Mardi Gras not for us!

[MaryZ]

ohh we thought the chicken was the best food on the Mardi Gras...lol

[CruisingFromLA]

7 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 ....

 

Even if you are vaccinated, you can still get and transmit Covid. The cruise lines are trying to mitigate risk. I understand the anxiety about not being able to get your test results back in time, but this ensures they at least catch the current active cases before boarding. 

[SNJCruisers]

You're the first reviewer I have read on the boards or seen on YouTube that didn't like Shaq's Big Chicken.  I am looking forward to it during our B2B in February and again over Labor Day.

My highest anticipated new venues are the two story Tiki Bar for daytime consumption and the Fortune Teller Bar for evening consumption.

[Joebucks]

This is probably the most negative review I have seen of the Mardi Gras food yet. Not very descriptive either other than the preconceived notions about the MDR.

[Theosprey247]

15 minutes ago, Joebucks said:

This is probably the most negative review I have seen of the Mardi Gras food yet. Not very descriptive either other than the preconceived notions about the MDR.

You have to take what people say here with a grain of salt (and the whole shaker with some people). 

[Don Kehote]

On 11/11/2021 at 10:39 PM, Tnlynch81 said:

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. 

If you would like to have fried chicken absolutely ruined for you in the future, I recommend the drive to Disney Springs; Art Smith's Homecomin' has the best fried chicken on the planet.  I went in skeptical, waddled out a believer.  Also, their cocktails are positively flammable.

[RoperDK]

On 11/11/2021 at 10:13 PM, MaryZ said:

ohh we thought the chicken was the best food on the Mardi Gras...lol

I wouldn't go that far, but what a pleasant surprise we experienced with Shaq's Big Chicken!  Disclaimer, I can't do breaded fried things, so I wasn't expecting much.  I LOVED the grilled chicken breast, along with the fries.  It was juicy and seasoned, hard to do with grilled!  We also tried the breakfast sausage biscuit. Very tasty!    

[SNJCruisers]

15 minutes ago, RoperDK said:

  I LOVED the grilled chicken breast, along with the fries.  It was juicy and seasoned, hard to do with grilled! 

You're the first person that I have read that mentioned the grilled version.  I assume it was cooked to order and you had to wait?  That's on my embarkation day lunch menu.

[RoperDK]

19 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

You're the first person that I have read that mentioned the grilled version.  I assume it was cooked to order and you had to wait?  That's on my embarkation day lunch menu.

I thought that would be the case, but they had them already prepared.  It was a chicken breast, couldn't do the tenders.  It was a great option for folks who can't do breaded and fried.  I highly recommend it.

[Terre]

It is definitely different from the "old" Carnival ships.  We were on Mardi Gras the week before you and although I had dislikes, I enjoyed it for the most part.  It is noisy everywhere.  Even the comedians made comments about the noise from the bar outside.  It just didn't have the Carnival vibe, but had more food venues to offer and I thought all of the restaurants we  ate at were good.  We liked Pig and Anchor and felt the flavors were good.  I didn't have anything I would call "bland" there, and we are from NC where there are lots of BBQ restaurants all over the state with different styles of BBQ.

 

Everyone has different tastes and expectations.  I'm not sure MG is the ship for us either, but you never know until you try it, right?  

 

Click here for my Mardi Gras review

 

Edited November 14, 2021 by Terre

[SNJCruisers]

4 hours ago, Terre said:

  It just didn't have the Carnival vibe

That's the point.  If you want the Carnival vibe, you have well over 20 ships to choose from.  If you want to sail on a game changer that is closer in line to what the new builds on Royal and NCL are like, then you have the Mardi Gras, the Celebration in 2022 and the Jubilee in 2023.

[ontheweb]

As has been posted countless times on cruisecritic boards, reviews of food are subjective.

[ChrisNCruiser]

On 11/11/2021 at 5:36 PM, jetsfan58 said:

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! 

There's a fig leaf now...

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, newpherchris said:

There's a fig leaf now...

No fig leaf in Florence!

[vwrestler171]

I will agree with e few things on Mardi Gras.  The cabins were definitely smaller.  The cabin bathrooms were horrible.  I'm not a huge guy, but anyone bigger than me will have issues.  Showers were great with the new door.  

 

Not impressed with Shaqs Big Chicken.  Tried it twice and meh.  Chibang is a decent concept and the food was good, but I miss the larger menu from Jijis.  Pig and Anchor on Mardi Gras is not as good as it was on Horizon.  

