The Hawkins Family: April 2022

We just got back from a glorious 5 night cruise on the Carnival Sunshine. This was my 14th cruise and it did not disappoint. I always have people ask so many questions about cruising so I thought I would use this blog post to help answer some of those questions! I have several other cruise posts with information and they can be found here:

There are lots of other cruises mixed in the year in reviews, but the posts above are just about the cruises.

Our family prefers Carnival Cruise line. The prices are cheaper, the atmosphere is more loud/fun and the ports are more convenient. This particular boat left from Charleston, SC. Carnival is the only boat that sails from this small port. The same applies for Jacksonville, FL and Mobile, AL. All three of these ports service only Carnival and they are all a 5 hour or less drive from here. This was our first time cruising from Charleston and it went really well. This port has you ride a little van over to the gangway- you can see the ship in the background on our ride over. Fortunately for us, we also live close to Port Canaveral and Port of Tampa. These are both about a 6 hour drive. This particular cruise, we drove up the morning of departure and came back home immediately after arriving back to Charleston. Sometimes we book a hotel and use a park and cruise package- this allows you to park at the hotel for the duration of the cruise and they shuttle you to and from the port. We usually use a parking facility called Park-n-Cruise when we leave from Port Canaveral because the cost is about half of what they charge to park at the port itself. Just do your research and see what works best for you and your budget. There are lots of options.

Okay, so now we have arrived. We only had to wear masks while we checked in and got on/off the boat. We never had to wear a mask while on board! The check in process is a little hectic, it always is for me. I am juggling 2 rooms and 7 ID's, 5 birth certificates and all the paperwork. This time it was even harder- we had to have proof of vaccines as well as 7 negative covid tests! Once you get past this part and get on the boat things become less stressful and by the evening- you are enjoying yourself.

I wanted to take a minute to address money and costs. This is another question I get asked a LOT. For us, we continue to use Carnival because of the discounts they send us as repeat cruisers. We get offers all the time for $25 a person, $100 a person or sometimes even FREE cruises that we just pay tax and port fees on. The dates don't always work out, but check back often on their website and keep looking. You are almost guaranteed to find an amazing deal if you will be flexible with the date/boat/ports. Another way to save money is to check out eBay or Sam's Club. This cruise I bought a $1025 worth of cruise gift cards off eBay for $800. That was a $225 saving!! Sam's club will occasionally offer Carnival gift cards for $5 to $10 off. Kroger sells them as well, and at the very least you can get fuel points! Cruise travel agents are usually pretty good about getting you some room credit for your trip as well, so consider booking through a travel agent.

Another way to save money is to go ahead and by your drink packages and internet packaged before you leave. They offer a soda package as well as an alcohol package (that also includes milkshakes, fancy coffees, sodas, wine, water bottles and juices). These are cheaper when you buy them on the website before you leave! Or for an even cheaper cruise, just drink the free stuff- water, tea, lemonade, milk and juice! They have several internet options - they all suck. Service is slow and frustrating so be prepared. We usually go with the social media package for $5 a day and use messaging apps to communicate with each other on the ship and occasionally post a FB pic. However, if you want to save money- just ditch the internet for the cruise! A lot of ports have free WIFI, so you can check on things back home when you port. DO NOT ditch your phone however- pretty much everything on the ship uses the Carnival Hub app- menus, activities, reservations, check your bill... all available on the FREE Hub app. Even the drink menus from the bars are accessed via the Hub. So bring your phone and bring a portable charger- trust me, you will thank me later.

Speaking of things to bring, I have a must have list of "things to bring" that will make your stay more pleasurable!

*Hooks- I always bring 4 over the door hooks and a 6 pack of command hooks. We use these in our 2 staterooms to hang wet towels/swimsuits, lanyards, and clothes. The over the door hooks I bought years ago at Dollar Tree and the command hooks can be reused over and over if you buy more strips. The command strips can be placed on the walls and the hooks fit nicely over the closet doors.

|*Over the door shoe holder- We re-use the same one each cruise. I got this one at dollar general years ago. It will hold a multitude of things. There is very little counter space in the ship's room and you will appreciate a place to put toiletries, sunscreen, sunglasses, curling iron, brush, makeup, even shoes- really just about anything will fit in these pockets to help save space and keep you more organized.

*Lanyards- Your room key is also your way to pay and your way to get off/on ship. Make sure you get the one with a detachable clip so you can easily hand your room key off to pay/exit ship/open door without having to take it off your neck. When we first started cruising we used to have to bring a hole punch to add poke a hole in our cards for our lanyards- luckily Carnival now gives you cards with a hole already in it! You can use one of those nifty command hooks by the door to hang your lanyards on so you won't forget it on the way out the door.

*Power Supply/USB ports- Your room will only have one little outlet for plugging in things. We always bring a little power strip and USB charging hub with us so everyone can plug up their devices and charge! The ship will not allow surge protectors so make sure you just bring a power strip and not the type that has a surge protector on it.

Okay, those are our must have helpful items to bring along. I usually bring a sharpie, a small pair of scissors and some zip lock bags as well. I keep all those items together in a light weight, collapsible backpack. You will want the backpack as well to help carry things off and on the boat when you port! I have this great little backpack that I bought years ago and it packs really well/is super light weight and holds a ton! I have linked the backpack I have below, which I got on black Friday for $12

Backpack

Other things not to forget:

medications (take some Dramamine just in case!)

