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You might want to at least give it a try - It all depends on what you are looking for. I know I'm really in the minority here, but I liked the Havana area on Mardi Gras better than Panorama (on Panorama it was too crowded for me). But I will admit I typically sail when the ships are really full. I don't do the pools/hot tubs, so I'm happy to just be guaranteed to find a quiet lounge chair without a lot of noise or people around (and Mardi Gras was perfect for that, super quiet and relaxing). No chair hogs/savers at all. Although the pool is not large, it's certainly big enough to get in a cool off, and at least on our cruise, it was so rarely used, 1 couple (or 1 family) usually had it all to themselves. I would book the Havana area on the Excel class ships every time if there weren't such a significant upcharge for it. Coincidentally it was also April when we were in our Havana Cabana on Mardi Gras and because of spring break, we over capacity with a ton of kids. But you never would have known in the Havana area.

Agree, great advice - be sure to keep an eye on your credit card (or whatever form of payment you used) even after your final paper statement is issued on the ship, as I've heard of people getting charged for laundry and beach towels days later. It's easy for me to keep on top of charges in the app while on the ship, but I always forget after I board the plane to go home. Out of sight our of mind I guess.

Thank you so much for posting this - it reminded to go back and see if any bungalows had come available and I just rented one. To answer your question, I'm a minimalist so I don't buy "stuff" but I do buy excursions. Train rides are my favorite - we have done the Panama Canal one and the scenic White Pass train in Alaska (my favorite). But I do have a family member who has purchased everything from jewelry/watches/liquor to several pieces of artwork.

The best way to know if this is good deal/offer based on your booking, is if you know how much you would have paid for a balcony cabin at the time you booked (versus the interior). I just did a mock booking on Mardi Gras for March 4th. I can book a balcony (double occupancy) for $350 per person more than an interior. Granted this example doesn't take into consideration the deck and location of the rooms, etc, but you get the idea. So assuming your upgraded rate is a total of $350 for 2 people, it sounds like it could possibly be about 50% less than you could have booked it for originally (depending on when you booked of course). In general for me it would not be worth it, but much of it is personal preference. We've been on Mardi Gras twice (balcony cabins both time) and there is so much to do on that ship, we spent very little time in the room. Also we recently sailed the Mexican Riviera during hurricane Kay and while many of the people with balcony cabins said the high winds caused their cabins to be noisy all night (for multiple nights), it was perfectly quiet in our interior cabin. Of course that was a different ship/different time of year, but food for thought. 🙂

Thank you for the suggestion (I will do this too). We are on Spirit for 16 days next fall, and I'm ridiculously traumatized by bugs (have always lived in a climate where we just don't have to deal with them very much).

I'm not really a breakfast person, but I do like the yogurt parfait on the brunch menu (and I haven't found it offered anywhere else on the ship).

Last month, we were off the ship by 7:35 (carried our luggage). We are platinum and they had told us to meet at 8:00 for priority debarkation, but by the time we got there at 7:30, everybody was already gone.

We are platinum/total of 21 cruises on Carnival, with a history of booking both inside and balcony cabins. Only 1 offer in 14 years (and it was since cruising resumed) - we were booked in an aft facing balcony cabin on Miracle. I don't know what the offer was specifically, as it was gone by the time I responded.☹️

Great review, thank you. I totally agree with you - we absolutely loved our Havana Cabana on Mardi Gras during spring break. But also like you, we booked at the height of the pandemic and got an incredible deal. The prices now seem so high, I'm not sure we'll do it again.

We were on Panorama (Vista's sister ship) about a month ago, and one night all the toilets (in cabins and public areas) in the front section of the ship (all decks) quit working. We noticed it in our cabin about 9:30 pm and it got fixed sometime overnight. I know these ships are constantly in service and things like this will happen, but at the time, you get kind of nervous not knowing if the problem will get fixed or get worse.

We have sailed out of Long Beach 4 times in the past year (we were also Platinum, with early arrival appointments). Out of the 10 cruises we've done since cruising resumed, I'd say Long Beach is one of the best/most organized. Every time we were there, they would not even allow people into the terminal until their stated arrival appointment time (with at least 3 staff people at the entrance to the terminal checking all boarding passes). They had very organized lines outside the terminal (based on arrival appointment time) but an open path to the front door for current/late arrivals. Twice our plane was late and we were able to bypass the lines outside, show the staff person at the door our arrival appointment time (which had passed) and were let in immediately. That's not to say we didn't wait in line once inside (it's a process to load 4,000 passengers) but it wasn't bad. Our experience was back when they were still covid testing people at the pier, which did create some delays/longer waits I think.

I think you will find Celebration to be a fun new experience - Carnival has nothing that compares to their new Excel class. Although I have nothing against Legend (Spirit class is also one of my favorites) we have really enjoyed Mardi Gras. With our first experience on Mardi Gras being at 50% capacity, I was worried a full ship would be overwhelmingly crowded, but It really wasn't (when we sailed above capacity on spring break). We loved it so much we have already booked Celebration (January) and Jubilee (NYE 2023). Like you said, all the added food and entertainment options are definitely a benefit of these larger ships.

