Carnival Paradise Review

3.5 / 5.0
989 reviews

Paradise is is great short getaway cruise from Tampa

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Carnival Paradise
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miljlaw
10+ Cruises • Age 70s

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Additional details

Sail Date: Sep 2018
Cabin: Interior

This cruise port is close to home. We are Platinum on Carnival and priority boarding is a great perk.The ship was refurbished earlier this year and the improvements were great. Added the Guy Burger and Blue Iguana on the Lido deck and the Elation dining room was beautiful. We have been on this ship a few times and I was very pleased with these changes. The Playlist Productions shows were also very good, and I really enjoyed the Punchliner Comedy Club. The Casino was hopping at night and there are some newer slot machines. Unfortunately, I did not hear of anyone getting any great returns on their time in the casino.

There is a nice water park on the back of the ship (where there used to be a small pool). Now that there is only one pool, it was always packed when we were at sea. The Serenity area has not changed and it is lacking since it only has 2 small hot tubs.

We had an inside cabin on Riviera deck near mid ship and it was comfortable and quiet.

Cabin Review

Interior

Cabin 4B

Cabin was comfortable and in a quiet area.

Port Reviews

Cozumel

We got off the ship with the intention of getting a cab and going to Carlos & Charlie's on the beach. When we asked for a cab, they told us it would be $15 for 4 people one way. The guy told us they had a lot of rain and the water was not clear at that beach. (We have been there before and really enjoyed it) He told us to go to Tequila Beach where the water is clear. We hooked up with another couple wanting to go to the beach and shared the cab. The ride seemed quite far from the port, and I asked the driver if we would have a way back to the port. He assured us we would. When we got to Tequila Beach there was an attendant at the entrance and told us we would have to pay minimum of $17 per person to go on the beach. We did not see anyone on the beach and it seemed quite deserted. We were shocked since we did not think to ask if the beach was free (Carlos & Charlie's beach is free). We asked the cabbie to take us back to Carlos & Charlie's beach and he told us it would cost the 4 of us $31. Now this is another shock since we paid $16 (not $15) to get to here. We negotiated in the cab and he said he would take us all to the other beach for $20. as we were approaching the port area, the other couple decided to just go back to their ship. The cabbie informed us it would cost them $20 to stop on the street near the port to get out of the car, and then it would cost us $15 to continue on to the beach we wanted in the first place. Needless to say we all got out of the cab at that moment. We never did get to a beach in Cozumel, and were so very disappointed in the shady way we were treated. Just wanted to be sure people visiting this port are forewarned to ask a lot of questions about costs before getting into a cab at the port.

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