SOOOO, I just booked the Paradise......

[SOUNDSGOOD!]

I just pulled the trigger on the Paradise for September. I am a frequent cruiser, Diamond with RCCL, but only 1 past Carnival.  I am open minded, and easy going,

 

Tell me all about the Paradise, and what to expect!

[teknoge3k]

Which ship did you sail with Carnival previously? As long as you understand that the Paradise is a Fantasy Class ship and is one of the oldest and smallest in the fleet, you'll be fine. If you're expecting a big ship with all of the amenities and restaurants then you may be disappointed. 

 

A cruise is what you make of it.

[SOUNDSGOOD!]

I agree 100%  your cruise experience is up to you!    I sailed on the Victory.   I tend to like smaller ships, and i could not pass on this deal!   I am just looking for the good, bad and ugly on the Paradise, so i know what to expect!

 

[canes20]

Fantasy class is our favorite. We like Paradise, she has had the upgrades with waterworks and such. Lines are not long like the bigger ships. Had her booked for April 2020 and of course had to reschedule for April 2021. Going on Ecstasy in November. We are happy on any ship.

[PhillyFan33579]

33 minutes ago, SOUNDSGOOD! said:

I agree 100%  your cruise experience is up to you!    I sailed on the Victory.   I tend to like smaller ships, and i could not pass on this deal!   I am just looking for the good, bad and ugly on the Paradise, so i know what to expect!

 

Paradise is significantly smaller than Victory. As already mentioned in this thread it is a Fantasy class ship, which is currently the smallest class in Carnival’s current inventory. It’s tough to accurately state what is good and what is bad.
 

Personally I am at the point that I will no longer sail on Fantasy class ships because I think they are too small and have limited options on what you can do on the ship. However, there are a lot of people out there that love smaller ships.

 

Strictly talking about ships, Carnival’s don’t compare to RCI’s ships. But there is a lot more to cruising than just the ship, although in my book the ship goes a long ways to how much I enjoy a cruise, especially in the Caribbean where I have been to most ports multiple times. If you enjoyed the atmosphere on your previous Carnival cruise, you should find the atmosphere very similar on Paradise (or any other Carnival ship). 

[Saint Greg]

The thing I liked about fantasy class was the atrium being deck 7, dining rooms deck 8, promenade deck 9, and lido deck 10. I would get a deck 7 room just steps from the atrium bar and not have to go up or down more than three decks. With the newer ships that's split between decks 3, 4, 5, 10.

 

I liked the original comedy club on the fantasy class ships. They've changed it to state rooms on some on those ships and put in a smaller comedy club. Looks like they kept it the same on Paradise. The bar goes around to a bar outside of the comedy club which is the closest thing they have to a sports bar. And the bartenders can go back and forth between the two bars. They had a few TVs in there. So between comedy shows I could just slide outside the club and be at a bar with sports on...and keep the same bartender.

 

I liked the old night club. Looks like they still have it on paradise. It takes about 2 steps to go from the bar to the dance floor in that club.

 

That said I've grown to like the Dream and Vista class ships and try to avoid fantasy class. Some people really like them though. If you like smaller ships you'll be fine.

 

Edited May 8, 2020 by Saint Greg

[LMKakaThing2]

I just pulled the trigger on the Paradise for September. I am a frequent cruiser, Diamond with RCCL, but only 1 past Carnival.  I am open minded, and easy going,
 
Tell me all about the Paradise, and what to expect!

I booked the Paradise as well for September just 2 days ago. Got an offer I just couldn’t pass up. $250 for 2 people...$125pp plus $50obc per person for 5 days.


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[Silverscreen]

6 hours ago, SOUNDSGOOD! said:

I just pulled the trigger on the Paradise for September. I am a frequent cruiser, Diamond with RCCL, but only 1 past Carnival.  I am open minded, and easy going,

 

Tell me all about the Paradise, and what to expect!

We did too!! Got a deal that includes $500 OBC.  Our cruise is costing us $15 basically.  Only our second time in an interior room, but hey, can't beat that price!!  Have already booked the Horizon in January after our March Magic cruise was cancelled.  Yes, it's an older, smaller ship, BUT it's a cruise!!! YAY!!!

[crusinpsychRN]

5 hours ago, LMKakaThing2 said:

I booked the Paradise as well for September just 2 days ago. Got an offer I just couldn’t pass up. $250 for 2 people...$125pp plus $50obc per person for 5 days.


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I just looked at 9/12/20 and it's $497.  Where did you get your quote? This drives me nuts and makes me NEED a cruise!

[LMKakaThing2]

 
I just looked at 9/12/20 and it's $497.  Where did you get your quote? This drives me nuts and makes me NEED a cruise!

