Not my idea of Paradise
Carnival Paradise Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western
5 Night Western Caribbean (Tampa Roundtrip)
Sail date: January 07, 2013
Ship: Carnival Paradise
Cabin type: Inside
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 11 years ago
Review summary
I have cruised with Princess, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean in the past. I chose the Carnival Paradise this time because I was looking for a cruise departing from Tampa. Our inside cabin was probably the largest inside cabin of all of the ships we have been on and it was extremely clean. The on board experience is what I felt was lacking. The customer service just was not there. The nightly shows were okay but other cruise lines were great shows. The dining experience was my biggest disappointment. On past cruises the nightly dining room experience was gourmet dining. I got to try new foods. The matre 'd would come to the table at least once during the week and prepare an appetizer or pasta for us. If something like cherries jubilee was on the dessert menu it was made fresh at the table or there would be a waiters parade of Baked Alaska around the dining room. The Paradise dinner menu had things like fried chicken, burgers & fries, comfort foods, etc. They did have things like salmon but it was the worst I have ever had. Another thing that I didn't like about the dining experience was that I felt that they exploited the waiters. Almost every night they were forced to sing or dance for us while they were still trying to deliver dinners/desserts to their tables. I could tell that our waiters were very uncomfortable doing this. I would have rather had good service that force my waiter to sing. We took our 87 year old mother with us and I didn't feel that the ship had enough activities for older people. I was suprised how many children were on board. On other ships they were in the childrens area all day and you rarely saw them. On the Paradise they were running on deck, crowding the pool, and it got pretty noisy in the dining room. Our shore excursions were awesome! We did the Barrier Reef snorkel trip in Grand Cayman. The boat staff and snorkel experience could not have been better. In Cozumel we did the Best 10 of Cozumel bus tour. Our tour guide was one of the best I have ever had on a shore excursion. The experience was both educational and fun. I don't think I would ever choose Carnival Cruise Lines again because of the customer service and the food. I would not hesitate to tell someone to try it for a first time cruise because it was not bad....it just wasn't fantastic or excellent like other cruise lines.Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Children's Programs
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
On Deck 9 in the back of the ship there was an area called Serenity that was for adults only. Had a great view of the ocean and was relaxing.