O
oceanmarina
Guest
Review of Carnival Paradise
Sailing date: July 27, 2003
Itinerary: Exotic Western Caribbean
Here is my review of the Paradise. My husband and I (in our 30’s, sailed with another couple.) Now keep in mind that our first cruise was Celebrity, and there is a big difference in the quality and service. But overall Carnival did a good job, but I personally prefer Celebrity. Also, Carnival seems to give great prices, but after the costly excursions, drinks, extras, our cruise cost more than the Carnival cruise!
The negatives:
Tons of unattended adolescents!! Running relay races in the hallways, shouting rude comments during the shows, etc... Don’t people watch their kids while they are on vacation? It was very annoying for us, as much as I hate smoke; at times it seemed more preferable to these obnoxious teenagers running positively wild on this ship. (The carnival staff seemed oblivious of them. But in fairness to them, it’s the parent’s job to monitor their kids.)
Inedible desserts. With the exception of the key lime pie and the cappuccino cake, and the baked Alaska, the desserts were horrible. The cheesecake tasted like rubber, we sent it back. Even the ice cream was so-so. Much improvement is needed in this department.
Rotan: Such a poor, poor country. We took the Tabanya beach day excursion. The bus ride through the town was so terribly depressing, this place looks like the setting for the “save the children†commercials. Kids walking abound with no shoes, starving dogs hunting for food, shacks that had no electricity or curtains that were homes. As other people mentioned, there is a giant fence that people line up. There is a marketplace beyond the fence, but I did not want to go (That’s how sad this town was.) The other couple we traveled with went, they were barraged with little kids begging for money. The cruise ship lines seriously need to invest money in this port, from what we saw these poor people are not benefiting in any way from cruise ship business. We did not feel safe enough to venture beyond “the fence.â€Â
The positives:
The dining: We though the food was very good, although could not compare to the food on Celebrity.
Service/Servers: The staff was not as friendly, nor served with the finesse of Celebrity, but overall they were very good. We loved our dining room servers. We always tip 3X the recommended amount since these people are terribly underpaid by the cruise ship companies. They make 50.00 a month and work incredibly long hours (they get about 4-5 hours of sleep a night!) Also, many people don’t even tip the recommended amount, and people from Europe don’t tip (how cheap!!) so we try to make up for those people.
Sailing date: July 27, 2003
Itinerary: Exotic Western Caribbean
Here is my review of the Paradise. My husband and I (in our 30’s, sailed with another couple.) Now keep in mind that our first cruise was Celebrity, and there is a big difference in the quality and service. But overall Carnival did a good job, but I personally prefer Celebrity. Also, Carnival seems to give great prices, but after the costly excursions, drinks, extras, our cruise cost more than the Carnival cruise!
The negatives:
Tons of unattended adolescents!! Running relay races in the hallways, shouting rude comments during the shows, etc... Don’t people watch their kids while they are on vacation? It was very annoying for us, as much as I hate smoke; at times it seemed more preferable to these obnoxious teenagers running positively wild on this ship. (The carnival staff seemed oblivious of them. But in fairness to them, it’s the parent’s job to monitor their kids.)
Inedible desserts. With the exception of the key lime pie and the cappuccino cake, and the baked Alaska, the desserts were horrible. The cheesecake tasted like rubber, we sent it back. Even the ice cream was so-so. Much improvement is needed in this department.
Rotan: Such a poor, poor country. We took the Tabanya beach day excursion. The bus ride through the town was so terribly depressing, this place looks like the setting for the “save the children†commercials. Kids walking abound with no shoes, starving dogs hunting for food, shacks that had no electricity or curtains that were homes. As other people mentioned, there is a giant fence that people line up. There is a marketplace beyond the fence, but I did not want to go (That’s how sad this town was.) The other couple we traveled with went, they were barraged with little kids begging for money. The cruise ship lines seriously need to invest money in this port, from what we saw these poor people are not benefiting in any way from cruise ship business. We did not feel safe enough to venture beyond “the fence.â€Â
The positives:
The dining: We though the food was very good, although could not compare to the food on Celebrity.
Service/Servers: The staff was not as friendly, nor served with the finesse of Celebrity, but overall they were very good. We loved our dining room servers. We always tip 3X the recommended amount since these people are terribly underpaid by the cruise ship companies. They make 50.00 a month and work incredibly long hours (they get about 4-5 hours of sleep a night!) Also, many people don’t even tip the recommended amount, and people from Europe don’t tip (how cheap!!) so we try to make up for those people.
