and on. Calvyn, the cruise director constantly walked around with a surly look on his face, the way the bathroom was configured, you had to put your foot in the shower to sit on the toilet, the cabin didn't have a refrigerator or ice bucket, the mustard drill took an hour, while elderly people were struggling to stand, and a lady behind us was having a panic attack (we were standing 6 deep on deck 3), there was a lack of organized activities that didn’t revolve around inch of gold, art auction, or photo opportunities, limited TV access due to inappropriate dish locations on top deck, although kids are not supposed to be there, you are forced to walk through casino to get from one end of deck 5 to the other, new rule went into effect that smokers cannot smoke on balcony, which forces hundreds of people into spaces that are WAY too small for the number of smokers on the ship, and the main outside smoking area just happens to be on deck 10-right in front of Camp Carnival-not good putting this where the kids have to walk through a thick cloud of smoke, hand sanitizer stations are almost nonexistent. I’ll stop now, even though my list goes on and on. Think twice or maybe even three times before booking a cruise on the Sunshine.