Boarding Carnival Mardi Gras

[planaholic]

We are due to cruise on Mardi Gras in a couple of weeks and I’ve been watching a couple of videos on You Tube.

 

Admittedly they were from a few months ago, but the embarkation looks really disorganised.  Is it really like that or has it changed?  Seemed like there were long transport queues and then large crowds just waiting to board.  We’ve done check in and chose our boarding time so will it be more organised now?

[Knights on the Beach]

We were on Mardi Gras 12/11 and 3/12 and boarding was a very easy process both times, very organized.  In December we arrived a few minutes after 11:00 am and waited in a short line to check in.  Once checked in, we went through security and pretty much walked right on the ship at 11:35.  Last month, we arrived at the port around 10:40 and walked directly over to a check in table, no line at all but lots of people already inside.  The previous cruise had a delayed debarkation so we did have to sit and wait about 30 minutes before they cleared the ship and started calling the boarding zones. Once they called our boarding zone, we didn't stop walking until we were on the ship.  I'm guessing it was around 11:30 because I took my first picture (below) onboard the ship at 11:48.  And that picture was taken after we attended muster, went by our cabin to grab our Sail & Sign cards from our door and waited in a very short line at Big Chicken to get our lunch.  🙂 

[seannyice81]

We arrived at the port at roughly 11:30 and after check-in walked right onto the ship. Then again, we had a suite so we had the earliest boarding time which had just commenced not much earlier.

The check-in tables were slightly chaotic, but got the job done. Security was post check-in but could have used a little more room for the lines as it was literally right after the check-in. Overall a good experience though to be honest.

[CruisingWalter]

Embarkation was impressively smooth for the March 26 sailing. We drove in and arrived at the Terminal 3 parking garage around 10:15 am (we had 10:30 am arrival slot). There was a bit of a traffic backup as expected, but the personnel working inside the garage guided me to a drop off spot in front of the porters to drop off the bags. Parking was approx. $132 and you pay when you enter the parking area.

 

Then it was an easy walk across the bridge to the entrance of the terminal. You will be asked to show your boarding information before you enter the building. The Terminal is HUGE with a lot of check-in agents. Took approx. 10 minutes from the time we entered the building until we were through check-in and in the waiting area. We had Boarding Group B8. 

 

At approx. 11:00 am they started calling the Boarding with Group A1 and 17 minutes later (yes I was clocking it on my phone) they called B8 and we walked right onboard. Very smooth, very easy process.

 

Now DISembarkation, well that was a bit of a cluster. Long story short, if you plan to self-disembark, that is you're taking ALL of your luggage off the ship with you, exit when they call the first disembarkation group. Otherwise you could be sitting around for an hour or more needlessly. If you have checked luggage, then you do have to wait for your luggage zone to be called because your luggage won't be ready in the baggage claim if you leave early. 

Edited April 17, 2022 by creativegenius

[jetsfan58]

No issues onboarding or disembarkation!  Enjoy the Journey!

[BearsBeets]

Just got off Mardi Gras and embarkation & debarkation went quickly. There were long lines but they were steadily moving. We didn't do VeriFly so not sure if it would've made things quicker.

[jeb2791]

Boarded Mardi Gras on 4/2 with a 5900+ capacity.  The worst part of embarkation was the line to park.  I think we got in line to make the left turn into the parking deck at 10:15 and it took about 30 minutes.  After that, it was a breeze.  Verifly made things super simple.  Once we checked-in and entered the main part of the terminal we waited maybe 5 to 10 minutes.  I think they were boarding suites and then it was A1 (our boarding group).   Debarkation was easier although they started 30 minutes before the scheduled time so we were a little caught off guard.  We debarked with platinum/diamond and once we left our room we didn't stop walking until we got to the parking deck where we had to wait for the elevator.  

[evandbob]

Different time, different experience.  We sailed MG 1/2 yr ago, there was no priority boarding for diamond (or platinum) that day.  The embarkation lounge was crowded, hardly any seats available, and the line to board the ship started a few feet from where we were just past check in.

 

Carnival employees were shouting out boarding zones, and many cruisers got on line having "misheard" that their # was called.  We were in A20, so we had maybe a 1/2 hour wait past our check in time before we were able to walk onto the ship.

 

Our experience was probably colored by the lack of diamond boarding, as we are accustomed to walk onto the ship right after check in.

[csm5986142]

We were on Mardi Gras 8/21/21 and 4/2/22, and it was not too bad either time.  Both times we had 10:30 arrival appointment and A01 boarding group.  I can't believe how terrible the PA system is (I'm pretty sure this is a new terminal too).  I could not understand what they were announcing either trip. But if you watch, you can figure it out.

There is section for passengers in suites, and when they start boarding, they will go and get them first (I didn't hear anything announced, just noticed them being gathered up and taken away).  As soon as they are through, they will start calling boarding groups A01, A02, and so forth. 

On our second trip, a huge crowd started to form standing near the boarding area when they started the announcements, and they stopped the process and said they would not proceed until everyone sat back down until their group was called.  

