Paradise 11/1+everything to know Fantasy class ships inc pics of all cabin classes

[MLJS]

This review is mainly from our last cruise on the Paradise that departed on November 1, 2018, but will include information from past experiences also.  This is going to be the longest review I have written and cover a vast array of topics.  I have lots of pictures including all the cabin types and upgrades made.

 

Much of the information I am providing applies to all the fantasy class ships which include the Fantasy. Ecstacy, Fascination, Sensation, Elation, Inspiration, Imagination, and Paradise.  I have sailed on all but the Ecstacy, Inspiration & Imagination.  Almost 3 years ago, my children & I sailed on the Dream and decided we liked this smaller class of ships much better.

 

Here is a link that shows the different ships and which class they belong to:

 

https://help.carnival.com/ci/fattach/get/3407365/1533049892/redirect/1/session/L2F2LzEvdGltZS8xNTQxNTk3NzI3L3NpZC9mVXBZbVVuNmExZjBNaDFDUDd3Vng4czJkR0hNcnp5a200QzZkb2lKcWw1b1J5cTAlN0VXeHZHNkZSWmxpdTN6c2R6d0FmakVOZXYlN0UyRVFucUslN0VDVlZFa1dXdVhsanpXTmhTQzVXb04lN 0VlWCU3RU9xT3Q5RmpaN3pVaDFBJTIxJTIx/filename/Ship%20Class%20Guide%200718.pdf

 

 

[MLJS]

All the ships in this class have the same layout and are all pretty much the same other than how they are decorated.  

The only major difference in ships is that the Paradise & Elation have gone through major dry dock renovations in the last year and have had the "Grand Floor" of state rooms added to them along with additional balcony's.  In order to add the additional floor, deck 14, which contained the jogging track, observation area and mini golf, was converted over to cabins and a new 9 hole mini golf.  An additional level, Deck 15, is now an observation deck.  I have heard that this will eventually be turned into the serenity deck at a future dry dock.

Only other major difference is on the Fantasy Ship, the Aft Lounge on deck 9 that is used for Comedy Clubs is smaller.  It is about half the size of the lounges on the other ships, making getting a seat harder for shows.

 

All the ships in this class have the same layout and are all pretty much the same other than how they are decorated.  

The only major difference in ships is that the Paradise & Elation have gone through major dry dock renovations in the last year and have had the "Grand Floor" of state rooms added to them along with additional balcony's.  In order to add the additional floor, deck 14, which contained the jogging track, observation area and mini golf, was converted over to cabins and a new 9 hole mini golf.  An additional level, Deck 15, is now an observation deck.  I have heard that this will eventually be turned into the serenity deck at a future dry dock.

Only other major difference is on the Fantasy Ship, the Aft Lounge on deck 9 that is used for Comedy Clubs is smaller.  It is about half the size of the lounges on the other ships, making getting a seat harder for shows.

 

[MLJS]

 

 A little history.....

 

So this was a cruise we booked last minute. I was scheduled an enormous amount of hours at the hospitals for the month of October and my husband knew I would need a break. 

 

This will be my 20th cruise and my husband’s 3rd cruise. 

 

A little about us. We got married 2.5 years ago and have 6 kids between the ages of 18-23. Five out of the six are in college/law school. Three live with us full time and two at college are home every weekend. We call our house the “resort” and we are the “resort staff”. Housekeeping, cook, concierge, maintenance and even the ATM. Add to this two puppies 20 weeks and 14 weeks, we live in a very busy house. If I’m not working, I’m at the grocery store or cooking. 

 

My husband can decompress in a few hours on his motorcycle or boat out on the lake. Me, not so much. I need at least 2-3 days. A cruise or weekend trip to the beach has always been my lifeline to sanity. So this cruise was a welcome treat. 

