Carnival Sunshine Cruise Ship and Trip to Half Moon Cay, Bahamas

 

“Dance with the waves, Move with the sea. Let the rhythm of the water set your soul free.”

Christy Ann Martine

After waiting over a year, we rescheduled our four day cruise to Half Moon Cay, Carnival Cruise Lines private island after having it postponed because the covid pandemic. After loading the car, we left our home by 6:30 in the morning and headed through the lovely South Carolina countryside to the Port of Charleston. The trip was uneventful and we arrived at the port just after 9:30.

When we arrived at the cruise parking lot, the cars were lining up to be let into park. We pulled in and lined up behind them. The parking staff came around and took our payment for parking for the cruise while we were waiting for the parking lot to open at the port. That made a lot of sense so when we got back to the port, we could just drive off which saved time. When they opened the lot, our luggage was loaded onto a truck to be taken to the make shift terminal. Tip: put any alcohol or soda in a carry on and keep it with you. Only bring cans if you bring soda and you are allowed one 12 pack each. No plastic bottles.

After we got off the bus, our boarding passes were checked before we entered the terminal. Then we got in line to give them the rest of our information, which at the time was our vaccination card, passports, and ID. After being in line for about 15 minutes, we got to the desk and they got the rest of our information. It was a smooth boarding process even with them just starting a new computer system. After processing our paperwork, we were told to sit down in the terminal and wait till our zone was called to board the ship. The man announcing the numbers was named Bruce and he was hilarious. We found out he was going on the cruise with us. We would become great friends by the end of the cruise as both Joe and Bruce are both veterans. If you go on a cruise out of Charleston, say hi to Bruce for us. He is lovely. Tip: Make sure you have all your paper work together in a folder so when you get to the counter it is easy on them to see everything. Have your ID and Passport ready. It just makes the whole process easier and faster.

When our number got called, we walked up the ramp and entered the ship with a lovely greeting from the crew. We entered into the Atrium and stopped to grab a drink to carry with us to our muster station. After all, we are on vacation and might as well start it out right. We checked in to the muster station which was mainly to make sure we knew how to put on our life jackets in case of an emergency. Afterwards we were released we were told to head to the 9thg floor until our room was ready. Tip: Bring a rolling carry on with a bathing suit, sunscreen, change of clothes, and medications with you so you can start your vacation before even getting to your room. We had over two hours before we could get into our room so having our things with us was a pro move.

By that time it was lunchtime so we decided to find something good to eat for lunch. Near the pool was a Mexican food stand and on the other side was a great Burger Bar which both smelled great. There was also the Marketplace which had a variety of foods. Those areas were very crowded so we ended up heading to the very back at the ship.

Tip: Head to the back of this ship as it was much less crowded and the food was terrific. There were two restaurants in the back as well as the Havana Bar. That was a nice area with large windows and not many people at all. The staff there were so nice and friendly. We ate at Cucina del Capitano where you can go and order any kind of pasta dish you want. You just pick what ingredients you want to add and the type of pasta, and they make it for you. It was delicious. On the other side of this room was Ji Ji Asian Kitchen which was a Hibachi style restaurant where you could pick any kind of meat or shrimp and add the vegetables you wanted. Then you choose what kind of sauce you wanted from mild to spicy. It was terrific also. These restaurants were no extra charge, at least for lunch.

There were two pools on the ship. One in the main area where all ages are welcome on Deck 9. There is also a big screen above the pool that showed movies during the day and night. They had many events on the pool deck like ice carving and line dancing throughout the day.

Then on Deck 10 there is a small adult pool with a waterfall and comfortable lounge chairs to relax on. This area was known as Serenity. We lucked out and got loungers there on the sea day of our cruise and it was a lovely spot to spend our day.

We went to our room as soon as we could and got settled in. Our key cards were placed on our door. They bring your suitcase right to your room. It was nice getting rid of our carry on that we had with us. Now we were ready to explore the ship. This ship was easy to get around and we found many nice places to sit and relax with a view of the water. Our ship left the port around 4 pm and was lovely seeing Fort Sumter as we headed out of the harbor towards the Bahamas. Yes, this ship was small, 892’ in length, in comparison to the last ships we had been on but it had a special charm to it.

