NWACruiser

Maya Key was the excursion. The boat ride was about 20 minutes. In the photo with the airport, Maya Key was in the background

We did a 2 week Hawaii cruise on the Miracle. The shows were quite good.

Hang in there. It is just a small break in a long journey (pun intended). I hope all goes well, and before you head back to the US, you get a chance to see Cartagena.

Last Day of the Cruise We woke up in the morning and had to figure out a way to get my damp mai-tai scented dress pants packed without getting the rest of the stuff smelling the same. It was going to be a busy day getting packed, and taking in all the adventures of the day. This guy was waiting for us after breakfast. For lunch, we had to go back to Chibang! and say goodbye for now to our new friend Ni Komang. She was so tickled that her cousin's friends from the states stopped by. Tonight was the Platinum and Diamond show in the Mardi Gras Theater Chris led the ceremonies. Youngest and oldest Diamonds. We were just outside Miami at this point in the day. Baked Alaska was the dessert of the night Had to say goodbye to old and new friends. Broadway Beats Show It was the end of the cruise and we had to make one last visit to a few of the hangouts before heading home. The Mardi Gras is a great ship, and will have a few unique features that will not be present on any of the other new ships of this class. The New Orleans theme appears to be just on this ship including Emeril's The Celebration will have in its place a Miami based theme. As of this time, Cucina, Chibang and P&A will continue to be free of charge permanently. As these new ships evolve, it will be interesting what new features they add. One feature on the ship that needs to go fleet wide is Big Chicken. That was definitely better than Guy's Burgers and should be easy to work in during dry docks. A few suggestions that could help the new ships: In the main theater, install cup holders like you have at the theater. Switch the Kleenex and toilet paper dispensers. They are placed incorrectly to say the least. Guy's P&A needs a combination of hickory and mesquite wood in their smoking. KC style beans would be a big plus. Open Chibang, P&A and Cucina to all guests at 5:30 giving priority to anytime diners, or use the upper level of the MDR for anytime dining. I think the issues were around the capacity of the Flamingo was small in comparison to the number of anytime diners. Restock Grab n Go by the Java Blue Café because the morning rush clears it quickly. I hope you enjoyed my review. There are two more in the works. The Vista and the Miracle to Hawaii.

Sea Day #2 Improv night at Sam's Piano Bar Today was the first of two days heading back to Port Canaveral. It was a formal night and little did we know the events that would happen this evening. The day was a typical day in the Caribbean. The seas were relatively calm, the sun was shining and it looked like it would be a great day to unwind. We had breakfast in the MDR and came back to see this critter in the cabin. It was bingo day and today had a great prize. If you were the lucky one. The winner of the third game gets a chance to pop a balloon for cash. Numbers going down and finally BINGO was called... Twice. The two people shared the prize. After Bingo, we got ready for dinner and had some time to listen to New Age Violin Trio play in the Brass Magnolia Bar. The MDR show was great as usual. Lots of dancing in the aisles tonight. Our head waiter. After dinner, we wandered through the ship and wound up in the casino for a bit before I headed to the piano bar. The bar was sold out tonight, but someone held a table for me and I was able to slip in. It was improv-night for sure. The PBE was not feeling too well, and all the other entertainers joined in to keep the bar going. Chris serenaded us again on the cruise. Owen filled in as a guest musician. It was sort of open-mic night as Alex joined in for a few songs. You did not know what was going to happen... The comedians Jason Blanchard and Billy Washington were also there. Billy played a few songs on the piano, and sang. He could really lay down the blues. It really turned into one of the most interesting nights in a piano bar that I can remember. All the entertainers joined together to help out. The table that I was able to slip into, was right by the door. It was not the best seat, but was the only one available. Our pizza guy brought a bunch of pizzas to help absorb some of the liquid refreshments. Jennifer brought my usual mai-tai and I set it down on the table. Owen had just finished up and was heading out. He saw me and stopped to chat for awhile. Then he was recalled to the stage. He opened his guitar case and set it between the table and door. Now think a bit... the case was between the door and where people walked. The bar staff was running like crazy to keep up with the crows. I just had a few sips of my mai-tai when someone leaving struck the guitar case with his foot. Owen did not zip the case closed, and all his stuff wound up falling onto the floor while the case knocked my mai-tai over. The mai-tai did not end up on the floor. I was wearing it. The pizza was on the floor though. Jennifer came over to help clean up the area and I made sure all of Owen's stuff went back into his case, and it was zipped closed and it was out of the way. (Remember it was formal night, too) I was glad I dropped my jacket off at the cabin before we headed to the casino. Anyhow my wife was not happy thinking I had drank too much and just smelled like mai-tais. Then she realized that I was just wearing it. Anyhow, thanks to all the entertainers on the cruise, we had a great night in the piano bar. Jennifer and Aleksandra were great barkeepers in the piano bar. Next: Last day on the ship before heading home.

