This was our third time on the Sunshine and it was definitely ready to go into drydock this month. Carpet and beds/drapes needed replacing. Embarkation was perfect, we were on board within 20 minutes of our appointment time. Cabins were ready at 1:30 on the dot. Room 2116 had a window with horrible groaning noise that literally made it impossible to sleep. Other than the noise it was a nice room, far forward so a decent amount of movement, we probably won't stay that far forward again. We had a connecting room with 2112 and it was very spacious for our family of 5. Staff was excellent, Mikey was a great cruise director. Really wish they had more modern music on the lido, this was the first cruise that played really old style music much of the day-jazz, show tunes type music. Shows were okay, not my favorite but they were working hard. Kids camp was awesome as usual! Loved the hours were expanded from what I remembered and our kids loved eating with camp most nights. Sky course was a big hit, waterslides were closed a lot but very fun when they were open. We loved the sports square as well. Debarkation was very well done as well. We were off the ship by 7:30 using self-assist. Great job Sunshine staff and crew! Read Less

We have been cruising for several years now on multiple lines. We are very familiar with Port Canaveral and enjoy sailing from there. Embarkation was fast and easy. Probably one of the best in our history. The Sunshine is a large Ship but not a mega ship. Large enough to not feel crowded. She had a major refit in 2012 changing from the Destiny to the Sunshine. My wife and I found her layout different than other ships and a little awkward at first to navigate. As always, our cabin steward was excellent and attentive. It is a personal opinion that industry wide, I have noticed a slight downward trend in food quality on the various lines. We make a point to dress and eat in the dining room for supper and for most breakfasts. The menu offerings were varied with some new items, but many of the familiar items and favorites seemed to be missing. Also portion sizes have shrunk a little. Not really a huge deal due to the fact that you can order pretty much all you want. We also make a point to try the Specialty options at least once a cruise. Some high points from The sunshine are the Havana Bar and its tastes of Cuba (gratis) and JiJis (15$ per person). JiJis is an inspired asian dining experience that was so SO worth it. Also I highly recommend trying the Chef's Table experience. It is worth every penny from start to finish. Just come hungry. Entertainment was on par with cruising. The stage shows were good but not wowing, although we had a master magician amaze us. This cruise had some of the best comedians we have seen and with fresh material. There was plenty to do on ship as usual. One really nice feature on the Sunshine is a 3 deck Serenity area at the fore of the ship. The service aboard was fantastic as usual. Our ports of call were Bermuda and grand Turk. Bermuda was beautiful. We, as a rule, do not book excursions, but rather "freestyle" and venture forth on our own. I took my time and did some research on Bermuda before our cruise and found some great travel options. The public transportation passes cover both ferry and bus. We spent some wonderful time travelling around and across the island, catching many sights and activities for less than the cost of one ship excursion. I highly recommend going to the Fantasy and Crystal caves, and a visit to St. George. Grand Turk is small and very flat. There are some neat sights there and some great shopping. Our whole goal was to sit beside the pretty blue water and do some snorkeling. We even managed to swim with an octopus for a while. There was plenty of beach sitting with free lounge chairs and clamshell shelters. Never did it feel crowded. And found an amazing little snack shack, The Beached Whale. I would definitely recommend this trip. Read Less

I chose this cruise because I wanted to go to Bermuda, Embarkation was poor, this was the longest it had taken me to get on a ship in my 20 cruises since 1991.The Sunshine is a nice ship, this was my second time on board, it has a difficult deck plan.Cabin was very nice I had a balcony 7249. Dining was very good except they did not follow my request that I had book from May 2017 for a table for two only.After talking very firmly with them this was resoled, We also dined at the Fahrenheit Steak house, the manager had very poor customer service skills, she however apologize for not greeting us. Entertainment and Activities was very good.Overall service was GREAT!!. Ports and Shore excursions was great I did the Island tour of Bermuda and it was wonderful.I also meet some wonderful people on board in including staff and cruisers,Overall this was a wonderful cruise and I would do this again. Capt. Greene Read Less

