Carnival Paradise Review

Retire the Carnival Paradise or Give it a Major Overhaul

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Carnival Paradise
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t_hipfanatic
6-10 Cruises • Age 40s

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Sail Date: Jan 2017

I have a lot to say but I don't want to bore anyone with too many details so I'll try to be brief. This was our second time on this ship. This time it was by chance, it worked with our schedules, where we were, where we wanted to go, etc, as we live in Vermont. This is my 8th cruise, my husband's 3rd.

The ship has major plumbing issues. Sept 2015 there were septic issues. This time the shower drain backed up immediately. There is another drain to the rest of the bathroom which would then flood the rest of the bathroom while showering. It was gross. We reported it twice, it was never fixed.

In Grand Cayman we went on the "Stingray City Sandbar & Rum Point Beach Safari". It was reported to be from 8:00am-12:30pm according to the email confirmation. We were to be at the meeting place at 7am to leave at 7:15am. We were there at 7am but our excursion group was not called until 8:20am. We had a very quick tender and left the dock at 8:45am. So, 45 mins late. We did not get back until 1:55pm which left us no time to shop. The last tender was at 2:15pm but that did not matter: we found our line and proceeded to wait 45 mins in the hot sun to get on the tender (it was a LONG line, there were still people waiting behind us!)! Back on the ship at 2:55pm with many others waiting in port (ship was supposed to leave at 3pm). The excursion was ok. Not nearly as many stingrays because we were one of the last boats to get to Stingray City. Our tour operators did not have much food so it was difficult to get the stingrays around. (I've been on a similar excursion many years ago and it was WAY better than this time.) But, the tour guides took an exorbitant amount of time with each couple or family, taking pictures which they would then sell to you for $40 (for approx a dozen pics), delivered electronically, cash only. Drinks and food at Rum Point Beach were expensive. They will take American $$ but at the Grand Cayman rate (American is worth LESS there) so be prepared for that. If you pay in American they will give you change back in Grand Cayman currency, be prepared for that, too. We were told this ahead of time so we paid with a credit card. They also add the tip in for you.... Four drinks and $60 later, we had spent enough. We never purchased food and were so tired and hungry by the time we got back to the ship, since we were not expecting the long delay to get back to the ship.

Cabin Review

Cabin Oceanview Front/Mid Ship

The cabin was decent. Not much changes here. But see above about the shower/clogged drain/bathroom flooding. They kept moving our trash receptacle on us which was kind of irritating. It was super warm the first two days in our stateroom. On the first day my husband stood on the bed to fix the temperature (controls are on the ceiling) and it took a couple days to cool off.

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