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

[Jamman54]

Patti continues following the Nature Trail…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

Patti captures some of the flora and fauna…..

 

 

 

 

Once she emerges from the Nature Trail she heads over to where the Carnival Excursions and taxi’s leave from……

 

 

Here are the taxi rates…..

 

 

This picture brings back memories. The first time we came here around six years ago, we had a non Carnival excursion booked. Independent excursion providers were not allowed onto the Mahogany Bay property to pick you up, so you had to walk up this hill and down the other side, and off of the property where they could meet and pick you up. However, upon return they were allowed onto the property to drop you off. Not sure if this is still the case or not.

 

 

To be continued……

[Jamman54]

On the edge of the property you’ll find the Extreme Zip-Line Adventure…..

 

 

Patti is heading to explore the shops, bars, and restaurants of Mahogany Bay…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued……

[Jamman54]

Patti is going to head back to Mahogany Beach. She’ll take the Magical Chairs back. Here are some views…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Patti spots our cabin again, outlined in red…..

 

 

Patti continues on the Magical Chairs…..

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[blarko]

Yours are the best post cruise reviews I’ve ever read. It’s almost like being there with you 😀

[Jamman54]

39 minutes ago, blarko said:

Yours are the best post cruise reviews I’ve ever read. It’s almost like being there with you 😀

Thanks! That's the effect that we are looking for. "Live" reviews aren't our thing to do, but we sure enjoy reading them! 

Edited June 10, 2022 by Jamman54

[Jamman54]

Once Patti got back to the cabana, she found me enjoying myself in the water…..

 

 

 

I came ashore and had Jerry bring us some more drinks. I’m starting on my second bucket of beer…..

 

 

 

A short time later we had Jerry bring us some lunch. Patti had the chicken fingers, and I had the loaded nachos…..

 

 

 

We noticed that every cabana had hummingbird feeders. Man, those little birds are fast!

 

 

 

 

At this point the camera got put away and we spent the afternoon enjoying our cabana, the beach bed, the water, and our drinks. Around 4:30 we decided to head back to the ship. Our tab, including a large tip for our server Jerry, was $170. We will be back here on the Celebration next April, and our Beach Cabana is already booked!

 

To be continued…..

[Saint Greg]

Those nachos are looking good.

 

Edited June 10, 2022 by Saint Greg

[Jamman54]

5 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

Those nachos are looking good.

 

Oh yea! Especially washing them down with Dos Equis! 

[Jamman54]

We hung out in the cabin until sail away at 6:00. The last of the pier runners appeared in the distance…..

 

 

The Mardi Gras sails away from Mahogany Bay…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That’s the cabana area where we were today…..

 

 

To be continued……

[Jamman54]

Here are some more views as the Mardi Gras sails from Mahogany Bay…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Tonight we went back to Cucina del Capitano for dinner. It was not a very good experience. First, it was very crowded. Second, it took forever for someone to take our food and drink orders. Third, it took even longer for said orders to be delivered. To top it off, all the food came out just luke warm. If this had been our experience last week, we wouldn’t have been back. We both started with the Caprese salad….

 

 

Patti had the spaghetti carbonara and the chicken parmesan……

 

 

 

I had Nonna’s meatball and the short rib……

 

 

 

We both had the apple crostata for dessert…..

 

 

The best part of this meal was that we didn’t have to pay for it!

 

Afterwards, we walked around the ship for a while. The Backyard Band was playing at the Pig & Anchor…..

 

 

The Beelay Jazz Trio and friends were playing at the Brass Magnolia…..

 

 

At Center Stage they were playing “Finish the Lyric” where two teams face off against each other to see who was best at finishing the lyrics of a song……

 

 

 

 

 

It was a lot of fun, and the audience really enjoyed playing along…..

 

 

Back to the cabin where we found tonight’s towel creature…..

 

 

Coming up next: Let’s eat! Diamond Luncheon and Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse.

[Guest BasicSailor]

48 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

Tonight we went back to Cucina del Capitano for dinner. It was not a very good experience. First, it was very crowded. Second, it took forever for someone to take our food and drink orders. Third, it took even longer for said orders to be delivered. To top it off, all the food came out just luke warm. If this had been our experience last week, we wouldn’t have been back. We both started with the Caprese salad….

Coming from you that has to be a bit degrading of Carnival. Does the ship still look understaffed or just too many people to accommodate?