My family and I went on this 5 day cruise in September 2018. It was overall great experience. The crew and entertainment staff were hilarious. Mikey, the cruise director had sooooooooooo much energy!!! The dining room staff, were very friendly, funny, and were great dancers.However, this was my 3rd cruise, and this ship (sunshine) had the least amount of musical and theatrical shows. These shows mostly consisted of atrium sing a longs and guest participation. No magic shows. The ship was remolded . and very nice. There was a beautiful serenity deck with a waterfall, clam shell lounge chair, and hammocks . The water works area had a splash pad for kids and 3 huge water slides. The slides were great! My biggest complaint , was an excursion at the Grand Turk Port. I pre paid for a horse back ride in the water. I got off the boat 2 hours prior to the scheduled time to leave. At the designated time, I went to the booth to check in. I was advised that the horses couldnt go in the water, due to excess sea weed on the beach. It was late in the day, therefore , I still agreed to go on the excursion. However, I had only signed up for this excursion and paid $120 to ride horses in the water at the beach. I quickly found that the beach was covered in tall stacks of seaside, that had been there for a long time. This didnt happen over night. I wish I wouldve been iformed prior, that way I couldve chosen a different excursion. Read Less

This was my 11th cruise with Carnival. I pretty much know what to expect by now. It was myself & my husband traveling. The Sunshine did not disappoint. We did an 8 day Eastern Caribbean cruise and had a great time. Embarkation Port Canaveral was a breeze and by far one of the most organized ports. We drove and parked in the garage. We arrived about 45 min earlier than our arrival appointment and we were given a zone number(17) and told to have a seat until our number was called. We were on board within about 30 minutes. Debarkation We drove so there was no rush to leave. Left the room about 8:30 and had breakfast on Lido while we waited for our zone to be called. Took about an hour or so. You had to go pick up luggage tags from the casino area the night before. They did not deliver them to your cabin like on previous cruises. Cabin We had a balcony cabin 9179 on the Lido deck. This was our first time staying on Lido (9). I received an email to upgrade to lido from Carnival. I was a little hesitant at first due to possible noise but I googled many reviews and decided to go for it. Best choice ever! We loved how convenient it was to the food, pools and bars. I would definitely book on the Lido again. We had no noise issues at all. Nice and quiet location. Cabin size was fine for us (cabin was a little dusty) but otherwise acceptable. I heard they were going into dry dock soon for some upgrades. Hopefully one of those is the AC. Our vent hardly had any airflow (vent was super dirty and caked on dust) and it was pretty warm in our cabin most of the time. I complained to our room steward and it seemed to get a little better for a few days but not by much. Actually the entire boat was warmer than usual in general on some days. Beds were comfy. There is a fridge in the room although it doesn’t get very cold either. They never really do in my experience. Food We ate dinner in the dining room every night with Your Time Dining. I love this concept. We chose to sit at a table for two. We hardly had a wait, unless it was a peak time. If there is a wait, they give you a pager and Alchemy Bar is right by the stars to the Dining Room. You can just relax and have a drink until your table is ready. We enjoyed our dinner every night. I have no complaints about the food. The staff was very nice and friendly and they tried to seat us in the same section nightly. I was surprised that they used our names and remembered some of our preferences. We usually ate lunch at the buffet or at one of the extra venues like the deli, JiJi’s, Blue Iguana or Guys Burger. I would normally do breakfast with room service, however being so close to everything on Lido it wasn’t necessary. Buffet breakfast is pretty much the same every day. Kind of gets boring. We did Sea day brunch and it took about an hour with no coffee refills unless you flagged someone down. Didn’t go back again for that. Tip* if you are eating at the buffet area you can walk back to the Havana Bar area to sit. Did that every day. It’s a nicer, quieter environment. Drinks Drinks were flowing as we had the Cheers program. Highly recommend it if you are a “drinker”. There is a good selection with many mixed drinks and the bartenders are willing to make custom drinks/shots if you ask. Roca Patron shots at the Tequila bar were a favorite. And, included in Cheers at $16.50 a shot. They were also flexible about the program which was appreciated. Example: on my last ship they made me wait 5 minutes to order a water. So silly. They didn’t do that here and we could even order a shot with our drink at the same time and just ask them to wait 5 minutes to serve it and it wasn’t an issue. Activities/Entertainment Mikey the cruise director was fun and outgoing. We went to a few comedy shows, one production show and a few other things like Hairy Chest Contest, Quest and Love and Marriage etc. Everything was good. I am not expecting Broadway. We were entertained and had fun. I was pleasantly surprised at the nightclub. There was a mix of people age wise and music. Had a blast! Piano Bar and Karaoke were also a hit. I wish there were more trivia and name that tune type of things at various times of the day. I feel like they are all early in the day and we missed out because we were laying out by the pool or at lunch. Serenity Area was one of the biggest I’ve seen. 3 floors with a waterfall. I definitely liked that! And the best part…an adults only pool!! General The ship size is perfect for me. Just big enough that you have all the extras but not too big that you get overwhelmed and feel lost for a few days. I don’t know if they were at full capacity or not, but it did not feel crowded at all. Ship is in good shape, may need a few slight updates during the dry dock, but nothing major. Staff in general were all very friendly and nice. My last cruise the staff seemed tired and not as friendly. Not the case on the Sunshine. They were all a pleasure to deal with and made every effort to accommodate us. The passengers were a bit of an older crowd from what I can tell, which is usually the case on the longer cruises and this time of year. I didn’t see many young children or teenagers. Which is fine with us. Overall I felt we had a nice cruise and for a good value. I would go on the Sunshine again. I did not give 5 stars because it wasn't perfect and is lacking some of the amenities of the newer ships. But I would say a solid 4.5 . Read Less

