A Spring Break on the Mardi Gras Review 3/12-3/19 with a few pics and far too many words....

[lazydayz]

15 minutes ago, HolySpearit said:

I have no pics here so picture a mozzarella stick singing Sweet Caroline in your head.

Love it and agree.  There are some things about cruising that are truly unique!

[HolySpearit]

Grand Turk cont’d:

So I’m not ENTIRELY sure if this show we went to was tonight or another night. I have no pics of it, but based on pics from other nights I think it had to have been tonight. Maybe someone else can chime in, but if I’m off a day, I apologize.

 

Anywho, the show of the evening was “M Theory”, which is allegedly a magic show that will break your brain with how amazing it is and what kind of sorcery this man is able to do. As much as D reports to hate shows, he is a BIIIGGG magic fan. It is adorably nerdy. Lord forbid we don’t get a seat for this, so we head up to stand in line. We’re like an hour early. There’s I think one person ahead of us. We stand there. I go get a drink in the casino twice to pass some time.

 

I am also going to use this opportunity to discuss the bathrooms. IF you have plans to use a public bathroom on the Mardi Gras pleassseee read this. So bathrooms are somewhat lacking on this ship and they’re hidden in weird corners. There is one on each side of the theater on deck 7 if you get desperate. Some of them are single stall accessible bathrooms. I have never, EVER seen people so confused by a bathroom. I saw more people peeing this week than I have ever in my entire life combined. It became a game of “can this person figure out the bathroom or will a stranger walk in on them with their pants down, leaving them to be on a toilet in front of a large group of people”. So if you use one of these, here is the process: Step 1-wave your hand in front of the opener to open the door. Step 2: stand there awkwardly. It will close, I promise you. You feel stupid standing there in a bathroom with an open door. But after about 30 seconds, IT WILL CLOSE. Step 3—the most important part. WAVE YOUR HAND IN FRONT OF THE DOOR OPENER THING. This is what locks the door. You will know you are successful when the red light pops on. YOU NEED TO MAKE SURE THE LIGHT IS ON. Step 4-handle your business. Step 5-wash hands to not spread the coronavirus. Step 6-wave your hand again to open the door and go on your merry way.  There are signs explaining this in the bathrooms. I would put the success rate of people around 40% on our cruise. It was beyond awkward. So hopefully this saves someone some embarrassment!

 

Anyways, about 35 minutes before the show some women come out and hand the first group of people in line some cards. I am unclear if this is just a souvenir or what I should be doing with them. We go sit. It is packed. The woman next to me is coughing on me constantly. I decide if I leave this cruise without covid that will be the real sorcery here.

 

Magic starts and it’s the magician Jonny. He has a very fancy British accent. He does some tricks which I will not spoil. Except one……so if you ever cruise on MSC and go to the magic show, you will know there is very little speaking. One of the tricks is the magician making a table “fly”. Except on MSC the guy dances around with it while inexplicably, Richard Marx music plays in the background. It is the single greatest thing I have ever seen. This trick is repeated here, only with no dancing and no Richard Marx. I am disappointed.

 

The cards I was handed turns out to be part of a trick. It is not one where you have to go up on stage to participate so don’t worry about that if you get a card. I did not entirely understand the trick. You also have to end up throwing 2 of the cards so you only get to keep one. Ah well, I got one card for free. If you want to keep them all, just don't throw them when he tells you. It's not that exciting of a trick where throwing them really makes it or breaks it. 

 

Overall magic show 7/10. I suspect there is cruise magician school much like cruise hibachi school. Overall it was entertaining, but my mind was not bent and broken by Jonny’s witchcraft.

Donate some more to the casino, then head to bed around 11. Tomorrow: Amber Cove!

 

I have no pics of the magic, or the bathrooms, so here's a few more from our time on Grand Turk:

 

The closed Lazy Donkey bar but I like that donkey art

 

The "beach". Waves were big! 

 

Proof we were at the lighhouse 

Edited March 30, 2022 by HolySpearit

[Oceansaway17]

On 3/25/2022 at 5:25 PM, HolySpearit said:

UNPLANNED SEA DAY CONT

 

But my LORD people need to control their kids. This entire cruise kids were running up and down the hallways at all hours of the night. All buttons to the elevator would regularly be 

 

I get we were all young and dumb, and we all lament kids these days but…..oy. We will absolutely never, ever, EVERRRRRR cruise during spring break again.  Rant over and I will be taking a short break as this is already too long. Dont worry though I'll be back I aint no quitter. I know you were all worried. Deeply. 