I totally agree (and have said that here before). I've been on both Radiance and Sunrise since they both supposedly had their $200 million renovations. They did a much better job on Radiance, Sunrise is the exact example of lipstick on a pig. And even with Radiance looking much more like a newer ship, these are still old ships being refurbished and you will find issues stemming from that. One of my travel companions had a constant leak/drip from the sprinkler system head in their cabin (which kept a large portion of their carpet damp the entire cruise).

Approximately 11:10 both times for us (in August of 2021 and April of 2022).

We did not have a good embarkation experience on Miracle in San Francisco, but debarkation went much more smoothly. We did priority debarkation (platinum) and it was very quick organized. Sorry, I can't remember exactly what time we got off (usually I have an uber receipt or something to reference) but we walked to a nearby car rental location and rented a car for the day.

I have used a visa gift card to reserve a cruise, so I'm assuming it would work the same way on my onboard account. Very easy and I had no fees associated with the gift card, but maybe the purchaser did? I don't know - it was a gift.

I'm surprised to hear that, but I haven't been reading the Alaska reviews. It's been a while but we have been on Spirit (and her sister ships) multiple times and really like the Spirit class, but I suppose it depends on what you are looking for. It is definitely an older ship, and does not have as much to do as the Vista or Excel class. But if you want a nice relaxing vacation without waiting in a lot of lines, and just a less crowded feel overall, the Spirit class ships are the best. I love the "jungle" on the promenade deck (unique to spirit class ships). The spirit class also offers the best space ratio per passenger across the Carnival fleet. We could always find a quiet place (both inside and out) to relax or read. On some of the newer ships there are times when you can't find a table hear the buffet because they are so crowded, that is not an issue on these ships. We have found the crew on the smaller ships to be outstanding (they explained to me that the more experienced crew prefer working on the smaller ships). If I remember correctly, Spirit has a retractable roof over one of their pools, making it ideal for Alaska. But I should clarify, decor and things like that don't matter that much us (we do care that it's clean/maintained) so I don't recall for sure, but I'm guessing Spirit has the older classic interior design/decor. We are booked on a 16 day cruise next fall on Spirit and are really looking forward to it.

We have been on Mardi Gras twice, and our embarkation was okay both times (but not my favorite). We had a 10:00 - 10:30 Arrival Appointment time, with A01 boarding group. When you get there that early, you usually end up waiting with a huge crowd in the boarding area waiting room (but the check in lines go quickly). Both times we were there, the PA system was terrible (could not understand the announcements at all). So each time a boarding group was called, a crowd would rush towards the boarding area, then after clarifying which group they were calling for, they'd ask people to sit back down again. It was kind of tedious. Finally they stated holding up signs (specifying which boarding group they were calling). Unless you are in a suite - if that's the case it's fine. The guests in suites have their own waiting area and a staff person goes and gathers everybody from that room first and shows them to the boarding area.

Don't be nervous - you are going to love it! Panorama is such a great ship, we just got off about 10 days ago. Even though hurricane Kay messed up our trip a bit, we still really enjoyed it. In fact, I just booked the Panorama again for next 4th of July. It's a big ship and even though we were above capacity at 4,200 it really didn't feel crowded. My favorite tip - go to JiJI's for lunch on embarkation day. I was shocked to find it nearly empty when the buffet was crazy busy (and tables were hard to find). The food was fantastic, service was great, and there were only about 10 of us total in the whole place. One thing that is kind of confusing, in the HUB app, they will call it the Asian Wok (or something like that) but it's actually in the same restaurant location (JiJi's Asian Kitchen) that you pay extra for at dinner (but it's included for lunch). Sadly, after a few days others caught on and the line was pretty long, but it was such a nice reprieve on embarkation day.

The only time we put money on our account in advance is when we use a Carnival gift card. If I buy the card ahead of time (through a specific vendor) we get double the air miles - it's just a way to maximize our rewards. It's similar to what was mentioned earlier (buying a gift card at a discount) - just depends on what type of incentive/reward you prefer.

Oh wow, so sorry for their loss. Yes, call Carnival as soon as possible. I have had good luck getting my reservations changed in the past, but I have never tried that close to the cruise date. Sorry, I guess I'm not much help. Is there any chance their credit card company offers any type of insurance/benefit?

Agree - same at Christmas. I was surprised - typically I'm fine with MDR food, but the Turkey was not very good on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

We were on Mardi Gras for our daughter's spring break (high school) last year and the ship was absolutely packed (we were told completely full). But worse than the ship, were the airlines. Airfare was so expensive, everything was oversold, airports were a chaotic nightmare. If we didn't have to fly across the country it wouldn't be such a a bad memory, but I will avoid traveling that time of the year.

I'm curious too (thanks for keeping us posted) - one of my family members recently had an issue with their $1000 gift card being posted to someone else's OBC account, but this occurred after we were on the ship (by guest services). It was eventually resolved but (and Carnival gave us a complimentary dinner at the steakhouse to make up for it).

What a deal - we absolutely loved our HC patio and spent a lot of time there. Enjoy!