Paradise - Jan 26th....4 day to Cozumel

[jagsfan]

Many years ago I got to stand out on the bridge wing so got a fantastic view of the bridge. Of course, it looked like we were going to shear the funnel off!

 

 

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[FlaGrl4Evr]

I forgot to mention that we met our room steward upon entering our cabin at 2:30. I didn't catch his name and there was not a name card in the cabin but he was on the ball and very polite.

 

I asked him to please bring an ice bucket and ice each day. He was back within 5 minutes with the bucket and ice. We pre-paid our gratuties but I slipped him a little something extra for our extra request. He always had that bucket filled to the brim with ice....

 

I also told him that we didn't need the morning cabin service.

I enjoy sleeping in while on vacation and didn't want him waiting around to service our room. I'm tidy anyway so I just didn't see the sense of twice daily. For whatever reason, he ended up servicing our room each morning when we left for breakfast. No biggie.... I was just trying to save him the trouble.

He shared that he and his assistant had 27 cabins assigned to them....Holy Cow !!

 

I brought 2 bottles of wine with me....A Sangria and a Pinot Noir.

Since Jay does not drink, he was able to "claim" one bottle for me.

 

I also brought a 12pk of Diet Ginger Ale. They have Ginger Ale on the ship but trying to find it in Diet is next to impossible.

 

I got a small glass of OJ and added a splash to the Sangria along with a splash of Diet Ginger Ale and some ice. It was sort of a wine spritzer.

 

The cabin had 2 wine glasses so I made my own drink and carried it down to dinner each night.

This was never a problem.

 

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[FlaGrl4Evr]

We had selected the Anytime Dining which gave us the option of dining anywhere between 5:45 and 9pm. We were assigned to the Elation Dining Room.

Getting there however was a real PITA as deck 8 doesn't go all the way through due to the galley. It took us 2 days to get the route down-pat. We took the forward elevator up to deck 8 and then headed Aft until we got to the dining room.

 

I wanted to attended the liquor sale this night so was hoping to be done with dinner by 7:45 but we were running a tad behind due to our nap.

We ended up arriving at 7pm and were seated in Noel's section. He is a riot and you can tell he really enjoys interacting with the guests. He is Asian and has a multitude of Asian jokes to tell.

I wish that we would have requested him each night. While the other waiters were fine and friendly they just didn't have that ingratiating spark.

** If you have Anytime Dining and want a waiter with a touch of humor, request to be seated in Noel's section.

 

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[FlaGrl4Evr]

I wish that I would've remembered to take some good porn pics as all of our meals in the dining room were excellent and presented very nicely.

 

The first night I started out with the wedge salad as did Jay. For my entree I had the flat iron steak cooked medium well. It was very tender. Jay ordered a grilled chicken breast. Both meals came with baby red potatoes and steamed carrots and broccoli. For dessert, I ordered the sugar-free mandarin orange cake. I love the sugar-free cakes as the icing is of the whipped cream version and the cake is very light. Jay being the health nut that he is, ordered the tropical fruit plate.

 

We finished dinner around 9pm and headed directly to the fun shops so I could buy my Amarula and Sheridan's. I just couldn't believe it......they had sold every single bottle of Sheridan's. I was like....What ? Your kidding me...The sale just started at 7:45. Apparently Sheridan's is the MOST popular liquor on the ship do just a heads up to anyone wanting a bottle.

 

I was able to get my Amarula and did find some Sheridan's at the duty free shop in Cozumel.

They had a special of 2 bottles for $43 or one at $27.

 

 

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[FlaGrl4Evr]

After purchasing the liquor we went to the lobby bar and enjoyed a drink and some music until it was time for the Welcome Aboard Show.

 

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[chiShannon]

Really enjoying this!

 

 

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[SkyMaster]

Living in Lakeland, I've sailed "Paradise" over, and over again, with NEVER a disappointment. GREAT ship and crew, and always fun, fun, fun.

Thanks for posting. I'm looking forward to the rest of your comments.

 

"SKY"

[sc4125]

Living in Lakeland, I've sailed "Paradise" over, and over again, with NEVER a disappointment. GREAT ship and crew, and always fun, fun, fun.

Thanks for posting. I'm looking forward to the rest of your comments.

 

"SKY"

 

Hey, I'm a Lakelander too - born & bred. I was on the Paradise in November with 8 other family members & had a great time. It was my first time in several years sailing on one of the smaller ships and I worried that I may miss the "bells & whistles," but I had a wonderful time. Wish I would have taken advantage of her much earlier.