 

OMG I too agree that spring break is awful for everyone especially folks working and serving.

I heard MIAMI might have to think twice about having spring break as it is getting more violent.

 

I think they need elevator monitors to control the kids and security should do the rounds more often between 11pm - 2am.  Then again where are the parents.  Or are they drunk somewhere.

 

I do not understand the concept of being overly loud and rude just because it is spring break.

What manners go out the door.  Parents did not provide any guidance.

I understand the long lines at Guy's because the burgers are hot and just darn good.

[WorkerBee74]

14 hours ago, Joe817 said:

We could never consider such a venue if that were the case. Reading the previous several posts I'm reminded of the song "Under Pressure".  Nope...love the song, but will not go through the stress of trying to get reservations for a show. 

 

Wait until you hear about buying concert tickets...

 

JOKES JOKES - I'm with you though, I love to be able to decide within a couple hours whether I'm going to go or what time - that's as far as I'm willing to plan on a cruise ship because it's supposed to be relaxing.  I'll still be the one to book my excursions 6 months ahead but as far as which shows/bar/restauraunt I'm going to go to, I like to keep it loose.  😛  

[WorkerBee74]

55 minutes ago, HolySpearit said:

(monochromatic) towel animal

 

Laughing so hard at this.  Absolutely love your review and your humour - we're sailing Mardi Gras on Saturday and I'm super excited, you're exactly like us in that we just roll with the punches and get a big kick out of how lame some of the shows turn out to be... one of our favourite things is getting drunk and then going into the empty art gallery and critiquing the art - my husband makes me kill myself laughing every time.  😄

[bandjwayne]

19 hours ago, 2wheelin said:

We use EZ-Air and have never tried the airport parking. I have Mayo discount and we never call ahead. Have never been turned away. We once returned after a blizzard and they made sure everyone’s cars started and were shoveled out. Terminal 2 does look easier to park at.

It was spring break a few years ago, normally we would just use ez air, but I was not going to risk it. With the airport parking you can check online to see how full they are. We normally don't go around spring break so parking is normally not an issue.  The last time at EZ air we came back to over 1ft of snow.  They did make sure our car started.  The other positive about the airport is no snow on your car!!! Another bonus to airport parking is when you get back, no need to wait for the shuttle. Both have been fine, but as we get older and have the kids more with us, the airport is a better option for us.

 

[HolySpearit]

1 hour ago, WorkerBee74 said:

 

Laughing so hard at this.  Absolutely love your review and your humour - we're sailing Mardi Gras on Saturday and I'm super excited, you're exactly like us in that we just roll with the punches and get a big kick out of how lame some of the shows turn out to be... one of our favourite things is getting drunk and then going into the empty art gallery and critiquing the art - my husband makes me kill myself laughing every time.  😄

 You have 100% given me an activity to do on my next cruise. Why have I never thought of this!? 😍

[HolySpearit]

AMBER COVE

After a night of magical Jonny, we wake up the next morning and we’re in Amber Cove! Side note, I was not woken up by any shaking at any point beyond that day we were cancelled in Nassau. I think it was the weather vs the ship itself.

 

We have been here before. We had looked at the excursions previously and nothing that was left really sounded overly interesting to us. Last time we just did the pool and D did the zipline (I do not do heights). As I mentioned, D is not a “beach” person which sort of makes him not a pool person by association. So, our plan for today was just to stay on the ship and enjoy the Mardi Gras!

We wake up all leisurely like and head up to deck 16 for our first (and only) trip to the blue iguana cantina for breakfast. I go for a burrito with cheese, egg, and hashbrowns. D goes for the burrito with chicken sausage, egg, and cheese. The salsa bar is back in action and they had some bottles of hot sauce if you did not like the salsa.  It was ok. The eggs tasted less terrible than the ones in the dining room. The tortilla was kind of dry. D wished it was pork sausage vs chicken sausage. Overall not too bad though, 7/10.

