The Carnival Sunshine, although built in 1996, looks and acts like a brand new ship with it's $155,000,000 extreme renovation in 2013. The decor is gorgeous, (more sophisticated and subdued than some more gaudy Carnival ships.)

The embarkation went very smoothly. Because we upgraded last minute to a suite, we were able to skip the long lines at the port. We went from the dock to our cabin in less than 15 minutes. It doesn't get any better than that. 8 minutes later we were on deck 9 enjoying Guy Fieri's delicious burgers.

Speaking of food, the cuisine was top notch. Carnival added three specialty restaurants when they transformed the former Destiny into the Sunshine. The food and decor at all three favorably compares to excellent land based restaurants. They steaks and lobster was outstanding at Farenheit 555. The Italian food was great at the Cucina De Capitana. The food was creative and delicious at JiJis Asian Restaurant. The service at all three was excellent. All three were worth the nominal service fees charged. Read more