Extensive Cruise Review! Carnival Paradise 8/18 – 8/26, 2018
Hello! We were a strange party of four. L & T, female/male, mid 50’s, from Pittsburgh. Both have cruised before. Accompanied by F & J, 40’s and 30’s, both male, one from Maryland and one from Florida, neither having cruised before. We chose this cruise because it was 8 nights and offered a full two days in Cuba. We would probably not have chosen Carnival, except for the itinerary. We had two true adjoining cabins on Deck 4 – oceanview, cabins 61 and 65.
Embarkation: Ridiculously easy. We were given an arrival time of 12:30 to 1:30. We arrived about noon via uber from an airport hotel. We literally walked in, filled out our Cuba form (where we checked Support for the Cuban People and that was the last question we ever had raised about what we were doing) checked in and walked on board. It all took maybe 15 minutes. Probably the easiest check in process I’ve ever had. We went to the Lido deck and happily settled in to a table by the pool in the shade until the announcement was made that we could access our cabins. I think that was a little before 2 pm.
Cabin was adjoining to R65 where friends were staying. Had we not known the people on the other side of the door I would avoid the adjoining cabin as noise carries. Small but comfortable cabin. No chair or sofa - just a small stool at the desk. Good closet space. Two outlets and 4 USB charging ports. Bathroom was compact but rectangular shower was good. Great water pressure and temperature. NO storage in bathroom. Small frig was really more of a cooler. TV options were very limited. Bed was comfortable. Window was film covered from salt, etc. and wasn't washed throughout the cruise. We liked the location on the 4th deck though. Very smooth sailing!
Spent the evening before the cruise in Ybor City! Fun place to walk around.
In Cozumel we only had from 10 am to 4 pm. We took a taxi into the main downtown area. One of the guys had a massage at El Sol Day Spa and was very pleased with that. The rest of us just walked about a bit. We then celebrated my birthday at Senor Frogs which was fun, and moved from there to the Thirsty Cougar. That was a really fun bar with great food and drinks.