My mom and I went on a 5 day cruise to the Cayman Islands and Mexico for my birthday. We used to go on cruises every year in March/April, but we haven’t had the chance in the past couple years. And, now, since I live in Tampa Bay, it was the perfect opportunity to start cruising again. This was my mom’s 13th and my 9th cruise, and we sailed on the Carnival Paradise, which is an older and smaller ship. I love the smaller ships though, mainly because they don’t come with gigantic lines that the larger ships have.

Click here for a link to the Carnival Paradise FunTimes for our cruise. (Day-to-day ship schedule)

Day 1: Carnival Paradise Sail Away

Nisheet drove us to the Tampa port, and since we arrived around noon and there were 2 cruises leaving, there was a ton of traffic! We quickly found free parking on a side street though, and then we were off to board the ship! Since mom has cruised so much, she has platinum status on Carnival. This allowed us to skip most of the lines and head straight to priority boarding. It also meant that once on the Carnival Paradise, we could immediately drop our bags off in the room instead of waiting until later in the afternoon like most of the cruisers.

We booked an inside room (I have previously always had a balcony room), and I was pleasantly surprised by how large the room was. There wasn’t enough space for a sofa like there is in the balcony room, but they were able to arrange the 2 beds along separate walls creating ample space in the middle of the room. The room furnishings included 2 twin beds, a tv, a desk/dresser with mirror, 2 closets, a nice sized bathroom (for a cruise ship), and a fake window so you didn’t feel trapped in the room. One thing to note though is that the Carnival Paradise does NOT have a hairdryer in the room. For this particular cruise, I really enjoyed our room and didn’t miss having a balcony. On a longer cruise though, I might have preferred one with a balcony.

When dropping our bags in the rooms, we noticed that we had a gift waiting for us. Nisheet sent a chocolate birthday cake and cruise cash for drinks! Wohoo! And, the cake was delicious and moist!! It was the absolute perfect way to start off the cruise.

 

 

After digging into the cake, we decided to head up to Lido for some lunch. Cruising is all about eating and drinking, right? From experience, we both knew that we wanted to skip the buffet lines and go straight to the deli for some mouth watering sandwiches. I ordered a turkey wrap, and mom got a Ruben. We took our food outside, and I got a phone call. Nisheet was standing at the bottom of the ship waving at us! ha!

Since we had now stuffed ourselves silly, we thought we would walk it off while exploring the ship. Our room and the main atrium was on the 7th floor, our formal dining room was on the 8th floor along with shops, the 9th floor had lounges and a casino, and the 10th floor had the informal dining with a buffet, a deli, a grill, and a pizzeria. There were bars scattered throughout the ship, 2 pools (outdoor), multiple hot tubs, and an adults only “serenity” area to lounge in the sun.

On one up the upper decks we found a mini golf course, and because it was still early on the first day, not many people had found it yet. Game time!

It was then drill time. Everyone had to find the way to their assigned emergency station and listen to what would happen in case of a real emergency. Immediately after the drill is when the ship leaves port, so from experience we knew to grab a bon voyage drink and head straight to the decks. There is usually a dance party going on, and you get to watch Tampa fade away in the background.

A couple hours after you leave Tampa, you sail under the Sunshine bridge. It is gorgeous at night all lit up, and the ship looks like it is just barely going to miss hitting the bridge!

We had late night dining, so we headed back to our cabin to freshen up and then went to the dining room. Our waiters, Cyril, Fathor, and Jovy, were fantastic!! After the first night, they knew exactly what we wanted to drink and brought it out without asking. Our tablemates were also fabulous. We were seated next to a grandmother/granddaughter pair and 2 gals in their 30s. Carnival knew what they were doing!

Each night, our room steward left us adorable towel animals on the bed.

 

Day 2: Carnival Paradise Sea Day

Our first full day on the Carnival Paradise was a Sea Day, meaning we weren’t stopping in a port that day. We got up and wandered up to the Paris Restaurant on Lido for breakfast around 8 am. We kept it light because we wanted to go to brunch later, so we grabbed a bowl of fruit and some coffee. If we had wanted, we could have gotten a heavy breakfast here as they offer pancakes, eggs, grits or oatmeal, bacon, sausage, made-to-order omelets, cereal, pastries, etc.