Do not pack beach towels- those are provided

Now, let's talk Ports! We have visited so many wonderful places during our cruises. Some offer amazing beaches, some boast historical sites and others are full of boat rides, snorkeling and adventure. We have our favorite ports and ports we skip. We will probably never get off the boat in Nassau again. It has become our most hated stop. The people are so pushy when you get off the boat and the town smells of weed. There are still great things about Nassau, but we aren't interested in stopping there any more. The kids love to have the boat to themselves when we stay on the ship and everyone else gets off the boat. Grand Turk is one of my kids fave ports. This area has a huge Margaritaville, massive pool and beautiful beach all right as you walk off the ship. We also enjoy private islands that offer a quit water taxi from the boat to the island and usually include lunch. Half Moon Cay and Princess Cay are both privately owned islands by Carnival and have lots of amenities. The ocean water at half moon cay is some of the most beautiful Caribbean water you will ever see. It is very calm and crystal clear. We enjoyed visiting Old San Juan, the cultural was wonderful. We walked all over the city, visited the fort, ate street food- overall an amazing day. The cruise line will offer activities called excursions. These usually cost more than average, but they are guaranteed to get you back on the boat on time. I usually research before we leave and plan out what we want to do and have an idea of our plan before we arrive. Most islands have free public transportation to use, which is nice for getting around. Almost every place you visit will have a free public beach. There are a lot of great resources for almost any port available on the Cruise Critic boards. This resource has saved me tons of money in excursions and tips/tricks.

Okay, now... time for a breakdown of our latest cruise on the Carnival Sunshine!

This was our first "post-covid" cruise. There were a few hoops to jump through, but we managed to make it work. As of right now, cruisers are required to have 2 covid vaccination shots. You must also have a negative covid test within 48 hours before sailing. You can upload both your negative test and your vaccination card to an app that you will show at check in. This makes things move along very quickly! We were able to get our testing done at the Walgreen drive through and it was a very simple process. Once we were finally on the ship, we were able to ditch the masks and enjoy the cruise! We even got to skip out on the usual muster station briefing which was awesome! We always hate the safety briefing drills. We had lunch on the lido deck and enjoyed the sail away party! Our favorite lunch items are Guy's Burgers and BlueIguana Cantina tacos/burritos!

We never miss the sail away party on the lido deck, lots of dancing and fun.

Blue Iguana taco and burritos are a must. The breakfast burrito is AMAZING.

Our first dinner night, we don't usually dress up too much for the first night of dinner. But we always eat dinner in the main dining room, we love this tradition.

The strawberry soup and mango soup for appetizers is one of my faves! Another fun tip for dinner in the dining room- you can order as many appetizers, entrees and desserts as you want! Sometimes I order 2 of each.

This dining room on the sunshine was lit. We have never been on a ship with such a fun, lively dining room. There were conga lines and dancing at every dinner!

Don't miss sunsets on the top deck, always a highlight of the trip.

Virgin frozen drinks are included in the adult beverage package. The girls LOVE frozen Pina Coladas and Miami Vice's!

I'm the nerd that gets up early and runs on the treadmill... This boat had a HUGE workout facility. The treadmills had virtual paths to run through which was really cool.

This boat had multiple water slides and the kids really loved the water play area.

Dinner- night 2.

Crème Brule is one of my faves!

It is a little hard to see, but this is where the boat docked in Bimini. The island has a free tram that will pick you up at the dock and take you down to the free public beach! It will also bring you back to the ship.

We rode the tram to the last stop, the public beach. It was absolutely stunning. I have never seen such beautiful water! The beach is known as White and Blue Beach.

The whole family took a little nap on the beach

I had a little snack of pizza and potato salad and watched as we sailed away

The kids spent a lot of time on the basketball court, this boat had a half court. We have been on ships that offer full court, but as long as they have a basketball court.. they are happy.

Kennedy was the queen of chess and beat me several times. There was also a cool ropes course on the games deck as well- you can see it in the background.

Jada and Kevin enjoying corn hole.

This ship had an actual sushi restaurant on board.

It was delicious. There was an additional charge for the sushi.

And of course.. we had many ice creams cones every day.. ice cream in 24/7 on Carnival.

Dinner night 3- crab cakes and steak. Yum!

Maggie studied for her test in the library every day. Usually we visit the library often for board games, however because of COVID (I'm guessing), there were no games available.

There are always video arcades on each ship. This costs extra but of course the kids love this place. I limit them to 3 or 4 games a day.

And of course the "big kids" got to play in the casino! Carter and Kevin played the roulette table and they both won a good bit of money!

This was Maggie's first cruise as an 18 year old, so she couldn't wait to try out the machines.

This is our lovely spread of food from our cabana rental on Carnival's private area called Princess Cays, located on the island Eleuthera.

We visited her 2 years ago at Christmas time and found the beach to be very crowded and very hot. So we decided to rent a cabana. This was the best idea ever. It came with a table and 4 chairs inside, a fridge with drinks and fresh snack, a shower outside, 2 loungers on the deck and 2 loungers in the sand with an umbrella. We were in cabana number 4 and the location was perfect. There were also towels inside for use as well as snorkel equipment and floats.