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Carnival Sunshine resumes service with bevy of new features

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Carnival's largest Serenity adults' retreat
Carnival Sunshine completed its inaugural 12-day cruise from Venice to Barcelona on Friday after emerging from a $155m transformation at Fincantieri’s Trieste shipyard. The former Carnival Destiny gained all of Carnival Cruise Lines’ Fun Ship 2.0 dining, bar and entertainment features, along with some distinctive innovations and an additional 182 staterooms.

Carnival Sunshine will continue a summer schedule of nine- and 12-day Mediterranean voyages running through October.

New on board are Ji Ji Asian Kitchen, a full-service restaurant with Asian-inspired interiors; Fahrenheit 555, a classic American steak house; the poolside Guy’s Burger Joint and BlueIguana Cantina; Cucina del Capitano for Italian dishes served family-style, and Pizzeria del Capitano, an expansion of the Cucina that offers five kinds of artisanal-style pizza free of charge, 24 hours a day.

The ship also added a JavaBlue Café for specialty coffees, ‘spiked’ coffees made with liqueurs, and confections, and Shake Spot for milkshakes, floats and ‘adult’ versions of the frozen drinks.

New outdoors features include Carnival’s first three-deck-high Serenity adults-only retreat, with plush chaise lounges and chairs, a whirlpool, a waterfall and a pool.

SportSquare is an open-air recreation complex that includes a ropes course, mini-golf course, a basketball court, jogging track, ping pong, foosball and pool tables, while the WaterWorks park has more than 40 interactive water features, a gigantic drenching bucket, five slides including the new racing-themed Speedway Splash and a 334-foot-long Twister slide.

The Seaside Theatre offers a 270-square-foot LED screen displaying nightly movies, concerts, sporting events and other programming.

New bars are RedFrog Pub, BlueIguana Tequila Bar, EA SPORTS Bar and Alchemy Bar, a vintage-themed cocktail ‘pharmacy.’ RedFrog Rum Bar is a poolside adaptation of the RedFrog Pub offering Caribbean rum-based frozen drinks and beers.

Plus, there’s the intimate Library Bar with self-serve wine dispensers and full bar service and, unique to Carnival Sunshine, Havana Bar, a gathering spot for Cuban coffee and snacks by day that transforms into a Latin-inspired courtyard for classic Cuban cocktails, music and dancing at night.

The ship also has Playlist Productions, which combines live performances of pop and rock songs and special effects; Hasbro, The Game Show, presented in the totally transformed Liquid Lounge, and Punchliner Comedy Club.

Carnival Sunshine additionally got technical and operational safety upgrades as part of a fleetwide initiative.