 

We take a gander at the schedule of events on the hub and notice there is some trivia going on. I love me some cruise trivia so we decide to do that for a bit. By “we” I mean I decide and D reluctantly agrees. Trivia is being held today on deck 8 and is listed as on the summer landing. I thought “summer landing” referred to the entire area of deck 8 aft so I’m still a little confused where it is. We stop by Java Blue for a latte, and I pick up a Mardi Gras mug for $14.99. The line once again looked long but was under 10 minutes. The mug is cute. It’s like the Great Value version of the Starbucks “you are here” collection. I assume they make one for every ship. We had back to deck 8 and there’s a dude snoring in a chair and a few people milling about watching cricket (they showed a LOT of cricket on this ship) and some March Madness coverage. We decide to take a seat in the Heroes lounge area and just see what happens. I make a futile effort to understand what is going on in a game of cricket. D goes to get an ice cream cone as there is a self service machine in the lounge. There is a pile of ice cream in the drain thingy of the machine. Clearly the chilluns have been here running amok.

 

We sit for a bit and notice a Carnival person setting up over by where the band normally plays in the Pig and Anchor. Ok guess trivia is over there! Walk over and grab a table. Trivia is hosted by Maddie of the fun squad. She is indeed fun and (per her), one of 12 American staff members on the ship. She will give you a stick on a ship if you can tell her the other 11. We cannot.  We play 70’s trivia and catch phrase trivia. We do not win either. In my defense,  I was not alive in the 70's. Can we do like 1998 trivia? I would kill at that. 

 

There is a decent sized group playing and nobody seems to be blatantly cheating (no perfect scores) so that was nice! Drink guy is walking around and we get a couple drinks, they come quickly once ordered. Sadly, I did not get a bloody from the Pig and Anchor bar. I heard they were amazing. Oh well, next time!

 

I decide to go get another coffee from Bar Della Rosa down the hall (you can get virtually any coffee here you can at Java Blue, and lines are typically much shorter) while D takes a stab at the “genius test”. You get a piece of paper. It says like “7 D in a W’ and you have to decipher that means “7 days in a week”. I come back and ours is suspiciously filled out. I ask D if he cheated. He says yes. Do not worry, we did not actually like play the game or say we won. We are not scammers, nor geniuses. I've accepted this fate long ago. We play one more game of Trivia (I cant remember what it was, I think it was some kind of music based thing) and decide that’s enough trivia for the day. It’s early afternoon by now and it’s been like 3.5 hours since we’ve eaten so off we go in search of food!

 

Amber Cove from our balcony

 

The Heroes Lounge on Deck 8 Aft.

Edited March 30, 2022 by HolySpearit

[rmh661983]

OMG I don't think I have laughed so much even at a comedy show. Loving your review and aspire to write mine just as good in July after I get off the ship.

[jerseyjjs]

13 hours ago, HolySpearit said:

We had back to deck 8 and there’s a dude snoring in a chair and a few people milling about watching cricket (they showed a LOT of cricket on this ship) and some March Madness coverage. We decide to take a seat in the Heroes lounge area and just see what happens. I make a futile effort to understand what is going on in a game of cricket. D goes to get an ice cream cone as there is a self service machine in the lounge. There is a pile of ice cream in the drain thingy of the machine. Clearly the chilluns have been here running amok.

 

 

       Did you notice if they showed the March Madness games live?

[WES143]

I was on this cruise as well for my 50th birthday!!! Yeah people don’t discipline their kids anymore. Three got on the elevator with me and THOUGHT they were gonna push all the buttons and play…..and I not so politely let them know they had got in the WRONG elevator with the RIGHT one . I saw one the, the next day at the burger place and couldn’t even look at me.

 

 

Edited April 1, 2022 by WES143

[HolySpearit]

On 3/31/2022 at 4:26 AM, jerseyjjs said:

 

 

       Did you notice if they showed the March Madness games live?

 Unfortunately I am not a big basketball fan so not sure if they were live 😞 Maybe someone else can chime in? 

[HolySpearit]

AMBER COVE CONT'D

Where were we, leaving trivia and in search of food! So let's pick up there, 

 

Decide to make our first trip to the buffet for lunch today.

