Ahoy, fellow cruisers! Let’s talk about the Carnival Paradise, a ship that’s been part of the Carnival Cruise Line fleet since its debut in 1998 making her and the Carnival Fantasy the line’s two oldest ships. Despite her age, she’s full of nostalgic charm and semi-modern amenities. From an array of free and specialty dining options to thrilling water slides that make you feel like a kid again, Carnival Paradise has what most of the newer ships have… except a lot of balcony staterooms! That is one drawback of cruising on older vessels, as ships built decades ago were designed with mostly interior and ocean view staterooms.
While I’m not on this sailing, a friend of mine is, and he’s graciously agreed to share his experience with me and my followers. So before we dig in, a bit about my guest blogger. John is bout to embark on his maiden voyage with Carnival Cruise Line. He usually sails with another line and proudly proclaims himself “Loyal to Royal,” but decided to take the plunge with Carnival, thanks to a tempting casino match offer. He’s all set to share the highs and lows of his four-day Western Caribbean journey on the Paradise, as it sets sail from Tampa with just one stop in Cozumel, Mexico.
John’s previous adventures on the high seas have given him a keen eye for what makes or breaks a cruise experience. Whether it’s comparing the entertainment and dining options to his usual experiences or exploring the unique vibes of the Carnival Paradise, John is here to spill the tea. So, grab your life jackets, folks, as we dive into John’s daily updates from the heart of the Caribbean, aboard the Carnival Paradise.
Hello everyone, let me introduce myself. My name is John, and not only is this my first time doing a review, but also my first time on Carnival. First off, thank you to Scott for allowing me to be a guest contributor. I am honored to be able to share this journey with you all and give hopefully a helpful and unbiased review.
I am rather new to the cruising world, but I have been on six Royal Caribbean cruises and one Celebrity, five of which were in the last year and a half. I used a casino match offer to book the Carnival Paradise for my first Carnival experience.
I left from Port of Tampa, luckily for me, I work downtown so I was able to get a half day’s work in before heading to the Port for a late check-in. After arriving at the Port, check-in was a breeze. The staff was very friendly and efficient. After lining up in a police line to be sniffed out by a drug dog, I was ready to board.
Once on board, my room was all ready, so I went off to drop my bags off. I’m in room R18; it’s a forward interior -a very good-sized room.
The shower size was impressive. Unlike Royal Caribbean, where you basically shower in a small tube, you could actually move around comfortably in Carnival Paradise’s shower!
The twin beds were apart, but after meeting my room attendant, Romli, that was fixed with ease. I’m always impressed by the room attendants and how they know everybody’s name. I’m guilty of forgetting the names of people I work with on a daily basis, and they remember you after a quick hello.
The Muster drill was straightforward. I went to my station, got scanned, and then sat through a quick life jacket briefing. I have to say, Royal Caribbean’s Muster drill is by far superior. But, after the drill, it was time for a beverage. I headed to the casino bar for a margarita to kick things off.
First Impressions of Carnival Paradise
Okay, I need to pause here to share my first impressions, and, well, I’m not impressed.
I understand this is an older ship, so the layout is a bit peculiar. However, my biggest gripe is the difficulty in determining what deck you’re on. It seems like a simple fix would be to place numbers by the staircases on each floor. The only way to know what floor you’re on is to look at the elevators, where there’s a small number displayed. If people are congregating around the elevators, then you won’t see the numbers. Also, if you’re someone like me who, as friends say, is “blind as a bat,” you might have some issues with this. I have also heard other people, equally confused while navigating the stairs, exclaiming, “What the hell deck are we on??”
Back to my journey – At this point, I hadn’t eaten all day, so I headed to Guy’s Burgers. Given Guy Fieri’s association, my expectations were high. The burger patty was good, and there were plenty of topping options. I loaded up with all the toppings. Overall, it was good, but not exceptional. However, for a complimentary offering, I can’t really complain. I had anticipated the fries to be cold and taste like they had been sitting under a heat lamp, but they were actually pretty good.
Notice the small bit of ketchup. There was none to be found. Five empty bottles and two empty dispenser stations. After the burger, I wanted to try something else. The buffet line was ridiculously long. It is such a small buffet and there weren’t a lot of options, but people still couldn’t make up their minds and backed up the line. I instead headed over to the deli for a steak and cheese sandwich, since there was no line there.
The steak was dry as they ran it through the oven three times. I guess the first oven they ran it through twice wasn’t working properly, so they ran it through the other one, which may have overdone it a little bit. But it hit the spot.