I've been on many different cruises, I am a platinum cruiser on carnival, and this was by far the best crew of any I have experienced, they all seem to get along very well and everyone was very helpful and friendly throughout the cruise. It really does make a big difference. Sure the sunshine isn't shiny and new anymore but it still has a ton of nice features and many improvements have been made since the last time I cruised with carnival almost 2 years ago. A list of a few improvements below. 1. Embarkation (Check in faster) cards now in rm, also apt times help. 2. Debarkation was much smoother. 3. Special dietary request were never a problem for anyone at guys burger or at the maître d' in the dining room ( veggie burgers or tofu for my vegan fiancé) . 4. You no longer have to wait in a 30 minute line for any time dining outside the dining room, the pager idea is a great improvement. 5. Carnaval app, made communication great on the ship, most cruisers know that the Internet is super slow in the middle of the ocean so I don't recommend purchasing a Internet package unless you're willing to wait about five minutes per page LOL but if you just want to text somebody back and forth on the ship in your group (family or friends) it's a great idea, my fiancé had saved us some seats for the show, and I ran back to the room, a few floors away and towards the back of the ship, it was nice to receive a text from her asking me to get her a sweater because she was cold in the theatre or show area ( texting only takes a few seconds to receive on the ship), worth the five dollar fee. A little about the crew. 1. The dining room staff was amazing, they all worked very well together (Jephson was amazing and very personable ( felt like we truly made a new friend), I putu and Depi were also wonderful. 2. Our rm. steward (Jaqueline) was amazing, and always available and friendly. 3. The cruise director Mikey was by far the best one we have ever seen ( friendly to everyone, really showed that he loved his job), always keeping things fun and keeping plenty of activities going throughout the entire cruise. Vegan or vegetarian options on the ship, 1.Tofu steak and stir fried vegetables is available every night, 2. if you let the maître d' know you want vegan food, and they will make vegan stirfry and chefs choice using tofu every night if you want it. 3. Guys veggie burgers are available just about anytime you can add a few fries on the side and make a small salad at the bar out of the lettuce and other great toppings they have available. 4. for breakfast without waiting in the dining area you can go to Lido deck and have oatmeal with requested soy milk, and granola as well as fresh fruit. , If you're just vegetarian you can add French toast or something like that as well. We chose this option many mornings, as dining in the dining room for breakfast seemed to always take close to an hour and some mornings we didn't want to spend that much time at breakfast. So to sum it up, with the many improvements made and the fact that the sunshine is going into drydock she'll have a fresh coat of paint and new carpeting among other things. I think she is definitely worth your time, as they say the crew really does make a big difference, and while she doesn't have bicycles in the air, she does still have racing slides and Curvy slides, a challenging ropes course, and a fun sports Square. Definitely a good value for the money, we may even have to make a trip to South Carolina as she is sadly leaving her current home port of Florida soon. Read Less

