Paradise 11/26 review

[woozles]

Good Morning!

 

This was our first Carnival cruise. IT WAS FANTASTIC! We have sailed on RCL Enchantment twice. I sailed on RCL Liberty as well.

 

Embarkation: we had a check-in time of 1 to 3, but took a chance and headed to the port at 11 am. check-in was a breeze and we were on the ship by 12:30 pm. chilled on the Lido deck til about 2:30. then a quick visit to our cabin and then muster.

 

Muster drill, while inside, was one of the very few negatives - this muster drill was almost exclusively over the loud speakers which was good because you could hear it. however, it was to begin at 3:15 and people and staff wandered in over the course of 30 minutes before it truly began and then it took another 30 minutes to relay all the safety information. then we were all led up to our lifeboat stations. we stood there for 15 to 20 minutes then dismissed. so over 1.5 hours for muster.

 

Food was on par with RCL. Not everything 5 star, but nothing bad and many high moments. We are foodies, but enjoy a good greasy burger and fries as much as the next person. We dined every evening in the MDR and had one sea day brunch:

 

Excellent apps: smoke duck, escargot, crab cakes, cured salmon

good apps: granited onion soup, sushi, stuffed mushrooms, alligator fritters, thai spiced chicken tenders

not again apps: cream of asparagus soup, lobster bisque (dh liked this I did not)

 

Excellent entrees: salmon, braised brisket, redfish, crab ravioli

Good entrees: chateaubriand, prime rib, veal parmigiana, fried shrimp

 

Excellent desserts: warm chocolate melting cake, grand marnier souffle, bitter and blanc,

good dessert: orange cake, tarmisu

reported not again dessert: amaretto cake

 

Food on Lido:

Deli - pastrami was excellent and dh had bagel and lox that was excellent

 

Most mornings we had croissants with our coffee which were grand and then simply grazed when hungry. I did visit the omelet station for an excellent ham and cheese omelet. I had one slice of pizza and it was good. dh indulged in hamburgers from the grill several times.

 

We twiced stopped by the Taste bar and enjoyed the experience, although it would have been nice to have at least a fork, even a plastic fork.

 

Service was superb! I requested an ice bucket and put my bottle of wine in it. The next day I had a bigger bucket that allowed my wine to be completely covered with ice and it was refilled twice a day. Room cleaned twice a day. never wanted for anything.

 

Waiters were plentiful on lido where we spent most of our time. All staff were more than friendly and helpful!

 

The ship - yes it is obviously older, yes it is a bit gaudy but we enjoyed it. The one issue I would comment on is the 'choppiness' of the ship made it difficult to go from one place to another easily.

 

Entertainment: We went to the '80's rock and Brits show. Enjoyed both. Saw Mark simmons, the comedian both early and adult shows very good! We tried watching karaoke in the Queen Mary Lounge and were very disappointed to find that the music was so over amplified you basically could not hear the singers. We intended to check out the Leonardo karaoke but did not get to it.

 

I did download the Carnival Hub app and found it very helpful, particularly being able to check our balance and the schedule.

 

We visited Grand Cayman and Cozumel.

 

In Grand Cayman my intention was to wander the port area then take a taxi to My Bar at Sunset House. Unfortunately, once we got away from the taxi area none of the locals wanted to help us find a taxi. 'taxi expensive, you can walk, not far.' well, i knew a taxi would not be cheap and yes it was too far for my dh to walk. so, we ended up at Guy Harveys for a drink and a snack then back to the ship. that did leave room in the budget for dh to get a box of cubans so he was happy :)

 

In Cozumel we had a private driver show us the sights and history then off to the tequila 'factory' where I learned I like tequila! lunch on the 'wild' side of the island and stops at several natural and beautiful areas.

 

All in all, while I had some reservations about a Carnival cruise and Paradise in particular, we had a blast and will definitely cruise Carnival again.

[JohnSpo]

Nice review of Paradise. I was on Paradise in October and I also had a great time and I hope to sail on Paradise again.

 

Glad to see you also had a great time.

[JaniceB]

Thanks for sharing your cruise on the Paradise.

[Port of Tampa]

Thanks for the review...I hope to cruise on her again sometime soon.

 

Cheers and happy cruising.

[Stacy68]

Thanks for the review! My husband and I are leaving on Carnival Paradise this Monday...it's our first cruise!!!

[Clarea]

Appreciate the feedback.

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[easyboy]

Glad you had a fantastic cruise. Thanks for the review.

[Captain Carnival]

...Embarkation: we had a check-in time of 1 to 3, but took a chance and headed to the port at 11 am. check-in was a breeze and we were on the ship by 12:30 pm....

 

So glad we were able to get onboard YOUR Carnival Paradise and a great start to YOUR adventure!!

[StarlitCruiser]

Thank you for the review! I'll be on the Paradise on 24 December and all of the mixed reviews have gotten me down. Nice to see someone who actually enjoys hef beauty!

[homeofthedogs]

Thank you for taking the time to write a review. So happy to hear you enjoyed the Paradise and Carnival. Cruising on her in March.

[gnatz007]

Thanks for the review. We leave on the 10th.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[RanchoDeluxe]

Thank you for the review! I'll be on the Paradise on 24 December and all of the mixed reviews have gotten me down. Nice to see someone who actually enjoys hef beauty!

 

I sailed her in May and I am going back in January. I have realistic expectations and haven't had a bad cruise yet.

 

OP - Thanks for the review! Love to see reviews on a ship I will sail on soon.

[Florings]

Thank you for the positive, upbeat review! We've sailed on her twice and looking for another in early 2017 for a quick get away!

[WingNut1026]

Will be on the Paradise in January. Can you give me an idea on how long it took to get a tender into Grand Cayman? My daughters and I are doing a Stingray City excursion privately and I want to make sure we get down for a tender in plenty of time. Thanks

[woozles]

Honestly I cannot tell you. We did not do an excursion so we got up randomly, enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and by the time we went to get on the tender there was no waiting at 11 am. I do know they ask you to go to the Normandie Lounge in the morning to get a tender sticker, but by 11 am they did not even have that open.

[WingNut1026]

Okay, thanks for the info. Guess I will just have to get up bright and early and go down and get tender stickers then :)

[LoveTheLidoLife]

Thank you soooo much for a balanced review with both positives and negatives. We realize not everything is perfect on any vacation, but what a difference when we look for the positive aspects. :-) Our very first cruise was in 2003 on the smoke-free Paradise. We are looking forward to making more wonderful cruise memories on this trip. Cruising is definitely what you make of it. Happy Cruising!!