 

[csoud68]

Our neighbors just returned and had a nightmare experience boarding the mardi gras.

 

They were fortunate to have backups for everything. 2.5 hrs to board..

Edited April 18, 2022 by csoud68

[Froufie]

25 minutes ago, csoud68 said:

Our neighbors just returned and had a nightmare experience boarding the mardi gras.

 

They were fortunate to have backups for everything. 2.5 hrs to board..

What happened?  What 'backups'?  What was there check in time???

[Cherries Jubilee]

I think different times of day probably lead to a different experience. I see some people in here who were in the earliest boarding group on the same sailing as I who said they walked right on.

 

 I however stood in very long lines for at least 2 hours on 4/2. The line did move continuously and considering how long it was, I would say it moved at a decent speed.

 

They didn’t have separate lines for Verifly so it was only helpful when you made it up to the table for them to check your information and that took no time even if you had printouts.

 

Once you made it to the table to verify all of your information it was a short line through the security scanner and then right onto the gangway.

 

So if you get there as early as possible maybe you won’t have the lines. I believe we got there around 12:30.

[csoud68]

6 hours ago, Froufie said:

What happened?  What 'backups'?  What was there check in time???

11:30 boarding time..they had issues with covid tests first...then were given the ok to board and then someone else at the next checkpoint told them to sit and wait..

[ray98]

On 4/17/2022 at 8:12 AM, cruisemom2 said:

We were on Mardi Gras 12/11 and 3/12 and boarding was a very easy process both times, very organized.  In December we arrived a few minutes after 11:00 am and waited in a short line to check in.  Once checked in, we went through security and pretty much walked right on the ship at 11:35.  Last month, we arrived at the port around 10:40 and walked directly over to a check in table, no line at all but lots of people already inside.  The previous cruise had a delayed debarkation so we did have to sit and wait about 30 minutes before they cleared the ship and started calling the boarding zones. Once they called our boarding zone, we didn't stop walking until we were on the ship.  I'm guessing it was around 11:30 because I took my first picture (below) onboard the ship at 11:48.  And that picture was taken after we attended muster, went by our cabin to grab our Sail & Sign cards from our door and waited in a very short line at Big Chicken to get our lunch.  🙂 

 

 

To show how quickly things change....I was on the 12/11 cruise also.  We arrived at 11:50 for our 12:00 arrival appointment to find hundreds of people in a line that backed up down the sidewalk in front of the terminal,  across the service road and into the adjacent construction lot.  I took us one hour just to make it inside the terminal.  After that it was another 45 minutes just to get on the ship.  It was a disaster.

[PittsburghGirlee]

I was on the second sailing on Mardi Gras and it was complete and utter chaos at embarkation...  

No1 was listening, people were just going wherever they wanted when they wanted.  There was no Plat/Diamond area yet.  Glad is not longer a complete CLUSTER🤪.

 

Embarkation was smooth as silk.

[weezsire]

We arrive at mco airport at 12:25 hope we have time to get to port this is for aug 20th sailing 

[ProgRockCruiser]

14 hours ago, weezsire said:

We arrive at mco airport at 12:25 hope we have time to get to port this is for aug 20th sailing 

If your flight arrives on time you should be OK (assuming it is domestic, not sure where you are flying in from).

 

But...Orlando in August?  You run the risk of thunderstorms delaying/canceling flights.  This has been a big problem for a while now.  (The increase in rocket launches is also causing issues due to closed airspace.)

 

Can you fly in earlier that day or the night before?

[Knights on the Beach]

1 hour ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

If your flight arrives on time you should be OK (assuming it is domestic, not sure where you are flying in from).

 

But...Orlando in August?  You run the risk of thunderstorms delaying/canceling flights.  This has been a big problem for a while now.  (The increase in rocket launches is also causing issues due to closed airspace.)

 

Can you fly in earlier that day or the night before?

 

I agree with all of this.  If everything goes perfectly and there are no delays, you should be fine.  But if your flight is delayed by an hour or there's an accident on the Beachline, you might be in trouble.  I'd fly in the day before if at all possible but at the very least try for a flight arriving early in the morning.

[ALSPAUGHDOLL]

On 4/17/2022 at 10:27 AM, creativegenius said:

Do they not check your muster station?  We were on the Horizon last week and waited forever to self disembark.   If we could just sort of sneak by that would be amazing.

 

Now DISembarkation, well that was a bit of a cluster. Long story short, if you plan to self-disembark, that is you're taking ALL of your luggage off the ship with you, exit when they call the first disembarkation group. Otherwise you could be sitting around for an hour or more needlessly. If you have checked luggage, then you do have to wait for your luggage zone to be called because your luggage won't be ready in the baggage claim if you leave early. 

 

[Pmb0526]

We had some delays with hoarding but they were the result of people not listening and trying to board prior to their zone. 

[SNJCruisers]

On 5/2/2022 at 8:56 PM, weezsire said:

We arrive at mco airport at 12:25 hope we have time to get to port this is for aug 20th sailing 

You're a gambler with that move.  Why not in the morning or better yet, the night before?