Bolt-less cruise on the Mardi Gras April 23-30

[ChrisNCruiser]

I was on the Mardi Gras last week and was mildly disappointed that they never ran Bolt. The cruise director made announcements on embarkation day about making sure to check it out, etc but then it never ran. We never had horrible weather last week. It certainly didn't ruin my cruise - the ship is amazing! - but I was wondering if anyone knows what's going on or if it's running this week. Yeah, I could've / should've asked them while I was ON THE SHIP but I was enjoying too many other options 😉 

[BlerkOne]

I know if it is too windy they shut the ride down.

[Jamman54]

We were also on the Mardi Gras last week and noticed it didn't run, even with the beautiful days we had in Amber Cove and Grand Turk. We are on again this week,  and today we are in Cozumel, and we've finally seen it running. 🤗

[rolloman]

I have been on Mardi Gras twice and both times the ride had issues which caused cancellations and only a handful who actually got to ride it. I would venture to say the ride has been a major disappointment to Carnival and passengers like myself thus far. 

 

[csoud68]

Never know, maybe people dont want to pay $15 for 30 seconds.

[ChrisNCruiser]

3 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

We were also on the Mardi Gras last week and noticed it didn't run, even with the beautiful days we had in Amber Cove and Grand Turk. We are on again this week,  and today we are in Cozumel, and we've finally seen it running. 🤗

After last week I'm jealous of your back-to-back on the Mardi Gras - we loved every second! I'm glad to hear they finally got it up and running and that you got to see it 🙂

[sparks1093]

10 hours ago, csoud68 said:

Never know, maybe people dont want to pay $15 for 30 seconds.

We're planning a cruise with a group of friends and at our meeting last night we chose Mardi Gras in the spring of 2024. Some in the group might be disappointed if they charge for this activity. 

[CruisingWalter]

17 hours ago, newpherchris said:

I was on the Mardi Gras last week and was mildly disappointed that they never ran Bolt. The cruise director made announcements on embarkation day about making sure to check it out, etc but then it never ran. We never had horrible weather last week. It certainly didn't ruin my cruise - the ship is amazing! - but I was wondering if anyone knows what's going on or if it's running this week. Yeah, I could've / should've asked them while I was ON THE SHIP but I was enjoying too many other options 😉 

 

We sailed the very next cruise and it was up and down. One of the cars was clearly having a bad week as it was much slower for my sister-in-law than her son who was riding in the other car. I honestly don't understand the concept of putting a roller coaster at sea when they are the one thing that breaks down most often at theme parks. Even a rather simplistic version like the Bolt is still a heavy, mechanical object that has to move down the track at high speed. Then add the corrosive effects of salt water and you have a recipe for a ride system that has the potential to be down more than it is running. I am a HUGE roller coaster fan who rides Velocicoaster at Universal every chance I get, but I honestly did not see the $15 value in this 'unique' experience. 

 

It's a great marketing gimmick for sure, but I think they could have been created an 'ultimate water coaster' that runs down the length of the ship like the Disney ships, only something that would have been faster and longer. Maintenance would have been easier and I think more folks would have really enjoyed that over the coaster. 

[kellylw]

25 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

We're planning a cruise with a group of friends and at our meeting last night we chose Mardi Gras in the spring of 2024. Some in the group might be disappointed if they charge for this activity. 

They do charge. It’s $15 each ride. I told my kids I would pay for the first but any other time is coming out of their money. 

[CruisingWalter]

11 minutes ago, kellylw said:

They do charge. It’s $15 each ride. I told my kids I would pay for the first but any other time is coming out of their money. 

 

It's $15 per RIDER. If two people ride in the same car, it's $30. That part stunned me when we started to sign up on our cruise and is what convinced us not to ride. The entire ride experience is approx. 30-40 seconds, 2 laps around. It was originally going to be free, if it was free I would totally do it. Not for $15 per rider. 

[KmomChicago]

7 minutes ago, creativegenius said:

 

It's $15 per RIDER. If two people ride in the same car, it's $30. That part stunned me when we started to sign up on our cruise and is what convinced us not to ride. The entire ride experience is approx. 30-40 seconds, 2 laps around. It was originally going to be free, if it was free I would totally do it. Not for $15 per rider. 

It is one of the few things I didn’t do because of this charge. DH and the teen did and enjoyed it okay for 40 seconds but it irked me to charge that much and I refused specifically in order to stick it to the man. Take that, Carnival Bolt! I shun thee!

[crewsweeper]

It seems anything that runs outside the ship structure has difficulty with consistent performance. Mostly due to weather when under way, but just being exposed to the salt in the air will cause problems, witness the runs of rust in the paint on relatively new ships.  On the RCCL Odyssey with it's Northstar, there were times when it wasn't operating with weather and even in port due to mechanical issues.  

Long Story Short:  Don't hang your cruise expectations on getting a ride on any of these.

