Carnival Sunshine Trip Journal: Part 4 – Embarkation + New Years Celebrationfeatured

Embarkation days are always a little stressful.

I’m not sure why we can’t seem to get a better grasp on them, but just like packing, going on more cruises hasn’t helped us get any better at making it less stressful.

I think it’s, in part, because we have so much excitement laying on these trips that we want to get them started on the best foot that we can, and the highest margin for something to go wrong is at embarkation.

We had our morning planned out as best we could manage – out of the hotel by 9:00 am, on the road by 9:30 am, drop Mom and the luggage at the port by 10:30 am and return the car for embarkation by 11:30 am. And we almost got there: we were out of the hotel around 9:00, we stopped at McDonald’s for some caffeine and Publix for some bubbly and were on the road around 9:30 am.

The ride from Disney World to Port Canaveral is just over an hour (if you take the toll roads) to an hour and a half (two in traffic) if you don’t. We made good time, but opted to skip dropping Mom and the luggage off at the port before we returned the rental car. We figured by dropping off Mom (and the luggage), it would be easier for us to get a shuttle back since the rental car shuttles fill up fast and run slow, but by the time we were nearing Cape Canaveral, we figured that the traffic into and out of the port would cancel out any time we saved waiting for a shuttle.

Cape Canaveral is a pretty quiet area. A few stores and restaurants, a couple of hotels, but it’s generally quiet – probably why many cruisers opt not to stay near the port and choose to stay closer to Disney, Orlando or even Tampa. All of the major rental car agencies have locations near the port, and most of them run free shuttles to and from the pier.

Aside from the Sunshine, the Oasis of the Seas, the Carnival Magic and the Disney Fantasy were also in port, so it was a busy day at the car rental agencies. We figured we were lucky when we went outside to catch the shuttle at the Dollar/Thrifty rental center and only found one other group out there, but less lucky when a group of cruisers bound for the Oasis tried to cut ahead by forming a new line. The shuttle was running slow (they only run every 30 minutes to begin with) and was slow to leave when the shuttle was full, so it took us nearly 45 minutes to get a mile from the car rental drop off to the terminal.

The Sunshine was the second stop, after the Oasis, and the driver helped us with our luggage, wished us a happy new year and passed us off to a porter, who slapped some priority stickers on our luggage and pointed us to the direction we needed to head in.

It all went quicker from there – our Platinum status on Carnival gives us priority boarding, which got us quickly into the building, through passport control and would have gotten us through security quicker if they hadn’t thought Mom’s luggage scale was a taser and hand-searched her bag. We walked through the Priority check in line, had our Sail and Sign cards in hand within minutes and walked straight onto the ship. So while we didn’t get to board as quickly as I would have liked us to, being able to walk right on without a wait was kind of nice, too.

The first matter of business was to head to our room to drop off our bags. That Platinum status also permits us to head straight for our room at embarkation instead of waiting for the general announcement at 1:30 pm. Our room (2152 – a standard oceanview cabin) was ready for us, with our pre-ordered water bottles stacked on the desk, our pins and drink vouchers laid out in front of the mirror with a fresh, new Fun Times. We took the Fun Times with us and headed upstairs to the Lido deck for lunch.

First day lunch always means tacos from the Blue Iguana Cantina. I get at ‘em early because, well, I’ll be their best customer for breakfast and lunch for the rest of the cruise. In my opinion, the Blue Iguana Cantina is one of the best eateries at sea. They’re usually pretty amenable to special orders, they make their tortillas from scratch throughout the day and, you guys, those breakfast arepas. But before I could dig into a plate of steak tacos, we had to find a table. The Lido Marketplace was packed. The outdoor seating was filled. It was impossible to find a table, and if this was what we were in for for the next eight days, I wasn’t going to be amused. We gave up on dining in the Marketplace and took our plates as far aft as we could get to the Havana Bar.

The Havana Bar shares the space formerly occupied by a second pool (back when the Sunshine was the Destiny) with JiJi’s Asian Kitchen and Cucina del Capitano. It’s a lively space at night, but a quiet area during the day where you can almost always find a table (and some fresh empanadas and Cubanos from the Havana Bar!).

After lunch, we headed back to the room to check for our luggage, but nothing had appeared yet, so we headed out to explore the ship. Our last trip on the Sunshine was exactly 54 weeks prior, so it should have still been fresh in our minds, but for some reason, the ship felt foreign to us. Maybe it was because the Vista was so different or because the slight updates made to the Sunshine felt so much bigger than they were, but the familiarity we usually sense of coming home (especially on ships we have traveled on before) just wasn’t there. But that was okay – it also meant we could rediscover everything as if it were new to us!

Stephanie headed back to the room to nap while Mom and I went for a walk along deck ten. The weather was beyond perfect – sunny and mid-70s with a nice breeze coming up off the water. I couldn’t get in enough time outside to soak it in.

