Carnival Cruise Line Baltimore — Local services in Baltimore

Just got off the Carnival Paradise and it was the worst experience I have ever had.

TL;DR- Vacation was riddled with problems, mostly surrounding childcare and scheduling. We would NOT recommend the carnival paradise to any parents of toddlers that would like to enjoy any child free time on their vacation. Camp Ocean was a disaster, the food was terrible, our dinner server was rude, activities were incorrect on the app, so many things went wrong it actually became comical.

I have a 4yo and a 1.5yo. We chose carnival specifically because we heard about how great camp ocean is. We were excited to be able to enjoy some child free time while knowing our kids were having fun in care. We researched as much of the childcare options as we could ahead of time.

While the childcare staff were generally friendly, it's clear that carnival did not, does not, understand family friendly scheduling or the idea of naps, middle of the night bottles, or bedtimes.

Prior to sailing we were surprised to hear that bottle warmers were not allowed and that there were no good options for heating up a bottle. The best we could do (and what a carnival representative suggested) is run a bottle under hot water in our room.

Suite was not ready when we were checking in. Instead of just telling us this, we were "flagged" from being able to check in and personally escorted onto the ship to guest services just to tell us our room was now ready. This immediately started the trip off with a sense of anxiety that could've been resolved if someone could just communicate with us what was going on.

When we arrived in our suite, we found candy wrappers and a discarded shirt under the cushions in the chairs, and a large hairball under the counter.

Childcare was a disaster. We tried multiple times prior to sailing to find out times for childcare, specifically for under 2's and were consistently told that the times varied by ship and we would find out after boarding. When we finally got the childcare schedule we were immensely disappointed to see that the under 2's time was only 8am-10am on sea days and 8am-12pm on port days, meaning we would not be able to enjoy any child free time in the evening. Additionally when dropping off our under 2 child, the staff did not seem competent with young children and would call for me to collect my child immediately when he cried.

We attempted to utilize the childcare as much as we could, both on port and sea days, but the most time we got away was 20 minutes before the staff would call us back. Staff seemed visibly hesitant to take either of my kids in, and after three days we pretty much gave up.

With the lack of evening childcare for under 2, we could not enjoy a sit down dinner. The earliest dinner we could get was 6pm which was too close to bedtime so our kids were cranky and tired. A later dinner wouldn't work because someone had to be in the suite with sleeping kids.

The one night we did try the sit down dinner with tired kids, it was a disaster, and our waiter Richard was incredibly rude to us. We didn't go back.

Outside of camp ocean and the splash pad, there was nothing for my kids to do. No play area with toys or an inside "park" or anything. We spent so much time just walking the halls and riding the elevators because there was nothing else to entertain them.

Internet package didn't work, but it worked "enough" to load Facebook and Instagram, therefore we were denied a refund.

We had to cancel an excursion because there was no way we felt comfortable leaving our children on board without staff being able to contact us.

Camp Ocean activities and times would change with no communication to the parents. Another family said that Camp Ocean kicked out their 9yo and they only knew because they found her wandering around the ship alone!!

So much more but I have run out of characters in this review...

My wife, my two young daughters (4 and 8) and myself went on a cruise that left from Baltimore.

What a fantastic vacation that will be remembered.

Pulling up to the ship is a beautiful spectacular. Boarding the ship is a lot more streamlined from what I remember it being years ago. I think it took about an hour or less to park, load up luggage and get through customs to enter the ship. Wasn't bad at all especially with two young children. It just builds up the suspense for everyone.

Now, the only chaotic time is when you first board the ship. Every single person has the same idea. Go to the top deck or go to where the food is. It is very chaotic but don't let this turn you off. It's only that first few hours as everyone is in the same situation, waiting for luggage, etc. So it's a bit crowded when you first board the ship.

We left on the Carnival Pride and when entering you get a grand view of the lobby, They're playing music. You see towering ceilings that go up several stories. It's a great visual and a fun experience.

By the morning of day 2 everything is much more chill and calmer. People are on different schedules. We didn't have any issues finding a table to sit and eat breakfast, lunch or dinner going forward.

Exploring the ship is fun. They have shops, an arcade, casino, candy shop, etc. Tons of stuff to explore. We saw several shows which are no additional cost. They were great and my 8 year old daughter loved them. We played bingo which was an extra cost but super fun. They had a build a bear workshop that we did twice.

