Mardi Gras not for us!

[CruiseHealing]

We cruised on the Mardi Gas Oct. 16th.  We were excited about their new ship.  After returning home we both wished we had booked the Magic or Horizon instead.  (We sailed the Horizon on July 4th).

 

The Mardi Gras is a nice ship, but we prefer the more traditional Carnival cruise ship.  Here are things we did not like on MG.

 

1. No disco.  We love to dance and MG does not have a dedicated disco or dance floor, like the Ocean Plaza.  They turn the Limelight lounge into a dance venue at 11 pm with rap or urban music.  Every person that entered the lounge (average age 40+)  stayed less than 15 minutes because the DJ said he was not going change away from rap. (The bartender said the same thing to me!).  Nothing like ignoring your customers.

 

2.  Atrium Area: Major noisy!  We were sitting at the Alchemy Bar when there was something going on in the atrium.  There was also  a guitar singer on 6th deck, near the Fortune Teller bar.  To order a drink or talk to the person next to you, you literally have yell. The bartender told me that this was normal.

 

3.  2 feet means a lot.  I never thought a cabin losing 2 feet of width would be noticeable.  Well I was wrong.  Our Extended Balcony Cabin seem really small and tight.  The larger balcony was 96 square feet and well worth the price given the smaller cabins. 

 

4.  As a Platinum member I don’t see the logic of packing D & Ps with other cruisers in the main area of the cruise port, while having the Suite Lounge (half full before boarding) in the cruise port only for Suite guests. Carnival failed their objective of having people social distance before the cruise.

 

5. Restaurants: ChiBang was average.  If it was a land based it would not last 6 months.  Big Chicken big disappointment. I could get that anywhere.  Pig and Anchor needs to improve on their smoking.  Maybe Guy likes bland meet.  Guys Burgers is very large and can handle long lines.  Emeril’s was very good, wish it was free.  MDR same old boring menu and tastes.  You would think after 16 months of being anchored with no guests (I am talking about all the ships in the cruise line) they would have created new menus.  We ate there once and wish we hadn’t.  Lido was good, but the Soda machines were out of ice or the card reader did not work.  I mentioned that to an employee and he said it happens all the time (I counted 3 machines not working or 2 machines out of ice during the cruise).

 

Things we really liked:

 

1. Fortune Teller bar:  very nice bar with creative drinks and entertaining bartenders.  I never could understand why is was never crazy busy.

 

2. Disembarking via self assist was probably the easiest we have ever experienced.

 

Will we ever sail the Excel class again, maybe, but no rush here.

 

And one last thing:  If cruise passenger have to be vaccinated and show proof, why make them get tested 2 days before sailing.  No other form of transportation or lodging has this requirement.  I know the CDC is mandating this order, but the Florida lawsuit (which still applies) was very clear that the CDC can not treat Cruises differently than airplanes, trains, hotels ....

[Don Kehote]

Any DJ that just wants to play what they want to play without regard for the audience should be discharged.  From a cannon. Into the sun.

 

That's just awful.  Who do they think they are, Deathmouse, or whatever?

[Saint Greg]

12 minutes ago, CruiseHealing said:

4.  As a Platinum member I don’t see the logic of packing D & Ps with other cruisers in the main area of the cruise port, while having the Suite Lounge (half full before boarding) in the cruise port only for Suite guests. Carnival failed their objective of having people social distance before the cruise.

 

This one is not ship specific. They were doing the same thing Long Beach. I was told they needed to limit the number of people in the lounge due to COVID-19 protocols.

[MrMarc]

16 minutes ago, CruiseHealing said:

 

 

And one last thing:  If cruise passenger have to be vaccinated and show proof, why make them get tested 2 days before sailing.  No other form of transportation or lodging has this requirement.  I know the CDC is mandating this order, but the Florida lawsuit (which still applies) was very clear that the CDC can not treat Cruises differently than airplanes, trains, hotels ....

Why do people feel they have to keep saying stuff like this?  It's been addressed hundreds, if not thousands of time, and tends to start arguments.

