Writer Brenda Bell based this independent review on her 4-night Mexico cruise departing from Los Angeles, California.

The newest of Carnival's eight Fantasy-class vessels, Paradise offers three- and four-day cruises to Baja that lure an all-age, partying crowd. Cabins are larger than those on many ships, but most passengers spend little time in their cabins, gravitating instead toward the action elsewhere, including the slot-happy casino, the plush Normandie Lounge’s comedy shows, and Rex Disco’s pulsating sounds. From the atrium‘s glass elevators gliding to the glass-domed ceiling to the glamorous bars with sumptuous leather seating, Paradise glitters and glows like a stage set.

Formerly Carnival's only non-smoking vessel, Paradise may have reversed her no-smoking policy this fall, but she still offers a more smoke-free atmosphere than found on her sister ships.

Why Paradise?

• Shorter itineraries: Three- and four-night sailings are convenient for couples seeking a weekend getaway and families who don't want to miss much school. During the summer, nearly half of the passengers may be kids.
• Enticing public spaces: Classical music wafts from the sky-lit Atrium Bar; butter-yellow leather couches, glossy wood, and copper accents highlight the Queen Mary Lounge; and wide-open decks offer room for everything from shuffleboard to volleyball.
• Spacious fitness/spa area: Sea-view windows surround a bright space filled with up-to-date cardiovascular and weight machines; ample massage rooms; and twin marble-clad, adult-only hot tubs.

Who should go
Paradise cruises appeal to younger professionals, couples celebrating a new or old marriage, and groups of all kinds (companies, friends of both sexes, and family gatherings). The ship carries passengers of many ethnic groups and income levels, and her Las Vegas-caliber shows seem to entertain them all. There are plenty of singles on the ship, though few travel alone. A full menu of children's programs gives parents a break to find their own fun.

Who shouldn’t go
Affluent boomers who expect more pampering and older cruisers who prefer a more sedate atmosphere might explore other options. Despite the comfortable luxury suites and extravagantly designed public spaces, this ship appeals largely to a middle America crowd for whom pricing is an important consideration.

Hits and misses

• Don't miss: Late-night comedy shows -- some R-rated, some not -- feature headliners who've earned their chops on cable TV and other high-profile comedy venues.
• Best part of the ship: The pretty Promenade Deck offers just about anything you’d expect to find on a cruise ship, including blackjack, before- and after-dinner drinks, karaoke, Vegas-style revues, and midnight movies.
• Best experience: Dance the night away to the lively band in the Leonardo Lounge, with its marble columns, copper bas-relief art, and cushy dove-gray leather settees.
• Best shipboard activities: Watch the world go by from the Atrium Bar, while a piano-and-violin trio plays Beethoven and soft light pours down from the glass-domed ceiling.
• Needs improvement: A bench next to the dirty-towel bin makes for an unattractive waiting area for expensive spa treatments. Also, the ship's maps and daily newsletter are confusing to read.
• Activities to skip: Bingo games are too brief to satisfy real bingo fans. By contrast, the talent show (heavy on middle-aged lounge singer wannabes) seems to go on and on.

How to meet the captain
The captain generally does not take his meals in the ship's restaurants and therefore has no captain's table. He does host the ritual cocktail party, where the crew is introduced and passengers can get their photographs taken with the captain in his dress whites. As on other cruise ships, bridge tours have succumbed to post-9/11 security regulations, but a video tour of the bridge is broadcast on in-cabin TVs.

Main dining rooms: Destiny and Elation
Fanciful lights and ceiling treatments, clusters of cozy booths, and honey-colored wood accents give these large dining spaces a surprisingly intimate feel. There are two fixed seatings for dinner and open seatings for lunch and breakfast. The international menu (Chateaubriand, ancho honey-basted salmon, jerked pork loin) includes a nightly vegetarian entrée. When the lights blink, it's time for waiters to demonstrate their goofy line dance and for uninhibited diners to join them.

Paris Restaurant
With its salmon-and-teal color scheme and oversized Art Deco-inspired lighted pillars, this casual lido restaurant is an attractive setting for buffet meals and midnight spreads featuring such items as dessert crépes. Lunch and dinner include roasted meats sliced to order, but overall the food falls short of the décor. Passengers head to a separate buffet station for salads, soups, and desserts, and to a quiet corner bar for cocktails and TV. Outdoor seating is available.

Other dining options

• Pizza Bar: Located in the back of the Paris restaurant, this 24-hour stand serves up pizzas to order, with a selection of gourmet toppings for custom creations.
• Grill: Facing the main pool, the grill is open for lunch and early dinner, serving standbys such as hamburgers with sautéed onions and sides of fries.
• Sushi Bar: Almost hidden on the Promenade Deck by the Atrium, this tiny one-man operation dispenses sushi snacks (California rolls are popular) from 5:30 to 8 PM.
• Café Il De France: The only place on the ship for hand-pulled coffee drinks, this walkup bar is open until 1 AM. Try the Haagen-Dazs milkshake with a shot of espresso.
• Room service: 24-hour room service -- mostly consisting of sandwiches, salads, and desserts -- is complimentary (there's a charge for beverages), and delivery is fairly prompt.

