We had the pleasure of vacationing on the June 25, 2000 sailing of the Carnival Paradise. Cruising on this trip were myself, my wife, our daughter (who celebrated her 16th birthday during the cruise), and my daughter's best friend. This was our fourth cruise overall, and the second on Carnival. We have also cruised on NCL and Royal Caribbean. If the Paradise is any indication, Carnival has definitely upgraded their product since our first cruise, which was on the Sensation in 1995.

The Paradise is definitely more subdued than other Carnival ships. There is a noticeable lack of neon lights and bright colors on the Paradise. Everything is more elegant when compared to the Sensation.

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FLIGHTS:

We had originally booked an air/sea package thru Carnival. However, when our flight were assigned by Carnival, we were very disappointed. We were flying out of Harrisburg, PA into Miami. The flights that Carnival arranged for us were on US Air, leaving Harrisburg at 6:30 am, arriving at New York LaGuardia at 7:40, with the connecting flight to Miami leaving LGA at 8:00 am. I was not pleased with leaving at 6:30 am, taking a commuter to New York, and then only having 20 minutes in New York to connect to the flight to Miami. Our original return flights were not much better. We were to leave Miami at 4:30 pm, connect in Charlotte, and arrive back at Harrisburg after 9:00. After contacting our travel agent and voicing our displeasure with Carnival's arrangements, she advised us that we could cancel the Carnival assigned flights and book our own. Since airfares are more expensive out of a small airport such as Harrisburg, we found non-stop flights from Washington Dulles (about 100 miles from our house) on United. By booking our own airfare, we flew at convenient times, and saved a total of $500 over the Carnival air/sea price.

The flights to and from Miami were uneventful and on time during both legs. Both flights were 100% full. On the way to Miami, United managed to lose all of our luggage, even though it was a non-stop flight. The bags were delivered to the wrong gate at Dulles, and never made it onto our flight. We went to United's customer service desk at the Miami airport who was aware of the missed luggage, and advised us that it was already on its way and was due to arrive in Miami about 3:00 pm. The Carnival representative at the airport assured us that they would pick up the luggage and deliver it to the ship prior to our sailing, even though we had opted out of Carnival's air/sea package. When we returned from dinner on Sunday night, all of luggage, except one piece, was outside of our cabin. The one piece missing was our daughter's friend's garment bag, which held all of her dresses, including her formal attire. We found out later that this particular bag did not make it to Miami in time, and would be delivered to our first stop, San Juan, on Tuesday.

Carnival handled the situation extremely well. They issued her a $50 credit to use in the gift shop, plus a free tuxedo rental, which I used on the one formal night. Since the second night at sea was a formal night, she used the $50 credit to buy a very nice dress in the gift shop for $72, which only cost her $22 out of pocket. The bag did arrive in San Juan and was delivered to our cabin while we were in port. Apparently, we were not the only cabin with misplaced luggage, as many men were waiting in line for a free tuxedo rental on the first formal night. Again, Carnival handled the situation very well, even though the lost luggage was not their fault.

Meals
Carnival has definitely improved their menus since our last cruise with them in 1995. At that time, neither lobster tail nor filet mignon was offered during the cruise. Now they are both offered during the week. The meals in the dining room ranged from good to very good, with the exception of the one breakfast we ate in the dining room. Our waiter in the dining room, Mohammed from Sri Lanka, was excellent, as was his assistant, Jose.

The meals in the 24 hour alternative restaurant were excellent. We ate most of our breakfasts and lunches in this area. The 24 hour pizzeria had the best pizza I have ever had - a sentiment shared by everyone in our party. The girls would have pizza for a late breakfast/early lunch, plus as a late night snack. The breakfasts included an omelet station, plus freshly made French Toast, in addition to eggs, bacon, sausage, plus a large selection of cereal, breads, and bagels. Lunch usually featured three or four hot entrees, grilled chicken and hamburgers, plus a large variety of fresh fruits and salads. Dinner had some sort of a carving station (roast beef, ham, etc. plus the salads.

Entertainment
One area that I thought was weak during the cruise was the entertainment. The nighttime shows in the main showroom were fair at best. The first production show (I can't remember the exact name) was pretty lame - it made no sense to us whatsoever. The second production show (Shout?) was pretty good - lots of good music from the 60's, 70's, and 80's. The other performers during the evening shows were somewhat entertaining, but certainly not memorable. The seating in the main showroom was terrible - you had to arrive an hour or so before show time to ensure a good seat. If you were a late arrival, the remaining seats were had obstructed views. Another thing that contributed to the lack of good seats was the saving of entire blocks of seats by one person - when questioned if these seats were taken, the answer was invariably "Yes, they are in the rest room".

With two exceptions, the entertainment in the lounges at night was not good. The two dance bands in the show lounges played to empty lounges every night. The calypso band by the pool was only so-so, compared to other calypso bands we have heard.

The two exceptions were Mele in the American Piano Bar, and a string trio that played classical music in the main atrium. Mele would play to a packed house every night, often foregoing her breaks to continue playing. It was amazing how many songs she had in here repertoire and how many she could play from memory. The string trio was excellent, playing in the evening before and after dinner.

Summary
Overall, this was an excellent cruise, one of the best we have had. Carnival has improved their product over the past few years. The non-smoking aspect of the ship was Paradise (pardon the pun). It was such a pleasure not to be subjected to smoke in the lounges and pool decks. The clientele that sails on the Paradise is definitely a lot more subdued than Carnival's normal passengers. I would sail on Carnival again, but only on the Paradise or another non-smoking ship.