We were on the same cruise. I'm a local Knoxville travel specialist and I had a large group on this cruise. I always inform my clients to order bottled water and they bring them to your cabin.
We just finished a cruise on the Sunshine this past Sunday. We left Charleston on 5/11 and returned on 5/19. This was our 8th cruise on Carnival; second leaving from Charleston. We love the area but the port leaves a lot to be desired. Being dropped off in one place, standing in line and then being shuttled to another place to stand in line again is not a ever efficient way to do this but the staff are friendly and make it work. Other ports like Port Canaveral are simply better. Your review was spot on for our trip. This was probably one of the friendliest crews we've had. Our steward Josie was simply awesome. A real sweetheart. Our dining team were also probably the best ever. Ni Made and Patchy were awesome. They made you feel like you'd know them your entire life. Lovely ladies and great at what they do. Loved them!!! The ports of call were awesome (why we picked this cruise) Half Moon Cay, Amber Cove, and Grand Turk.. The menu was ok at best. What was bad was that when we don't like the evening menu we used to go to the buffet to escape it. Can't do that on sunshine as the buffet mirrors the dining menu. I give the dining menu and buffet a C+. And yes the Shoney's buffet is better. Guys, the pizza, and the deli were awesome. We joked that they served egg soup for breakfast as the scrambled eggs were just sitting in water. Thank God for the omelette line and fried eggs. Again Shoney's has the buffet beat. While the Atrium was beautiful, the majority of the rest of the ship is very weathered and worn. The chairs on both the regular and d serenity decks were very weathered, worn, and just flat out dirty looking. The cushions on the serenity deck were flat and worn. And you were spot on about saving seats. It's absurd how selfish some people are. My wife suggested that you reserve a seat and that there be a time limit as to allow all guests the chance to use the deck. Lots of rude people on this cruise. One thing I will hand to Carnival though is that they seem to have gotten the whole scooter fiasco under control. We cruised on the Magic in May 2023. The ship was overrun with people on motorized scooters. Overrun!! You could barely walk down the hall way for the parked scooters. The people on them would clog the elevators and not tighten up so others could get on. It was bad. A real safety issue. This crisis the number was down way down!! And the new rule is that a scooter must fit into your cabin when you park it. The ones using them this year also seemed to be more considerate. That was one of the few groups that were not so rude. Over all this cruise was fun. The food was ok, and the ship was worn. But again the staff were awesome. Top notch!!! Everyone you came into contact with was very friendly.
We were there with y'all. We actually saw y'all when we played bingo I always heard food on a cruise was so good. Worse thing we ever ate. I so wanted to go cook something for me and everyone else. Wish the had like real food meatloaf, roast,real fried chicken real mashed potatoes without garlic yeast rolls that are warm. At least on one side. They just changed their menus and need to do it again. I lived on nasty tea and lemon aid mixed pizza and sugar cookies. Guys burgers was so burnt we couldn't eat. The deli sandwiches are premade and not good Half moon cay was so awesome! The food there was yuck too. Hamburger was burnt the BBQ looked like chicken BBQ sure didn't look like any pork BBQ I have ever had. I live in NC so I know BBQ. This was our very first cruise and I was NOT impressed. I'm so glad you did this cause I wanted to back up what you said Happy sailing again . Maybe we will see y'all again we do plan to go out of Norfolk next March the first week.
Oh my Gosh. Wow, How exciting! I am so so very happy for you two! Last September we were not far from y'all. We went to Grumpy bear campground and slept in a teepee. Did the train. Loved it. I wanted to stay longer only two days. Haha that's why I did the cruise cause he couldn't say let's go on back home. Plz tell your wife congratulations
You find the drink packages on portal or guest services. They got us on the $70 drink/cup too. But I had a blast! U can get the bubbles package for pop and stuff for 9$ a day. Alcohol is cheaper if u buy packages before sailing. We were on same cruise.
We didn't pay $70 we had the cheers pack and I believe we were charged 14. But he was right about the guy said complementary. I did find a great drink at red rum it was reds remedy so good
I too was on this cruise and when you mentioned a thunderstorm I was shocked as I had no clue. The bedding was too notch for me and it was a time of superior rest. I knew those things were not complementary even though they said it was and those shorts were not free either. I was more perplexed with “ win a free cruise “ than the towels on the chairs. I felt carnival was very deceitful in their portal of this. You had to be present to win, HOWEVE they never drew a name and said carnival would be in touch with the winner. They kept us all in there to sell the Effy jewelry. But the guys burgers, it was a yum for us.
I never heard it. I would have freaked out. Then he said probably waterspouts. I'm scared to death of those. I was at the outer Banks and had one straight to me then turned. I lived there. One day on the the bridge on rt 12 there was 3 I flew over that bridge.
We had the cheers pack and it was so hard to just get a Pepsi. Crazy to have all those people and only 2 drink stations. If you wanted anything else you had to go stand in a huge line to get it. Carnival needs to do better. We went to the serenity floors and there was more towels than people. It was crazy. They need to have monitors to do something. They were empty for I know 2 hours.
Carry a baby diaper with you and roll it up like it’s used. With a little chocolate smeared on it. Sit it on the chair with your towels but make it so people can see it and no one will touch your stuff. My wife does this every cruise and no one has ever touched her chairs
We were on the same cruise. I'm a local Knoxville travel specialist and I had a large group on this cruise. I always inform my clients to order bottled water and they bring them to your cabin.
