9/18 Mardi Gras breaking Keto in an Excel Aft Suite

[alrichards4003]

Alchemy and Family Feud

 

After cleaning up it was time for Alchemy, I was able to get a seat at the bar and they were serving cheese, my favorite. I met my husband for Family Feud at 6:30. Even though Chris was the cruise director, Mike Pack hosted this show. I did not go to any of the other versions.

[alrichards4003]

Dinner at Guys BBQ and Backyard Band

 

We had dinner at Guys BBQ. The menu is different from the Horizon, as this one is no charge. Some items I liked better and others I think I preferred from the charge menu. My husband got the pork belly and two sides. I got the melt and three sides (Mac and Cheese, French Fries and onion straws). So of course my husband complained that I got more food, this was after I tried to get him to get a third side. I also had the bourbon banana cream pie for dessert. Owen/Travis was playing while we were eating. I started with the smoked rosemary bourbon drink.  After Owen/Travis the waiter came by to talk about the backyard band, who would be playing there for the rest of the week. He said they never played together before joining the ship a few months ago. Quite impressive and they were very good. My husband left, but I stayed to listen and had a couple of more drinks, the bacon Manhattan and another bourbon cocktail.  It had been a long day and tomorrow was an early start so after a while I went to spend time on the balcony looking at the moon. 

 

End of Day 3.

[alrichards4003]

Day 4 September 21^st Costa Maya

 

I woke up and went to Big Chicken for breakfast. I had the chicken biscuit with fries. I had heard so much about the shaq sauce but they did not have it out for breakfast.  The fries were cold and silly me, I kept trying to eat them thinking, maybe I just got one cold one on top.  It did not matter the chicken biscuit was great with honey butter and chili syrup glaze.  Big Chicken was a favorite of a lot of people on the ship and with good reason. It is one of the venues I hope they add to all of their ships like Guys.

 

[alrichards4003]

Maya Chan

 

Every time we go to Costa Maya, we always go to Maya Chan, it is one of my husband’s favorite places. So after getting him up we did the long walk down the long pier. I never got an email regarding location for meeting but thought someone else said it was in the same spot so walked through the pier and someone directed us as the meeting spot is outside the pier.  The couple in front of us got the last seat on the bus, so we would have to wait for the next cab and they were waiting for more people. The representative told us about the seagrass, but we did not care, we were going regardless. She said something about the pool which was new since our last visit. I am much more of a pool person than a beach person. Another couple came up, but they were unsure if they wanted to go with the seagrass and odor issue. A third couple came and they were like us and going regardless. We then got a cab to Maya Chan. The road is bumpy and about 20 minute drive. 

 

They had our palapa set up and brought a welcome drink of rum punch and chips with salsa and guacamole.  After another drink I went to the pool and stayed a while and had another couple of drinks.  They had a sink made out of shells in the restroom near the pool.  Some people in the pool were talking about how small the bathrooms were on the ship, since I was in a suite and our bathroom was huge, I did not say anything.

 

After a while it was time for a taco lunch and for the dogs to wake up and play. Afterwards I got into the sea water and floated in one of the intertubes, the water was full of seagrass. I saw someone bring a snorkel, but I can’t imagine they were able to see much.  Another hour later it was time for our cab back to the ship. This time we took the trolley that drove a portion of the long pier.  I don’t smoke but my husband does.

[stellarose]

was pig and anchor free for dinner???

[alrichards4003]

Fortune Teller and Dinner at Steakhouse

 

After I got cleaned up, I was off to Fortune Teller to continue to work through the menu, another golden galaxy, black moon and abracadabra.

 

We had reservations at the steakhouse at 6:30, because when I booked most of the other times were already taken. 

 

Dinner was good for the most part. A sidecar, the amuse bouche which was a tomato stuffed with chili. I had stuffed mushrooms and my husband had the steak tartare and we discussed how much the dogs would have loved his bone. I also had the spinach salad, the surf and turf with baked potato and macaroni and cheese. My husband got the Wagyu beef, but said he couldn’t taste a difference between it and other steak he had. We waited a while to order dessert and then finally the waiter came over and gave us each ice cream.  I told him we did not want ice cream and wanted to order dessert. He acted taken aback, weird, however, I got a slice of cheesecake and a chocolate martini and all was right with the world.  

 

[alrichards4003]

3 minutes ago, stellarose said:

was pig and anchor free for dinner???

Yes. It was good but I liked the trash can nachos and desserts from the Guys on Horizon.

[alrichards4003]

Deal or No Deal and Variety Night

 

Deal or No Deal is one of my favorites and I like it more than Bingo. They had it twice on Day 4, but that was it. The first time was during dinner, so we went to the 9:30version. It was fun and I ended up winning $30 in casino fun play.  Afterwards the Flying Scotsman did a show where he sang and discussed his history with music, it was AC/DC, opera and everything in between. It was near midnight, so I ended up leaving before the end of his show. I went to bed without spending any time on the balcony. 