We’d only been there for breakfast previously so we figured why not. It’s crowded and food lines are long, but not unbearable.

 

Unfortunately, none of the food really looked at good. I don’t entirely remember what they had other than some rice but I just remember thinking none of it looked really appetizing. It is self serve which also makes me kind of weirded out. That ain’t covid, I just have never really enjoyed eating food that someone could have hocked a loogie into 3 minutes ago.

 

I decide to play it somewhat safe with a salad and some bread. Salad is down one of the “middle” hallways of the buffet. Picture it looking like this and the salad is in between the 2 I’s:

 

===== I   I =====

 

Very helpful visuals I know. In one of the other “middle” sections is a shwarma station, sea dogs—which has like brats, polish sausage and…some other kind of cylindrical and cased meat that I don’t recall what it was. D goes for some shwarma. They take the meat and then put it in a pita with lettuce and sauce and maybe onions I think? Anyways he said it was pretty good and would recommend it. He picks up a cake slice and I grab some cookies (which are next to the salad on the buffet, because balance).  There’s also the self serve soda machines (or “pop” for my fellow Minnesotans) in there. It is of course Pepsi. You scan your card and it charges you per ounce for your drink. We were not charged to use it for Cheers. Of note, you get I think 10 seconds to fill your glass. Then when you stop or your time runs out, you’re locked out for a certain period of time (I think like 3 minutes). So if you like to stop the pour a bit to cut down on foam, be aware of the time or you are gonna be SOL with a half full glass. I saw this happen to quite a few people.

 

Anywho, we eat, and continue to have an overall MEHHHHHHHHH impression of the buffet. I just really don’t like the layout. I feel like we’re constantly missing something and it seems small.

We head back to the room to nap the rest of the afternoon because trivia and buffet going is clearly extremely exhausting.

 

No buffet pics so picture a sea dog in your head. 

[pblack]

I soooo agree with you about the bathrooms on Mardi Gras! They were so confusing the first couple times I used them and then I got the hang of it. Some bigger and/or better signage on how to use them would be great! 

 

Loving your review!!

[HolySpearit]

Amber Cove Cont’d:

 

Feeling refreshed, we decide to check out the Italian restaurant for dinner. Like ChiBang, it is currently $0 and for those with anytime dining you can check in when you wish.

Check in on the app right after they open at 5:30, our wait is about 15 minutes and we get the “your table is ready” text. There is a fancy mini Fiat and a scooter outside if you want to take a pic and pretend you’re zooming around deck 8 of the Mardi Gras. Seated immediately, no window seat but we do get a pretty sweet corner booth so our table luck continues. I feel like a mafia boss overseeing my lair.

 

Service is quick and polite, I do not recall our servers names. We are once again asked to order all courses at once. IDK how I feel about this…maybe I won’t want dessert! Maybe I want chocolate now but in an hour i won't! It's too much pressure for me, but I persevere and order the Caprese (I give D the tomatoes and just eat the cheese and basil), the Pistachio Farfalle thing (which is the “signature dish” on the Mardi Gras”), a side of crispy potatoes, and a lemon frozen torte for dessert. D goes for the meatball, Linguini with clams, a side of broccoli, and tiramisu. We also get some drinks. Service is quick, food is hot and overall good. The pistachio pasta was listed as being an “olive oil and white wine” sauce but it was reallllll creamy and tasted vaguely alfedo-ish to me. Pasta seemed slightly under cooked even when considering “al dente is the REAL ITALIAN WAY TO DO IT” because I know one of ya’ll want to give me a lesson on appropriate pasta cookage right now. My frozen lemon torte was good but also like very frozen. It was hard to cut a piece off of. D had no complaints about any of his food. Overall time in and out just under an hour and no complains, solid 7/10 here too. Not mindblowing but I’d do it again. Esp for $0. I’d pay the $15 they normally charge for it too, if I had to.