I had a casino offer in my account for $25pp. Check to see if you have any casino offers. I maybe spend $200 a cruise in the casino and I haven’t sailed Carnival since 2012.


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[crusinpsychRN]

Only time I'm in casino is to smoke...

[greytguy]

I personally love the Paradise. I’ve been in it several times, but I live in the Tampa Bay Area so it’s convenient for me. Port of Tampa is easy to navigate. 
 

The ship seems to have been updated nicely, and traffic flow seems better on these smaller ships.  I like the entertainment options and the crew seems less frazzled on the Fantasy class ships. 
 

Enjoy the cruise. It’s a nice view leaving the Port or Tampa.  The ship passes by some nice neighborhoods, then downtown St Pete, then under the Sunshine Skyway bridge.  

[evandbob]

I sailed Paradise for my first 2 cruises back in 2003, when it was a completely non smoking environment.  Everything changes, sometimes not for the better.........

[SOUNDSGOOD!]

15 hours ago, greytguy said:

I personally love the Paradise. I’ve been in it several times, but I live in the Tampa Bay Area so it’s convenient for me. Port of Tampa is easy to navigate. 
 

The ship seems to have been updated nicely, and traffic flow seems better on these smaller ships.  I like the entertainment options and the crew seems less frazzled on the Fantasy class ships. 
 

Enjoy the cruise. It’s a nice view leaving the Port or Tampa.  The ship passes by some nice neighborhoods, then downtown St Pete, then under the Sunshine Skyway bridge.  

We live on the other end of RT 60, so its about the same for us to drive to tampa  or miami.   We sailed out of Tampa, but its been a few years...      we like smaller ships too.  I am not interested in a 5000 passenger city!

[mimi7ccr]

I also just booked Paradise for 5 nights on 9/21 with a Casino rate.  Pretty good deal.  It's been several years since we've cruised Carnival.  Can you take any wine aboard like on RCCL or NCL?  What about 1 6-pack of soda?  Forgive stupid questions.  I looked for answers but search option is not working for me.

 

[MeganGC1983]

2 hours ago, mimi7ccr said:

I also just booked Paradise for 5 nights on 9/21 with a Casino rate.  Pretty good deal.  It's been several years since we've cruised Carnival.  Can you take any wine aboard like on RCCL or NCL?  What about 1 6-pack of soda?  Forgive stupid questions.  I looked for answers but search option is not working for me.

 

Yes, you can take 1 bottle of wine per 21+ year old and a 12 pk of soda per person. 

[mimi7ccr]

Megan:  Thanks so much for the most welcome information.  Very good news, indeed.

 

[MistyRo76]

On 5/19/2020 at 3:08 PM, SOUNDSGOOD! said:

We live on the other end of RT 60, so its about the same for us to drive to tampa  or miami.   We sailed out of Tampa, but its been a few years...      we like smaller ships too.  I am not interested in a 5000 passenger city!

We sailed the Paradise out of Tampa in April of 2019. Back then she was sailing to Cuba and that's why we specifically chose that cruise. It had been over 10 years since I'd sailed a Fantasy class ship, but we really enjoyed the Paradise. It felt more laid back and not as crowded as the newer ships. And it had alot of the Funship 2.0 upgrade - Red Frog Rum Bar/Blue Iguana Tequila Bar, Guy's Burgers/Blue Iguana Taco Bar, Waterworks, Bonsai Sushi stand. It didn't have the big screen on the Lido deck, but we didn't really miss that so much. My husband doesn't really enjoy the crowds on the bigger ships so this one appealed to him. And it had plenty for the rest of us. You may miss out on some of the other specialty dining options. We booked the Chef's Table, which was amazing! So that helped...and otherwise we ate in the main dining room and more than enjoyed our dinners. 

 

And we absolutely loved the Port of Tampa! It was the easiest embarkation in my 18 cruises on Carnival. We stayed at the Hampton Inn Ybor City and it was a very inexpensive Lyft ride from the hotel to the port (the hotel offers a shuttle, but we wanted to go when we wanted to go and not have to wait for a specific time to depart). I'm Platinum, so my hubby and I could check in at any time. But some of our travel companions were not Platinum. They just came to the port with us even though their boarding time was later. They got in the line for people who arrived earlier than their boarding time and honestly, they were thru and checked in only about 2 minutes after us! It took maybe 10 minutes total to go thru security, check in and find our seats in the Priority Boarding area. About 10 minutes after that, we were boarding the ship. It was so easy! And debarking was the same way. It felt so much less hectic and chaotic than Miami. 

 

Enjoy the Paradise and your cruise!