Carnival Sunshine

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Geo: 41.3879, 2.16992

Our third cruise ship of this trip. Not one we had initially planned. It turned out to be convenient, getting us around Italy, departing Barcelona on the right date for a lastminute half price deal. We have 9 nights ahead of us on the Carnival Sunshine cruise ship, with stops in Marseille, France, 5 stops in Italy; Livorno, Naples, Rome, Sicily and Venice, as well as one stop in Croatia at Dubrovnik. All in all its arguably the best ship of the three. Just refurbished in April 2013, everything is pretty modern and quality. Its not quite as big as Adventure of the Seas, but just about as grand. Its a nice design too, with plenty to keep us entertained; two outdoor swimming pools, three outdoor spas, an over 21 sundeck, plenty of bars and free restaurants, small basketball court, outdoor chess, pool tables, table tennis, fussball, games room, live sports bar, casino, piano bar, gym, theatre and three awesome waterslides. Our room, number 1477 is huge. There are robes, a flatscreen TV, and even a window offering a great Ocean view.
There was no problem making the lengthy trip to Barcelona port via train and shuttle bus. We boarded around 3pm after sculling down some left over Spanish beers. The quality of food on board is pretty good. We have 'My Time' Dining which allows access to dinner at the Sunset Restaurant anytime from 5.45 to 9.30. The quality of food is good, and tonight we met a lovely Scottish couple; Jack and Sylvia (in their 70s). The theatre is small but nice, and compared to other ships, the 'Welcome Aboard' show sucked. Lots of talking with poor comedy, poor singing and average comedians. Overall though, impressed with the ship. We spent a small fortune on 4 day excursions, but I think were going to love them. Tomorrow, our first stop is Marseille where we will be exploring it ourselves.

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