Carnival Paradise Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Wanted a quick getaway with my husband, and this was an inexpensive option for us. New to cruising.  Easy check in and boarding, room was bigger than I thought.  Always saw people cleaning and as a result, the ship was immaculate.  Food was good...not exceptional, but wasn't anything I didn't like.  I did get sick one day, but am not sure from what.  Disappointed at how many things cost extra....some activities, some food bars, nicer coffee (lattes etc), etc.  The pool area felt very crowded on the "at sea" days. Even the adult serenity area felt louder than I thought.  Thought the pool would be bigger....was like a big hot tub rather than a pool. 15 people filled it up.  Food options were good during the day, but later afternoon many closed which created long lines at the few that were open.  The entertainment at night was fun and the acoustic performers around the ship were phenomenal.  Overall was a good trip, the staff were super nice and the ship was well maintained.  

The ship seemed crowded with uncontrolled young male children. Their playground in the afternoon was a hot tub near the pool. I saw like 10 to 15 at a time in the tub. They were splashing each other and standing on the rim, jumping into the tub. Perhaps there need to be a no kid’s rule for 15 minutes every hour. That would give the adults a chance to get in for a while. Yes, we found the tubs aft and had to go there.

When we planned this cruise I didn't realize it was spring break time. The ship was full of young kids, teenagers and college kids, so everything was geared towards them. We seniors had little to do on board.  The accommodations were excellent and the food was very good as was the service. Our dinner table guests were only married 1yr. and we are married 56 yrs. but we had a wonderful time with them.

I will make certain the next time we cruise to check on the school schedules before I book. 

We had an amazing time. We went with another couple. Our very close friends and we all seemed to be busy doing all kinds of things from casino, pool, eating, and drinking.  I loved the cruise, we had been on this exact cruise about 10 years ago and loved it than. 

Leaving out of Tampa is so easy and stress-free! Carnival's Paradise is looking a little worn-out but it is clean and staff is attentive. Have to keep typing even though I don't have anything more to add since it has to be 150 characters.

This was my family's first real vacation, and it was a good one. The weather cooperated for the most part. We had rain in Cozumel, but that didn't seem to dampen our spirits. The food was good and the staff was even better. We had three awesome servers for dinner, and the two that monitored and kept  our room tidy  were awesome also. I would definitely recommend this cruise. The only issue I have was my fault for not doing my homework, and that was it was more of a younger generation cruise. 

Having been on over ten cruises, this is probably the second smallest ship I have been on. However, I was pleasantly surprised. I needed something affordable because I was taking my aunt for her birthday. If you keep your expectations realistic, you will not be disappointed. I would not splurge on an expensive room on this cruise- I would save a splurge for a more elaborate ship. Our inside room was on floor 6, the upper deck. It is across from the penthouse suites (the only balconies on the whole ship) and some say the high rent district gets better service. After a 2015 update, I thought the ship was really pretty. Our room was roomier than others I have been in. Two closets. A huge mirror. All the major channels on TV plus 2 full length movies playing at all times. We got a towel animal the first night and on my aunts birthday (in addition to a huge colorful message on the mirror and some freebies). The decks were proportionately smaller but never really overcrowded. The adult Serenity deck was small but quiet and had two hot tubs, umbrellas and a shaded overhang. We really liked it. The we found another high deck above the Lido deck where the basketball court was. It was quiet also but was larger and had two hot tubs and a small pool. We liked that even better. The kids were there once in a while but they liked the pool with the The Mongolian BBQ on the Lido deck is really good. The pizza in the Paris restaurant is good-I liked the spinach-mushroom-farmers cheese one. The dining room food was a B+ I would say. Hit and miss. Some not hot enough. The French Onion soup was "lawsuit scalding" however. Ask the staff opinion of what is good because they will know. The staff started out enthused but by the last night they were bored and almost emotionless. I guess this is due to the fact that tips were already paid for. I brought money to tip extra but passed after the lukewarm reception. I did tip my head waiter an extra ten dollars the next morning. I tipped my cabin steward an extra $20. My only real complaint was the entertainment. My aunt didnt really notice because it was her first cruise. I thought it was horrendous. I am not a prude by any stretch but the 18+ piano guy and the 18+ comedy shows were pretty obnoxious. I didnt mind the piano guy so much- lots of f-bombs but at least he was funny. The comedians were just raunchy for shocks sake. People were enjoying it but we left. I would recommend finding a way to visit the non 18+ version of those. Karaoke was fun especially the host- he was a comedian himself! The biggest tip for you is catch as many Casino bar shows as you can. The band Whiplash is great with a changing theme each night. Every band member is uniquely talented. Dont focus on the theme- just GO! You can dance right there. My favorite however was Alex on acoustic guitar. Listen to a few of his songs and you will be hooked! Great for before and after dinner. We attended the art auction but unlike MANY other times I have attended we were served only one glass of lukewarm champagne. And yes that is why many and go and they also really push that. We did enjoy the art however. I recommend Paradise Beach in Cozumel. The Paradise staff is overall very friendly and helpful. Everything ran smoothly. So for an inexpensive cruise- it is very worth the money. Keep an open mind and roll with it. If you want to be treated like royalty, plan on paying 2-3 times the price. You get what you pay for. Less

