ChrisNCruiser

15 hours ago, uprivermama said:

I have the equivalent of Cabins 10468 and 10469 on hold on the Celebration in February. They are showing under a standard balcony, but they appear on the deck plans as having a very deep balcony that is mostly shaded (which greatly appeals to me!). But, I'm not finding any feedback anywhere from people who have stayed in these cabins. Does anyone have any information or feedback from their experience? Did the balcony stay mostly shaded due to the overhang? Were there 2 standard chairs plus a lounger? I would love to hear your experience and see some pictures!

We had cabin 11480, exactly one level above 10468, and loved the larger balcony. Here are some pics: https://photos.app.goo.gl/1aFs4b1VjW7poKHu6. 

This is Mardi Gras-specific, but both the short ribs and the grilled shrimp entrees on the complimentary Cucina Del Capitano dinner menu were so good I had each on two separate nights (portions are small). 

8 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

i have heard of people on here ordering the fruit soups and asking for them in a glass.

...I often order the cheese platter dessert as an appetizer. 

14 hours ago, Hoosierpop said:

The Indian vegetarian in the MDR. Not because I’m a vegetarian. It was just really that good. Had it in addition to other entrees almost every night. 

We do this too! Almost every night the Better Half and I each order an entree of our own, plus split an order of the Indian Vegetarian 

we had 11480 - one of the corner balconies - and LOVED it. Didn't pay extra. Here are a few pics, including pics of the adjoining balconies / balconies below

51-y.o. fairly fit male here. In the last couple years I've twice slept on a Carnival sofa bed made up for one, and I'll warn you in advance it's NOT comfortable - hard as a rock, and I like a firm mattress. Granted, neither were in the newer Mardi Gras cabin style so theoretically it could be less unpleasant if the couches are significantly different from the ships I sailed. Your son is half my age so he may fare better. 

That said, I'd do it again if the cabin price is right 😛

20 minutes ago, KKB said:

On RCCl we were able to share one plan among all of the family, we just had to log on each time (so only 1 device at a time was on).

Will we be able to do that on Carnival?

Yes - same process. Log on one at a time, and spend the week arguing over when it's your turn to "have the internet" 😛. "I'm going to the bathroom." "OK, I'm going to grab the internet." "But I'll be right BACK!..." (still preferable to spending 2x as much)

10 hours ago, tmarc12 said:

beauftiful pictures but how did you get them without any people. Cant wait to sail!

 

Thanks! 🙂 I'm that annoying very early morning person and also very patient. Also, in Amber Cove we were there from 8-5:30  and it was raining / drizzling that morning. We've been there several times before so unlike most we decided not to get off the ship until after lunch. We got to enjoy an empty ship that morning so I used the opportunity to get some of the pics then.  I hope you enjoy Mardi Gras as much as we did!

3 hours ago, Buckimion said:

For those of us that are not plat/diamond, but still want to use the bag load deal, where do we get the bags?

the bags are in the thin top drawer, and there's usually only one - two tops. When we meet our steward we always politely inform them that we love our complimentary laundry and ask them to drop off a few extra bags and forms at their convenience. For a 7 night cruise we usually do three bags, occasionally four depending on our cruise pre-gaming. 

To maximize space I agree with a poster above that the rolling method works best. I roll all my shirts, shorts, and pants into tight logs and then stack them carefully in the bag. I use socks / 'unmentionables' to fill in small gaps :-P. We still leave a couple of empty inches on top of the bag and lay the completed form on top. Halfway though filling, you can also gently pick up and 'tamp' down the bag by dropping it a couple inches onto the table - this often gives us a couple extra items' worth without ripping the bag or making it too tight. Sounds like a lot of work but the whole thing takes us less than five minutes now - last thing at night or first thing in the morning. 

I was also on this sailing - I didn't realize the Playlist Production shows in the theater and Center Stage shows were two different groups! We thought it was interesting that they had a 'house magician' but thought maybe he was a little overused in so many performances. We didn't exactly love his dedicated theater show but chalked it up to the Carnival scripting and overproduction. 

FWIW even as Diamond we had to track down our room steward after 2 PM to ask for our room keys, which still hadn't been put out yet. Our room was ready and clean by the time we embarked right before 11, but the door was left open since the key wasn't available. We don't blame the steward - she clearly had too many cabins based on the fistfuls of key envelopes she had to sift through to find ours, and I actually felt bad asking her when I saw how many cabins she had. She was fabulous throughout the week and we certainly gave her our appreciation several times during and at the end of the cruise. 

