Review of Mardi Gras 7 day Western Caribbean

[mdin]

Hello everyone! My wife and I are freshly off of the Mardi Gras and I figure I'll try to post a review and thoughts of our sailing around the Western Caribbean. I'll try my best to cover our experiences and what we did on and off the ship. Plus I'll add some pics along the way. Also, I'll do my best to answer any questions. 

 

We are both in our late 30's and this was my 8th cruise and her 7th, all with Carnival. This sailing was a 7 day Western Caribbean with stops in Roatan, Costa Maya, and Cozumel. This was my first time in Roatan since 2007, and our first time in Cozumel since 2010. Neither of us have been to Costa Maya, so essentially it was a new itinerary for us to experience. 

 

We originally booked Mardi Gras for February 2021, but obviously that didn't happen. Jump forward 2 years and we finally got to experience Mardi Gras. This was the most hyped either of us have been for a ship. Bigger than anything we've ever been on. We watched a bunch of YouTube videos about Mardi Gras to get a head start on learning the ship, plus it's fun to do when it's cold out 😆. 

 

 

[Knights on the Beach]

LOVE Mardi Gras - can't wait to hear your thoughts. 

[mdin]

Pre-cruise

We live in Connecticut and flew out the day before on an early morning flight from Hartford to Orlando. First time flying JetBlue and had a positive experience. After arriving and getting our luggage, we used an Uber XL to get us to our hotel, Country Inn and Suites, on Cape Canaveral. That was about $83, not including tip. Check-in was at 3pm, but the hotel allowed us to check-in at noon for a $20 fee. Nice hotel and amenities, close to everything, and friendly staff. We would definitely stay there again.

 

We used Friday to bounce around Cape Canaveral. First, we grabbed lunch and drinks at Grills Seafood Deck & Tiki Bar. Decent food, good drinks, good service, and a great view of the aft of Independence of the Seas.

 

Afterwards, we checked out Cocoa Beach. Enjoyed our time there. We wrapped up the first day by getting dinner at Preacher Bar. Good food, drinks, and service there as well.

 

 

 

[LUVMYGSDOG]

Following!  We will be on the Mardi Gras in January for the Western as well.  Like you, we had to cancel several time so glad it will finally be happening!

 

Kim

[Knights on the Beach]

1 hour ago, mdin said:

We used Friday to bounce around Cape Canaveral. First, we grabbed lunch and drinks at Grills Seafood Deck & Tiki Bar. Decent food, good drinks, good service, and a great view of the aft of Independence of the Seas.

 

There's a very good chance we were at Grills at the same time. Did you sit at the tiki bar or table?

[mdin]

1 hour ago, Knights on the Beach said:

 

There's a very good chance we were at Grills at the same time. Did you sit at the tiki bar or table?

We had a table out on the deck.

[mdin]

Embarkation 

We used the 10:15am hotel shuttle ($8 per person) to get us over to the port. We had a 10:30am check-in and we were walking into the terminal at 10:30 on the dot.

 

Checking in was a breeze and we quickly made it to the waiting area. They were somewhat delayed and only started the boarding process around 10:45. That went smooth however and by 11:15 give or take we were on the ship. Our first stop was our Muster Station in Chibang which lasted a total of 30 seconds. Hopefully Carnival keeps this setup. It's convenient. Next stop, drink time!

Edited March 16, 2023 by mdin

[mdin]

Before reviewing our initial drinks and food, I'll get the stateroom out of the way.

 

On this sailing, we had an interior stateroom, on deck 14, mid-ship. The location worked out well. Centralized and not too far from anything in particular. A bit of climb from 3 to 14, but nothing we couldn't handle.

 

The room itself is what we typically expect, however it was noticeably smaller than the interior staterooms on Horizon. The space between the wall and the mattress on either side was tight. The bathroom too was smaller, although the glass door was a nice upgrade. That said, the room was comfortable and served it's purpose. It also provided ample closet space.

 

We met our room steward, I Ketut, almost immediately after entering our room. He offered either morning or evening service (morning for us). He was very friendly and readily available if we needed anything. Our room was always taken care of in a timely manner. No complaints. 