 

I’d like to stop here and point out.  People cruise for many different reasons.  Some for the food, some for the entertainment, and others for the casino.  I cruise to get away for the relaxation.  I love being able to turn off the phone and everything else in life for a little bit and decompress.  In my experience, the food on Carnival was better than my cruise on Royal Caribbean. Friends have said the entertainment on Royal Caribbean was excellent, but I think you pay for it in the price of the cruise.  I was a single mom for many years, so I am looking for value and think Carnival gives me the best value for my money.  So this is my view point for this review and I will also be sharing lots of my tips for saving money.

[MLJS]

 

A Visit by the Upgrade Ferry....

I booked on Oct 1 for a Nov 1 departure. There must have been a glitch in their pricing because I was able to book a Jr Suite on the Grand floor for $130 more than an outside cabin on the Upper level and much less than a balcony.  So when the upgrade ferry called the day before departure offering a Grand Suite for $25 per person per day, we took it. I have never been in a suite and the only balcony I have ever had was to Alaska. 

 

A note about the upgrade ferry:  I have never been called before. I suspect we were called because we had gotten our cabin so cheap that they figured they could get more money from us and turn around and offer our Jr Suite to someone else for even more money. I think the offers are all tied to maximizing revenue. 

 

I like being able to drive to port.  I like bringing my own soda and wine along with not worrying about catching flights and having to pack everything into one bag.  My favorite port to leave out of is Mobile (a 5 hr drive) but I really dislike Progreso as a port and the price was cheaper out of Tampa.  I also like Jacksonville, but again Nassau is not a favorite.  I have driven as far as Miami (about 10 hours), New Orleans (9 hours), Port Canaveral (8 hours) and Tampa (7 hours). The port of Tampa is very easy to navigate, so we were off to Tampa.

 

We started out on our venture after I got off work the night before. Driving from north of Atlanta with plans to hopefully make it to Ocala. Atlanta was a nightmare and took us an extra hour to get out. We had thought that it being Halloween, most people would be home early. We were wrong.  We arrive in Macon 2 hr 45 min after we left home, a trip that normally takes 90 minutes but were able to coordinate with my son to have a quick dinner. He is in the aviation program at Middle Georgia and drives to Macon for a class on Wednesday evening. So it worked out that neither of us had to wait and he got dinner at Chic-Fil-A. 

 

[MLJS]

12 Hours and counting....

We lost another hour due to a fatality accident in South Georgia and arrived in Ocala just after 11pm. We used the app HotelsNow to book a room. We were able to get a room at Red Roof Inn for $47 + tax using their special booking feature that reduces the rate for 15 minutes when you “unlock your deal”. We originally looked at about 8:30 pm and the offer on my husband’s phone was $44 for the night but we decided to wait since we were still not close and wanted to make sure we made it to Ocala before getting too tired. So I booked on my phone. It appears the special offers are only offered once. 

 

The staff at Red Roof Inn were nice. The room was clean and the bed was not bad. The towels were really good quality, which was a nice for such an inexpensive hotel. They did not have breakfast but we did not care. We would rather wait and eat on the ship.

 

We got up and headed to the port. The hotel was 85 minutes from the port. 

 

Here is our room:

[MLJS]

Oh where oh where do I park?

I pre-purchased my parking through Park Connect for $28 for the 4 days.  The parking is at The Channelside Parking Garage, the same parking garage that you can prepay carnival for $60 to park. You can book at https://www.myparkconnect.com/.   Parking is $7 per day at Park Connect vs $15 per day with Carnival.

 

When you get to the Channelside Parking garage, if you turn left in front of the garage, you go to pier 3 parking, and right is for pier 2 parking. Carnival usually uses pier 3.  We ended up going to the right and it was just a little bit farther to walk but hardly anyone was in the garage leaving when we got back and no one was in line at the gate. Parking is on the 3^rd floor or up.  When we exited the parking garage, we used the call button, gave the girl our parking order number from the email and were on our way. It was quick & easy. 

 

If you decide to “valet” park at the pier, your car will be parked in the lot to the North of the terminal.  I would be concerned if you were the first in, you may have to wait for others to get off before you could get to your car.  Here is some pictures of the lot from the ship:

 

 

[MLJS]

ALL Aboard!!