We ended up skipping the main dining room altogether because we didn't want to end up sitting THAT close to another couple (e.g. two 'tables for two' practically touching each other). That Palms dining room looked awfully cramped! We enjoyed several nights each at Cucina (outside, lovely!) and Chibang!, and didn't have to sit in anyone's lap at either venue. We had a fantastic cruise and will definitely sail MG again, hopefully with Bolt running the next time 😉 

2 hours ago, creativegenius said:

 

Bolt is one tiny part of the experience on that ship and honestly once you see it, you realize how much of a gimmick it actually is. It sounds a lot better than it actually is. I'd sail Mardi Gras again just for all the included food options! We've never had that much food included on any ship. Some of it was terrible of course, but the majority of it was good and we certainly did not go hungry. I would not be surprised to see the roller coaster at sea retired within the next two-three years because it is going to be (and already seems to be) a maintenance nightmare. 

agree on all counts!

We sailed on Mardi Gras last week with YTD - and for the first time ever we never once went to the main dining rooms. Did Cucina four nights and Chibang three nights. The menus were extensive enough to avoid repetition, and both include a menu page of traditional stuff from the main dining room (albeit the same offerings every night - grilled steak, salmon, chocolate melting cake, etc). If you try Cucina I HIGHLY recommend asking for an outside table once you get there. It was cool and shady - loved, loved, loved eating outside. FWIW, We were technically assigned to the Palms main dining room - walked through it the first day and thought "no thanks" - seemed very cramped and underwhelming. 

5 hours ago, cruisequeen4ever said:

I would be mighty disappointed to go on Marci Gras for all of its new features, including Bolt, only to have Bolt not running. 

We had plenty of new stuff to see and experience otherwise, and it gives us an excuse to sail the Mardi Gras again 😉

I was on the Mardi Gras Apr 23-30 and took LOTS of ship pictures. Here is a Google Photos link in case anyone wants to check them out. Some notes:

• We stayed in balcony cabin 11480, and it was awesome. At least at the time of booking you get a huge panoramic corner balcony at the regular balcony price.
• We go on lots of cruises so we tend to stick to the free stuff, so few pics of the paid restaurants or experiences (unless I stepped in briefly to take pics). We never ate in either of the main dining rooms except for once at the Diamond VIFP lunch in the (very underwhelming) Flamingo dining room. We ate outside (free and highly recommended outside - you gotta ask) at Cucina Del Capitano for dinner four times, and three times at Chibang. The menus provided enough variety that we didn't get tired of either. 
• Sorry, no gym / spa pics. Not really our thing on this cruise.
• Bolt didn't run that week at all
• Sorry for so many duplicates / variations of the same stuff but I found it hard to choose which to keep vs. delete 🙂

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 🙂

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 😉 

6 hours ago, ChinaShrek said:

 

Well, not convenient for me. My hotel check out time is 11am and now I have two hours to kill before I am let on the ship. I also like to eat lunch on the ship and eating lunch after 1pm upsets my daily routine. Now that I know Carnival is like Southwest I will plan accordingly in the future.

When you check into your hotel I encourage you to ask for a later checkout time. Virtually every time I need one and ask, regardless of hotel or chain or status, they give me at least an hour. 

I applied for this card last month to pay for a Mardi Gras cruise on April 23. The $250 statement credit showed up about three weeks after the transaction posted.

Thanks everyone for your replies - we prefer to eat early so it looks like I'll jump onto the hub app right at 5:30 or a minute before. 

Hello! I'm going on Mardi Gras for the first time in three weeks. Can anyone who has sailed her tell me if one needs to (or can) make dinner reservations for Chibang, Pig and Anchor, or Cucina Del Capitano for a specific night / time once I'm onboard? I like the fact that they're currently free but see that I can't make reservations online in advance. Also, let me know if I'm incorrect about the free part 😛 Thanks! 

30 minutes ago, topaz123 said:

Can Install the Carnival APP on a Chromebook. It is an older Asus chromebook, it wont download the app.

I just tried. I can on my newer chromebook (pic below) but not older, which does not provide / allow access to the Google Play Store. 

thanks gang 🙂

Hi all - I'm considering a Mardi Gras cruise for December. Has anyone recently attended any VIFP parties for Platinum / Diamond guests? I assume there will be plenty of passengers who enjoy either status on the Mardi Gras so I'm curious as to where they have held them and what is offered. I was on the Pride in September and the Magic in October; the crowds were tiny on the Pride but quite large for the Magic, so the food / drink options were different. Thanks in advance!

9 minutes ago, smellywax said:

That is actually what the purser said to me. I’m not being negative but she said they are rising on all ships and she is afraid this might happen. We are still having fun. This is what life will be like for a while so there is nothing negative just letting people know. Happy New Year

Thank you for taking time out of your vacation to share this information - I'm sorry you were denied port today and that you're making the most of it and still having fun 🙂