A First Time Cruiser's Review: Carnival Paradise 7/14/12-7/19/12 (LOTS of Pics)

[Gemynii]

Thanks for the Great pictures. I recently cruised on the Sensation out of Port Canaveral and Had a great time. That was my first time and i was hooked.

 

How was the weather and the seas out of Tampa? Was it rough?:)

 

The weather leaving Tampa was surprisingly good considering it rained off and on each day the week before we left, 3 days constantly (with flooding) while we were gone and about an hour each day since we've been back. The seas weren't bad while we were leaving either, but it was a little rough the second day. The report was 4 foot waves (not too bad) with the wind hitting the ship at 17 knots.

[MrFunInTheSun]

Great "first timer" review! Welcome to your new addiction. Thank you for sharing. Got your next cruise booked yet? :-) Still time to sail on the Legend before she leaves Tampa, she's a great ship.

[Gemynii]

Great "first timer" review! Welcome to your new addiction. Thank you for sharing. Got your next cruise booked yet? :-) Still time to sail on the Legend before she leaves Tampa, she's a great ship.

 

Thank you. :)

 

Nope, nothing booked yet. I've checked the Legend's future schedule and she's never in Tampa at the same time that DD will be off from school. Right now, the cruise I have my eye on is the 7 day Western Caribbean on the Dream out of Port Canaveral in Nov 2013 while DD is out on Thanksgiving break. I don't think I'll be able to talk DH into cuising any sooner than that. :(

[keystonemama]

I forgot to mention in the review that our steward Rony was fantastic. He anticipated all of our needs, room was spotless after he left, ice bucket was kept full and he even helped with the kids. When I say he helped with the kids, what he did was... he tore apart the room that he had just cleaned trying to help DD find her iPod (which she had left on the bed in her purse along with her money and I had put it in the safe) and then re-cleaned it afterwards and he helped when all 3 kids were in our room by themselves and were arguing. We ended up giving him an extra $40 tip the last night of the cruise. You rock, Rony!

 

 

Great job on your review, I saw your martini/Vera pic:), too funny, Rony was our steward too! He was awesome, one night (about 4 am) Derek, my son, had been partying and had one of many Long Islands,:p, he got off the elevator to the room and was going in the wrong direction to the cabin, Rony saw him (when do they sleep?) and hollered at him, Mr. Derek, Mr. Derek, turn around you are going the wrong way and Derek is like, "Ahhh...thanks Rony!" lol Great guy!

[bdann]

Great review, thanks for sharing all the photos! Carnival Paradise looks like a cool ship.

[twinsbur]

You're welcome!! :D I'm sure it'll be a great cruise and we both can't wait!!!! :D Yes, I'll definatly bring some Bonine, thanks for reminding me!! I usually bring it anyway just in case, I've gotten slightly queasy before (usually when the seas are on the rough side) and it's no fun at all!! :( Also, since the Imagination (like the Paradise) is a small(er) ship, I would think that the motion would be more noticeable. I don't want the poor guy to feel sick the whole time!! Do you have any other tips on what to do (or not to do) with a 1st Time Cruiser?

Thanks again and I love all your pics!!!! :D

I get sea sick and I got a prescription for the Scopalamine patch. It lasts for a full 3 days and it worked great. I had no side effects. the first night on my cruise was a little rocky and if I did not wear it I would have been very queasy. I had bonine with me just in case but I did not have to use it

Enjoy Your Cruise

[Gemynii]

Great job on your review, I saw your martini/Vera pic:), too funny, Rony was our steward too! He was awesome, one night (about 4 am) Derek, my son, had been partying and had one of many Long Islands,:p, he got off the elevator to the room and was going in the wrong direction to the cabin, Rony saw him (when do they sleep?) and hollered at him, Mr. Derek, Mr. Derek, turn around you are going the wrong way and Derek is like, "Ahhh...thanks Rony!" lol Great guy!

 

I had to get a martini pic like you did. :p I also got the free martini charm which DD wanted, but I wouldn't give to her. I used the little ring to hold the free charms I received in Cozumel as well.

 

It looks like the room we had was only 6 away from the room you had. If we sail the Paradise again, I'll have to make sure to book a stateroom in the same area and keep my fingers crossed that Rony is still working that hallway.

[Gemynii]

Great review, thanks for sharing all the photos! Carnival Paradise looks like a cool ship.

 

Thank you. I thought it was a cool ship for our first cruise. :)

[Mrsfabo]

I see that your money was limited so I understand about that but no one told you of the gorgeous free beach at the caymans? The clearest bluest water in the carribean in my opinion but the pics were gorgeous and you definitely remindede about how my hubby and I went on our first cruise and been hooked ever since its so much to do!

[brooklynfc]

I read about that before I left and I tried setting the camera on the railing, but it didn't stop my camera from sensing movement (the red icon stayed on even when I thought I was holding it still). We've had our Canon PowerShot A560 for several years now, so maybe it's time for an upgrade. Thanks for trying to help, though.

 

Yea, if subjects are moving in the picture, I bet that is what it blur.

 

I just bought a:

Nikon COOLPIX 16.1 MP CMOS Digital Camera with 14x Optical Zoom NIKKOR ED Glass Lens and Full HD 1080p Video

 

 

 

I was looking for a P&S that had some DSLR features, but was smaller for carry purposes. It got good reviews and went on sale on a certain site that is related to the Kindle.

 

I used it at an outdoor night time concert and got some great pictures and then I used it when we took my nephew to a dinosaur show. The dinos moved a bit, but the blur isn't that noticeable.

 

 

Sorry to talk pictures........lol.

