Carnival Paradise April 1 -6 with pictures and funtimes

[JaniceB]

Since this was our last night together we all met for drinks before dinner. After dinner we went to a "suite" cabin to relax and talk about our cruise. Their cabin steward was very good at making towel animals. I took a few pictures.

 

 

I forgot to take a picture of our last towel creation but I am attaching the debarkation information.

debarkationinfoparadise.pdf

[happythoughts]

Thanksbfor posting the fun times, Just wondering do you happen to have day 2 fun times or did you already post it and I missed it?

[ILCruzr]

Looking forward to the 2.0 upgrades. I did a Canadian cruise from NY in 2009 on the Triumph, would love to do a longer one again.

 

The upgrades were nice. Make sure u try a breakfast burrito at blue iguana. They were awesome!

[JaniceB]

Thanksbfor posting the fun times, Just wondering do you happen to have day 2 fun times or did you already post it and I missed it?

 

Sorry, I didn't realize they were not attached. Thanks for pointing that out.

Paradise Day2.pdf

Pages from Paradise Day2.pdf

[JaniceB]

The upgrades were nice. Make sure u try a breakfast burrito at blue iguana. They were awesome!

 

Thanks for the suggestion. It will be nice to see the upgrades.

[happythoughts]

Thanks for the fun times and great review!

[JaniceB]

You are welcome and thank you.

[heart286]

:eek:

Thanksbfor posting the fun times, Just wondering do you happen to have day 2 fun times or did you already post it and I missed it?

 

 

I thought it was me...I was going to go back at the end and go through it all very slowly! I am also very thankful for thois review and the Fun Times postings!! We just booked this cruise for June 1st and are very excited! We have 3 cabins! We are going with our 2 adult children and their spouses! I have been quite ill and really needed a get away! And we are taking this as our last "family" cruise, as our children are both now adults and will soon be starting families of their own!

 

I have to get out my "cruise calendar" and go over the Fun Times and pinpoint some of the "must do" things!:D

[heart286]

Sorry, I didn't realize they were not attached. Thanks for pointing that out.

 

:D

Thank you so much! We just booked this cruise yesterday and leave in 6 weeks! :eek:

 

Now i am scrambling to get all the information I can!! The FUN TIMES will help me so so much! I may print them out to make it easier for the 6 of us to review a bit before planning our days! I have already seen a few things that I want to be sure not to miss, or that I know people in our group may really be interested in doing!

 

THANK YOU AGAIN SO MUCH! This review and fun times is ever so helpful for the rest of us! I usually do a lot of research before booking! I have taken this same cruise a few times on a different ship! We love it so we keep doing the same one! It is close to us as FL residents, and we can easily be dropped off at the ship and don't need to worry about parking, etc! And we have thd Tampa area embarkation down pat! And the debarkation is usually quite simple as well! I will need to do Kidney Dialysis the morning we leave and the afternoon we get back from the cruise, so that is the only thing "different" we will be doing this time!

[JaniceB]

:eek:

 

 

I thought it was me...I was going to go back at the end and go through it all very slowly! I am also very thankful for thois review and the Fun Times postings!! We just booked this cruise for June 1st and are very excited! We have 3 cabins! We are going with our 2 adult children and their spouses! I have been quite ill and really needed a get away! And we are taking this as our last "family" cruise, as our children are both now adults and will soon be starting families of their own!

 

I have to get out my "cruise calendar" and go over the Fun Times and pinpoint some of the "must do" things!:D

 

Sorry, it was me. The size was too large so I had to take out the tear pages and then reduce file size so some how I thought they had loaded but I guess they didn't.

 

You don't have much time to wait, lucky you. Have a wonderful time with your family. My kids want to go on a family cruise but they have such busy lives now with kids. I think we will plan one in about 3 years when the youngest grandchild is 3 and it will give them time to all save money.

 

Thanks for reading my review and I am glad you can use the fun times.

Edited April 21, 2013 by JaniceB

[JaniceB]

:D

Thank you so much! We just booked this cruise yesterday and leave in 6 weeks! :eek:

 

Now i am scrambling to get all the information I can!! The FUN TIMES will help me so so much! I may print them out to make it easier for the 6 of us to review a bit before planning our days! I have already seen a few things that I want to be sure not to miss, or that I know people in our group may really be interested in doing!

 

THANK YOU AGAIN SO MUCH! This review and fun times is ever so helpful for the rest of us! I usually do a lot of research before booking! I have taken this same cruise a few times on a different ship! We love it so we keep doing the same one! It is close to us as FL residents, and we can easily be dropped off at the ship and don't need to worry about parking, etc! And we have thd Tampa area embarkation down pat! And the debarkation is usually quite simple as well! I will need to do Kidney Dialysis the morning we leave and the afternoon we get back from the cruise, so that is the only thing "different" we will be doing this time!

 

Wow, 6 weeks. I am going to try and type up my debarkation experience. Tampa was a nice port to leave from.

Have a great time and I am glad you can use the fun times. Thanks for reading my review.

[JaniceB]

We had placed our bags outside the night before. We had been given Zone 1 tags. We didn't want to do self assist.

