This was a 13 day "journeys" cruise on the fairly recently refurbished Sunshine. Like other reviewers stated, the design sacrificed some public space to accommodate more staterooms. I like most of the 2.0 changes, but found it lacking in a couple of areas. There were only 2 pools and 3 hot tubs, not nearly enough for this size ship. The redesign benefitted Carnival by creating rooms for more passengers, and more bar areas to make Carnival more money.

As for the longer "journeys" cruise, we chose it for the itinerary, but mostly because we knew the cruise length and timing would probably limit the amount of children aboard, and we were right. What we weren't counting on however, was that this was a virtual floating nursing home. The average passenger age was 72. At every port there were ambulances waiting to haul people away, and also at the debarkation port. Around 187 passengers and 5 crew fell ill with mostly norovirus, and some upper respiratory stuff mixed in. The medical unit was SLAMMED. I must say, Carnival did an excellent job informing people of the need for hygiene, and were diligent to disinfect surfaces, and place staff in charge of serving utensils during meals.

This in turn brings out some rather harsh comments for fellow passengers: 1. I know that common civility has basically been forgotten, but folks, PLEASE wash your hands after using the bathroom and DON'T lick your fingers and handle shared serving utensils in the buffet lines. It is like spitting in other's food. The next time I see it, I am really tempted to do just that, spit on the offender's plate. Aside from a fleeting moment of revengeful satisfaction though, I would probably be thrown off the ship. But, hey, feel free to slobber all over your hands and then put them on the surfaces we all must touch, and get away with it. 2. If your health and mobility are so compromised that you probably SHOULD be living in a nursing home, please don't inflict your infirmities on other passengers. You are forcing everyone around you to accommodate your debilitated condition. I am 63 soon to be 64. I am NOT unsympathetic to the degradations of age as I'm headed down that same road, but I hope I would have enough discretion and sense to forgo trips and activities in which I can no longer safely or selflessly participate. Just because you can AFFORD to cruise doesn't mean you should. I paid for a vacation as well, and did not expect to feel like a nursing home attendant while supposedly enjoying myself. Read more