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

[Gemynii]

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

 

Thank you! I hope you have a great time on your first cruise as well.

[Gemynii]

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.

 

I'm glad you liked the review. Below is a picture of the park map that I just found online. You can see that they have tons of stuff to do there now. We actually didn't get to see or do most of it because there wasn't enough time.

 

[EZcruiserfamily]

Thanks for the great review and all the pics! We are on the Paradise on 10/20 and keep changing our minds on excursions. Your review is very helpful!

[momsolt]

Thanks for the great review. I sail on the Paradise in November and quite excited. Just a few questions...do the cabins have refrigerators, what drinks are provided for you on the ship and can you bring your own beverages in your suitcase to drink on board? Thanks for the help. I'm trying to learn so much!!!!

[SteelerCruiser]

Thanks for the great review. I sail on the Paradise in November and quite excited. Just a few questions...do the cabins have refrigerators, what drinks are provided for you on the ship and can you bring your own beverages in your suitcase to drink on board? Thanks for the help. I'm trying to learn so much!!!!

 

We have cruised Fascination several times which is a sister ship to Paradise. No Mini Fridges in most rooms.....water,tea,coffee,lemonade,milk, juice at breakfast,and I know in the past you could get free cappuccino and hot chocolate in the Main Dining Room after dinner no charge but I can;t confirm you can still do that.......and if you bring your own drinks on board then you will want to place them in a carry on if not they will most likely call you to the security inspection room after you board to search your bags.

[Gemynii]

I'm glad ya'll enjoyed the review!

 

As SteelerCruiser pointed out, there are no mini-fridges in the rooms and any drinks you bring will need to be carried on. Keep the restrictions in mind... it's a max of 12 20oz (or less) non-alcoholic drinks per person and 1 750ml bottle wine or champagne per adult.

 

We brought a 6pk of 16.9oz bottles of soda per person which worked out great since so many other drinks are available on the ship. I had brought along some drink mixes and never used them.

 

Drinks provided are water, lemonade, tea (which we found didn't taste as bad as we thought it would), coffee, milk (I got milk from the person at the dessert station. Just ask them), juice (at breakfast) and cappuccino, espresso & hot chocolate in the MDR (all 3 were still free back in July).

 

I hope all of you have a great time on your upcoming cruises!

[kranzel]

Do you know what would happen if you booked online and then the port date was changed or canceled? Thinking of booking for our July cruise...

[Gemynii]

Do you know what would happen if you booked online and then the port date was changed or canceled? Thinking of booking for our July cruise...

 

What were you planning on booking online? The Turtle Farm? If so, they normally offer a refund if you are unable to make it at all or you could reschedule if your port date changes. They were very good about answering my email in a timely manner, so you could always send them an email with your question and save their response in case there is any dispute. Their email would be on the "Contact Us" page of their website.

 

Have a great cruise!

 

 

 

Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T using Tapatalk HD

[bungee]

You caught my eye with "(LOTS of Pics)" in your title. I love lots of pictures. I am saving this read for a quiet time when I don't have family members constantly running in and out of the room. I want to imagine that I am on the cruise with you. I want to enjoy every word.

[Gemynii]

You caught my eye with "(LOTS of Pics)" in your title. I love lots of pictures. I am saving this read for a quiet time when I don't have family members constantly running in and out of the room. I want to imagine that I am on the cruise with you. I want to enjoy every word.

 

Hope you enjoy the review. Have fun on your upcoming cruise!

 

 

 

Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T using Tapatalk HD

[cdancer20]

Great review! Full of lots of great pics and I got a good sense of the ship for this review.

 

I have sailed two of the sister ships (Imagination and Sensation) but will be going with my family on their first ever cruise on the Paradise in August. I am so super excited for them and this review helped me to get more excited.

 

Good job and I loved all the pics!

[Gemynii]

Great review! Full of lots of great pics and I got a good sense of the ship for this review.

 

I have sailed two of the sister ships (Imagination and Sensation) but will be going with my family on their first ever cruise on the Paradise in August. I am so super excited for them and this review helped me to get more excited.

 

Good job and I loved all the pics!

 

Thank you. I'm glad you liked the review and I hope you have as great a time on the Paradise as we did.

 

 

 

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[iott family]

I'm glad you're enjoying the review. I'm trying to talk DH into the 7 day Western Caribbean on the Dream out of Port Canaveral now. He enjoyed himself on this cruise (which is what I was worried about most before we left) so hopefully it won't be as hard to talk him into another.

