Carnival Paradise April 1 -6 with pictures and funtimes

[JaniceB]

Great start to your review. Can't wait to see more. We are doing the 4 day on Paradise later this year.

 

 

 

We'll be on the Paradise in August and can't wait to read the rest of your review!

 

I am sure you both have a wonderful time on the Paradise. Thanks for reading my review.

[JaniceB]

Thanks so much for this - I sail this same itinerary in 181 days!!!! :D

 

You're welcome. I know I was looking for info on the ship before I sailed.

 

enjoying your review. I did a 7 day on the Paradise when she was new and a non smoking ship. Loved it!!! The OV cabins haven't changed at all. :D

 

Thank you, I don't think they can change them much. I do like how big the showers are, the new ships sometimes the curtain feels too close.

[JaniceB]

Great start:)

 

Thank you!

 

We have booked the FTTF for our cruise in December. I use a walker and it was easier to be able to drop carry-ons in our cabin before walking around the ship. I used to have to sit with the carry-ons while everyone else explored, so I ordered FTTF this cruise. :D

 

One question about the letter. It says priority dinner reservations at the Destiny dining room (does not include YTD). I thought that was one of the regular dining rooms. What kind of reservation is needed there that you could get priority for?

 

We had early seating in the Destiny dining room. I do think this means that you have your choice of early or late seating and have priority over others in changing this seating. Not sure if the FTTF had anything to do with this but some members of our group asked to eat later when we returned from Cozumel. They were told to come to the dining room late seating but that they may all not be able to sit together. We had missed our dining time by about a half an hour.

[JaniceB]

Great start to your review. Loving the pictures. Hubby and I just booked the Paradise yesterday for a 4 day cruise in August.

 

Thank you!

 

Elizabeth

 

Thank you, doing this trip May 18, also purchased FTTF.

 

I think you will enjoy the FTTF when boarding, tendering and getting off the ship.

[JaniceB]

Great start to the review. I am excited to see the Fun Times and have an idea of what types of things are offered. I will be taking going with my family on their first cruise in Aug on the 4-day Paradise.

 

Thank you! I am sure they are excited to be going on their first cruise.

[JaniceB]

I made it back to my cabin and found my luggage had been delivered. I unpacked and decided to change our beds around. I put the one bed against the far wall and moved the chair next to the vanity. I think this gave us a much better area to move around in. I forgot to take a picture. By this time some friends had arrived and I met them at the atrium bar. This area is also where you enter the ship, guest services is located and the shore excursion desk.

 

The view sitting at the bar

 

 

Another view of the atrium

 

[JaniceB]

A few pictures

 

 

A helicopter watching us leave

 

 

Looked to close, but we made it by this boat

 

 

We passed an airfield and a marina

 

[JaniceB]

Since we had early seating I didn't get so see us go under the Skyway bridge, maybe another cruise.

 

After dinner we went checked out the casino, the Piano Bar and then went to the Welcome Aboard Show. We enjoyed the show, the singers, dancers and the sneak peak of the comedy club. After the show went to the comedy club to see John Wesley Austin. We enjoyed the show. After the show we stopped at the Rex Nightclub, then it was time for bed.

[JaniceB]

Day 2 was a sea day. We woke up and had breakfast in the Elation dining room, explored the ship, sat by the pool, had lunch in the Elation dining room so that we could use our drink coupons, played some in the casino, went to Bingo (we had a winner in our group) relaxed and got ready for Cruise Elegant Evening.

We joined in the celebration on the Promenade deck before dinner. Dinner was very good, I got the lobster. After dinner we went to grab a seat for the Eight More Seconds Show. I must say this is a wonderful show. Everyone in our group loved it. I thought it was one of the best I have seen on a cruise ship. I think it is a not to be missed show. After the show some of us went to the Richie Holliday comedy show. It was time to turn in and get some rest before our day in Grand Cayman.

[JaniceB]

Towel animals from Day 1 and 2

 

 

 

[JaniceB]

Funtimes

ParadiseDay3.pdf

Pages from ParadiseDay3.pdf

[Frenchsnowhite]

Thanks for the review! Considering this ship for summer 2014!;)

[Florings]

Great read so far and loving the pictures and copies of the Funtimes. Thanks for taking the time!! Look forward to more.