We ordered room service so that we had a wake up call. This was the first day that it came at the later end of our requested time, but still within the time we requested. We were pulling into port. We decided to go to the dining room for breakfast. We had been given instructions to meet in the Library. This is located right next to the Ecstasy dining room. We arrived for breakfast around 8:00 by 8:45 we had not been served our breakfast. We had coffee, never were offered Danish, and I received the grapefruit I had ordered. We talked to our tablemates and found out they were the couple who were on the Marriage show. Finally we just got up and left because we didn't want to miss our early debarkation. We arrived at the Library just as they were taking away food they had been serving.

We waited with the rest of our group for about 20 minutes and then we were led by a Carnival employee down a set of steps and off the ship. I think self assist was still disembarking because they let us cut in front of people with luggage. The also checked our card to make sure we were FTTF and turned some people away who had tried to exit with us. It was very easy leaving the ship, another plus to FTTF. I located my luggage and there was no line at customs so out the door I went. I found at cab and I was at the airport before 10.

[klct39lg]

Enjoyed your review. :)

[JaniceB]

Enjoyed your review. :)

 

Thank you, it was a great way to relive my trip.

[JaniceB]

When I was researching my cruise I found this deck plan. I thought I would share it too.

ADAFantasyClass.pdf

[jerseygirl79]

What a great review! I was on the fence about the Paradise, but since this ship sails to two of my favorite ports I'm sold!!!!! And the Fun Times are wonderful! Thanks for sharing.

[cdancer20]

:eek:

 

 

I thought it was me...I was going to go back at the end and go through it all very slowly! I am also very thankful for thois review and the Fun Times postings!! We just booked this cruise for June 1st and are very excited! We have 3 cabins! We are going with our 2 adult children and their spouses! I have been quite ill and really needed a get away! And we are taking this as our last "family" cruise, as our children are both now adults and will soon be starting families of their own!

 

I have to get out my "cruise calendar" and go over the Fun Times and pinpoint some of the "must do" things!:D

LOL. I just went back searching through too. Something today me to check the thread to see if someone else mentioned it. Understand though why you didn't post it.

[JaniceB]

What a great review! I was on the fence about the Paradise, but since this ship sails to two of my favorite ports I'm sold!!!!! And the Fun Times are wonderful! Thanks for sharing.

 

It is an easy port to sail from too. Thank you!

 

LOL. I just went back searching through too. Something today me to check the thread to see if someone else mentioned it. Understand though why you didn't post it.

 

I wish someone had mentioned it sooner, glad you checked again. Next time I need to check my posts a little closer.

[JaniceB]

Tampa - I like the airport and the port. It was very easy to get from the airport to the port. The cab ride was only $25 for up to 4 people. The airport is easy to navigate. The port was also easy to navigate. The porter I had was very efficient. The check in process was very efficient. The employees at the port were very nice.

 

FTTF - would I buy it again, yes. It was worth it to me for access to the cabin, luggage arriving early, tendering and the debarkation process.

 

Ship - I would sail the Paradise again. I wasn't too happy with the fact that the only balconies were suites, but my oceanview cabin was just fine. I really didn't miss the balcony as much as I thought I would. The ship was clean.

 

Dining - I found the service to be prompt (except for breakfast the last day). The servers were very nice, not overly friendly. We had a bar waiter visit us promptly every night. The food was always hot. Overall a nice experience.

 

Buffet- Didn't frequent often and except for dinner one night I found many choices. I also didn't find long lines or the area to be overly crowded.

 

Entertainment - I enjoyed the shows we saw in the main theater and the comedy club. We always found a seat. We did arrive early to the main theater because we usually finished dinner around 8. We really didn't have much to do before the shows. The entertainment during this period was lacking. We didn't not care for the entertainment in the Piano bar but even that did not start until 9.

 

Ports - enjoyed the ports. I wish we didn't have to tender to Grand Caymen, returning to the ship can be a nightmare. I also do not care for having to walk through the shops on the pier at Cozumel.

[Kangapong]

Thank you for taking the time to post a review. In 227 days I will be back on the Paradise. I can hardly wait!

[JaniceB]

You're welcome, enjoy your cruise.

[cdancer20]

Thank you for taking the time to post a review. In 227 days I will be back on the Paradise. I can hardly wait!

96 days for me! My family and I have a constant facebook group chat going on about the cruise!

 

Is there any way that you could still post Day 2 Fun Times? I am curious of the things going on on the first full sea day. If it's too much of a hassle, I understand.

[DarryDFL]

What is FTTF?

I’m interested, but have no clue what it is.

 

THANK YOU for a marvelous review of the cruise.

We booked on Carnival Paradise because of it.

[JaniceB]

96 days for me! My family and I have a constant facebook group chat going on about the cruise!

 

Is there any way that you could still post Day 2 Fun Times? I am curious of the things going on on the first full sea day. If it's too much of a hassle, I understand.

 

You will find the day 2 funtimes on post #79.

 

Thanks for reading my review and have a great cruise.

[JaniceB]

What is FTTF?

I’m interested, but have no clue what it is.

 

THANK YOU for a marvelous review of the cruise.

We booked on Carnival Paradise because of it.

 

FTTF stands for Faster to the Fun. You have to pay 49.95(entire cabin) and you get priority boarding (one of the first to board after weddings and platinum and diamond cruisers), you are able to go right to your cabin and drop off your bags (others have to keep carry-ons with them until around 1pm) and some other benefits. I put a copy of extra benefits on post #9. I found this in my cabin when I arrived on the ship.

 

Thank you for the nice comment and I hope you enjoy your cruise as much as I did.