Carnival Sunshine Review

4.0 / 5.0
1,421 reviews

Carnival Sunshine - The Good & The Bad

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Carnival Sunshine
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Coconutkid
6-10 Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Dec 2013
Traveled with children

This was our 7th Carnival Cruise, and probably our 4th in 5 years. We have done Carnival twice in 2013. We needed to book a specific time when our kids were out of school for the Holidays so our selection was limited and we picked the newly renovated Carnival Sunshine out of New Orleans. Overall the price was not bad understanding the Holiday cruises are usually higher. While we had a good time overall, this was a bit of a disapointment in terms of the ship and experiences and really the overall impression we were left with when we were done.

Okay, first the bad. I truely think they have renovated this boat to try to shove as many people in it as possible. I think it carries about 500 or 750 too many. Also while the boat is pretty nice and clearn, we did see some of the problems I've seen reported. It did have more sewer smells in various areas on the ship. We had plumbing issues where the drain in the bathroom overflowed the floor soaking everything. While it was fixed very quickly the toilet exploded from under the base and spewed sewage all over the floor. The cabin we had was small and I would say nothing special compared to say the Carnival Dream or Magic. Note one day when it rained their was 2 or 3 inches of rain on the Lido deck that continued to slosh back and forth (no where to drain). This went on for 2 hours. The biggest disappoinment was the theater. It had no tables on the floor, was small and seemed not as glamourous as other cruise ships we have been on. Also the pool deck had zero umbrellas and tables. We were crammed in even more than most ships and you had to go up about 6:30 to get a decent spot (and again no room to put a drink or anything). Do yourselves a favor Carnival and put some tables in there and remove some chairs and don't overbook this boat. Lastly the "dine when you want option" was the only seating option we had for dinner. We had to typically wait 45 minutes and even 90 minutes to eat dinner. They tried to put 5 of us in an extended booth with one person on the end.. (They did provide a beeper to notify you however but it didn't always work or one time they lost our reservation). I thought the meals served on the buffet line were identicial each day. It was okay..nothing like what I have experienced in the past. The boat needs more pools. Some of the staff seemed totally unterested (we witnessed a manager on the Lido deck severely repremand an employee in front of everyone; quite embarassing). I talked to one employee who said the crew quarters have not been renovated and are horrible. I know some staff indicated to me they were trying to get off the boat to another ship (which I think translated into the attitute of some employees). You could tell many were not happy to be there (more the exception but still you could tell some of the staff was not preped well)

The good. The cruise director and her assistant (Jamie and Stephanie) were entertaining and great, as well as the entire entertainment staff. The comedians were good on-board and the musicians were top notch. . The shows were what you would expect on Carnival (but they did have to cancel shows due to rough sea's which is understandable). The room steward was personable but the trend on carnival seems to be less personal contact with your stewards; Having open seating for dinner we did not gain any good repoir w/ the waiters at dinner. I did find most of the bar tenders on the Lido to be great and helpful. Guys Burger joint was absolutely fantastic. As with the last cruise, embarkation out of New Orleans is second to none. They do a great job getting you board quickly.

Cabin Review

Cabin 2190 was small and really not anything special. Part of our issue was we had 5 to the room and we will never attempt that again. The bathrooms are very small. The room stewards did a great job keeping room clean however and very personable.

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