Cheap but not good

Carnival Paradise Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 11

Overall rating:

2 out of 5
Verified Review
Carnival Paradise

5 Night Western Caribbean (Tampa Roundtrip)

Sail date: April 24, 2017

Ship: Carnival Paradise

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: M30

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

The ship was a little dated but  looked clean. Everything seemed to work ok except the ship itself. The food was below average. A couple of nights I had to send my food back and order something different. Example: the lasagna. It was a noodle on the top, a noodle on the bottom and NOTHING but meat in between. The ship itself was apparently not in good working order. We were notified a couple of weeks before we sailed that because the ship wasn't operating at optimum speed we had to scratch our trip to Grand Cayman and go to Costa Maya. They gave us a whopping $25 credit for our inconvenience. Also, to get to certain parts of the ship you had to pass through casinos and bars where tobacco smoke thick. As a customer with a terminal lung disease I was not pleased to have to walk through that. I understand that you need places for people to smoke, but don't make those places a public thoroughfare. I consider Carnival to be the Walmart of cruising. Yeah it's cheap, but it's not great quality. I will say that our room steward, Raul, was excellent. He was very attentive to what we needed. I was glad to give him an extra gratuity for his service. I don't plan on ever sailing with Carnival again.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5
So much of the food just didn't taste good. Fruit was bitter and hard. Breakfast meats were greasy. Pancakes and waffles were lukewarm. The ice cream and the made-to-order omelettes were good.

Entertainment

3 out of 5
We heard a couple of comedians. Al Ernst was really funny. The other guy was just plain sad. We saw a couple of retro music shows (80's and British) we left both of them about halfway through. Just cheesy choreography and mediocre singing.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5
A little dated, but very clean and in good working order. Our stateroom was very clean and the staff did a great job with it.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Our cabin was great. We knew it would be small, but for the two of us it was plenty. Raul, our steward, called us by name every time we saw him and attended to our every need. Our room quickly made up for us every time we left for breakfast and turned down when we returned from dinner.

Ship tip

It was a cheap cruise and frankly, you get what you pay for.

Ports of call

Tampa, Florida

5 out of 5

Cozumel, Mexico

5 out of 5

Costa Maya (Mahahual), Mexico

3 out of 5
Was this review helpful? 11

5 Comments

ScottNWDW    7 years ago

Just spent 5 nights on the Paradise (April 29h Cruise) and never once walked through the casino.  

 

sharisullivan    7 years ago

Josephjacono Why are you being so rude?

josephjacono    7 years ago

another blue card that has no idea how to navigate the cruise ship. stay home next time so us seasoned cruisers can have a more enjoyable time!!! you can cry there and no one will have to hear it

dixie1    7 years ago

you can get to all parts of the ship by using other decks that don't go through the casino

pants    7 years ago

Sorry to read about your illness. What's really strange, is a few years ago, this ship was the only cruise ship that was completely non-smoking! We took a cruise on it and loved it. Unfortunately for Carnival, it wasn't a big selling idea and they stopped the concept. Good luck.

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