At this point, they stopped all service for the safety briefing, something Royal Caribbean doesn’t do. I felt bad for the staff as people wanted drinks and they couldn’t serve them. It caused some irate guests, but I’m sure they are used to this. That was OK by me, though, as I had a drink at lunch, so I was content.
Except, I wanted some water.
I wasn’t near the food area anymore, so I stopped over to a bar and just asked for water. Apparently, they can’t even give you that during the safety briefing. I was a little annoyed and asked the bartender where I could get some water. She then explained it’s only bottled water and they can’t currently serve it, but she can give me tap water. I don’t understand this; I’m guessing maybe they lose access to the registers to swipe your room card during the safety briefing, but instead of telling me she couldn’t give me water the first time, she should have just said, “I can only give you tap water.” I was fine with this. Just a misunderstanding.
They were running a sale on liquor – 20% off. A liter of Jack Daniel’s 100 proof bottled in Bond for $28? I’m in! I’ll use this time to brag about being a Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Squire. So, this bottle will fit right in on my shelf next to my Squire certificate and other bottles of whiskey. After this, I just kind of walked the ship and tried to get familiar with it.
Oh, time for dinner and we had “My Time Dining,” which means you can dine in main dining room anytime during dinner hours, as opposed to a set seating time each night. You have to make a reservation on your phone and will get notified when a table is ready. A little different from what I am used to with Royal Caribbean, where you just walk up, and it’s first come, first served, and you wait in line if there is no table ready. Carnival’s way is pretty convenient, as you can go about doing other things while waiting for your table.
The dining room is a bit outdated. But it’s an old ship, and I’m not here for fancy. We were greeted by one of the servers and were given one piece of bread each. I do prefer Royal’s bread basket assortment over this.
We were seated at 7:00pm and at about 7:15pm our server took our orders. I ordered a Buffalo Trace neat for my drink and the roasted tomato soup for an appetizer. I’m not a soup guy but anytime there’s tomato or French onion soup on menu, I’m in.
I ordered two entrees, the first a 12 hour braised short rib with green beans, chive mashed potato and truffle au jus. The meat was cooked perfectly and was very tender. The green beans and mashed potatoes were very good as well… and I loved the truffle au jus.
My second entree was the broiled striploin steak (medium) with a creamy peppercorn sauce, buttered vegetables and roasted potatoes.
The steak was delicious with just the right amount of pink, while the roasted potatoes were a bit hard and lacked flavor. I loved the peppercorn sauce.
BTW, I still don’t have my drink.
OK let’s talk about time:
- Seated at 7:00pm. Bread a few minutes later.
- 7:15pm order taken.
- 7:38pm appetizers arrive.
- Appetizers cleared at 7:50pm.
- Entrees brought at 7:51pm. I loved that I got both at once. I was worried they would wait until I was finished with
my first one before bringing the second. - 8:00pm they bring me a Buffalo Trace on the rocks (I ordered neat). I typically wouldn’t do this, but sent it back as it looked like the ice
had mostly melted by this time.
I don’t blame our servers for this, I actually felt bad for them. Bar service was slow and nobody around us had drinks and the kitchen had a hard time keeping up with food. The table next to us was seated at the same time we were and they were still waiting for dessert when we left. Thankfully no one at my table ordered dessert, or we’d probably still be waiting for it.
The Atrium bar became my hangout of choice. The bartenders Jose and Wilialk are fantastic. But the cool atmosphere of the stage set up right behind the bar makes this a unique place. The performers I saw there were really good. Obviously it gets a little loud but still a nice place to hang out.
Not sure what’s up with the mafia-looking guys in the background. Either the guy playing guitar owes them money or they were watching me and wondering why I’m on a comped cruise for my first ever Carnival sailing and not in the casino spending money!
The 2 violin players were really good and looked like they were having a lot of fun as everyone at the bar was singing the songs they were playing since they played with no vocals.
The Punchliner Comedy Club was my next stop, and I honestly expected a hack comedian but he was really good. Did a lot of cruise material as expected – life on a ship, going to ports, etc…
I had tome freeplay to play through, so I hit up the casino where I was up, then down, but overall ended the night not that bad.
That’s the end of day 1 on my first Carnival cruise! I have to say, while it’s always better to be on a cruise than to not be on a cruise, my overall experience has
been lackluster. Maybe it’s the ship, the layout, the age, or maybe it’s because I’m used to Royal Caribbean’s way of doing things. I’m having a great time but if you asked me right now I’d say I would be OK never sailing on Carnival again.
Thanks for the Day 1 report, John. Stay tuned to see if things improve for John in the next installment!