Review of Carnival Paradise May 7-12, 2022

[JennKach]

I’ve really struggled with how to write this review tempering some things that went amiss with the good things, especially in light of COVID challenges.  It takes a lot for me to be disappointed on a cruise! Everyone on this cruise has a different perspective and your experience varies with what activities and dining you choose, what times you are roaming the ship, where your cabin is, and sometimes just being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  We did not have a Cruise Critic roll call as everyone decided to use social media instead to discuss and make plans.  Many of those people had negative experiences, and some said everything was great.  I also have a unique perspective with two cruises on other lines since January to compare with this Carnival cruise.

 

On this cruise it was me (56), my husband (59), daughter (21) and her friend (21). My daughter cruised as a child but doesn’t remember much, and her BFF was a first timer.  My husband and I mostly cruise NCL, but we are Gold on Carnival with 19 years since we sailed with them last. We originally booked inside cabins and took advantage of a price drop and senior special to move to ocean view.  Then I got an offer to upgrade to a “suite” for $100 and jumped on that while the girls stayed in their ocean view.  The suite was basically a balcony cabin on deck 12 with a little more space, priority boarding and disembarkation, and some cookies.

 

Our cruise was the May 7^th Paradise 5 day sailing out of Tampa which visited Roatan and Cozumel.  Normally I prefer a longer sailing but the girls have job responsibilities which limit time away.  I heard the shorter sailings are party cruises and it certainly held true. 

 

We flew down to Tampa in two groups without incident.  My husband is retired so he headed down 5 days early to hang out at our condo.  We girls arrived the night before with just enough time to have dinner and go to bed. Originally our flight was supposed to arrive at 9:30am, but Spirit changed schedules and we had to change to the late afternoon flight.  I never like to cut it so close!  They messed around with the return flight as well so the girls had to change from a 12:30 departure to 7:30pm.  

 

Covid Testing

DD and I got our Covid tests two days in advance at Walgreens.  It was super quick and easy in the drive thru and our results were emailed in an hour.  Her friend did a rapid test at a local testing facility and was positive!  After more than a slight panic, she got a PCR test which came back negative.  There are false positives out there so leave yourself enough time to get a follow up PCR if needed. We printed out paper copies of everything and the port staff appreciated it.

 

Embarkation

We originally had a 10:30 check in time.  Our driver (DS) was having trouble getting out of bed after working most of the night, so we ended up leaving for port around 11:15, arriving at 11:45.  Each of us had a small backpack, DH and I had our CPAPs, the girls had small wheeled suitcases, and DH and I shared a suitcase.  We checked our suitcases with the porter, entered the building and went up some escalators and back outside again on the 2^nd floor.  They were staging people in lines outside the terminal because there wasn’t a lot of space at the security stations immediately inside.  I can’t remember which paperwork they checked at each point, but lots of workers were keeping us informed ahead of checkpoints.  No one checked our appointment time.  They did keep checking boarding passes to make sure you were in the right place, and this was helpful because suite guests get priority embarkation.  They allowed us to take our girls with us even though they were not priority.  Security xrays were next, and priority guests got to be next in line via a special queue.  I made the mistake of having small scissors in my carryon which got confiscated.  Then we had a checkpoint for documents and health questions.  After that we headed to the desks where they verified our on board account payment, verified we had CPAPs with us, and checked docs again.  There was a suite line, but it was very empty at the desks so they just put us at a closer one.  I was the only one with verifly and it didn’t really save that much time.  We then headed to board the ship and take the obligatory photo.  Got the muster station demo out of the way and headed to our suite which was supposedly guaranteed to be ready, and it was not.  I was looking forward to those few perks we were supposed to receive.  We dropped our bags there anyways and ate lunch at the buffet until the announcement that they were ready at 1:30. Key cards were waiting for us outside the cabin door.

