Thread: First cruise will be on the Paradise

My family's first cruise will be on the Paradise sailing out of Long Beach to Catalina and Ensenada. I noticed that there hasn't been much chatter about this particular line and I my guess its because its the budget class. I was wondering if anyone had any comments - we are basically looking at this cruise because of the price and we didn't want to spend so much just in case we aren't the cruising types. We were looking at the Inside Stateroom, Riviera deck with a 2-year old in tow. Would the food be difference since its a "cheap" cruise? We were looking at Feb 2009 dates.

thx for any responses!
MC

MC, Welcome to CLF. We're glad to have you join us. There's been much going on with Carnival here.

The Paradise is one of 8 Fantasy Class vessels in Carnival's fleet, and they are very popular with cruisers. These are the vessels which are being refurbished with the Evolutions of Fun Water Park and other upgrades such as replacing the present TVs in the cabin with Flat Panel TVs. They have a passenger capacity of 2,052 passengers based on two per cabin and were introduced into Carnival fleet in the 1990s. The Paradise entered service in 1998.
I have not cruised on any ship in this class. I've cruised on the Carnival Destiny and Valor.
Carnival is a very good cruise line, great food, entertainment, kids program, etc. Good choice for a first cruise.

I sailed the Paradise in September of 2007. I had a very nice cruise and wouldn't hesitate to sail her again. I thought the food in all venues was very good, especially in the main dining room. Carnival has come a long way in the last few years. I'm sure you will all have a great time.

Reggie

Welcome to CLF, MC!

There's a non-cruising type?

That's what's great about this board, always learning something new!

Welcome to the board and welcome to cruising!

We have taken three and four day Baja cruises on Carnival, including our girl's introduction to cruising at 23 months of age. At age 2, your child will be able to participate in Camp Carnival with many activities, even on a short cruise. When you first get onboard, there should be a packet of info about the camp and how and when to register. If you don't see it in your cabin, go to the kid's area and get the info so your child won't miss out on anything.

I don't think you'll miss out food-wise. The only difference may be one or no formal nights.

We were on the Paradise, but back in 2001 when it was going on Caribbean cruises.

aboard.

There is one formal night and they have lobster.

Hi MC and welcome to CLF!! A group of the ladies from here at CLF sailed on the Paradise last year. I thought the food was very good and so was the service. The shows were quite good also.

A great way to see Catalina is to rent a golf cart. You can drive it all over the island and they give you a map to follow. They are located down the main street toward the right.

Thx you to everyone who responded. I guess the only way we will find out is if we actually take the plunge - certainly the responses has made me feel better about going. My family took a boat out to Catalina Island this past weekend - I got a bit nauscious but survived the 45 minute trip. My wife wasn't too much into the "enjoy the sun and the ocean scenary" and we didn't have time to take the many tours that were available (just a day trip). Makes me wonder if she'll even like being a boat all day when there is no port call (planning to take the 4-day Catalina\Encenada trip out of Long Beach) Is there much to do when you are traveling all day? I guess the answer is, depends on what you want to do but I guess we are not into the sunbathing, stare off into the wide-blue with a drink in our hand thing. Plus, there's the prospect of having our 2 year old around (unless the Kids Camp has activities throughout the day). I guess our expecations would be swimming, outdoor fun things like rock-climbing, a couple of "shows" (I can't even imagine having a theater on a ship) ....after that...seems like there is a lot of time to kill.
-Mike C.