My Long Mardi Gras Story (with pictures and Funtimes) 01/29 to 02/05

[lazydayz]

Thanks  again for a great cruise review.  We board on Saturday! I hope we like the Mardi Gras and think we will.  We have two more cruises booked on her after this one.  

[mlshum]

2 hours ago, lazydayz said:

Thanks  again for a great cruise review.  We board on Saturday! I hope we like the Mardi Gras and think we will.  We have two more cruises booked on her after this one.  

Thanks for reading along and I know you will have a ball!  We don’t have anything booked at the moment but we’re looking at pulling the trigger on one soon.  Have a great cruise!

[mlshum]

February 4th – Sea Day

 

Well, we are.  The last day of the cruise.  The last chapter of the story.

 

It doesn’t seem possible that the week was gone yet here we were on the last day of the cruise.  <sniff, sniff>  How is it that the time goes by so quickly while on a cruise?  It doesn’t seem to go that fast when I’m at work!  We woke up around or normal time, went to the Lido for breakfast and down to the Limelight Lounge for trivia.  If we didn’t win today, we simply wouldn’t get a ship on a stick.  I mean, that would be OK and certainly wouldn’t ruin my trip at all, but I’d LIKE to have it if possible.  I have one from every other cruise we’ve been on EXCEPT Sunrise and although it’s really silly, I like them.

 

The first game was General Knowledge.    Ron often jokes about being the “most trivial person on the ship” and this time, it paid off.  We finally won and got our ship on a stick!  Yay!  Finally!  We made it!  We stayed around to play the next game, too.  I don’t remember the topic.  It was fun but we didn’t win.  Again….totally OK!  I found a duck in the Big Red Chair, and we felt compelled to take a picture of ourselves in the Big Red Chair.  (It has to be capitalized because that’s how the chair “looks” to me!  I can’t think of it in anything OTHER than capital letters.)  I left my own duck along the way.  Last duck, last day.  Lots of “lasts” in this installment.  We decided to head up and try the ropes course again.  We stopped in the room to get Kindles and drop off our solid gold plastic ship on a stick.

 

Found a duck in the Big Red Chair

 

So we traded the duck and WE sat in the Big Red Chair

 

A "duck of the day"

 

Finally!  Success!!!

 

 

Up in the sports area, we learned that the ropes course was closed. Ugh.  I don’t know why.  I’m glad we did it the first sea day because, otherwise, we would have apparently missed it altogether.  Bolt was running that day.  We checked the app and, sure enough, there was an available slot.  We snagged it and went to ride Bolt for the second time.  It’s over fairly quickly, but we still enjoyed it.  Today there was a photographer.  The photo that I showed during the first Sea Day was actually taken on this last Sea Day.  I might have made a mistake in the posting timeline.   Oops!

 

After Bolt, we found some shady deck loungers and settled in to read a while.  It was finally summer outside, as it should be, and the shade was nice.  The morning show called “The Wave” was playing.  I didn’t watch it closely, but one part did catch my interest.  Chris and Lindsay (one of the Fun Squad) were talking about “things you may not know about me”.  Lindsay disclosed that she was actually a licensed EMT and had worked in that field before coming to work for Carnival.  Chris said that, as a child, he had been recruited by a cookie company to be the face on their packaging.  Apparently, his kilt and red hair were just the look they wanted.  I guess he’s been wearing the kilt most of his life.

 

Hanging out on deck

 

 

After finishing lunch, we went back down to the Limelight Lounge for the last trivia of this cruise.  The topic was Carnival trivia.  Ron thought I might have a pretty fair shot because I love reading about the cruises and ships.  Turns out, he was right!  I tied with another guy and Sin gave us both a solid gold plastic ship on a stick.  Go figure!  I guess it’s either Feast or Famine where trivia is concerned.  We played one more round of a topic I can’t remember and called it quits for this cruise. 

 

Back up to the Lido for something sweet!  My opportunities to indulge were quickly coming to a close!  I am in my 50’s and I’ve struggled with a weight problem all of my life, so I have to be careful most of the time.  Our yearly cruise is one of the times I let go and eat whatever I want whenever I want. 

