Carnival Paradise Review

3.5 / 5.0
989 reviews

Gross and unsanitary conditions left me disappointed.

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Carnival Paradise
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SeaNStars4Me
First Time Cruiser • Age 50s

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Additional details

Sail Date: Jun 2016
Cabin: Ocean View

This was my first cruise and it was a "so-so" experience.

I'll start with the GOOD: Embarkation process was easy. I got to the port a couple of hours before the posted "Embarkation Time" and it was easy to get the bags checked and get onto the boat. There was a line but it moved well. Layout of the ship was confusing me and when I asked an employee about it, she went out of her way to physically walk me to my room which was very helpful. This is considered a small ship and a short cruise but I found there were things to do. They always had seminars going about different things (I even won a "raffle" at one of them and got a nice pearl bracelet) but the seminars are more of a "sales pitch" than a real effort to teach or inform you about something....they're trying to sell you products and services. We were lucky and had good weather for the entire trip so I was able to spend a lot of time outside by the pool or on the decks or in the adults-only deck (that was a lifesaver to get away from rowdy children). They had song/dance shows almost every night and they were as good as some productions I've seen in Las Vegas. I also enjoyed the performers in the Comedy Club and they had different "routines" at each show, including routines for non-adults. The cruise director was funny and entertaining when he spoke and did things. I had several treatments done at the spa and they were awesome...expensive but awesome. *Tip: wait and go to the spa later in the trip. The prices seemed to be highest mid-trip...by the last day they were running much cheaper "specials". Also, beware that the technicians will try to sell you everything they use on you (lotions, scrubs, etc.). Still, they all seemed to know what they were doing and the treatments were top knotch. The casino was well-stocked with machines and games. I booked tour excursions through Carnival at Grand Cayman and Cozymel and enjoyed both. They stopped at major points of interest and let us get out at each and take pictures and walk around a bit on our own. I felt they were a good value---got to see a lot for what I paid. The passengers on board were a good mix of people of different ages, ethnicities and everybody was friendly. Going in the summer, there were probably more kids on this cruise than there would be when kids are in school.

Now the CONS: the ship is old and it shows. Very dingy and outdated looking. Carpets were stained, walls had chips and marks, many things (public toilets, elevators, washers/dryers) were broken and not working. The pool area is very small and unimpressive. My cabin was absolutely disgusting. I had an Ocenview but you could barely see out of the window because it was so scuffed. The bed was lumpy and one night, I returned to the cabin and found yellow "stains" on the comforter that looked like urine stains. I called Guest Services to ask for the bedding to be changed. It took 2 hours and 3 phone calls to get that done. I also found a dried blood stain on one of the hand towels, there was strange, sticky "gook" on the desk that was right in your face as you slept, and it looked like there was mold on the ceiling. When I got home, I noticed small bumps developing on my feet and am really hoping I wasn't biten by bed bugs. The shower completely floods the bathroom every time you use it. It literally filled the whole room with 2-3 inches of water and I had to wait about a half hour each time for it to drain. The cabin was so gross that I literally stayed out of it as much as possible. Other areas were dirty, too. I was given a beach towel by the pool that also looked like it had dried blood stains on it, dishes in the buffet were dirty, the beach chairs were all very dirty and grimy, seats in the comedy club had big tears in them. I only ate in the buffet restaurant and the food was awful. Even though they have heat lamps, the food is cold. They do have a good selection but it was very low quality food...examples, I ate fried shrimp one night and it was so "mushy" inside I couldn't even tell it was a shrimp, had a piece of roast beef that was so undercooked and tough I couldn't even eat it, and bbq ribs that were nothing but fat. Service was ok-some staff on board were nice, others were rude. It was very difficult to get questions answered by most of them. They just would blow me off when I would ask about things. They do "nickel and dime" you a lot on the cruise, as well. I felt like everything was "extra". The shopping on board was very limited with just a couple shops and not much selection and everything was very overpriced. Sales clerks (particularly in the jewelry shop) were very pushy.

Cabin Review

Ocean View

Cabin 6E

Disgusting. Stained carpet, lumpy-uncomfortable bed, yellow stains on comforter (possibly urine), sticky "gook" on desk, windows were smeared, shower flooded entire bathroom every time it was used, sink backed up as well, toilet flushing was intermittent (sometimes it flushed, sometimes it didn't), found dried blood on one of the "fresh" towels. The cabin was so nasty that I tried to stay out of it as much as possible. I've been in hospital rooms that were cleaner and more comfortable. I actually had thoughts of "this must be kind of what it's like to be in a jail cell".

Port Reviews

Tampa

Did not take an excursion in Tampa but the port is next to Channelside, a small complex where they had some restaurants and ships

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