Our Marvelous Mardi Gras B2B (with pics!) - April 23rd, 2022

[canes20]

49 minutes ago, blarko said:

Seriously? How is a reusable clean metal tray any different than eating off of a clean reusable plate at a restaurant?

 

23 minutes ago, sthrnbll said:

Yeah, seriously. It bothers me the same way it doesn't bother you.

 

[Saint Greg]

4 hours ago, sthrnbll said:

Makes me shiver. Gross. We have a lot of BBQ places here in the south and I've never seen that. Yuk! 😁

 

I've seen it at Pecan Lodge but they put paper on the plate and put your food on that. Then your sides go in little cardboard containers. Of course I'm sure the ship is trying to cut back on trash. And the plates are unbreakable no matter how times they fall on the floor.

[Jamman54]

Day # 11  (May 3rd)  -  Costa Maya, Mexico (8am – 6pm). 

 

We were up at 7am, just as the Mardi Gras was backing into her berth at Costa Maya. It’s a little bit cloudy now, but it should clear up later. Here are the views from our balcony looking forward, aft, and then out towards the pier extension…..

 

 

 

 

Looking down, they are setting up the gangways…..

 

 

The sun is trying to peek through…….

 

 

 

 

Here are today’s “Fun Times”……

 

 

 

To be continued……

[Jamman54]

Around 8am the gangways are opened and passengers start heading on shore…..

 

 

 

 

Off in the distance we see the Norwegian Breakaway heading our way…..

 

 

 

A short time later she is docking across the way…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued……

[Jamman54]

We don’t have anything special planned for today other than walking around the port area, so we are in no hurry to get off the ship. Patti’s not hungry for breakfast, but I am. I grab the camera and head upstairs. I took these shots as I made my way through the Marketplace. It’s not that busy right now…….

 

 

 

 

I’m heading to Big Chicken again for breakfast……

 

 

 

 

 

I get a chicken and biscuit, plus a sausage and egg biscuit, and head across the way to the Tides Bar where I’ll get a Thirsty Frog Wheat to wash them down…..

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

After I ate, I went out by the Tides Pool and took these shots…..

 

 

 

 

I got these shots of the Costa Maya port area from the Tides Pool…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

Out in the distance you can see the Water Park and zip lines…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

I made my way down to Deck 8 and the Patio Pool at Summer Landing…..

 

 

 

Heading forward on the starboard side lanai, we come to the hot tubs by the Watering Hole…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moving forward on the Lanai…..

 

 

 

Bar Della Rosa outside bar……

 

 

 

This is the heavily used smoking area…..

 

 

To be continued…….

[Jamman54]

I went back to the cabin, and a little after 10am we left the ship…..

 

 

 

 

Looking over at the Norwegian Breakaway…..

 

 

This is the stern of the Mardi Gras…….

 

 

Harp player on the pier…..

 

 

Here are a couple of views as we walked off the pier….

 

 

 

We are entering Costa Maya…..

 

 

 

To be continued…….

[Jamman54]

Here are a few Costa Maya views….

 

 

 

 

These are the Mexican Flyers. We’ll see them flying later…..

 

 

 

Some of the entertainment that’s scattered around the port area….

 

 

This is where you come to pick up a taxi or excursion……

 

 

Long range view of the Mardi Gras and Norwegian Breakaway…..

 

 

Patti is going to go up and check out the Aviary. This is my cue to head to Husband Daycare……

 

 

To be continued……

[Jamman54]

As Patti makes her way to the Aviary, she gets these shots of the pool area and flamingos…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the Aviary map…..

 

 

Patti begins her tour of the Aviary…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Patti gets these pool views from up in the Aviary….

 

 

 

 

 

Patti continues her tour of the Aviary……

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Patti continues her tour of the Aviary…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s a view of the Mardi Gras from the Aviary…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Grambler]

Have you ever done Maya Chan Beach in Costa Maya? We really enjoyed it!

[Jamman54]

16 minutes ago, Grambler said:

Have you ever done Maya Chan Beach in Costa Maya? We really enjoyed it!

