Overall we had a nice time. This was our first cruise - so we didn't know what to expect. Onboard the ship - there's always some place to eat. Food is never an issue to find. Navigation on the ship was easy as well - except trying to get an elevator. Good luck with that. We ended up taking the stairs most of the time. One of the mid ship elevators was down almost the entire cruise. Then there's the people in the scooters - jesus christ - they're everywhere. Reminded me of the movie Wall-E where it shows the future of mankind all riding scooters because society has become so lazy. That was this cruise. Good thing the hallways near our cabin were so wide - because there were scooters parked along both sides at all times. Then go back to my elevator comment - and wonder why we could never get in one........full of people riding scooters!! I got my foot ran over 4 times - I was about to lose my mind.
Embarkation
3 out of 5
Being our first cruise, didn't know what to expect - but embarkation went well
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Main dining was slow and we felt like being at a 2 person table all the time we weren't a priority for larger groups.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Bingo and Deal or No Deal were fun games we played
Entertainment
4 out of 5
Only went to the 80's pop show but it was excellent
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Waiters would receive the lowest amount of stars - but the room steward was great as well as the rest of the crew we interacted with. Waiters in the main dining were slow and some weren't real friendly
Ship Quality
2 out of 5
For just coming out of dry dock for an overhaul - the Carnival Paradise seemed worn. Our cabin had peeling around the sink, the window was rusty and dirty (between the panes, not the inside or outside). Overall the ship is just dated.
Cabin / Stateroom
3 out of 5
Good sized cabin for 2 people- anymore and it would have been crowded
Ship tip
Be prepared to spend alot more than you'd think. This was our first trip and I was really surprised at the $700+ dollar charge that was applied before we got off. Granted I knew about some of the charges - like drinks (we didn't buy the drink package since we don't drink much and only got 4 drinks total the whole cruise)
Did the hop on/hop off excursion - which included 4 stops. First stop was to a shopping area where maybe 1/3 of the shops were open. The second stop was to a beach - where we weren't told there was a CHARGE to access the beach. Totally disappointed in that. We left and went to Margaritaville to eat (3rd stop). 4th was to more local shops where you're hounded by locals to buy their trinket crap. Will never go back to Montego Bay EVER. Dirty and just not what we expected.
Did not book an excursion because we wanted to see the town. Well, at the port - there's about 15 shops and that's it. So we took a local tour thru a cab driver - who drove us around, talked about the history of the Island, took us to a dolphin park, we visited Hell and then back. So by going on our own and taking this tour we saved the port call from being a total disaster.
Once our deck was finally called - our disembarkation went really fast. Was pleased with how quickly we got off the ship, thru all the security/customs and back to the parking deck.
Thanks for the review. Now you know a little more of what to expect and it’s easy to tailor your cruise to achieve a bit more of what you like. I would recommend eating dinner with a group. If you choose one of the dining times, you will be grouped with other people, I know that’s not guaranteed to be fun, but you get a chance to share with others (what you like and don’t like about the cruise and what ports/activities are great) and it makes the time go by faster at dinner.
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