 

The gelato flavors on this day were mocha and mango.  I wasn’t excited about either of those flavors, so I opted for a piece of cake.  I don’t remember exactly what it was other than chocolate was involved.  I love chocolate!  LOL  It had been a good morning and afternoon.  We were quickly wrapping up our “last things” for this cruise.  This would be the last time we were on Lido.  On the way back to our cabin, we ran into Ni.  We chatted with her for a few minutes, and she told us that she was also leaving the next day to go home for a few weeks since she had just finished her contract.  She seemed happy and excited.  We thanked her for taking such good care of us all week.  One of the things we have done since our second cruise is to bring “thank you” cards with an extra gratuity for our waitstaff and cabin steward.  We always try to do it such a way that there isn’t a lot of fanfare and, hopefully, they will know we really do care.   They work so hard, and we truly appreciate them!   It’s best if we can just leave it in a place where they can find it after we’re gone.   We often just leave the card in the cabin on the last day, or on the table after our last meal, but we were afraid Ni would miss getting it, so we gave it to her then.  It would be nice to sail with her again sometime.  I hope she had a safe trip home.  When we went in our cabin, we saw our “get off our ship” heart. 

 

 

"Get off our ship heart"

 

 

It was time to go get ready for our last dinner.  How sad!  We got dressed and headed down.  As usual, we were greeted by Severo, Rizsky, and Haryana.  They informed us that Severo would be singing the “Leaving on a Fun Ship” song.  They were excited but that song always means the cruise is nearly over so I’m not sure if I like it or hate it.  I decided to be happy for Severo was more important.  We left their thank you cards.  I don’t remember what we ate but there was, of course, baked Alaska as the final dessert.  Sign me up!  Like chocolate melting cake, the yearly cruise is the only time I ever eat baked Alaska.

 

Haryana is cracking up, dancing and generally having a great time.

 

 

I noticed the lights turned to red.  I grabbed my phone.  I laid it beside me on the table and made sure I was recording.  Borris came on and made the announcement and……I got it!  I sent “shooowtime” to Aaron right away.  He got a kick out of it, and I was glad to have FINALLY caught it.   It took all week but his reaction was worth it!

 

After dinner, we said our goodbyes and went to Center Stage for “The World Works Here”.  It was an interesting show with crew members carrying the flags of their countries.  There is a huge array of nationalities represented on a ship.  I didn’t realize how many until I saw all the flags.  After that show, there were a couple more shows that were done back to back.  According to the Fun Times, they were called “We Are One”, “All You Need is Love” and “United in Song”.  We stayed for all of them.  Ron went to get our “gold card drinks” while I stayed and saved our seats.  I knew the minute I stood up I would lose them.  I had asked at the Shake Spot earlier if they would give milkshakes as the loyalty drinks and, sure enough, the answer was yes.  I wish I’d known that several cruises ago!  Many times, we don’t even redeem the coupons.  I was glad that we did and will remember that for future reference.  Ron got a shake and I had a virgin lemonade daiquiri.

 

The World Works Here

 

United in Song

 

Aerialist

 

 

It was time to go pack.  Our cruise was over.  It had been such a great cruise that I hated to see it end but it was inevitable.  We went up, packed, set out our suitcases (being sure we actually kept out clothes and things we needed) and hung out in the cabin for the rest of the evening.

 

February 5, 2022 – Debarkation Day

 

As usual, we had to be out of the cabin early.  We had sent all of our bags except for one small carry on.  We stuffed all of the things that we had needed for the morning into that bag once we finished getting ready.  We took one last look around to make sure we hadn’t forgotten anything and went to the main dining room for breakfast.  We had eaten on the Lido or Big Chicken every day of the cruise.   I was glad we had one last opportunity to have breakfast in the MDR.

 

The dining room is empty on debarkation day!

 

 

We were seated and our orders taken very quickly.  The dining room was nearly empty.  We weren’t in a hurry because we had a late zone number.  Our flight didn’t leave MCO until 3pm so there wasn’t any reason to rush.  After breakfast, we went to Summer Landing to wait for our zone number to be called.   One thing that always strikes me as rather funny is the difference between embarkation and debarkation.  During embarkation, everyone is new, fresh, and sparkly.  The staff acts like they’re so excited to see you.  You walk on the ship with a spring in your step.  It’s quite the opposite on debarkation!  All of the passengers look tired.  Lots of people are grumpy.  The staff is very busy.  There wasn’t much to do so we sat around and read or chatted.  Our zone number was called around 9:30 and we started down for debarkation.

