Posted By: RobT
Paradise Bahamas 2-day cruise - 12/25/2018 04:59 PM
I saw Paradise Bahamas was offering a 2 for 1 deal on their 2-night cruise to the Bahamas out of the Port of Palm Beach, so I thought it would be a perfect birthday present for my wife. While her ticket was free, there was still a $88 charge for port charges and other fees. Also, there is a valet parking fee of $19 per day. When I signed up for the trip I noticed that they had special free dinner for veterans in November at their specialty Admirals steak and sea food restaurant. I had to send in my proof of service before the trip, but it made of a special dinner for us.
We knew the ship was not full, and we found out later from our taxi driver that only 600 people were on ship that could handle 1,800 passengers. November is not the best of time to go to the Bahamas. It was really cold in Southern Florida on the day before our sailing. It was a clear day in Grand Bahamas, but the temperature was only about 70 degrees. The locals told us the water would be fine, just do not come out of the water as you will really be cold.
There was a lot of confusing information about check in and boarding time. The weather was cool so we did not get there too early. We got there about 1:30 and were going to roll our carry-on bags, but they told us our room would not be ready until 3:00 and we could not take our bags into the buffet if we want to get something to eat. So we ended up checking our carry-ons. As it turns out, the rooms were available around 2:00.
After you check in, the next step (after they try to get your picture) is to book your meal time. That was when I booked the dinner for the first night at the Admirals restaurant. We also book the first seating from 5:45 to 6:30 on the second night. When we went to dinner that night, we saw someone turned away who had not booked a time. That person was told to come back for the second seating at 8:15. They also had some on-time seating as well, but we did not use it. Both dinners were very good.
The next step is booking excursions. The weather was quite cool so we did not book any of the water related excursions. We planned to take the group rate taxi to the Lucayan Market. That worked okay except we planned to stay there too long. There are two nearby hotels, but the one on the beach was closed due to hurricane damage. The other hotel was not on the beach. So we were left with wandering around the market. We arranged for the group taxi to take us back at 3:00, which was too long for what was open and going on. But our group got back to the meeting point early and we left around 2:30.
There were production show both nights. Not a big audience, but the shows were good. Of course there was a casino. The low number of passengers meant that the table games were not heavy used. I like to play blackjack with a full or nearly full table, so that was difficult to find.
Overall we enjoyed the trip, but the weather made it disappointing in the Bahamas. There used to be a day cruise to the Bahama (leave early and return late the same day), but I could not find that type of cruise in Southern Florida.
We knew the ship was not full, and we found out later from our taxi driver that only 600 people were on ship that could handle 1,800 passengers. November is not the best of time to go to the Bahamas. It was really cold in Southern Florida on the day before our sailing. It was a clear day in Grand Bahamas, but the temperature was only about 70 degrees. The locals told us the water would be fine, just do not come out of the water as you will really be cold.
There was a lot of confusing information about check in and boarding time. The weather was cool so we did not get there too early. We got there about 1:30 and were going to roll our carry-on bags, but they told us our room would not be ready until 3:00 and we could not take our bags into the buffet if we want to get something to eat. So we ended up checking our carry-ons. As it turns out, the rooms were available around 2:00.
After you check in, the next step (after they try to get your picture) is to book your meal time. That was when I booked the dinner for the first night at the Admirals restaurant. We also book the first seating from 5:45 to 6:30 on the second night. When we went to dinner that night, we saw someone turned away who had not booked a time. That person was told to come back for the second seating at 8:15. They also had some on-time seating as well, but we did not use it. Both dinners were very good.
The next step is booking excursions. The weather was quite cool so we did not book any of the water related excursions. We planned to take the group rate taxi to the Lucayan Market. That worked okay except we planned to stay there too long. There are two nearby hotels, but the one on the beach was closed due to hurricane damage. The other hotel was not on the beach. So we were left with wandering around the market. We arranged for the group taxi to take us back at 3:00, which was too long for what was open and going on. But our group got back to the meeting point early and we left around 2:30.
There were production show both nights. Not a big audience, but the shows were good. Of course there was a casino. The low number of passengers meant that the table games were not heavy used. I like to play blackjack with a full or nearly full table, so that was difficult to find.
Overall we enjoyed the trip, but the weather made it disappointing in the Bahamas. There used to be a day cruise to the Bahama (leave early and return late the same day), but I could not find that type of cruise in Southern Florida.