[JaniceB]

Thanks for the review! Considering this ship for summer 2014!;)

 

You're welcome. I did like the ship, I was afraid I wouldn't after being on the Breeze. The staff on the ship was very nice.

 

Great read so far and loving the pictures and copies of the Funtimes. Thanks for taking the time!! Look forward to more.

 

Thank you. I hope to get more done soon.

[JaniceB]

We arrived in GC at 8 am. We had a private tour arranged with Majestic Tours. We decided to meet at the Atrium Bar at 7:45. I had asked guest services how to use the Priority Tendering with our FTTF. They told us to come to guest services when we were ready to go. The Atrium Bar is right by guest services. We used room services today and I gave them a time of 6:45 to 7:00am. The food arrived at 6:45.

This was my view when I woke up. I took this through the window in the cabin.

 

 

Our group was a little late arriving, but I think by 8:30 we were being led by a staff member down the stairs to a tender. Basically they just had us cut in line once we reached the tender area. Our ride to shore began.

[JaniceB]

Some sights along the way.

 

 

[Tampa cruiser1963]

Great review! The only problem is that it has me jonesing even more for my Paradise cruise a week from Monday!

[ILCruzr]

Nice review! I have never been on a smaller ship before, so its cool to see how different it looks inside. I always look at reviews and people don't post what I want to see i.e. rooms and atrium. I was in GC and Coz back in Feb..now I want to go back but I am looking forward to my Canadian Cruise in June!!! Lido!!!

[AmberTeka]

Thank you for posting this review and the Fun Times. I have not read your review yet..I wanted to thank you first. The fun times or Daily Schedule is a big factor in which ship I book for DH and me. I cannot understand why they are so hard to find. You have made a lot of people happy ttoday. A cruise can cost a lot of money,,,,,and it is good to know what you are going to get. Happy Many More Sails to you Good Lady!

[battchief1]

Great review, thanks

[2013CruiseBride]

Thank you so much for the review!! I'm very excited to read the rest of it and see more pictures! This will be our wedding cruise (getting married on the ship in Grand Cayman), and we will have 20 people total in our group!

[JaniceB]

We got off the tender and the area outside the pier is a little confusing. We couldn't find our tour. I noticed a building that said visitor center. I wish I had taken a picture but it is located right outside the fencing to the right when you exit the pier area. Bathrooms are located to the left when leaving the pier. The person in our group who had arranged the tour brought a copy of the email with them. We proceeded to the visitor center and they called our tour company for us. The confusion was the time, they were going by Grand Cayman time and we were using ships time. Be sure you ask when book independently. Long story short they told us to wait and they would send our driver. We had a small bus since we had 14 people on the tour.

Some in our group wanted to go to the Botanical Gardens other wanted to go to Rum Point Beach. We dropped off a group at the Gardens did a little sight seeing and went to the beach. Our tour guide went back to the Gardens picked up the rest of our group and brought them to the beach. We had lunch on the beach and proceeded back to the pier. The ride to the pier from Rum Point takes at least 45 min. closer to an hour.

[JaniceB]

 

 

Blow Hole

 

 

 

 

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[JaniceB]

We had our pick of chairs when we arrived. As the day went on the area became more crowded, many people returned from excursions they had booked from the pier located here. The beach was a little rocky, water shoes may be needed for some. We rented mats to float on from the tour operator on site. I think it was $5. Try to bring small bills with you or you will end up with Cayman money. This is true for the restaurant too. A few in our group used a credit card at the restaurant.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 18, 2013 by JaniceB

[JaniceB]

Our tour guide picked us up at 1. We didn't get back to the pier area 2 pm. The line for the ship snaked around the shopping area in the pier went through a ship card security check at the fence and then snaked along inside the fence. You are standing in the sun. A few of our group waited in the shade and joined us as we got closer to the ship card check. Once inside the fence there is no shade.

 

Some sights on the way back to the ship.

 

My favorite is first. We actually had our tour guide pull over for this one.

Buy 1 Jerk get 1 Free.