This is my 3rd cruise w/ Carnival and overall, and I enjoyed it again! Everything really was as expected, nothing special or bad at the onset. One thing that my girlfriend and I noticed was the quality of the breakfast eggs - the first 2/3 days they were great, but the following/last days they were absolutely terrible and inedible. The rest of the buffet was good, though, albeit limited sometimes. Besides the complaint about the eggs, the quality of food in the cafeteria and formal dining rooms was good.
My girlfriend and I are in our early/mid 20s and we were satisfied with the entertainment overall. We went to a lot of small trivia events, which we enjoyed and just tied to do a little bit of everything. The evening shows were good except for the final one... The last one was somewhat of a raunchy western and a bunch of people (including the 2 of us left). The casino was fun and only a 3% charge to get chips from a card (none if you cash in)
As earlier said, it was a good cruise overall. The ship was well kept, the guests weren't rowdy or boring and the crew was friendly. I'd have no hesitation doing it again.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
The food was okay. The cafeteria was closed at funny hours, and only had sandwich or pizza available at that time, which was a little frustrating. The quality of breakfast eggs also declined through the week.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
I think there should be more activities during the at-sea days, as we got bored those days easily. A bunch of the events were in the AM, which doesn't work if you want to sleep in a bit...
Entertainment
3 out of 5
The evening shows were good, until the final one... The trivia events were enjoyable and we did a bunch of those.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
The staff was friendly for the large part, almost everyone said hello or something. A few people wouldn't say anything, but that's to be expected - and there were very few of them.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Carnival Paradise was well kept and clean. A little work was being done as we sailed, but it didn't interrupt anything.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
The room (interior) was nice, but one complaint. Behind the curtain in front of the fake window, there was no painting or mural... There usually is one and they're normally tacky, but nice. Stateroom was cleaned often, which was nice. Bathroom shower did overflow a bit, though...
I live in Tampa and don't particularly care for the city, but I have to say that the ease of getting on the ship is outstanding. I've been to FTL and MIA and those ports are much much more complicated, and have much longer lines/waits. Tampa was easy in and easy out, no hassle. Only problem is that there's not much to do around the port...
The best thing about the port in Cozumel is the amount of things to do around the port. There are bars, shopping and all, right there. Problem (as in the rest of Mexico) is that the vendors are so damn hawkish and are loudly "bidding" for your business at every corner and opportunity. The port was clean as well, but the vehicles used for the excursions were really beat up and in bad condition.
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