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Carnival Dream

Carnival Glory

Carnival Pride

Carnival Liberty

Carnival Conquest

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Carnival Magic

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Carnival Panorama

Carnival Venezia

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Carnival Luminosa

Challenging circumstances, but still a great cruise!

Puerto Vallarta

I have been on many cruises and many on Carnival. Overall, I have loved the Carnival brand.  It is a good value for money.  However, the Sunshine is very well past her prime.  Not only is it an old ship but I found it to be very dirty. The crew also don’t seem to be as on top of their game as on other ships.  Slow service and not as welcoming. The layout is bizarre.  It felt more crowded and cramped than the Liberty, Conquest, and the large ships like Mardi Gras and Celebration.  Luckily, I have been on other carnival ships so this won’t deter me from going on others. It just won’t be on the Sunshine

The food was to be as expected on Carnival.  Specialty dining was great.  Main dining room not so much.  

Ports were great.  We especially loved Half moon Cay. Best private island we have been on to date.

Old and Dirty Ship

Wellington

I enjoyed all the activities on and off board, The fun started at the moment we’ve got on the boat, first thing was that everyone went to eat lunch and went straight after at the main deck where everybody was having fun dancing and drinking with the DJ playing all the perfect songs making you want to celebrate the occasion that you been counting the days for and finally you’re there, and than after one hour or so you can hear the boat sirens announcing it’s departure and everyone gathered on the top edges waving to the cars to say goodbye. Than we get to go to our rooms to rest a little and get ready for a a sitting down dinner at a beautiful restaurant and everyone dressed accordingly and enjoy a nice dinner meal, and than you can go after to the theater for a good laugh with a comedian and later go dancing and drinking at a night club of your choice depending of the type of music you like. 

Everyday is a different schedule and will be a memory. Love it

My lovely cruise experience 

Traveling on this cruise was myself, my husband and our 9 year old daughter. We booked this as a fall break cruise. Since it was fall break, the ship was sold out and there were a lot of kids onboard. But it seemed that everyone was well behaved. We had two issues of kids running down the hall outside our cabin late at night. But it wasn't any prolonged or excessive. Here's a quick breakdown of our cruise: 

Charleston - We had never cruised from Charleston before, but absolutely loved it! Embarkation was quick and easy! You give your checked bags to the porter before you even park your car. Once you get to the check-in building, everything seemed to run really quickly and smoothly. You do have to take a shuttle to the terminal building once boarding starts. But that is also quick and easy. Once boarding started, we were on the ship within 10-15 minutes. Debarking took a bit longer, but it wasn't too painful. One of the best things about cruising from Charleston were all the dolphins! There were dolphins everywhere around our ship and we loved watching them swim and play while in port. 

Food - I thought the food was great! We really didn't have anything that was bad. We had the free pasta bar twice for lunch - it was outstanding! We also did Blue Iguana once for lunch. For dinner, we ate in the main dinning room 4 of the 5 nights. Service was great and quick. We had late dining and most nights we were done in an hour and 15 minutes or less. The other night we had a reservation at JiJi's Asian Kitchen. I highly recommend trying JiJi's - it was easily the best meal we had on the ship! For breakfast, we did sea day brunch one morning. Food was good but service was very slow. We also did the Dr. Seuss breakfast our last sea day - food was awesome but service was also slow here! They do have several Dr. Seuss characters come in to pose for pics with the kiddos. I also ordered two party trays to be delivered to our cabin in the early evening on two nights. It was nice to have a little snack in our cabin. One tray was sushi and the other was mini desserts. This was a fully booked holiday cruise (fall break) so there were lines for food. Guy's Burgers always had a line, even late afternoon. But lines usually went quickly and seemed well organized. 

Activities - My kiddo didn't love Camp Ocean. I think she just is at an age where she doesn't want to do all the structured activities. But she loved the waterslides, Build A Bear workshop and all the free ice cream! One suggestion for those who are doing Build-A-Bear - get there early! We got their 30 minutes early and we were given number 24 (they call people up in groups of five to do their bears - so we were the 5th group called up). They were giving out numbers up to 125. Even being in the fifth group, we were there almost 30 minutes. So it can take a while! 

We did a couple of the shows and games. Deal or No Deal is great! It's even more fun if you buy some cards and play along. Several in our group won free entries for Bingo later in the week - which we did as well (unfortunately, no winners in our group at Bingo!). We also went to the World Works Here production show which was just okay. The singers were great, but it was a little cheesy. 

Other entertainment on the ship ran the gamut. We didn't take in any comedy shows this cruise. The music acts ranged from great to terrible. There were also other activities like crafts, trivia, kids storytime and parade, mini-golf, shuffleboard, tic-tac-toe, pool/foosball tables, basketball court, etc. 

