What not to miss on Mardi Gras? And what to avoid?

[breadandbutter]

What not to miss on Mardi Gras? And what to avoid? In your opinion?

[Lem_On_Ade]

If you drink alcohol, the Fortune Teller bar has wonderful drinks. We liked getting our morning latte's from Bar Della Rosa instead of JavaBlue Cafe. We had two really good meals in Cucina del Capitano but were let down by the dining room menus. The salad bar on Serenity deck was really nice with plenty of options. There is also a covered sitting area in the aft on deck 17 that was nice and quiet.

[Saint Greg]

I would say the Brass Magnolia for bars. Wish I spent more time there. Bar della rosa for coffee skips the long lines. Try some a la carte items at Emerils. I was a big fan of Sea Dogs in the back of the buffet. They had some different sausages every day. With different bun options. I liked the pretzel bun. Shwarma right next to it I think also got overlooked. Street eats.

 

Wish I tried P&A for dinner once. Wish I tried Cucina for lunch. It was only open sea days. 

 

[Knights on the Beach]

I said that about Brass Magnolia after our first Mardi Gras cruise but the second time around we still only made it there once. It's a beautiful space.  Havana Bar is nice too but another one we only went to once per cruise.

 

Red Frog Tiki is our daytime bar, Bar Della Rose for morning coffee and for pre-dinner drinks while we wait for our table, Fortune Teller, Alchemy and Center Stage Bar at night.

 

Shaq's Big Chicken is on the not to be missed list for me. Cucina is my favorite for dinner but we also enjoyed a great lunch there.  Chibang was good for lunch and dinner (holy cow the Kung Pao Chicken is SPICY but I couldn't stop eating it).  Teppanyaki was well worth the money, we'll go there again for sure.

 

Pig & Anchor - we spent more time there in December because it was a great place to watch football.  We did eat there a couple times earlier this month, once for lunch and once for dinner.  Some items were good, some were just OK.  Love the bar and bartenders there, we just didn't get there as much this last time.

 

The main dining room (Palm in our case) was a big miss.  In 14 days on Mardi Gras, we had dinner there three times and it was two times too many.  Not sure I'd bother our next time on MG unless rave reviews start rolling in.  We were less than impressed with the food and service at the steakhouse this month.  My filet didn't have a lot of flavor and wasn't very tender.  We've had much better in the past, so I could take it or leave it in the future.  There are just so many other options on Mardi Gras.  

[Spif Barwunkel]

The Mardi Gras is a great ship. So much to see and do and so many places to eat. Do your homework and decide what works for you. I totally agree with other posters as to places to eat and drink. Also, the main dining room food, in some cases and as previously mentioned, leaves a lot to be desired.

 

Enjoy the entertainment at Center Stage in Grand Central. A nice entertainment addition to the Mardi Gras Theater. And, pay the $15.00 to ride the roller coaster at sea. We are old folks and we got our hearts racing with a blast from the past, and obviously lived to tell about it. 

 

.   

Edited March 31, 2022 by Spif Barwunkel

[audcc77]

Rock Revolution is a do not miss. Go 30 minutes early to get a good seat. 

[tampabrat22]

Not to miss- Test Kitchen, Emeril's and Street Eats

Avoid- Chibang

[SNJCruisers]

Not to miss.  The lunch noodle broth at Chibangs on sea days.  Chorizo on a pretzel roll at Seadogs with stoneground mustard.  Dinner at P&A on night one with the 7 oz filet.  Got it with the brisket and both were good.  The take away sandwiches at JavaBlue Cafe for breakfast.  Available till 900 on port days and 1100 on sea days.

[mom22frogs]

The cooking classes are great fun and always had people standing outside watching, wishing they were doing them too.

 

It's easy to miss the music performers in the Brass Magnolia, etc., so definitely watch in the Hub app for them. 

 

It's possible to walk out a side door on deck 7 to go where the lifeboats are, but don't do it, especially late at night when the wind is whipping. You might find some of the doors are locked and end up wondering if you'll be texting to be rescued.