Heard on the deck (from a couple dressed in jeans and T-shirts on formal night): "We're having sushi and Caesar salad in our room. We're happy."

Best dining

• Dish: Cherry wood-smoked duckling breast with citrus segments and red wine/onion marmalade yields tart and sweet undertones in a succulent alternative to beef.
• Dessert: How does the kitchen produce hundreds of delicate Grand Marnier soufflés, bathed in rich vanilla sauce and served piping hot? Enjoy the mystery.
• Restaurant: Elation and Destiny dining rooms offer identical dining experiences, with classically prepared cuisine and attentive service in a white-linen setting.
• Food seminar: There really are no food seminars on this cruise.

How to…

• Get a table for two: Less-crowded later seatings (8 and 8:30 PM) in the two main restaurants offer the best chance for couples to snag a private booth for themselves.
• Celebrate a birthday or anniversary: Stop by the Formalities shop to purchase a celebratory cake, and presentation will be arranged at your dining table.
• Change seating: Dining times and table assignments aren't fixed in stone. If you'd like to change yours, the maître d' will try to accommodate.
• Dress for formal night: Though tuxes and floor-length gowns (and the occasional pair of jeans) make appearances, most guests opt for suits, ties, and dressy but not-too-formal wear.

Tips:

• When the ship is full, the best time to seek a table change is after the first night's dinner, when the maître d' has a better idea of who's sitting where.
• Want a table by the window? Ask for seating at one of the tables for eight which flank both sides of the main restaurant.
• Bring your camera to the mouth-watering display of dozens of cakes at the Grand Gala dessert buffet. There's a photo-op session before the eating begins.
• Families will save money with soda cards for the kids ($16 each), which permit unlimited refills of soft drinks and juices.

Carnival's relatively large cabins (each averaging 185 square feet) make even inside cabins feel less claustrophobic. Apricot-and-gray color schemes predominate, and indirect lighting creates a soft glow. Beds are set up in twin or king configurations, and closets and a corner table offer ample suitcase space. All-tile bathrooms, bathrobes, and built-in reading lights are nice touches. Balconies have just enough room for deck chairs. Wall-mounted TVs have few channels and cannot be rotated for better viewing.

Penthouse suites aren't the top-tier suites, but are located amidships on Deck 6. Each has a furnished balcony, hot tub, refrigerator, and sitting area with an L-shaped leather sofa. They're actually below the uppermost suites, which also have balconies but smaller sitting areas and the same size bathrooms as regular cabins.

Cabins for guests with disabilities
Most of the ship's handicapped-accessible cabins are located amidships on Empress Deck. Rooms have flush thresholds and bathrooms have grab bars and roll-in showers with fold-down shower seats. While outfitted for wheelchair use, these cabins are also available for passengers with disabilities who do not use wheelchairs.

While sunbathers and kids hang out on the pool decks, the party action (night and day) is on the promenade level below, with vast expanses of leather seating, granite and marble, metal art, and glittering lights that change colors. The busy casino, the smokers' paradise at the Rotterdam Bar, and the drop-dead gorgeous Normandie and Queen Mary theaters draw crowds until the wee hours. Not to mention the five other bars, two dance clubs, and promenade lined with cushy settees for seeing and being seen.

Bars, lounges, and casino
Blackjack and craps players pine for more tables, but devotees of slot machines find plenty to like in the casino, where the energy level builds as the night wears on. (Slot tournaments are raucous!) Enjoy after-dinner brandies and rum zombies in the mahogany-wrapped Rotterdam Bar, but for a faster pace and younger crowd, there's the Rex Disco around the corner (look for the snarling leopard above the door). Darkly lit with pulsing red lights, it's like being inside a great-sounding video game.

Swimming pools
Claim your favorite deck chair with a blue towel from your room (one per passenger), but don't be hoggish -- it's bad shipboard etiquette. By day, the swimming pool on Lido Deck (with two hot tubs and a 115-foot-long waterslide) is full of kids, while teenagers dance to reggae tunes on the bandstand. By evening the place quiets down, and couples pause at the teak handrail to watch the sun sink into the Pacific. On Verandah Deck, an adult-only pool, topless sunning area, and two hot tubs are often empty.

Shows
Get to the Normandie Lounge shows early for seats up front on the leather couches. Late arrivals will find better viewing in the balcony. Costumes, music, and production values are Vegas-quality, with lithe showgirls and male dancers strutting their stuff in the song-and-dance revues. (Don't miss "Here's Hollywood," a "Motown" meets "Phantom of the Opera" extravaganza with a glam Aretha-sounding ghoul.) Comedians’ routines often come in R-rated and PG-rated versions.

Heard on the deck (onstage during an audience-participation game show): "Is anybody from Bakersfield out there? Uh-oh. I've got to move."