 

Head over to Grand Central for our shows of the evening which is “Vegas Nights”. Order a few drinks at the bar while we wait, drink dude is walking around again and now knows my drink of choice which is always a dangerous situation to be in. Gin and Tonic is my show drink of choice, no Hendricks at the bar at center stage though. Casino did have it. The show starts and the band plays some jams. Then out comes magician Jonny again! He does about 15 minutes of his mind bending magic. I am less mind bent after seeing him before but he fits the Vegas theme. Then the show starts and it is the center stage performers. This is one for the ages. There is a dude dressed up as Elvis. There is a man hanging from the ceiling in a glittery cowboy uniform. I have been to Vegas numerous times and let me tell you it’s never quite like this. Overall 100/10 for the for the Vegas Nights but again keep in mind my ratings are based on “how tacky is this and how hilarious is this after like 5 drinks”

 

Hit up the casino for our nightly Tito’s and slot machine donation and call it a day. Tomorrow’s another Sea Day, and it’s St. Patrick’s Day!

 

Enjoy these stellar pics courtesy of D who has a much better camera than me. 

Wow flying cowboys....

 

Elvis and his pelvis 

 

Pre-show. You can kind of see what I mean here about the ceiling. If you're not in the front section the ceiling kind of blocks some of the in air action once the show starts. 

Edited April 1, 2022 by HolySpearit

[floridagal83]

On 3/30/2022 at 6:05 AM, rolloman said:

Just want to add in order to enter Grand Turk you must walk through the Duty Free shop located at the end of the pier. On this day they had guards standing in front of the Duty Free shop and if you did not have a mask on they would not allow you to enter. There were tons of people (myself included) who made the U-turn back to the ship to get masks. Fortunately for me, just prior to walking up the gangway, I ran into a very kind lady who overheard me talking to my daughter. She opened up her purse and displayed a rather large box of masks and asked me how many I needed!! I thanked her profusely.  Moral of the story, in current times, never leave the ship without possessing a mask. 

I was on Mardi Gras in mid-February, and we also stopped at Grand Turk. While sitting in the plaza by the Duty Free shop, I saw the guard actually chasing people down to put on masks. They took their job SO seriously 😃

[floridagal83]

HolySpearit, I have enjoyed reading your review! I sailed on the Mardi Gras in mid-February. Same itinerary except we got to San Juan. I'm a native Minnesotan so can relate to that too. Thanks for taking the time to do this.

[HolySpearit]

LAST SEA DAY AND LUCK OF THE IRISH

It’s our final sea day and it’s St Patrick’s Day! I think I already have the luck of the Irish while being on a cruise. I’m up pretty early around 7:30 and go get my standard latte at Java Blue. Line is not bad at all and the coffee people know me now and are very nice.

 

 Lots of people wearing green so that’s got me feeling festive. I am confirmed Irish by my mom taking one of those DNA test things. Pretty sure D is not Irish at all but he can pretend today. Hang out on the balcony a bit until D wakes up. We decide to make one more attempt at sea day brunch.

Check in for our table and head down around 9:30, it’s only about a 15 minute wait this time. We are once again given a pretty decent table near the window. We do have someone right next to us this time but luckily it's a very nice couple from Arkansas. Like most, they are astounded we voluntarily live in the frozen tundra. Me too, Ed, me too.

 

Order my go to spicy bloody mary and some coffee. We order coffee but honestly I hate Carnival coffee and needed some sugar even though I normally like it as black as my soul. We sit as our waiter disappeared. Luckily Ed and his wife help us pass the time discussing life. Waiter comes back, we ask for sugar, he says we already have it and points. Apparently the little bottle that looks like an olive oil thing is sugar! Who knew?! Probably lots of people, but don’t sit and wait for your little box of Splenda and sugar if you only want sugar. It’s already there!

 

Not willing to repeat my potato spaghetti and powdery “eggs” of last time, I decide to order a skillet cake. D orders the salmon eggs benedict. We sit for about half an hour. Slooooooowwwww sea day brunch. In their defense, it was pretty crowded. But still. Sloooooow. Food finally arrives. My skillet cake is sweet enough to kill what’s left of my pancreas after that Gideon’s cookie, but one again it’s ok since we’re on vacation. IF you like sweet stuff, get it. Miles better than tom-tatoes. D’s benedict is…not good. His salmon looks kinda gray. I ask if he’s sure he wants to eat that. He eats half then gives up. He said it was one of the top 4 worst things he’s ever eaten in his life. Ok that’s enough sea day brunch for us. I love me some brunch. It’s the perfect meal, you can get like a burger and a pancake and some alcohol and it’s not even weird. But overall we were extremely let down by sea day brunch on the Mardis Gras. Boo.

