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

[Joe817]

4 hours ago, kwokpot said:

Dumbbells on the rack 5-100 lbs.

 

Dang! They have more dumbells than our local YMCA! That looks like it should be in a Gold's Gym than a cruise ship gym! Are there that many muscle bound blokes on a cruise ship to justify that over abundance of arm exercises? I didn't see that many. 

[DGP1111]

5 hours ago, 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.

 

Oooo, perfect example of a Win-Win. 👍  Nice!!  Have a great cruise vacation, guys. 

 

.

[bobbyg11]

5 hours ago, kwokpot said:

Dumbbells on the rack 5-100 lbs.

 

This is so exciting. Only Horizon has had 100lb dumbbells in the past. I love not having to shortchange a workout.

[KmomChicago]

8 hours ago, d-train said:

 

Thanks so much!

very much looking forward to that balcony!

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

 

Have to wonder if loungers will be added at some point. I don't know the standard for extended balconies on other Carnival ships but I'd be disappointed with the extra space and no ability to stretch out and have long naps out there. 

[bafinegan]

11 hours ago, d-train said:

 

Thanks so much!

very much looking forward to that balcony!

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

yea, we have one of these balconies for our Jan 2022 cruise.  May have to bribe the cabin steward😁😉

[kwokpot]

Late morning report:

11:15am and out in the Serenity area all the way forward for the first time this cruise. You have your pick of any chair or lounger.

 

 Had brunch in main dining room with a 10 minute wait using the app. Sat all the way aft in the Palm restaurant on deck six. You can feel the rumble of the ships engines, much like other ships. Brunch was fine. Helpful hint: Depending on what food items you're ordering you can let them know how/when they should serve your order. Otherwise they will make certain assumptions about serving danish, yogurt, cereal, oatmeal and such as a precursor to your main food item whether there is one of not.

Edited September 5, 2021 by kwokpot

[princess76021]

thank you for taking us along!!!

hugs

nicki

[kwokpot]

After lunch report:

Both the main and aft pool decks are crowded with people. Went to pickup food at Street Eats and Big Chicken. Went to Lido Marketplace to find a table inside. It was quiet, calm and cool place to eat. The food at Big Chicken is very good (both fried and grilled chicken sandwiches) and the fried chicken sandwich is definitely unique for a cruiseship. 

 

Robert played a bit in the casino this morning but it was crowded and smoky, just like it was last night when the casino bar was packed and very smoky.

 

The casino department has been good to us. They are comping the upgrade to premium Wi-Fi for two and will pick-up the entire $179 single thermal suite pass. Additionally we were offered a comped dinner for two at the Steakhouse tonight.

Robert did well last night playing slots for three hours and won several jackpot/handpays. 

 

Going to relax in the thermal suite now and then a light workout before dinner.

Edited September 5, 2021 by kwokpot

[kwokpot]

Observation:

One of the jewelry stores must have been giving a little trinket away because the was a line of over 60 women snaked around Grand Central waiting to get into the store.

[crewsweeper]

8 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

 

Have to wonder if loungers will be added at some point. I don't know the standard for extended balconies on other Carnival ships but I'd be disappointed with the extra space and no ability to stretch out and have long naps out there. 

I don't ever remember loungers being allowed on balconies, so good luck if you get one!

[crewsweeper]

18 hours ago, kwokpot said:

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.

that's pitiful.  And only 2 showers?  I think Carnival's reduction of their spa/gym shower/locker amenities on the Vista ships gets worse.  Even the Legend and Liberty had more showers and better lockers than these.

[crewsweeper]

18 hours ago, kwokpot said:

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. 

This is good to know.  In the past we've had way too much food in the Cucina.  But other than the pork chop, and maybe the meatballs, yes , it's similar to a chain Italian.

The two of you need to head to Rudy's and to Emeril's, based on the 4 reviews I've seen.

Love to hear your thoughts on your Deck 9 locale as we're just a couple of doors downs the passageway in November.

