Carnival Sunshine just finished her first North American assignment, a series of sailings from New Orleans,  after a $155-million makeover.  The cruise ship formerly known as Carnival Destiny, was stripped to bare metal in most public areas. Then rebuilt with all elements of Carnival’s FunShip 2.0 initiative, the ship has an entirely new look and feel.

The scope of the Carnival Sunshine rebuild had never been attempted before, pretty much gutting a ship down to its hull and rebuilding it as a new, energized vessel.  But that is just about what Carnival Cruise Lines did, taking Carnival Destiny and transforming it into something quite special.

Among the new highlights are a new racing-themed water park featuring Carnival’s longest water slide, the tropical-themed Havana Bar, a full-service Asian restaurant, and much more.

Come along with us as we re-explore Carnival Sunshine later this week, taking a look at all the features that will surely make the ship a favorite with cruise travelers.   Until then, check this photo gallery highlighting our favorites.

Carnival Funship 2.0, the $ half-billion remodeling/refocusing/reinventing/rejuvenating initiative changed everything for the world’s most popular cruise line.  Funship 2.0 started the clock ticking, loudly, on how soon the cruise giant could roll out appropriate elements of the initiative to the rest of the fleet.