 

Trust me, you do not want any pics of that salmon.

[HolySpearit]

SEA ST PATRICKS DAY CONTINUED:

D notices there is bingo card sales coming up in about an hour. Well you know we can't miss that so off we go to bingo an hour early so we can get a prime spot. It's win a cruise bingo day. He gets the $48 bingo lover package and I decide to put my foot down and only get the basic $25 one. I never win anyways I ain't spending $100 on bingo again. Somehow $75 on bingo seems far more reasonable. 

 

Bingo is held on the center stage today and is once again hosted by Gabe. There is lots of people playing, I think it's also seems much busier since it's a smaller space. Gabe brings Irish fun squad member Kristina up on stage and she does a little Irish dance for us. How festive! I give you one guess if we win bingo. Guess we're paying for our next cruise ourselves! 

 

By the end of bingo, D is not feeling great. I am fairly confident it's the salmon. He wants to go back to the room for the afternoon and try to sleep it off. And be in close proximity to a bathroom that you don't have to stand there with the door open for 30 seconds. I told him not to eat that salmon! 

 

Spend the afternoon just chilling on the balcony. I go to the casino for about an hour while D is sleeping off his tainted salmon, have some drinks, and win like $100 which is more than I've won so far. I credit my mom's 3% Irish-ness running through my veins.  There's a rainbow at one point so I figure that has to be a good sign!  There's also another ship out there, can't quite tell what it is, Celebrity maybe? 

 

Bars did have green beer if you're into that. Anyways, I'm back to the room around 4:30 and D is feeling better so time to get ready for the night! 

 

I saw no gold in the ocean, must be way down there. 

 

Hello fellow cruisers 

 

OLD AF

 

G's creation for the day. 

Edited April 1, 2022 by HolySpearit

[HolySpearit]

Sea St Patricks Day cont’d

Schedule of events tonight showed it was a jam packed evening on the center stage with the Mardis Gras Parade, some more magic, and then a performance of “Voodoo Moon” by the center stage people. Well I certainly can not miss any of these things and I went to bingo so D has to tag along. Rock Revolution is also going on in the theater, but it repeats tomorrow so I figure we can see that then.

 

We were kind of meh on dinner tonight. Nothing really sounded good. So we decided to just head down to Center Stage super early and grab some sandwiches from Java Blue. Sandwiches are free. They are however only available at certain times. I do not recall what the times were (wow, such a helpful reviewer I am) but I believe it was like 3-6? Standard portion you get is ½ a sandwich. I am sure if you asked for more they wouldn’t say no. Does anyone on the cruise ever say no to giving you more food? I get a pesto veggie sandwich and D gets a turkey bacon ranch thing. Both are warmed sort of like a panini only like mildly pressed. We also get coffee and a cupcake ($3.50ish) because we have not eaten enough sugar this week. Sandwiches were surprisingly good!!! I would suggest this if you just want a tiny dinner because 1) you are not that hungry, or 2) you are still semi recovering from questionable salmon.

 

Grab a primo couch in the center stage area and settle in for the night. Across the lobby is Aaron Jones of the Green Bay Packers. Him being on the ship was the talk of the cruise. Had at least 5 people show me their selfies with him while standing in line. Being hard core Vikings fans, we resist the urge to run up and start the Skol chant for him. No I’m kidding (sort of) but by all accounts I heard from everyone he was a very nice guy and willing to take a pic with anybody who asked. So there was our brush with fame.

 

Anyways the Mardi Gras parade kicks off. This was the final cruise for Scottsman/Nebraskian Chris and I guess he was just tired of it because new cruise director Lee took over this one. Earlier in the week, there was a competition for the King and Queen of the Mardi Gras. I do not know what this entails as I did not attend. I was freaking out over possibly being part of a trick with magician Jonny 2 nights ago, I ain’t the queen of anything except stage fright and gin.

 

So the do a parade down the hall and there’s music and dancing and umbrellas. Then the king and queen are brought in and proclaim it officially party time or something. Then there’s more dancing and the band plays and Lee dances around and it’s fun. Since it’s St Patricks Day they bring out a guy in a shamrock suit too. It’s fun. They do not throw beads so keep your shirts on!

