Carnival Paradise resumed guest operations from Tampa over the weekend, making it the 22nd Carnival Cruise Line ship to return to service.
The ship joins Carnival Pride in the western Florida port city, which resumed voyages from Tampa on November 12. Both vessels sail year-round from Port Tampa Bay.
To commemorate the special day on Saturday, the Carnival Paradise team greeted their first guests on board with a special welcome to convey their excitement in getting “Back to Fun.”
The ship is now on a five-night cruise to Mahogany Bay, Isla Roatán, Hondoras and Cozumel, Mexico.
Carnival Paradise has begun a schedule of four, five, and six-night cruises from Tampa, to destinations including some combination of Key West, Florida; Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico; Roatán, Honduras; Montego Bay; Jamaica; Belize; and Grand Cayman.
Carnival Paradise launched in 1998 as Paradise, and was Carnival’s — and the world’s — first completely non-smoking cruise ship. Even though the concept was welcomed by many cruisers, Carnival discontinued the ship’s no-smoking policy in 2003, citing poor revenue as the reason.
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In 2007, the prefix “Carnival” was added to Paradise‘s name, in keeping with the other vessels in the Carnival fleet. Currently, every ship in the line’s fleet has “Carnival” at the front of its name except for the newest one, Mardi Gras, which was named after Carnival’s very first ship.
Features on Carnival Paradise include the adults-only Serenity Retreat, BlueIguana Cantina, the RedFrog Rum Bar, Camp Ocean kids’ clubs, Guy’s Burger Joint, Spa Carnival, and the Punchliner Comedy Club.
Carnival Cruise Line began service from Tampa in 1994, and it now offers nearly 200 sailings per year from the city, carrying over 200,000 guests annually.
Carnival will have its entire fleet back in service by May, when Carnival Splendor begins sailing from Seattle to Alaska.
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