Carnival Paradise

I have been on many Carnival cruises but I have never been on the Paradise. Can anyone comment (good or bad) on their experience on her? My most recent cruise was on the Liberty...how is the Paradise in comparison?

http://www.carnival.com/cruise-ships/compare-cruise-ships

This link will allow you to compare individual features of the two ships.

Paradise was the first ship I was on. It was nice back th 2003.

At that time it was a "Smoke Free" ship. They actually kicked a woman and her daughter off the ship for smoking. They were left at one of the ports :eek:

Our last cruise was on the Paradise and we had a wonderful time. Shows (not Playlist) were great, food was very good/excellent, Comedy Club was terrific, loved the Serenity area, crew was fantastic. Would sail on the ship again with no hesitation if family wanted to again.

Went on 5 day to Cozumel and Grand Cayman in March and had a great cruise on Paradise. This was my second cruise on her, first was a 4 day in January 2015. The Cruise Director Calvyn was great, he had great interaction with all the guests, even had the whole multi-level atrium singing along with him every night for music trivia.

With Paradise you get the classic Carnival product without much of the new upgrades, which My wife and I enjoy. Overall food was good and well prepared and service all around was excellent.

I would recommend for a convenient get away, but would not travel any distance or make special arrangements over another ship. I live just south of Tampa and it just is easy to sail, but have no regrets.

I've sailed "Paradise" over and over again. ALWAYS had a great time aboard, but I'm not sure who the C.D. is at this time. In the past, it's always been Steve Cassel, and he participates in a couple of the BIG shows, playing the fiddle, and violin. Fantastic talent, and very nice guy.

In any case, I know you'll have a wonderful cruise aboard "Paradise". Great crew, fantastic shows, excellent food, and just a really nice cruise.

"SKY"

She's an old rust bucket, but they keep her maintained. I NEVER complain about smoke smells but the years have not been kind to the casino and the place reeked. However, same excellent Carnival staff and NO crowds. Always could find a lounge at the pool and a seat at the comedy club. Nice for a quick weekend getaway, nothing more. Entertainment both show theater and comedy club was 2nd tier. Food was great.

I will start by saying we have only been on 1 cruise and it was on the Paradise Jan. 15'. So I have no real comparison.

We had a great time and the staff was wonderful. The food was good and our room was larger then I had imagained. The decor seemed a little dated but that didn't bother us. The shows were not to our taste but that could just be us. The cruise director seemed to pop up everywhere and everyone seemed to be having a great time. Our favorite parts of the trip was the comedy shows, piano bar and the art auctions. The serenity deck was very nice but it was always crowded so it wasn't so relaxing for us. Also on our sailing we heard from other guest they had plumbing issues and had to be moved to different rooms.

I can't compare the Paradise to the Liberty, but I can tell you the Paradise is a great ship. It's that comfy pair of jeans you always go back to- worn but wonderful. Small and easy to navigate the Paradise has the basics and does them well. Good food, great service and lots of fun. Cruises during the week are a little more mellow than cruises that encompass a weekend. The bands were good, bartenders friendly, food was tasty, room steward was a sweetheart, MDR staff was accommodating and entertaining, casino paid out, piano bar was fantastic, always an open chair on lido, no lines to wait in, and the comedy club was a riot. Even fellow cruisers were fun and friendly!

Please note, my cruise was in January, so this may vary during the holidays or spring break. Have fun!

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No 2.0 upgrades.

I'm going for the 4th time in the past year. Is the Paradise the best ship out there, not by a long shot. However, as others have posted, the staff is great, the food is good and it's a quick get away for those who live close to Tampa. You make the cruise whatever you want it to be. For my wife and I, it's to get away from it all, relax and gamble for a few days. With the casino offers, you can't pass it up. Enjoy your cruise no matter what ship you decide to go on!:)

Just got off the Paradise this morning. We had a great time. As others have pointed out, there are no 2.0 upgrades on her, but does not mean she's a bad ship.

1) Ship was clean and they still are using table cloths since its not converted over to the American Table/Feast concept yet

2) For the most part , the food was good. The sea day brunches are very nice and I still love Carnival's soup options for dinner. No lobster on elegant night and the Blue Crab ravioli (what I consider its replacement was sort bland and thus, just ok)

3) Calvyn is a great CD - very funny and really made the Love & Marriage show really funny as well as the "Liars" show that followed

4) As someone who grew up in the 70's and 80's, I enjoyed the 2 playlist shows "The Brits" and "Epic Rock". Yes, they sing to backing tracks and not live, but the music itself was in my "wheelhouse" and I thoroughly enjoyed.

5) The two comedians on this sailing were funny and entertaining

Was my 9th Carnival Cruise and already had #10 booked and booked #11 on board, so still a great vacation value. Paradise does lack all the bells and whistles of newer Carnival ships and of course newer RCCL ships, but all in all still a great ship. Living in Tampa, she's just too convenient not to sail on every now and then.

Thank you for your words. I am sailing her in October and it helps to know that if you don't care about the upgrades (though I am going to be sad without guys burger joint I must admit) you can still have a great trip

yea I sail in Sept...and gonna miss Guys Burgers...

How is the food choices..do they have burgers??

We've cruised 2x on the Paradise and feel that we've had the best service on those 2 cruises. If Carnival can give the Paradise the same treatment as the Fantasy, I think she'd be a nice option for years to come.

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but how is the food? burgers,chix tenders??

From the area of Tampa, Could you please recommend a hotel to stay at the night before sailing. We are flying into Tampa airport Aug 19th and We sail Aug 20th. Thx

The closest one to the port, (you can see the ship from the property) is probably "Hampton Inn & Suites, at 1301 East 7th Avenue, Tampa". Phone is 813-247-6700. I haven't stayed there, (we live about 40 miles East of Tampa ) but I have checked out the property for a friend, and checked with folks who have stayed there, and they all seem to enjoy it.

There are obviously lots of other good ones too, but the names escape me at the moment. If you want to be near the port, Hampton is the one.

"SKY"

Thank you so much for the info and the quick response! :)

Donna

Got off paradise yesterday morning. Just got the survey email from carnival. Still trying to decide how brutal I'm going to be. I'm not going to complain on here but there were many issues on this cruise. However, we still had a good time and Calvyn the CD was funny and our room steward was great.

I like the Serenity area because it has umbrellas. Had a steward who left my cabin until last so my cabin wasn't done until about 12 noon even when I asked for earlier service as I was staying on the ship in port and wanted ice so I could be up on Serenity with my drink.

Worst experience with carnival. Not as much entertainment, food in the dining room wasn't good, the food in the buffet lines were hit or miss ok. The Mongolian wok is great but only open from 12-245. It's a downgrade for carnival.

Just off Paradise earlier this month. Food was terrible in MDR. I told several staff on Lido (the one's wearing white uniforms) buffet food wasn't hot, didn't help.

The lady at the deli made great sandwiches, didn't have to ask for double meat. Tuna salad there was good.

Sea bass in MDR was horrid, hard, overcooked. Lasagna was not right, no one at my table liked it. The meat was tiny pieces of ground beef.

This kind of thing happened on many of my Legend trips. Then once I decided maybe it's me--everyone on CC says the lasagna is good which no one at my table thought it was. Had it and it was wonderful. I thought something's up. Sure enough they had a new chef.

Was thinking of booking this cruise but flying from Oct 2017 or the other one was Triumph

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