 

Late zone number

 

 

The facial recognition makes debarkation super easy and quick.  We basically walked right through the entire process without stopping.  I don’t even recall showing my passport to anyone.  We walked off the ship, snaked through the line, stepped up to have our faces scanned and that’s about it.  It was a breeze.  We collected our luggage and boarded the shuttle to MCO.

 

We always take the Carnival shuttle back to the airport after our cruises.  There are lots of other options, I know, but this one is easy and convenient for us.   During our October cruise on Sunrise, Aaron and Liz opted to Uber back to the Miami airport and we took the shuttle.  They beat us there by about 15 minutes.  I don’t think there’s necessarily a “right” or “wrong” choice.  Everyone has to do what works for them.  The shuttle works for us.  We took “our cruise is over and now we’re pouting” picture and that was it.  Back to reality.

 

Our annual "our cruise is over and now we're pouting" picture.

 

So…..that is the end of our story.  It was the best cruise yet.  I know I always say that, but I always mean it!  At this time, we don’t have another cruise booked so I don’t know when I’ll be back with another “story” but until then, I’ll be reading all of your stories.  Thanks for reading along!

 

 

And finally, the last Fun Times......

 

last sea day 1.pdf

last sea day 2.pdf

 

 

 

 

[TNcruising02]

Congratulations on winning the ship-on-a-sticks!  I think they are pretty neat.  It sounds like the shows are very good.  Thank you, again, for taking the time to post about your cruising experiences.  We board this coming Saturday and I found your trip story very helpful and interesting.

[cgladin]

Enjoyed reading your review. Thanks for sharing your experience.

[Knights on the Beach]

Thank you for posting your experience - I enjoyed following along!  

[Ken076]

Really a nicely written, well-photographed, informative Review - Thanks for Sharing! Ken

Edited February 21, 2022 by Ken076

[mlshum]

1 hour ago, TNcruising02 said:

Congratulations on winning the ship-on-a-sticks!  I think they are pretty neat.  It sounds like the shows are very good.  Thank you, again, for taking the time to post about your cruising experiences.  We board this coming Saturday and I found your trip story very helpful and interesting.

Thank you!  I hope you have an absolutely stellar trip!  Please post about it when you get back.  Hopefully, you’ll bring back a ship on a stick, too!

[mlshum]

1 hour ago, cgladin said:

Enjoyed reading your review. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Thanks so much for reading along!

[mlshum]

20 minutes ago, cruisemom2 said:

Thank you for posting your experience - I enjoyed following along!  

Thanks so much for reading!  I appreciate it!

[mlshum]

7 minutes ago, Ken076 said:

Really a nicely written, well-photographed, informative Review - Thanks for Sharing! Ken

Thank you so much!  I really appreciate that.  Thanks for reading along!

[TravelBluebird]

Thanks for the marvelous review!  Loved your images and how busy you were (I’m a busy cruiser too!) I’ve so enjoyed reading it as I’m getting ready for my trip on the Mardi Gras starting this Saturday. I’ll be posting a LIVE; always love sharing the journey here on Cruise Critic!

[Joe817]

3 minutes ago, TravelBluebird said:

Thanks for the marvelous review!  Loved your images and how busy you were (I’m a busy cruiser too!) I’ve so enjoyed reading it as I’m getting ready for my trip on the Mardi Gras starting this Saturday. I’ll be posting a LIVE; always love sharing the journey here on Cruise Critic!

Really looking forward to your review!

[Camden72]

Thanks for the review!  I loved the style and looked forward to new installments.  It has really gotten me excited for our March Mardi Gras cruise!

[mlshum]

16 hours ago, TravelBluebird said:

Thanks for the marvelous review!  Loved your images and how busy you were (I’m a busy cruiser too!) I’ve so enjoyed reading it as I’m getting ready for my trip on the Mardi Gras starting this Saturday. I’ll be posting a LIVE; always love sharing the journey here on Cruise Critic!

Thank you so much!  I’m so glad you’ve been reading along.  I’ll definitely watch for your live!  Enjoy your trip!

[mlshum]

4 hours ago, Camden72 said:

Thanks for the review!  I loved the style and looked forward to new installments.  It has really gotten me excited for our March Mardi Gras cruise!

