Carnival Paradise Review

3.5 / 5.0
987 reviews

Almost Paradise

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Carnival Paradise
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lakelandmom
2-5 Cruises • Age 40s

Rating by category

Cabin
Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
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Entertainment
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Additional details

Sail Date: Sep 2016
Cabin: Ocean View
Traveled with children

We chose this cruise because of the price and proximity of the port. We live about an hour away and have 3 kids (10, 8 and 2) so we didn't want to drive to Miami.

Boarding was easy, I almost bought the early to the fun, but we haven't had any delays before and since it is a smaller ship we just went through the regular lines, it was easy.

Our room (M66) was great, we pack 5 in one since the kids are younger. It was a little tight when the beds were down at night but our steward put them up during the day (they didn't on our last cruise). A little wear and tear on the carpet, tile, etc but again we are not expecting the Ritz, it was clean and comfortable.

Cabin Review

Ocean View

Cabin 6A

Clean, great steward, plenty of room during the day even with 5 people in there, a little tight with the pullmans down but totally manageable. Loved waking up in the middle of the night to look at the stars!!

Port Reviews

Tampa

Swiftly on the boat, checked our bags which were in our room quickly.

Cozumel

We rented a car from Alamo (65$ with the extra insurance and a car seat, only 8$ without but I didn't want to chance not getting the insurance just in case and it was still less than a cab). Drove right out of the lot by the cruise dock and headed to the Punta Sur Ecological Park. 14$ for adults, 8$ for kids (2 year old was free). Stopped first at the little Mayan ruins and Crocodile viewing, great to see something that I've been teaching about for 10 years, next time I want to see more ruins but with little kids this was perfect!! Then there was a lighthouse and museum, took some pictures with a parrot outside, climbed a lot of stairs to the top and had great views. The museum guide was very nice too. Then we drove to the beach, it was basically deserted. We kept waiting for ship people but no one came, PARADISE!! The service was great, they had hammocks and beach chairs with umbrellas, my kids just wore goggles in the water and swam around the kelp beds, didn't rent snorkeling gear. Food was good, great fish tacos, we didn't eat a lot because we ate a big breakfast and had dinner to look forward to. Drove back to the dock, dropped off the car, bought some souvenirs and were back on board in time to shower and get to dinner at 6. The ship cost for the excursion was almost 200$ per person for the jeep tour thing. We spent maybe 200$ for all 5 of us to have a perfect day.

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