I cruised the Carnival Paradise 3 day cruise out of Long Beach last weekend. My last Carnival cruise was over 10 years ago and did not really care for it. I have been cruising mostly on Royal Caribbean the last few years.
So with some trepidation we boarded the Paradise.
First thing: Lunch in the Paris Buffet. Loved the Mongolian style stir fry station, where you pick out your own vegies and meat and they cook it for you. The other buffet items were just okay.
But definitely more to choose from than on Royal, including a deli with made to order sandwiches and panini's and a pizza counter with several types of pizza.
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Cabins: Spacious and comfortable beds and fairly large bathroom. Loved the goodie basket in the bathroom, with razors, lotion, tylenol etc...
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Entertainment and shows, everyone agreed were very good.
Main dining room, food was just okay. Nothing really stood out, accept the warm melting chocolate cake, which should be outlawed! And the warm apple pie was as good as my own homemade.
Room service: Room service is more limited on Carnival, and just cold items for breakfast.
But the croissants and coffee were good.
Royal Caribbean, better room service.
A couple more to Carnival for lobster still being offered on the 3 night cruises, and also chocolates still on the pillow each night. Which RC has done away with.
There was just a couple of things that would get a thumbs down on Carnival, and that would be that there were more bar servers and photographers on that ship for two ships, and they could have used more help in the dining room and buffet. And while everyone was pleasant, nobody really went out of their way to engage you, like they do on Royal Caribbean. Staff and crew seem friendlier on RC to me.
All in all a great little get away cruise, and I don't fear Carnival any longer! lol!
Interesting comments, Jen. Have you been on Celebrity yet? While I have not tried Carnival, from your description I would say that the food is better on Celebrity, no goodie basket or lobster on Celebrity.
Interesting comments, Jen. Have you been on Celebrity yet? While I have not tried Carnival, from your description I would say that the food is better on Celebrity, no goodie basket or lobster on Celebrity.
Celebrity still has lobster, in fact, twice on my 11 night Alaska cruise in May of last year.
Maybe Celebrity is not doing lobster on the short cruises? Since they are owned by Royal Caribbean, that would be my guess.
Neal, I will be sailing Celebrity for the first time in September. Can't wait!
I'm sure the food and service will be a step up from Carnival.
I guess what I was trying to convey about Carnival is that while it's not my fav Royal Caribbean, I understand why there are a lot of loyal Carnival cruisers. And since it is the only ship in the 3 day market in California, I will be sailing on her again.
Jen, I keep thinking about giving Carnival a try for the same reasons you gave. It really isn't my cup of tea - I like pampering not "excitement" but it might be interesting as a change of pace.
We have loved Carnival so far! So much so that we are getting ready to take our 3rd cruise this November with Carnival in the last year and a half! YEAH I'M HOOKED! Granted I don't have anything to compare it to... but I've never come across anything yet that's made me want to even look at another line. They're affordable, the food has always been awesome, the rooms have been wonderful, etc. We cruised with some friends on our first trip that had also cruised Royal Caribbean once before, and they thought the food was better on Carnival. They did say that they thought the staff was friendlier on RC though as was stated above. But again, they were friendly enough for my taste so I'm definitely a loyal Carnival cruiser.
Over the years I've found you will find about as many opinions about who is better as there are people who cruise. I have also seen that some lines have strong holds in various parts of the country where one line will out sell the others for some reason. Does make for some interesting discussions though.
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And the warm apple pie was as good as my own homemade. 
Granted I don't have anything to compare it to... but I've never come across anything yet that's made me want to even look at another line. They're affordable, the food has always been awesome, the rooms have been wonderful, etc. We cruised with some friends on our first trip that had also cruised Royal Caribbean once before, and they thought the food was better on Carnival. They did say that they thought the staff was friendlier on RC though as was stated above. But again, they were friendly enough for my taste so I'm definitely a loyal Carnival cruiser.
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