First but not last cruise!
Carnival Paradise Cruise Review to Mexico
Contributor Level:
Deck Hand
Cruises: 1 cruise (first)
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 43
4 Night Baja Mexico (Los Angeles Roundtrip)
Sail date: March 24, 2008
Ship: Carnival Paradise
Cabin type: Inside
Traveled as: Large Group
Reviewed: 14 years ago
Review summary
This was our first cruise so we don't have anything to compare it to. We enjoyed everything about the ship, including our room. We booked an inside room (cheap) and I was a little unsure of how we'd handle it - I can be a little claustrophobic. It was a very nice room - it actually surprised us at how much space there was in the room and the bathroom! And they had a nice fake window! - a recessed wall with window curtains, which I think actually helped!!Ship experiences
Food and Dining
I didn't hit the buffet lines except for a light breakfast & lunch. My husband did and ate too much (which wasn't the best for him healthwise, but that's his thing). We went to the sit-down dinners everynight and found it always excellent. It was great being waited on for each course of the meal, the choices were fantastic, I didn't have a single miss with my courses and there is a desert that is to die for! I think it's called chocolate melting cake or something like that - not to be mistaken for a chocolate volcano cake. I will be searching the net for the recipe. And we loved our waiters!! - It's great to have the same wait staff every night. We booked the late dinner (friends recommended it) and found it to be just the right time with the other things we were doing.
Entertainment
My husband loved the bar shows and we were entertained by one of the shows, another that we tried to go to was too crowded so we missed it. But overall, we weren't bothered by that since we were able to find other things to do.
Service and Staff
Did not get to know our cabin staff much as we didn't spend much time there, but what little we say of them we were pleased with. Our wait staff at dinner were excellent. Other staff we met were friendly and helpful and quite outgoing. My husband spent some time at the piano bar chatting with the piano player and also chatting with the guitar player and he really enjoyed them. We spent some time trying to learn craps in the casino and enjoyed the dealer. Really enjoy the multi-national staff. If I were young again, I might just work one of these cruises!
Ship Quality
We have nothing to compare to, but we were very happy with the ship
Cabin / Stateroom
We were pleasantly surprised at the size of our 'cheap' windowless room. It was very comfortable, a good size (even the bathroom was a good size) fit all our clothes and luggage and was very clean & serviced nicely everyday.,
Ports of call
I have always wanted to go to Catalina Island and am glad this was a stop on this cruise. I wasn't impressed as there really isn't much to do except shop and I am not into that. I really liked the museum at the casino and would like to have seen the inside of the casino, but their tour schedule didn't fit our own schedule. Glad to have gone, won't go again.
Thumbs Up
0
We enjoyed ourselves. Probably the best part was our taxi driver. He was really nice and could tell us about the sites we saw on the way to the blow hole, which is really no big deal. You can do a lot of shopping at the market place there, but since I am not into that, I just enjoyed the ride. We went back to town and found a very nice and clean bar to hang out it for a couple of hours while other members of our group went shopping. If I could remember the name of it, I would recommend it as it had very clean restrooms!! Again, I am happy to have had this as a stop on the cruise, but now it's 'been there, done that' and I will try someplace with some big beaches next time.
I have always wanted to go to Catalina Island and am glad this was a stop on this cruise. I wasn't impressed as there really isn't much to do except shop and I am not into that. I really liked the museum at the casino and would like to have seen the inside of the casino, but their tour schedule didn't fit our own schedule. Glad to have gone, won't go again.
We enjoyed ourselves. Probably the best part was our taxi driver. He was really nice and could tell us about the sites we saw on the way to the blow hole, which is really no big deal. You can do a lot of shopping at the market place there, but since I am not into that, I just enjoyed the ride. We went back to town and found a very nice and clean bar to hang out it for a couple of hours while other members of our group went shopping. If I could remember the name of it, I would recommend it as it had very clean restrooms!! Again, I am happy to have had this as a stop on the cruise, but now it's 'been there, done that' and I will try someplace with some big beaches next time.
Pros: Being 'away from it all'
Cons: Kids running & yelling in the cabin halls at 2:00am