Carnival Paradise drydock?

[jxtgreek]

Just booked a cruise for January 2024 and noticed during my search that the Paradise is going into drydock in October.  Would anyone have any incite what the upgrades and/or changes might be coming?  I know this is a smaller ship but it would be nice if they added the Alchemy Bar but anything new would be nice. 

[mz-s]

Nothing noted yet, it will be listed here once it is announced. https://help.goccl.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1529/session/L2F2LzEvdGltZS8xNjkzNTE2MjYzL3NpZC9mVXV0Y0l3eVh3JTdFVW44b0xkUXN3aXIxJTdFUk9wODgyeEtyTFpERUJqZkxPak1aWDYzY0lraWpLUzZoaW5VMWNBYVUxMThpTWFVRWJLTDlLR1Exa3MzJTdFUFNiNkpYNVhhYXBHRnZqTVpZNkdsTG02NG1PeUI0Wk5xY2clMjElMjE%3D

[adventuredancer]

i can't picture where they would put the alcemny bar. unless they got rid of the library (which has been said by Heald on FB that they aren't putting them in). or if they converted the piano bar (which almost never has anything in there). or if they convert the rotterdam martini bar (which is also very under utilized). they do officially have 2 clubs. but one is used all day long for art stuff. i've been on the ship 3 times in past 18 months. those are the only areas i can think of

[MayorDrafty]

20 hours ago, adventuredancer said:

i can't picture where they would put the alcemny bar. unless they got rid of the library (which has been said by Heald on FB that they aren't putting them in). or if they converted the piano bar (which almost never has anything in there). or if they convert the rotterdam martini bar (which is also very under utilized). they do officially have 2 clubs. but one is used all day long for art stuff. i've been on the ship 3 times in past 18 months. those are the only areas i can think of

On Elation, the Alchemy Bar is where the Rotterdam Bar is on Paradise.  I haven't been on either, so I have no idea if that location works well for Alchemy or not.

[mz-s]

Likely what they'll do is convert the aft lounge into more staterooms and combine the midship lounge and disco into the Limelight Lounge. They should convert the aft bar to Alchemy - the Ecstasy had that 5 years ago. Not sure why Paradise never got that upgrade.

[adventuredancer]

34 minutes ago, MayorDrafty said:

On Elation, the Alchemy Bar is where the Rotterdam Bar is on Paradise.  I haven't been on either, so I have no idea if that location works well for Alchemy or not.

it is a little out of the way. but it works.

i would hate if they got rid of the aft lounge and turned it into staterooms. right now, it is the only way onto serenity deck without having to go down some very narrow non-standard height stairs

[ober134]

Alchemy on Elation where Rotterdam was works well. And I don't think a 3 week dry dock is enough time to convert the aft lounge into staterooms. I'm on first sailing after dry dock and anxious to see what will be done. I read elsewhere "new linens" and can't figure out why that alone would require 3 weeks.

[mz-s]

5 minutes ago, ober134 said:

Alchemy on Elation where Rotterdam was works well. And I don't think a 3 week dry dock is enough time to convert the aft lounge into staterooms. I'm on first sailing after dry dock and anxious to see what will be done. I read elsewhere "new linens" and can't figure out why that alone would require 3 weeks.

 

I think it probably takes 3 weeks to do all the statutory required things like hull inspections etc. The upkeep things they do during drydock are just a side quest so to speak. Drydock time is expensive so they understandably want to get as much done as possible. They'll have everything waiting at the dock and before drydock, a lot of work is done on the ship to prepare.

 

As far as the staterooms they can have the block of staterooms completed offsite and assembled, ready to slot in the ship so 3 weeks is certainly doable. The drydock where the Elation received those added staterooms was only 3 weeks. They did much more on that drydock as well.

[adventuredancer]

i just wish they would add back in the 2nd nightstand in oceanview rooms. this past may was the 2nd time we have had an oceanview with one night stand. i was told it was standard. and no couch (i get not enough room, but there is plenty of room for a chair). but i literally had to use the stool as a nightstand

[simplelife]

On 9/22/2023 at 1:51 PM, adventuredancer said:

i can't picture where they would put the alcemny bar. unless they got rid of the library (which has been said by Heald on FB that they aren't putting them in). or if they converted the piano bar (which almost never has anything in there). or if they convert the rotterdam martini bar (which is also very under utilized). they do officially have 2 clubs. but one is used all day long for art stuff. i've been on the ship 3 times in past 18 months. those are the only areas i can think of

I saw in an article this week that Carnival is not putting libraries on new ships and are converting them on old ones. The supposed reason is that people don't read much on cruises anymore , but the real reason, I suspect, was revealed later in the article when they said the libraries were being replaced with revenue-producing features. 

[zephyrhillscruisers]

The October 30 cruise out of Tampa, which means we spend Halloween afternoon in Key West will be the first cruise out of dry dock.