[crewsweeper]

kwokpot...just curious on how transportation and streets in Philly were for you leaving?  My friends at the Bachelors Barge Club were battening down the hatches and appears some took kayaks down the center of town.

What a great casino package you two got!  We get these offers all the time.  Unfortunately, they're addressed to a friend of my wife, who for what ever reason used our address for her mailings.  Tempted to change my wife's name to Amber so we can take advantage of them.😄

[drafterdw]

49 minutes ago, crewsweeper said:

I don't ever remember loungers being allowed on balconies, so good luck if you get one!

I have had them on extended balcony at least twice without asking.

[Saint Greg]

23 hours ago, kwokpot said:

Dumbbells on the rack 5-100 lbs.

 

I’ll be darned. They have a gym!

[Saint Greg]

17 hours ago, bobbyg11 said:

This is so exciting. Only Horizon has had 100lb dumbbells in the past. I love not having to shortchange a workout.

I need 125 or I’m not even going in the gym.

[kwokpot]

22 hours ago, alrichards4003 said:

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

Here you go

 

 

 

[alrichards4003]

1 hour ago, kwokpot said:

Here you go

 

 

 

Thank you very much.

 

[d-train]

12 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

 

Have to wonder if loungers will be added at some point. I don't know the standard for extended balconies on other Carnival ships but I'd be disappointed with the extra space and no ability to stretch out and have long naps out there. 

 

We had one of the bowling alley balconies on Miracle, we had two loungers, plus the regular two chairs and a table. Had several nice naps out there!

[kwokpot]

Pre dinner drink at Fortune Teller Bar. As I previously noted I'm not a big drinker but with Casino booking giving us Cheers I might as well have something besides a glass of wine at dinner. This drink is called The Golden Galaxy; Absolut Vodka, Absolut vanilla Vodka, Kahlua, Gold

There's a folk singer performing and he's really good. Great acoustics. 

 

Observation:

It's Elegant Night and surprisingly lots of people are dressing up.

 

 

 

 

[KmomChicago]

4 hours ago, crewsweeper said:

I don't ever remember loungers being allowed on balconies, so good luck if you get one!

Well they are on the big giant corner room balconies. So why wouldn't they be allowed on any balcony large enough?

[JaniceB]

Great start to your review, looking forward to hearing more about your cruise.

[kwokpot]

Dinner at Fahrenheit 555 was very good and service was the same if not a tad eager on the onset ( maybe I'm being overly critical?).  I feel the meal was worth the cover. Having said that for me maybe there's a bit of rosy retrospection in that I seem to remember even better meals on the Vista class steakhouses. In any case it was the best meal of the cruise so far and we had some nice conversations with the couple next to us. 

 

I checked out the Playlist production of Rock Revolution. A new show for me and it was entertaining and unusual for a shipboard show to focus solely on '60s music. I like the Intimacy of the Mardi Gras Theater with no columns to obstruct views. The sound was clear and loud and the video backgrounds were crystal clear.

 

Edited September 6, 2021 by kwokpot

[mondello]

4 hours ago, kwokpot said:

Pre dinner drink at Fortune Teller Bar. As I previously noted I'm not a big drinker but with Casino booking giving us Cheers I might as well have something besides a glass of wine at dinner. This drink is called The Golden Galaxy; Absolut Vodka, Absolut vanilla Vodka, Kahlua, Gold

There's a folk singer performing and he's really good. Great acoustics. 

 

Observation:

It's Elegant Night and surprisingly lots of people are dressing up.

 

 

 

 

@SNJCruisers, here's a drink you can try at the Fortune Teller bar. Especially if Alchemy is too crowded.

[mondello]

@kwokpotthank you for posting all this info. I was a little surprised that you were into the gym so quickly at the beginning of your cruise. I'd guess it wasn't very busy the first day, was it?. Congratulations on all the comps. I've heard great praise for Rudi's Seagrill if you enjoy seafood.