The food was great!  The ships entire staff was friendly, courteous, and tended to all of our needs. Time and money well spent. This cruise was a very good value for the dollar. We are planning our next cruise already. Can't wait to get back on a Carnival ship again! 

Had an awesome time on the trip. The ship was definitely outdated but was still very well kept.

The pool was nice but small and often very full! 

The food was good & the drinks weak :/

Did find hair twice in our food throughout the trip, both times we walked into our room to find chocolate covered strawberries after the incident. I wish the second time around was approached differently being that it had already happened.

I traveled with my 10 month old baby, there was ONE changing table on the WHOLE ship! & it was on the lido deck. that was pretty annoying!

i had booked a massage for the day of my birthday. When I arrived at the spa and was asked for payment, the lady asked me if I had my birthday card to give her. I wasn't sure what she was talking about so she said quickly "ok ok no problem"

After my massage, I arrived to my stateroom where I saw a few coupons to use on the ship including $50 off at the spa. Let me add that it did not say for future use, it basically said "happy birthday here is $50 to spend at the spa" 

I was upset that i had just paid $200 at the spa and got this in the afternoon.

Guest Services could not do much because the "spa manager" refused to credit me back the $50. The cruise manager stated that the spa was a separate from Carnival and that they rent space on the ship. So there want much he could do do.

He did however provide me with a few drink coupons, which i appreciate.

I was then told that I could then just use it towards another treatment or product so I approached the spa table and asked about a $50 manicure. Fyi the coupon did not state a minimum purchase amount. The woman then insisted that I had to get both the manicure and pedicure in order to use the coupon, which meant spending an additonal $70 on top of the $200 from my massage. I of course refused and had no choice but to just leave things as they were. I was not going to spend more money at the spa. Things were handled totally wrong and I wasn't happy about it!!

Aside from those things, we really enjoyed what the cruise had to offer.

Our dining room waiter Simet was the sweetest! He always remembered our names and treated us so well. 

Our stateroom housekeeper Muat was always attentive and worked hard. He even left a happy birthday message for me on the mirror which was cute!

We loved all the entertainment especially the night show, what a talented group of people! WOW!

Grand Cayman and Cozumel were beautiful!

Disembarking when we got back home took forever.

overall i gave it 4 stars. I would definitely cruise again :)

The ship was ok but I have been on much better Carnival cruise ships.  

The ship they had in Tampa before was great. It had balconies, great food, great entertainment nice casino just all around better. The late dining was awful. The service was slow and the food was not that great. Everyone was complaining about the service. It took 2 hours for dinner so most of the people at my table ate some where else.  I even tried to change to early and they got rude about it. I won't ever go on this boat again. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this cruise but since it was the second time I took a cruise vacation, it was impossible not to compare with the first time on the Norwegian. On Carnival Paradise, they do not include surf and turf for dinner and there were not many activities on the top deck. This is a smaller ship, beware! All and all, this was a good cruise, though. 