[kellylw]

15 minutes ago, creativegenius said:

 

It's $15 per RIDER. If two people ride in the same car, it's $30. That part stunned me when we started to sign up on our cruise and is what convinced us not to ride. The entire ride experience is approx. 30-40 seconds, 2 laps around. It was originally going to be free, if it was free I would totally do it. Not for $15 per rider. 

I agree that it’s absolutely ridiculous. But my roller coaster loving kid hasn’t been to a theme park in two years, so we’ll pay. 

[KmomChicago]

7 minutes ago, kellylw said:

I agree that it’s absolutely ridiculous. But my roller coaster loving kid hasn’t been to a theme park in two years, so we’ll pay. 

No judgment, hope they love it! 😊

[CruisingWalter]

9 minutes ago, kellylw said:

I agree that it’s absolutely ridiculous. But my roller coaster loving kid hasn’t been to a theme park in two years, so we’ll pay. 

Absolutely and I would do the same. They will LOVE it because it is so unique. What really surprised us is how much the deck shakes when it runs. The buffet is right underneath it and the entire buffet ceiling shakes and rumbles when it's running. Have an amazing cruise! 🙂 

[CruisingWalter]

13 minutes ago, kellylw said:

I agree that it’s absolutely ridiculous. But my roller coaster loving kid hasn’t been to a theme park in two years, so we’ll pay. 

Oh, one more tip. both riders can choose to drive themselves. They're not required to ride in the same car. The couple in front of my sister-in-law split into two cars when they realized it was the same price if they rode together or separately. They opted to each drive their own car. 🙂 

[sparks1093]

50 minutes ago, kellylw said:

They do charge. It’s $15 each ride. I told my kids I would pay for the first but any other time is coming out of their money. 

I'll let the group know. Does it go out over the water? I know that is a deal killer by itself for one of the group.

[Jamman54]

3 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

I'll let the group know. Does it go out over the water? I know that is a deal killer by itself for one of the group.

It does not go out over the water. 

[CruisingWalter]

5 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

I'll let the group know. Does it go out over the water? I know that is a deal killer by itself for one of the group.

 

No, it goes right to the edge of the ship, but not over water. But they are apparently VERY adamant for you to understand to exit the vehicle ON THE LEFT. If you step to the right... it's a long way down to the water. 😂

[sparks1093]

11 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

It does not go out over the water. 

 

9 minutes ago, creativegenius said:

 

No, it goes right to the edge of the ship, but not over water. But they are apparently VERY adamant for you to understand to exit the vehicle ON THE LEFT. If you step to the right... it's a long way down to the water. 😂

Thanks! Definitely a lot to learn about this ship. At least I have 2 years to research it. 

[ZoeyVictoria]

25 minutes ago, creativegenius said:

Absolutely and I would do the same. They will LOVE it because it is so unique. What really surprised us is how much the deck shakes when it runs. The buffet is right underneath it and the entire buffet ceiling shakes and rumbles when it's running. Have an amazing cruise! 🙂 

We were in an aft cabin on Deck 14 and it sounded like the Bolt was running through our closet.  We could actually tell when the boost button was pushed.  We also thought the ship was too new to have the vibration that it did until we felt it on a port day, while docked.  That’s when we realized our cabin vibrated from the Bolt.  I believe the base of the ride is attached to the ship on Deck 14.

[csoud68]

I would bet that $5 or $10 bucks a ride will ultimately be the cost.

 

If it was free there would be too long a line...

 

But carnival needs passengers to ride the bolt in order to make money on the thing..

 

$15 wont do it..unless they figure they are in it for the long haul..

[CruisingWalter]

38 minutes ago, csoud68 said:

I would bet that $5 or $10 bucks a ride will ultimately be the cost.

 

If it was free there would be too long a line...

 

But carnival needs passengers to ride the bolt in order to make money on the thing..

 

$15 wont do it..unless they figure they are in it for the long haul..

 

On our cruise it was basically sold out, so at the moment they are not having any issues selling it at the $15/rider price. Until they can't sell it, they'll definitely hold that $15 price. 🙂 

[CruisingWalter]

47 minutes ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

We were in an aft cabin on Deck 14 and it sounded like the Bolt was running through our closet.  We could actually tell when the boost button was pushed.  We also thought the ship was too new to have the vibration that it did until we felt it on a port day, while docked.  That’s when we realized our cabin vibrated from the Bolt.  I believe the base of the ride is attached to the ship on Deck 14.

 

It is quite the noise and vibration when you hear it for the first time in the buffet. It took me a few minutes to figure it out. 🙂 

[CruisingWalter]

52 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

 

Thanks! Definitely a lot to learn about this ship. At least I have 2 years to research it. 

 

I highly recommend Danny Harr's Ship Tour on YouTube. We watched it when we booked the cruise and then watched it again two days before we sailed to re-familiarize ourselves with everything on the ship. Harr Travel is the channel.