The ship was also decorated for Halloween and had many Halloween themed events throughout the cruise. There was a trick or treat scavenger hunt for the kids, pumpkin carving contest, costume contests and late night Halloween themed deck party complete with all the best Halloween songs (Monster Mash, Thriller, etc.). It's always fun to cruise during a holiday and Halloween is no exception!

Spa/Fitness - I didn't work out in the fitness center, but did tour it. It is large with plenty of cardio equipment, weight machines and free weights. I did run on the jogging track which was great. There was one section of the track that was roped off for repairs to the surface. It didn't interfere much, just had to go around it. 

I also treated my daughter and I to a salon visit to get our hair done on elegant night. I had done this on another ship and loved how my hair turned out. This time was not a great experience. Her hair looked cute, but I certainly could have done it the same way for zero cost. It wasn't anything special. I had a picture of a simple updo that included a braid that I wanted done. The guy doing my hair couldn't do any type of braid - which I feel is a pretty basic hairstyle that most any stylist should be able to do. I showed him several other pics of different styles, but he just kept saying no and basically pushing me to do what he wanted to do. I didn't want to make a big deal of it in front of my kid, so I just went with it hoping it would turn out better than it sounded like it would - but it didn't. I went back to our cabin and took it down, washed it and styled it myself. Next time, I'll consult with the stylist on day 1 to make sure they can do what I want done before committing to the appointment. 

Casino - I played every night in the casino and never had an issue getting a seat at a table. I usually played Fun21, which is slightly different than traditional blackjack. Ended up walking away with some extra cash so that's always nice! 

Staff - As always, the staff is top notch! Our room attendant was great! We didn't really have any special needs in our cabin, but she always was ready to assist if we did. Our wait staff in the MDR was awesome! Everyone was always ready with a Hello, Good Morning or a quick smile or high five! 

WiFi/Hub App - I purchased the premium wifi package and also signed up for the chat feature on the Hub app to stay in contact with our friends who were also cruising with us. The hub chat was very spotty - I couldn't get it connected at all until Day 2 of the cruise and then sometimes it would just randomly not connect for a while. The wi-fi was mostly ok depending on where on the ship I was. But there were times when I couldn't anything to work on it. 

Overall, it was a great cruise! I would absolutely cruise on this ship again in the future for the right itinerary. The additions of upgraded dining, waterworks and sports square make this ship feel a lot newer than it really is!

Fall Break Cruise on the Carnival Sunshine

We chose this cruise because of its affordability and the amount of good things I have heard about it. WRONG! Maybe my standards are higher than others but this trip was not good. The positive things were the employees were always nice. Though most could not speak or understand English. I thought this a bit odd as we traveled out of Charleston, SC and most if not all guest spoke English. The best experience was half moon cay, I don’t have a single complaint about this stop except the transportation to and from the island was very overcrowded and felt like they were going way to fast. The food was horrible! The last night on the boat home felt as though we were rocking so bad we might flip. Went to build a bear at sea worst experience ever they did not have enough of each to go around my kids were pissed. I ordered my daughter a virgin pina colada and they put alcohol in it and she got SICK! She is only 14! I just feel like my vacation was not a vacation, I would have rather been home. Roaches were seen in the dining area. The floor I stayed on 8 the ceiling was leaking and they had a big dryer thing blowing constantly on the carpet right outside our rooms. On the bottoms floors all you could smell was burning from the workers constantly welding. I was scared that the ship was going to sink or something the whole time. The boat is in bad condition and should either be renovated or destroyed. Everybody was drinking and letting their kids run wild. It was as if the kids were taking over the ship, CRAZY! Running all over the place no supervision bumping into people sitting at the bars it was a nightmare. We tried watching a movie on deck the teenagers were so loud and obnoxious we had to move but still barely heard it.

1st Cruise and not sure I’ll ever do it again!

This was the my first cruise and it was the worst experience that I have ever had... the rooms were flooded out and there was a mold smell/musty smell and the food was awful. They help me to my room when we first got on but didn't help at all when we got ready to  go and I am disabled  and needed help.  My skin was irritated by something  inside of the room .  When I came home  i had bit marks and red marks all over my body I went to the doctor and it turns out that I got bit by bed bugs! The pool that was on the ship was disgusting as though they didn't clean the water inside it. The windows where also dirty as well you could barely see through them. The dining area was not sweep or vacuum it was food all over the floors. I would never refer anybody this this cruise. So this is a warning of some of the things and my experience on this cruise

Absolute worst cruise ever

We chose this cruise line because of the balance of fun for both the kids and us adults. We had a fantastic time aboard sunshine. Staff were phenomenal, always working hard and in great spirits and our housekeeping/room attendant Yoko even knew all of our names and made it a point to make sure we always had what we needed. There is so many activities to do on the ship its often hard to choose! Our family loved the Dr Seuss parade and breakfast. We also enjoyed the water park almost daily. The only downside was the pool was quite small and often way to crowded to get in. There were plenty of lounge chairs to enjoy by the pool and soak up some sun though. There were always tons of options for food through out the day from breakfast to dinner and the restaurants aboard. Our kids particularly loved the endless all day ice cream. We even were able to take our kids to camp ocea and enjoy adult time and had a wonderful couples massage at spa 9. Overall it was a wonderful experience for all of us.