 

End of Day 4.

 

[Colorado Beach Bum]

We thought the flying Scotsman show was awesome. 

[alrichards4003]

22 hours ago, Colorado Beach Bum said:

We thought the flying Scotsman show was awesome. 

I agree. Very impressive.

[alrichards4003]

Day 5 September 22^nd Roatan

 

My tour was starting at 8:30 and my husband’s at 9:15, so I got up pretty early for breakfast and coffee, as they said we needed to meet at the pier 15 minutes prior to the tour time.  I was off to get a blue iguana breakfast burrito and arepa.  Once they added the Blue Iguana to Carnival ships, I thought it was a game changer for breakfast. If you did not have time to eat in the dining room, you did not have to resort to either room service or the buffet.  

 

I came to the lido deck and they had the towel animal party.  I did not see any of the larger towel animals, but I did not spend much time looking for them, so I may have just missed them.  The arepa was fine, but the burrito was probably my only disappointment meal wise on the ship. The crispy potatoes were kind of stale and the sausage was kind of tough to chew. I opened up the burrito and ate the insides. I was going to a beach eating excursion, so it was fine and I would have and had plenty of other food.  Later at dinner, I was telling my husband about it and the next table over said they had the same experience and thought the burritos components were not used timely and were leftovers, however, they said they didn’t like the arepa either, which I did. They agreed with us that all of the other food we had on the ship was excellent.

 

Afterwards, I go to Java Blue to get my coffee and have it on my balcony before getting ready to leave. Since my husband was not with me on the tour, I was free to take as many pictures as I wanted between the ship and tour meeting.

[alrichards4003]

VIP All Inclusive Beach with Lobster for Lunch

 

It being my day to do whatever I wanted and seeing an all inclusive that served lobster for lunch, I knew it was the shore excursion for me.  It was about a 30 minute drive to the resort. During that time the guide told us about Roatan and Honduras. 

 

When we got there they gave us a welcome mimosa.  We got padded beach chairs. They offered to set up umbrellas, but I got a chair under the shade, so I did not ask for an umbrella. They brought us a bar menu and brought drinks over. After some time they brought snacks of wings and nachos. An hour or so later they took lunch orders and asked what time we wanted to eat. In between I spent a lot of time in the water and relaxing in the chair. I had Shrimp cocktail, lobster with fried plantains and cheesecake.  More time in the water then we had to leave. Unfortunately we had a group of 19 and about 5 of those continued drinking on the ride back to the pier even though they were quite inebriated, they were loud, swearing, telling the guide they refused to wear their masks etc. We ended up stopping at a gas station on the way back so some of them could use the restroom.  I have nothing against people having a good time and I understand being on vacation and doing what you want, but it made for a bit of an uncomfortable (and long) ride back.  I was glad to get back on the ship.

 

[alrichards4003]

Loft 19, Java Blue snacks, the Brass Magnolia and Fortune Teller

 

When I got back to the room, we had the towel animal and invitations to the platinum and diamond party.  The party was not serving snacks and it was one glass of wine, plus it was in the middle of the day, so we decided to pass.

 

Evidently I needed more water time, so I went to Loft 19 for the first time. It was a very nice, peaceful and serene area and very few people were up there.  I don’t mind paying extra for certain things, but to me the cabanas for $2,000 a week or $500 a day are just not worth it. The two times I was there, I saw 1 cabana being occupied the first day and two the second.  I would think Carnival should come down on the price and more people might want to purchase. The cabanas looked nice enough, just not worth it to me. I got a chair in the shade by the pool and had a peach margarita. We each got the chat feature so after texting my husband and confirming my husband made it back on the ship I ordered a coconut martini (definitely a nominee for wife of the year). The server said she would put ice in the martini since it was so hot.  The QR code opened a food menu, but she told me it was only if you were staying in the cabana.  I thought the pool in Loft 19 was a hot tub, but it was a regular pool with jets and one side was clear, so people in Serenity the deck below could see, if so inclined. 

 

I went back to the room and tried to take a nap but couldn’t so, let me find yet more food. I had a snack of ½ chicken sandwich and the cheesecake cupcake at Java Blue. So good.  I wish I had tried some of their sandwiches earlier in the cruise. 

 

I am then off to the Brass Magnolia for the praline martini. There were musicians and they were shooting a promotion or commercial of some sort, but not actually playing. It was another nice bar addition with specialized cocktails, as far as I was concerned. I was supposed to meet my husband for dinner at 7, and since I still had some time, I was off to the Fortune Teller, to go through more of their menu and listen to Travis/Owen.