[tidecat]

Elation had additional staterooms added in 2018 that replaced the Cole Porter Lounge. Presumably the Queen Mary Lounge on Paradise would be toast.

[DallasGuy75219]

On 9/23/2023 at 9:20 AM, mz-s said:

Likely what they'll do is convert the aft lounge into more staterooms and combine the midship lounge and disco into the Limelight Lounge.

 

On 9/23/2023 at 9:50 AM, adventuredancer said:

i would hate if they got rid of the aft lounge and turned it into staterooms. right now, it is the only way onto serenity deck without having to go down some very narrow non-standard height stairs

 

On 9/23/2023 at 10:46 AM, mz-s said:

As far as the staterooms they can have the block of staterooms completed offsite and assembled, ready to slot in the ship so 3 weeks is certainly doable. The drydock where the Elation received those added staterooms was only 3 weeks.

 

7 hours ago, tidecat said:

Elation had additional staterooms added in 2018 that replaced the Cole Porter Lounge. Presumably the Queen Mary Lounge on Paradise would be toast.

Carnival is not going to spend the money to tear out a lounge and replace it with staterooms on a 25 year old Fantasy class ship.  The return isn't there for the limited service life it has left with Carnival, and Carnival has more pressing needs to pay down COVID debt and pay for ships ordered before COVID. 

[adventuredancer]

12 hours ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

 

 

 

Carnival is not going to spend the money to tear out a lounge and replace it with staterooms on a 25 year old Fantasy class ship.  The return isn't there for the limited service life it has left with Carnival, and Carnival has more pressing needs to pay down COVID debt and pay for ships ordered before COVID. 

i agree that they aren't going to add more staterooms. that lounge is used more often than a lot of other rooms. plus it is the only wau (with ADA accessible) ramp to serenity. it would be possible to convert one of the clubs into an alcamy bar. that i believe would be easy . or the rotterdam bar would be converted

 

i do disagree that this ship has a limited time with carnival. this ship and the pride are the only two that carnival has that can sail out of tampa. this sailings do tend to sail fully  booked.

[MauiWowie57]

On 9/23/2023 at 10:20 AM, mz-s said:

Likely what they'll do is convert the aft lounge into more staterooms and combine the midship lounge and disco into the Limelight Lounge. They should convert the aft bar to Alchemy - the Ecstasy had that 5 years ago. Not sure why Paradise never got that upgrade.

Not sure either. On Elation they converted that aft lounge into more staterooms...sad, but.. $$$.

[tidecat]

3 hours ago, adventuredancer said:

i do disagree that this ship has a limited time with carnival. this ship and the pride are the only two that carnival has that can sail out of tampa. this sailings do tend to sail fully  booked.

The entire Spirit class can sail from Tampa. But even in spite of you being off by five ships, Carnival still has limited inventory that can sail out of Tampa, Jacksonville, and Baltimore.

[mz-s]

On 10/6/2023 at 2:34 PM, MauiWowie57 said:

Not sure either. On Elation they converted that aft lounge into more staterooms...sad, but.. $$$.

 

It's either that or scrap the vessels, probably. Elation and Paradise are already horribly outmoded due to the very limited number of balconies. They have to make them as modern as they can.

[ray98]

On 9/30/2023 at 11:45 PM, simplelife said:

I saw in an article this week that Carnival is not putting libraries on new ships and are converting them on old ones. The supposed reason is that people don't read much on cruises anymore , but the real reason, I suspect, was revealed later in the article when they said the libraries were being replaced with revenue-producing features. 

I don't think people are reading less.....people instead use electronic readers and have access to an endless supply of books.  The days of going to the library hoping there may be a hardcopy that interests you is now part of history for most.

[bluefins]

I don't think the libraries are utilized as much as they used to be, but we still go there to play cards on rainy days or when we need to get out of the sun for a bit.   And I have seen several groups playing games from some the of various games they have on the shelves in the library.   Or if someone has to work (horrible as it may sound on vacation), that would be a great spot to do so.

[mz-s]

On my last cruise I saw cruisers using the library for studying (I assume they were doing remote learning from the ship).

[dheat789]

Just got off Paradise yesterday and was told they are putting the Alchemy bar where the martini bar is 9 Aft. Also closing library, Employees were not sure what else they would be doing.

[shof515]

hopefully they do not removed the aft lounge on deck 9 like what they did on the elation

[mz-s]

12 hours ago, dheat789 said:

Just got off Paradise yesterday and was told they are putting the Alchemy bar where the martini bar is 9 Aft. Also closing library, Employees were not sure what else they would be doing.

 

I wonder what's going where the Library is. My guess is a dedicated Chef's Table or other specialty dining.

[jxtgreek]

I'm hopeful someone on this board will be on one of the first cruises after the drydock and can give us all an update on the upgrades/changes.

[zephyrhillscruisers]

We board Monday, October 30th. Will let you know.