Our cabin was on Deck 6 and it was good. We had a king size bed which was super comfortable. The balcony was small but it didn’t matter as we were hardly in the room. The bathroom was tiny but it had a decent size shower with nice hot water. There was plenty of storage space and had a safe and a small refrigerator.

The spa area was all ready hoping when I went to check it out so I got very few pictures there. Then I went into the gym which was totally silent at that time. The gym had great equipment and more than I expected on this size ship and the man in charge of the gym was very nice and showed me around. He was very proud of this gym and told me it would be hopping later that day.

Deck 10 had the waterworks with amazing water slides and splash park. What fun it was watching people come down the slide. There also was shuffle board, large yard size chess board, ping pong, basket ball, shuffle board, and an area where you could climb the rope maze. A great fun place for all. There also was a kids club and teenager club where they had their own space.

The Sunset Dining Room was where we had our diner every night, was on Deck 3. Our servers were Viroch and Archiver and they were very nice and catered to our every need. At the end of our meal for three out of four nights, they put music on in the dining room and the servers got up and danced. Many of the people eating go up and danced with them. It made dinner just fun. The food was good. Tip: You can order more than one appetizer if it is something you really like. For instance, the shrimp cocktail had four smallish shrimp so if that was one of your favorites, you could ask for two. Also if they are having two main courses you like, you can ask for both and they will bring it to you. That is especially good on a night where you may have lobster and/or steak as a main course. That way you get a surf and turf meal.

Deck four had the specialty restaurants, Bonsai Sushi and Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse. Both of these venues were small but looked nice. We did not eat at either so I can not say if they were good. I do know that some of the staff went to the Sushi place and said it was good. There was a piano bar on this floor also but it never opened the entire cruise. The Library was also on that floor which was a quiet spot where you could get a book and relax in silence. The Sunrise Dining hall was on that floor and was open for breakfast on sea days. The Limelight Lounge was where we could go and hear a comedian and also where they had karaoke during the day. Tip: If you want to see a comedian or go to Karaoke, it gets packed so get there early. It was a fun place to be.

Deck 5 is where the Promenade is located. There are many shops to check out including a candy shop, jewelry shop, duty free liquor shop, and souvenir shop. In the front of the ship is the Liquid Lounge where all the shows took place. The shows were very energetic and fun to watch. The casino is on this floor and stayed busy all the time.   

On the other end of the ship was the Alchemy Bar and Ocean Plaza. During the day at the Ocean Plaza, I really enjoyed learning a new line dance. The day I joined in, we learned how to dance to “Thriller”. We laughed so hard and had so much fun. If you are into game rooms, the Warehouse is also located on that level with lots of games to play. Tip: Make sure you download the Carnival app so you can see what is scheduled on the ship hourly. There were so many activities happening all day long on this ship.

The Sunshine Band played at the Ocean Plaza at night and they were amazing. Our grand daughter had been on this cruise ship the week before and got off the ship the day we were getting on and let us know about this fantastic band. We went to all their shows and they were all amazing talents. There was a bass player, a monster guitarist, amazing keyboard player, drums, and a male and female singer. They could play anything from country to Motown to rock. They were fabulous and totally made our cruise special. Tip: You do not want to miss this band. Go to see their shows. They are energetic, talented, and fun and are all very nice. Introduce yourselves to them and hi to JP, the guitarist and Job, the keyboard player, and Crystal the female singer who will knock your socks off.

Near the Ocean Plaza was the Red Frog Pub which was a lovely and quiet area to sit with friends. There was also a table top shuffle board and a Foosball table. We loved that there were windows so we could watch the sea sail by.

Since we were traveling over September 11^th, Carnival Sunshine had a lovely tribute to all those lost on that dreadful day. Chrystal, the singer from the Sunshine Band sang the National Anthem and sang it perfectly. The other lovely thing that Carnival does is having get togethers for Veterans and first responders. It was a nice thing to be able to sit and talk with others who served and share stories. We had two high teas with the other veterans and it was special being able to get to know other men and women who served our great country.

