Carnival Sunshine Review

Only a Couple Negatives

Review for the Eastern Caribbean Cruise on Carnival Sunshine
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caveman75
2-5 Cruises • Age 40s

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Sail Date: Sep 2015
Cabin: Interior Upper/Lower

The entertainment staff (Fun Squad) was awesome. C-Luv (Christopher Loveland) was the director and did an awesome job remaining enthusiastic regardless of how mundane the announcement. My favorite by far however was Samuel from England. Didn't catch his last name, but he always did the Pub Trivia in Red Frog at night. He offered some fantastic advice that make the stop in Grand Turk (which I was not particularly looking forward to) my favorite stop of the cruise. Thanks Samuel, Jack's Shack was great!

On the negaitve side, I have to say the duration of the stop in San Juan was WAY too short. This is the one aspect that makes me give this review a 4 instead of 5 out of 5. With full day stays in St Maarten, St Kitts, and Grand Turk, it would be nice to spend more than 5 hours in San Juan by the time you make your way off the ship and have to be back before it leaves. By the time my wife did her very little shopping (the ship arrives at 7 but NOTHING opens until 9 and most not until 10) we only barely had enough time to grab one drink and a snack before heading back to the ship. I did not get to see the forts at all because they do not open until 9 and there was not enough time to both hit the shops for my wife and see the forts for myself.

The only other negatives for the whole cruise are pretty much to be expected for an older/smaller ship. The space provided for the "Punchliner Comedy Club" was insufficient. Even with each show being repeated multiple times, seating was hard to come by and we were sometimes forced to sit in an area that could only see the comedian through the TV screens on the side. Other than that, the ship itself, even though it has undergone major renovations, seems very run down and runs pretty "clunky" we were near the aft and could feel every time the engines were straining to push ahead. Occasionally the engines would produce a loud banging noise that at first we thought were inconsiderate neighbors slamming doors and waking us up.

Cabin Review

Interior Upper/Lower

Cabin 1A

Port Reviews

Grand Turk

Don't be fooled by the minuscule shopping area and the tourist trap Margaritaville. A short 10 minute walk along the beach will drop you at Jack's Shack. An excellent spot to grab a beer, some jerk chicken, and a lounge chair and soak in the sun. EXTREMELY relaxing and fun stop! No excursion necessary!

St. Kitts (Port Zante)

This is probably the one stop on this cruise I would say you REALLY should book a tour or swim with dolphins or something. Otherwise you may as well stay on the ship. No beaches within walking distance, few restaurants with fewer still offering local fare, just kind of a 'blah' stop unless you have booked something to do.

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