Carnival Paradise Review
ScottNWDW
6-10 Cruises • Age 60s
Rating by category
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Additional details
Sail Date: Apr 2017
Cabin: Ocean View
I chose this cruise thinking my partner, who never cruised, would be more willing to try cruises if it stopped in Key West. Well, shortly after booking we got a letter stating that the itinerary was changed and Key West was cancelled and replaced with Costa Maya. Too late to cancel we went and decided to make the best of it. We then started reading a bunch of poor and bad reviews on this site. Well all I gotta say is that they were all wrong. Yes, the ship is older and as such shows some age, BUT, the staff was awesome, and the ship was spotless, It is one of Carnival's oldest and smaller class of ships at 70,000 tons, but there is still a lot to do and a lot of spaces to do it in. If you didn't have fun on this ship, it's your own fault. The bigger ships may offer more amenities, but then again they also have more people to contend with. This ship seemed just about right because there never seemed to be a long line for anything, and if there was a line it moved fast. Remember Bigger isn't always better.
The Paris Restaurant on the Lido Deck was fantastic. many different stations and the variety was awesome. Mongolian Wok, Grill (Burgers and such), Chefs Choice, Pizza, Deli, Desserts, Salad Bar. It was all there. we were assigned to the Destiny Dining Room and only ate dinner there 3 of the 5 nights. Since we had the 6pm sitting we did try the Paris later in the evening to see what they had and quite frankly the food in Paris was better than Destiny.
As far as ports go, yes we were disappointed not going to Key West, but Costa Maya actually turned out better than we expected. We actually had more fun in Costa Maya than Cozumel. As far as I was concerned they could have cancelled Cozumel instead of Key West.
Cabin Review
Ocean View
Cabin 6C
The cabin was the perfect size for the both of us, I have been on several cruises, all of which were Carnival so I was accustomed to it. It was my partners first cruise and he thought the cabin was great. We had a very good room steward Jeffrey and whenever he saw us said hello to us by name, even before officially met us.
Port Reviews
Tampa
The port was very easy to get to by car, parking in the garage across the street was a breeze and the actual check in was is simple. We had Faster to the Fun (FTTF), and were guided to a special line. We were among the first aboard the ship and since we had FTTF our room was ready when we got onbaord. we were unpacked and having lunch on the lido decl by 12:15pm.
Cozumel
when you get off the ship there is a long pier who you get off then a shopping mall type building you must go through. Inside it's very crowded, and there are people trying to sell things. Once through no different, hawkers trying to sell things and get you into their shops. Not very welcoming in may opinion. Next time we'll probably just stay one the ship and enjoy the peace and quiet.
Costa Maya
When we booked the cruise, we were supposed to go to Key West. This port was a replacement port. Could not understand why a ship having supposed "engine problems" would go to a port 100 miles or so further away, when Key West was right on the way, but that's what they did. In amy case was not expecting much from this port, but it was very beautiful. There was a "Bird Walk" that was very nice and offered excellent views, there was a nice beach area and some entertainment. This actually turned out to be a better experience than we could have imagined.
3 Helpful Votes
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