Paradise birthday cruise - 4/25/2016

[missy428]

Just waiting for my group to be called disembarkation and wanted to give a few thoughts:

 

Free stuff: I got a medium size bottle of water for being a repeat cruiser and for my birthday they gave me one free picture of my choice (the middle sized pictures that were $14.99 ) My steward also wrote me a very nice birthday message (free) on the mirror and my BF ordered (not free) the birthday cake and decorations from the fun shops and they were a great touch

 

*Faster To The Fun: worth every penny. We were in the ship in 20 min (we arrived around 12 and our ticket said embarkation was 1pm) our room was ready and we were able to drop off our carry ons put on our suits and hang out. Obviously our checked luggage didn't make it up to the room in 20 min but it was there when we went back to the room an hour or two later. It was also worth it to have priority tendering and to wait in the comfy Normandy lounge for debatkation with the suite, platinum, and diamond guests. Debatkation was also very quick and smooth.

 

 

*Paradise vs Splendor: the Paradise definitely shows her age more then the Splendor, our room looked a little warn with scuffs and peeling laminate here and there but it was clean and comfy. My room on the Paradise was definitely smaller then I was expecting and had very little storage. I stayed in a ocean view on deck 6 (category 6D) and there was no couch just the bed and bathroom similar to NCLs ocean views. My category on the Splendor was 6c and It was a bigger room with a couch and the closet had a lot of shelves and storage. On the Paradise the closet shelves had the extra bed linens for the room so you only had a few hangers to hang stuff up. Since it was s short cruise and we flew in from NY we packed light so we didn't really need tons of space.

 

*Public Areas and entertainment: My bf spent a lot of time in the casino and the smoke didn't really seem to be a problem, it was really contained to one area by the bar. Only once or twice did he abstain from the blackjack tables because someone was smoking at he actual table.

 

I was able to get in the Aft pool 2 times, once during embarkation and once the first sea day. It was nice and empty during those times. I usually avoid cruise pools because there tends to be too many people on them. I was also able to get loungers around the aft pool the couple of times we where up there with no problem. There were hardly every any empty seats in the Serenity area and there no pool or bar just 2 hot tubs that always seemed to be full and a server who came around every once and a while. I loved the seats in the deck 9 promenade area, very comfy and usually sunny.

 

We saw all the comedy shows (hilarious) and played a lot of bingo (I won!!). I cannot comment on any of the other entertainment since the only music we like require a DJ which Carnival doesn't seem to have anymore. There we a lot of old music being played all over the ship but I have no idea if the musicians were any good because none of the music was out cup of tea. Same with the shows we didn't see any cause they didn't seem interesting.

 

*Food: Firstly all the food on the ship was under seasoned. Once we added some salt and pepper however the food was tastey. Brunch/breakfast service was very slow so we only ate there 2 times. The buffet for breakfast was good, the lunch sections were bad so we ate at the grill, Mongolian Wok, Pizza and Deli which were all very good. For dinner we had assigned late dining. I emailed asking for a table for 2 ahead of time and we where sat in a section with 3 large tables at a cozy little table for 2 by ourselves and out of earshot from everyone else. The service the first 2 days was slow because the waiters waited for everyone to arrive and be seated but members of 2 of the large tables where always late so by night 3 they stopped waiting and started serving those of us who were in time right away. every night starting with the 3rd night we where out of dinner in under an hour and service was excellent. The Splendor and Paradise both had the old menus during my sailings so I cannot comment on the new menus.

Edited April 30, 2016 by missy428

[activeac]

Awesome! Thanks for posting- we are sailing her on 5/23 and have been looking for a current review!

[bigjohnwvu]

Thank you for your post. Trying Carnival via Paradise for first time in June. Your information was helpful as I look forward to a short family reunion cruise.

[tcarter8199]

Do you happen to have the Fun Times for your cruise? My wife and I are on the Paradise on May 28th.

[JayFromVa]

Do you have the email address you used to request a table for two? My SO and I are cruising for anniversary and I would like to be able to do this. Thanks!

[Clarea]

Thanks for the report.

[missy428]

The email I used was pamaitred@carnival.com. I did save the detailed part of the fun times but I haven't had a chance to scan them,I'll try to get to it this weekend :)

[JohnSpo]

Glad to see you had a good time on Paradise. I'll be on it in October out of Tampa. For an older ship Paradise still seems to be holding its own. :cool:

[tcarter8199]

Can you tell me how many formal nights were on this cruise?