Mardi Gras - Aug. 21 - 28, 2021, 7 Nights - Western Caribbean Live

[kuceramd]

@twangster  Thank you for all the wonderful images and information! 😀 We sail on the beautiful MG next Saturday on this same itinerary, so we've been following your wonderful chronicles on this wonderful ship. We're extremely grateful that you've taken the time to provide such an extensive and detailed knowledge base and insightful commentary for your fellow cruisers following in your footsteps! Mike & Sue

[Nunagoras]

May I come in? For the ones that don't know well me; I'm more prevalent on the MSC boards where I belong as MSC is my favorite cruise line to date. Never done a Carnival cruise, Carnival is not very present here in Europe, apart with Costa that may be considered such an European Carnival to an extent.

 

As all say; many thanks to the lovely review and photos!... Surely your photography are far away from what most of us can go!... As I said on the MSC thread, from your lens you captured the essence of what a great cruise should be, despite each company defined identity! It doesn't really matters on whether one likes or dislikes. It just transports us from the lovely cruise one can make of each and every cruise ship!...

 

Don't know if it is because of the agreement between cruise lines and the European countries that build cruise ships stating that above 200k GT ships must have a short summer season in Europe at their 5 years term mandatory dry dock year, or if it is just global thinking marketing strategy, but as someone has said above in this thread, this doesn't seem like the same Carnival that has done all the older vessels!... Mardi Grass seems very well positioned on the 4 star to 4 star plus cruising experience!... While retaining some of the "party ship" environment, this ship seems very well equipped to attract such a broader international crowd or very well traveled cruisers of all ages with families on the first spot!...

 

Even being myself a Portuguese, I would with no doubt to sail that ship!... Let us to see what they'll have for us in 5 years!...

 

Many thanks @twangsterfor the lovely review!... See you on your next adventures elsewhere!... Have a nice day and nice sailings!...

[Sea Dog]

@twangster Thank you for your great work and incredible pictures. I've never been on a Carnival ship but this one has me thinking about it. Loved the stars pics as I know how hard they are to photograph. Curious what shutter speed did you end up with? Again fantastic review. Thank you!

[Mrs.Dukes]

Twangster, thanks for the awesome trip report. I enjoy reading your reports usually on Royal.Mardis Gras looks like a great ship! 

[DeanDeeDee]

Thanks so much for your fabulous review.  I am looking forward to our Mardi Gras cruise in October.  You have provided me with such good info and beautiful pictures.

[40yearcruiser]

21 hours ago, twangster said:

 

 

Another ship was coming into port.  That's the MSC Divina who will start service in another month's time.  

She's been anchored off the coast recently and I have her booked soon so I was eager to get a good look at her.

 

 

 

Thanks for the photos of the Divina. We will be on her Oct. 3 so will maybe share the ship with you? We have been on her twice before, including a 22-day transatlantic. She is a beautiful ship.

We get to experience the Mardi Gras next Saturday! Thanks for the fantastic introduction to the ship with your amazing photos. Happy cruising in the future!

Edited August 30, 2021 by 40yearcruiser

[aztekpm]

Thanks for bringing us along. I've followed many of your other reviews on other lines and appreciate them all. So many beautiful pictures that show the true love of cruising.

Edited August 30, 2021 by aztekpm

[TNcruising02]

Thank you for posting such a great review with awesome pictures!!

[Habubabu]

Thank you so much for all of the wonderful photos and information!

[twangster]

15 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

@twangster Thank you for your great work and incredible pictures. I've never been on a Carnival ship but this one has me thinking about it. Loved the stars pics as I know how hard they are to photograph. Curious what shutter speed did you end up with? Again fantastic review. Thank you!

 

Some on that night were ISO 500, f4, 20 seconds @ 12mm full frame.  Others were ISO 2000, f4, 12mm for 13 seconds.  

 

I took many photos to get a few good ones.  A moving ship is not an ideal platform and sometimes a small lurch at the wrong time can spoil a photo so it takes a lot of patience and many attempts.  

 

My ultra wide angle lens is not the best for night sky photography.  With a faster lens I could produce better results but in the interest of traveling light I only bring my 12-24mm f4 lens with me.  

 

The Sony A7III has a pretty good noise profile that I can deal with in Lightroom.  My older Nikon DSLR would have produced results I probably wouldn't even post here.

 

Sony has a wonderful 14mm f1.8 lens that would be great for this but it's price is more than this cruise cost me.  Buy another lens or go on a cruise?  The only reason for getting that lens would be for this one purpose so for me I'd rather buy another cruise and I'll live with the meager results of my slower ultra wide zoom.

 

The milky way will soon leave us for the season to go visit our friends down under.  Maybe next year I'll buy a faster lens... but I'll probably go on more cruises.  

[twangster]

I've been processing some 360° photos but I have to host them on the 360 site Momento360.com since they won't embed on this forum.

 

Here are some links:

 

Mardi Gras Forward Balcony in Port Canaveral 360

 

Mardi Gras Beach Pool Deck 360

 

Mardi Gras Tides Pool 360

 

Mardi Gras The Patio Pool 360

 

Mardi Gras Wake View 360

 

Mardi Gras Serenity Pool 360

 

Mardi Gras Serenity Early Morning 360

 

Mardi Gras Funnel 360

 

Mardi Gras Water Slides 360

 

Mardi Gras Mini Golf 360

 

Mahogany Bay Dock in Roatan 360

 

Edited August 30, 2021 by twangster

[SNJCruisers]

16 minutes ago, twangster said:

I've been processing some 360° photos but I have to host them on the 360 site Momento360.com since they won't embed on this forum.

 

Here are some links:

 

Mardi Gras Forward Balcony in Port Canaveral 360

 

Mardi Gras Beach Pool Deck 360

 

Mardi Gras Tides Pool 360

 

Mardi Gras The Patio Pool 360

 

Mardi Gras Wake View 360

 

Mardi Gras Serenity Pool 360

 

Mardi Gras Serenity Early Morning 360

 

Mardi Gras Funnel 360

 

Mardi Gras Water Slides 360

 

Mardi Gras Mini Golf 360

 

Mahogany Bay Dock in Roatan 360

 

These 360° photos are FANTASTIC.  Thank you. 

[twangster]

More 360° photos. 

 

In some of these I dropped a logo on the bottom since the tool I use to remove myself was messing up the floor and I didn't want people to think the ship's decking was that way in real life.  

 

Ignore the globe in the nadir (bottom of 360 sphere) or any artifacts from my touch up tool.

 

 

Mardi Gras Serenity Predawn 360

 

Mardi Gras Serenity Seaday 360

 

Mardi Gras Water Park 360

 

Mardi Gras Bolt in Action 360

 

Mardi Gras Bolt in Action #2 360

 

Mardi Gras Bolt Funnel 360

 

Mardi Gras Deck 8 Hot Tubs Starboard Side 360

 

 

[twangster]

Here is a perpetual motion animated GIF of the wake view.

 

 

Plus another at night.

 

 

[wegiekat]

Thank you so much for the great cruise report.  I was on the same cruise and while sitting here at my 1st night back at work it was great reliving the cruise through your awesome photos, videos and commentary.

[Tinkerbellsparkle]

Wow! That was an amazing post, with amazing pictures! Thank you for taking time to capture and share.

Will now be looking at booking MARDI GRAS!!! 🤩

[matt082600]

Great review!   Thanks for taking the time to do it.

[lidoplease]

Stunning pictures! Thank you so much!