Interesting comments were made. It appears the moral of the story is simple: When you are on a ship, it really does not matter which ship you are on. it is up to you to make the best of it. While the different lines have different entertainment, the crew members across the line work their butts off to make your vacation pleasurable. What I find interesting is the response you get when you ask a crew member about their homelife. It just seems to make their day. Many said crew members are now friends, and have actually met up with some of them on different cruises. Keep this thread going.

A friend of mine posted on a comment about cruising that it really does not matter what ship you are on but that you are on a ship. He commented that it does, because <his favorite line> treats their passengers better. I have cruised on <my favorite cruise line> and <another cruise line> and I have found that every cruise I have been on has been fantastic. I have not met any real problem crew members on any cruise that I can remember. Given I have not been on his favorite line, but the treatment I have gotten from the two lines I have been on, I cannot imagine how well they must treat their guests on the line I have not been on. My question for people who have been on multiple lines, and be honest, is there a big difference between how passengers are treated on certain lines over others?

This was a game changing ship design for Carnival. There, I said it. If you have not sailed her, make plans to do so. Yes there are some quirks to the design, and there were some start-up issues (it was only sailing #4 after the Covid-19 fiasco.) She is a beautiful ship for sure. OK So much for the ship. Lets talk a bit about getting cruising back into full swing. The Beards at Carnival kept their heads together and did not let a year and almost a half of ships sitting idle and little income being generated make the company fail. Kudos to them. Our story was simple: We were supposed to sail the Miracle to Hawaii in April 2020. As Covid-19 came around, the entire planet changed their way of working. What was expected to be a few weeks of working from home has turned into a two year and counting lifestyle. We cancelled the cruise a couple weeks before Carnival cancelled all sailings. That was a little bit of a rushed decision, and it cost us a bit of cash. Oh well, you learn via the school of hard knocks. We were not going to sail on any ship for a long time. We booked the Mardi Gras in 2020 hoping the industry would be up and running by summer 2021. As the virus continued to be a PITA, we were wondering if we were going to be cancelled again. We talked to Carnival, and decided we would go ahead, if cruising opened up. (See previous bullet). We went ahead and booked flights, hotels, etc. in preparation for what may not be a cruise. Well, it did not turn out that way. Cruising came back to life and we were going on the Mardi Gras. Covid-19 Life -- We had to get a negative test three days before sailing (or the day before we fly out). We found a place that would do it with a 3 hour turnaround. We went with the more thorough PCR test. We had our positive results within 2 hours, and we were POSITIVELY sailing on the Mardi Gras. (Our test was negative). Flights went well, and we arrived in Orlando earlier than expected. We just could not get off the plane because of thunderstorms that arrived as we set down on the runway. It was a pain to be forced to wear a mask from the time we arrived at our home's airport, until we walked out into the fresh Orlando air. We stayed at the LaQuinta Airport hotel. They have a shuttle to and from the airport. That works well because we use the shuttle back to MCO and grab the Carnival shuttle to the ship. On the 21st, we boarded the Mardi Gras, and was blown away as we walked into the Grand Central Atrium. We knew we made the right choice. Next topic will be about getting to the ship and embarkation day with a lot more photos.