Has anyone been on Carnival Paradise cruise recent... - Page 4

Pink123 · ‎07-10-2019

@haddon9 wrote:
@Kachina624 wrote:

@songbird wrote:
I don't get them. Why would you go on vacation with 10,000 others? Never been on one. When I go on a vacation, I want a flight over to a nice hotel, ocean front and the ability to stay how long you want to.
@songbird. One reason is that in many cases it's one of the few practical ways to get to some place you want to go, like Alaska. You also have one heck of a good time.

There's no ship that carries 10,000 people.
@Kachina624 Not yet but one cruise that's being offered in the community where my brother lives has a capacity of around 6,000 people.

When he mentioned this one I loved the fact that it was very reasonably priced and we would take a bus to a port in Brooklyn, NY (no airport, TSA & planes) then cruise down into the Caribbean.....sounds good until..

I did not realize just how large a ship and how many people were on this one was until I did some research and checked out some reviews on YouTube. Yikes! That's way too many people for my taste and almost everyone complained about very long lines to do almost anything! No wonder it was such a bargain!

I prefer to spend a bit more if that means going on less trips which is okay with me. We're thinking of a smaller ship going to Alaska next year. I have never been there before.

Your exactly right @haddon9 . The Europeans are tiring of tourit's invading their towns.

Plus it's not just "one" cruise ship going to that same port. It's multiple lines using the exact same itinerary.

It will stop soon in Europe. They willl have to build 1,000 passenger ships or smaller to be able to dock.

Pink123 · ‎07-10-2019

@haddon9 wrote:
@Pink123 That sounds like fun! I would consider an American river cruise too!

@haddon9 Oh my it was so much fun. I read about 3 books on Mark Twain and the mighty mississippi before we left. I wanted to educate myself about all the battles, etc. They have a lecturer on board who has afternoon meetings all about the history of next port and the river in general. He was fun too and we went to all of them. Boy did I learn something what an important part the river is in this country. They carry so much of our goods it's crazy.

They had jazz in the evening with shows from each port while we were heading down from Memphis ending up in New Orleans. No slots and really not kid friendly.

It was a new ship I think in 2021 or 2022 as Europe was still closed down. We wanted to get away somewhere and this hit the spot. Staying in the US but also being on a ship in the water.

The American "Jazz" brand new a few years back had been sitting down in New Orleans as no one was traveling back in 2020 and beyond.

We hopped on as soon as US would allow us. It wasn't bad at all. We had a covid test right before boarding at our hotel in Memphis the morning of departure. Took 10 minutes. Since only 250 passengers we all kind of got to know each other. It's an adult group. Friendly.

I loved Vicksburg and it's rich history.

And the Mississippi, oh magnificent with all these twists and turns. You can here the rudder's on the ship on the sharp ones, becoming more frequent as we headed south toward New Orleans. Beautiful large staterooms. Pricey yes. Hotel night before was included but for the 2 of us on a higher deck but not a suite was about $13,000 for us.

And it get's more interesting. The Mississippi waterline goes very low and very high depending on the year your on it.

We had a year a few years back where the water was quite high.

So the new ships are designed for this and the front of the ship opens up mechanically. It can dock in every port high or low level water and you get off with the sharp front of the ship opens up. Amazing!!

PS. Here is a picture of "American Song" a sister ship to "jazz" built at same time. (boy they had some bad luck as these ships were stuck in port due to covid before inauguration)

Is this cool or what? Can dock on any water level. We were on the one before the highest which is the suites. Cozy.

haddon9 · ‎03-09-2010

@Pink123 I love American history and I'm going to send your post to my brother who might want to go on a trip like this.

He had been living in St. Louis for over 20 years before he moved last summer near me. I had mentioned a trip like this but he didn't sound interested at first. He might change his mind if I can convince him.

I have been traveling with him or girlfriends since my DH is disabled and no longer enjoys travel.

I'm going on my first Viking cruise this summer so I will see if I want to go back in the future traveling on their line.

