Carnival Paradise Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Being that this was our first cruise, we mistakenly reserved the bunk bed cabin while speaking to a rep on the phone.  I asked about the twin beds and the rep on the phone said the beds could be pushed together for convenience.  So we went ahead and booked it.  However, what we were told turned out to be farce, it was a wall bunk bed.  On board, we told customer relations that we are two 52-year old passengers with extreme back pain issues and neither one of us would be able to climb up on the small wooden ladder to get on the bunk bed.  They said they could not do anything for us. We were not happy having to pay over $600 to end up sleeping on the floor!!!  There was no customer relation efforts in improving our accommodations.  Would you sleep on the cabin floor after paying that amount of money for a cruise!!!???

Had a great time with Family and Friends.  Staff was very cordial and took care of anything we needed. Went on Dolphin Excursion (Swim with Dolphins) was a Great Experience for the Whole Family. Included food and Drinks and Transportation.

My only gripe was, some of the musical entertainment was not high quality. The bands were bar quality entertainment. Singers must be of a high quality to be on a ship.

The ship does seem old, but the beds and rooms were clean. The bed was really comfy. the showers were nice and hot. Coming in and out of our rooms they were always cleaned. 

The steward of our room welcomed us with our names and will greet us with our names. That made us feel really special. The waiters at the formal restaurant were amazing. They were kind, friendly, patient , i can't say another bad about them. All of us were happy from the. ( Fathor and Cyril) thank you for your kindness. 

We enjoyed our cruise because a cruise is what you make it in my opinion. We enjoy the fact that we can do whatever we choose and not be forced to partake in activities that don't interest us. We enjoyed the ship, the staff not so much. We came across 2-3 friendly staff members but the rest appeared to be very tired and unfriendly. My wife even witnessed one staff member picking the food spilled on the counter and tossing it back into the original container,and we wonder how we have problems with the norovirus. Overall, we enjoyed ourselves because we choose to, Carnival needs to make many improvements to keep on the level of Royal Carribean, the cost cutting is very noticeable. I named this review tardy to the party because every activity we took part in with this cruise was late. The gym gym opened 10-15 minutes late everyday of our cruise, breakfast was served later than start time everyday of the cruise, lunch was served later than start time everyday, dinner/buffet was served later than start time everyday. The safety meeting lasted over 30 minutes which was a first in our 9 cruises so far, we stood around with our feet a nd backs hurting because we were standing in place for so long without anyone giving us any information, and it even started to rain. Debarkation was the worst ever, we left at 12:30pm which has never happened before, so we sat around in the hallways listening to everyone complaining about how terrible the debarkation was. We couldn't go back in and get anything to eat or drink even though we had to sit around for hours past our original arrival time of 9AM. This review actually deserved a lower score as I recount all of the mishaps we encountered. The 3/5 is generous in my opinion.

The embarkation process was quick and organized.  The ship was a little older and could use some remodeling but it was clean and nice.  The service was wonderful and the food average and what was expected.  It was nice that there was 24 hour service and always something open.  We had a great time.

Had a wonderful time!!! Staff was top notch and made me feel like family. Always cleaning the ship and making my stay their top priority. State rooms are clean & comfortable. Food was excellent,lots of choices & the entertainment was good too!! Can't say a bad thing about this cruise or it's staff. They are very organized as well when leaving to go home.

Good but Some thing to improve like elavator exprince overall good some of things like changeing brakfast manu and more opation on salad bar elevator is so slow and not enoug for crowed

First, I wish I could say different, because Carnival WAS my favorite cruise line.

I have traveled in many different cruise lines before,River Paddle ships to

European river cruises. From Cunard  to Epirotiki Greek Line and many other

that don't come to America. But I have more trips on Carnival than any other.

On this particular trip, this ship was having major repairs all during the trip.

The noise at night was Horrendous and made sleep and rest impossible.

On the third night, an extremely loud noise awoke every one on deck # 7. and

the banging made it impossible to recuperate sleep.

We informed the customer service of the matter, and were told that they knew nothing abbout it and to call them the next time it happened "?"  The noise

was continued every night and so loud, that they had to know. ( I was in the

USCG and Merchant Marine for decades, so I know) And it was evident the

workers going up and down all day and night.

I mention this incident because I don't intend to go on a Carnival Cruise ever,

since I think that this incident is not important to them and they are not going to do anything about it; nor are you.

Thank You...REV

The cruise was a good family get away.  Food was good with a few fabulous choices.  All the crew and staff were great.  The ports were good but we did not partake of the excursions.  Very relaxing

Thecruise was very good the rooms need updated and the elevators need to work! The staff was excellent,  the entertainment was excellent and the food was very good! We had a very good time especially when we found the serenity lounge behind the comedian lounge!! That made the trip

so relaxing and wonderful

Very good for the price spent on the cruise. The customer service was A++++. The ship is a bit dated, with a very small pool. The food was delicious and the evening dining was superb! Good way to vacation with numerous people without breaking the bank.