Edited June 10, 2022 by BasicSailor

[Jamman54]

4 minutes ago, BasicSailor said:

Coming from you that has to be a bit degrading of Carnival. Does the ship still look understaffed or just too many people to accommodate?

I really can't explain it. The first week we were on there were 5800+ passengers  aboard and Cucina was great. The second week there were 400 less passengers and Cucina was not so great. However, the second week Cucina was very crowded when we went, so maybe they couldn't handle that type of rush.

[Guest BasicSailor]

3 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

I really can't explain it. The first week we were on there were 5800+ passengers  aboard and Cucina was great. The second week there were 400 less passengers and Cucina was not so great. However, the second week Cucina was very crowded when we went, so maybe they couldn't handle that type of rush.

I truly admire your honesty, knowing your love for cruising and that ship . Still reading and thanks for your updates.

Edited June 10, 2022 by BasicSailor

[jedi bobs]

4 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

 

This picture brings back memories. The first time we came here around six years ago, we had a non Carnival excursion booked. Independent excursion providers were not allowed onto the Mahogany Bay property to pick you up, so you had to walk up this hill and down the other side, and off of the property where they could meet and pick you up. However, upon return they were allowed onto the property to drop you off. Not sure if this is still the case or not.

 

 

To be continued……

I can conferm that is still the case.  Ann and I went to Paradise Beach, witch was nice, and had there pool all to ourselfs for hours.

[Jamman54]

2 hours ago, jedi bobs said:

I can conferm that is still the case.  Ann and I went to Paradise Beach, witch was nice, and had there pool all to ourselfs for hours.

Sounds like you guys had a great time. Could be an option for us IF we can't get a Beach Cabana. 😎

[rwest898]

Can you please tell me how much the poolside cabanas were on Grand Turk.  Thank you!!

[kelkel2]

Jamman, did Patty get any pics of water works? Or do you guys happen to know what the height requirement is for the bigger water slides? 

[Jamman54]

9 hours ago, rwest898 said:

Can you please tell me how much the poolside cabanas were on Grand Turk.  Thank you!!

When we booked it six months prior to sailing it was $240. I wouldn't be surprised if the price has been raised since then. We are waiting for them to be available for our Freedom cruise in January. 😎

[rwest898]

3 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

When we booked it six months prior to sailing it was $240. I wouldn't be surprised if the price has been raised since then. We are waiting for them to be available for our Freedom cruise in January. 😎

Thank you!! We have a long way to go because my cruise is not until October 2023 but I still check every day.  The have some Grand Turk excursions listed but no cabanas yet.  

[Jamman54]

5 hours ago, kelkel2 said:

Jamman, did Patty get any pics of water works? Or do you guys happen to know what the height requirement is for the bigger water slides? 

Yes we did, and we posted them several times during the course of this review. I'll post three of them now so you don't have to search.....

 

 

 

 

Usually when we take pictures of a venue, we like to take pictures of any signage that goes along with them. Somehow we failed to do this on the Mardi Gras for the Waterworks, so we apologize for that. Looking back at our Panorama and Horizon reviews, we've seen the "big" slides that have height requirements of 42" and 48". Hopefully, someone will see this and post these requirements for the Mardi Gras. 

[Saint Greg]

20 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

 

 

 

 

I wonder if pedestrians ever get hit in the head with falling footwear.

[Jamman54]

5 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

 

I wonder if pedestrians ever get hit in the head with falling footwear.

Along with the occasional beach bag, camera, or cell phone! 

[SRQbeachgirl]

17 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

I really can't explain it. The first week we were on there were 5800+ passengers  aboard and Cucina was great. The second week there were 400 less passengers and Cucina was not so great. However, the second week Cucina was very crowded when we went, so maybe they couldn't handle that type of rush.

 

Hi Jamman - how do you find out the passenger count? I just realized in all the years I've seen passenger counts on this forum I've never actually known how everyone finds them.

 

And...we completed online check-in at 12:01 this morning for our 6/25 sailing. Mardi Gras here we come! 🥳

[floridagal83]

Jamman,

Your review and Patti's pictures are just wonderful, and I've really enjoyed following along.

 

A bit off topic question: Did Patti get the new Canon SX740 HS camera yet? If so, how does she like it? I'm thinking about buying that same camera.