Another year of cruising on the Paradise! Year 2 from Tampa, but this time with perfect weather! Sure the Paradise ain’t the newest ship in the fleet, but it still satisfies this cruiser!
Carnival Paradise Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western
Contributor Level:
Second Mate
Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 11
Helpful Votes: 320
5 Night Western Caribbean (Tampa Roundtrip)
Sail date: April 03, 2023
Ship: Carnival Paradise
Cabin type: Oceanview
Cabin number: E35
Traveled as: Family (older children)
Reviewed: 1 year ago
Review summary
• Tampa is an excellent port… we wish most of the CCL fleet would leave from here. Orlando is a great place to stay if you can’t find places to stay around the Tampa Bay area. Parking decks are easy to find and relatively inexpensive at the Tampa cruise port. Great destinations await from ships sailing from Tampa, including Grand Cayman & Cozumel. The Paradise is one of our fav CCL ships despite its age. Great home port, great ship, great destinations, great weather… man, it’s fun to cruise in the spring!Embarkation
The priority boarding for platinum is back... Just walked on the ship! We skipped the long lines and went straight to security. Our arrival appt was 10am, and we arrived around 11:45am. Margie who checked us in was funny.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
o No crowds waiting for sea day brunch, less than 5-minute wait time!
o Always a great time in the Paradise dining room on cruise elegant night! So much fun taking pictures & enjoying the evening entertainment. Makes you feel like an adult on vacation.
o Lunch at the Blue Iguana was excellent. Sometimes you must wait a little bit for the fresh tortillas… but it’s worth it. Really enjoyed the chicken & pork soft tacos.
o Because we arrived back to the ship well after 6pm during an excursion in Cozumel, we had to eat at the Lido buffet for dinner. Wow, that was really gross. Dinner in the dining room is so much better, I don’t understand why cruisers do it. There needs to be an option for early diners that miss their 6pm dinner due to excursions running late.
o Once again, the crew of the Paradise provided coffee, juices, & pastries for the platinum & diamond guests waiting for early disembarkation! That is a really nice gesture and should be rolled out fleetwide!
Onboard Activities
o One thing we love about the Paradise is that they are not afraid to hold religious services for the guests. Years ago we attended a fantastic Easter morning service that was led by the cruise director. This cruise, the Paradise held a Passover Seder service. Thanks to the Paradise team for offering this during holy week to their guests!
o Still not enough loungers on the deck of the Paradise. Lots of cruisers wandering around the top deck around 12pm trying to find open loungers on the 1st sea day. There should always be enough chairs for people on cruise vacations. This is becoming a regular occurrence on CCL ships on the 1st sea day.
o So glad to finally have another diamond & platinum party on board the Paradise. Really enjoyed getting to speak with Todd the cruise director & Giuseppe the chief engineer. Lots of signature Carnival drinks were available to try… and we tried a lot of them!
Entertainment
o Totally skipped the first night of entertainment to watch the NCAA men’s basketball championship game at the casino bar. We really enjoyed getting to listen to & reconnect with Cosmic Coyote playing at the Promenade stage! Really glad that the NCAA championship game was showing at the casino bar in HD. Always dicey knowing whether major sports events can be aired on cruise ships. We had great service from the casino bar on the Paradise once again!
o Finally enjoyed a comedian on a CCL ship! Paul Lyons did a great PG show in the afternoon that we all enjoyed.
o Lobby Trivia (for Divas?) with Todd & his second was really great, glad to see this coming back to CCL ships. The lobby decks weren’t as full as we’ve seen them in the past, but I expect it will take some time for guests to get back in the flow of singing & dancing in the lobby led by the entertainment squad.
o Mega deck party was a lot of fun. Most of the crowd were the teenagers on the ship… but boy did they participate in the dancing & the music. Todd the cruise director does a great job leading the crowd.
o 80s Pop to the Max show was just dumb & corny. We walked in, stayed for a couple of songs, then walked out. The entertainment team on the Paradise was not very entertaining.
o The 80s Rock & Glow party was a ton of fun. Again, Todd the cruise director knows how to get the crowd going with the music & the dancing. Was really funny when our friend Drew was picked to have a mock guitar duel with another guest!
