We have been cruising since 1992. Our very first cruise was on the Carnival Mardi Gras and we were hooked. We are not loyal to any one cruise line as we select based upon the itinerary and have not found any significant differences from one cruise line to another. This was our 8th cruise on Carnival and our only disappointing one. First for the positives: The itinerary was attractive with stops in San Juan, St Thomas, Grand Turk, and Nassau. The ship was very clean, the beds were comfortable, and the employees were pleasant and hard-working. However the negatives were such that I am writing my first ever review in hopes that the cruising experience will not continue to decline.

As many others have noted the ship is overcrowded, especially the buffet area. Despite the attendants' efforts, the area is so chaotic that it was impossible to enjoy eating there. And yes the floor is slippery as you enter from the Guy's Burger Joint, my husband almost slipped and fell. Others have complained about the comedy shows being crowded, but it seems that they have addressed that by having the comics announce that they are repeating the exact same shows 3 times each night so guests are encouraged to come to only one of them.

In my opinion, the way this ship handles Your Time Dining is absurd. We have chosen YTD since Carnival implemented it and we have always loved it, until we sailed on the Sunshine. Guests must check in on Deck 5 to receive a ticket and then go down to Deck 3 to enter the dining room. We like to dine early so we got in line at 5:30 the first night and an attendant told us that it was because they did not want the hallway entering the dining room to become so crowded that it could be a fire hazard. We quickly learned the following nights that if you did not get in line early (by 4:45), the line extended back into the smoke filled casino and you had to stand. So the third and fourth nights, we were first in line to get a ticket. However when we went downstairs to enter the dining room, the hallway was so crowded that we could not get off the stairs as the hallway was full of people who had YTD that I had seen in line the first two nights now saying that they did not have to get a ticket. And indeed they entered the dining room ahead of all of us who had been standing in line upstairs for over an hour. I called the maitre d' to ask for an explanation and he told me that these were people who had 5:30 assigned dining. Excuse me? Assigned dining times are 6:00 and 8:15, but he said that they don't advertise the 5:30 time. He explained that the guests who came to him and were unhappy with having to check in on Deck 5 and wait for a ticket could come to the dining room at 5:30 without having to check in. I told him that was extremely unfair and inconsiderate to the thousand other guests standing in line for an hour or more, so he told me that we could also come at 5:30. I declined his offer as I could not be so inconsiderate to the other passengers and I did not encounter anyone who did not find it a huge inconvenience to waste a good part of their cruising day standing in line for a ticket. So for the last 3 nights we went to the overcrowded buffet and I doubt if we sail with Carnival again. If we do I will definitely make sure that Your Time Dining is not handled in this haphazard way.