Just returned from the Barcelona to Venice cruise on the Sunshine. Overall a great time and we (now VIFP Platinum) will sail again with Carnival. Embarkation was very easy. We arrived about 11:30 (half our group voted for 2 but the early time won). We stayed at a Holiday Inn Express the night before and they arranged for taxis for us. We were eight in our group, my husband's almost 92 year old father, his girlfriend (83yo), my husband and myself (both 55), my daughter and her husband (both 29) and my son and his girlfriend (26 and 27). We were advised to let the rest of the group go through the regular line, we went to the VIP area and then we met up and all got on board together with our VIP pass. Our room was the only one ready so we put all the carry-ons in our room and were on our way. We are accustomed to bringing the allowed amount of water on-board and we stopped at a local grocer near our hotel and picked that up the night before the cruise.

We had a mid-ship balcony and the rest were across the hall from us in inside rooms. The closet configuration was a little different than other balcony cabins we've had and actually there was more closet space (we travel light anyway). There was actually three American outlets and one European which was nice (look by the TV for the third outlet). The interior rooms were comfortable.

I think more than on other cruises, staff addressed us by name and most spoke good English. Andy was our room steward and was basically good, although he made a few mistakes like forgetting to replace our beach towels. Similarly the wait staff seemed to know English better than on other cruises and dinner was typical Carnival Fare. No problem. We saw no reason to spend extra for the steakhouse or other alternative venues. The only problem with dining is that it didn't seem right to have the anytime dining on the lower level and the fixed time above. When the staff did their show on the lower level, it was half empty. We like eating breakfast in the dining room, the highlight being sitting with random people. The morning hostess did not seem to understand this so half the time my husband and I ate alone. Read more