Children's Programs
o We had our HS junior with us on this cruise, and encouraged him to join Club O2 this time since his brothers are off at college. He lasted one night and quit. Not really appealing to 17 yr olds on the Paradise.
Service and Staff
o No issues at all with our cabin steward who stayed mostly out of sight on this cruise. Dining room service & staff were friendly & helpful. Sea day brunch & breakfast were always smiling & happy to see guests at breakfast. Enjoyed getting to know the entertainment team & some of the officers.
o Enjoying talking with Giuseppe & Jill, the chief engineer & his wife, both live in Ireland, have 4 kids, and are on contract with CCL on the Paradise for 2 yrs. Really interesting fellow with some fun stories about his career with cruise ships.
o Jason the Paradise shopping expert helped us purchase some tanzanite in Grand Cayman, and also work with DI in Cozumel to get the ring resized. If you’re going to shop at the cruise ports, definitely get to know your on board shopping expert if you want to get the best deal you can!
Ship Quality
o The Paradise needs a jogging track again. There is no place for people to stroll around on the top decks of the ship. Please find a way to put a walking & jogging track back on the ship!
Cabin / Stateroom
o Plenty of room in our oceanview room for the 3 of us on the Paradise. Large room, large bathroom, not enough counter space in the bathroom, lots of USB ports at the vanity & along the head of the bed.
o Because the stopper in the stateroom sink didn’t work, we used a white bath cloth in the sink. The water would stain the bath cloth orange as we ran water thru it. I assume that is rust in the water?
Ship tip
• Not happy at all that there are no alcohol sales on the island of Grand Cayman until 10am local time. Since we arrived early, we had to wait several hours until the stores opened in order to get some adult refreshments.
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Ports of call
o We were on the 2nd tender ship to shore! Glad to be a platinum VIFP who gets off the ship first at tender ports!
o Another sunny & enjoyable beach day at Seven Mile Beach! We walked much further down the beach toward the yellow umbrellas, which were 3 loungers + umbrella for $25.
o Ended our day at Grand Cayman by doing some shopping in George Town at Diamonds Intl and De Sunglass Man. Normally we are getting the wife some nice tanzanite, but this time I got the bling! Got a really nice men’s tanzanite ring mounted in sterling silver.
o Not happy at all that there are no alcohol sales on the island until 10am. Since we arrive early, we had to wait several hours until the stores opened in order to get some adult refreshments.
o For the 1st time ever, platinum guests had priority unloading at Cozumel!
o Pancho’s Backyard in San Miguel… can’t say enough great things. Excellent food & service, outstanding atmosphere, do not go to Cozumel without stopping by and honoring their hospitality. Great place to visit.
o Passion Island excursion in Cozumel was a mistake. Meeting time was 1pm instead of the originally scheduled 11am. The tour left 30 minutes later. The boat ride to Passion Island lasted 50 minutes and wasn’t much fun at all when we were led to believe it was a party boat. Once you’re off the boat, you’re back in a line for photos in front of some shitty sign. We broke away from the photo line and got yelled at by the tour operator for breaking out of line. Then we queue up for yet another line to be told we have 2 hours to enjoy the island that has one tenth the loungers & umbrellas for the guests. The beach is beautiful, but not enough to steer us away from a better beach club the next time we are in Cozumel. No more CCL excursions evah in Cozumel, we have learned our lessons after 2 pretty lame tours. Go where you want on your own clock, not on Carnival’s.
Disembarkation
• Disembarkation was delayed again this spring break someone being escorted off the ship by port authorities. The entire ship waiting for someone who got in a fight in the casino… more fights on CCL ships… Why does this keep happening?
Traveler Photos
