Carnival Paradise Cruise Reviews - Reviews

This cruise was so disappointing. I will Never again sail with carnival.  The food was almost uneatable  and usually cold as well. We had a casserole in the buffet that tasted just like dog food. There was nothing fun to do unless you wanted to drink or gamble in some way. 

The one good thing about it was the comedy acts.   This ship also needs work  done on it. It looks so old.

The food was very good but since it was an older ship, we had a difficult time with the elevators.  My wife has a very tough time with stairs and the elevators were not available most of the time! 

This is my first cruise trip. I really enjoyed my carnival Paradise cruise trip! It is full of fun and will be a memorable experience.The shows and dinners left a deep impression on me. 

If you are cruising on a budget I highly recommend this cruise. PROS. The service and food we're excellent Cons The boat especially the state rooms are in major need of upgrades Great cruise if you love spending all day at the pool. Not much to do at nighttime

   First, know that the Paradise is the oldest ship in the Carnival fleet.  There are no balconies.  If you believe rooms are for sleeping and showering like I do, this cruise is for you.  Tampa is a great place to sail from.  Parking is close and cheap.  We also boarded and disembarked quickly.  There are great views of the city as you depart.  Try to be  ton the top deck when the ship goes under the Skyway bridge about 2 hours into the cruise.  The ship has larger cabins and showers than many newer ships.  It is well kept and has nice decorations.  The atrium Is wonderful.  The food was outstanding.  I recommend the anytime dining, which means you eat when you want.  You can get a table for 2, or meet new cruisers every night.  Try the Seaday brunch.  The buffet was better than on my recent RC, Norwegian, or MSC cruises, especially the deserts.  Pizza was hot and fast, anyway you want it.  I enjoyed the shows, but there are just 3 stage production.  2 comics were aboard offering both family and adult shows.  The pool is small, but there is a nice slide into it.  There is a nice stage on the pool deck, with a constant party. Be aware that the ship docks at the new Port Maya, and not at the city.  I found the port shops too artificial, not real Mexico.  It takes an $8 cab ride to get to the city and the authentic shopping found there.  If you are doing excursions, that make no difference.  Overall, it was a great getaway for a bargain price.

Very good, though disappointed that HOT tubs were not hot, also had problem w/ room service.  Put door card out 20 minutes before pick=up (5am) wasn,t picked-up.  Put card out the night before (7pm) night before return to port.  It was not picked-up, niether card or other literature stated no room service on last morning.  Additionally if not available no one informed me even though my cabin was entered.

I would have liked more of a variety of music on board.  Soft orchestral music for dancing or possibly a single solo harpist, pianist, violinist, etc. Also, karaoke sessions were too short and not much of an updated variety/newer songs.

Entertainment was great!  Dancers and singers especially the female lead singer were very talented and choreography well done.

Food was superior as always.

Wait staff was excellent and very friendly as was the cabin staff.  Love the towels!

The Carnival Cruise to the Western Caribbean was better than I could imagine.  The ship was clean and decor outstanding.  The staff and crew were excellent along with the food, service and entertainment.  It was so relaxing waking up in the morning and seeing the ocean view not having to plan or drive to another location to get food or entertainment.

The only disappointment was cruise.com who I booked the cruise with promised shipboard credits and it was never applied to my Onboard account.  When I called them from the ship I was put on hold and nothing ever was resolved.   Gary

The

i was told on three different times on the phone,not to worry about my need of a wheelchair that Carnaval was aware of it,never a mention of any cost to me,luckily i had brought my wheeled walker,when i complained aboard at the service desk,she put the blame back on me.

The staff is excellent, food is very good, however for me the entertainment was lacking.  I realize that the entertainment has to appeal to the various age groups but there needed to be more options, especially when 3 of the four days are at sea.    Not everyone who cruise wants to go to the casino and night clubs.

"would not reccommend Carnival Paridise to anyone . Not enough activities to do , not enough shows , buffet closed down to early , rude  waiyer in the morning dinin room for breakfast, not near enough restrooms on each deck  especially for women , there was always a line and some were out of order.The Food in the main dining was so plain and ordinary every night,was not anything special at all. even on captains night We were expecting somthing exceptional and we were very disappointed. The waiter" Lucy" was exceptional we couldnt have had a better time with .He made our whole dining experience GREAT and alot of fun and laughs Thankyou LUCY. We have been on other cruises from carnival and had a gret tim with plenty of things to keep us  all day and night and even had to plan to go to certain events at later times because we couldnt make them all. We wre with family that we havent been with or together in years for this special event and we were all disappointed. We love crusing and wont stop but never on the Paradise again.

Had a great time.  Food, service, stateroom, decks, pools, etc.  were great.  Would definitely cruise again on this ship.  Staff went out of their way to be friendly and helpful. 