 

Food

Paris (buffet)- was open for all three meals and closed at 3pm until dinner.  If you need food late afternoon you can get burgers, pizza and ice cream, or room service.  The main serving stations have the same hot foods on each side of the restaurant.  Food was just ok. We mainly ate breakfast here where the standard wet scrambled eggs, ham, potatoes, premade pancakes, sausage and breads were available.  There were other stations with pastries, fruit, lunch meats and cereal too.  I never tried the omelette station because of the line.  All was self serve.  Lunch had a yummy dessert station where my DH fell in love with the cookies and we kept some in the room for snacks. We love fresh brewed iced tea at breakfast (their idea of premade tea was awful) so we made hot tea (Lipton products) and poured over ice.  Bacon was not available every day.

Main Dining - ate dinner in the main dining rooms every night with “any time” schedule.  You have to check in on the app and you see the estimated wait time before hand.  This was one of the most frustrating things during the cruise.  The time estimate was off every time, and not by a few minutes.  One night it said 30-40 minutes and it actually took 90 to be seated.  “Less than 10 minutes” usually meant 30-40, but once it was 5.  I’m not sure where the fault is in the system, but planning around shows and activities was an issue.  It seemed they were short staffed, or perhaps inexperienced, but it was not close to full capacity in the dining room.  On the third night we had excellent service (and magic tricks!) and requested the same team for the remainder of the cruise.  You do that at the host stand after checking in on the app.  The food was very good, and chocolate melting cake was on the menu every night!  The wait staff danced, and they made my DD’s birthday special by making her a hat and singing.  If I knew show times before the cruise, I probably would have chosen the set dining time instead.  Not sure if you can switch once you get onboard.  We ate sea day brunch here twice but other than a nice omelette and crispy bacon, I’m not sure I’d waste my time doing it between the time to be seated and long service times.

Guy’s Burger Bar – We had a couple burgers and fries and they were very good, and fast service.

Blue Iguana Cantina – The girls ate here and declared it delicious.  Operating hours weren’t as long as the burger place and we never got to eat here because they were closed when we were hungry.

Sushi – The girls ate here twice (extra charge) and thought it was great.

Pizza and Ice Cream – I had a slice of pepperoni, and the girls ate here a couple times.  The crust is super thin and crispy.  It’s good for a snack but the toppings are lacking to make a meal.  There was always a line here when I walked past with nothing ready to grab and go.  I tried the chocolate ice cream and loved it – there was vanilla and strawberry as well.

Room Service – never tried it.  The menu had breakfast sandwiches for $4 though if you need more than just continental.

 

Cabin

We were in a balcony “suite” on deck 12.  The cabin itself had plenty of room with a large couch, chair, coffee table, dressing table with lighted mirror, two closets and multiple drawers. Having two CPAPs was not a problem.  I balanced mine on the back of the couch, and my husband used the tiny table on his side of the bed.  We ran the cords under the bed and plugged them into an extension cord I brought.  Guest serviced called our room to ask us if we needed anything for the CPAP’s so I ordered a bottle of distilled water.  It was delivered for $3 plus a service charge.  We could have brought our own, but it wasn’t worth the hassle dragging another 8 lbs in the hand luggage.  The cabin steward provided bathrobes and daily ice at my request. They also asked when we would like our room cleaned.  There were multiple outlets at the desk, and usb ports in the bedside lamps.  There were wine glasses every day, and two complimentary large bottles of water for gold status.  The fridge was basically useless to keep anything cold.  Cabin service was fine and we got towel animals most days.  There is no turn down service anymore.  The ventilation system pumped in nice cold air, but also a ton of dust.  It built up on our CPAPs every day and there was just no way for the cabin staff to keep up with it everywhere. It flared up the allergies a bit.  Fresh pool towels were provided each day.  A do not disturb sign was provided to hang on the door.  My only complaint about the room was the toilet (and room) always smelled like urine.  It looked clean, but somehow managed to have the overwhelmingly strong odor.  We even washed the floor and walls around the toilet just in case.  The girls’ room did not have this issue.