 

As for the rest, I am sure people will appreciate the insights.  There is no question that there is a different feel to the mega ships (I have been on others, but will not be on Mardi Gras until January).  While I enjoy the variety,  they do seem to have less of a "ship" feeling.  As for the DJ, unless it was specifically advertised as an event with a specific type of music, he needs to be re-trained.  You have to be able to adapt to your audience.  On other ships, I have often asked the DJ to play a song or artist that is different than his play list, and most of the time they have at least attempted to do it, and if it got a good crowd reaction, they tended to move their play list in that direction.

 

The issue with noise surrounding the Atrium is something I wondered about.  They are using it as an open theater, so the noise must effect any space around it.  While the technology is cool, I am wondering if I will like that.  On the other Mega ships, the neighborhood concept did a great job of keeping them separate from each other. 

[Colorado Beach Bum]

54 minutes ago, CruiseHealing said:

We cruised on the Mardi Gas Oct. 16th.  We were excited about their new ship.  After returning home we both wished we had booked the Magic or Horizon instead.  (We sailed the Horizon on July 4th).

 

The Mardi Gras is a nice ship, but we prefer the more traditional Carnival cruise ship.  Here are things we did not like on MG.

 

1. No disco.  We love to dance and MG does not have a dedicated disco or dance floor, like the Ocean Plaza.  They turn the Limelight lounge into a dance venue at 11 pm with rap or urban music.  Every person that entered the lounge (average age 40+)  stayed less than 15 minutes because the DJ said he was not going change away from rap. (The bartender said the same thing to me!).  Nothing like ignoring your customers.

 

2.  Atrium Area: Major noisy!  We were sitting at the Alchemy Bar when there was something going on in the atrium.  There was also  a guitar singer on 6th deck, near the Fortune Teller bar.  To order a drink or talk to the person next to you, you literally have yell. The bartender told me that this was normal.

 

3.  2 feet means a lot.  I never thought a cabin losing 2 feet of width would be noticeable.  Well I was wrong.  Our Extended Balcony Cabin seem really small and tight.  The larger balcony was 96 square feet and well worth the price given the smaller cabins. 

 

4.  As a Platinum member I don’t see the logic of packing D & Ps with other cruisers in the main area of the cruise port, while having the Suite Lounge (half full before boarding) in the cruise port only for Suite guests. Carnival failed their objective of having people social distance before the cruise.

 

5. Restaurants: ChiBang was average.  If it was a land based it would not last 6 months.  Big Chicken big disappointment. I could get that anywhere.  Pig and Anchor needs to improve on their smoking.  Maybe Guy likes bland meet.  Guys Burgers is very large and can handle long lines.  Emeril’s was very good, wish it was free.  MDR same old boring menu and tastes.  You would think after 16 months of being anchored with no guests (I am talking about all the ships in the cruise line) they would have created new menus.  We ate there once and wish we hadn’t.  Lido was good, but the Soda machines were out of ice or the card reader did not work.  I mentioned that to an employee and he said it happens all the time (I counted 3 machines not working or 2 machines out of ice during the cruise).

 

Things we really liked:

 

1. Fortune Teller bar:  very nice bar with creative drinks and entertaining bartenders.  I never could understand why is was never crazy busy.

 

2. Disembarking via self assist was probably the easiest we have ever experienced.

 

Will we ever sail the Excel class again, maybe, but no rush here.

 

And one last thing:  If cruise passenger have to be vaccinated and show proof, why make them get tested 2 days before sailing.  No other form of transportation or lodging has this requirement.  I know the CDC is mandating this order, but the Florida lawsuit (which still applies) was very clear that the CDC can not treat Cruises differently than airplanes, trains, hotels ....

We never noticed the noise you talked about.  I wonder if it was more crowded than we had in Sept. 

 

Agree about the width of cabins.  Crazy that overall sq footage isn’t smaller as it did feel like it.  I’ll take the decor on this ship in the cabins though over all the others. 
 

I have no problems with the testing prior to cruising.  Vaccines don’t keep one from getting covid. Fully vaccinated here and we are just finishing up our quarantine from catching it.

[bafinegan]

Was wondering if we would like the mega ship concept.  We tend to gravitate to the older ships because they are smaller.  Guess we will find out on our Jan 2 Mardi Gras cruise!