Oh yay!  Thank you so much!  That makes me very happy!  I know you will have a fabulous cruise!

[peteandpris]

I signed up for Pie and Pizza making classs. Hoping to be able to make pie and pizza dough. Was your class hands on. I enjoyed your review the first thing I did was change my early dinning to anytime dinning. Thank you.

[mlshum]

4 hours ago, peteandpris said:

I signed up for Pie and Pizza making classs. Hoping to be able to make pie and pizza dough. Was your class hands on. I enjoyed your review the first thing I did was change my early dinning to anytime dinning. Thank you.

Thanks for reading along!  Yes, it was very hands on.  We were all given a separate station with utensils, ingredients, etc.  The lead chef prepared the dish and told us step by step what to do and we did it.  We cooked the dish, then sat down and ate it.  I know you will love it!

 

i’m so glad you were able to change your dining time.  I certainly wish I had changed mine!  

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[cruises42]

We're scheduled for late dining. Why do you recommend anytime?

[mlshum]

7 minutes ago, cruises42 said:

We're scheduled for late dining. Why do you recommend anytime?

When you have anytime dining, you can check in for complimentary speciality restaurants any time you’d like.  When you have assigned time dining, you can’t check in until after 7:45.  Then you are subject to availability.  

[cruises42]

31 minutes ago, mlshum said:

When you have anytime dining, you can check in for complimentary speciality restaurants any time you’d like.  When you have assigned time dining, you can’t check in until after 7:45.  Then you are subject to availability.  

Thanks! Do you know if the shows in the Central area are done more than once a night (so late diners won't miss them)?

[AKR2011]

I'm late the party and so happy that I caught your story! You are definitely a favorite writer of mine on the boards. Congrats on your Solid Gold Plastic Ship! I love how adventurous you guys are and how much you pack into vacation. DH and I are the same way and enjoy living every moment to its its fullest. I'm so happy you had a great trip, and I look forward to your next story ❤⚓

[mlshum]

10 hours ago, cruises42 said:

Thanks! Do you know if the shows in the Central area are done more than once a night (so late diners won't miss them)?

You're very welcome and the answer is definitely "no" on the shows.  I had hoped for the same thing!  That's one reason you have to get there early....you just get one shot at it.  People do come and go a little, but it tends to stay pretty crowded, at least on our cruise.  One reason it stays a that way is the seating arrangement on the main deck area.  A lot of the seating consists of tables and chairs which can be moved.  People tend to move everything around and it can become very disorganized.  Also, all of the tables have four chairs.  They're fairly close together but when two people sit down, you then have to share the space with people you don't know.  That wasn't a problem for us, but I could see it being uncomfortable for some people.  There were a couple of times we went up to someone and simply asked if we could join them.  It was the only option.

 

I didn't sit much in the bleacher style seating of the upper decks.  As far as I can tell, one of the problems up there was the noise level.  A main walk through area is right behind those bleachers along with stores, bars and venues.  It gets a little noisy.  I love Grand Central/Center Stage and the idea of what they're doing there, but I think it needs just a little more tweaking for the design to be all it can be.  Thanks again!

[mlshum]

9 hours ago, AKR2011 said:

I'm late the party and so happy that I caught your story! You are definitely a favorite writer of mine on the boards. Congrats on your Solid Gold Plastic Ship! I love how adventurous you guys are and how much you pack into vacation. DH and I are the same way and enjoy living every moment to its its fullest. I'm so happy you had a great trip, and I look forward to your next story ❤⚓

Oh gosh, thank you so much!  You're made my day!  I really appreciate that!  Ron is my best friend in the whole world and we always have a wonderful time.  We really look forward to going each year.....for MONTHS!  LOL  I do the writing but Ron certainly helps with the content and he always works on pictures for me, so its a team effort.  We enjoy writing the story very much as it just makes our experience last a little longer.

 

Thanks again!  You've made me smile on this rainy cold day!

[archer_310]

On your last writing, you mentioned that you had a late debarkation time.  I'm used to most ships wanting passengers off by 9am.  What was the latest that passengers could be off the Mardi Gras?  We have our shuttle picking us up at 9am, but now I'm worried that we might end up with a later time.  Are you able to request a certain time?