 

The spa on the Mardi Gras is WAY better than what people had described here. I'm sure people can complain about the size, etc., but those steam rooms are AMAZING, just hot, hot, hot. 

 

ETA: Skip the breakfast biscuits at Shaq's (and the sea day brunch for that butter) as they're completely disgusting. Whoever made that recipe needs to go to biscuit purgatory. Not worth the calories, not decent, not edible, not even really a biscuit. The only truly awful thing I ate on the Mardi Gras. 

Edited April 1, 2022 by mom22frogs

[Pellaz]

Not to miss:  Bolt coaster, enjoying the GREAT Serenity area and Fresh Creations (salad bar), Chibang! for lunch (looove the stir-fry cooked to order), Cucina for dinner.   

Big Chicken for lunch, although they need to add mayo to the condiment bar.   Ever heard of mayo, Shaq?  

Piazza Panini was also great.  It's the Mardi Gras' version of the Deli.

Check the Street Eats menus every day since they change.   (I tried "bulgogi beef" and discovered I liked it. 🙂 )    SeaDogs and the Shawarma station within the Lido buffet were great (I also discovered what "shawarma" was. 🙂 )

 

Avoid, or lower expectations:  Guy's Smokehouse for dinner:  our experience was sub-par.  (But the lunch offerings outside at Guy's Smokehouse are good.)  

 

Cucina and Chibang! are NOT, alas, open on embark day, unlike every other ship in the fleet so equipped.

 

There is nowhere to eat free on the entire ship after 10 pm except for pizza and Swirls ice-cream (what I half-jokingly call the "Dark Times"), so plan ahead and grab a sandwich or something.  This was the only major complaint I had about the ship.  

[Joebucks]

For me, I would make an attempt to try everything that is not on other Carnival ships. Shaqs big chicken looks soooo good.

[MeganGC1983]

Don’t miss- Shaq’s big chicken, street eats, Brass Magnolia, Emeril’s 

avoid- Chibang

[mom22frogs]

4 hours ago, Pellaz said:

Guy's Smokehouse for dinner:  our experience was sub-par. 

It may depend on which you've had first. I hadn't eaten P/A for dinner before, so I got used to the menus for it on the Mardi Gras before trying it on the Horizon. I actually preferred the Mardi Gras, streamlined P/A menus and found the recipe differences of the paid version a bit heavy. Also op should note there are recipe differences for the same foods between lunch and dinner service, so you *do* want to try dinner. I definitely prefer the dinner service pulled pork and the greens. The salmon at the dinner service is quite good and the mac will be better.

 

People slam Chibang, and I agree it's not my favorite food. However the dragon is ADORABLE and they bring out a really nice pot of tea. So if you want to hang out, talk with a friend, and wait for the dragon (we spent 3 hours one night!), it's a lot of fun. They just kept bringing us food and it was a nice time. So Chibang is more what you make of it, as I agree almost nothing was remarkable there. 

 

The only *excellent* food I ate on the Mardi Gras was at Emeril's, so that's definitely a don't miss. Everything else was fine though I didn't eat Rudi's (not into hard care seafood, haha). With the streamlined menus and centralized galleys, I can see why people are complaining. In the moment, I was kind of uncertain about MG. Only in hindsight (and going on other Carnival ships) do I realize it was so amazing overall that I was just taking it for granted. 

 

Op should stay on an additional week to try everything for themselves.  😄 

[SNJCruisers]

4 hours ago, MeganGC1983 said:

avoid- Chibang

Did you go there for lunch on a sea day?  Your opinion would be different, especially if you ordered one of their 3 different noodle broth bowls.

[jerseygirlinAZ]

Appreciate all this info!  We'll be on the Mardi Gras in July so thank you all!

[May1cruiser]

I think it would really take two cruises to enjoy all of the offerings. There are too many food choices for a 7 day cruise. It really has so many offerings. Also, the entertainment is widespread. 

