Paradise review and menus

[breadandbutter]

Heres my notes from each day.....

 

Monday seaday

Embarkation was very smooth, I had an arrival window of 10 -10.30, check in was a breeze, had to wait 15 minutes then they began boarding at 10.45.
I went straight to the muster station and got that out of the way. Then up to Lido and was eating lunch at 11.30am.
This made a big difference to embarkation day as it gave a couple of extra hours to enjoy.
I had a salad for lunch from the buffet, the choice and quality were very good. Hot selections didn't inspire me to try any.
A slice of funfetti cheesecake followed which was nice.

The music around the pool was so loud that I couldn't hold a conversation, so went to serenity. Hot tubs were quite hot, too hot for me to sit in, but I just sat on the edge and that was okay.

Port hole room on deck 6 / upper deck. Very impressed, I stayed in one of these cabins last year on Elation and didn't like that one at all. This one U16 is much bigger, picture on wall, and a vanity stool. Bedding and towels look new, everthing works and is clean, air con is cold, as it should be.

Dinner in MDR
Caesar salad, good but needed more dressing, will ask for some next time.
Chicken parmigiana and vegetarian curry, both excellent, one of the best meals I've ever had in MDR on carnival.

 

Tuesday

Serenity
Buffet lunch salad again. German chocolate cake was too sweet for my taste, lemon meringue cake, cant taste any lemon, both cakes too dense and heavy. I didn't eat them
Serenity, port side hot tub is cooler than starboard one.
Pool music trivia, way too loud

Dinner in MDR, spaghetti carbonara, needed more sauce and asked but was told there wasn't any, it was good though. Pork tartlets were delicious, prime rib was very good, curry ok but not as nice as mondays. Creme brulee, nothing wrong with it but not worth wasting my calories on.
They are selling fake pandora bracelets at pandora shop. I bet Pandora dont know about this.

There are bar waiters every where, and lots of cleaning staff mopping wet floors, and clearing dishes and glasses. The ship is very clean and in great condition.
Noise wise, I could hear the show from 2 floors up, in the cabin, it didn't bother me though, in fact I fell asleep to it.

 

Wednesday
Grand Cayman.
Shopping
Not many stores open yet after covid
Lunch/snacks at the Sandbar. Had Mango Tango beer,
Ceviche, wahoo pate, mahi skewer,  chicken jerk skewer, 5 beers 1 wine $20 t shirt, bill came with included tip and exchange rate for us   TOTAL $169 wow so expensive.
However it was all very good and I really enjoyed it.
Last tender was at 2.15pm.

Relaxed at Serenity for the rest of the afternoon, then went to the pool at about 6pm when it was a lot quieter, even got an aqua workout done.
Dinner MDR
Again very impressed, even though I didn't like any of the appetizers I tried, this was personal preference and not there was anything wrong with them.
I had the salmon in pastry with curry as a side (I love curry) and it was delicious.
For dessert, the roasted pineapple, was so delish I had another one.
No night activites, was so tired and didn't finish dinner until 9.45pm.

 

Thursday
The first thing I noticed this morning was that my Pandora braclet is now black, due to chemicals in the pool. So ladies, watch your silver jewelry.

Update....I'm back home now, and its cleaned up great with silver polish.

Nachi Cocum Cozumel
Late arrival, and it was busy getting off the ship and through port, Porto Maya, not crazy though.
I'd read there would be signs up with taxi prices, but didn't see any, and the taxi area was disorganized. So I just asked how much, and was told $18.
I'd read some reviews on Nachi Cocum, but was kinda left in the dark about what to do when I got there. No one explained what drinks were available, no menu. No one said anything about lunch. I had to ask.
I was not impressed with food, nacho chips were hard and over cooked. Fish was supposed to be grouper but wasn't. And in a weird sauce. No dessert was offered. The only white wine available was blanc de blanc, not good.
The place itself is lovely, service was okay. Overall not as good as I expected after reading reviews.
Decided to get pizza back on board and we skipped dinner, too full.
Hot tub on serenity.
Cookies and hot chocolate topped with ice cream. Fyi, a yeti cup works great to keep ice cream frozen.

 

Friday sea day.

A lazy day day at the pool.
Bunch in MDR, I had fried chicken, and didn't like it. Too dry.
Platinum cocktail party was good, with anything to drink that you wanted and no limit.
Dinner was a pasta appetizer, followed by chicken and curry. The dessert was the 50th special, I forget the name, it was just colored songe cake. Dinner was a bit disappointing.

 

Saturday
Disembarked at 8 am, I was off the ship and in my car by 8.30, very smooth.

A great trip, and I will definitely go back on Paradise, I highly recommend it. I just hope it doesn't get spoiled after the refurb.

 

Best Bits
Pork tartlets in MDR
Cocktail platinum party
Good service

 

Worst Bits
Pool area is too loud, lots of others also thought so too.
Calling customer service takes ages for someone to pick up.
Pizza pirate, never any pizzas ready, have to wait a long time to get order taken and get it cooked.
Cakes

 

Thanks for reading, happy to answer any questions.

Edited August 28, 2022 by breadandbutter
Typo

[breadandbutter]

[breadandbutter]

[breadandbutter]

[breadandbutter]

[breadandbutter]

[breadandbutter]

[mz-s]

Going to Cayman for the first time in October. Does the ship use its own tender boats or do they have big tender boats on the island like at Princess Cays?

[breadandbutter]

We used the big port tender boats

[Guest BasicSailor]

If I may add, Carnival status (Loyalty program) leaving the ship works well. If you're expecting to use it to return to the ship, it's worthless.

[Florings]

Great information and thank you for taking the time to share it.   Paradise is one of my favorites.  We almost always book a porthole cabin on Empress Deck.

[Buckeyefrank100]

How was the check in process in Tampa?  I assume they are still using terminal 3 there..  Do you have any idea what time they start checking bags?  We would like to drop off our bags and then walk over to Sparkman Wharf area and sit down with a coffee or two.

[breadandbutter]

Check in was really easy, I arrived at 10.30 am., and dropped off bag.

I'm guessing you would be able to drop your bags off at 10am, thats the the first time window available.

Yes, it's terminal 3.

[ober134]

Last cruised Paradise back in the late '90's when she was a non-smoking ship. Does anyone remember that? I've always liked those fantasy class ships. I've been looking at Paradise itineraries for 2023 or 2024. Thanks for the review.

[allinwonderland]

On 8/27/2022 at 5:18 PM, breadandbutter said:

This menu looks a little different! No chia seed pudding, no brisket sandwich. Crab and avocado sandwich instead of peel and eat shrimp on the for-fee section. Ice cream at dessert. Hmm....

[Buckeyefrank100]

14 hours ago, breadandbutter said:

Check in was really easy, I arrived at 10.30 am., and dropped off bag.

I'm guessing you would be able to drop your bags off at 10am, thats the the first time window available.

Yes, it's terminal 3.

Thanks and one last question...   Did the port make you wear masks inside the building?  Their website still says it's required.

[DebOinKC]

I have to agree with about Nachi Cocum. I wasn't all that impressed when we were there. Next time going to try Paradise Beach.