Carnival Paradise Review

First timer's retrospective (went in with low expectations)...

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Carnival Paradise
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irisheyes27
First Time Cruiser • Age 50s

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Sail Date: Aug 2016
Cabin: Interior Upper/Lower

Left over 2 hours late due to "maintenance". Never a reassuring sign! We were a group of friends generally in our 40s (34 of us). Most were on the Empress Deck. My first cruise and reading reviews of Paradise, I was prepared for a low bar, but fun with friends. It was spot on. Everything about this ship is hit or miss. Steward? Awesome, good cheer and personality. Bartenders behind any bar on the ship? Likely understaffed, never cracked a smile, left some people waiting for 15 minutes while everyone else got their orders. Wait staff poolside? Awesome! Again, good attitude. Piano bar guy? Did not crack a smile, wasn't going to look at or engage the crowd, and pretty much just wanted to get through the list on his iPad.

Food? I read reviews, so I knew it was "meh". But it really was "meh" for the simplest things. The wait staff, while good natured, were confused. One of our 3 tables was constantly one course behind. People who ordered coffee never got coffee. Or soup. Or, you'd get a tea bag, but the hot water didn't show up. People in our group who take this cruise every year said the quality has taken a severe nose dive. Again, the restaurant staff (Elation) were very pleasant and did crack smiles, unlike the bartenders behind the bars. It really is like employees do NOT want to work there, and in the "old, tired" decor and ship conditions, I don't really blame them. Cruise directors were very peppy and personable and had energy! One more food tip. Forego the Paris restaurant buffet at breakfast and go for the 8:30 opening of the Elation restaurant for brunch. MUCH, MUCH better and the food in Elation for breakfast had taste (eggs tasted like eggs, was brought to you hot, etc). You can even order "off" the brunch menu, if your item isn't listed that day (i.e. get sausage or bacon, even if it's not listed, they'll have it).

Decor? Tired (as expected from reading other reviews). Some areas are really smoky, and just spills out onto the entire floor aft (deck 9). Pool? Ok. Not great, but doable for a day at sea. TIP: Go to the Serenity Deck (on 9) - it's quiet, with very comfy padded loungers, better towels, 2 hot tubs and is adult only.

Cabin Review

Interior Upper/Lower

Cabin 1A

I had an U/L cabin E181. While not refurbished, it was fairly clean. Toilet didn't flush properly and that was rectified the day I reported it. Again, steward was wonderful. I would recommend U/L cabins for singles or friends. Just not E181, because it was next to some sort of storage closet, and staff were in there at all hours (2 am, 5 am, 6 am). Literally would take a huge rolling cart of glassware out of there, and park it between my door and the closet door and sit there and clink all the glasses on the cart for probably 45 minutes. They should have taken the cart 10 yards away to the elevator banks at those hours, since no one was out and about anyway.

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