 

COVID Protocols

Just a few notes about how COVID protocols were handled.  Passenger masks were not required in the terminal or anywhere on board.  A small amount of passengers wore masks anyways. The two ports said they were required, but no one was wearing them.  All Carnival employees wore masks except the performers while they were entertaining.  Sanitizer stations were everywhere.    Unlike NCL and RC, no one was pushing hand sanitizer at any of the dining venues.  We did mini golf and they had signs and wipes to clean the equipment after use.  I never heard any communications about COVID cases. 

 

Drinks

The girls had the Cheers package and liked being able to try a bunch of different drinks.  Specialty coffee was included.   They probably just about broke even on the package, but I wanted them to enjoy themselves and not worry about how much everything cost.  DH and I brought wine with us and purchased a couple drinks.  We also got a free drink on the last night with Gold status.  We had two days of shore excursions that included cheap or free drinks so Cheers didn’t make sense for us.  Drink pricing seemed very reasonable compared to NCL, but more than RC.  There was beer dispenser at $0.45 per ounce.  Bartenders were hit or miss.  The girls said some refused to make them the drinks they wanted, and were kind of cranky and dismissive.  DH had the same experience when they insisted a particular liquor wasn’t carried, but it was on the shelf in plain sight.  Other bartenders were awesome.  I was bummed when I was craving a Bailey’s late one evening and they were out of it.  Usually the bartenders are the highlight of a cruise so it was odd to find some so unfriendly and contrary.

 

Excursions

We did independent excursions and have been to both ports before.  The girls requested relaxing beach experiences so that’s what we did.

Roatan – We chose to go to Bananarama beachfront resort and dive shop.  They offer a cruise ship package for $35 that includes transportation, a welcome drink, chairs/umbrella and snorkel gear.  The reef is super close to shore so you don’t need a boat and it was a lot of fun!  We hadn’t realized there was a 2 hour time difference so I had to make a panicked phone call and change our pick up time from the ship.  Guest Services went above and beyond and let me use their phone.  The private excursions aren’t allowed to pick up in the port area so we had to hike a bit outside the gate where we met our driver.  It’s about a 35 minute drive each way to Bananarama.  Food and drinks were a la carte, free wifi.  There was an armed guard at the beach watching our bags when we were in the water.  When it was time to head back to the ship, our driver was right on time and we had time to check out a few shops in the Mahogany Bay port area.

Cozumel – I chose Nachi Cocum all inclusive at $59 each plus a $17 taxi for all each way.  It was perfect.  We had a palapa on the beach and a beautiful pool with swim up bar.  The staff was incredible from beginning to end.  Drinks and food were plentiful and the tropical beauty made it our favorite shore excursion.  Everyone there was from a cruise ship, and we stayed the latest and had the place to ourselves for an hour.  If you chose to participate, there was massage, banana boat, snorkeling and parasailing for additional cost.  Nachi limits their capacity at 130 people so it will never be crowded.

Entertainment

In the theater we only saw the welcome show and Love and Marriage.  I’m hoping there were technical issues with the singers because it started off so badly.  We never returned to see another show so I can’t comment on the rest.  The smaller venue musical entertainment was all very good and varied like piano, guitar, steel drum, comedy, and live bands.  The male comedian was hilarious and we went to all of his shows.  The other, not so good.  Lots of awkward silence in the audience and I felt bad for her.  No bingo, trivia or art auctions for me.  I tried to donate $20 at the casino and ended up with $33 after 90 minutes of fun.  There were two deck parties that we watched for a bit.  The first had a lot of dances led by the entertainment staff and Lei Lei did a good job with that.  The other was the glow party.  There were no crafts, afternoon tea, or meet the captain events.  The nightclub was open late and it was nice to see so many people out past 10pm.

 

The Ship

Paradise hails from the loud and colorful era and is showing her age.  We sailed on this ship way back when it was non-smoking and still enjoy all the smaller ships.  The hardest thing to figure out was which elevator went to the floor you wanted.  There was a noticeable lack of public restrooms around the ship, especially at the buffet and pool areas.

