Paradise Review

[momthecruisedirector]

We just got back yesterday from our 12/26 four day Paradise Cruise. We had a wonderful time and I thought I'd write give a short review since reviews on the Paradise are hard to find.

 

We left Seattle on 12/26 at 7:00 a.m. via Alaska Airlines, on time and a smooth flight. When we got to baggage claim they were annoucing there was a one hour wait for luggage but we only waited about 20 minutes. There were five of us (myself, husband, son, his fiance and other son) on this cruise. I had called yellow cab before we left to get a price quote from LAX to the Long Beach pier, I was told $60 max for a van and it was accurate ($54 and a $6 tip). We had a suite so were able to take advantage of the Skippers club, because we were there by 11:30 and there were probably less then 100 people in line the Skippers Club wasn't that much of an advantage but we did get to sit while they processed our paperwork and then took the escalator upstairs and walked onto the ship in a moments time. We found our room - HUGE - then went up and had lunch. This was sons fiance's first cruise while the rest of us have cruised 8 and 6 times so she was pretty excited to see everything.

 

For the first time we had to go outside for our muster drill after meeting at our station, the only other cruiseline we've had to go outside for was RCL and they have you meet outside instead of going from one room (we were in the Normandie Lounge) then walk with everyone else to go outside. We had dinner in the Elation Dining room (8:30) then to the show. We didn't have any complaints about any meal or the entertainment.

 

On Tuesday husband and I went to the gym and used the treadmills - the machines are set in metric, which gave me a bit of a challenge to figure out. We took our showers in the spa area before heading back to the room to get youngest son (16) up and moving for Catalina Island. (The spa showers are not nearly as nice as the ones on Princess). The weather was beautiful on Catalina Island - we actually laid down on the sand and got a bit of a sunburn. What a heavenly feeling, especially when you are coming from Seattle - 75 degrees on a beach in late December! Wow. That evening was formal night and we all had the lobster for dinner - son had 3, husband had the prime rib and lobster as did other son and almost dil. We enjoyed Ensenada the next day - ended up doing the city tour and shopping excursion though we generally venture out on our own. This tour was nice though funny to us - first stop is the building at the end of the pier! Anyway, after that they take you to a winery for a tour and sampling (interesting history) then drop you off for shopping. We stopped and got nachos and a few beers. Picked up a few things at the little market on the pier before heading back onto the ship.

 

On the at sea day we enjoyed the raggae band (enjoyed them the entire cruise), got some more sun, bought a handful of the pictures we'd had taken, gambled in the casino - came out ahead a few bucks.

 

This cruise was way too short. We've been on this same route two other times so knew what to expect (though on RCL instead). We'd go again. I do think the ship was nearly empty as there was never a line, even at disembarkation. They called the first two colors, about 20 minutes later called our color, we walked down to deck 7, walked right off the ship and through customs in just a few minutes. We found our luggage right away and were out of there, again, in minutes. We spent the day in Long Beach down at the Pike Avenue Pier, husband and I walked to the beach for a bit then we all met again at the shops down by the pier. We had lunch at Island Burger, played at Game Works then called to have a taxivan pick us up and take us to the airport. Our plane was about 1/2 an hour late but we made it home in one piece so all was good. Got home to rain, rain, rain but this vacation will get us through until we leave in July on the Crown Princess.

 

Any questions? I'll be glad to answer. I'm so tired my eyes are crossing but I'm trying to stay awake until the New Year starts here on the West Coast so I'll check in the morning for any comments.

 

Happy New Year to all.

[cutiger76]

:) Thanks for the review....glad you had a great time. My wife and I are doing the same cruise starting Feb 27 and I hope we get lucky with the same good weather. There was discussion on another post regarding the bedding on Carnival, specifically upgraded mattresses. Paradise was recently in drydock (before your cruise). Do you know if the bedding was upgraded while she was in drydock? How about the condition of the ship in general?

[bulldogmom]

I've been on the Paradise twice, both times when it was still a non-smoking ship and it is still my favorite to date, glad you had a good time!

[DottieMay]

Very cool! We are going from Seattle to Paradise (LOL!) as well - leaving on 1/30/06.

 

Thank you for your trip report - really helped!

[GoodAsGold]

Thank you! We'll be sailing on the Paradise on April 10 down to Baja for 4 days. Looking forward to it! :)