Worst vacation we've ever had
Carnival Paradise Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western
5 Night Western Caribbean (Tampa Roundtrip)
Sail date: November 24, 2014
Ship: Carnival Paradise
Cabin type: Oceanview
Cabin number: M238
Traveled as: Family (young children)
Reviewed: 9 years ago
Review summary
Bad time of the year. Temperatures were supposed to be in the 70s so we decided to go for it. Boarding was a complete disaster. 3 hours standing in line to get through customs and board. Instead of everyone being on board and sailing at 4, boarding finished at 8. They sat us for dinner, only to force us to leave our food on the tables and go for the safety briefing. By the time that was done, everyone was hungry and tired and wanted to go to bed. Then the ship was held up in the Tampa port until 3am since fog started coming in. Had they managed boarding property, and left on time, this would not have been an issue. The next morning we were told that due to leaving late, they cancelled our visit to the Cayman Islands. Had they told us that the evening before, we would have gotten off the ship and asked for a refund! Of course they knew and did not say anything to avoid losing money!! We headed straight for Cozumel. The weather declined and we could not spend any time at the pool due to the wind and rain. Got to Cozumel early (who cares?) and had to spend an extra evening there. Of course the only thing one could do is walk around the port since it was already dark and not safe to go anywhere else. The next day we had a snorkeling trip prepaid through Carnival. It was cancelled due to winds. We could not even go to the beach on the island, it was too windy and low 70s. Ended up taking a taxi into town and walking around the boring cookie-cutter jewelry and souvenir shops. Other than 2 hours of walking around, we spent the entirety of the trip no the ship. Nothing to do, nothing interesting, complete waste of time and money, definitely a memorable Thanksgiving but all for the wrong reasons. I wish they had been honest and told us they were scrapping the visit to the Cayman Islands, we would've stayed home instead!!
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Children's Programs
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
Thought it would have been convenient to sail out of Tampa, but the customs was horrific and completely messed up the trip itinerary. Dishonest of Carnival not to say anything when they knew ahead of time that they would leave late and not give us the cruise we paid for.
Ports of call
8 Comments
noname111 9 years ago
Thank you for posting your review.
I agree that the issues which seemed most aggravating for you were completely outside of Carnival's control - weather, customs, excursion cancellation.
As another responder noted, instead of focusing on the downside... "If I am on a cruise ship I am happy, I don't care if we never leave the port, I'm having fun.".
CrusinTim 9 years ago
Kennicott...we live in Tampa and have cruised from the port twice. It is all of a 30 minute drive for us. I love the slow sailaway through the narrow and various channels (takes about two hours) before we get to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge that marks the opening to the Gulf. When we sailed on the Brilliance of the Seas in 2013, it was her first time sailing from Tampa so we had two fireboats escort out with fire cannons blazing almost all the way!!
Kennicott 9 years ago
JusMe 9 years ago
I hate to say, but this does not look like the fault of the cruise line. Read your cruise contract, the line can cancel ports for weather and safety. If you booked a weekend at a resort and the weather turns bad, would the resort refund your $ the day of the booking ? NOPE, these things are beyond control of the cruise line. A air liner can not take off in bad weather, is that the air lines fault ?
For your next cruise I suggest that you research the port and weather before you book. If you had done research you would have found out that fog can be a big issue with some ports in winter, delaying departure. Research would have also told you that you were going on an older ship.
I hope your next cruise is all that you want it to be. I'm glad that you did enjoy the staff and children s programs.
CrusinTim 9 years ago
Not to put salt on your wound about this cruise but I would like to point out a couple of things. Carnival has ABSOLUTELY no control over U.S. Customs. So, if they were the reason the Paradise was delayed in boarding, it's on Customs, not Carnival. The ship would not be permitted to leave port until Customs clears them to do so. Them forcing you to leave your dinner for the Muster drill, as required by the U.S. Coast Guard is ALSO not on Carnival. This is a maritime regulation that MUST be performed as part of the sailing, no if's, and's or but's about it! You could have always ordered cabin service for food. There is ALWAYS food to be found on cruise ships. Being held in Port until 3am, (also not under Carnivals control) that is under the control of the Tampa harbor master, if he say's the ship isn't cleared to leave for what ever reason, the Paradise doesn't go. As for your itinerary change, good thing you didn't get off the ship because I can guarantee you you would get NO refund for YOU cancelling your cruise after you had already boarded. I'm sure you got a refund for your cancelled snorkeling excursion especially if you booked it through Carnival. These excursions are run by 3rd parties at that port-of-call and it was THEM that cancelled the excursion, not Carnival. It's unfortunate that many events took place that caused you much disappointment on your cruise, but the reasons are NOT the fault of Carnival, just unfortunate luck. Hope your next cruise meets your expectations better.