[FlaGrl4Evr]

Here is a pic of my 2 bottles of Amarula that I bought from the Fun Shop. If you buy liquor the first night of the cruise, they offer a 15% discount. They give you a receipt and hold your bottle(S) until the morning of debarkation. Save that receipt as you'll need it to claim your purchase.

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[FlaGrl4Evr]

After enjoying our pre-show drink, we made our way to the Normandie Lounge. I just refer to it as the theater as it looks more the such than a lounge.

 

For whatever reason, I like sitting in the top balcony area of the theater. Perhaps it's because it seems to be easier to get in and out of quickly without the crowds of the main area stage side.

 

Watching the Welcome Aboard show has become a cruise ritual for me.....I never tire of it, no matter how many times I've seen it. Jay enjoyed the show immensely.

 

During the show time we were also introduced to our cruise director, Brandon. A good cruise director can really make a difference and Brandon did not disappoint. He was very approachable and you could tell that he enjoys making people happy. He wants everyone to have a good time and does a great job of making this happen. I just loved seeing him interact with the guests....young, old it didn't matter...He was going to make darn sure that you were having FUN on the FUN Ship.

 

 

 

 

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[FlaGrl4Evr]

Here is a pic of the Fun Times for our embarkation day.

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[FlaGrl4Evr]

We debated whether to go to the Rock the Promenade at 11pm but ultimately decided to make a cup of tea and return to our cabin to read.

 

** We both enjoy a particular brand of Chamomile tea and bringing a box of it on board was no problem. We also brought 2 large insulated coffee mugs with a snap lid. You can get hot water in a carafe from room service or take your cup to the Lido buffet coffee station. There is an area that dispenses hot water. There are also 2 types of tea bags available: Lipton and Bigalow Green. These were free of charge.

 

The MDR did have a box of other types of tea bags but they were $1.95 each. ** Jay likes an occasional tea after dinner so we brought our own tea bags and just requested a cup and pot of hot water.

I felt a bit tacky doing this but he drinks only this particular brand. The wait staff didn't blink an eye so perhaps they understood.

 

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[FlaGrl4Evr]

The ship wasn't rocking but after returning to the cabin I felt a little quesy so I decided to put on a Scope patch. This is the behind the ear patch for sea sickness.

 

Jay and I both used the Sea-bands. They worked magic for Jay but only half way for me.

*** I used to be able to buy these at Walmart but now they have to be pre ordered.....No idea why. The pharmacist told me that Walgreens still carries them over-the-counter. The Walgreens brand was $11.99 and the Sea Band brand , which I actually prefer as they are smaller in width, come in different colors and have their own storage case, were $14.99.

 

I also took a Ginger pill with breakfast and another with dinner plus a Bonine tablet before bed time....Probably over kill but I was good to go for the entire cruise, no motion issues whatsoever.

 

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[FlaGrl4Evr]

I set out our morning room service request for coffee and OJ and it was off to sleep in preparation for our first sea day.

 

*** Just a note.... Room service is not covered in the gratuity tip pool. To make things easier, I went to the bank and got several $5 bills and $1 bills. They came in really handy for tipping the shuttle driver and porter. I set out a few $1 at night so I could quickly tip Room service in the morning.

 

Having the tip $ handy just made things easier.

 

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[easyboy]

The ship wasn't rocking but after returning to the cabin I felt a little quesy so I decided to put on a Scope patch. This is the behind the ear patch for sea sickness.

 

Jay and I both used the Sea-bands. They worked magic for Jay but only half way for me.

*** I used to be able to buy these at Walmart but now they have to be pre ordered.....No idea why. The pharmacist told me that Walgreens still carries them over-the-counter. The Walgreens brand was $11.99 and the Sea Band brand , which I actually prefer as they are smaller in width, come in different colors and have their own storage case, were $14.99.

 

I also took a Ginger pill with breakfast and another with dinner plus a Bonine tablet before bed time....Probably over kill but I was good to go for the entire cruise, no motion issues whatsoever.

 

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My DW uses the Reliefband and takes Bonine a day before.

[Thrilled2012]

Loving this review! Thanks :D

[JaniceB]

Going under the Bridge.

 

I just loved being on the Rivera deck....It was nice being closer to the water line.

