Paradise - yay or nay?

[SkyMaster]

Happy to hear all the positive posts for the Paradise. I just booked my first B2B on Paradise, for Sept 24 and Sept 28th. .

 

Just booked September 28th myself! :D See you aboard! :cool:

 

"SKY"

Ken

[turbidblue]

We sailed the Paradise over Spring Break this year. Had a blast! We had an ocean view cabin, and I think it was the roomiest we've had out of 3 cruises (and I normally sail in a balcony), and the shower *seemed* bigger to me. We never had any issues getting seats at shows or dinner (either in the MDR or Lido deck). The crew was fantastic. They always stopped to greet us, no matter what they were doing...and always had a smile on their faces. The cruise director, Steve was a hoot and really made the cruise more enjoyable overall.

 

The only issues we had were with the port of Tampa. It was a madhouse. Very, very disorganized. We arrived to Tampa late (def our fault. We stayed about an hour and a half outside of Tampa and hit MAJOR traffic on our way in), and we were frantic when we got to our parking lot about 2pm. Parking people were great (Parking Doctors-highly recommend)...they calmed us down...quickly loaded us up and got us to port. Our driver told us it was actually better that we were later because the port was slammed earlier, and we shouldn't have any issues at that time. But when we arrived to port about 2:30....it was STILL slammed. We got thru the document check ok, and also the initial security. But after that.....chaos. Noone directing you where to go to drop off health forms....lines to check-in were scattered...hard to tell where the end of them were...and noone directing people. We waited in line almost an hour to check-in.

 

We had similar issues with debarkation. Carnival started debarkation...then stopped for an hour+. The qued up more people....and stopped again. This went on for hours. Everyone was pretty upset. We were all standing in lines...in hallways on the ship waiting to get off because they had already called our zone #. But they weren't letting people off. When we finally got off....my mom was talking to a porter while I was looking for our luggage. He told her that it wasn't Carnival. It was the port. He said they were 'understaffed as usual' and weren't getting people out fast enough.....and had to shut down debarkation because the terminal got too crowded. He also told her it wasn't uncommon. I don't know how true that is, having never sailed out of Tampa before.....but I also know I've never had the problems we had with debarkation on the 2 other Carnival cruises we've been on. *shrugs*

 

I would sail the Paradise again in a heartbeat.....just not out of Tampa. :D

[gupebreedr]

I was on the Paradise this past week. Had a near perfect cruise. Yes, she's an older ship. Yes, the decor is a bit tacky but she is clean, the crew was fantastic, shows were good, dining room food was excellent, buffet was fair. The casino was not as smokey as I expected. Just know up front she does not have the bells and whistles the newer ships have. All in all a great time was had. I'd rate Paradise 8.5/10 and would/will sail her again.......:):):):):)

[ggourmet]

Anyone going on the Paradise on July 30th???

[rolaur]

Anyone going on the Paradise on July 30th???

 

Yup. Just got off her last Monday and got a bounce back cruise so going again on July 30th. Never look a free cruise in the mouth!!!

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

Anyone going on the Paradise on July 30th???

 

check the roll call section of the site

[taylor1293]

The Paradise was our least favorite cruise so far. Overall, it was a really good cruise, but we were greatly disappointed in the food and our cabin steward was awful. Nevertheless, we are trying her again this summer. Love sailing out of Tampa and it's a great weekend getaway.

[Captain Carnival]

Hi! DH and I are scheduling to take a cruise in November on the Carnival Paradise to Cozumel. I know it is an older/smaller ship, I just returned from a 4day on the Fascination, but I am just curious if anyone has any pros/cons about the Paradise. We'd love to do another large ship, but are only able to do a shorter cruise this time since the kids will be staying with the grandparents during our trip. Thanks so much!

 

You will have an incredible time aboard YOUR Carnival Paradise!

[DesertGal2013]

Cozumel is one of my favorite places in Mexico-----snorkeling/diving is awesome!!!