WE had a group of nine. First off, I have been on over 25 cruises and I am in my mid forties. I had my parents with me, my 2 fabulous girlfriends, my 19 year old daughter and 3 of her friends. The port of Tampa is an excellent place to cruise from as it is only about one hour 30 minutes from our home. Parked off site using 2-4-1 Parking/Shuttle 6 dollars a day as we had 2 vehicles. Set sailed on Carnival Paradise. Enjoyed seeing & sailing under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge! Spectacular. Generally Carnival is a lot of fun and I was very surprised at how much more fun I had on board Paradise. Older but well maintained. Food quality was well above average. Lobster, shrimp, Chateau Briande, all in Destiny dining room. Great service. Buffets were good. Lines!!! but that is how it is. They have an excellent deli where you can get grilled and cold custom sandwiches. Mongolian grill again be patient you have to stand on line but again made to order. Breakfast we had in Elation dining room, good and staff was very accommodating. Buffet breakfast was ok lots of choices and pastries fruit etc. Loved the omelettes. Worth waiting for.

The entertainment was great! Filipino band called Traditions was the best! I would of paid money to hear them! Great variety of music. House band was great too and Karaoke was fun. 2 shows were worth seeing and I personally enjoyed the adult comedy shows. Get there early as it fills up.Only problem I had was A/C in cabin was weak and trundle bed was unacceptable for my third person in my cabin but cabin steward added extra mattress and tried his best.Cabins were very clean and all was good.

Ports of call were good but I have been to grand Cayman and Cozumel many times. Grand Cayman I shopped a bit then hung out in Margarita Ville. Fun place but expensive. My daughter and her friends ventured on their own. For $40 per person they went on a swim with the Sting Rays which they enjoyed. In Cozumel I rented 2 Jeeps and we explored. Mr Santos was a great place we hung there for awhile. You can safely swim there plus if you want to pay $50 for all you can eat and drink but we opted for a few drinks and a la ca rte snacks. Very good. We continued to drive along the coast so BEAUTIFUL!! We stopped at Isla Bonita where we had giant drinks and Tequila shots. Good food and reasonable prices! Back on ship it all went well. I would definitely Cruise Carnival Paradise again.