Shore excursions
Shore excursions are abundant and well organized. Customers can view choices online ahead of time but must wait until embarkation day to book. Try eco-rafting, kayaking, and snorkeling on Catalina Island; and horseback riding, golfing, and winery tours in Ensenada. In both ports, passengers can also arrange their own tours and excursions directly with local companies, and sometimes for less money. On Catalina, disembarkation may take 30 minutes or longer, so plan accordingly. Information on Paradise excursions can be found online, but reservations are made on the ship. Cancellation fees apply if cancellation is made within 24 hours of port arrival.

Weddings and vow renewals
Want to tie the knot on Paradise? Shipboard weddings are performed while the ship is docked in Los Angeles, and reception options range from simple (open bar with hors d'oeuvres and cake) to fancy (sit-down formal luncheon with all the extras). Packages start at $750, and arrangements are made with Carnival's wedding coordinator. For renewing vows (the ship's captain does the honors) and impromptu romantic events, check in the Formalities shop for details (also the spot for that last-minute bouquet of roses, for $48).

Looking for…

• Quietest spot: The Blue Riband Library houses books and ocean liner artifacts in gleaming brass-fitted cases. Bring your laptop to use the wireless Internet access (for a fee).
• Liveliest spot: Take your pick -- the Rex Disco, with Janet Jackson on the video screens; Leonardo lounge, with three generations grooving to "Pretty Woman;" or the casino, at 1 AM.
• Most popular spot: Hands down, the Atrium Bar -- if you're not drinking there, you're stopping to observe the scene from one of the five floors that circle above.
• Best view: The adult-only hot tub on the aft end of the top deck gives the best views of Catalina Island at sunset, with the violet hills receding in the distance.
• Best drink: Many votes go to Carnival's souvenir drink, the Fun Ship, combining amaretto, rum, vodka, apricot brandy, and fruit juice. In its favor: $4.95 refills.
  
  

Tips:

• When bigger kids take over the main swimming pool on Lido Deck, the children's pool on the aft end of Promenade Deck is considerably more peaceful.
• Remember your cruise with a realistic-looking fake tattoo, air-brushed onto your skin at the kiosk on Lido Deck. The ink washes off in a few days.
• Tired of the party scene? Sprawl on a cushy sofa in the darkened Queen Mary Lounge for the midnight movie. Pretend it's your living room -- with a bar.

Heard on the deck (to a young man choosing an obscure symbol for his air-brushed tattoo): "How do you know that doesn't say 'kick me'?"

Spa and salon
From the frangipani Indian scalp massage (under $30) to the couples aroma massage with hot stones (over $350), the spa offers a full range of body, face, and hair treatments. There are saunas and steam rooms for men and women, a half-dozen spacious massage rooms, and hydro-massage showers that feel great while leaving hair dry. People relaxing in the Romanesque twin hot tubs view, incongruously, the folks sweating in the fitness room. Massage treatments get good grades, but the hard sell on spa products does not.

Fitness areas
The spacious fitness room has enough cardiovascular and weight machines so that it never feels crowded, plus wraparound windows for some of the best views on the ship. Killer kickboxing and spin classes ($10 each) leave people panting on the floor in the aerobics studio. Personal training sessions ($75) target the pounds gained at the midnight buffet. Outside there's a sports court (adult dodge ball is a hoot), jogging track, and pricey golf lessons ($45 per half hour). The nonstop Paradise sport? Ping-pong.

Tips:

• In addition to embarkation specials, watch for port-day discounts on spa treatments. (Try the heavenly "Body Glisten" exfoliation and massage.)
• The "free" analysis sessions, of hair, skin, and body parts that need improvement, lead to aggressive sales pitches for expensive spa products.

Need a wrap for those cool nights on deck? Pick up a fake pashmina shawl in the $10 gift boutique. Forget to pack your exercise togs or formal wear? The ship sells those, too, and the slinky beaded dresses ($145) are marked down (along with some other gift shop items) once on the last day of the cruise.

When up to half of the 2,000+ passengers may be kids, cruise ships must plan accordingly, and Paradise does a good job. Camp Carnival activities are grouped by age (2-5 years, 6-8 years, 9-11 years, and 12-14 years) and run from 7:45 AM to midnight (for a babysitting fee, children can stay until 3 AM). There's something for everyone: Ice cream parties, story time, treasure hunts, bingo, movies, and a kids' talent show in the grownup Queen Mary Lounge.

Tip: Teenagers usually run in their own packs, but Camp Carnival does have supervised activities for 12- to 14-year-olds, mostly held in the teen club and Rex Disco.

Heard on the deck (from a father of five, traveling with his family): "I haven't seen my 17-year-old since Tuesday. The kids are already asking to come back."

Paradise is the only Carnival ship that sails 3- and 4-day cruises year-round from Long Beach. Both 3- and 4-day sailings stop in Ensenada, with the 4-day itinerary also including a stop at Catalina Island.

• Cruise line - Carnival
• Ship name - Paradise
• Type of cruise - Fun/Casual
• Total cabins - 1026
• Private balcony cabins - 54
• Decks - 10
• Passenger capacity - 2052
• Total crew - 920
• Officers nationality - Italian
• Ship size - Large
• Year entered service - 1998
• Tonnage - 70367
• Ship length - 855
• Registry - Panama