Carnival Paradise Review
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We did this cruise via a casino coupon and we upgraded to a Junior suite from an inside room . Mistake but I will talk about this in my cabin review.
We were two couples in our early 40's and my single friend in her early 40's. The single friend was a first time cruiser and she loved it! The rest of us have been on 5 or 6 other cruises and thought it was up there in our favorite 2. We didn't go in with huge expectations and maybe that is why we had a blast.
Embarkation was a breeze. Because I upgraded to a Suite we had priority boarding which meant a really short line compared to the huge line for everyone else. They will let your non suite friends get in the short line with you. We were there at noon and on the ship by 12:20. We all bought the drink package and thank god! We like to drink and some of them got cut off by midnight because they reached their 15 drink max. But hey, drinks get warm, you set them down, you may not like one, they still count so we were glad we bought it. Lunch on the Lido deck we all chose guys burgers and fries and they were all great. We hung out all day by the pool, in the casino, walking around etc. We missed going under the sky bridge in Tampa as we were in the casino (woopsy) . Anyway this boat rocked alot more than other cruise ships I have been on. Sometimes you noticed it, but I just tried to not look out the windows as we moved and I was generally fine. I am also very sensative to sea sickness and I never heard anyone else complain about it.
Cabin Review
Junior Suite
So the free casino cruise was for 2 people in an inside room. I Upgraded to a V22 Junior suite and I think I paid an extra $1100 for this. What a mistake. The room is basically the same size as a balcony room on RCI or NCL cruises which we normally take. There is no butler like NCL, no snacks and special service like NCL. I dont think I went on the balcony one time as we had too much fun with our friends on the ship. I think I would have been happy in an ocean view room, hey maybe even the inside room.... it was a nice room, the shower was fine, plenty of storage etc. The TV was huge and great except the remote sucked and took forever to move between chanels, maybe they needed new batteries. Our room guy Andy was awesome and always popped up when we needed it. Just remember I guess when choosing a room, it is carnival, not princess, so keep expectations reasonable and you will be fine!