[mdin]

Red Frogs Tiki Bar was where we got our first drinks. We kept with our tradition of starting our vacation with funships. We were pleased to see they were making them from scratch, which we prefer over the pre-made batch. We tried a few other cocktails from here over the week. We enjoyed all them except for a drink called the Zombie. I decided to order something else after a couple sips. When I went to pay though, the bartender said no charge because she saw I barely touched the Zombie. Very cool of her.

 

The tiki bar did get pretty busy during the day, but I never had to wait more than 10 minutes to be served. Getting a seat at the bar was almost impossible, but seats with tables right next to it were attainable each time I wanted to sit at RF.

 

 

Our first bites came from Street Eats. My wife and I split all three the first day. I can't remember what was served, however they were all delicious. We made a habit of checking it out almost every day (missed 1 day). This was an awesome addition. Great little dishes that change everyday.

 

 

Another great new addition was Big Chicken. After reading reviews, we had BIG expectations for this place, and it did not disappoint! Over the week we only hit up twice, but so satisfying each time. Would love if Carnival expanded this one to every ship if they could.

 

So good, didn't have time to grab a pic for this one lol

[ninjacat123]

2 minutes ago, mdin said:

Red Frogs Tiki Bar was where we got our first drinks. We kept with our tradition of starting our vacation with funships. We were pleased to see they were making them from scratch, which we prefer over the pre-made batch. We tried a few other cocktails from here over the week. We enjoyed all them except for a drink called the Zombie. I decided to order something else after a couple sips. When I went to pay though, the bartender said no charge because she saw I barely touched the Zombie. Very cool of her.

 

The tiki bar did get pretty busy during the day, but I never had to wait more than 10 minutes to be served. Getting a seat at the bar was almost impossible, but seats with tables right next to it were attainable each time I wanted to sit at RF.

 

 

Our first bites came from Street Eats. My wife and I split all three the first day. I can't remember what was served, however they were all delicious. We made a habit of checking it out almost every day (missed 1 day). This was an awesome addition. Great little dishes that change everyday.

 

 

Another great new addition was Big Chicken. After reading reviews, we had BIG expectations for this place, and it did not disappoint! Over the week we only hit up twice, but so satisfying each time. Would love if Carnival expanded this one to every ship if they could.

 

So good, didn't have time to grab a pic for this one lol

Big Chicken is awesome!!  I walked for 30 minutes in Las Vegas to go to another Big Chicken (got an Uber back😄) and it was delish!!  Love Street Eatz!  Looking forward to more of your great review!

[mdin]

13 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

Big Chicken is awesome!!  I walked for 30 minutes in Las Vegas to go to another Big Chicken (got an Uber back😄) and it was delish!!  Love Street Eatz!  Looking forward to more of your great review!

Definitely worth it!

 

I should mention the line moves fast, even when it was long.

[mdin]

13 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

Big Chicken is awesome!!  I walked for 30 minutes in Las Vegas to go to another Big Chicken (got an Uber back😄) and it was delish!!  Love Street Eatz!  Looking forward to more of your great review!

Definitely worth it!

 

I should mention the line moves fast, even when it was long.

[nascartony20fan1]

9 hours ago, mdin said:

Hello everyone! My wife and I are freshly off of the Mardi Gras and I figure I'll try to post a review and thoughts of our sailing around the Western Caribbean. I'll try my best to cover our experiences and what we did on and off the ship. Plus I'll add some pics along the way. Also, I'll do my best to answer any questions. 

 

We are both in our late 30's and this was my 8th cruise and her 7th, all with Carnival. This sailing was a 7 day Western Caribbean with stops in Roatan, Costa Maya, and Cozumel. This was my first time in Roatan since 2007, and our first time in Cozumel since 2010. Neither of us have been to Costa Maya, so essentially it was a new itinerary for us to experience. 

 

We originally booked Mardi Gras for February 2021, but obviously that didn't happen. Jump forward 2 years and we finally got to experience Mardi Gras. This was the most hyped either of us have been for a ship. Bigger than anything we've ever been on. We watched a bunch of YouTube videos about Mardi Gras to get a head start on learning the ship, plus it's fun to do when it's cold out 😆. 

