My family took this cruise on the Feb. 15-23, 2003 vacation week. The Carnival Paradise sailed out of Port of Miami and it sailed to the Eastern Caribbean. This was my 16th cruise and first on Carnival. Since most of my cruises are on Celebrity, I will compare this ship to the Celebrity Line.

Embarkment was no problem. We arrived at 1:00 P.M., and within the hour we were on board. Security at the port was on high alert and more noticeable then other cruises. We arrived at the port by taxi so I can't tell you how Carnival handles the travel arrangements from the airport to the dock.

As soon as we stepped on board on the Paradise, we noticed that there was no staff to escort you to your cabin. We found our cabin on the fourth floor of the Rivera Deck. To my delight, we found our i/s cabin spacious compared to other lines. Also to my surprise, our travel agent purchased a bottle of Champagne for both cabins along with a tray of chocolate strawberries. We never expected theses items because I purchased this cruise through an Internet auction site. What I particularly loved about our room was the large tiled shower and functional bathroom. Also to our delight we found numerous bath items that Carnival gave out as trial items. Read more