It really sounds like a wonderful time! Great idea about reading up on Mark Twain before you went.

haddon9 · ‎03-09-2010

@Pink123 That's a beautiful looking ship! Perfect size...not too small or crazy big like so many ocean liners you see today. I love the number of passengers too. The one we are going on this summer has about 190 passengers.

Pink123 · ‎07-10-2019

Sounds great @haddon9. You will love Viking that's for sure I have no doubt.

American Cruise Lines was way beyond my expectations in the best way. Every need was attended to immediately.

Once you enter the world of Viking, you will never want to go back and become very spoiled never to return to the crazy megaships.

I don't look back at my posts, but Viking is exactly the same itinerary as here in US vying for the competition. And sure they are getting it. Could lower prices between the two of them. I think that's fine because their ships are small. I'll bet their fronts open up the same way too and a few might be built in the same manner.

There must be something that some folks want to stay in the US in these difficult times but still be on the water. They feel safer and so it is working.

I get it.

I'm almost ashamed how little I know about our country at times after that trip.

Have a great time and please report back!

Pink123 · ‎07-10-2019

@haddon9 Perfect, we had 250, so almost the same. I'm telling you, it's night and day. I call it real cruising. You will see for yourself

soon. Exciting.

haddon9 · ‎03-09-2010

@Pink123 When I was younger it was so much fun to go on one of those large ships! At the time the max was 3,000 passengers. The kids were young and we went as a family and had some fabulous vacations.

However, just the thought of drinking & dancing all night for 7 nights just does NOT sound like fun anymore!....not that I ever really did that!

What I like about the river cruises is not only the much smaller size but learning about the history of the places one will visit.

Pink123 · ‎07-10-2019

I agree @haddon9 and did the same for a little bit and tired of them.

My career started with NCL then owned by Norwegian Kloster family and Ted Arison an Israeli.

I worked with them for about 7 years. My father was in the travel business and we did travel the world when I was young. When with NCL I must have taken 30 to 40 cruises.

And yes, they did slowly become increasingly larger each year.

With that said, "Carnival" was born. Ted Arison and Knut Kloster had split over a bitter feud and lawsuit ensued. I felt something coming and I was dragged in court by one of them to testify of what I knew.

Bottom line, NCL stayed with the Norwegian

ownership name and Ted Arison had to rebuld his own line. This is today's "carnival" the fun ship. I never liked the name of their marketing and it shows to this date when I see ad's. they are "the fun ship". Oh yes they sure are if you have small children and love gambling which is fine if that's your lifestyle.

Employee's had a choice and sign up date to either stay with NCL or move to Carnival if they even wanted you. I chose NCL as my boss was a major Norwegian executive there but we moved.

Very Interesting times. Son Mickey Arison now run's Carnival. We both were still teenagers, I began at 17 when I signed up to work there. I built my way up too over the years there.

I met my first husband at NCL while he was going to college, LOL.

haddon9 · ‎03-09-2010

@Pink123 Wow very interesting history of those cruise lines! I can remember Kathy Lee Gifford advertising for Carnival and that's when I first became aware of that line.

My parents when they retired did a lot of cruising back in the 1980s and my mother loved it! The ships were certainly much different back then.

Working in the industry was a great way to try out the different ships when you were younger!

Pink123 · ‎07-10-2019

It was a crazy time indeed but I really loved it.

I know so much about these ships, how they operate.

How they can turn around once more to sail off in a mere 7 hours is a task to say the least. I can only imagine on these megaships but they will become less and less.

I'll bet being in the business architectural drawings are in the works as I'm writing how to downsize the monsters. LOL.

A big money loss but they will recoup. You never know in today's world. USA has followed American Cruise line here. Will more be coming?

I'll bet. Hang around here, maybe a little stop to Bermuda.

Someone posted about the islands. and it's so true. Once you've seen them a few times it's the same thing. We never got off the boat in port on Caribbean and preffered being at sea.

These monster ships are not working because they are invasive to our planet as well as the poor people in these toruist destinations.

When I started as a teen I knew they were dumping at sea all the garbage and waste. No regulations.