Carnival sunshine 

My significant other chose this cruise as a family and friends vacation. The smoothest part was leaving the ship on the last day, but that was just the best luck we had the whole trip. She’s much more of an avid cruiser than me. It’s been 10+ years since my last cruise. The food was worse than hospital food-all of the food-(and I know this because I work in a hospital). It’s very obvious the ship is being retired and money is being restricted to keep the profit margins the same. If you order drinks (alcohol or nonalcoholic) it will be your entire meal before they are delivered to your table. And don’t ask for directions to anywhere. No one actually walks you there. I will say the housekeeping for our cabin was fabulous. I fully believe they did the absolute best they could with the resources given to them.  Entertainment was ok. Kids enjoyed the kids camp more than we thought. The shows were very good. There wasn’t a huge variety to choose from in my opinion. A child’s hand was caught in the elevator door because the safety sensors are not working correctly, half the elevators barely recognize an adult hand. The medical tent was going to charge $500 just to wake the doctor.  We waited longer for a shuttle to half moon cay than we actually got to spend time there. Oh and you have to walk through the smoking section to get to the kids camp. Just beware that since Carnival will no longer sail from Charleston, and this ship is retiring, the quality of this cruise overall will only decrease.

Aging ship and bad food

First the embarking and debarking wasn’t bad at all we had a great room steward was great it was our first cruise we sailed out of Charleston I guess we had our hopes up more than we should’ve we drove 7 hours to get to the port rented a room for two nights prior so we was out a lot of money to begin with.  The first night went pretty well sorta confused where the dining room was, was disappointed with the food over all it is sustainable we never ate at the specialty restaurants.  The atrium and lobby is very lovely I can say that our room was clean the ship however shows her age a lot though.  The ship has adequate bars and pretty much good service with an exception to some staff.  The live music played every night we felt it was in the cabin with us we heard it to plainly to rest.  It rained all day at Nassau so really never enjoyed it which wasn’t Carnivals fault our next stop was Half Moon Cay we were super excited about it and was on the elevator when it was canceled due to impending weather well that was very very disappointing no the weather couldn’t be helped.  We however would’ve loved to have sailed back one day early and salvaged what was left of our vacation some place else.  Carnival should help with expenses or future cruises as much as it all costs when their island they own is cancelled.  One thing I really think they can improve on is how they distribute soda no kid should have to go to the bars to order a Pepsi like  they are ordering shots if crown and it’s very inconvenient for everyone and not everyone wants alcohol all the time they are there. They should have soda and beverage stations for that.  Over all I don’t want to book another cruise and I’d my mind don’t change I won’t.

Not what I expected 

Team lead server Udaya was great! So was team server Maxvel & Asst. Team Server Putu & Ari my cleaner for my room & service! Overall I had a great cruise & the service was great. The service at the dinning was so good & the food was great. The services & assistance at the dinning was great with good attitude. Ari was great as in needing anything & always had a smile on his face no matter what. The cruise was amazing & the service was incredible as a whole. The cruise director Christian was great! The shows & food were all fantastic! All of the staff were great and always had a smile on their faces. The rock show and piano bar was over all the best. Loved them all and the service. Ari was the best and always had a smile on his face! It was all a great time!

Amazing!

A friend invited us to join them. Big mistake. Food was tasteless unless going to specialty dining areas. Buffet sucked in plain English. Housekeeping was fantastic. All staff were outstanding and friendly. Just felt overcrowded. As a non smoker I could not spend more than 30 minutes in the casino. Smokers would rather sit in there and smoke (not playing) so that they did not have to go to the 3rd deck   They need to monitor this and either get better ventilation or reduce the smokers area in the casino. Entertainment was pretty good. We did play bingo but for 300-400 people paying average $38, they only gave away $1700. Huge profit. Only went once. Big scam. Had a state room right next to laundry room. But of coarse, it was out of order. Had to go to other floors and they were packed. Took 2 cycles to dry anything. At a $3.50 charge for each. I will never cruise on THIS ship again.

Horrible food, overcrowded, disgustingly Smokey casino

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