Back from Paradise, 2/4/08, heres the 4-1-1......

[DarthGrady]

Here is the review, feel free to ask questions.

 

The Introduction:

I am a 25 year old male in Central Florida. This was my seventh cruise with Carnival, and my eighth overall. We found this cruise for $199 before taxes, fees and fuel surcharge on Carnival’s website. Since we had free AirTran tickets that needed to be used, we booked it in September of last year. It felt strange leaving Florida to go on a cruise, but it was fun trying something new. We flew into L.A.X. the day before and stayed at the Culver City Radisson. It was a nice hotel, and had a free airport shuttle. The next day we took a Prime Time shuttle from L.A.X. to the cruise terminal. All went very smoothly.

 

The Embarkation:

We arrived at the cruise terminal around 12:30 PM, unloaded the luggage and took some pictures in front of the Queen Mary. Once inside the terminal everything went fast, and we were on the ship in less than a half hour. I was impressed with the whole process. The terminal inside the Queen Mary Dome is also very nice and had a good lay out.

 

The Ship:

Paradise is the last of the “Fantasy Class” ships built for Carnival. I was impressed with her overall good condition. I could immediately see that her interior décor had been toned down when compared to her older siblings. There was a lot more wood and brass, instead of the neon and painted metal. Coming off a cruise on Sensation last year, I really appreciated the more tasteful look. The cabins have not yet been renovated, and it is past time for that. Our cabin had many signs of wear and tear. She also does not have the new Carnival Comfort Beds, which I thought had been installed fleet wide by now. That was a major disappointment. Once she gets the Evolutions of Fun remodeling and the upgraded cabins, things will be much better.

We had one minor problem that arose on the second night. There was a mechanical room next to our cabin (U-110) that had some sort of clanking noise coming from it. I told the purser’s desk about it, and they said that someone would look into it. When we returned to the ship after our day in Ensenada, the security guard at the gangway said that our cabin had changed, and to see the purser’s desk about it. They apparently could not fix the problem, and offered us another cabin just down the hall. Since we only had one day and two nights left, we just decided to stay in the original cabin. I felt the Pursers did a very good job addressing the problem, even though it couldn’t be fixed. Things like that make me doubt all the scathing complaints about Carnival’s customer service.

 

The Food:

The Lido Buffet was on par with all the rest of our cruises. The pizza counter always had fresh pies ready, and the deli had good Reubens. The food at dinner in the Main Dining room was not as good as previous Carnival cruises. It wasn’t bad, just not as good. Some offerings were mildly bland, and the overall quality seemed lacking.

The Entertainment:

We only attended one of the comedy shows. The comedian was very good, and we had a good time. We did not go to any of the main shows.

 

The Ports:

We visited Catalina Island first. While it is very pretty and clean, there is not a lot to do there. We walked around for awhile, and shopped. It was too cold to swim, but we wouldn’t have anyway. The water was pretty murky, not at all like most of the Caribbean ports we have been to.

The next day we went to Ensenada. Like Catalina, there is not a lot to do there unless you book an excursion. We found our way to a little bar called “Los Amigos”, which was just down the street from Papas and Beer. They had cheap beer, so we just drank our afternoon away and then headed back to the ship.

The Bottom Line:

This was a good cruise, though not as exciting as some that we have been on. The ship looked great, and was the best of the “Fantasy Class” that we have been on so far. The food could have been better, but wasn’t bad. I can’t say a whole lot about the two ports, since there wasn’t much to do. In the future, we will probably stick with cruises to the Caribbean since the water is cleaner, and the ports have more to do. Even though the ports were a little bland, we still had a really good time. I can’t wait for our next cruise in September on the Fascination!

After debarkation from Paradise, we stayed for a night on board the Queen Mary. It was awesome! I am a ship enthusiast from way back, and it was amazing to actually be on board a piece of history. We walked all over, and saw most of the main areas. I was in awe of how beautiful she still is at over 70 years old. It was a great experience.

[kcCruiseDJ]

Thank you so much for your detailed review. I went on the Paradise April 2006 (3 day) and had a great time. I thought they had the comfort beds, it slept really good. Food was great too. We are going on a (4 day) this April. Thanks again!!!