The cruise was even more than we expected! Everyone we came in contact with was warm and friendly. On the last night our waitress "Micky" surprised us with Creme brûlée. There were so many activities to choose from! We felt so spoiled!

THIS WA OUR FIRST CRUISE AND WE BROUGHT MY 9 YEWR OLD SOON WITH US. IT IS A MEMORY THAT WE WILL ALL CHERISH FOREVER.  THE BOAT WAS EXCEPTIONALLY CLEAN AND VERY ORGANIZED FROM THE EMBARKTION TO THE DEBARKTION AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN. SO MUCH TO DO, WE WERE UNABLE TO ACCOMPLISH HALFTHE THINGS IN 5 DAYS!!! THE ENTIRE STAFF ON BOARD WAS AMAZING ESPECIALLY OUR ROOM STEWARD, BUDY. WE DO NOT HAVE A COMPLAINT ONE AND WOULD DO IT AGAIN IN AN HEARTBEAT WITH THE SAME SHIP AND STAFF

The price was right, but we paid for it in quality, variety, and availability of food!  The people were wonderful, but we won't cruise Carnival again.  After going on Royal Caribbean for our first cruise and then moving to Carnival, we were disappointed.

Out of Tampa to Grand Cayman and Cozumel...Carnival Paradise provided an excellent experience.  I have been on Carnival, Royal & Disney.  Usually Carnival is noisy and rowdy but our experience on Paradise was great.  All due to their staff on this trip.  Everyone was kind and attentive.  Food was good, not the best we've had but not the worst by any stretch.  Stayed on the Empress level.  Cabin crew were happy to assist.  Always a pleasure when you don't have people waiting to get off their tour!

The Carnival Paradise is an older ship but is in excellent condition.  I had just about every thing to do as any larger and newer ship.  I have been fortunate enough to have cruised on the Paradise 10 tens and have never failed to enjoy myself.

It was probably on the smaller side of their fleet but it was packed with so many activities that it was hard to tell. The cruise director was amazing. All the staff was super friendly and worked so hard to keep everything spotless. I didnt see kids constantly running around and screaming because they had good control over that with activities for them.

Carnival has to step up and address the loud, drunken adults on their ships. The Drink Pass is a BAD idea when the guests are not monitored. There was no place to get away from them. The supposed "Serenity" Deck had no serenity. It was difficult to get away from the drinking crowd. The kids were another problem taking over the spas on the Pool Deck. In 4 days I never saw an adult in those spas. This was not the case a year ago when we took the same cruise. Serenity meant Serenity and you could read and rest without all the loud conversations. Other cruise lines monitor these areas. I have never heard so many complaints as we did on the Paradise.

Food in the Elation Dining Room was served by nasty servers. The time it took to place your order and get it was too long. The dance of the napkins interfered with our dining. One night it took over 25 minutes to place our order, due to bad service and napkin parade. Food in other areas was okay when you ordered it fresh, example Mongolian and Omelet / Deli Bar. Otherwise everything was served cold and what should have been cold was warm. We did attend the Chefs Table but had to put up with competing sounds from the speakers (Country) and the Piano Bar. Many of the speakers had too much static. It would have been better with no music than the static. Same goes for the televisions in the cabins. Chefs Table actually served the food at the proper temperatures and it was a very nice sampling of many different things. It included champagne and wine 5 - 6 appetizers, 2 - 3 entrees and a nice plate of desserts. The Chef took us into the Galley and talked a bit about operations. He also went on to talk about all the money he makes...TMI.

The Entertainment was okay and something to do if we got through our meal in time. I still do  not understand why Comedians need to swear with every other word. Interesting that you want no profanity in this review but it is a free-for-all in the Comedy Club (?).

Our Ocean View cabin was fine. Yes, the ship is old but well maintained. Other than the walls being a little thin, the steward was wonderful. Oswald created towel animals every night. He did a wonderful job keeping things orderly and in a timely manner. Hot water was very hot and the terry bath robes were a plus.

The 4 day cruise concept is nice but this was certainly not the relaxation that we counted on. Perhaps the idea of FUN ships is getting out of line. Like most things you want consistency that you can rely on. This is no longer the case for us. Just keep filling your ships with all the little ones and keep selling those drink passes till you upset everyone else that use to enjoy cruising on Carnival. We are done.

Everyone and everything was AWESOME! The buffets/dining rooms were a mixture of cuisine that were pleasing to the eyes and palate. 

The crew were exceptional. We are extremely pleased that we chose CARNIVAL FOR our maiden voyage. Carnival has inherited new family members as we have adopted them as our family's cruise line.

Even though the ship is one of Carnival's older vessels it is well maintained.