1. Home
  2. Reviews
  3. Carnival Paradise reviews
  4. Caribbean - Western cruise review

Great cruise on an older ship!

Carnival Paradise Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 8
Helpful Votes: 122

Overall rating:

4.4 out of 5
Carnival Paradise

5 Night Western Caribbean (Tampa Roundtrip)

Sail date: August 19, 2017

Ship: Carnival Paradise

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: M241

Traveled as: Family (young children)

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

Overall, this was a great cruise. Yes the ship needs to be upgraded, but the service was well above average which is more important to me! We will definitely cruise her again after dry dock!

Embarkation

5 out of 5
This was our best embarkation thus far! We got to the port about /12 hour before our scheduled time and only waited in line for a few minutes to get to the desk, everything was very smooth going. We were in zone 2 and were on the ship w/in 30-45 minutes after getting to the port.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5
The food was ok, it wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either. A few things were excellent like the chicken tenders with Thai sauce that was an appetizer one night and of course the creme brulee and chocolate melting cake were good

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5
I'm use to ships with multiple slides so only one slide was weird for us. The aft pool was always way less crowded than the main pool. There were always activities going on and Jamie is a fantastic cruise director who always tried to keep the party going. The 80s trivia on the last night was a blast!

Entertainment

4 out of 5
The 90s show in the main theatre was good, we really liked the pre-show that involved the audience. The dancers were good; however, I thought that the singers were lacking. The two singers that we saw in the atrium/lobby area were much better than the singers for the main shows. We never made it to a comedy show so I can't comment on that.

Children's Programs

5 out of 5
I had a child in Circle C for the first time and she thoroughly enjoyed herself and the activities that they had. Our granddaughter was in Club Ocean and had a great time, they actually did more crafts than my daughter did on other ships in Club Ocean.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
Everyone that we encountered was fantastic! Our room steward made sure that I always had ice. Our wait staff in the MDR was exceptional. Everyone else was really on top of what they were doing and very friendly doing it!

Ship Quality

4 out of 5
The ships layout was very easy to navigate and everything was clean; however, the ship is well overdue for upgrades! I can't wait to see it after it goes in to dry dock next year.

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5
The cabin was the smallest oceanview that we have ever stayed in and it was in desperate need of upgrades! I did like that the shower was bigger than the newer ships but that's about it.

Ship tip

The candy store is hidden, it's in a corner by the casino and since we don't gamble we didn't know it was even there until the last day; the kids were upset about that.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Tampa, Florida

5 out of 5
Tampa is a good port to go out of, there is a lot to do there and good hotels
Thumbs Up

Mahogany Bay, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras Did not visit port

We were redirected because of a tropical storm
Thumbs Up

Cozumel, Mexico

5 out of 5
We LOVE Cozumel! We took a taxi to Mr. Sancho's for the day, which was wonderful!
Thumbs Up

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
We put our luggage in the hall the night before so that we could relax, have breakfast and then wait to leave. It was definitely more organized than previous cruises, they were more strict about where people were and were not to be.
Was this review helpful? 46
Flag

3 Comments

gkm526    7 years ago

Service is amazing on the Paradise!
Thumbs Up
Flag

kea542013    7 years ago

I agree. We enjoyed the Paradise. We plan to go back after dry dock as well.
Thumbs Up
Flag

Summerholiday    7 years ago

Sounds like you had a great cruise and guess your hooked 🎣as we are cruising is about being flexible and just going with the flow .. we love to cruise 18 cruises and we have never had a bad one 40 days until we leave Australia for back to back magic etc .. time to book your next one 🍹😎
Thumbs Up
Flag
Log In To Submit Comments

Other reviews of this sailing

Not my best cruise
To hell and back
Dodged the Storm!