Mardi Gras Review (9/25/21 - 10/9/21)

[RLM77]

We disembarked Mardi Gras on Saturday after a B2B – cruise number 45 for us the way we count them (we count B2B’s as a single cruise).  The cruise can be summarized in one word: Wow!  This is not your father’s (or grandfather’s) Carnival – it’s way better!  We liked it so much that we are returning in December for another B2B!

 

Embarkation was easy, even with the additional vaccination and testing requirements now in effect.  We retired to Florida three years ago; the port is only about a 2.5 hour drive from our condo.  There is a bridge from level 3 of the parking garage to the embarkation level of the terminal – no wrestling luggage on and off elevators!  Our docs were checked, and we were on the ship within 30 minutes of parking.  Note that Carnival is not allowing “cheating” on your stated arrival time.  If you arrive early they will make you wait outside the terminal until the time stated on your boarding pass.

 

The ship looks great as a new ship should.  Not much in the way of art in the public areas, but a clean, modern look that handles the crowds well.  My favorite feature was Grand Central, a large, three deck high space with a stage that replaces the traditional atrium.  The stage backdrops can be stowed in the floor and ceiling to expose a three-deck high wall of windows looking out to the sea.  Everything is highly automated; projectors can change the look of the stage in an instant. Very professional.

 

Grand Central also has a dedicated band, the Center Stage Band, (there were actually two complete Center Stage Bands aboard during week 2; a transition must have been taking place) that cranks out several high-energy performances over the course of the cruise.  The band includes a trombone, trumpet, and sax along with the standard guitar, bass, keyboard, and drums.  Outstanding musicians and vocalists by cruise ship standards.  More on entertainment later.

 

DW has a severe mobility limitation, so we were in a fully accessible ADA balcony cabin.  Although smaller than ADA cabins on many other cruise lines/ships it is functional and well-designed.  We found the bed extremely comfortable; others may find it a bit firm for their taste.  The bathroom is, hands down, the best designed ADA bathroom we’ve ever had on a ship.  The roll-in shower never leaked into the rest of the room.  Lots of counter space and plenty of plugs.  Clothing storage is not generous but is adequate if you pack intelligently.  The only drawback is that there is no chair or couch in the room; a request to the steward quickly addressed that with an extra balcony chair that we used indoors.

 

Service onboard was knock-your-socks-off good.  Until now we have not been frequent Carnival cruisers, mostly due to a lack of fully accessible ADA balcony cabins on most of their ships (often only two on an entire vessel).  On the three we had previously been on, though, service was mediocre compared to other lines.  More often than not on those previous cruises I had to go to the nearest bar to get drinks in the evening.  Very few, if any, bar servers indoors.  And dining room service was typically just okay.  Not so on Mardi Gras.  Every aspect of the service was top notch.  Restaurant and bar servers knew us by name and quickly learned our preferences.  Cabin service was prompt and efficient.  To be honest, Princess and Celebrity could improve greatly in these areas if they adopted the best practices from this ship.  I realize that the ship was sailing with only 85% of the cabins occupied; it is certainly possible that service quality will decline when conditions return to normal.  But for now, it was absolutely great.

 

Food was generally better than expected.  Not great (with one exception), but often very good.  And there is certainly no shortage of choices.  So many that we did not eat a single meal in the main dining room.  As has been widely reported, Cucina Del Capitano, Pig & Anchor, and ChiBang are currently complementary on Mardi Gras.  All of these venues were worthwhile and seemed to have more to offer than the dining room.  Cucina and Pig & Anchor also have breakfast and lunch on sea days.  ChiBang has sea day lunches as well.  Among the casual spots on the upper deck, Big Chicken was great.  Their MDE sandwich might give some of the land-based fast food places a run for their money.  Blue Iguana and Guy’s Burger Joint are carryovers from other Carnival ships and are always worthwhile.  Guy’s and Big Chicken are set up to run very efficiently.  While lines are sometimes long, they move surprisingly quickly.  We never made it to Street Eats or the Seafood Shack, so nothing I can report there.

 

Among the specialty restaurants Rudy’s is the stand-out.  Best seafood we’ve had on a cruise ship and well worth the price.  If you're not dead set on lobster (or surf and turf), the red snapper was excellent.  Conversely, the steakhouse was disappointing.  Although they still claim that their meat is Prime, it simply doesn’t compare with the real deal on land, or with the outstanding quality of Carnival steakhouses in days gone by.

 

A quick complaint before leaving this topic.  The selection of wines by the glass is quite limited.  There was only one Sauvignon Blanc, for example (and it is not a favorite of ours).  I believe only 1-2 Chardonnays as well.  A few more choices would have been very welcome.