 

Dress Code

Dress code?  Was there a dress code?  Elegant night in the dining room had everything from torn and cutoff denim jeans and shorts, swim coverups and t-shirts, to full on beaded dresses and tuxedos.  Dripping wet bathing suits were common at the buffet.  I think you could pretty much do anything but go topless.

 

Pools

Of course there were some chair hogs and slim availability right at the pool, but we could always find chairs one deck up or back by the water slides. Bar service was not good outside the immediate pool area or in Serenity.  Raunchy behavior however was not hard to find.  Groups of people took over the hot tubs, letting everything hang out, twerking, slapping each other on the behind and filming it all.  The language was horrible and this was all in front of families with kids.  They were downing pitchers in the tub which I’m sure wasn’t helping, but really, have some class!

 

Other observations

We leveled up to Gold during this trip, and received the Gold amenities and key card upon arrival.

 

Complimentary wifi within the app was useless most of the time.  It was so slow that the sites timed out or took forever to load.  The girls had the social media package with no complaints.

 

I missed getting paper copies of instructions and Fun Times in the room.  The electronic version was hard to find.  There was a paper with QR codes for certain items, but the slow wifi wouldn’t load them.  If you were a first time cruiser you would miss out on explanations for things like going ashore.  Announcements were hard to hear.  I noticed that our girls had different paper copies of items than we did in our cabin, so maybe we just didn’t get everything. 

 

This itinerary attracted a wide range of people and behaviors.  From a survey in the theater, a vast majority were Tampa locals, with very few international or other state cruisers.  I would guess 80% were between 20 and 60 years old.  Many were family groups or groups of friends traveling together.  There were a good number of scooters and wheelchairs, and a handful of kids in strollers.  This was the most unfriendly group of people I have ever cruised with!  Age didn’t matter when it came to annoying behavior since the most obnoxious group was middle aged ladies in my hallway.  There were at 4+ cabins traveling together and they loved to gather and talk at high volume in the corridor, or in each other’s rooms with the doors open and music blasting.  For the amount of times they woke me up after midnight, I wish I could have ordered them 6am room service as pay back.  Another cabin (again middle aged women) in my hall had security there a couple times for smoking, setting off the smoke alarm, and leaving the balcony door open which caused a loud whistle in the hall driving everyone nuts late at night.  Lots of pot smoking going on too all over the ship.  Security showed up again chasing a group of teenagers running up and down our hallway.  Heck, those were only the incidents I personally witnessed, and just in my small hallway, so I’m sure there were more.  There was a fight one night at the casino bar.

 

Guest services is not open 24 hours, so if you have issues after midnight, you have to wander the ship to find an employee to help.  The phones don’t have a message telling you that they are closed.  Even during business hours they never answered the phone.

 

Disembarkation

We received priority luggage tags the night before and could choose to meet in the Theater at 7:15 with our bags, or wait until 8:00 without.  Everyone had to be out of their room by 8.  Latest luggage tags were for 9:30.  We chose to walk off at 8:15 (non-priority) with our bags and that was a mistake!  The lines were horrible and took forever to get through customs.  You could tip a porter to shortcut if you want. Once outside we called an Uber and were home 30 minutes later.

 

Overall Thoughts

Was it awesome?  No.  Was it horrible?  No.  Was it worth the low price I paid?  Yes.  Would I cruise Carnival again?  Yes, but only because I know it can be better based on past experience.  If this was my first cruise I wouldn’t return to CCL, thinking this was the normal expectation.  Is the low price point attracting people that don’t know how to behave, be considerate, and respect the rules?  Maybe.  Is COVID to blame for long service times and surly bartenders?  No, because NCL and RCI were able to pull off an excellent experience months earlier.  Carnival just wasn’t managing well with the same cards every cruise line was dealt.  I echo other Cruise Critic posters that the overall vibe just felt off, and that could be a mixture of inexperience, understaffing, and passenger attitudes.  DH and I still had a good time though and look forward to planning our next cruise.

