Carnival Sunshine is heading toward her new homeport of Norfolk, Virginia and she is looking fine! The ship is fresh from a two week dry dock in Marseille, France. During the refurbishment, she received a variety of refreshments guests will enjoy.
Dry dock operations include technical updates and maintenance so the ship continues to sail smoothly and function properly, while aesthetic updates ensure a fantastic experience for every guest.
During this dry dock, a variety of public spaces and amenities have been updated onboard Carnival Sunshine, as well as functional updates for guest staterooms.
“She looks magnificent having received complete refurbishment of the water park, ropes course, mini golf, jogging track & all open decks synthetic floor,” described John Heald, Carnival Cruise Line’s Brand Ambassador.
“New cardio machines [have been added] to the guest gym, making it one of the best in the fleet. Motion lights added to all guest cabins. Casino upgrades have been added with [a] new host desk on the promenade deck.”
To accompany these updates, Carnival Sunshine also received hull cleaning and repainting, as well as other refreshment so she truly does shine.
“This along with all the usual maintenance and upkeep of a dry dock means Carnival Sunshine looks absolutely fabulous,” Heald said.
While Carnival Sunshine did not offer one-way transatlantic cruises to and from dry dock, the ship is now on her way to Norfolk, Virginia to begin her new deployment.
Previously, the vessel was homeported from Charleston, South Carolina, but that cruise port has declined to renew its homeport agreement with Carnival Cruise Line. Future development of the cruise terminal may mean sailings return to Charleston in the years to come, but there are no longer any ships sailing from the city.
Sailing Aboard Carnival Sunshine
Instead, Carnival Sunshine will begin sailing from her new homeport of Norfolk, Virginia with her first departure on Tuesday, February 11, 2025. That inaugural sailing is a 5-night Bahamas itinerary with planned visits to Freeport and Bimini.
The ship will be offering primarily 6- and 8-night voyages to the Bahamas, Bermuda, and the Eastern Caribbean, depending on departure date and cruise length. In the fall, select Canada and New England sailings are also on her schedule.
The refreshed Carnival Sunshine will be making appearances at top ports such as Amber Cove, Grand Turk, Princess Cays, King’s Wharf, Nassau, and Half Moon Cay.
On her September 28, 2025 departure, the ship will make her inaugural visit to the brand new Celebration Key, Carnival’s private destination currently under construction on Grand Bahama Island.
The 102,853-gross-ton Carnival Sunshine, formerly Carnival Destiny, can welcome 3,002 guests aboard and is also home to more than 1,100 international crew members.
Carnival Cruise Line has a regular schedule of dry dock operations to keep its fleet of 27 ships in peak condition. While some ships receive more extensive upgrades that may change venues or introduce completely new spaces onboard, others receive only general refreshment, depending on each vessel’s individual needs and schedule.
Carnival Sunshine was most recently in dry dock in late 2021, at which time she also received the brand new red-white-and-blue hull livery.
Her most significant update was in 2013, at which time the ship was Carnival Destiny. The $155 million (USD) upgrade at that time completely transformed the ship over a seven-week dry dock in Italy, adding new cabins, new restaurants, an extensive Serenity Deck, the SportSquare complex, and much more.
Read Also: Former Carnival Cruise Ships, Where Are They Now?
That dry dock was so massive that the ship was renamed and debuted as Carnival Sunshine. This was the beginning of the transformative Sunshine class of ships that would grow to include Carnival Sunrise (formerly Carnival Triumph) in 2019 and Carnival Radiance (formerly Carnival Victory) in 2021.