The Sunshine is a Vision class Carnival ship built by Fincantieri at the Monfalone shipyard in Northern Italy and was christened in 1996 as the Carnival Destiny in Venice, Italy by Lin Arison, the wife of the Carnival Cruise Line founder, Ted Arison. At that time it was the worlds largest cruise ship until 1998. In 2012, Carnival put 155 million dollars into this ship and did a 49 day massive transformation. They did a complete overhaul and renamed the 3,006 passenger ship, the Carnival Sunshine (the Fun Ship). It was repainted in 2021. There are 1040 crew members.

The home port of the Carnival Sunshine has been Charleston since 2019 and was supposed to go to Cuba but the plans were stopped when the Cuba ban happened in 2019. The ship now primarily goes on three to five day voyages to St. Martin, St. Thomas, Antigua, St. Kitts, San Juan, Princess Cays, Grand Turk, Aruba, and Nassau, and Bonaire. The ship sails under the flag of the Bahamas. The port of Charleston will only be open until the end of 2024 which is sad. It was a convenient port for so many people.

We had a grand time on this ship which was surprising to us as our first impression wasn’t great. Cons on this ship was it is an older smaller ship and we saw some areas that we felt were not being taken care of which was much different from other ships. One was the windows didn’t look like they got cleaned and we saw rust and a few problems with damaged floors. Our room was on the small size but comfortable and we saw rust on our balcony. The breakfast food wasn’t great but the rest of the food on the ship was good. Tip: On sea days go to the dining room as the breakfast food was much better there or the Mexican stand near the pool had good breakfast. We felt like the ship was crowded but that was only on the first day when everyone was on Deck 9. It got better after all could go to their rooms. As on other ships, the lounge hoarders were there and held lounge chairs all day even if they were not there.

The Pros of this ship was the staff were very friendly and super hard working. We were very happy with every Carnival worker that we dealt with. If you are looking for an inexpensive getaway, this is it. It is a great value for your money. We also met the nicest people that were on vacation with us. Because this is a small ship, you run into the same people over and over and it is easy to meet and get friendly with many people. The Sunshine Band made our cruise as they were lovely people and they were all amazingly talented. The Love and Marriage show was great and TJ the cruise director was fun and energetic. Bingo was a big hit even though we didn’t participate. There seemed to always be something to fun to do while onboard. Our room steward was great and made us very comfortable with extra pillows and keeping our room perfect. The bartenders were fantastic and fun to be around. We really loved Gerard, whose smile was contagious and worked liked no other on the upper decks and Nikola at the Alchemy Lounge was very nice and funny and could do ten things at once. This cruise went to Half Moon Cay, Carnivals private island which was a gorgeous island. There is no dock there so you have to take a short ferry ride.   Tip: If you want to snorkel, bring it with you as well as a blow up float that packs flat. The snorkeling was good near the rocks but otherwise not good. Near the rocks, we got into a school of fish where there were thousands of tiny silver fish that glittered in the sunlight. So beautiful.

Tip: A pro move is when we embarked on the ship in Charleston, we brought two 750 ml bottles of champagne or wine and two plastic wine glasses and saved it to take to Half Moon Cay. Even if you have the Carnival drink package, it doesn’t work on the island and you have to pay for your drinks. Take your bottles and cups in a beach bag, get a recliner on the beach, swim, and enjoy your beverage without spending a dime. But if you do want to buy alcohol, we were told to go to the bar at the pirate ship. Another pro move to the bring a thermal cup to fill with either cold drinks like ice tea or lemonade and you can use for a larger cup of tea or coffee to carry around the ship.

We had a wonderful cruise and truly enjoyed ourselves. The Pros much outweighed the Cons and we would do this cruise again. We are looking forward to our next cruise. We only wish that Charleston would keep the cruise port open as it made this trip so convenient. Check out the Sunshine Carnival.