 

[alrichards4003]

Dinner at ChiBang and Celestial Strings 

 

We met for dinner at Chibang, I can’t remember what the drink was, I think a blood orange margarita? My husband had the pork belly, kung pao chicken and rice. I had the queso fundido, sweet and sour shrimp with noodles and the C-bang for dessert. It was all good. We were talking and I told him about breakfast at Blue Iguana and that is when the table next to us chimed in. I also mentioned I had the Big Chicken breakfast sandwich the day before, so of course my husband complained he wanted one and I was letting him starve to death. As I reminded him, he did not want to get up for breakfast, so he missed out and so much not starving to death. I had noticed we had not left Roatan yet and the couple next to us said it was all over facebook. The cruise director came on and mentioned that we were having technical difficulties and were delayed. They opened the casino, so people seemed to be ok with the delay.  My husband complained that they never followed up and let people know the issue the following day. I told him as long as it was fixed, no real issue.

 

I then went to see Celestial Strings at the Center Stage. The musicians played an interlude prior to the show starting. I had seen this show on the Horizon in the theater, but seeing it in the Center stage area was different.  I went to the casino, then the balcony. At some point we were moving and going to have two sea days in front of us.

 

End of Day 5. 

 

[Houst]

We were on this cruise and it was pretty wonderful. It was pretty funny to watch the people above us when we were at the serenity pool.  

 

We also saw Celestial Strings on the Horizon and it was great. I was going to watch both shows on the Mardi Gras but it just wasn't as good. It wasn't the 3 string players fault. We would go watch them almost every night at the Brass Magnolia.  Broadway Beats was not good at all. I think most of the audience left halfway through. 

[happy cruzer]

Great review!  Thank you for taking so much time to post descriptions of your days followed by the pictures.

[alrichards4003]

Day 6 September 23^rd Seaday-2

 

Honduras is a 2 hour time difference and my watch and phone kept going between ship time, Cozumel time and Honduras time. I woke up and it said 6:40, I thought that was great so I could make Yoga and Spin, I went to the balcony and it seemed kind of bright. I checked the hub app which always has ship time on it, and then it was 8:45. I missed both classes, oh well. Time to go to brunch. My husband said he wanted a chicken biscuit from Big Chicken, so I went to brunch by myself

 

Seaday Brunch

 

I had a peach bellini, coffee, Danish, cheese grits and the lobster benedict.  I know there are some people who don’t want to pay extra for food on a cruise. I have never minded it as long as I felt there was some value.  I thought the lobster benedict was well worth the $12.  It is stacked high, english muffin, lobster, egg and hollandaise sauce with a little caviar on top and it was served with asparagus. There was quite a bit of lobster on it. The cheese grits were just as good as they were the first brunch. Again, like the first brunch this was the slowest meal of the cruise, which is fine if you don’t have any immediate plans. I sat for a while and then got a slice of their banana pie.  I think I like the pie at Guys better, but I like the ice cream at brunch more than Guys.

[alrichards4003]

Patio, Spa and Serenity

 

I think that on the Mardi Gras itineraries there are 3 seadays and I think that people still don’t feel like they see everything on the ship. At the end I felt, I did most everything, but the FOMO was already setting in.  I had heard some people after doing a B2B say they tried to do everything the first week and did not really relax until the second week. After brunch, I changed clothes to go to the Patio, Spa and Serenity. I usually don’t go to the pools too often on a ship, unless it is Havana or the Haven, since I find it difficult to get into the already crowded pool and it is usually difficult to find a chair.

 

Our room was over the patio pool and even early in the morning, I usually saw at least a few people out. Some people on the earlier sailings indicated it was not full as they thought it was not for everyone. I think people now know it is unrestricted. I went to the Watering Hole to get a drink and no one was sitting at the bar. There are also two huge hot tubs nearby. I was going to sit and enjoy my drink first. The only chairs that were available (without towels or other belongings on them) were outside Guys where the lunch is served. I sat for a while and then got in the pool. There were a good deal of people, but not like on other lido pools that I had seen.  One reason I think is they had a shallow area around the pool where a lot of people sat, which is where I sat as well.  After some time, I got out and as I was 8 Aft walked and took a few pictures on 8 on my way to the spa on 6 forward. My routine for the spa was to lie on the heated tile loungers, get in the T-pool for a while, back on the loungers and finish in the sauna, which I did again today.  Then I went to the Serenity area. That pool was very busy. They also have a couple of hot tubs which were not full, but I was already hot, so I did not want to get in them, which I am sure other people felt the same was which was why they were not full. At Serenity you can get a towel after signing them in and out.  I thought it was that was in all areas, but I did not see any towels around the patio area. There is a bar and next to it the salad place, being that it was lunch a lot of people were getting salads. There is a pit area by the pool, which is where I sat.

