After spending 40 years in various shoreside positions in the cruise industry, coupled with having taken over 200 cruises, we boarded the ship with some pre-conceived notions of what an older cruise ship would deliver. I am happy to report that our expectations were exceeded in virtually every area.

The Paradise is operated by Margaritaville at Sea. Part of the wider brands of Margaritaville companies forged by the great man himself Jimmy Buffett and his executive team. So, if you are not a fan of this genre then maybe this is not the ship for you. But who doesn’t like Jimmy Buffett?

The ship was originally built for Costa Cruises in 1991 and sailed for many years as the “Costa Classica” in their fleet. At around 52,000 tons she is considered a “medium” size cruise ship amongst today’s mega liners touting sizes approaching 200,000 tons. Actually, size is a major benefit of the ship – small enough to easily get around but big enough to offer all of the amenities common on the larger ships. Read more