Carnival Paradise Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Great cruise, very polite staff. Plenty of food and entertainment. Weather was great, had a great time!!!😊😊😊😊😊😊🛳😊😊😊🛳😊😊😊😊😊😊🛳😊😊😊😊🛳🛳🛳🛳🛳🛳🛳🛳🛳🛳🛳😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊🛳😊

rooms large; water always hot; staff fabulous; service excellent; loud people kept us up most every night; food was subpar, especially in dining room; drink pkg for soft drinks was a rip off; everything seemed to have an added cost; shows and entertainment were very poor; few activities on sail dayes, e g no common movies shown;  limited tv channels and 1 movie channel with same movie shiwn over and over

The service and dining staff was exceptional and few of them went out of their way to assist. However, some managers in areas like photography were not so service oriented and attitude was some what challenging.

Smoking area was designated near the pool where lots of children would be playing.

If it wasn't for people who post their experience, I would never have know the stateroom would not have a hair dryer. We got to the terminal at 11:30, no problems getting checked in. Once aboard I was surprised how small the atrium was compared to other ships I've been on. The staff in every area was friendly and appear to enjoy their job and the guests.

If you have been on cruises before, this one is no different. Food is average. But now you have to pay extra for steak and/or lobster. One of these days the chefs will learn how to make a decent pizza, but not on this ship.

Beware of the drink package. Yes it's $49 per day plus gratuity, but that is for each person in the stateroom over 18. So if one of the guests does not drink, too bad. Also, you only get up to 15 drinks a day, and they can't be more than $10 each regular price. It would have cost the two of us just under $600. We only drank $120 worth by paying as we drank.

Embarking and debarking are set up much better than I've known it to be like. Getting luggage when off the ship is easier than it used to be too.

We did not book any excursions. We bring our own snorkel gear and find the hot spot. Grand Cayman it was Paradise Restaurant, they offer a snorkel package for $18, but if you don't want their gear and need a locker, it's only $5. But I don't think the package includes the locker. When at Cozumel, we rented a little car for $85 for the day with full insurance, and traveled the island on our own. We ate at Coconuts Bar and Grill, wonderful food, drinks and decor. Stopped at for a Tequila Tour, gained a lot of knowledge, had a drink, tasting of different tequilas and a souvenir, all for $10.

Last day was cruise day - relaxing day but trying to find two lounge chairs next to each other was rather difficult, but after 20 minutes we found some.

First let me say that the crew from room attendant to  our waiter were top notch.

Also the entertainment was the best of any cruise ship I have been on. That said, I have the following problems with the cruise.

1- No quiet pool. The pool area was crowded and music and ship games blared over the deck speakers to the point that you could not carry on a conversation with the person sitting next to you.

2- Most evening activities don't begin until after 10:00 PM. This includes teen activities.

3- Food was nothing to write home about.

4- Drink specials $8.00 and up!

5- Elevators were slow and one was out of commision the entire cruise.

I was expecting more for this week, celebration for Christmas week. No too exited on the programs every day.

But anyway I have fun with my group of  family (10)

Enjoyed the cruise. It was so much fun.

The carnival staff was friendly and helpful. All entry /check out were smooth. The food on the ship was good. The ports  visited were good

Kids and whole family enjoyed it very much

Rooms were quiet.  The meals and entertainment could have been better.   Not much to do on sea days for 18+ children.  Food was average and long lines for the Wok restaurant that was not open but for a few hours a day.

To begin with, all the crew works very well and hard on the Paradise. Great job!

Food was good and they did whatever they could to accommodate our requests.

The ship doesn't spend a whole lot of time at port/anchored at Cayman/Cozumel, so there is very little room if anything goes wrong. In our case, it arrived late at Cayman. Most of the excursions were cancelled and some people had to figure things out themselves. We got lucky and found a good tour guide who took us around but some of my friends were not so lucky. Again, if there were more time at Cozumel and Cayman, it would have been nicer. I had been on Royal Caribbean prior to this cruise and they spend almost the whole day anchored/at port.

The ship seems old and outdated.  The food was not impressive.  The on board entertainment was embarrassingly bad.  Our cabin steward was very good. We will not be going on another Carnival cruise.

the cabin steward and his helpers were excellent. see you in February jean claude/  dining room staff were prompt and upbeat. enjoyed the cruise, going back for valentines cruise this feb.

The room was nice, and the food was excellent.  So, the service on the cruise is to be commended. BUT the program was not for us.  Though Carnival assured us there would be plenty to do on the ship, there was not.  There was the casino, and the bars, and the adult shows... these did not interest us.  There were the jewelry and art sales, which also did not interest us.  There was a children's program and a teen program which we could not participate in.  There wasn't even a movie theater.  We would have liked some clean family oriented programs.

Over all had a great time, never a dull moment, so much to do so little time. Recommend early or flexible dining options as to be able to catch more shows, and activities.

