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

[alrichards4003]

On 10/9/2021 at 9:43 PM, mrak said:

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

I think there was a deck party and a tiki party on nights 5 and 6, but I could have the dates mixed up, as I saw them on the app, but was not interested. There was not a white night or 80s party, but I don’t know if that has changed since Mike Pack took over as Cruise director.

[alrichards4003]

Day 7 September 24^th Seaday-3

 

Oh no! It’s here the last day. Let me do it all, and relax and pack and…

 

Emerils for Breakfast

 

Since the MDR was slow for brunch and because there were still items I wanted to try, I went to Emerils for breakfast and my husband went back to Big Chicken.  There was breakfast at La Cucina a la carte, but they closed at 9:30 and it was almost 9:30 when I was getting ready to leave. There were people who came to Emerils every morning. They had several items, so I can see it. I tried two more items, the pain perdu and shrimp and grits. One would be enough, but I wanted to try as much as I could and I had seen some pictures of the shrimp and grits and I did not know if I would like them, even though I like both shrimp and grits. They brought the pain perdu first and it was good. Next they brought the shrimp and grits, not to worry they were good, they also had sausage on top, as warning to people who don’t eat meat. The grits were creamy like the ones at brunch. Very good flavor. The table next to mine said they did not care for them, but had them on other days and liked them before. Next to get coffee and watch a little bit of a rehearsals on my way to Java Blue. I had coffee on the balcony one last time, the room steward left the towel animal with a reminder to be out by 8:30. 

 

Just stop it, I know last day!

 

[alrichards4003]

Spa, Serenity and Lunch at Seafood Shack

 

When I went to the spa there were no heated tile loungers available, I got into the T-pool and once I got out there were 3 or 4. Then I went to the salt sauna for the last time. I left to go to Serenity. They had plenty of loungers on the sides that were away from the pool, but none in the shade. I lay on one in the sun and did not last too long. I went to Groove for St. Jude, but after standing in line for about 10 minutes, with nothing happening, I decided to forego and have lunch, I had the carbonara fries from Time Fries and lobster roll from Seafood Shack. I told them I did not need the fries, but I guess they are used to serving with fries. Both the Carbonara fries and lobster roll were good. I know a lot of people say a lobster roll has to be made with butter, but the creamy roll did not bother me. I had not been to the buffet the entire time. I decided to get a slice of cake from the buffet, I have had their new cakes on other ships and knew how good they were. I had the chocolate cheesecake, but it was more cake than cheesecake. 

 

[alrichards4003]

Loft 19, Trivia and Bingo

 

I spent some time at Loft 19, I saw two cabanas in use, but that was all. Again a nice area, but seems underutilized. I was able to get a seat by the pool in the shade and get in the pool for a while. Afterward I went to movie quotes trivia in the limelight lounge, the questions were hard, but one person got all 20 correct. I went to the Center Stage bar to get seats early for Bingo for my husband and I as the seats on 6 were already all taken at 3:05 for Bingo at 3:30.  Since the last game was coverall to win a cruise it lasted a little over an hour.  

[alrichards4003]

Alchemy and Fortune Teller

 

I had a drink at Alchemy and planned on coming back later to get a deal closer, which I never had during the week, but when I came back later that night, no seats were available.  Next, back to Fortune Teller for a few more drinks and we had a reservation at 7 for Rudi’s so I took a few pictures of La Piazza before meeting my husband.

 

[alrichards4003]

Dinner at Rudi’s

 

I deliberately booked dinner at Rudi’s for the last night. We are both huge seafood fans and I didn’t want to go earlier in the week and be tempted to not try some of the other restaurants. We were not disappointed. I liked the décor and the plates. The butter was olive oil and the bread came out hot and the butter melted on it right away. My husband had the tuna appetizer, salad, red snapper and key lime pie.  I had the lobster mac and cheese, seafood bisque, crab stuffed lobster and chocolate cake.  I think this was the best meal of the week, which is saying something. Rudi’s is a restaurant I would like to see Carnival add to all of their ships. Someone said Rudi was onboard, but we did not see him.

[alrichards4003]

Center Stage, Fortune Teller, Backyard Band, Whirlpool and Room Service

 

After dinner, I went to Center Stage and saw a couple of performances one was world music and the other were love songs. Then it was off to Fortune Teller for the last time and to see Owen/Travis one final time. The Backyard Band was playing their last sets, so I made sure to see it.  At dinner I told my husband I wanted to get into the whirlpool on the balcony and drink the sparkling wine we still had not opened after I got back to the room. He had gotten into the whirlpool after I went to bed the first night. He said it was nice but took a while to fill. He decided that evidently meant I would be back to the room by 10 and he started filling the whirlpool and then proceeded to use the chat asking where I was at every few minutes, until I gave up and came back to the room a little after 11. The whirlpool and sparkling wine were a nice finish to the trip. My husband went to bed and because I forgot to take my pills with dinner, I ordered room service, but through the hub app this time. I had chicken strips and apple crostada.

 

End of Day 7

[alrichards4003]

Disembarkation

Ugh! We had to be out of the room by 8:30. I set my alarm for 7, all through the night I kept waking up. We had to get into Port Canaveral pretty early. We were parked at the pier and driving home, so did not bother with the suite debarkation, but our zone was 1. At 7:30 the cruise director came on the loudspeaker and you could hear it in the room that debarkation was starting and at that time we could have gotten off, if we wanted.  The room steward started knocking at the door around 8:10 as we were getting ready to leave. Disembarking was fairly painless and they used facial recognition and though we were told to have our passports out, no one looked at them.  We stopped for breakfast about halfway home and then I was able to go home see my dogs and start thinking about my next cruise. 

 

[Raella B]

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience. I know it’s a lot of work and time put into it. I enjoyed your pictures and appreciate hearing about your impressions and cruising along vicariously with you. 

[ProgRockCruiser]

Thanks very much for this review of your cruise!  (Yeah, I'm a bit late reading it...)

 

Sounds like you had a fantastic time, and I like the huge number of photos!

[stellarose]

just finding your review. looks awesome. thanks for sharing. 

 

now I need a  list of all those fortune teller and brass magnolia drinks you had......

[S&DMOM]

Great Review and pictures! Thank you

[Californian]

I really enjoyed reading your trip report and seeing all the beautiful pictures.  Thanks very much for sharing.

[crucero]

Thank you so much for such a detailed review. I loved your pictures too! It is making me so excited for our cruise on Mardi Gras NEXT YEAR! We were booked on the original first sail of the ship, so I'm a bit wistful that we missed out on that amazing experience. C'est la vie. Thanks again! I loved your review!