May1cruiser

The older ships seem to have character. I know it is not for everyone. It seems everything today is modern and sleek. The older ships have a 70s and 80s charm, may not be for everyone, but seems like a dying breed. We enjoy both the new and older ships. It really comes down to how amazing the crew is. Any ship is worth a try. Enjoy the cruise and vacation from our current reality.

On March 2022 cruise, captain changed the time a day in advance of daylight savings time to simplify debarkation. We returned on Sunday, but time was changed Friday night. Caribbean out of Tampa

Paradise is the smallest of those and has the least bells and whistles. I liked sunshine but it was years ago- we enjoyed her. you should be able to compare ships on carnival website to view offerings of each. Lately, ships are still fun, crew amazing, but some ships show wear from the shutdown and loss of revenue for several years. Adjust expectations accordingly- none of these ships are new.

Cannot speak exactly to deck 15, but on lower decks directly above the crew operations, they tend to work 24/7. I recall being on a very low deck and heard a forklift all hours of the night and early morning. Perhaps under lido it may be a little loud late night, but will def be quiet until 8 ish AM.

Magic. Aruba- two islands in one. One side tropical beach - other side barren desert. Curaco- stand in a fort on the waterfront, swinging bridge, kaleidoscope color buildings (there is a backstory) Really like the dream class layout, vista class a little less, but just our opinion.

Pride has a nice "hidden" garden/path in the bow for relaxing / reading. It's a quiet escape from the crowds. Crew was fantastic.

We use a small tower fan, oscillates and sits nicely on desk. Moves a lot of air

I asked if they could lower the whale tail to fit into smaller ports. Would like to see her in port of Tampa if a low profile "Mardi Gras" style tail so she would clear the skyway

Plan for additional time to gain elevator access. May take additional cycles to get onboard

I thought we just walked up to counter and read sign. IIrc it was posted in the morning. Don't recall hub app but others will chime in. I do recall the food was tasty!

Thinking back to 2015-our restart to cruising- to today... A lot has changed, but a lot is the same. Most of the changes are cost savings. Smaller food portions, no tablecloths, once a day room service, etc. The same- crew try to give their best. simple answer- Calibrate your expectations and assume you will have a great time. If you do, you will have a great time.

last august, we had a time to meet and a reservation card, we went to the meeting location, verified and then given the chance to draw an envelope from several. We opened the envelope and one of the letters of ULTRA was enclosed. We were served champagne while waiting for the host to process the prize. We could choose the gift or fun play cash. Took about 20 minutes

my experience is captain sets the time. we were on a cruise where time was spring ahead. Captain moved time ahead on friday instead of saturday night. This was done to reduce confusion on debark sunday am.

For Mardi Gras, do not eat 7-9 days before cruise. There are a LOT of meal choices and 7 days on board are not enough days to try everything. We decided to get breakfast and lunch from different locations and splitting food to have a chance to sample all of the offerings. Still not enough time...

This comes down to cost savings for using offer vs having cheers for 4 adults. Also have to add some perks of platinum for four adults vs two. Also, how port intensive? will you be able to get full beneift of cheers? may be better to save cruise costs up front and pay for drinks as you go.

Max height of clearance is 182.5 ft. Fantasy and spirit class can fit under the bridge. There is also a draft issue. When the skyway was built, they were not anticipating the size of ships to become so large. Also, port of Tampa was primarily cargo. If interested, there are several cameras facing the bridge. Seeing a ship return in the early morning is pretty amazing.