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This is a neat picture, too bad the window wasn't clean.

[FlaGrl4Evr]

I'm so glad that others are enjoying my review. I've cruised many times but this is my first attempt at a review.

 

I was hesitant at first because compared to other reviews this one is probably on the boring side but then I thought, why not, we really enjoyed the ship and had a great cruise.

 

⚓🛳🚢

 

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[FlaGrl4Evr]

We woke up at 8:30 to room service knocking at our cabin door. She swished in left the tray, I signed & tipped and she swished out....All in less then 20 seconds. They are quick so I lay out the tip $ before I go to bed otherwise there would be no time to retrieve it.

 

I'm one of those that need my coffee as soon as my feet hit the floor. I brought my own powdered French Vanilla coffee creamer. I found a small travel size container of it at the Dollar Tree of all places. They also had a Hazelnut flavor. It was the perfect size.... I just tossed it on the last morning. Jay is the same about drinking his OJ. He downs 2 glasses first thing each morning.

 

We both showered and dressed and headed down for to the buffet for breakfast.

 

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[FlaGrl4Evr]

We got down to the buffet around ten and one thing I noticed , and that seemed to be the constant for this entire cruise, was that there were hardly any lines. If there was a line, it was only a few people deep. At first I thought perhaps it was because we were somewhat late risers to breakfast but then I remembered boarding yesterday and how we had no problem finding a table by the pool so we could wait for our cabin to open. There was also very few lines to get lunch on boarding day as well.

 

To my surprise...This remained the same throughout the entire cruise. No lines or very few in line, plenty of tables to choose from everywhere....Inside, outside, near the pool, back of the ship etc....

 

We had to stop by guest services for a quick question and found out that the ship was full. I'm not sure if we just got really lucky on this cruise or it was the layout of the Paradise that never made it seem crowded.

 

Whatever the reason.....We were loving it !! We never felt guilty about lingering a little longer at the table.

 

 

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[FlaGrl4Evr]

I'm such a creature of habit....The one thing that I absolutely love for breakfast on the Lido is their oatmeal. It's made fresh. I sneak over to the fruit bar and put fruit in the bottom of the bowl then cover it with hot oatmeal. The first morning it was peaches...Good peaches not the canned syruppy kind. I doubt these were fresh but they were certainly frozen and of decent quality.

 

Jay eats the same breakfast every morning so no breakfast adventure for him either. He gets one toasted bagel with two slices of whole wheat toast all covered in cream cheese. He also gets a cup or two of decaf coffee. I just stuck to iced tea.

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Edited February 3, 2017 by FlaGrl4Evr

[FlaGrl4Evr]

I wanted to briefly comment on the scrambled eggs. They are REAL and not of the powdered version. I talked to one of the food managers and asked. She said they are cracked and whisked and scrambled in bulk.

 

I tried some to test and they were indeed freshly scrambled eggs. I've ate enough powdered eggs in the military to know the difference so if anyone was wondering about this on the Paradise... Here's the answer.

 

With that said, I cannot comment on the other ships. I'm sure that I've had powdered eggs on some of the larger ships do it may be a ship-to-ship thing.

I just ask to be sure.

 

Bacon:. You do need to ask for it to be served. Usually 2 slices unless they stick together. It was never crisp....Always greasy-flabby. Not their fault as again they have to cook it in bulk.

 

I tried to slip the bacon between a slice of toast to somehow attempt to "degrease" it..

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[FlaGrl4Evr]

This is a neat picture, too bad the window wasn't clean.

I agree... I don't know if all of the OV decks experienced this or only the lower Rivera Deck.

 

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[easyboy]

Enjoying your review. Following along.

[FlaGrl4Evr]

After breakfast Jay went to find a quiet area of the ship to do his hour or so of Tai Chi and Yoga.

 

I went back to the cabin to change into my swimsuit and shorts and grab my pool bag and my book.

 

It was somewhere before noon and I had a pick of lounge chairs......in fact, there were entire rows of chairs empty..... and when I say empty, I mean no towels or other personal items saving the chairs.....Just plain empty.

 

It was wonderful !! I picked a lounger beside the stage do that I might catch the Mixology and Hairy Chest Contests that were due to start a bit later. For now, Miguel was on stage entertaining with his Caribbean Sounds.

 

** This cruise, I heard a lot of steel drum and Caribbean music up on the Lido. It was nice and really set the tone for cruising.

 

 

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