We chose the Sunshine because a good friend, whom we met while cruising, recommended it. He and his wife enjoy the Sunshine because of the very large Serenity deck for adults only and the nice pool. They weren't kidding and we were just as pleased with the Serenity area as they were. The Sunshine boasts the best Serenity deck of any ship we've been on so far. It spans 3 tiers and includes a hot tub and a pool with a waterfall feature. There were always loungers available which is more than I can say for other ships with adult-only areas. The top deck does not offer a view of the Lido deck but it overlooks the ocean and the breeze up there is wonderful. We've been on ships both smaller and larger than the Sunshine. We also picked this ship because it included Curacao on the itinerary. We'd previously been to Aruba and Bonaire so this trip completed our visit to the ABC islands. Among the very helpful and friendly Sunshine staff, there were a few people who stood out to us. Although we didn't get to know him personally, we really enjoyed the Cruise Director, Mikey. I'm not sure where he gets all that energy but he was terrific. Everyone we spoke to had nothing but good things to say about him. The next crew member we'd like to recognize is our cabin steward, Jacqueline. She was on top of everything and even honored our request for a unique towel animal. (She created a giant penguin out of a blanket and towels.) She serviced the room twice a day as was our preference and took a few minutes out of her busy schedule to talk to us; always with a big smile on her face. I hope we get her again in the future because she was such a pleasant person. We'd also like to mention the awesome Piano Bar Entertainer; Adam Mitchell. We visited the piano bar every night except for Aruba night because that was his night off. Adam genuinely wanted to play what people wanted to hear. He even learned a song that I requested and played it not once but a few times over the course of the cruise! The room was packed every night by 9:15 - quite a feat seeing as it opens at 9. He has no trouble engaging a crowd and playing to the room. We started getting there at 8:45 to claim our seats! I appreciated the fact that he wasn't going overboard with the adult humor but rather maintained a good (and classy) balance. The bar staff for the piano bar is very attentive and always appeared to be happy. Ivan and Grace were the perfect duo for that venue. I'd often see Ivan making his rounds and singing along while Adam played piano. A little about the ports we visited... We stopped in Aruba, Curacao, and Grand Turk. We'd been to Aruba before so we were comfortable taking a taxi to the beach. The cabs and buses are plentiful in Aruba so it makes traversing the little island very easy and inexpensive. Our group of 6 opted to be dropped off at the pier on Palm Beach - a common drop-off and pick-up spot for tourists. We enjoyed a slightly windy, yet still sunny & beautiful day at the beach. Afterward, we rode back to the port, hopped on the ship to shower and get into regular clothes and then walked to the nearby shopping district. Shops close up early so we really only got to visit some of the outdoor vendors before heading back to the ship for dinner. I'm not exactly sure what people do when the ship is in port until 10:00pm because not much seemed to be open. I am guessing bars and restaurants would be but get your shopping done early because the stores were closed by 6pm. I'm sure there are evening excursions. We just hadn't wanted to miss dinner on the ship. We're usually pretty content with Carnival's dinner offerings. Our next port was Curacao. My in-laws had made friends with a local tour guide on their last visit so we had a personalized tour lined up. She and her niece met us at the port and took us all over the place. They spent the whole day with us, actually. We stopped at the famous Liquor Factory, where we were the first patrons of the day, and sampled Curacao liquors. Chocolate was my favorite! Afterward, we toured downtown where she pointed out landmarks. We decided that we'd like to stop at a beach for a couple hours so she took us to Mambo Beach. The beach area is very small but it's clean and there are facilities and shopping on the premises. There's a Starbucks there also. We ended our visit at Mambo Beach with frozen pumpkin-flavored drinks that were delicious and refreshing - and not overpriced. Toward the end of the day, we went to the shops and marketplace near the fort. We found a few fun souvenirs to take home. Our last stop was in Grand Turk. We knew ahead of time that we'd be parking ourselves at Jack's Shack as this has become a tradition for our family. The water was clear but there was a fair bit of seaweed this time. We took inner tubes with us and were able to float out past the seaweed where the bottom was pristine white sand. We were hoping to see Jack's dogs - Topher & Calypso - but were greeted by local island dogs who must have though Jack's Shack was a good place to be for the day because they stayed with us the whole day. Thankfully, they were not obnoxious when we got our lunch - Jack's Shack's famous jerk chicken. Topher and Calypso did make an appearance about halfway through our visit. We were happy to see them and got a chance to play in the water with Topher. He's such a ham. I know a lot of people go there just to see Topher & Calypso. After we'd had our fill of fun in the sun, we headed back and walked around the shops for a short time before getting back on board. There were so few negatives, they aren't even worth mentioning. Yes, the ship is a little worn but she's going into dry dock in 2 weeks and I'm sure she'll be amazing when she is a fixed up! She just needs a little paint and maybe some venues rearranged to better locations but there really wasn't much to complain about. All in all, it was a really good vacation. Read Less

