Live (Wi-Fi willing) Christmas Mardi Gras Review 12/18- 12/26 Blue Card Perspective

[BennyBrun]

[crewsweeper]

On 12/18/2021 at 11:06 PM, ZoeyVictoria said:

There is also wonderful bourbon banana pie at Guy’s Pig & Anchor.  I have gone there in the evening just for the pie.

IMO, the sea day brunch banana pie is way better.  My slice at P&A looked like Mrs. Smith's frozen from the grocery store. and had zero bourbon flavor.

[ZoeyVictoria]

31 minutes ago, crewsweeper said:

IMO, the sea day brunch banana pie is way better.  My slice at P&A looked like Mrs. Smith's frozen from the grocery store. and had zero bourbon flavor.

Thanks, I will try the one at the brunch, hopefully on Christmas Day on the Conquest.

[Saint Greg]

If today is the day you make it to the second floor Tiki Bar and you see Maria working, wish her a happy birthday for me.

 

Edited December 20, 2021 by Saint Greg

[calgaryhhr]

13 hours ago, BennyBrun said:

I will but so far we heard nothing!!  Try to pick the bonus room as they call it.  It’s bigger.

What are the bonus rooms? We are booked in 17427 and 17251 because we are traveling with two kids so we wanted the connecting rooms.

[JaniceB]

Do you plan on trying Emerils or any of the bars in the French Quarter?

[BennyBrun]

6 hours ago, crewsweeper said:

IMO, the sea day brunch banana pie is way better.  My slice at P&A looked like Mrs. Smith's frozen from the grocery store. and had zero bourbon flavor.

Day 3 

 

I ordered it for brunch but unfortunately they were so busy that they only served us 1/2 our order and after 60 minutes we were brunches out and just got up and left.  We will try again.

[BennyBrun]

34 minutes ago, JaniceB said:

Do you plan on trying Emerils or any of the bars in the French Quarter?

That is our plan but there are sooooo many options that looked really exciting so unfortunately Emerils is towards the bottom of the list but we will be trying very hard.

[BennyBrun]

2 hours ago, calgaryhhr said:

What are the bonus rooms? We are booked in 17427 and 17251 because we are traveling with two kids so we wanted the connecting rooms.

It does not connect.  There are a few all the way up front that’s interior SPA but in reality it’s a balcony room except there is no balcony and the room is bigger.

[BennyBrun]

5 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

If today is the day you make it to the second floor Tiki Bar and you see Maria working, wish her a happy birthday for me.

 

I am going to try to make a hole and get close to the bar.  It is always PACKED!  Which means it’s awesome!

[BennyBrun]

Day 3 Sea Day,

 

I got up a little late today and headed to the gym around 9AM.  It was not as packed as I thought it was going to be.  Afterwards I took in a steam and bake and boil at the Thermal Suite before heading out for brunch.  On the hub it said 20-30 minute wait and that was a bad sign.  Unfortunately I was right.  It took about 45 minutes before our table was ready and we only got half of our order.  We did not get the French toast and banana cream pie.  It’s almost like they are enforcing a no sugar diet on us lol.  We sat at the Palms Dinning room for 75 minutes and finally we had to leave.  We just could not sit there any more.  The server never came back after he dropped off the first few things.  What we had were tasty so I have to give credit where credit is due!

[BennyBrun]

Day 3

 

We planned ahead and grabbed a few bites while waiting for our table so we are not hangry waiting for our food.  Street Eats plus Blue Iguanas.

[BennyBrun]

Day 3 

 

After brunch we decided to walk around and check out a few places we have not been and apparently no one else either.

[BennyBrun]

Day 3

 

High Sea Karaoke 🎤 … I don’t think I had enough to drink because I am hearing a lot of screeching or maybe I had too much already 😝 But the little dancer is super duper adorable!

[SNJCruisers]

2 hours ago, calgaryhhr said:

What are the bonus rooms? We are booked in 17427 and 17251 because we are traveling with two kids so we wanted the connecting rooms.

The Premium interiors are categories 4N (Dark Blue) and 4O (Dark Gray).  They are exactly the same size as a balcony cabin without the balcony.  There are 27 4N's scattered across decks 4, 5, 9, 10.  There are 14 4O's scattered across decks 11, 12, 14, 15.  None of them are connecting. 

 

The Spa Interior cabins are 4S (Green) and 4T (Orange).  There are 16 4S's on deck 5, with 1 pair connecting.  There are 3 4T's on deck 5 and 24 on deck 17, with 5 connecting pairs on 17.