Muster drill was scheduled for 3:30 pm and our bags are usually delivered an hour or so beforehand. But as the handlers began delivering luggage down the hallway, ours hadn’t shown up on our doorstep yet. We hoped to be able to unpack a little before muster drill, but we headed off with empty drawers and closets.

The safety briefing was a mess. While many of Carnival’s ships have adapted to the process of gathering guests in common areas and doing the muster drill in the comfort of personal space and air conditioning, the Sunshine still does it the old fashioned way – gathered outside, lined up in rows so close to the person in front of you that you’ve basically got your nose in their hair. Stephanie wanted to leave early so we could get upstairs before the rush, but I knew that the first ones in are often the last ones out. So we went upstairs and there was a stampede of people trying to get outside for muster drill. Like an actual stampede. Every person on the ship had to be on deck 4 trying to get outside four doors. We held back towards the elevators until everyone was outside, a tactic that worked in our favor: there was no room for us with everyone else, so we were led to a quiet little area in between two of the muster stations.

The Cruise Director, Chris, excused two stations at a time, and while everyone headed upstairs to the Lido deck, we ducked downstairs to our favorite little quiet area on the ship: the deck 3 promenade. On both sides of the lobby, there are doors that lead out to a long deck. Most people will never go out there – it’s not all that obvious. But there are some chairs out there, some shade from the sun and plenty of room to enjoy the views. We settled in as the Carnival Magic pulled out to sea ahead of us before the captain steered us out of Port Canaveral, past the Oasis of the Seas and out to open waters.

Once there was nothing below the horizon but blue waters, we ran back to the room in the hopes our luggage would be there and as our luck would have it, three of our four bags had been delivered. It was later than on our previous cruises, but we were just glad we wouldn’t be stuck in our current attire for the New Year’s Eve party!

We unpacked what we could, but we only had 15 minutes before we had to head upstairs for the lighting of the menorah. Carnival had organized a gathering for Hanukkah and we already found a crowd waiting when we got upstairs. A member of the entertainment staff explained that there were no members of the Jewish faith on the staff but that he volunteered to lead the event. A few of our fellow passengers led the group in prayer and song and then, after the menorah was lit, a latke station was opened up, a basket of chocolate gelt was placed on the table and best of all, they passed around glasses of Manischewitz!

The dinner menu was posted out in the lobby and the offerings looked fantastic, but we had reservations at the supper club, so we cut out of the Hanukkah party to head back to the room, where our final bag had been delivered, so we could finish unpacking and get ready for all of the New Year’s fun.

I made an online reservation for Fahrenheit 555 a few weeks before we left, figuring it would be a hot reservation for New Year’s and requesting an 8:00 pm seating. They were quick to email us back that, while they were booked through our 8:00 pm request, they could accommodate a reservation for 8:30 pm. The later dinner time gave us just enough time to unpack, get ready and get in some time to browse the shop and hang out on Ocean Plaza with some live music and bites at the Taste Bar.

We headed to the restaurant promptly at 8:30 pm and were immediately led to a waiting table. Fahrenheit 555 is smaller on the Sunshine than it is on many of the other ships, making the space more intimate. We had two attentive servers who walked us through the menu, the various cuts of meat and offered us a complimentary bottle of wine (the promotion for dining on the first evening or the first formal night).

The meal, itself, takes just over two hours, consisting of an amuse bouche, a starter, a salad, the entrée course and dessert and coffee. Everything we tried was delicious and cooked perfectly to order, but the standout for me is the sides – the mashed potatoes with wasabi are consistently out of this world.

Our meal concluded just in time for us to head to the atrium lobby, where hundreds of people were already gathered for the 11:00 pm balloon drop. Cruise Director Chris was dancing on the bar in his kilt and led us in a countdown. Hundreds of balloons dropped from the ceilings, each one with a wish inside (an activity from earlier in the afternoon). Two winners whose wishes were in Chris’ balloons received a bottle of Moet Chandon (the sponsor of this evening’s activities) and some fun New Year’s gear.

After the balloon drop, we stopped back at our room to change our shoes before the deck party and found party hats, blowers and our Platinum gifts waiting for us in the room. We took a few minutes to put our feet up and then headed upstairs to the very windy Lido deck for the New Year’s Eve party.

We’ve traveled for Halloween and Christmas and Carnival has always put together some really fun holiday experiences, but they really went all out for New Year’s. The party was sponsored by Moet Chandon, so champagne was flowing and servers were making constant rounds. Light up 2017 glasses and foam wands were passed out at the entrance and everyone sang and danced until Chris came on to count us down to 2017. The Playlist Productions cast led a rousing rendition of Auld Lange Syne and it was probably the most fun celebration we’ve ever had at sea.

The party continued in the Liquid Lounge. Mom headed off to bed and Stephanie and I made a fashionably late entrance downstairs, but we drank so much wine at dinner and champagne upstairs that we didn’t last long at the dance party.

We staggered back to our room and the ship might have been rocking, but it also might have been the celebration and the wine but either way, we couldn’t have came up with a better way to welcome in 2017.

Save

Save