[alrichards4003]

Big Chicken, Salon and Snacks at Java Blue

 

My husband wanted to meet at Big Chicken for lunch. I think he had the M.D.E. and I had the Aristotle and the French fries were hot and good. I also had the Shaq’s sauce and bbq ranch. It was a very nice lunch and there were bar waiters walking around offering drinks, but we both stuck with water. 

 

I had reserved a manicure and pedicure prior to boarding. The appointments began at 2:15. I went back to the room and changed and was getting ready to leave when I noted the time had changed to 2:30 in the hub app.  I spent a few minutes on the balcony and then went to the spa. 

 

I know people have asked the distance of walking the ship. To go to the spa, I walked from my room 10 aft to the front elevators and then went down and according to my FitBit it was around 400 steps.

 

To check into the spa, you have to go to the spa entrance which is on 6 and so is the fitness center. However, all of the spa facilities are on 5, so you walk down a flight. There is an elevator, if you are unable to take the stairs.

 

Even after moving my appointment, I sat in the “relaxation” waiting room for a while. My services were during the backyard party (which I heard people raving about) and bingo, so I missed both. The services were fine, but in hindsight, and if I had to do it again, I would not have booked the services, but gone to the party instead.

 

I was leaving the spa on 6 forward and since between there and the aft elevator, was Java Blue, so I might as well stop for a snack. I had a half sandwich and the dulce de leche cupcake. The frosting was more whipped cream, so not as rich as it looks, though plenty rich. 

 

[alrichards4003]

Alchemy and Brass Magnolia

 

After changing clothes for dinner. I went to the Alchemy. The bartender asked where I had been for most of the cruise and I told him I was at the Fortune Teller and he called me a traitor. In the evenings it was difficult to get a seat at the bar at Alchemy and when I sat at the tables the service was slow and I usually would get up and go to the Fortune Teller, I could have walked up to get drinks, but I prefer to not walk with my martinis as I am not very steady and almost always spill a part of my drink. Next to Brass Magnolia and to listen to the string trio before meeting my husband for dinner.

 

[alrichards4003]

Dinner at La Cucina

 

We were to meet outside of Bar Della Rosa. My husband is a smoker and I am not. There was smoking at 8 outside Bar Della Rosa, there was also smoking outside on 17.  My husband said he spent most of his time in this area on 8. On prior cruises we always met at the casino bar. Carnival had announced that there was not going to be a casino bar any longer, prior to the cruise.  Every time we went by, it seemed there were people there, so I don’t know if they enforced it. 

 

I had a peach bellini outside and requested a table at La Cucina. La Cucina was one of the venues which is free for the inaugural season and has a different menu than other ships.  Fried calamari is one of my favorite foods, so I missed it. The bread they served was like what was in the MDR, some of the desserts were different, but that was it.  It was a good meal. My husband had salmon, chicken parmesean with spaghetti and the apple crostado. The picture of the chicken does not do it justice, it was huge.  I had another peach bellini, the arranci balls, veal marsala and maple fritters and coffee with amaretto. For dessert they only brought spoons and it was a little difficult to cut the fritters, but I managed. 

 

We sat inside but were by the window and saw a nice sunset. There was seating outside, if you wanted to sit out there. 

 

[alrichards4003]

Comedy Club, Brass Magnolia, Fortune Teller, Backyard Band and Pizza

 

After dinner we went to see a comedy show in the Limelight lounge, it was 8:45, and was still a p.g. show. My husband saw a lot of the comedy shows on the ship and liked most of them. This was the only one I saw and neither one of us thought it was particularly funny, my husband said he thought certain comedians struggled with keeping it family friendly and their shows weren’t as good as the adult one. I went to the casino for a little while, then more music at the Brass Magnolia, then Owen/Travis at the Fortune Teller, then went to see the Backyard band at Guys. Since I was on 8, I decided to grab some pizza as I had not had any the entire cruise.  It was fine, they had several made and when I went there (almost midnight) there was not a line or wait for them.  As other people noted, most of the other food venues closed by 10.  Sushi was open until midnight and there was room service and pizza. It might have been good if the deli/panini place was open later, or at least until 11 like on other ships. The panini place and sushi were two places I never made it to.

 

End of Day 6.

 

[crewsweeper]

Wishing you safe travels home.  Thanks for all the pics.  Really looking forward to being on board after Thanksgiving.

[mrak]

Did you happen to notice what deck parties/theme parties were onboard and which nights they took place? Thanks! 

[alrichards4003]

On 10/9/2021 at 3:25 PM, crewsweeper said:

Wishing you safe travels home.  Thanks for all the pics.  Really looking forward to being on board after Thanksgiving.

Thanks. I am sure you will have a great time.