Carnival Sunshine Cruise: 4-day Bahama Cruise from Charleston, South Carolina

November - December 2019 Spa cabin 11001

Next to Alchemy Bar in Ocean Plaza on Carnival Sunshine

Pre-cruise

We previously sailed on Carnival Sunshine from New Orleans shortly after it had been refurbished in 2014. We had a balcony cabin near the back of the ship for that cruise. We had some water problems in our cabin then, as did others. I was not very interested in another cruise after some of the things that happened on that cruise; however, my feelings have changed since then. Our initial travel plans this trip were to visit Charleston, and we decided to extend our trip a few more days on the cruise ship, because the price was good. 

You can find more details about the Carnival Sunshine in my previous blog post. I am providing information here that is new or different since then.

View of bridge between Charleston and Mount Pleasant from Carnival Sunshine

Arrival and VIP check-in ~ Charleston cruise port

This was our first experience cruising from Charleston. I had read that check-in begins sometime around 10:00 or 11:00 AM, so we submitted a request for an Uber ride from our airport hotel shortly after 10:00 AM. The information online says that the drop-off address is 32 Washington Street, which is the address I used. Our Uber driver arrived right away, and we arrived at the port just after 10:30 AM. We were told it would be about five minutes before we could enter. I inquired whether we could walk in so our driver would not have to wait. There was one other vehicle waiting, and our driver said he would wait with us. About five minutes later, our driver drove us into the cruise port area, and dropped us and our luggage off.

Directions to VIP check-in were clear, and security was a breeze. We arrived at the check-in desk right away. We then stood at the desk for over five minutes, because there was some kind of issue with our check-in. I do not know what the problem was, and the agent was apparently unable to correct it. She finally just checked us in again, and then had to take a photo of my husband. My passport photo showed up on the screen, and his did not. We had a similar experience last time we cruised, and I do not understand what the problem is. We renewed our passports together, we always check-in together with the same credit card on the account, and we always have the correct documents when we arrive.

After we checked in, there is a VIP waiting area near the shuttle boarding area. There is only one restroom at this end of the building, and the line was quite long. I walked back to the other end of the building to use the restroom. There was also a line there; however, it was not as long as the VIP line. Soon after, we boarded a shuttle bus for a short ride over to the ship and boarded. We were on board before noon. We were the first ones to arrive at Red Frog Pub; however, the bartender did not know anything about the first beverage being free for the first guests. I do not know if Carnival did away with this, or if the bartender was just uninformed.

Interior spa cabin 11001 on Carnival Sunshine

Spa interior cabin 11001 4S

Our cabin was ready when we boarded. This was our 19th cruise, and our first time in a spa cabin. We chose this cabin because it looked like it was located in a quiet hallway, and because it is located near Serenity deck. The rate when we booked was not much more than a basic interior room.

Interior spa cabin 11001 on Carnival Sunshine

Carnival Splendor Cruise ~ 7 day Eastern Caribbean Cruise from Miami, Florida

February 2016

1st sunset at sea

This was the second time we have sailed on the Carnival Splendor. The first time was November 2009 out of Long Beach, California before I started this blog. We had stateroom 6447 in 2009 and 7434 this cruise. I could not fit all of the photos I have of the Splendor and cabins in this blog post. Please visit the Splendor Facebook album for more photos and information.

Pre-cruise

We booked a dinner reservation at Pinnacle Steakhouse for the first evening of our cruise, and received a confirmation email before the cruise. When we did this on the Carnival Sunshine, we never received an email confirmation, and I was not able to check on the reservation until after we boarded. It would be nice if this information would show under Carnival booking information, like shore excursions.

Arrival and check-in ~ Port of Miami

The last time we departed from Miami on the Carnival Breeze, our departure experience had been superb, so we decided to arrive at the port around the same time, 11:30 a.m. Things started out well; we quickly passed through security and got our key cards. Even though we had tied our son's account to ours, his room key was not with ours. Our travel agent had specifically called Carnival about this a few days before our cruise, and she told us we would be all set to board together. It only took the representative a few moments to get him his card, and then we sat down in the VIP waiting room to wait.

There was one restroom in the waiting room, which I did not recall from our last cruise out of Miami. Beverages and danishes were available. It was over an hour later when VIP boarding started. The seats in the VIP room were full before this, and several guests were standing along the wall. When the Carnival reps came to lead us to the entrance, we had to walk from the VIP room across the general waiting area to enter through the boarding gate on the opposite side of the room. It was not easy for guests to follow the person in front of him or her because the area was crowded, and guests in the outside waiting area cut in between boarding guests. I kept as close to the guest in front of me as I could without stepping on his heels, and people still cut in front of me! Apparently, I do not look very gruff. We then had to follow the non-boarding guests who were pulling their luggage (there was no room to go around them) until they veered off, and then we had to relocate our line in the distance.

photo taken of guests in cruise port after we went up escalator to board

Boarding had been smoother on our last cruise out of Miami, because we started boarding before noon, and we had boarded through the entrance by the VIP lounge. All-in-all, I do not have any serious complaints, and we were on board shortly after 1:00 p.m. The only guests that boarded before VIP guests were guests attending a wedding on board.

cabin 7434 balcony

balcony cabin 7434

Balcony cabin 7434, category 8B

Carnival Sunshine Cruise ~ 7-day Exotic Western Caribbean January/February 2014

Pre-cruise

Our son had given us dinner in the steakhouse for Christmas this year, and we wanted to go the first evening because a bottle of wine is included the first evening. A few weeks before our cruise, I made the reservation online. The computer screen showed that my transmission had been successfully sent; however, I never received an email confirmation. I searched for information about steakhouse reservations online, and some guests said that they had been contacted prior to their cruise, and some said that they got their reservation details after they boarded (these comments were not specific to the Sunshine). I decided to call Carnival a few days before our cruise to make sure our reservation had been received. The person I spoke with did not say whether she could check into this; she merely said that our reservation would be confirmed during check-in. *2019 update: our experience on different cruises this year, is that the reservation and payment is confirmed immediately; just like a Fun Shops purchase.

Arrival and Check-in ~ Port of New Orleans

We walked to the cruise port because our hotel, the Astor Crowne Plaza, was only a little over a half mile away. This did not end up being as easy as we anticipated. My husband and I had gone for a walk to the cruise port that morning, and we chatted with two female travelers who were pulling their luggage. They told us that they had just gotten off the Carnival Sunshine, and that they had walked out from the ship. They pointed to the corner across the parking lot, which they said is the cruise port entrance. There was a sign at the entrance into the parking lot from the sidewalk that said, "Pedestrian Entrance," so we did not walk any farther. We expected there to be a pedestrian walkway after we entered, so we returned to our hotel to finish getting ready.

View from Serenity deck

When we were headed toward the cruise port with our luggage around 10:30 a.m., we passed a few more travelers pulling their luggage headed in the opposite direction. After we went though the pedestrian entrance, we saw that the parking lot was uneven, and that there is not a pedestrian walkway through the lot. Since we did not think we had much farther to go, we continued on. We found the cruise port entrance in the corner exactly where we expected it; however, the cruise port is not pedestrian friendly.

Cruise port view from our balcony
cabin 6363
Click on photo to enlarge and read labels

We observed many people walking along the edge of the road inside the port, even though there were signs that said, "No Pedestrians." Since I did not see any cruise ship signage, I asked an officer in the area how to get to the Sunshine, and he gestured toward the road leading to the south end of the port. I asked him if it was okay to walk through that way with our luggage (after all, the signs did say, "No Pedestrians"!), and he said yes.