 

My chiropractor is actually going on your cruise and I was looking up information for him b/c he knows I'm a cruise geek.

[twinsbur]

The weather leaving Tampa was surprisingly good considering it rained off and on each day the week before we left, 3 days constantly (with flooding) while we were gone and about an hour each day since we've been back. The seas weren't bad while we were leaving either, but it was a little rough the second day. The report was 4 foot waves (not too bad) with the wind hitting the ship at 17 knots.

 

 

Thanks for the information. I booked a cruise on the paradise in 2013.:)

[cuted126]

Embarkation Day Cont.

 

I managed to drag DH over to the rail for a pic. Geez, worst pic ever. I couldn't have looked more frumpy. DD took the pic, so I blame her :p.

 

Next, we went to see what the view was like from the front of the ship.

 

I thought this pic was cool with the three ships out in the distance.

 

I think there may have been a wedding on the ship and there was a group taking photos out on the sports deck.

 

Since it was already 7:30pm, we decided to eat at the buffet. On our way there, we saw that security had been called to take care of a situation.

 

I have the same tank top! I wore it on embarkation day on the Legend from Tampa! Great review!

[Gemynii]

I see that your money was limited so I understand about that but no one told you of the gorgeous free beach at the caymans? The clearest bluest water in the carribean in my opinion but the pics were gorgeous and you definitely remindede about how my hubby and I went on our first cruise and been hooked ever since its so much to do!

 

I read a bit about the beaches in Grand Cayman, but my mom recommended the Turtle Farm since she had been there before and we all thought the kids would enjoy it. If we ever go back there, we would probably just hit the beach and maybe walk around Georgetown.

[Gemynii]

Yea, if subjects are moving in the picture, I bet that is what it blur.

 

I just bought a:

Nikon COOLPIX 16.1 MP CMOS Digital Camera with 14x Optical Zoom NIKKOR ED Glass Lens and Full HD 1080p Video

 

I was looking for a P&S that had some DSLR features, but was smaller for carry purposes. It got good reviews and went on sale on a certain site that is related to the Kindle.

 

I used it at an outdoor night time concert and got some great pictures and then I used it when we took my nephew to a dinosaur show. The dinos moved a bit, but the blur isn't that noticeable.

 

Sorry to talk pictures........lol.

 

My chiropractor is actually going on your cruise and I was looking up information for him b/c he knows I'm a cruise geek.

 

 

That's a great low light pic. I may have to look into a camera like that. My camera is only 7.1 MP and 4X zoom, so it would definitely be a step up.

[Gemynii]

Thanks for the information. I booked a cruise on the paradise in 2013.:)

 

You're welcome. I hope you have a great time.

[Gemynii]

I have the same tank top! I wore it on embarkation day on the Legend from Tampa! Great review!

 

I liked the colors, but I'm starting to think I should stay away from horizontal stripes after looking at all my pics. :p

 

I'm glad you enjoyed the review.

[waterboy27]

Brought back so many memories. Thank you so much, Kim. I really enjoyed it.

On our first, as we sat in the outdoor parking lot, Ms. Baby sat in the car in view of that huge ship (actually quite small, only 770 passengers) and wrote an adendum to our wills. She was so intimidated!:eek:

[momof3cruisers]

Great review. I especially liked all of your excursion pics. It's hard to picture places from the brief descriptions online.

[Gemynii]

Brought back so many memories. Thank you so much, Kim. I really enjoyed it.

On our first, as we sat in the outdoor parking lot, Ms. Baby sat in the car in view of that huge ship (actually quite small, only 770 passengers) and wrote an adendum to our wills. She was so intimidated!:eek:

 

I'm glad you enjoyed it.

 

It's amazing how much bigger the ships are being built now. I actually thought the Paradise was huge, so it's hard to imagine that it's the smallest class in the fleet.

[Gemynii]

Great review. I especially liked all of your excursion pics. It's hard to picture places from the brief descriptions online.

 

Thanks! I know that I enjoyed looking at excursion pics before our cruise, but there never seemed to be enough of them to satisfy me. Everyone in our group thought I was taking too many pics, but I just thought "there's no such thing as too many". I actually took less than I thought I would. :)

[sailingawaysoon]

Great review! Love the pics too. Thanks for sharing!

[Gemynii]

Great review! Love the pics too. Thanks for sharing!

 

I'm glad you enjoyed it. :)

[quiet1p]

Awesome job!!! TY.. I will be on my 1st cruise in a month and half on the Fantasy out of Charleston. So excited and So nervous.. I just got me a new 14mp 24x zoom camera since someone decided to "boorow" my favorite camera so hopefully I will have the new one figured out and get some great pics to share also...As I love taking pics... :D

[crusinpsychRN]

Great combination of pics and video! Loved your review. Those are the first pics I've seen of the park in Cozumel. Years ago when we were there all I remember is being taken to the becah, snorkling and not seeing much at all and leaving!

 

You seem like a fun bunch to cruise with! Thanks for all the hard work on the review.

Edited July 27, 2012 by crusinpsychRN

[MuffyKismet]

Thanks so much for that GREAT review!! and all the great pics! This will be my 27th cruise but my first on Paradise!!! I love the serenity deck (but if you have children with you then you really can't use it), I also love the foward pool and hot tub (very vew people seem to use that one, never really too crowded and a GREAT veiw of the sky way bridge as you are going under it! Normally we hang out in the hot tubs on serenity deck when we sail away from the port but on this ship I think it would be better to sail away on that foward deck with the pool and hot tub!! (thanks to your reveiw)!

 

We sail Sept 13th ....my first all girls cruise! Can't wait! First time NOT sailing with my DH :(....but I'll get over it :eek: LOL