Mardi Gras 9/4-11/21 Somewhat Live Thoughts and Information

[kwokpot]

Hi everyone. Anthony here. I wish I had the patience to write a witty and fun filled blog of my journey but that's not the person I am. Instead this will be an informative and direct thoughts from my experiences on the Mardi Gras.

Some background. I along with my husband Robert are 60 years old (my 60th is next month) and while we are native NY'ers we have been living in Philadelphia for the past 15 years. We are both extremely fortunate to have retired early at 45 and we occupy our time with travel around the world. We are avid cruisers and this present cruise is our 87th cruise. This is our 20th with Carnival; 30 Royal; 18 Celebrity; 16 NCL; 3 Princess; 1 MSC.

Our last cruise was on Royal the first week of March 2020.

My husband Robert is a prolific gambler,both on land and sea. We've already made two trips to Vegas this year (both fully comped including airfare) and living in Philly we're only one hour from Atlantic City where we go at least two weekends each month.

On this trip we're on a Carnival Elite cruise. This gave us a completely comped balcony cabin, $500 casino cash, Cheers for two, basic Wi-Fi for two, two way transfers to the port; &150 spa credit per person,and other benefits.

I'll be highlighting my thoughts on different parts of the trip. As insight to how I see things my interests are architecture and design, fitness and healthy eating, enjoying the sun,spa,travel and travel planning, personal finance While I enjoy a few drinks each day I'm not a barfly by any stretch of the imagination.

So stay tuned for more info!

 

[kwokpot]

We flew from Philly yesterday and stayed at the Country Inn and Suites Orlando Airport for the dirt cheap price of $79.88/nt including taxes. It was booked directly with Radisson. We had stayed here two years ago and knew what to expect. They have since renovated the hotel and while it looks just fine it's definitely a budget place and not necessarily where I would want to stay for more than one night. We checked in at 8:45pm and left at 10:00 am so you can't complain for less than $80. It was clean, convenient and safe and that's all I was looking for.

We arranged for the personal car service transfer provided by Carnival to pick us up at 10:00 am since we had a 11:00 -11:30 check-in time.  The SUV came right on time and we had a great ride. There wasn't any traffic until we arrived near Terminal 3. At 10:45am it was a stand still and it was a 20 minute delay getting dropped off. 

 

We are expert at travel packing so we only had two carry- ons suitcases, a backpack and a small underseat bag, so four small pieces all together. 

No need to drop luggage off so we carried on all four pieces. I will say the elevator to access the check-in terminal is poorly marked for a brand new terminal.

 

We queued up inside the terminal at 11:10am and was able to walk on the ship at 11:35am. While the terminal is large and new looking I don't particularly care for the way it's laid out or the way it looks.  

Edited September 4, 2021 by kwokpot

[kwokpot]

I'm in my cabin now and they just announced over the PA they're closing all guest services for the safety briefing. I thought they don't do that anymore ? We already went to our muster station and it's acknowledged in the app.

[kwokpot]

Thermal suite pass is $179/7day/1 person. 

If I remember correctly it was $129 before boarding? Or was it $149?

[Colorado Beach Bum]

We thought that was silly too, but I guess they still have to sound the horns for everyone to hear. 

[kwokpot]

We're in cabin #9363 which is an extended balcony starboard side directly over the Grand Central Atrium. The balcony is quite large, about 11' x 7'. It's completely covered and extended furthest out of any balcony location. There's only 2 chairs and a small table. I'll see if I can get a lounger brought in.

[kwokpot]

43 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

I'm in my cabin now and they just announced over the PA they're closing all guest services for the safety briefing. I thought they don't do that anymore ? We already went to our muster station and it's acknowledged in the app.

They are using the same SCRIPT for the announced safety briefing over the PA as if we're all at our Muster stations ( they even announced you can't be using your cell phone while the safety drill is going on 🤨🤫🙄) the old way. 

[kwokpot]

They just announced that refueling is taking longer than usual and sail-away is at 8:00pm instead of 4:00pm. This will impact our arrival to Cozumel on 9/6 by delaying it two hours, so Noon instead of 10:00am.  To compensate we will depart Cozumel two hours later at 8:00pm.

Edited September 4, 2021 by kwokpot

[snowballs mom]

57 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

Thermal suite pass is $179/7day/1 person. 

If I remember correctly it was $129 before boarding? Or was it $149?

It was $129 for 1, $199 for a couple  when I pre-purchased for our October Panorama 7 day sailings a couple of weeks ago.

