Our 5-Day Carnival Sunrise Caribbean Cruise

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Take a look at our 5-day Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Sunrise with stops at: Nassau, Bahamas; Half Moon Cay, Bahamas; and Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos.

Couple smiling on dock in front of Carnival Sunrise cruise ship

One month ago our family was getting ready to board the Carnival Sunrise at the Port of Miami for a 5-day Eastern Caribbean cruise. John and I have been on a bunch of cruises, but this was a first for the entire family, to include the grandparents!

I absolutely love cruising, and it’s my preferred method of vacationing, because of the simplicity of it all. Cruising with kids, seemed just as simple. Not having to worry about where to eat, how to travel between locations, and cleaning, absolutely make cruising feel like a true vacation!

Our cruise came after a week at Disney, so a vacation from that vacation was desperately needed!

Carnival Sunrise 5-day Eastern Caribbean Cruise

Embarkation from Miami aboard the Carnival Sunrise cruise ship. A View of the iconic Carnival "whale tail" and. a yellow slide.

The Carnival Sunrise

The Carnival Sunrise is an older ship that was refurbished. Originally known as the Carnival Triumph, the ship was renamed Carnival Sunrise in 2019, following a $200 million renovation. Due to the halt on sailings in 2020, it felt like we were very much still on a newer ship.

The Sunrise had all of our Carnival favorites, including: Guy’s Burgers, the Red Frog Pub, Cloud 9 Spa, and the adult-only Serenity Deck(s). As a bonus with the kids, there were the WaterWorks slides (nearly right outside of our rooms), and the kids’ clubs close by, which they enjoyed almost every night. And of course, the unlimited ice cream machines.

Guy's Burger from Carnival Sunrise and a vanilla ice cream cone

Our Cabin

We aren’t picky when it comes to cabins, so we generally stick to an interior cabin, We don’t spend much time in the room anyway, so this works for us. On the Sunrise, we managed to snag a 5-person interior cabin, which was tight but we made it work!

The two main benefits to our cabin class/location was that we had the grandparents right next door. And we had an interior spa cabin on deck 10, which was in close proximity to the spa, for access to the showers.

I would absolutely chose an interior cabin for the entire family next time as a way to save on cash that can be put towards activities and excursions.

Day 1 – Embarkation: Miami, Florida

We started the cruise from our hometown of Miami, Florida. We’re used to leaving from Miami, because previously, we’d drop the girls off with my parents and wave good-bye from the ship deck.

When doing our online check-in, I opted for the earliest arrival appointment, which was 10:00am-10:30am. We got there at 10 on the dot, and were boarding the ship and had ice cream cones in hand before 11!

The unfortunate thing about boarding early is that guest cabins typically aren’t ready until 1:30 or so. So in the time from boarding until then, we grabbed a table for the family, started snacking, and went to the e-muster.

Since the room was not available, I was also stuck carrying around our very heavy bottles of wine. Carnival allows each guest over the age of 21 to carry on a 750ml bottle of wine. With five adults on our reservation, I brought along 3 bottles of Prosecco for mimosas, and 2 bottles of wine for dinner.

Day 2 – Nassau, Bahamas

Flag of the Bahamas flying over green bushes and rocks

Our first port was Nassau, Bahamas. It’s not my favorite port to try to wander around, so we booked a dolphin encounter excursion at Blue Lagoon Island. The island is about 30 minutes away by boat, which is part of the excursion. Thankfully for us, it was starting to rain on Nassau, and the ferry got us away from that!

While waiting for our dolphin encounter time, we also rented clamshells on the beach, which included towels and drink tickets. Totally worth it, in my opinion! The dolphin encounter itself was pretty quick, but we got some fun photos and experiences out of it. No cameras are allowed, so you’re forced to buy the photos from the photographers.

View of the beach and palm trees swaying from inside the cleear blue water

After the dolphins encounter, we were able to enjoy an included lunch buffet as well as time in the water and on the inflatable toys. All in all, I’d say this is a great excursion option for the entire family. No swimming required, which was perfect for my mom and MIL.

Day 2 of our 5 day cruise was also elegant night at dinner. They don’t force a strict dress code, so cruisers are pretty much welcome to wear what they’d like. We still like the opportunity to get dressed up, so we did!

For dinner, we BYOBed some of that carry-on wine. Don’t actually BYOB though! The dining rooms charge an uncorking fee, so we poured our wine into glasses in our room, and carried it to dinner.

Day 3 – Half Moon Cay, Bahamas

Sign that says, "I wish I could stay here forever" with blue sky and ocean in the background

Half Moon Cay is Carnival’s private island and my all-time favorite port! This time we made the stop even better, by booking a beach villa as our “excursion.” There are only 5 villas available, so if you’re interested, be sure to book early.

While rather pricey, the villa accommodates 8 guest (perfect for our party) and includes snacks, drink, a bathroom, and a hot tub. My main priority with the villa though, was getting the kiddos and the old folks out of the sun.

A huge perk that comes with the villas, is that you get to be one of the first people off the ship. Half Moon Cay is a tender port, meaning that you have to take a small boat from the cruise ship to the island, because the ship can’t dock on the island itself. We got the first boat to and the last boat from the island. Perfect!

The Carnival Sunrise ship sitting off shore at Half Moon Cay, Bahamas, with a very slight rainbow shining over it.

We booked the villa closest to the pirate ship bar, due to it’s proximity to the bar, and also because it’s the first villa, so less walking down the beach. Although, there was a shuttle to the villas if you didn’t feel like walking.

Day 4 – Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos

Two people posing at the Grand Turk sign, that spells out "Grand Turk" in colorful letters

Grand Turk has a wonderful little area right at the port for shopping. It’s also where Margaritaville is located. Margaritaville has a free pool with a swim up bar, which is where we always spend our time in Grand Turk.

Pool and palm trees at Margaritaville in Grand Turk, with coral colored buildings in the background

However, my dad, being the adventurous explorer that he is, wasn’t satisfied with just hanging by the pool and ended up renting a gold cart. There isn’t a whole lot to see in Grand Turk, but we toured the island and got a kick out of seeing the donkeys all over.

Donkey on Grand Turk being pet by a kid in a green bathing suit

Day 5 – Sea Day

With no real activities on our own itineraries for sea day, it’s a great opportunity to just lay low and chill. On sea days, Carnival hosts sea day brunches in the main dining room! The perfect opportunity to pop our bubbly!

This last day also featured the military appreciation gathering, which brings together the veterans on board as a chance to celebrate all of the services.

A slideshow presentation featuring the American flag and a bald eagle, aboard the Carnival Sunrise's military veteran appreciation gathering

We also had the opportunity to play some BINGO on this last day. Sadly, we weren’t big winners, but I did win a free drink.

The rest of the day was spent following the girls around as they explored and played. There was some WaterWorks sliding, followed by the ropes course back at the Sports Square

As Carnival VIFP Gold cruisers, we also had a free drink credited to our accounts on the last evening of the cruise, which was a pleasant surprise at the bar!