 

Ok, so I know Im year late in reading this! Enjoyed the TR, by the way :)

We are going on our second western on the Dream this October. Our first cruise was on the Valor in Oct 2011. Oct 2012 we "upgraded" ship size to the Dream and loved it so much we are coming back again for the same cruise! Matter of fact, we are roughly sailing same week, in same two rooms (Balcony on Lido) with the exact same itinerary :D

[Gemynii]

Ok, so I know Im year late in reading this! Enjoyed the TR, by the way :)

We are going on our second western on the Dream this October. Our first cruise was on the Valor in Oct 2011. Oct 2012 we "upgraded" ship size to the Dream and loved it so much we are coming back again for the same cruise! Matter of fact, we are roughly sailing same week, in same two rooms (Balcony on Lido) with the exact same itinerary :D

 

I managed to talk DH into our upcoming cruise because of the great deal I got. It's another 5 day and it's not on the Dream, but we'll get to try a different itinerary. Maybe if he has a great time on this one as well, I'll be able to talk him into getting a FCC while we're on the ship. I really want to do a 7 day Western Caribbean, so it would be Legend out of Tampa or Dream out of PC... can't talk DH into driving any further than that. :p

[Strmwatch]

I managed to talk DH into our upcoming cruise because of the great deal I got. It's another 5 day and it's not on the Dream, but we'll get to try a different itinerary. Maybe if he has a great time on this one as well, I'll be able to talk him into getting a FCC while we're on the ship. I really want to do a 7 day Western Caribbean, so it would be Legend out of Tampa or Dream out of PC... can't talk DH into driving any further than that. :p

 

I know the last update is from a couple of weeks ago...but bear in mind that it looks like the Legend will only be sailing from Tampa during the "Winter" season now.

 

They took it across the pond to sail in the Med for the summers...so as of right now there are only 4-5 day sailings on the Paradise out of Tampa in the summer months.

[Gemynii]

I know the last update is from a couple of weeks ago...but bear in mind that it looks like the Legend will only be sailing from Tampa during the "Winter" season now.

 

They took it across the pond to sail in the Med for the summers...so as of right now there are only 4-5 day sailings on the Paradise out of Tampa in the summer months.

 

Yes, that's why I said Legend or Dream. I would prefer Legend since the class is a favorite for a lot of cruisers and the Port of Tampa is closer for us, but if Legend is in the Med when we chose are next cruise date then we would go with Dream. Thanks, though.

[SweetpeaOne]

What an amazing review. This was like therapy for me. Our house was broken into the other day and personnel items were stolen. Reading your review and seeing your pictures lifted my spirit. Thanks very much for sharing....

[Gemynii]

What an amazing review. This was like therapy for me. Our house was broken into the other day and personnel items were stolen. Reading your review and seeing your pictures lifted my spirit. Thanks very much for sharing....

 

I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Sorry to hear about the break in.

[Dolly1952]

Kim I looked at all your photos which are great. I thought my DH takes a lot of pictures but you have out done him. And your review makes me want to get on the ship now. We must meet up if possible before the cruise. Maybe do some window shopping at the mall. Oh, and I love the freckles on your DD. Donna

[Gemynii]

Kim I looked at all your photos which are great. I thought my DH takes a lot of pictures but you have out done him. And your review makes me want to get on the ship now. We must meet up if possible before the cruise. Maybe do some window shopping at the mall. Oh, and I love the freckles on your DD. Donna

 

Thanks, Donna.

 

I'll have a better camera for our Ecstasy cruise, so I'll probably take even more pics. :o

We'll definitely have to meet up before then... whether it's window shopping at the mall or shopping for stuff for our cruise. :)

[Duddy]

Bump! Gotta read this later. Getting ready for this cruise in January.

 

Reviews and pics look amazing! Nice job

 

~Bob~

[Gemynii]

Bump! Gotta read this later. Getting ready for this cruise in January.

 

Reviews and pics look amazing! Nice job

 

~Bob~

 

Thanks. I hope you enjoy the review when you get the chance to read it. We loved the Paradise and would sail on her again in a heartbeat. I'm sure you'll have a great time.

[Gemynii]

It looks like my limit as been reached on Photobucket and the images I posted are no longer visable. The full album from our cruise can still be viewed directly of anyone is interested.

 

Link to album: http://s456.photobucket.com/user/gemynii_album/library/Paradise

 

Thanks!

[ourfamilylovescruising]

great review

[bobandalice]

We both really enjoyed your review. It brought back so many memories of the excitement and fun and adventure of doing a cruise for the first time! Thanks for sharing so much of it, and have fun on your next one!

 

Alice and Bob

 

 

 

It looks like my limit as been reached on Photobucket and the images I posted are no longer visable. The full album from our cruise can still be viewed directly of anyone is interested.

 

Link to album: http://s456.photobucket.com/user/gemynii_album/library/Paradise

 

Thanks!