We arrive at the parking garage at 10:10am and were checked in by 10:30. The diamond/platinum and suite guests waited in the “Captain’s Lounge” and Faster to the Fun had it’s own waiting area. 

 

They started boarding at 11:15am and we were on by 11:25. We took our bags directly to our room and dumped them before going up to find food. 

 

We received our Sign & Sail cards in the terminal. Starting this week, you will get your sign & Sail cards at your cabin, which will make embarkment even quicker.  You will need a printed boarding pass and you will use this once on board to purchase drinks including Cheers & Bottomless Bubbles.

[MLJS]

 Suites vs FTTF

Perks of the Suite:

Get priority boarding and disembarkment, choice of dinner time, and priority for the tenders.

 

Faster to the Fun gets all of the perks of a Suite plus access to your rooms immediately upon boarding, priority luggage delivery, priority line at guest services.

 

I have purchased Faster to the Fun in the past.  I have used it when I had a group of 30 people that I coordinated so I did not have to stand in line taking care of problems.  When we went 2 years ago with our 6 kids, we bought it for our cabin but not the other 2 kid’s cabins.  We were able to pull the kids all through with us for priority boarding and debarkment.  On another family trip, we bought FTTF for 3 of the 4 cabins and were also able to take the kids in the cabin without FTTF along with us for the tenders and getting on and off the ship.

 

Is it worth it?  I think it was when it was $49 per cabin.  Now it is anywhere from $40 (3 day west coast cruise) to $120 for an 8 day cruise on Horizon.  The paradise is $70 for a 4 day cruise and $80 for a 5 day cruise. 

 

If you arrive early to the terminal, you can usually get on the ship early.  I'm not sure about Tampa but the terminal at Mobile really did not care about arrival time and let anyone through regardless of time. For the ports that do adhere to the check-in time, there is usually a line for those who arrive early or late.  This line goes after those with current arrival times.  So theoretically the earlier you get there, the sooner you should be able to get on and earlier will be better.

 

One of my favorite perks with FTTF is being able to drop items off in your cabin prior to 1:30pm, when the cabins are available.  The last few times we did NOT have FTTF, but we went to our cabins, stuck our things in the closet out of the way and then went to eat.  We never had a problem leaving our stuff and did not have to tote the stuff around for hours.

 

If you are going to a port that uses tenders (Belize, Cabo San Lucas, Catalina Island, Grand Cayman, Half Moon Cay, Kona, Princess Cays, or Sirka) and you are NOT taking a Carnival excursion, you may want to consider FTTF.  If you book an excursion with Carnival, you will get off before everyone else along with those Platinum & Diamond members, Suite Guests and FTTF

[MLJS]

The Main Dining Room

 

We always choose Any Time Dining.  I have done this with large groups without difficulty.  We have had up to 14 people together without having to wait very long.  We usually like to eat between 6-7pm, but on port days it’s sometimes later.   I don’t like a fixed time because I think 8:15pm is too late and we miss dinner or feel rushed on port days at if we eat at 6:15pm.

 

If you don’t get your desired dining time, go to the dining room when you first get on the ship.  It is usually the dining room on Deck 8 off the Atrium.  The Maître d will normally switch your dining time to your desired time.

 

The Any Time Dining (ATD) is usually in the dining room off the Atrium on the 8^th floor.  The line usually forms to the right side of the atrium (side by the piano bar).  If there is a wait, they will give you a pager, but all members of your party need to be present.  You can exit through the back of this dining room and it will bring you out to the middle elevators and staircase.

 

The scheduled dining is usually in the back dining room.  The Dining room cannot be accessed from the 8^th floor atrium or middle elevators.  You need to go to the rear of the ship and take the elevator from any floor or the stairs from the 7^th or 9^th floor.  There are also stairs behind the AFT sports bar that lead directly to the dining room.

[MLJS]

Attire

On the four and five day cruises, elegant night is usually on the first sea day.  This past cruise we saw lots of jeans but also some tuxedos and fancy dresses.  There was even one guy in a long sleeve collared shirt, shorts and flip flops in the MDR. 

