Our Paradise 12/23-12/26 Christmas cruise

[scopewest]

This was not our first cruise, and we've cruised Carnival before. We used Carnival’s transfer, and it was efficient. We arrived at LAX airport around noon, and we were in our cabin at 2 p.m. The longest line was at security, and it took us about 10 or 15 minutes to get through it. We went straight to the dome to check in, we didn’t go on the Queen Mary at all as previous posts have mentioned.

 

Our ocean view cabin was fine, we had the steward separate the beds just to give us floor space to walk around in. The shower was large enough and even had shampoo and body wash dispensers with Dove products. However, there was no hairdryer so I’m glad we brought one. The safe opens by using a credit card swipe.

 

One cabin had a Christmas tree with lights, it looked rather festive when you walked by. I assume the people didn’t fly in!

 

We had the calmest seas ever, it was like sailing in a large bathtub. The shore excursions were varied and we would have taken the Fox Studios tour except it was 6.5 hours, and since we only had two full days on board we wanted to spend our time on the ship. The temp in Ensenada was 75 degrees and pretty foggy so to us it felt cool. Some people did go swimming, however. But very few people sat in the deck chairs so there was no fighting over chairs! We walked to town instead of paying $2/pp for the shuttle. It was about a 15-minute walk.

 

The age group on our cruise was across the board, it was mainly families sailing for the holiday. It wasn’t really the “party” atmosphere that Carnival is famous for. My major complaint is that there wasn’t a priest onboard for Christmas mass but I also realized ahead of time that that was going to be a possibility.

 

One activity was cancelled and one of the dancers sat on the stage and answered questions from the audience. I was surprised to hear that the shows are mounted for at least five years running. They were okay but the songs were heavily weighed towards people over 35, so that’s probably why the teens next to us left in the middle of one of the shows. They also did a special holiday show, and Santa appeared at the end. The kids went wild with delight!

 

To us the food was fine, we’re not picky, I didn’t have to buy it, cook it, serve it, or clean it so I loved it! They also had eggnog available Christmas Day in the Lido restaurant. My husband tried some and said it was good. We did notice that the dinner menu in the dining rooms was duplicated in the Lido restaurant, so you didn’t miss out if you ate there instead. We had a table for ten. On formal night only the two of us showed up, and we loved it, it was like a huge table for two!

 

I can’t rate the bars as we’re not drinkers per se, but thanks to a tip from another Cruise Critic member we did get our “free” souvenir glass by walking around the swimming pool area after the ship sailed and looking for “leftover” glasses that people had bought and left behind. The souvenir glass is plastic, FYI, and not available in the “regular” bars.

 

The photos were expensive but we bought them as they make nice souvenirs and gifts for family. I wanted a Carnival travel mug, and the really nice one was in the coffee café, but you got a free cappuccino when you bought the mug.

 

The Internet service price ranged from .40/min. to .75/min. depending on your package. There was a box to enter the contest to win 30 minutes free. I entered our names and to our shock my husband won, so I sent an e-mail to family members to let them know we were on the ocean and they weren’t!

 

Of all the ships we’ve been on, to us the Lido deck restaurant table configuration was the worst design we’ve seen in terms of flow. I don’t know what they were thinking when they designed this. But I loved the Queen Mary lounge, it really fit the theme.

 

If anyone has any questions, I’ll try to answer.

[dodge9]

Thanks for your post... glad you had a good time. Were there any Christmas decorations around the ship or Christmas tree in the lobby... always curious about that!

[scopewest]

Yes, garland wreaths in the atrium, lights on the lido deck. I'm blanking out right now about the tree, I'm sure there was one somewhere. They also had a photo background of an expensive looking "staircase" with a fancy tree next to it.

 

However, for those who celebrate Hannukkah, they did do a ceremony in the atrium for those guests wishing to participate. It was held at the same time as the holiday show. I got the impression from the cruise director that they would be doing a ceremony every night, but of course all of us were getting off the ship before the next candle lighting.