We brought 2x 12 pack softdrinks
We just finished a cruise on the Sunshine this past Sunday. We left Charleston on 5/11 and returned on 5/19. This was our 8th cruise on Carnival; second leaving from Charleston. We love the area but the port leaves a lot to be desired. Being dropped off in one place, standing in line and then being shuttled to another place to stand in line again is not a ever efficient way to do this but the staff are friendly and make it work. Other ports like Port Canaveral are simply better. Your review was spot on for our trip. This was probably one of the friendliest crews we've had. Our steward Josie was simply awesome. A real sweetheart. Our dining team were also probably the best ever. Ni Made and Patchy were awesome. They made you feel like you'd know them your entire life. Lovely ladies and great at what they do. Loved them!!! The ports of call were awesome (why we picked this cruise) Half Moon Cay, Amber Cove, and Grand Turk.. The menu was ok at best. What was bad was that when we don't like the evening menu we used to go to the buffet to escape it. Can't do that on sunshine as the buffet mirrors the dining menu. I give the dining menu and buffet a C+. And yes the Shoney's buffet is better. Guys, the pizza, and the deli were awesome. We joked that they served egg soup for breakfast as the scrambled eggs were just sitting in water. Thank God for the omelette line and fried eggs. Again Shoney's has the buffet beat. While the Atrium was beautiful, the majority of the rest of the ship is very weathered and worn. The chairs on both the regular and d serenity decks were very weathered, worn, and just flat out dirty looking. The cushions on the serenity deck were flat and worn. And you were spot on about saving seats. It's absurd how selfish some people are. My wife suggested that you reserve a seat and that there be a time limit as to allow all guests the chance to use the deck. Lots of rude people on this cruise. One thing I will hand to Carnival though is that they seem to have gotten the whole scooter fiasco under control. We cruised on the Magic in May 2023. The ship was overrun with people on motorized scooters. Overrun!! You could barely walk down the hall way for the parked scooters. The people on them would clog the elevators and not tighten up so others could get on. It was bad. A real safety issue. This crisis the number was down way down!! And the new rule is that a scooter must fit into your cabin when you park it. The ones using them this year also seemed to be more considerate. That was one of the few groups that were not so rude. Over all this cruise was fun. The food was ok, and the ship was worn. But again the staff were awesome. Top notch!!! Everyone you came into contact with was very friendly.
We were there with y'all. We actually saw y'all when we played bingo I always heard food on a cruise was so good. Worse thing we ever ate. I so wanted to go cook something for me and everyone else. Wish the had like real food meatloaf, roast,real fried chicken real mashed potatoes without garlic yeast rolls that are warm. At least on one side. They just changed their menus and need to do it again. I lived on nasty tea and lemon aid mixed pizza and sugar cookies. Guys burgers was so burnt we couldn't eat. The deli sandwiches are premade and not good Half moon cay was so awesome! The food there was yuck too. Hamburger was burnt the BBQ looked like chicken BBQ sure didn't look like any pork BBQ I have ever had. I live in NC so I know BBQ. This was our very first cruise and I was NOT impressed. I'm so glad you did this cause I wanted to back up what you said Happy sailing again . Maybe we will see y'all again we do plan to go out of Norfolk next March the first week.
We just found out we’re having twins . Our appt was the Wed after we got back so no cruising for us for a while
Oh my Gosh. Wow, How exciting! I am so so very happy for you two! Last September we were not far from y'all. We went to Grumpy bear campground and slept in a teepee. Did the train. Loved it. I wanted to stay longer only two days. Haha that's why I did the cruise cause he couldn't say let's go on back home. Plz tell your wife congratulations
You find the drink packages on portal or guest services. They got us on the $70 drink/cup too. But I had a blast! U can get the bubbles package for pop and stuff for 9$ a day. Alcohol is cheaper if u buy packages before sailing. We were on same cruise.
Yes, We were aware of this, but elected not to purchase since we are not big drinkers. She only took it because he said "complimentary"
We didn't pay $70 we had the cheers pack and I believe we were charged 14. But he was right about the guy said complementary. I did find a great drink at red rum it was reds remedy so good
I too was on this cruise and when you mentioned a thunderstorm I was shocked as I had no clue. The bedding was too notch for me and it was a time of superior rest. I knew those things were not complementary even though they said it was and those shorts were not free either. I was more perplexed with “ win a free cruise “ than the towels on the chairs. I felt carnival was very deceitful in their portal of this. You had to be present to win, HOWEVE they never drew a name and said carnival would be in touch with the winner. They kept us all in there to sell the Effy jewelry. But the guys burgers, it was a yum for us.
Like so many things in life these days, it’s all a sales gimmick
I never heard it. I would have freaked out. Then he said probably waterspouts. I'm scared to death of those. I was at the outer Banks and had one straight to me then turned. I lived there. One day on the the bridge on rt 12 there was 3 I flew over that bridge.
lol you ain't lying about that tea. lol.. next time pre order the water and it will be waiting for you in the cabin
We had the cheers pack and it was so hard to just get a Pepsi. Crazy to have all those people and only 2 drink stations. If you wanted anything else you had to go stand in a huge line to get it. Carnival needs to do better. We went to the serenity floors and there was more towels than people. It was crazy. They need to have monitors to do something. They were empty for I know 2 hours.
NASTY!
Yep as the deck chairs go, its a no enforcement policy
Carry a baby diaper with you and roll it up like it’s used. With a little chocolate smeared on it. Sit it on the chair with your towels but make it so people can see it and no one will touch your stuff.
My wife does this every cruise and no one has ever touched her chairs
That’s gross
Exactly. It’s not a used diaper. It’s new diaper rolled up.