[BennyBrun]

Day 3

 

Bingo Fun … a lot of sale of Bingo Cards, pre sale early sale late sale … we did not buy any.

[BennyBrun]

Day 3

 

Bingo Brad … high energy great choice to host bingo.  Do not Bongo… he will make you twerk on stage!

[SNJCruisers]

53 minutes ago, BennyBrun said:

 On the hub it said 20-30 minute wait and that was a bad sign.  Unfortunately I was right.  It took about 45 minutes before our table was ready and we only got half of our order..... We sat at the Palms Dinning room for 75 minutes and finally we had to leave. 

100% inexcusable.  Unless you show up as soon as they open, it looks like it's a long wait and as far as I am concerned, there is nothing on the revamped menu that is worth the hassle. 

 

Especially since sea days are the only days that you can get lunch at Cucina and Chibang, which are better options than the sea day brunch anyhow, IMHO, with the lone exception being the steak and eggs.  Still don't know why those two venues are closed on embarkation day when Cucina and Jiji's are open on embarkation day on other ships in the fleet.  Maybe that will change with the increase in occupancy percentage, but I doubt it.

[Hogladyrider]

Question regarding the Spa......how is the noise level in the thermal pool?

 

On the Vista class when the thermal pool is in with the heated loungers it was VERY noisy and not calm at all.

I prefer the thermal spa in a separate room from the loungers.

[BennyBrun]

55 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

100% inexcusable.  Unless you show up as soon as they open, it looks like it's a long wait and as far as I am concerned, there is nothing on the revamped menu that is worth the hassle. 

 

Especially since sea days are the only days that you can get lunch at Cucina and Chibang, which are better options than the sea day brunch anyhow, IMHO, with the lone exception being the steak and eggs.  Still don't know why those two venues are closed on embarkation day when Cucina and Jiji's are open on embarkation day on other ships in the fleet.  Maybe that will change with the increase in occupancy percentage, but I doubt it.

We were very nice about it and spoke to the restaurant manager / officer possibly (white shirt with stripes) he apologized and told us that they do not have the staff they need to accommodate the capacity and it’s only going to get worse as they add more capacity.  He said he is not sugar coating it and want to be honest and upfront and he will try to make it better for the rest of the cruise and was appreciative that we told him early vs at the end of the cruise.  You can see it in the staff’s eyes that they are over worked while we can be understanding but from the cruiser perfective 60 minutes after you order and  you only got about half the order and saw your server once when he dropped off the food that does not look very good for service.  Food was tasty, steak was tender but over cooked but still good.  No complaints about the kitchen the service is very rough… We were told elegant night is going to be worse.

[BennyBrun]

53 minutes ago, Hogladyrider said:

Question regarding the Spa......how is the noise level in the thermal pool?

 

On the Vista class when the thermal pool is in with the heated loungers it was VERY noisy and not calm at all.

I prefer the thermal spa in a separate room from the loungers.

It really depends on when you go and how busy it is.  Yesterday was calm and quiet the first 30 minutes and then it became a party with everyone chatting and talking in the pool so the Serenity vibe was not there.  Today it was busy and loud (with talking / chatting) the two times that I was there.  But it’s a cruise, people say hi and then the hi turns into a conversation.

[BennyBrun]

Day 3

 

can someone identify this animal?  Is it a bunny? Or is it a snail?

[ShrinkinTexas]

20 hours ago, BennyBrun said:

Day 2

 

Cucina Capitano dinner… so many choices… I can’t believe this is complimentary dinning.

 

Are you sure "complimentary dinning"?  Online for the Vista it shows this restaurant as an additional charge.

[keels81]

4 hours ago, calgaryhhr said:

What are the bonus rooms? We are booked in 17427 and 17251 because we are traveling with two kids so we wanted the connecting rooms.

 

17215 and 17212 are listed as Spa Interiors, but they're actually oversized premium interior rooms. The X over where the balcony would normally be is actually square footage inside the stateroom:

 

[ninjacat123]

2 hours ago, BennyBrun said:

That is our plan but there are sooooo many options that looked really exciting so unfortunately Emerils is towards the bottom of the list but we will be trying very hard.

Must. Try. Emeril's.  I wish we would have had more of our meals there instead of just two.  Worth  the upcharge.  Had Banana Fosters Crepes and Pain Perdue for breakfast then split a muffuletta sandwich for lunch.  Delish!