Kate

Age: 25
Occupation: Student
Number of Cruises: 1
Cruise Line: Carnival
Ship: Paradise
Sailing Date: January 17th, 2005
Itinerary: 4 day Baja

Arriving:
I was very impressed with the speed and ease of getting on the ship. If you fill out the online fun pass before getting to the ship you will have to wait in a smaller, much quicker line.

Luggage:
Our luggage was at our room maybe 30 minutes after we reached our rooms. It was very quick. The curb side porters were very friendly and helpful.

Rooms:
Our room was a good size however we were on the Empress deck right under the kitchen or something. There was some weird noises at all hours of the night. We never found out what exactly it was. The anchors were also very loud in our cabin. Our room steward was very attentive to our needs. We had to have him bring in more pillows because the two they had per bed were not enough. The television programming was horrible and the movies that were played were old and they were rerun throughout the entire cruise.

Dining:
We loved our waiter and assistant waiter. They had great personalities and had the greatest smiles. They were very entertaining during the little show the wait staff put on during dinner. The only complaint is with the Maitre D was that we did not see him the whole cruise until the last night when he wanted his tips.

Excursions:
Catalina one person in our group scheduled the snorkel tour and was very disappointed. The water was very cold and the water was very murky. If you are looking for tropical fish this is not the tour for you. In Ensenada we took the Blow hole/winery tour. The bus ride is about 45 minutes long to the blow hole. Our tour guide was very funny and broke up the boringness by cracking jokes and telling us what we were seeing. When at the blow hole you have to walk down this path that is lined with vendors who are very pushy and are in your face trying to get you in their shops. The blow hole is really neat. The winery was a brief tour of the bottling factory. Not real interesting but we did get to taste the wines they have there. Next we got dropped off in Downtown to go shopping. The same thing happens there with people getting in your face trying to get you in their shops. We saw some very sad things like the chick let boys and a young mother breastfeeding her child on the cold cement asking for money. If you plan on buying anything in Ensenada make sure you barter with them. You can usually get them down quite a few dollars. If you want to buy alcohol buy it in town and not at the little shopping plaza they have set up when you get off the ship. It is much cheaper in town.

Entertainment:
The Comedian show for adults only was hilarious. Meryle Hobbs is great. If you are easily offended I suggest you do not attend his shows. The Carnival legends show was also very good. Bingo is quite expensive and quick. The Normandy lounge is large and it is hard to find a good seat so get there early and try to sit on the lower level up front.

Disembarkment:
We had to get off early because one person in our group had an early flight. This did not matter though. My luggage that was tagged orange to be taken off first was actually in the very last bunch of luggage taken off the ship. We sat there for 2 hours waiting for my luggage. The custom officials would not let them retrieve any luggage for anyone. It was very frustrating. If you can take the luggage off yourself I suggest doing that.