[jetsfan58]

It sounds like you had a somewhat uneventful time via the Carnival Mardi Gras. I certainly can appreciate your transparency. However, I have never allowed anything that I personally can't control (Ships layout, etc.) including passenger behavior spoil my Cruise adventures.

 

I am a Carnival Cruise Nut, have sailed many of their vessels and have yet to have a "Bad" Cruise experience. Hopefully you will try another Mardi Gras Cruise with a better outcome!!

 

Whatever you do "Do it Big"     

[Wennfred]

Make sure to add these on your survey.

 

Fred

[Wennfred]

7 minutes ago, jetsfan58 said:

It sounds like you had a somewhat uneventful time via the Carnival Mardi Gras. I certainly can appreciate your transparency. However, I have never allowed anything that I personally can't control (Ships layout, etc.) including passenger behavior spoil my Cruise adventures.

 

I am a Carnival Cruise Nut, have sailed many of their vessels and have yet to have a "Bad" Cruise experience. Hopefully you will try another Mardi Gras Cruise with a better outcome!!

 

Whatever you do "Do it Big"     

totally agree, haven’t had a bad cruise yet. Anything away from home especially on a nice island or being out in the ocean works for me.

 

There are lots of Venues I skip, I just do what I like to do and that’s relax.

 

I prefer smaller ships to begin with, Spirit class or smaller, without all of the bells and whistles, the less kids the better.

 

Fred

Edited November 11, 2021 by Wennfred

[jetsfan58]

Sounds great. Our favorite Carnival Cruise Ship still remains the Pride. The perfect size and the atmosphere has always been very good aboard this one. We also get a big laugh when we see Mothers covering up their kids eyes when they are trying to stare at the Statue of David aboard the Pride! 

[RoperDK]

We just got off of Mardi Gras for Halloween.  I love the Oasis class mega ships on RCCL.  We enjoyed our cruise on Mardi Gras, but didn't like it as much as we expected.  A lot of venues seemed compressed in size and ended up feeling cramped.  We had on Ocean Suite and had to walk sideways to get by the bed.  There are a lot of nice innovations on the ship and of course covid restrictions and staffing issues did bother me somewhat.  We are returning to the Mardi Gras in January and I will get a better feel for whether we like this class of ship.  

[KaiBlue]

We were on the same sailing and I will have to say we went to the disco the first night and left after ten minutes ourselves - music was definitely for a young crowd and we are early 50's.  I figured they probably didn't play anything different from night-to-night but we happened to go again a few nights in and they were playing 70's dance music so I figured they must have had themes each night.  They should have advertised them!  Overall we thought the food was actually quite good (we ate 2x dinners at the P&G and 2 at ChiBang).  ChiBang was a little underwhelming to us but not bad.  Really enjoyed P&A.  Also thought Big Chicken was quite good!  Because of all of the free evening food options, we only ate one night in the MDR and agree that the menu's really need to be refreshed.  Our balcony room did seem narrow to me - hard to get around the end of the bed.  We thoroughly enjoyed the cruise and wouldn't hesitate to sail on the MG again given the chance.  

[jetsfan58]

3 minutes ago, mommy3 said:

We were on the same sailing and I will have to say we went to the disco the first night and left after ten minutes ourselves - music was definitely for a young crowd and we are early 50's.  I figured they probably didn't play anything different from night-to-night but we happened to go again a few nights in and they were playing 70's dance music so I figured they must have had themes each night.  They should have advertised them!  Overall we thought the food was actually quite good (we ate 2x dinners at the P&G and 2 at ChiBang).  ChiBang was a little underwhelming to us but not bad.  Really enjoyed P&A.  Also thought Big Chicken was quite good!  Because of all of the free evening food options, we only ate one night in the MDR and agree that the menu's really need to be refreshed.  Our balcony room did seem narrow to me - hard to get around the end of the bed.  We thoroughly enjoyed the cruise and wouldn't hesitate to sail on the MG again given the chance.  

I certainly can't speak for you but my Disco Days are long gone. I will leave that chore up to the new Millennial generation. Carnival certainly understands that they have the "New" buying power and they still have the ability to stay awake past midnight!!!