 

Finally, the entertainment.  Plentiful and generally very good to excellent.  The main theater bunch was pretty much the only disappointment.  Comedy is subjective – we thought just okay but many seemed to love it.  Center Stage Band/Grand Central was great, the blues/rock band in Pig & Anchor fantastic, one of the two solo guitarists among the best we’ve heard on a ship, and the piano bar player quite good.  The best of the music, though, was the jazz ensemble in the French Quarter/Brass Magnolia bar.  They were so good that musicians from other groups onboard were stopping by to jam with them.  Wonderful to see musicians that truly love their art; their dedication showed in the quality of the shows overall.

 

Disembarkation was as fast and easy as embarkation, except that we did need to use the garage elevators to get from the baggage claim level back to our car. That took a bit of extra time as you might imagine.

 

In summary, a great cruise.  We haven’t been so pleased with any cruise since our early RCI Oasis-class cruises back in 2010 and 2011.  As things stand today (October 2021) this is a great ship with a great crew.  Will Carnival be able to maintain this level of excellence when the ship starts sailing full?  Time will tell.  For now, though, very highly recommended.  As mentioned, we’ll be back!
 

Edited October 12, 2021 by RLM77
Fix typos.

[kwokpot]

Thanks for your concise but thorough review. Your opinions pretty much lined up with our experiences and take on the Mardi Gras. Here's to many more wonderful and fun cruises!

[sandyzag]

Whoaaaaaaaaaaaaa did I really just read that they were actually enforcing arrival times on embarkation?  My Sept 4th sailing was a free for all and that terminal building was packed to the gills with people who were over 3 hours early.   If this is true, it will make for a much more enjoyable start to my January cruise on her.

[Theo1429]

Will be on board April 23 sure hope they can maintain that level of service thank you for your review outstanding

[RLM77]

20 hours ago, sandyzag said:

Whoaaaaaaaaaaaaa did I really just read that they were actually enforcing arrival times on embarkation?  My Sept 4th sailing was a free for all and that terminal building was packed to the gills with people who were over 3 hours early.   If this is true, it will make for a much more enjoyable start to my January cruise on her.

 

They were definitely enforcing arrival times on 9/25.  We had 12:30, arrived at 12:15 and were let through.  But about 100 folks clustered outside with arrival times more than 30 minutes in the future.  Obviously, I can't say if they will enforce consistently going forward.

[sandyzag]

1 hour ago, RLM77 said:

 

They were definitely enforcing arrival times on 9/25.  We had 12:30, arrived at 12:15 and were let through.  But about 100 folks clustered outside with arrival times more than 30 minutes in the future.  Obviously, I can't say if they will enforce consistently going forward.

Thank you and thanks for the review!!

[Pellaz]

14 hours ago, RLM77 said:

 

They were definitely enforcing arrival times on 9/25.  We had 12:30, arrived at 12:15 and were let through.  But about 100 folks clustered outside with arrival times more than 30 minutes in the future.  Obviously, I can't say if they will enforce consistently going forward.

 

They were enforcing on our embark on 10/09 also.  Not so much at the bottom of the stairs for dropoff, but at the upper landing from the parking garage.  We had 11:30 arrival time, got there a little after 11 and were told to hold off.  After about ten minutes they let us through.  From there to the gangway was no more than 10 minutes...second-quickest boarding I've ever experienced.  

 

[jordanaire]

We were also on this cruise and absolutely loved it! This ship is huge, so plan on walking several miles during your cruise. We had a balcony cabin (12306) and it was smaller than we expected. The glass doors added to the shower was a welcomed sight.

 

We tried to eat at a different restaurant each day, beginning with Shaq's Big Chicken. Reminded me of Chik-Fil-A. Very good. Guy's Burgers were fantastic as usual. The Pig & Anchor was, by far, our favorite lunch of all. We paid extra to eat in the Bonsai Tapayaki for lunch. I didn't like it at all, but my wife did. We ate in the steakhouse and it was delicious, but crowded. Elbow-to-elbow at the tables.

 

The main thing that concerned us was the non-enforcement of the mask wearing and social distancing. We were expected to get tested 2 days prior to sailing, leaving us to believe that Carnival was serious about protecting its guests. Well, you seen guests wearing their masks on their chins or not wearing them at all. Any time you asked someone to please wear their masks, you were told where to go or got the middle finger. And as for social distancing...it was no where to be seen on the entire ship! So be prepared if you think for one second that these rules will be enforced.

 

Overall, we had a great cruise. But this ship is way too big for us and we will stick to the mid-sized ships from now on. Cruise #27 is already booked for next year.

[Pellaz]

2 hours ago, jordanaire said:

And as for social distancing...it was no where to be seen on the entire ship! So be prepared if you think for one second that these rules will be enforced.

 

I think for more than one second that Carnival specifically states that social distancing is NOT required for fully vaccinated individuals while on board. 

 

On our 10/09 sailing, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of mask compliance indoors -- seemed like it was at least 90%.  At some venues, like the MDRs and Guest Services, they'd politely ask you to put your mask on and provide one (at the MDRs) if you forgot yours.  

Outdoors, mask compliance was much less prevalent, which was fine since they are not required or heavily suggested in outdoor settings.