After breakfast we headed one level down to the adults only serenity to jump in the hot tub and lay out. We weren’t going to let the overcast, drizzly, windy day stop our fun cruise!!

 

After spending a few hours at Serenity, we decided to head down to the formal dining room for brunch. Mom got a delicious salmon eggs benedict, and I ordered a pork chop smothered in gorgonzola sauce.

And then, after a few more hours of lazily wandering around the ship and watching bits of the entertainment (competitions at the pool, singers in the lounge), it was time for more food. This time we went to the American bar for tea. They have the cute little tables for two set up with china and fancy folded napkins. A waiter immediately brought a box full of tea choices for us, and then we were served one little treat after another. First came the cucumber sandwich, then a scone with lemon cream, then smoked salmon, then a macaroon, then a mini peach cobbler, then cake… we were stuffed!

Since we had eaten so much, we desperately needed a walk, so off we went. We walked all over the outside decks and watched storm clouds rolling in. It began to sprinkle so we moved our walk to a covered area, and then we noticed the real rain coming. As we watched the rain get closer and closer, the wind pick up. And, it got windy fast! And it brought the rain to us much faster than anticipated. Luckily a nice gentleman just inside saw our predicament and helped us open the door to get inside. There was no way we could have opened the door against that wind by ourselves!

After our little adventure outside, we headed back to the cabin to read a little bit and get ready for yet another meal. It was elegant night in the formal dining room! Not only did that mean an amazing meal was ahead of us, but it also meant mom got a plate full of treats since she is platinum! Chocolate covered strawberries, truffles, macaroons… yum!

If you have ever cruised on Carnival before, you might know that everyone always looks forward to the lobster on elegant night. Some people even order 2 or 3 plates of them! But sadly that’s no more. They took lobster off the menu for 5 days cruises. But don’t be too sad; they replaced it with some new delectable delights. I had 3 perfectly seared scallops, a crispy caesar salad, and  blue crab ravioli followed by bitter and blanc. I can honestly say that I did not miss the lobster one tinsy bit.

After dinner, as tradition, we stopped by the bar to get a drink. Then we were off to show time. It was a rock show with fantastic singers and dancers that kept us highly entertained for the next hour or so.

Day 3: Grand Cayman

Grand Cayman isn’t my favorite port, but sooo many cruises seem to stop here. WHY???? Perhaps it’s just the way cruise ships work, but it really is my least favorite cruise port.

We stopped here around 12 years ago, and it was miserable. There were 7 (I think?) cruise ships in port that day, so the little city was so crowded that you had to fight your way into stores and restaurants. We went on a shore excursion to swim with sting rays, and I was extremely bored. We got to touch a sting ray and then I just stood in the water and waited as 5 billion other people touched the sting ray. Maybe it was just too crowded, but it was not an enjoyable experience.

This time we planned to take a taxi to a resort and spend a few hours on the beach, but it was overcast and rainy, so we scratched that plan. We took our sweet time in the morning and got off the ship late. You have to take a tender from the ship to the island, but since we had taken our time, we didn’t have to wait in any line.

Once on the island, we just wandered around to different touristy shops. I had a mission in mind. Buy the absolute hottest hot sauce I could find for Nisheet! One of these days I will find one that is too hot even for him!

 

One fun thing to do is try the rum cake at all of the shops. There are some pretty tasty ones! The chickens agree as they are really quick in cleaning up the street crumbs!

After finding some hot sauce (still to be determined if it is hot enough for Nisheet), we grabbed a seat at a beach bar called Paradise. We had great views of the ship, and the drinks were excellent! However, I would absolutely NOT recommend this bar. (1) They didn’t want to seat us near the water because they could make more money on a table of 4. Only when I started to walk out did they finally accommodate us and sat us on the 2nd row of tables. (2) The prices look high but once you do the conversion, the prices in US dollars are just ridiculous. We didn’t notice this until our bill came. (3) The conch is old and disgusting. And they really couldn’t care less that they served us terrible food.

