TNcruising02

On the Mardi Gras during the cruise I was on, they did not have bacon every day.  They did have it often though and it was good.  A crew member served the bacon.

I don't know about the specialty restaurants, but was at the pizza place and someone ordered a gluten free pizza.

Platinum gifts, butter pats, lanyards, and putting room service plates outside the cabin door.  Actually, John said that you should put them outside the cabin door.  So, I guess that solves one issue.  LOL.

I have been to all of those ports and on both of those ships.  I like the ports that the Magic is sailing to better, but I think experiencing a cruise on the Mardi Gras is worth it.  It's an amazing ship and has a lot more variety of options with food and entertainment.

We used luggage valet when we cruised on Royal awhile back.  It was a nice option.  It's too bad Carnival doesn't offer it in Florida.

6 hours ago, nol4am said:

I think the required Negative test before a cruise is the only thing needed. The vaccine is pointless really (when it comes to cruising) as far as spreading the virus. I am vaccinated to be clear and do like knowing everyone else (most) are vaccinated but in reality, it only really matters to a person is if everyone is Nagative when boarding. 

Exactly.  I am vaccinated, but still got covid last year and I was definitely contagious.  Being vaccinated means possibly getting much less severe symptoms.  It does not mean a person can't get covid and spread it.  If the goal is keeping covid off of the ships, then testing is the best way to do it.  Allowing untested vaccinated people will not stop the spread since they can get covid.  

It is surprising how many people think being vaccinated prevents a person from getting covid and being contagious.

They should put him off at the next port and make him find his own way home.  If it's too late for that, his account should be frozen so he can't purchase anything and then he should be on a no-cruise list.

It makes financial sense for Carnival to eventually bring back some version of FTTF.  We always purchased it whenever we could.  We finally reached platinum on our last cruise, so we enjoyed some of the perks.

If they keep letting platinums and diamonds check in earlier than everyone else, that helps.

4 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

 

Maybe not defending the brand but simply defining. This is Carnival folks. This is what you get for your $$. It's the cheapest cruise line and it also has the most budget conscious passengers. That's actually literally the point.

 

It's no secret. If you don't like it sail something else.  Almost every other cruise line serving primarily a US market is anywhere from slightly to drastically more upscale.  Don't eat at McDonald's if you want . . . well, some other burger. 5 Guy's, Gordon Ramsey Burger, I don't even know what a great burger is. Whatever. It's not the same burger and it doesn't exist to try to be the same burger. Go buy the burger you want, the one you like, but what is the point of dragging McDonald's for selling what they sell to people who want it?

 

These posts are basically saying: Hey! Carnival seems to be, well, CARNIVAL! What the heck? I wanted _______.  Okay, duly noted.  Maybe use a travel agent to help match you to what you actually wanted.

 

Peeps have heard it all before. Carnival is the cheapo bargain basement line, we all know it. Is that defending it? I dunno. CARNIVAL IS THE CHEAPO BARGAIN LINE AND WE KNOW IT.  To me it's just the facts. Carnival is McDonald's. Or Walmart, it gets called the Walmart of the Seas. Okay, yes.

 

Posts amazed it is something other than it has ever claimed to be are neither anything new nor "winnable arguments."  They're telling everyone what we already know as if they have just discovered this reality for the very first time and as if there is not already an infinite number of gigabytes of review data explaining what Carnival actually is.

I agree.  When my husband and I cruise, it's usually to visit the ports, watch comedy shows, and relax.  We could cruise on any line we want, but we are fine just chilling out.  There's no need for fancy furnishings or amusement park rides for us.  We do like some variety, so we have been on several different lines.  If people want fancy and new, a more elegant decor, or any sign of wear diminishes the quality of their vacation, then there are a lot of options with other lines or even with the Mardi Gras.  

I only noticed rust on some of the ships after I read about it on CC.  It was just not something I ever thought about when I cruised.  But I know that type of thing really bothers many people, which is why it's great that there are so many cruising options.

On 3/16/2022 at 11:10 AM, kingston13 said:

New thing I saw recently. I was able to get the clam shell reserved online. Just had to prepay

That's good to know.  We always get a clamshell every time we go to HMC.  They provide a good amount of shade and it is nice to have our own personal space.

7 minutes ago, pinto18 said:

We normally don't do excursions but people seem to love Rhythms of the Night in PV

Yes, this!  It was one of our best Carnival excursions.  We had such a great time and the show was absolutely amazing.  I highly recommend this excursion.

14 hours ago, cruises42 said:

Did you go earlier than your check-in? I'm wondering if we don't get an early check-in time if we will be able to get in early (we are diamond and have a suite).

