Carnival Sunshine Review
Rating by category
Additional details
I booked this 4th of July cruise to celebrate my DS' 16th birthday. I booked on the Early Saver rate back in October 2014 and thought I would get many price drops. Nope, didn't happen but I did pay what I thought was totally worth it for an 8 night Southern Caribbean cruise to ports we've never been to before. This was our 3rd Carnival cruise after cruising RCCL and Disney. We really, really liked the Sunshine. I admit I was kind of nervous after reading some extremely negative reviews. But I'm a pretty active member of the message boards and saw a lot of recent posts from cruisers who absolutely love her. I went in with an open mind and had one of the best cruises I've ever had.
EMBARKATION~
We have family in the area, so we only had to rent a car to get to their house and then the port the next day but not worry about a hotel. We got an email from Carnival saying the Sunshine was slightly delayed due to a medical emergency and to come to the port after 2 pm. That was perfect because I had a few last-minute errands to take care of before getting on the ship for more than a week. I dropped off the fam at the port then hurried back down the road to Avis to drop off the car. Thankfully, there were no lines and there was a shuttle waiting to take a busload back to Port Canaveral. We jumped in line and were through security in no time. The most time spent was in the line before checking in at Guest Services. But it took less than 15 minutes to get up front. I give Carnival credit for moving things along efficiently and expediently. We were onboard and excitedly walking the ship in another 15-20 minutes.
Cabin Review
Ocean View
We really liked this location on Deck 5 in the aft of the ship. We were so close to everything! It was especially convenient at night for YTD check-in near the Taste Bar. We were starboard so we never had any views of the ports but I've been on almost 10 Caribbean cruises, so when you've seen one then you've seen them all. It was very rocky, especially at night. It doesn't bother me but helps me sleep soundly. My daughter got a little queasy, though. The one thing that bothered me was it seemed like it was the size of a balcony. Definitely not as wide as the other OV cabin we stayed in on the Dream. It may just be the OVs on Deck 5 are smaller because they're new with the refurbishment from 2013.
Port Reviews
Port Canaveral (Orlando)
Okay port since it's easy to get to right off 528. However, I will rethink renting a car after disembarking going forward. My patience was tested by Budget in Cocoa Beach, so I'm glad I was in a good mood. It took us an hour to get picked up by the shuttle and more than an hour to rent a car once we got to the local office. It was soooooo bad. I didn't leave Cocoa Beach until noon. Budget just needs a better system to deal with all of the reservations from cruisers. They definitely need more than one shuttle picking and dropping off at the port.
Grand Turk
Grand Turk was my DS birthday so I wanted to get him on a jet ski. Well, there were no jet skis on the beach in Grand Turk. It was extremely and obnoxiously loud at Margaritaville and the drinks were expensive but not good IMO. Only 1 or 2 of the frozen concoctions in the machines were available. We decided to walk up the beach to Jack's Shack and ended up having a blast. It really is a fun place to hang out for a few hours. So laidback and has a cool beach vibe without the pretensions of Margaritaville. My DS ran into friends and they decided to do the big inflatable couch water boat ride that pulls you fast across the ocean. Be warned, it does not have seat belts. He had to hold on for dear life or get thrown off in the middle of the ocean. All in all, we had so much fun my family was one of the last to leave to head back towards the ship.