So, once again, I was not impressed with Grand Cayman, and it will probably be another 12 years before I’ll give it another shot.

Once we were back on board, our day got a lot better. We got a deli sandwich (since we couldn’t eat the food at Paradise), and then I sat out on deck until the boat pulled away. By then it was almost time for drinks, another delicious dinner, and dancing with our waiters.

When we finally made our way back to the stateroom for the night, we found one more surprise for us. Champagne, chocolate covered strawberries, and a ship-on-a-stick! Sneaky mom had contacted the cruise director about my birthday, and he sent us treats to celebrate. How sweet!

Day 4: Cozumel and Playa del Carmen, Mexico

Unlike Grand Cayman, Cozumel is one of my favorite ports, and it did not disappoint! We booked the Underground River & 5th Ave Shopping excursion which was on the mainland in Playa del Carmen. (We went on a similar tour 12 years ago and had a fantastic time.) Because it was on the mainland, the excursion took almost the entire length of time we were in port, 7 hours! We were the first group to get off the ship and we were scurried through a security check point to ensure we didn’t take any fruit/veggies/meat into Mexico, and then we boarded a ferry to the mainland. Once there, we met our tour guide and boarded a bus to go to the caves. So much transportation! We finally made it, and it was worth it!

Everyone was provided a locker and water shoes (I wore my chacos though instead) and were given the option of wetsuits. Our guide highly recommend against the wetsuit though, so no one (except him) got one. We were also given instructions to wash off all sunscreen so as not to contaminate the water. Once everyone was ready, it was just a short walk to the adventure.

The first cave we went in was the “testing spot.” It was a small cave that allowed us to get used to the underground water temperature which was very refreshing! And, it was gorgeous! Trees and plants were growing out of the dark cave into the sunlight. I can’t even begin to describe how breathtaking it was.

Next, our guide asked us who wanted to go on an optional trail through the cave. We all eagerly raised our hand. We climbed over the path railing without helmets and only 1 small flashlight for every 2 people. We waded through water in a narrow tunnel, and then we had to contort our bodies around rocks while keeping our head above the water and then scramble up more rocks. Definitely fun. Definitely exhilarating. The guide definitely would have been fired in the US for pulling a stunt like that…lol.

Up next was the second and larger cave. We were given the option of jumping or going down the chicken ladder. I was a chicken, but I still made in before most people! As we swam around, the guide pointed out different fish (blind catfish and guppies), bats, and formations. Then we came to the “spa room” and were pampered. Our guide showed us how to use sand to exfoliate our skin and wash it off with the mineral rich water. Wow. My skin was so soft after that!

As if my day wasn’t magical and amazing enough, we were then led to another cave where a traditional Yucatan lunch had been prepared for us. We ate tacos, tamales, rice, beans, and papaya in a cave lit by candle light. AMAZING experience.

And it still wasn’t over. Next up we were led to a tequila shack where we were told all about tequila and shown the proper way to taste it. And they let us try out our tasting skills on 7 different deliciously smooth tequilas while being told about the rich history of making tequila.

We still had one more stop before heading back to the ship. 5th Ave. Most people took this opportunity to go shopping, but mom and I headed straight to Senor Frog’s and got a drink right on the beach. What a fantastic way to wrap up the most amazing day.

Day 5: Carnival Paradise Sea Day

Our last full day on Carnival Paradise was another Sea Day, and we spent it in much the same way as our first Sea Day, so I won’t bore you with all the details. One difference though was the sun finally decided to come out for a while! Wohoo!

Day 6: Leaving the Carnival Paradise 🙁

It is always so sad on the last morning of the cruise. When you wake up, you are already in port. We left our room around 7:45am with baggage in hand. The first stop was to pick up all the booze we had bought. Then we headed to breakfast. By the time we were finished with breakfast they were calling our deck # to leave. The lines weren’t bad at all, and we were off the Carnival Paradise, through customs, and out the door within 15 minutes.

What a great and memorable birthday cruise on the Carnival Paradise and I’m already looking forward to my next one!

 

Click here for a link to the Carnival Paradise FunTimes for our cruise. (Day-to-day ship schedule)