5 Night Carnival Paradise Cruise

Item: Carnival Paradise
Rating: 4.9
Author: JaredWF

Carnival Paradise Cruise Review

JaredWF

Contributor Level: Second Mate

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Reviews: 5

Helpful Votes: 52

Overall rating:

4.9 out of 5

5 Night Western Caribbean (Tampa Roundtrip)

Sail date: January 23, 2023

Ship: Carnival Paradise

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: E1

Traveled as: Singles/Friends

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

Overall was a great cruise, very much worth it. Would sail with Carnival from Tampa again to visit other Mexico ports in the future for sure!

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Was smooth and quick. On the ship maybe 15-20 minutes after being dropped off.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Carnival will be Carnival, and being the cheaper option and having cruised before with them I know exactly what to expect. It's not bad, sometimes the food is actually really good, even with limited buffet options. Don't expect to be blown away by MDR food, it's ok.

Pizzeria

5 out of 5

Only place you can get food on the ship at 3 AM besides the ice cream dispenser. That being said pizzas are good, and I took several back to my cabin to eat and watch a movie.

Destiny Dining Room

4 out of 5

Carnival MDR food is nothing to write home about but not awful either. The alligator beignets were my favorite thing out of everything tbh.

Guy's Burger Joint

5 out of 5

Burgers 🍔 (best you will ever have on a cruise ship). Try to eat there at least once!

Deli

5 out of 5

Very underrated, the chicken salad sandwich was very yummy. Wish I went here more tbh.

Paris Lido Restaurant

5 out of 5

Small ship small buffet (was the same as Carnival Liberty just missing the Mongolian Wok). Even still, usually, something for everyone, a nice salad bar, and food is hot and fresh most of the time. Breakfast seemed to be the same every morning but dishes changed for lunch and dinner every day. Also, the cake selections are always very yummy.

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

This cruise I mostly just kept to my cabin, being the smallest ship in the Carnival fleet don't expect it to have all the glitz and glamor of something like Carnival Celebration or Harmony of the Seas.

Gymnasium / Aerobics

5 out of 5

Carnival gyms always have that view looking directly out over the front of the ship and are therefore awesome.

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Saw the Rock and 80s Pop shows, and I have to say they make do well. The covers were great, the 80s show was my favorite though the Rock show cover of the entirety of Bohemian Rhapsody was neat.

Normandie Main Lounge

5 out of 5

Nice theater

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Service and staff felt a lot more personal, our cruise director Jasper was excellent.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Was very clean for an older ship, also gotta love the Carnival interior style!

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Nice and spacious, porthole cabins are a steal if you want a "window" for the price of an interior cabin. Just beware that the forward Empress (E) cabins are directly under the stage and you WILL hear them practicing at 1 AM lol. Also, you will hear machinery and other noises from the bow mechanical area in front of you, but only when entering and leaving ports.

Ship tip

Make sure you are aware of where your cabin is in relation to active areas of the ship since it's a small ship and you will be closer to noises much more easily, especially in regards to the bow and stern section.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Mahogany Bay, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras

5 out of 5

Did the Carnival Discover Diving Excursion and was 110% worth it. Anthony's Key Resort and Overheat Reef were beautiful. Diving instructors were great, after about an hour in a classroom you did a shallow water dive to test the skills you learned then got back on the boat to go to Overheat Reef. If you back out you will not get a refund (unless you are denied diving for medical reasons). They have a person with an underwater camera come with you and they put together a video as well as photos you can buy, I got mine at a discount since I had very few photos of me but the quality is very high, except to spend $60-90 or more if you want your video and or photos.

Thumbs Up 0

Disembarkation

5 out of 5

Was quick and easy as it should be.

Traveler Photos

6 Comments

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