Family Vacation 2019 – Charleston to Bahamas!
I am excited to share a bit about our family holiday trip this year. We went to Charleston, SC for a few days and then sailed on the Carnival Sunshine out of Charleston to the Bahamas.
It was my first trip ever on a Carnival cruise and, to be honest, my expectations weren’t all that high. I typically sail on Holland, Celebrity, Princess, NCL, Oceania or Regent. But, I can honestly say that I was pleasantly surprised overall.
In Charleston we stayed at the King Charles Hotel – a wonderful old hotel that is conveniently located on Meeting Street. Getting to shopping, incredible dining and tours is an easy walk from the front of the hotel. It was not my first time at the hotel but it was the first time my family had been to Charleston. I noticed that the guys ended up happily ensconced in the Pub watching football on TV while having a drink one afternoon! We girls were out shopping…
We spent some time going to see the Angel Oak Tree. It is an absolutely amazing site! The day was absolutely perfect and everyone loved it, especially my little granddaughter who enjoyed a “flight” under the branches courtesy of her uncle!
We had a chance to visit the Charleston Festival of Lights, too. It was absolutely beautiful and well worth the drive out to James Island. The light displays were phenomenal and they even have an area where you can park and enjoy some gift shops, snacks or small rides.
Finally, it was time to board the Carnival Sunshine for our four night cruise to the Bahamas! We had a group of four adjacent spa cabins including the Spa Suite, 10107. While the cabins weren’t luxurious by any means, they were very clean and relatively spacious. There was not enough closet space and the little cluster hangers were terrible! My cabin’s phone didn’t work but engineering came immediately and attended to it. The added perk of being able to go straight into the spa and enjoy the sauna and thermal rooms was really nice! They even had a “spa night” for the young kids, which was a big hit!
The real detractor in the cabins were the balconies. They were extremely narrow. We asked to have them opened on to each other but once opened there was still a wide diagonal support structure that prohibited us from freely moving across the balconies as we had planned. In the end we had them close the connecting doors because they clanged all night long. Really disappointing!
We enjoyed dinner in JiJi, the Asian restaurant, which was a family style affair, Cucina del Capitano, the Italian restaurant, and the Steakhouse. They were all an improvement over the dining room, which was crowded and offered food that was barely okay. Guy’s Burger Joint and the Blueiguana Cantina provided enjoyabled lunches for everyone.
Overall, the ship is really crowded and a bit run down. All the public areas felt small and overrun with guests. The absolute worst was the casino which is a smoking area. Worse still is that you have to go through the casino to get to the kids areas if you are traveling across the ship. The smell of smoke permeated the kids arcade area as well.
The staff was really pleasant and helpful everywhere we went and both embarkation and disembarkation went pretty smoothly.
Of course, everyone loved the ice cream machines!
Our overall experience was a lot of fun. Being with our entire immediate family made the little inconveniences on board seem less important and I think everyone had a great time. We even celebrated the engagement of my oldest son on the trip, so that made it even more special!