I arrived at 9:30 and was able to go through the priority line (to the left when you get upstairs) even though my appointment time was later. I still had to wait until my zone was called, but it was nice not standing in line to check in.  Since you have a suite, you will not only get to go through the priority line, you will have a separate waiting area and get to board first.  Enjoy!!

I loved the elevators on the Panorama.  It was great to have people spread out depending on the floor they chose.  It prevented everyone waiting to get on an elevator from going to one elevator.  

We recently cruised on the Mardi Gras and they have the old style elevators.  It was so much worse.  Those elevators were so tiny and everyone waiting in the area tried to get to one when it stopped.  So, if it was crowded and you weren't standing in the lucky place, you would sometimes have to wait longer than people who just walked up.  I have no clue why they didn't install the great system in the Mardi Gras that they did on the Panorama.

When I cruised on the Mardi Gras on March 26th, they said that anyone who had the word priority in their boarding pass could go through the line for suites to check in early.  Suites boarded first and everyone else had to wait until their zone was called to board the ship.  Since platinums could check in 16 days early, I had zone A02.

As far as getting off of the ship, we were given luggage tags with #4 on them.  However, we were also able to carry our luggage off ourselves and meet in the theater at 7:30.  Knowing that always means earlier, we showed up earlier than that and were led off of the ship at 7:15 in the order we arrived to the theater. I believe diamonds met in the Punchliner Comedy lounge and suites met somewhere else.

It looks fine to me, but I tend to focus on other things.  The shower doors on the Mardi Gras are very nice and so much better than shower curtains.  That entire ship looks great.  

I think anyone turned off by certain appearances should give the Mardi Gras a try.  The decor is very tasteful and everything is new.

3 minutes ago, jabberjaw070596 said:

I boarded Mardi Gras on February 19 and lady checking me in only looked at my app and never asked for paper copies 

I guess they must have realized an issue and had the people checking in for the 26th look at paperwork.  Maybe someone else who sailed on the 26th or later can chime in.

I boarded the Mardi Gras out of Port Canaveral on Feb 26th.  The lady checking me in said that she would also need to see my paperwork.  She said Verifly was still in the testing stages and some of the documents that Verifly accepted weren't accurate.  She checked both my Verifly information and all of my paperwork.  There were two people checking everything.

I found a great deal with the Icing on the Cake promo.  I booked a suite on deck 15 on the Celebration in January for $592.50 per person, plus taxes and port fees for a total of $1,477,72  I can't believe this deal!  We have never stayed in a suite because the cabin has never been important to us since it's usually just my husband and me.  But wow.  It will be a neat experience.

Congratulations everyone on the awesome deals!

32 minutes ago, che-vos said:

Sailing on March 26.  Will be my wife and 4 children.  Does everything get added to the app on my phone?  Or do my wife and I both have the app (two devices/accounts) for our individual information, and add kids to one of our accounts?

Everyone can be added to one account on one device.  

8 hours ago, CheckersMidwest said:

So how does it know where you're traveling? Someone above posted about a flight out of the country. Creepy it 'knows'.  We have a cruise in 2 weeks, think I'll give it a try. Tip to Europe in June with my daughter, wonder if it would be useful at all, still waiting for the specifics on their 'green pass', etc and what we need to do. It's group travel, so the company will take care of what they can. Another cruise in July. I'll try it this time & see how it goes.

 

How do you upload test results? We'll be getting a paper from the Health Department. Take a picture?

 

 

I took a picture using my phone of the negative test results and uploaded it.  The App lets you browse to attach something or take a picture.

3 hours ago, tytanbri said:

How did this work? I have completed my information and received the green check mark. I wasn't sure if he had to do it on his phone or we could do it together on one.

You can do it on your phone on your account by adding him as a companion.  Then you can enter his information and also upload his vaccination card and negative covid test.  For those items, I just took a picture of them on my phone and uploaded the pictures.  Then it took the App a little while to review and accept them.

13 minutes ago, bar1068 said:

Did you use just one "version" of the app, or just one device with the app for yourself and husband?  I just downloaded the app and must have dorked up something. I set up the app with me as the "primary" traveler and my wife as a companion. Somehow it all got all twisted around, so I canceled and plan to start over. Certainly a work in progress.

I just have one version of the App on my phone and through the Home screen options I was able to add my husband as a companion.

3 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

Oh supposedly last night around midnight that kids play area that’s fenced in by the lower level Serenity..supposedly a couple got back there and they were doing…loud things.

Never a dull moment! Haha

It looks like you are making great use of the Cheers package.  Those look like some tasty drinks.

2 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

Guy's burger and a beer.  Good times.

Thanks for posting all of those pictures of your excursion, along with some of the history.  I enjoyed reading your posts and looking at the pictures.

Cool pictures!  It looks like you had a great day.