Carnival Sunshine Review

Hit and Miss

Review for the Eastern Caribbean Cruise on Carnival Sunshine
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asmodeon
2-5 Cruises • Age 40s

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Cabin

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Sail Date: Feb 2015
Traveled with children

This is going to be an odd review for me to write. I have sailed now with Carnival 4 times and am completely loyal to them, so kicking them a little seems unfair. I hate reviews that compare Carnival against other cruise lines as I don't think you can compare them to, say, Disney (which is almost twice as expensive). I do, and will, compare Carnival to Carnival as this is much more appropriate. To that end, this particular cruise ship fell a little short of what I have come to expect. The odd part of this review will be me saying that this was by FAR the best cruise vacation we have ever taken. But for the most part, it was due to the itinerary and excursions we took and not so much about the ship we were on.

First let me say that we are VERY laid back cruisers. I don't care to be waited on hand over fist and I am honestly sometimes uncomfortable when that happens. I don't need pampering, bronze inlaid hand rails and all of the bells and whistles to find pleasure with a cruise. Cruises, for me and my family, are about getting away, having fun and relaxing. We had an amazing cruise last year (2014) on the Breeze. This time (February 2015) we did the Sunshine. There are 5 of us: My wife and I and our three children (12, 5, 2). First, let me tackle the overall ship:

Ship layout: I had read many reviews before sailing that mentioned that the ship felt "chopped up" since the upgrades a few years back. While true that the ship is a little chopped up and interesting to try to navigate, what makes this ship pale in comparison to the Breeze is the lack of exterior decks and places to walk around on. Yes, you have the pool deck and the water park and those are outside, but on the Breeze there were exterior decks on the promenade as well as others that allowed you to completely walk around the ship when NOT near the pool. I get that the Sunshine is a completely different ship and knew it didn't have those options before I sailed on her, but it wasn't until I was on it that not having the option to walk outside on those lower decks bothered me. I have seen reviews mention that on the promenade you can't get from one end to the other without walking through the smoke filled Casino. Yes, that is completely true. Not a big deal for me but yes having an exterior walk way would be so much nicer for those folks that cannot stand the smell of smoke. Deck 3 and Deck 4 were complete wastes, nothing to really see on those decks as the areas to walk through are inside and are completely sealed off from views of the outside. I love that the Breeze and Vista (coming soon) embrace the idea of VIEWS and OPEN spaces. Carnival is definitely on the right track in that regard. I have heard some complaints about the Pool deck, but I had none. I actually liked the pool deck on this one better than the Breeze, especially during the night when movies were being watched. The pool area on these "older ships" feature stair stepped areas to layout and catch some sun, almost like a movie theatre style with each level a little higher than the next. The Breeze is one big open deck. So in this regard, the "chopped up" feel was nice because it provided some much needed separation and spacing options. I like most of the people I sailed with...but definitely didn't want to be practically laying on them while sun bathing.

Cabin Review

This room was great. We have three kids and the layout was fine and while it was a little cramped that is definitely something I knew about prior to sailing. The room layout was actually better on the Sunshine than the Breeze, one of the few areas it actually is better than that ship. I will say that a time will soon come where one room for all of us just will not be enough as if we actually had to use the provided trundle bed for the fifth guest there wouldn't have been an inch to move around in during sleeping times. Yes, you can tuck the thing underneath the bed during the day but it would be super inconvenient while sleeping if you had to get up to use the bathroom, etc. With our youngest still able to sleep in a pack and play it was much easier to move around at night.

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