No we haven't but we've heard good things about it. Might try that the next time we are there. 😎

[Jamman54]

Patti continues with her Aviary tour. This part takes her right over the Dolphin Discovery…….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some more Aviary views…..

 

 

 

 

To be continued……..

[Jamman54]

Patti concludes her tour of the Aviary…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued……

[Jamman54]

Patti passes the entrance to the Dolphin Discovery…..

 

 

She checks out some of the shops, bars, and restaurants…..

 

 

 

 

There are helpful signs everywhere…..

 

 

 

 

This is La Tortilleria…..

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Patti is back out where the tours and taxi’s meet…..

 

 

 

Every port seems to have a Fish Spa now…..

 

 

 

It’s nice and cool in the Ice Cream Shop……

 

 

 

This is Kakaw where they make Mexican chocolate…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Patti is a bit thirsty, so she stops at my Husband Daycare for a drink. She’s having a large Malibu Bay Breeze…..

 

 

Patti is off again. She catches the Mexican Flyers flying……

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are a few more random views……

 

 

 

 

Patti meets me back at the bar. We’re going to have one more drink and then make our way back to the ship. Then disaster struck. Patti had put her camera down on the table, and then accidently knocked it off onto the ground. When she picked it up and then checked it out, you could see by the look on her face that she was heartbroken. Her camera was busted! I felt so bad for her, as she really liked that camera. Sadly, we made the walk back to the Mardi Gras.

 

To be continued…….

[Jamman54]

Once back on the ship we went directly to the Piazza Panini for a late lunch. Patti had a grilled cheese sandwich, while I had the Caprese sandwich, which was horrible, and an Italian sandwich, which was very good.

 

Back to the cabin, where the first thing we did was get our backup camera ready. The rest of the pictures on this review will be taken by our Fuji FinePix XP60. It takes a good picture, but the zoom is only 10X, so those zoom shots that Patti likes to take will be very limited. Once back home Patti ordered a new Canon camera, the SX740 HS, with a 40X zoom, so she’ll be ready to go when we board the Legend in August!

 

We hung out in the cabin and on our balcony until it was time for sail away. It looks like the Carnival Dream snuck in without anyone noticing……

 

 

Everyone is back on board, so the crew stows away the gangway…..

 

 

 

 

 

We are sailing from Costa Maya…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued…….

[Jamman54]

This evening we head over to Center Stage to watch the Love & Marriage Show which is always a lot of fun…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We stayed for Deal or No Deal. Patti’s card hit for $30 free play in the first game, and the bingo package the second game. Here is what the on stage contestants won…..

 

 

 

Afterwards, we went back to the cabin where we found tonight’s towel creature….

 

 

Since we hadn’t had dinner, we ordered room service. Patti had a quesadilla, I had a cheesesteak, and we split a pepperoni pizza. That hit the spot!

 

Coming up next: A wonderful day at Mahogany Bay!

[WhiteOptima]

Poor Patti😢!  I am sure she was bummed out for several days but now she has a new toy to play with.

[Joe817]

The back up camera does a stellar job! Almost as good as the primary camera.

[cruisinsly]

On 6/3/2022 at 3:11 PM, Jamman54 said:

After the Wave, Patti and I went up to Pixels to pick up our free B2B pictures, and our VIFP gifts. Standing next to us at the counter were these three lovely lady “Bluebees”. A “Bluebee” is what Patti and I call anyone holding a blue Sail & Sign card. It is a term of endearment. Once we were given our VIFP gifts, we turned to those lovely ladies and gave our gifts to them. They were so happy and appreciative! It upsets me when I hear people complain about the VIFP gifts. If you don’t want them, give them to the nearest blue, red, or gold card holder. It will put a smile on their faces, and even on yours!

 

 

How awesome!  I love that you do this.  

[Beagleluv6107]

Hey Jamman,

I am loving your review. We had such a great time on the Mardi Gras. This brings back such fun memories. I'm also getting a kick out of seeing the Freedom following you all around. We just got off the Freedom on 4/3 so it was before the funnel fire. A big thank you to both you and Patti for all the great pictures and time spent putting everything together!!