 

This show repeats later (around 9:30 I think) with a different King and Queen. It’s a shared kingdom I guess.

 

The festivities 

 

Smore's cupcake

Edited April 1, 2022 by HolySpearit

[HolySpearit]

 

Sea St Patricks Day cont’d

The parade is now over and out comes magician Jonny again to do some voodoo magic. Now that I think about it, maybe this is where he makes the table fly vs at the M Theory show? Well either way there is no Richard Marx so don’t get your hopes up.

 

Magic is over and it’s time for Voodoo Moon. This is what I think (gin man has been making the rounds so things get harder to follow) a story of how the woman becomes the voodoo queen. She gets kidnapped by the evil voodoo man then snatches her life back and is like “nah, I’m in charge of this swamp now”.  There’s ghosties getting projected on the LED screens, might be a little spooky for younger kids. Anyways there’s singing and some scary looking things perched on the columns that occasionally go flying off over your head. Voodoo Queen is hoisted up and she sings from on high. It’s all very dramatic. Overall this was kind of a cool show. Like legit cool not “I am drunk and this is absolutely hysterical” cool. I mean it’s no broadway production but if you asked me what the best show I saw that week was I think it was definitely that one. I’d try and catch it if you can!

 

We are going to head to the casino but D realizes he has somehow lost his sign and sail card. So a trip to guest services is in order! Line is only about 4 people long and it’s under 10 minutes. There is a woman complaining rather loudly someone stole her card and bought a boatload of stuff with it. She is not able to pay her current bill which she feels she is not responsible for due to theft. Security is lurking. This all seems rather unlikely since my super flattering passport picture pops up every time anyone swipes it but I hope she figured it out!

 

We’re a little hungry by now. D wants to try the seafood shack and they’re still open so we go up there before our nightly gambling tomfoolery. He gets the fried shrimp and clam strip combo. He says it’s fine, clams are better than the shrimp. Die Another Day is playing up there for the dive in movie so we get to see the end of that. I do not eat seafood so I decide to see if the buffet has any food left (I think it said open til 9:30 and it was shortly after that but I decided to see if the luck of the Irish was with me. Spoiler alert: it was not. Try and grab a sprite from the automatic soda/pop dispensers. Take a sip and turns out it’s out of syrup and it’s just carbonated water. Good thing it was free!

Head to the casino for a bit and D actually wins some money. Not a ton but enough that I make him give me half. Must be that Irish luck for him too! There’s a St Patricks Day par-tay going on in the pig and anchor but we’re too old for that.

 

Head back to the room and there’s disembarkation information on our bed. WHAT?! YOU GONNA KICK ME OFF?! That’s just disrespectful. Anyways, it mentions you can watch the disembarkation program on tv, and that luggage tags will be available tomorrow at guest services on 8, in the grand central area on 6, and the lobby for the forward elevators on 16. Make a mental note and call it a night.

 

Tomorrow we make our return to the previously cancelled Nassau!

 

The voodoo moon with weird standing on a column and occasionally flying off person

 

spooky ghosts

 

The newly crowned voodoo queen flying high

Edited April 1, 2022 by HolySpearit

[HolySpearit]

NASSAU AND OUR FIRST EXPERIENCE AS PIER RUNNERS SORT OF!

 

So as previously mentioned we are back in Nassau! It is a shorter day here as we gotta get skedaddling back to Port Canaveral tonight…we’ll be in port from 7:30-2:30. Wake up and we’re already here and it’s still sunny out!

 

Our previous plans had been to stay on the ship. Seeing we had done that the previous two days, we were kind of ship’d out. We also had a bit of onboard credit left so we decide to book the “Jeep Adventure” excursion through Carnival. Why are we so obsessed with Jeeps this cruise? I don’t even like them that much? Oh well, seems like a good way to see Nassau. You can easily book via the app. We are to meet on the pier 15 minute before our scheduled departure time of 11:30. It is listed as a 2.5 hour tour which puts us back on pier about 30 minutes before we depart.