[SNJCruisers]

1 hour ago, vwrestler171 said:

I will agree with e few things on Mardi Gras.  The cabins were definitely smaller.  The cabin bathrooms were horrible.  I'm not a huge guy, but anyone bigger than me will have issues.  Showers were great with the new door.  

 

Not impressed with Shaqs Big Chicken.  Tried it twice and meh.  Chibang is a decent concept and the food was good, but I miss the larger menu from Jijis.  Pig and Anchor on Mardi Gras is not as good as it was on Horizon.  

The cabins are smaller if you stay in a basic inside.  It's 185 in the rest of the fleet versus 156 on the MG.  But ocean view and regular balconies that are normally 185 are 205 on the MG, narrower, but longer.  These numbers are directly from Carnival's website

[Earthworm Jim]

While that selection of music wouldn't interest me either, to a large extent they can't win on that one. Whatever they play, there will be some demographic that walks out of the place because of it. Though I agree if the passengers present are older, the DJ has to try and read the room.

[vwrestler171]

7 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

The cabins are smaller if you stay in a basic inside.  It's 185 in the rest of the fleet versus 156 on the MG.  But ocean view and regular balconies that are normally 185 are 205 on the MG, narrower, but longer.  These numbers are directly from Carnival's website

Definitely narrower.  I was on a Premium Extended Aft Balcony.  Didn't seem longer either.  Still had the 2 spot couch and a bed.  

[SNJCruisers]

5 minutes ago, vwrestler171 said:

Definitely narrower.  I was on a Premium Extended Aft Balcony.  Didn't seem longer either.  Still had the 2 spot couch and a bed.  

It's 20 extra sq ft per cabin and since everyone says the cabins are narrower, the extra footage has to be somewhere

[sharon&family]

I didn't care for Big Chicken either on the Mardis Gras.  It was ok but I think chick-fil-a is better and the sandwich was huge with way too much chicken on it.  It was kind of plain I thought and on a cruise I want something different than I can get at home.  I like small tastes of different things and didnt want to fill up on a huge sandwich.  The fries were ok. Not great.  They need some spices to spice them up.  Chibang was ok.  Didn't like the Italian restaurant, everything tasted weird.  Guys burgers was good.  Street eats was ok sometimes.  The dining room food was kind of plain.  I think I liked the lunch and dinner buffet the best.  I didn't care for most appetizers in the dining room as I dont eat seafood. That mainly left a boring salad or soup that didn't taste good.  I would rather eat steak at Texas Roadhouse.  It has much more flavor than the ones on the cruise.  I think the worst food of all was the breakfast buffet.  The only thing that was any good was the omelette.  The pastries had no taste, the bacon was not cooked all the way and didnt taste well and there just wasnt much to choose from.  After a couple days of eating there, I just started getting cereal to save room for lunch.  We did eat at the Italian restaurant for breakfast one day and it was good.  I did find enough food that was good throughout the cruise so I was happy.

[sc4125]

I liked the MG over all.  I was in a Havana cabin and spent most of my time on that deck (where all the restaurants are) and in the casino.  The cabin was definitely narrow.  I have been on just about every CCL ship and this wasn't one I would call relaxing.  

 

I liked Chibang although I only ordered from Chinese options and went in the evening.  It was super crowded and a bit noisy, but the food was very good and "fancier" than I expected.

 

I enjoyed the look of the ship and the atrium area is beautiful.  I didn't get to do all the things I wanted, but will be on her again in February and hope to experience more.

 

BTW the Havana lounge was one of the places to be in the evening.  Unfortunately I didn't realize this until the 3rd evening and by then it was too crowded to find a table.  I will definitely hit this place up in February.  The bartenders taking care of the outside area during the day were a riot and I heard they were one of the main attractions at night.

 

 

[SNJCruisers]

5 hours ago, sharon&family said:

I think I liked the lunch and dinner buffet the best....I think the worst food of all was the breakfast buffet. 

Food of course is subjective and after having buffet food on Carnival, NCL, RCI and Celebrity, I would put Carnivals buffet a distant fourth.

With all of the various options on the Mardi Gras food wise the fact you liked the lunch and dinner buffet the best is eye opening compared to all of the other reviews I have read on the boards and seen on YouTube. But you're entitled to your opinion and I'll be making my own over 14 days in February.