Jamman54

Now that’s done, here are today’s “Fun Times”….. Next, we are going to drop off our carry-ons at our cabin. On our way we pass the Alchemy Bar….. Looking down at Emeril’s Bistro…… We take the elevator up to Deck 11 and we find the usual sign on the big doors…. Platinum and Diamond members are allowed to drop off their bags in their cabin, but not to linger. Our cabin door is wide open, our sail and sign cards are not there, and it’s clear the room hasn’t even been started to be made up. Our room steward is nowhere in sight, so we leave him a note letting him know that we put our bags in the closet. Feeling hungry, we grab an elevator and head up to Deck 16, and Shaq’s Big Chicken, which is on the port side aft. It is not busy at all..... We get our food and sit at the Tides Bar which is on the starboard side aft. Patti had the chicken strips…. I had two Shaq Attacks. We both had the potato salad which we thought was really good….. Here are our first drinks of the cruise….. Right across the way from the Tides Bar is Swirls, perfect for dessert….. To be continued…..

The only thing that annoyed me about the new terminal is the sound system. When announcements were made you could not understand most of what they were saying! At 10:45am, suite passengers were allowed to board followed by boarding group A01. That’s us! Soon, we were heading up the gangway leading to the Mardi Gras….. You enter the Mardi Gras on Deck 6, and the first thing you see is the beautiful Center Stage….. Now the first thing that we wanted to do was complete our muster. Our muster station was C7 in the casino, which was right up the stairs from where we were, so up we went. Here’s the view of Center Stage from Deck 7. We’ve got the feeling that we’ll be spending a lot of time there….. We get to our muster station in the casino, and the crewmember with the scanner hadn’t arrived yet. While we waited, Patti took some shots of the casino….. Once the scanner guy arrived, another crewmember demonstrated how to don a life jacket, and our muster drill was done! To be continued…..

We were able to park pretty close to the elevators and stairwells. We took the stairs up to level three, which is where you lineup to enter the terminal. There were four lines, one for the suites, one for the 10 – 10:30 arrivals (that’s us), one for the 10:30 – 11 arrivals, and one for later arrivals…… The doors were opened a little before 10am, and after the suite guests we were let in. This nice lady was imploring us to check in with her….. She took care of everything, from checking our documentation, vaccination cards, test results, taking our pictures, and completing our check in, so that after going through the security scan we could sit down in the waiting room. The whole process didn’t take 10 minutes. On the way to the waiting room we stopped to have our embarkation photo taken….. That done, we made our way into the waiting room. The suites are given the priority waiting room…… The rest of us peons have to wait in here….. We grabbed some seats just outside of the priority waiting room, close to where we would be boarding….. To be continued…..

Day # 1 (April 23rd) - We board the Mardi Gras!!! We were up at 6am to get ready for the big day! Weather wise, it was going to be a beautiful sunny day. We finish re-arranging and packing our suitcases, and then went downstairs to have a light breakfast. Afterwards, Patti got these pictures of four of the five ships in port today from the hallway windows up on the 6th floor. The only ship missing was the Disney Fantasy. Here’s the Carnival Magic….. The Norwegian Escape….. The Mariner of the Seas….. And off in the distance, the Mardi Gras….. We checked out of the Hampton Inn at 9am. Patti and I really enjoyed staying here, and plan to return here in the future. We loaded up the car and then headed for Terminal 3. Here are the signs for the terminals….. We have entered the port….. We are approaching Terminal 3 and the Mardi Gras….. There was no line at all entering the parking garage……. We were directed down to the end, where porters were waiting to take your luggage….. You then continued up the ramp to the second level where you paid for your parking. You handed the attendant your credit card, he stuck it into the machine, and you were charged $136 for the week. You weren’t given a ticket or receipt since you wouldn’t be stopped or checked in any way when you left the garage after your cruise……. To be continued……

Glad to have you along again, and I'm about to add a bunch more. Enjoy! You're just in time! Thanks for following along!

Patti and I both work part time at our local Target store. We use this money for our vacations. I work in Receiving, and Patti shops for people that order online for order pick up. They love us there because we are dependable and hardworking. For that, they allow us to take off when we want, for as long as we want. They only ask that we don't take off from mid November through the first week in January. It's the perfect gig. Keeps us busy and funds our cruises! 🤗

The laundry room pictures you can't see are at the Country Inn and Suites. The Mardi Gras doesn't have guest laundry rooms, just ironing rooms. 😎

Hey Jo! Glad to have you along for the ride. B2B'S are the best! 😀

We agree. The Radisson used to be our go to place but this time we wanted to try the Hampton inn and were glad we did. Plus, the Radisson was more expensive. 😎

Not late at all, just getting started. Glad to have you on board once again! 🤗

Should have slept in. I have to work first. 😁

Thanks for reading. You're going to have a great time! 😎 Glad to have you along for the ride once again! 😎 It was great sailing with you and Gerry again. Feel free to share your thoughts as the review progresses. 😎

Thanks Megan, for your kind words. More coming later today. 😎 Thanks for reading and your kind words. 😎 Glad to have you along for the ride once again! 😎

Thanks for your kind words. Welcome aboard! 😎 Glad to have you back on board once again! 😎 Not late at all. You'll be boarding the Mardi Gras later today! 😁

Thanks for following along! We enjoyed the Hampton Inn and will return. 😎 Thanks for reading. You will enjoy the Mardi Gras! 😎 Glad to have you back on board! 😎

Thanks. Glad to have you aboard! 😎 Glad to have you aboard once again! 😎

Thanks for jumping aboard again. Informative and entertaining is what we aim for. That's the whole idea. Thanks for the kind words.

Capacity based on double occupancy is 5,282. Our first cruise had 5,800 + which is 110% based on double occupancy, and our second cruise was 5,400+ which is 103%. At these capacities we found that getting to venues at least 30 / 45 minutes prior to show time was a must to get a decent seat. For Center Stage shows, at least an hour if you wanted to sit close downstairs. We even saw a long line for Build a Bear! You are always welcome on board with us!

It was great to meet you guys as well. As we progress through the review, if there is anything that you want to add, please do. What are you waiting for...book it! Thanks for joining us! Seems like a lot of readers are sailing on the MG in the near future.

Exactly what we got.

Thanks for your kind words. It's one of the reasons we do these reviews. We try to be objective and tell it like it is. Though the Mardi Gras is not perfect, I think you would have a great time. 🤗 Glad to have you along with us. She is a beautiful ship, and I don't think you will be disappointed. 😎

Make sure you take notes! 😁 I think that you will enjoy the Mardi Gras! 😎 Thanks for hopping aboard. Let us know if you see anything worth noting. 😎

We received everything that you mentioned on our recent Mardi Gras B2B. 😎

Hey gang! Today is back to work day, and later we will be going to the Somerset Patriots baseball game, so we won't be posting anything today. No worries though, we'll be getting you on the Mardi Gras tomorrow. 😎

Glad to have you along for the ride once again! Buc-ee's is awesome! 🤗 Glad to have you aboard! Enjoying your review as well! 🤗