Every cruise it seems another item that used to be included is now missing or available for a fee.  Dance bands have changed but are a welcome feature on most ships.  Imagine a ship that has the only dance band playing in the Casino Bar where there is no space to dance and cigarette smoke to enhance the atmosphere.    In the dining room lobster is available at extra cost only.  Shows three nights only and using recorded music because there is no ship' s band.  No performers to supplement the entertainment but there is always Bingo.  Why can't changes just once in a while be an improvement?

This cruise was a great vacation for our family - my husband, myself and our 2 kids - 8 year old boy and 5 year old girl.  This length of time was perfect for us and the size of ship is great because it's not so overwhelming for our first cruise as a family.

A few tips - 

1) We went to the cruise port about 9:45 am.  No lines.  Checked in easily.  We did not do "faster to the fun" pass and felt like we got to the fun in plenty of time.  We boarded around 11:30 and went right up to the restaurant for lunch and the kids got right into the pool.  We had our swim gear in our backpack not in our checked bags.

2) Kids loved Camp Carnival.  Our 5 year old ended up going in with the 6-8 year old because she is almost 6.  I was very glad they did this for us.  They had a great experience and mostly were there in the evenings while my husband and I went to shows.  They did stay after 10 one night so they do charge for that but it's well worth it.

3)  We did our own excursions in ports.  We love the beach and did that on our own.  Grand Cayman - we went to Royal Palms. Took a cab.  $20 for our family of 4 including tip each way.  Wonderful beach, volleyball.  Good mojitos!  Cozumel we went to Mr. Sanchos.  Good for our kids, nice beach and food.  Again, for our family of 4 to go, took a cab $20 each way including tip.  

4) Our kids did the sit down meal each night at 6 pm and we did take a family pic when we were all dressed up.  Our team did a great job taking care of us and our kids needs.  They loved the music and dancing around the room.  Good work!

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In general the trip was nice, but it seems its all about selling something. Like having to pay extra for a lobster dinner, or even a better steak. The prices of the drinks are way out of control. The other cruises we were on had a night buffet with ice sculptures and great deserts. The bingo was ridiculous. Sorry but I will have to investigate the cruise lines better before ever booking again.

I would have rated this cruise as fair not poor, but I didn't have that option.  I could not rate it as "good" so "poor" was my choice.  The ship smelled like sewage.  Thankfully, I never smelled it in any of the dining areas, but the hallways and elevators were bad.  The music ensemble "Playlist" were good dancers, but they resorted to screeching when a high note was called for.  The elevators would whiz right by us when we pushed the call button, even though they were going in the same direction we wanted to go.

We had a wonderful time on Carnival and we would go back again next year. The cruise was very pleasant and everything was perfect. Good service and friendly staff made it enjoyable. Booking through IHG rewards and the details we exactly right. 

Pros- great staff, very clean ship, dining room food, nice cabin, Cozumel.

Cons- Buffet food, main shows were weak, small ship-too few activities, Grand Cayman.  

For the same price out of Tampa take RC Brilliance of the seas, much larger ship with much better food.  Skip Grand Cayman and visit the keys instead, much more to do.

It's been over 3 years since my last Carnival cruise.  The quality has definitely declined.  Small things.  Mints on the pillow at night.  (Get rid of the animal towels!)  Lobster night!  Now we have to pay an extra $20!!  The dinners are not as good as they used to be.  I even bought your cookbook one year because the meals were so good.  Most of the time the meals arrived to the table lukewarm. The desserts were dry - they tasted like they were frozen.  

We were in E166 - the noise from above was constant.  We figured out we were under the galley.  It made it difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep.  

You should show movies on days at sea!!!  

We had one bartender named Eugena. She was wonderful and made our whole trip delightful. I just wanted you to know. we loved the Motown and wished for more. The food was alright but nothing to write home about. the places were beautifull and our trip to Passion Isla was the something I cant even describe. we loved our cabin in the back of the boat and where it was in ship itself. overall we would do it again one day.