 

It appears they wanted to overload options to create the need to repeat a cruise to see everything. 

 

We are trying celebration Jan 23 to see how she compares.

 

[breadandbutter]

19 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

Not to miss.  The lunch noodle broth at Chibangs on sea days.  Chorizo on a pretzel roll at Seadogs with stoneground mustard.  Dinner at P&A on night one with the 7 oz filet.  Got it with the brisket and both were good.  The take away sandwiches at JavaBlue Cafe for breakfast.  Available till 900 on port days and 1100 on sea days.

I have read about the filet on Day one, but looking at menus online it says Sunday for the filet in P&A Are these just old menus do you think? My cruise starts on a Saturday.

 

Thanks

[breadandbutter]

11 hours ago, MeganGC1983 said:

Don’t miss- Shaq’s big chicken, street eats, Brass Magnolia, Emeril’s 

avoid- Chibang

what was wrong with Chibang? What did you have?

[weezal]

42 minutes ago, breadandbutter said:

what was wrong with Chibang? What did you have?

 

i disliked the mexican side of the chibang menu. chinese might be better?

[audcc77]

I had a filet, steak and eggs, at sea day brunch on Mardi Gras and it was the BEST after 20+ cruises on carnival.  
 

I had the same on Sunshine and it was the worst. 😏

 

I think it really depends on the ship. 

[SNJCruisers]

6 hours ago, breadandbutter said:

I have read about the filet on Day one, but looking at menus online it says Sunday for the filet in P&A Are these just old menus do you think? My cruise starts on a Saturday.

 

Thanks

The 7 oz filet is Saturday and the 10 oz strip is Sunday.  At least that is how it was in February.

[ray98]

My avoid list is:

breakfast at Shaq's....the biscuits are horrible.

Fortune Teller....the drinks were too much theater for what they were and all that show made getting a drink painfully slow.

 

 

[Knights on the Beach]

13 hours ago, breadandbutter said:

I have read about the filet on Day one, but looking at menus online it says Sunday for the filet in P&A Are these just old menus do you think? My cruise starts on a Saturday.

 

Thanks

 

Filet was Saturday for P&A a couple weeks ago.  We should have gone for that instead of the steakhouse the first night. We'll try to do better in December.  🙂 

 

12 hours ago, weezal said:

 

i disliked the mexican side of the chibang menu. chinese might be better?

 

After seeing some pictures, vlogs and reviews, I didn't even bother with the Mexican side (other than nachos as an app - eh). I'm a Mexican food lover but the stuff on their menu just looked weird to me, like they tried too hard to be fancy or something and missed the mark.  We had the beef noodle bowl for lunch (very good) and Kung Pao chicken with noodles for dinner.  It was delicious but SPICY.  I should have also ordered a side of rice - maybe it would have soaked up some of the heat factor.  I like spice, but my goodness. But it was seriously delicious.  And we'll go back to ChiBang next time for sure.

 

4 hours ago, ray98 said:

My avoid list is:

breakfast at Shaq's....the biscuits are horrible.

Fortune Teller....the drinks were too much theater for what they were and all that show made getting a drink painfully slow.

 

 

 

I wasn't a fan of the biscuit but LOVE the chicken.  So I just got chicken tenders for breakfast, skipped the biscuit.  But I loved Fortune Teller Bar too.

[breadandbutter]

15 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

The 7 oz filet is Saturday and the 10 oz strip is Sunday.  At least that is how it was in February.

Oh boy... I have to choose between PA at lunch or for dinner on EB day. I love these hard decisions while on vaca!! ha ha

[SNJCruisers]

3 hours ago, breadandbutter said:

Oh boy... I have to choose between PA at lunch or for dinner on EB day. I love these hard decisions while on vaca!! ha ha

It's an easy choice.  The filet is only available one night of your week while you can do lunch at PA for 4 days out of 7.