 

 

Quick question. How was the internet? Could you make wifi enabled calls? Thanks. 

[Jamman54]

Great start to your review! 😎

[mdin]

9 hours ago, nascartony20fan1 said:

Quick question. How was the internet? Could you make wifi enabled calls? Thanks. 

Sorry, I didn't get the internet on this trip.

[mdin]

We made reservations for Fahrenheit 555 for the first night back before the price increase. Even though it was 8:30pm, I expected it to be busy, but it was actually very empty. I maybe saw 3 or 4 other parties having dinner there. Needless to say, the service was excellent having to tend less tables.

We took advantage of the 50% off wine bottle. We both ordered the filet mignon with mashed potatoes and sauteed mushrooms on the side. Wife got the risotto and I went braised pork belly for our apps. Everything was very good. Service here was much better than last year on the Horizon. Only issue is I ended up with a baked potato instead of the mashed, but no biggy, I like both. Still worth the price of admission.

 

Oh, and the cheesecake was decent.

Edited March 17, 2023 by mdin

[mdin]

We capped off the night with a trip to the French Quarter, specifically to Brass Magnolia and The Fortune Teller. Brass Magnolia has a beautiful decor with an awesome jazz band. We sat there over an hour listening to them play as we each tried a cocktail from the bar. Not very busy here, which seemed to be the theme here all week. A cool, low key spot. I went with the Hurricane while the wife sipped on the Praline Truffle. Neither were a favorite for us, but drinkable nonetheless. 

 

On the other side of Brass Magnolia was The Fortune Teller. This place has that dark magic type vibe, which Carnival was shooting for and hit. This became our favorite bar on the ship, which is usually reserved for Alchemy. The bartenders were great, the people hanging out there were fun, and the drinks were on point. The bar was often busy, but there were always seating available either at the bar, high tops, or lounge. We stopped here almost nightly and tried several drinks off of the menu. I won't mention all of them, but my favorite was The Third Eye, while my wife loved The Bog Juice.

 

Speaking of Alchemy, this has been a favorite of ours on other ships. However, it was so busy and rocking nightly that we often skipped it and went to The Fortune Teller instead. On the last night we did finally get over to it. We cashed in our "free drink" credit (up to $11) and got a couple of our favorite cocktails. Still as good as I remember. 

 

[mdin]

On sea days we would be up by 8am and at the SportSquare track. This track is much more narrow than those on the Vista class. It would start to get congested after 9am. Sharing deck 18 aft with the sport court, Waterworks, and Bolt meant it was a popular area for adults and children. 

 

When not walking on the track, we did enjoy the mini golf, waterpark slides, corn hole, and billiards. I also had to ride the Bolt, and that was money well wasted! It feels much faster than it looks, and no line for it when I went. Ended up not doing the ropes course, but that was very popular too.

 

Lido was extremely crowded during the day. The pool and hot tubs were overflowing with adults and kids. We never attempted to lounge there, but chairs seemed to be hard to come by. Decks 17 and 18 have some loungers and chairs over looking Lido, and I did see the occasional lounger available. Not sure if the staff were enforcing any time limits on the chairs. The pool was a good size, and they used that space for daytime entertainment and of course the Dive-in movies at night.

[momof4girls]

Great writing! Very easy to read, straight to the point! Did you notice if the Serenity deck was just as crowded/busy during the day?

Edited March 17, 2023 by momof4girls

[mdin]

9 minutes ago, momof4girls said:

Great writing! Very easy to read, straight to the point! Did you notice if the Serenity deck was just as crowded/busy during the day?

Thank you, I appreciate it. I'll be writing a review on Serenity next, but yes, it was very crowded as well.

[DeanDeeDee]

Following along and enjoying all the pictures and comments about the Mardi Gras.  We will be on the Mardi Gras with the same itinerary, but not until next year.

[mdin]

We had Havana on Horizon last year and loved it. It wasn't as appealing to get it on Mardi Gras, especially with Serenity offering 2 hot tubs and a pool. We figured it would make up for it. This maybe wasn't the best decision we made.