[kwokpot]

32 minutes ago, snowballs mom said:

It was $129 for 1, $199 for a couple  when I pre-purchased for our October Panorama 7 day sailings a couple of weeks ago.

That's what I thought. So it's $50 more onboard. But we have obc and the one of the casino benefits for this Elite cruise is a $150/pp spa credit so that's why I waited until I was on board.

 

 

 

 

 

[snowballs mom]

Just now, kwokpot said:

That's what I thought. So it's $50 more onboard. But we have obc and the one of the casino benefits for this Elite cruise is a $150/pp spa credit so that's why I waited until I was on board.

 

 

 

 

 

I only purchased early because DH would be really disappointed if they were sold out when we board. Now I am really happy I pre-purchased, since we don't have casino perks of any sort😉.

[kwokpot]

Pet peeve:

 

I always enjoy using the gym at sail-away (no I don't do the sail-away deck party) and it seems they always do the spa raffle in the gym at the same time.

[kwokpot]

Dumbbells on the rack 5-100 lbs.

 

[mkcurran]

Have fun!

[alrichards4003]

1 hour ago, kwokpot said:

Pet peeve:

 

I always enjoy using the gym at sail-away (no I don't do the sail-away deck party) and it seems they always do the spa raffle in the gym at the same time.

Did you see a schedule for the exercise classes for the week?

[kwokpot]

27 minutes ago, alrichards4003 said:

Did you see a schedule for the exercise classes for the week?

I'll check that for you.

[kwokpot]

Under a ten minute wait via app while still in the room for Cucina. They seated us at a table for four. Service is quick and friendly.

[alrichards4003]

1 hour ago, kwokpot said:

I'll check that for you.

Thank you.

[kwokpot]

Facilities issues:

In the Spa Men's Locker room all the lockers have inoperable locks. The electronic locks need to be reset,but that's an issue for some reason?

 

One of the two showers in the Spa Men's Locker room has no hot water.

Edited September 5, 2021 by kwokpot

[kwokpot]

4 hours ago, kwokpot said:

We're in cabin #9363 which is an extended balcony starboard side directly over the Grand Central Atrium. The balcony is quite large, about 11' x 7'. It's completely covered and extended furthest out of any balcony location. There's only 2 chairs and a small table. I'll see if I can get a lounger brought in.

Yes we can hear the music performance in Grand Central.

Edited September 5, 2021 by kwokpot

[d-train]

4 hours ago, kwokpot said:

We're in cabin #9363 which is an extended balcony starboard side directly over the Grand Central Atrium. The balcony is quite large, about 11' x 7'. It's completely covered and extended furthest out of any balcony location. There's only 2 chairs and a small table. I'll see if I can get a lounger brought in.

 

Any chance you could take a couple pics of the balcony?

we have that room in a couple months!

 

let us know if there are any issues with sound bleeding through from Grand Central to please.

 

Have a great time!

 

[kwokpot]

Thoughts on dinner at Cucina del Capitano:

The decor of the restaurant is very nice but a bit stereotypical of Italian-American restaurants or what you would see in a national chain restaurant. 

 

The tables were nicely spaced and we never felt crowded or claustrophobic.

 

The meal was good but was below the quality of the regular dining rooms of the new Celebrity Edge. My husband had the Spaghetti Carbonara and it was no different than what was normally served in Carnival's main dining rooms. 

 

While much has been discussed about the smaller portions until you see it in person it's a bit of a surprise. Some of the previous bloggers amazing photos of all the food actually made it worse, not better. Case in point there's a beautiful photo from the previous cruise of the roasted broccoli and cauliflower side dish from Cucina. If you've seen the photo it looks like half a head of broccoli and cauliflower is served. In reality the dish is literally one floret of each, no more than one inches high. Really.

 

My husband and I discussed it and we would not pay a cover to dine in this restaurant. There was no dish that was elevated beyond an included fare dining experience. 

Edited September 5, 2021 by kwokpot

[kwokpot]

22 minutes ago, d-train said:

 

Any chance you could take a couple pics of the balcony?

we have that room in a couple months!

 

let us know if there are any issues with sound bleeding through from Grand Central to please.

 

Have a great time!

 

There is sound bleeding through from Grand Central, although it's not constant. I'll update you on the noise penetration as the cruise progresses.

[d-train]

59 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

There is sound bleeding through from Grand Central, although it's not constant. I'll update you on the noise penetration as the cruise progresses.

 

Thanks so much!

very much looking forward to that balcony!

i see a late night run for a lounger in my future...lol!

[kwokpot]

Tenet playing poolside.