We sailed the Paradise on February 29th on its Eastern Caribbean Cruise. Same as last year, we took our 2 children (13 & 10) along with us. Everything was perfect!!! We flew Jetblue from Syracuse to Fort Lauderdale - only 2 hours drive from our home in Ottawa / Canada and got a great rate for a car rental with Dollar through Travelocity - $29.00 for a full-size car. We stayed the night before at the Sheraton Biscayne Bay in downtown Miami and returned the car the following day at the Miami airport - Dollar provides a complimentary shuttle to the port.
We were at the port around 11:30am on Sunday and 45 minutes later we were standing in the lobby of the Paradise - no lines or wait anywhere, which was totally different from our last year's experience in Tampa. We had booked 2 inside cabins on the Riviera Deck and both were ready with our luggage standing by the door after we had lunch in the Paris Buffet restaurant on Lido deck...Amazing! This was our fourth cruise and we always booked insides because you don't spend much time in them. Save that money for good shore excursions!!!!
The ship was very clean, no smoking anywhere (only until October 2004) and the staff was outgoing and very friendly. We had dinner every night in the Elation Dining Room and both food and service were outstanding - thanks Luna (waiter) and Arriz (assistant). We enjoyed our daily breakfast and lunch at the Paris restaurant and found the buffet style food better than last year on the Sensation. The Pizzeria was a big hit with our kids and I have to admit that it was very good with a wide selection. Sushi bar was great although it was only available between 05:30pm to 08:30pm. Our dinner seating was at 05:45pm so it doesn't really provide you with sufficient time to enjoy the sushis. The Vegas Style shows were all nice and professionally made but you have to make your way to the Normandie Show Lounge early if you want good seats.