Hello,

I was very lucky to be able to join my sister and her new husband on this cruise, their honeymoon cruise, having cruised with my sister before I knew we would have a great time. Our dinner crew was fabulous, led by Phil we looked forward to our 6 Pm dinner nightly. We danced and sang and that was awesome. One night my sisters prime rib was fatty so they brought her another meal, very eager to keep her happy. Our room was always clean and I loved the towel animals! We ran daily off of the fun times and did as much as we could, bingo, trivia, art auction, main shows and comedy shows were excellent!!! My only complaint was my son was with us and he is an alcoholic, we tried to go to the 5PM meetings but no one was ever there. My sisters only complaint was that the midnight pizza wasn't cooked enough!  She is not easy to keep busy and happy I say we had an awesome cruise. I would and have recommended carnival!! Thank you carnival!!

Are rm E153, was under or near a rm that had a pipe replaced in the ceiling, so that caused loud noise for a day and a half.  Also we were next to a storage rm so there was loud noise starting at 3:30AM and again around 5:00PM every day.  My husbands son died last month so this trip would have been a time of peace for him but that did not happen.  We complained to the guest serv. desk and they came to our rm to listen to the noise during the day but not much changed. We could not tell where most of the other noise came from until the last morning when we saw stewards open the storage room door to reveal metal tables and carts they had been banging around all week.

I'm sure a Motel 6 would have been more peaceful.

This was the 4th /5th cruise on Carnival, however we may never cruise with you again

Dr. John and Audrey Middleton

I've cruised Carnival before and my husband made his maiden voyage on this cruise.  We were disappointed in the food quality, entertainment, and general all round things to do on the ship. The staff was excellent.  I could tell the ship was older and smaller then usual, but that shouldn't have affected the quality of food and entertainment.Will consider different ship or line next time.  

This was my first cruise with my college daughter.  From the moment we stepped on board, disappointment followed everywhere. The ship was much older and smaller than thought. The interior room was adequate and actually quite quiet. Our cabin steward was mainly MIA during our stay. We never received our ship activity schedule so trying to figure out where to go for dinner or what to do was left up to us. We got itinaries the next few days, but they were always a day late! So much for hitting that comedy show. We received no towel animals like everyone raved about until the night before the last, and only on the day that we received the info. On tipping. Same sheets the entire trip, wet towels left on floor for washing were neatly re folded and placed back on the racks!

The best way to describe the food was "school cafeteria". Everything was not special or that tasty at all.  Even the presentation was to be desired. Our dining room staff was the only shining light. They were entertaining, extremely attentive, and very fun. Kudos Diana and Alex!  The other locations to get other types of food (pizzas, chicken nuggets, baked fries, etc.) consisting of long wait in lines only to get a meal that one could get at a convenience store. Even the ice cream was gritty. I was hoping for at least one decent meal by the end of the trip, but none was  to be found. We were charged approx. $25 a day for gratuities, PRIOR to departure which was the main reason why we had such poor service.  The majority of the workers seemed angry or blasé as if they didn't want to be there.  What incentive do they have to insure proper service when they are automatically assured their tips? Activities were lame, casino was small and had people waiting 1 back to get a seat at a table, while other higher bidding tables were left empty. 

They charged me $3 for gluten free bread that my daughter requires! When I tried to complain on departure day, I was told that I should have let them know as things happened so something could be done.  Most of the issues like the lousy food or poor service could not really be addressed after the fact. I told the guest service host that if I came down there to complain about every issue, I would be spending all my vaca waiting in their line to complain. 

And to add insult to injury, Every time you turned around, there was some sort of table set up in the hallways trying to sell you jewelry, make up, etc.  they should use these employees to provide better service, and quit trying to get more money out of you.

The water was rough the entire trip (no fault of the ships), so that didn't help matters. Fortunately,the crew was kind enough to tape vomit bags on the walls by the elevators for us!

Believe it or not, I am not usually a complainer. I just don't want others to waste their hard earned cash on this particular trip. 

But if you like waiting in long lines for absolutely everything, horrible workers with bad attitudes,  poor to mid level meals, and "Carnival" foods...

Then this is the cruise for you.

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Well I have taken Carnival in the past, seems like they are declining. Overall experience was ok. Not many activities, dinner was the worst. I opted for freestyle dining. The wait was 1 hour daily. Am not sure if I would return or sail with carnival again.

Overall good experience...friendly crew...good food ...timely...

areas of improvement : 

1. Had a room on the empress deck in the front - room would be full of cigarette smoke cause the crew smoking area was in the front ....gave me headaches each night...complained...but nothing could be done

2. Fun day at sea - activities were very few...nothing too great 

3. Bed in the room kept shifting ...creating a divide ...did mention it to stateroom steward..but couldn't be fixed.

4. It's an old vessel - rusty walls ends: jagged wall liners rusted in the bathroom - could hurt people