 I'm really glad this wasn't my first cruise (it was the second) because if it had been, I wouldn't be interested in ever going again. The deal advertised an automatic upgrade in cabin, but we were in the bottom front of the ship, of course without a view. There were no clear instructions that explained where everything on this ship was. We did get a daily agenda, but the details were so sparse we weren't encouraged to go to any of the shows. The one we attended was lame. On the second to last morning, we found the nice breakfast room -- no idea why we didn't know about it... The excursion in Cozumel was good.

Overall, good as always. The Paradise and her sisters are starting to show their age though. The food was good, not great. The activities are fine but, stale for those who have cruised on Paradise/Fantasy/Elation before. Guitar performers were WAY too loud. Bingo was fun. Casino was fun. Drinks are too expensive. Bought the Bottomless-Bubbles beverage cards for non-alcoholic drinks, was informed after the fact that there was an 11 cent charge per drink, and only one drink in a five-minute period. Wont do this again. Staff was excellent, cabin was great, except the trim around the bottom of the bathroom doorframe is rusted and falling apart in small chunks. Our randomly-assigned dinner companions we terrific company and lot's of fun. Booked shore excursion to snorkel/zip-line/rock-climb was great! Overall, a great mini-vacation and Carnival delivers again. Additionally, the staff we dealt with were excellent! We can't say enough about how helpful and polite they were. A real contrast to many modern customer service experiences. Bravo!

Carinval out of tampa with 2 days at sea is mostly know as a party boat. For the price we paid it was a great deal. While the lunch food selection was not the best, the dinner was impressive and great! The ship was older but kept clean, the staff was friendly and helpful but compared to other ships and cruise lines were not up to par. What made the cruise a slight turn off were the fellow passengers that were a bit more rough and tumble and not as well behaved and mostly drunk. But hey for the price and knowing that carnival is know as the party boat it was a great time. Glad I could take a vacation but next time Ill go on a different cruise line and pay the extra for a better quality of food and people. 

everything was great, the staff was nice and accommodating. If there was one thing I would change was the coffee. To strong for me personally, but overall a great time!

I had heard ship was outdated and small. We found it to be the perfect size as we had a room in the middle of the ship. The crew was great, The cabin steward and animal towels were perfect. I had a little hiccup with dining but didn't realize you have to book way in advance, months, to have anytime dining. I didn't like the bar area next to guest services, you couldn't hear. Other than that everything was great except for the Airline. I would not book air with this company. We booked two months out and thought they were handling everything. It was our anniversary and on four different flights did not get to sit with spouse. Airline said it was the cruiselines fault, the cruiseline said it was the travel company and they said it was airline. Also the departing flight didn't leave enough time to catch the flight. We were scheduled to get off of the boat with zone 4, I explained we had an early flight, booked through them, and they moved us to zone 1, 1st off of the boat, saved 45 minutes. Went immediately to our transfer, Carnival, and straight to the airport, about 20 minutes. We explained to the driver what time our flight was and got us first off of the bus otherwise would of easily been another 20 minutes. Had to run through the airport to make the last call for the flight. All times and complete trip and transfers were through their travel agent. Took submarine dive in Cozemel, was perfect!  

We have been on a few cruises on Carnival and this was the worst. Yes the boat was small but we have been on small boats before the service was not good the crew was young and not friendly. when you walk the hall they did not speak some went out of their way to turn their heads. The food was just ok nothing was top notched. Some nights it was a long wait to get in the dining room and i felt because we did not have a designated time the wait staff rushed us. The best thing was the comedy shows they were amazing.

Food was excellent and always fresh. Rooms are clean and showers are fantastic. We had some rainy weather which is not the cruise lines fault but still made the best of it. I know you can't plan but would be nice to have more indoor afternoon activities for the rainy days. Also wish some of the shows were earlier. Comedy did not start until 11pm! Overall a great time and great ports and great price!

I had doubts after reading other reviews.  I am very happy that I trusted myself.  It may be an old ship, however it is VERY clean and in great shape.  The food was very good, the meats were juicy and the vegetables were not over cooked.  The deserts were good as well.  We had an ocean view room. So lets face it most people go on a cruise to have fun I don't think they go to stay in their cabin.  So with that being said the cabin was just fine, clean and plenty of room for the two of us.  The staff were extremely pleasant and helpful. Our cabin number was E214.  This deck is in the middle of the ship and the cabin is in the back.  I liked this because it is away from all of the noise from the pool areas (for sleeping later on)