Food was yummy. We did the sit down restaurant for dinner a couple of times in the evenings.

The first stop was Nassau which was pretty. But very touristy as it's mostly shops. There was excursions that you could do though. We chose not to though.

The second stop was Half Moon Kay and, Carnivals private island and it was absolutely breathtaking. White sandy beaches, crystal clear water. You take a smaller boat from the cruise ship to the island. All a fun experience. Swimming in the water we saw fish. We had an absolute blast. I recommend renting an umbrella for your seating and get a float mat. It's worth it. We stayed the entire time on the beach until last call to get off. lol. It was that good. And believe me, last year we went to Ocean City for our family vacation and my kids complained about the beach. The water was very rough with rough waves. Everything was calm at the Private Beach at Half Moon Kay. It's like it was out of a movie.

Third day we went to Freeport which was like the first stop. Excursions and tourist shops. We didn't even end up leaving the ship and just had a relax and swim day on the boat.

If they had a cruise that was 2 days on the water, 3 days at Half Moon Kay, 2 days on the water back, I'd do that cruise in a heart beat!!!! :)

We will be doing a cruise again but I think we will try a more luxury ship Carnival has in their fleet.

Oh, I almost forgot. They had a splash zone for the little ones and water slides. My kids enjoyed both!

Overall, it was a successful family vacation. We loved it. And the crew absolutely couldn't be nicer. They are always smiling, happy, talking to you, cleaning. The staff was beyond friendly. I can't say that enough. They really seem to care about giving you the best time and experience you can possibly get. Great job Carnival. That really does matter with the experience!

And the last thing I want to add, your prices for things on the ship is very respectable. Please keep that going for people. Please. The gift shops, the build-a-bear experience, the alcoholic drinks, etc. They were all right there in line with costs whether you were on a cruise vacation or not. That's one thing that I noticed. There isn't...

Just sailed on the Carnival Legend. This was me and my wife's honeymoon and it was an absolute mess. Let's start out with the beginning days the food is absolutely terrible I've tasted better stuff from a gas station. No really fresh fruit and what they did provide was disgusting. It was the same dinner meals every day either disgusting Chinese, or some sort of overcooked chicken dish. We didn't come on the cruise to eat but we did expect quality food. We wound up eating turkey and cheese sandwiches for the duration of the cruise, yes the food is that bad.

Next thing is our room was extremely uncomfortable and warm made multiple complaints to guest Services nothing was ever done. We went with a large group and everybody had the same issue with their room very warm we were on deck one.

Next thing everything was broken. We visited the gym every morning half the machines are were broken. The men's steam room the men sauna both out of commission for the duration of the trip. The hot tubs around the ship the jets didn't even work properly

The next thing why does the staff allow children in the bar areas they're nothing but disrespectful and rude and loud and that comes from bad parenting they need to ban kids from the bar areas there's no reason for kids to be in there unsupervised. Next thing the pools on the ship are extremely small and just overflowing with bratty kids. Parents letting their kids eat food in the pools and the one pool was shut down because a kid could not control his bowel movements.

Next thing our ship broke down the propulsion system failed. Which took over a day to fix and after doing my research it's a common issue with the propulsion system they use and for whatever reason Carnival ships always seem to have mechanical issues with it. One person in our group is a marine mechanic he said this ship was messed up from the very beginning strong vibrations throughout the ship before the breakdown, stabilizers weren't working properly a lot of people got sick on our cruise.

The good part of the cruise. Half Moon Cay was absolutely beautiful. There was a medical emergency on board which caused the ship to divert to Cape Canaveral, kudos to Carnival to get that patient off the ship to get proper treatment. The person who assigned to clean the rooms she was absolutely friendly and empathetic.

Between the mechanical issues and the medical emergency caused us to get back one day late.. for the inconvenience they opened up the Wi-Fi for everybody for free, and people affected with airfare they are giving a $200 voucher.

The next complaint is there's not much to do on the ship it was the same boring comedy shows day in and day out, some of the shows we went to we walked out because they were absolutely pitiful. Unless you plan on gambling everyday nothing really to do that's exciting.

Carnival Cruise Lines is the Walmart of cruise companies. If you love bad food obnoxious people poor service then this cruise is for you.

If you're looking for good food great times no kids better service look elsewhere. This was my first and last cruise I will never go on...