 

Serenity is huge! Lots of space inside this one. It stretches from the forward deck 18 to just short of the Lido. Tons of loungers of all kinds port side, starboard side, and forward. Our best bet at finding a lounger during the peak hours was here. No chance at a shady spot, but in the sun we always found something available. 

 

In the center is a decent size pool with seating all the way around with a connecting lounge area that is shaded. Plenty of regular chairs and tables here, all shaded. Good spot eat something and stay cool. The bar is in this area too, as well as a salad buffet. Didn't try any food, but got several drinks from the bar. As usual, the bartenders were great. During the day the bar was busy with long lines.

 

The pool itself was extremely crowded and noisy from 11am to 5pm on sea days. Unfortunately, there were always guests playing music on their personal speakers. They didn't receive the no Bluetooth speaker memo Carnival sent out prior to this sailing I guess. The staff didn't put an end to it either. To be fair, we never complained to anyone about it, although we thought about saying something to guest services. This wasn't exclusive to only the pool, but throughout all of Serenity. People assuming everyone wants to listen to their playlist 🤷‍♂️. 

 

Serenity usually has a serene vibe with soothing background music, but that vibe didn't exist until late afternoon, early evening (even had the pool to ourselves sometimes at that point). Between people noise from the pool and personal speakers, it was serving as a second Lido really. Not the quiet escape I was expecting. 

Edited March 17, 2023 by mdin

[mdin]

Summer's Landing had a great view from the aft. The infinity pool was nice, however it was crowded most of the time, as was the rest of Summer's Landing. We were never able to get chairs there, but on the last day we were able to sit on the bench that wraps around the pool. Ordered a couple of funships and made friends with our seat neighbors. Bonus, no Bluetooth speakers lol. That may have not always been the case, but at least it didn't occur during our time there (or anywhere else outside of Serenity). There's also hot tubs, both port and starboard side, and the Wateringhole Bar.

Tides pool on deck 16 aft is similar to other aft pools on Carnival ships. Not much time spent in this area, but did notice lots of kids in the hot tubs. Some still in diapers. Chairs were usually taken, but seating seemed readily available on deck 17 overlooking the tides pool.

[mdin]

We had YTD and only ate in the MDR (Palm Restaurant) once, on the first formal night. For the second time on a cruise, I didn't bring a suit. Instead, I went button down and dress pants. Less formal, but still formal enough I feel. Some guests were dressed to the nines and that was nice to see.

 

Unlike Horizon last year, where the staff was clearly overwhelmed and didn't provide great service, this MDR staff was amazing. We checked in via the hub around 8, and the table was ready in 10 minutes. Very friendly waitstaff. Orders were correct and came out in a timely manner. Unexpected, but we both ended up enjoying filet mignon for the second night in a row. The cut was not on the level of the 555 cut, but still pretty good.

 

I went with the Indian pumpkin soup and stuffed mushrooms for the app. Wife went mushrooms and crab cake. All delicious. 

[mdin]

Seaday brunch on day 3 (Palm). Plenty to choose from, but we both went huevos ranchero. Again, simply check in on the hub, less than 10 minutes for table. Top notch service. We were very satisfied all around.

 

After drinking, lounging, street eating, drinking, hot tubbing during the day, we hit up Chibang for dinner. Checked-in at 8 and there was a 40-50 minute wait. It was accurate. At 8:50 our table was ready.

 

I like the concept of the restaurant with a mix of Chinese and Mexican flavors. The red decor looked nice. Started off with the Red Dragon for drinks. Those came quickly, but it was about 45 minutes between ordering our food and the apps coming out. The waiter apologized for the wait and said there was a situation in the kitchen causing a delay. No idea what it was. I told the waiter no reason to apologize, these things happen. That lead to a second round of Red Dragon's. 

 

Despite the long wait, we enjoyed the dishes here. We went all Mexican on this visit. Enjoying queso fundido, nachos, and carnitas to start. They ran out of tortillas for the carnitas, but no big deal. Main course was steak ranchero and we wrapped it up with tres leches cake and chocolate c-bang.

 

I had read some mixed reviews about the food, but I found it to be very good. Once again, the staff was amazing. Great addition at no extra charge.