 

We head up to the buffet for breakfast around nine thirty. I get some more French toast since it was pretty good last time. I forgot what D got but it wasn’t much. We hang sit out on lido for a bit just enjoying the sun. There’s a fair amount of people on the ship still.  There’s 3 other ships in port, including the MSC Meraviglia which was our last cruise pre-covid in Feb 2020 so that was kind of cool! I consider asking if I can hop on REAL quick just to get some pizza and mozzarella from them. Decide I don’t want to risk Bahamian jail. We head down and disembark around 11. Nobody is wearing a mask despite the signs. I decide to join the rebellion and also not wear one. After getting coughed on for an hour at the magic show and being in absolutely packed elevators all week, I either have covid or am immune. Nobody says a word.

 

Get out on the pier and it’s unclear where we’re supposed to be. There’s people holding signs for other excursions but not ours. Talk to a Carnival Adventures rep in an orange shirt. She says the first group that was set to leave at 7:30 this morning left a bit late so they weren’t back yet but we can take a seat and it shouldn’t be long. So we sit. About 20 minutes later, the woman says they are still not back and running late. She says they will not cut our excursion short due to us leaving late, and the ship will wait for us. I am nervous but accept this fate. We sit some more. Around 11:45 they ask us to go line up. If you are in a group of 2 you get paired with another group to share a Jeep. We are put with 2 very nice dudes from Florida. Finally around noon we’re walking. And LORD are we walking. The pier in Nassau is under significant construction and it’s a loooonnnnngggg walk to the main port area. LONNNGGGGG walk. Tour woman tells us we must wear a mask while walking inside city limits so mask up we do once we enter the port. They do enforce it here so don’t be a rebel.

 

We’re then lead to a small area near the road on the outskirts of the “port”, pass by some taxi drivers hollering at each other about who was there first. We are then put on a shuttle bus and taken to a parking lot where our Jeeps await! It’s about 12:30 by now.

 

Gonna take a short break here but I we'll be back either this weekend or early next week to wrap this up 🙂

[rolloman]

On 3/30/2022 at 12:01 PM, SNJCruisers said:

An alternative story would be to just stay on board and enjoy the jewel of Carnival then you don't have to worry about masks.

It was my second voyage on Mardi Gras so...being in the Navy for several years on a Carrier...when the ship actually ports...get off...you never know when or if it will ever port again. 

[rolloman]

On 3/30/2022 at 1:10 PM, HolySpearit said:

I am also going to use this opportunity to discuss the bathrooms. IF you have plans to use a public bathroom on the Mardi Gras pleassseee read this. So bathrooms are somewhat lacking on this ship and they’re hidden in weird corners. There is one on each side of the theater on deck 7 if you get desperate. Some of them are single stall accessible bathrooms. I have never, EVER seen people so confused by a bathroom. I saw more people peeing this week than I have ever in my entire life combined. It became a game of “can this person figure out the bathroom or will a stranger walk in on them with their pants down, leaving them to be on a toilet in front of a large group of people”. So if you use one of these, here is the process: Step 1-wave your hand in front of the opener to open the door. Step 2: stand there awkwardly. It will close, I promise you. You feel stupid standing there in a bathroom with an open door. But after about 30 seconds, IT WILL CLOSE. Step 3—the most important part. WAVE YOUR HAND IN FRONT OF THE DOOR OPENER THING. This is what locks the door. You will know you are successful when the red light pops on. YOU NEED TO MAKE SURE THE LIGHT IS ON. Step 4-handle your business. Step 5-wash hands to not spread the coronavirus. Step 6-wave your hand again to open the door and go on your merry way.  There are signs explaining this in the bathrooms. I would put the success rate of people around 40% on our cruise. It was beyond awkward. So hopefully this saves someone some embarrassment!

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for bringing this up...100% correct. There are several one seat restrooms located throughout. I followed the protocol, the door opened and a lady screamed. Yikes...and then the damn door stays open for an eternity... I got scared and ran lol.....

[SNJCruisers]

4 hours ago, rolloman said:

It was my second voyage on Mardi Gras so...being in the Navy for several years on a Carrier...when the ship actually ports...get off...you never know when or if it will ever port again. 

It would be fine with me if I never saw another Caribbean port.  After 35 Caribbean cruises I've seen the majority of the ports.  Cruises to nowhere would be right up my alley if they were allowed.