[Joe817]

Bravo! What an excellent review! Thank you for sharing. Much of what you say is reflected in many posters. Regarding Nachi Cocum:  I agree. That was the highlight of our cruise, when we sailed last year. Good job! 👍

[cruisingguy007]

1 hour ago, JennKach said:

Raunchy behavior however was not hard to find.  Groups of people took over the hot tubs, letting everything hang out, twerking, slapping each other on the behind and filming it all.  The language was horrible and this was all in front of families with kids.  They were downing pitchers in the tub

 

Maybe it's just me but this is one of the reasons I love Carnival. 😁

 

1 hour ago, JennKach said:

There were at 4+ cabins traveling together and they loved to gather and talk at high volume in the corridor, or in each other’s rooms with the doors open and music blasting.  For the amount of times they woke me up after midnight, I wish I could have ordered them 6am room service as pay back.  Another cabin (again middle aged women) in my hall had security there a couple times for smoking, setting off the smoke alarm, and leaving the balcony door open which caused a loud whistle in the hall driving everyone nuts late at night.  Lots of pot smoking going on too all over the ship.  Security showed up again chasing a group of teenagers running up and down our hallway

 

These are things I dislike about Carnival but it certainly keeps it interesting and entertaining. Certainly not boring. 😄

 

1 hour ago, JennKach said:

There was a fight one night at the casino bar.

 

Completely unacceptable/ghetto. 🤨

 

 

Enjoyed your honest review, sounds like you made the most of it and rolled with the punches. Thanks for taking the time to drop a review. It's appreciated.  

[cyclist_guy1]

just curious - isn't cruisecritic.com forums considered social media?

[ZoeyVictoria]

We were on the same cruise.  We enjoyed the cruise, but we had it booked again for August 27 and changed to another ship and date once we got home.  Our experiences were quite different from yours.
 

I am 69, my SO is 73, and we traveled alone.  We live just less than an hour from the port, which is one of the reasons we were on this particular ship.  This was my 74th cruise, with 26 being on Carnival.

 

Embarkation:  We arrived at 10:15 and pretty much just slowly walked through the process.  There were problems with our boarding passes twice, but I believe they were due to inexperienced port employees rather than the printing on our passes as they claimed.  Our boarding group A1 was called just a few seconds before we finished at the last desk.
 

Dining:  We enjoyed the MDR because we ate as soon as it opened, found a great team the first night, and had it set up to just go directly to the same table every night.  The food was surprisingly better on this cruise than in most past MDRs.  We did not enjoy the buffet, though.  I stood in the omelet line four mornings because there was nothing on the buffet I would eat and the arepa at the Blue Iguana that I used to love was disgusting on this cruise.  

 

Cabin:  We were booked in a porthole cabin but received a complimentary upgrade to an ocean view with a larger window a few days before the cruise.  We couldn’t believe the amount of time we spent at that window, even stopping there for a few moments on our way back to bed from the bathroom in the middle of the night.  We actually spent more time there than we normally do on balconies, and the rebooked August cruise is now an ocean view.  
 

Ports:  We took the chairlift (Magical Flying Chairs) to the beach in Mahogany Bay and found shady chairs under trees.  That was after a very confusing and disorganized wait in the Diamond and Platinum waiting area for priority debarkation, which we believe was due to an employee being late for work.  There has been some dredging since our last visit there, resulting in a sharp drop off in the water.  In Cozumel  we went to Nachi Cocum’s younger relative, Del Mar Latino.  It is on the waterfront, walking distance from the ship with no beach but with a pool and a view of the waterfront.  A small area, maybe 30 loungers, and adults only.  The included food, drinks, and hospitality are every bit as good as Nachi Cocum, at a price of $29.  Very easy, pleasant day.

