*Warning - very long review!* This was my fifth cruise, and fourth on Carnival. My last cruise was on the Holiday with the same itinerary; there is no comparison between ships - the Paradise is much more beautiful. The atrium was impressive and definitely one of my favorite areas of the ship! I prefer Carnival's glitzy atmosphere and the public areas and lounges were decorated in such a way that they maintained a touch of glamour without being overbearingly gaudy. The ship is starting to show some wear and tear - the seats on the Carnival Boulevard looked a little tattered. For the most part, everything was very clean (I always saw crew members vacuuming public areas)...except for the outside tables at the back of the Paris - beware!

Embarkation: Since we lived 20 minutes from the port, we drove and parked in the structure ($12/day). We arrived around 1:30 pm and could only find a spot on the top level. So, if you wish to park closer make sure you arrive earlier. My grandma was in a wheelchair so we were granted handicapped access and bypassed the line at the door. We were immediately taken to the check in desk after going through security. We waited in the special assistance line, which seemed to be the slowest of them all. We arrived on board around 2:15.

As soon as we finished unpacking, we went to the Destiny dining room to settle our dinner arrangements with the Maitre D. I was traveling with 20 other family members and half of us requested the 5:45 seating while the other half wanted 8:00. My sister, mom and I were put into the wrong 8:00 time and requested to change. The Maitre D' (forgot his name but he was from Argentina) told us he could not change us and was rather rude. I understand if there was no room for us but he spoke to us in a very condescending manner and basically told us it was our fault (even when we told him that we had put in our request several times w/ our Carnival travel agent). When 5:45 came around, the three of us went to the dining room with the rest of our party and again spoke to the Maitre D...I'm sure he was fed up with us by now but we explained our situation again. We figured out that Carnival had switched a bunch of our family members around - a huge mess. The Maitre D' again blamed us for it...we just decided to sit down at our table anyway and enjoy dinner! Read more