PART TWO: Getting To Know You

Cuba is obviously the reason to choose an itinerary like this.  No one woke up one day, rolled over and said to their person in tender, loving words “Hey, let’s go to Mexico…and Cuba!”. But Carnival Corporation figured out rather quickly (via Fathom) that there is a problem with the people-to-people requirements that still must be satisfied before coming to Cuba: they are not Fun. Oops.

As Magnificent Mom-Like Margie said when I asked how the first season was going “It’s just a lot of paperwork and nobody likes doing paperwork”.  Stepping over the fact that a lot of Margie’s job is paper-related, she has a point.  This is why we have not touched the topic until now and will only do so now briefly.  Boring.  This will come down to a bullet point list later.  When we get there.  It’s just facts and numbers. They are not going anywhere.  Stop skimming this for easy info on what to do.  It’s coming.  But before it arrives, a day at sea and a day in Mexico which brings the opportunity to talk about surprisingly enchanting Carnival Paradise.

 

Over the years, we sailed all the Fantasy class ships for some memorable trips that will always be a big part of our family history.  Hoping to introduce our kids to the great big wonderful (but sometimes scary) world through the safe and secure lens of a well-orchestrated cruise worked. Everyone survived and life was enriched because of those sailings which, at the time, would leave us all feeling a bit different after each one. Iba would spend the next couple decades talking about those experiences and they all have roots on a Fantasy class ship exactly like this one.

Today, we talk about big new ships in terms of unique features.  That list commonly skews to over-the-top attractions that catch our attention, interested or not.  A race track on the top deck, bartending robot, movie theater and//or some other thing found on land, adapted to sea come to mind.  

The gold bar standard: If the ship attraction is over the top enough to be  called a “Gee Wiz” feature by USA Today’s CruiseLog: it’s a win.  

Along the way to bigger, pay-to-play venues were added based on a number of criteria that more or less boil down to a series of questions:

• Will passengers pay for it at all? If so, what is an appropriate amount?
• Does the attraction support a long-term vision for the cruise line? Cruise ships have commonly been thought of as 30-year assets.  This feature will be around for a long time.

I have to believe that Carnival Cruise Line is banking on that 30-year life as Carnival Paradise, launched in 1998, sails toward 20 years of service. Interestingly, it was the unique detail of this floor in front of the ship’s library that caused me to stop dead in my tracks to consider unique elements of the ship, beginning with the decor.

This intersection of terrazzo, carpet and real wood is one example that brought memories of some recent reviews speaking of the use of texture in design.  That occasion was the launch of Viking Ocean Cruises first ship Viking Star and some undeniable unique elements of those vessels.  Interesting, that Viking platform was built to support an onboard product that promised to bring back much of what the cruise industry had forgotten about. Frankly, after sailing on this ship just a few hours I thought “No, not all ships have forgotten about the passengers” which might sound odd if you consider the attractions available on this ship. The critical phrasing here is not all “ships” have forgotten about passengers as opposed to not all “cruise lines”. Not that Carnival Cruise Line has forgotten.  They have not.  But this ship is designed to be guest/crew interactive like few others sailing today.

I remember there being a lot of criticism about these ships and their gaudy Vegas-like decor.  CruiseCritic message boards, still in their infant stages at the time, were lit up with fights among members on the topic.  Those arguments continued until sister-line Princess Cruises introduced Movies Under The Stars, the first big screen on deck that today a standard feature, like life vests.  That fight pitted purists who wanted the top deck free of obstructions and nicknamed the revolutionary Princess feature “MUTS” (in a less than complimentary way) against a new breed of cruise traveler.  Obviously, we supporters of Movies Under The Stars were right. Just sayin’

Unique features of Carnival Paradise include the ability to eat outside.  It’s a feature that was popular at the time.  It’s also something we were told was not popular.  So cruise lines took that away on new ships to make room for more cabins which was inadvertently popular because more beds kept the price down. Now, new ships have added it back in and eating al fresco is all the rage.  

Also unique, a Teak Deck That Does Not Burn Your Feat In The Heat.  I’m sure the surface treatments used for decks on new ships is very durable and efficient but no one likes to burn their feet.  No one really wants to walk through puddles of water either though so that the deck is higher in the center than on the sides makes for good drainage as well.

Also, a benefit of a guest to crew ratio of nearly one crew member for every two guests (most today run closer to one crew for every three guests), the crew has more time for us.  Scenes like this one happen all the time, all over the ship as crew do their work and have time for guests.  Basically: this ship was built to run a certain way and all the time in the world will not change core design elements with the times.  In other words, a robot bartender here would look stupid. Or be an insult to the ship and her unique character.  We don’t want to mess with that. There is too much history here.

On June 30, 2017, Carnival Paradise became the first Carnival Cruise Line ship to dock in close-by Cuba in the company’s history, again earning a place in the record books. But that was not the ship’s first brush with history.

 

At the time of launch, Carnival Paradise represented a unique concept untried until that time: a completely non-smoking ship.  While supported by health organizations, the fact at smokers paid the bills by buying more liquor and gambling/losing many more $oodles eventually killed the idea. It was one lesson in the “how to make money with a big ship” playbook that will stand for a very long time.   Interestingly, many of the other lessons in that playbook appear to be ignored here.

One of the few remaining Carnival ships without Guy’s Burger Joint or multiple themed dining venues, stack up features of Carnival Paradise and it does not fare all that well in comparison. The problem with that comparison is the comparison itself which is inappropriate. This ship has somehow managed to elude time in many respects, again due to design features.

The pool grill works overtime to keep (good) burgers going true cafeteria line style; efficiently. I say that with a qualified voice, spending a good chunk of previous career as a manager of several of those. The name of the game is how many people come off the end of that line in a minute.  At the time, 8 or 9 a minute was good, anything over 10 = Total win.  Clocking that number on several lunches, they hit 15 without trying.  Guy is not missed. Pre-cruise, that’s the kind of thing that worries me.  Not here. The Guy factor is silent here as are a multitude of dining venues.  

Basically, most passengers have dinner in the restaurant or at the buffet with some choosing the steakhouse or room service and everyone lives.   Imagine that.   

No imagination needed though to see more of what we have been doing so far. We have Flickr photo galleries for that.  Click here to see hundreds of photos, automatically added while we sail.