 

Observations:  We did not experience the upsetting behavior that you saw, though we saw many interesting outfits.  People watching was spectacular on this cruise 😂.  We found the people to be about the same as on other cruise lines/ships as far as being friendly.  We enjoy speaking to people casually, but are not looking for new friends to spend great amounts of time with.  
 

Our biggest problem with this cruise is that it was LOUD!  The volume seemed to be higher than usual in the theaters, the lido deck, and the buffet.  We usually enjoy some time around the pool deck, but it was just too loud this time.  We searched for quiet places in the shade to watch the water or read, but literally the only outdoor place is Serenity.  Arriving in the afternoon was pointless, so we arrived really early (before 8 a.m.) one morning.  We left about 11:00 and took our things with us because it is so rude and unfair to hold chairs that we wouldn’t be using for hours.  So no quiet place that afternoon, either.  
 

Our other problem was the limited food options.  We prefer ships with a better layout in the buffet, more casual options, and a steakhouse.

 

We enjoyed the short drive to the port, being on the top deck as the ship passed under the Skyway bridge, the MDR experience (not the norm for us), the ports, the shows (Epic Rock is my favorite cruise show), and the crew.  But otherwise,  I think we have outgrown the Fantasy class of ships.  We will use Royal Caribbean for our easy Tampa cruises and stick to larger ships on Carnival.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest BasicSailor]

1 hour ago, cyclist_guy1 said:

just curious - isn't cruisecritic.com forums considered social media?

It used to be in the past, now there are only a few old chest thumpers hanging here trying to kick a dead mule around for debatable purposes 🙃

[Guest BasicSailor]

That's a fair and respectable review. Thanks for taking the time to report.

I have all ides she (Paradise)will be the next one on the hatching block.

[Djptcp]

I appreciate the two reviews. DH and I cruise on the Paradise tomorrow. We are Diamonds,  but I think this will probably be our last Carnival cruise. We have 4 Holland America cruises booked and are 4 Star Mariners. Our last 3 Carnival cruises have been less than satisfactory, although free for the most part.

 

We cruised twice on Carnival in February,  Liberty and Elation, and had a horrible encounter with a drunk man who threatened to throw my DH overboard on the Liberty! He wouldn't leave us alone and DH was starting to look for Security when the drunk left and we didn't see him again. We sailed on the Magic 2 weeks ago and discovered Carnival just isn't for us anymore. Passengers were loud, drunk, constantly using crude language, and rude to me when I was using my rollator to get around.  Food was marginal at best. The crew, however, was fantastic.

 

We are much more suited to Holland America with its elegant ships, superior cuisine, friendly and disability aware passegers, and wonderful crew. We are looking forward to our free Holland cruises in our lovely suites with the many perks that Carnival does not provide.

 

As far as our Paradise cruise that sails tomorrow, we'll just have to hope for the best.

[Guest BasicSailor]

13 minutes ago, Djptcp said:

I appreciate the two reviews. DH and I cruise on the Paradise tomorrow. We are Diamonds,  but I think this will probably be our last Carnival cruise. We have 4 Holland America cruises booked and are 4 Star Mariners. Our last 3 Carnival cruises have been less than satisfactory, although free for the most part.

 

We cruised twice on Carnival in February,  Liberty and Elation, and had a horrible encounter with a drunk man who threatened to throw my DH overboard on the Liberty! He wouldn't leave us alone and DH was starting to look for Security when the drunk left and we didn't see him again. We sailed on the Magic 2 weeks ago and discovered Carnival just isn't for us anymore. Passengers were loud, drunk, constantly using crude language, and rude to me when I was using my rollator to get around.  Food was marginal at best. The crew, however, was fantastic.

 

We are much more suited to Holland America with its elegant ships, superior cuisine, friendly and disability aware passengers, and wonderful crew. We are looking forward to our free Holland cruises in our lovely suites with the many perks that Carnival does not provide.

 

As far as our Paradise cruise that sails tomorrow, we'll just have to hope for the best.

Diamond members ,free cruise . Please do a review when you return.. Interested in your findings😉