[MLJS]

Dinner in the Main Dining room

First night we had beef brisket & pork loin that was good. 

Second night my husband said the prime rib was good. We ordered the shrimp and shared them. I had the flat iron steak, which I have learned to order cooked less that I like because it continues to cook before being served. So I ordered in med-rare and it came out a beautiful medium. 

 

The crab cakes were a little too crabby for me. My husband said the rabbit was phenomenal along with the lamb.  The last night my husband decide to try the Braised Ox tongue.  He was skeptical because he said most people cannot cook it correctly but said this was cooked perfectly. The tenderloin was fantastic & spare ribs were good. 

 

I had read that you could get non-vegetarian Indian food in the MDR. My husband was quite excited about this but the only thing they had available was the vegetarian item listed on the menu.

 

The Warm Chocolate Melting cake is Carnival's signature dessert and is not a disappointment.  It is worth every calorie and is offered every night.  If you are full, you can ask to take it or anything else from the menu "to go" .  They will give you the plate with a cover over it to take back to your cabin.

[MLJS]

Day 1 Dinner Menu

Edited November 15, 2018 by MLJS

[MLJS]

Day 2 Dinner Menu

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Day 3 Dinner Menu

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Day 4 Dinner Menu

[MLJS]

Food, food and more food....

They say the average person gains 1-2 pounds per day of cruising.  I think new cruisers are more apt to want to try everything.  My basic rule is:  If it isn't wonderful, move on.  We tend to eat breakfast, have a light snack during the afternoon and then have dinner.

 

We did not eat breakfast or lunch in the Main Dining room this trip. But from past experience, the food has been very good.  The eggs benedict & French toast is very good for breakfast and the lunch menu is also always good including the steak and eggs.  Here is the sea day brunch menu:

 

[MLJS]

There are omelet bars are located at the deli (Deck 10 AFT) and outside between Guy’s burgers & the Blue Iguana (Deck 10 mid-ship). We noticed there were long lines inside but no one was outside. There was a bigger variety of pastries out than in the past.

 

The Paris buffet had a good variety. We like the breakfast burritos at the Blue Iguana too.  

Blue Iguana breakfast menu:

 

[MLJS]

Guy’s burgers always makes a great burger and fries. There are two lines and most people do not realize there is a line coming in from the right (by the drinks).  The topping bar has a great selection of items to add and you can also use these toppings for sandwiches from the deli.   Located Deck 10 outside - mid ship

 

Guy’s Burger Menu:

[MLJS]

We like the tacos better than the burritos at the BlueIguana Cantina. There is a variety of hot sauces available at the topping bar by BlueIguana.  Located Dec 10 outside - mid ship 

 

BlueIguana Menu:

[MLJS]

 

The Deli is located on the back side of the salad bar/ice cream buffet.  Deck 10 inside the Buffet  Here is the menu:

Edited November 15, 2018 by MLJS

[MLJS]

Pizza is available all the way to the back- port side of Deck 10 (left facing the front of the ship) 24 hours a day.  Here is the menu:

Edited November 15, 2018 by MLJS

[MLJS]

Opposite the Pizza spot across the back on the starboard side is a bar on Deck 10.  This services the Serenity Deck a floor below and the Buffet area.  There are several TVs located here also:

 

[MLJS]

We love the back windows that you can see the water.  On the Fantasy, there is a counter across this back area that contain the Bar, Pizza and Deli.  Here is the picture from the back of the buffet area:

[MLJS]

We love the back windows that you can see the water.  On the Fantasy, there is a counter across this back area that contain the Bar, Pizza and Deli.  Here is the picture from the back of the buffet area:

[MLJS]

The other place we really enjoy is all the way AFT of the Buffet area.  The sliding doors are next to the pizza place and the bar.  You cannot get from one side to the other without going back inside.  But at least one side is always shaded and has amazing views of the water. They are just above the serenity deck.  We have enjoyed this deck for card games or reading a book on our last sea day if we wanted to be outside but did not want to sit in the sun.  There are stairs here that let you access the Serenity deck below or the Waterworks on Deck 11.