 

Whatever you do "Do it Big"     

[KaiBlue]

9 minutes ago, jetsfan58 said:

I certainly can't speak for you but my Disco Days are long gone. I will leave that chore up to the new Millennial generation. Carnival certainly understands that they have the "New" buying power and they still have the ability to stay awake past midnight!!!

 

Whatever you do "Do it Big"     

I do wish they had more opportunities to dance on this cruise but I've only ever been on one cruise (an older RCCL ship) that provided what I thought was an adequate amount😁  I might just need to start dancing my way around the ship and ignore people staring at me thinking I've just had too much to drink!!

Edited November 11, 2021 by mommy3

[jetsfan58]

13 minutes ago, mommy3 said:

I do wish they had more opportunities to dance on this cruise but I've only ever been on one cruise (an older RCCL ship) that provided what I thought was an adequate amount😁  I might just need to start dancing my way around the ship and ignore people staring at me thinking I've just had too much to drink!!

What happens on the Cruise stays on the Cruise! For the Most part with modern technology someone will post you dancing before the music starts!!

[bdever]

Havana Bar - Live Salsa 💃🏻 Band. You should have parked there. I’ve never been on Mardi Gras but if & when I do that is where you will find me dancing 💃🏻 every night. 

[Jasonsterling]

2 hours ago, CruiseHealing said:

1. No disco.  We love to dance and MG does not have a dedicated disco or dance floor, like the Ocean Plaza.  They turn the Limelight lounge into a dance venue at 11 pm with rap or urban music.  Every person that entered the lounge (average age 40+)  stayed less than 15 minutes because the DJ said he was not going change away from rap. (The bartender said the same thing to me!).  Nothing like ignoring your customers.

 

 

I can't speak to the Mardi Gras BUT this here got my attention at it was the same case at the nightclub on the Breeze. The music was all hip hop remixes and very niche market. People requested other music and the DJ played one song and switched it back to his playlist. It was very monotonous and just not the mass market/top 40 pop/dance lineup I was expecting. The nightclub was fairly full as it was the only place open after 11pm but the dance floor was usually just a few people filtering on and off but not staying. The music was really boring and nearly all unrecognizable. 

[Ellusionz]

In regards to the music they may have a list of what they are and aren't allowed to play. People complain too much about certain music sometimes. If I recall right they also theme their music nights if you check the calendar so what you requested may have not been part of that. 

[stellarose]

80's glow party on the lido ?

[KaiBlue]

3 hours ago, bdever said:

Havana Bar - Live Salsa 💃🏻 Band. You should have parked there. I’ve never been on Mardi Gras but if & when I do that is where you will find me dancing 💃🏻 every night. 

I would if I could get hubby to learn salsa/swing.  I fear that isn't going to happen.😕

[sharon&family]

What survey?  I have never received one.  We went on the Mardi Gras in October.

[CookieShip]

6 hours ago, CruiseHealing said:

And one last thing:  If cruise passenger have to be vaccinated and show proof, why make them get tested 2 days before sailing.  No other form of transportation or lodging has this requirement.  I know the CDC is mandating this order, but the Florida lawsuit (which still applies) was very clear that the CDC can not treat Cruises differently than airplanes, trains, hotels ....

International flights do, not that I enjoy the testing. It's a bit stressful ensuring the results will meet the requested time frame, hopefully conditions will allow in the future for this to no longer be necessary. 

[Colorado Beach Bum]

19 minutes ago, sharon&family said:

What survey?  I have never received one.  We went on the Mardi Gras in October.

We get one after every cruise via email. Check your junk email as I did find it there once. 

[hurricane0226]

Will be on the MG next Saturday, hope that we enjoy it, looking forward to it, and if anything, it is 

still a cruise with a drink in my hand, and my toes in the sand. 

[Tnlynch81]

6 hours ago, CruiseHealing said:

Big Chicken big disappointment.

This is where you lose all credibility. I had one almost every day and each one was moist and delicious. Great fries too! Much better than anything I have ever had at Chic Fil-A. I loved the ship and ready for the Celebration and Jubilee.