We researched for months to choose this cruise and we wasnt disappointed. We flew to Orlando the day before to make sure we didn't miss the boat. Embarking went smoothly. Muster did not go very well.. it was a hot day and one or two people passed out from the heat. We got an interior room. It was nice and CLEAN.. The food was good. The entertainment was was nice. We booked a specialty dinner at JiJi Asian restaurant. I highly recommend this restaurant...we did an excursion on Dominican Republic and visited a rum distillery. On Grand Turks anither ship was docked. The beach was packed. we took a taxi to a other beach 10 minutes away and laid on the beach all day.. I wanted to book our next cruse before debarking but that didn't happen. .i truly enjoyed our first cruise, at this point, I'm researching my next cruise. Read Less

I needed to get away from the city but only had 5 days to do so. I cruised ten hrs ago with Carnival on the Ship Triumph! This yr I booked this one without looking at reviews and after I booked it and read some stuff was kind of worried. However, there is nothing to be worry about. Chris the cruise director was amazing. The staff was very helpful and extremely sweet. The activities were fun and engaging. The comedy shows and theater performances were well done and the CIA Band was amazing! Very talented people all over the ship. I wish the pool by the Lido deck was bigger, but did enjoyed the Water Works Park very much. I wish people stop complaining about the minimum gratuity Carnival ask for and hope the company makes it mandated. Unfortunately there is always rude people that doesn’t respect the hard work of others. Overall, great & fun ship! Had an amazing experience! Read Less

We decided to go on Carnival Sunshine because it was mine and my daughter's first time cruising and we wanted it to be very special. We loved the shows, playing Bingo, playing the games at the Red Frog Pub, and the food was amazing! The food at the buffet was always fresh and clean and all the staff working at the cafeteria was friendly and always there to pick up our dishes. The dining was amazing! We had such a good time with our waiters and they made it so enjoyable that we can't wait to go back! Edgar, our main waiter was truly awesome. He was quick, efficient, kind and so funny. He played my tricks on my daughter and we all had so many laughs. Edgar made our dining very special and it wouldn't have been enjoyable if Edgar wasn't there. He was kind and very friendly. The activities on the boat were fun and we loved going to the shows that Chris was holding because he made the shows always so funny. Alena, she worked at the buffet during the nighttime was also very kind and she worked very quickly and was always smiling. She talked to us and she just made our time on the ship more enjoyable. Alena is a very hard worker and is very open talking about growing up in Ukraine. I was able to connect with her because with both grew up there and spoke Russian and I liked that I was able to talk to her in our native language. Another reason we would travel on the carnival sunshine again was that our cleaner was very awesome. Jaya was our cleaning guy for the 8 days on the ship and he was so friendly. He cleaned our room every day, we came back with our beds made and new fresh towels with a towel animal sitting on our bed. My daughter loved the towel animals that Jaya left. Jaya was always smiling when we saw him around the ship and he would always ask us how we were doing and how was our time on the different islands. Jaya did amazing work on the ship for us and we are very grateful for his work and dedication he has towards his job. We would love to go again and we are already planning for our next summer trip with Carnival. Thank you, Carnival for making it such an amazing experience that we will never forget. Keep up the good work and a special thank you to Edgar (Main Waiter), Alena (Buffet Staff) and Jaya (Cleaner) for making our time something truly special! Much love Carnival!! Read Less