Who sailed the Carnival Mardi Gras?

[e150club]

Remember: Skeet shooting off the stern, A brass key on a elastic string, cash in the casino and bars. Duty free booze you could bring back to the cabin and drink all u want. No auto-tips. Oh yes the night gown thing has been replaced by towel animals. They did sing and dance in the dinning room. The Captin sat one table away from us every night at Dinner [late seating] . No TV in the cabin. No atrium to navagate by, just cabin after cabin to make it easy to get lost. Oh the memories life is good ain't it.

[LHP]

We still have a ship on a stick from the Holiday in the 80's that had a MARBLE base....picture in signature...

 

Remember the buttons you used to get on and off the ship....now THAT is heavy security!!! LOL

 

We still have 2 of them...

Edited September 5, 2010 by LHP

[e150club]

LHP: I don't remember the buttons. You got me thinking? am I getting senile.

[LHP]

LHP: I don't remember the buttons. You got me thinking? am I getting senile.

 

This would have been in 1982 - (can't remember how long past that)

 

One says People Love Us (on the top) HEART in the middle and Carnival Cruise Lines (on the bottom)

 

Another says We've Got the "FUN" with the Carnival Logo and then Carnival Cruise Lines.

 

This was all you needed to get on the ship. Hubby was working in San Juan and took a couple of buttons with him. He and a co-worker walked right on the ship...had some beers (this is when you paid cash) and walked off.....this was on the Festivale in 1985..

Edited September 5, 2010 by LHP

[gusandgidgetsmom]

forgot about the skeet shooting, also the theater in the lower level of the deck. I remember we paid cash for everything and had real keys to get in our room. I do not remember buttons, but can't remember what ID I needed to get off and on.

[hookedoncruises12]

I was on her in 1973. It was my summer cruise before I started high school.:o Boy am I dating myself!!!

[Tweety22]

I cruised the Mardi Gras for my honeymoon in 1981, it was the ship that got us hooked on cruisin!! It was great!!

[Djonemore]

Do you remember that the "radio" was in the headboard of the bed or in one of the "drawers"? You could pick up music from the closed-circuit broadcast and all PA announcements came through it.

 

The Celebrity Horizon had this when we sailer her back in 05.

 

On another note, does anybody think Carnival will ever go back to smaller more cozy ships in the future?

Edited September 11, 2010 by Djonemore

[mavis2222]

Ive sailed on other cruise lines that had that same type of ship. Premier, Commidor, and Cape Canaveral to mention a few. Commidor Enchanted Isle and Premier and Mirage and Dolphin IV I think were still steam powered.. All those I cruised on between 1998 and 2002

[JMTtor]

Went with a LARGE group of folks, including my soon-to-be-ex-husband back in 1989, for my first-ever cruise experience. Had a great time!

[beachbum789]

My wife and I sailed on her in October 1982 for our Honeymoon. Great ship with character.

[seagarsmoker]

I sailed on the Mardi Gras in 1989 with my ex. Worst ship and cruise I have ever experienced.

 

As mentioned above - no TV or phone in the cabin. No atrium to navagate by, just endless cabins everywhere.

In our 'outside' room, the toilet was under the shower head and the sink was in the hall next to the front door. When you took a shower, you had to put the TP on the bed or it would get soaked. When I put my suit jacket on for formal dinner, I had to do it on the hallway as my arms would hit one of the walls if I did it in the room. Coffee was served in paper cups from those old 10 gallon metal canisters they used from the 50's.

Edited November 28, 2010 by seagarsmoker

[LindaLou48]

Wow! It was great to see some of the old Mardi Gras pictures. I took my second cruise on the Mardi Gras. It must have been one of her last Bahamas voyages. We booked with a travel agency (haven't done that in YEARS) and got airfare out of Lexington and the cruise for $500 each.

 

I remember barf bags in the hallway rails and up and down the stairs. They hung balloons off of the chandeliers over the dining tables. Our travel agent sent champagne to dinner one night. The water in the glasses on the table was moving, the balloons were moving, we stood up after the champagne and WE were moving. Had to hold on just to get back to the cabin!

 

The only things I remember about the cabin is the port hole, and when sitting on the john, my feet were in the shower. The maitre'd handed out place mat sized pictures of the ship the last evening at dinner. I still have mine, framed. And I still have my paper boarding pass. My friend and I were talking to some folks during debarkation. That's how we found out about ROOM SERVICE. I have happily made use of room service ever since....

[Hose A De RR]

We had decided to take a trip for our 15th wedding anniversary. I thought a week on the beach in Belize would be nice and my wife wanted to go on a cruise. So we compromised and went on the cruise with a promise that we would go to Belize later. So far we have been on 10 cruises (leaving for #11 in 5 days) and been to Belize for a day on a cruise. After being in Belize for that day, I am glad that we didn't go for a week.

 

Compared to the ships today, the MG was a barge. The dining room was OK but the aft casino(yep, the old girl had two) was really small. You had trouble passing a slot machine if someone was playing. The bathroom in our cabin was as big as the rest of the cabin which is not saying much; we had to fold up the bunk to move around in the cabin. There was no place to stow lugagge so we lived out of our suitcases for 4 days. The cabin did not have a TV or radio and only one small porthole. Not knowing any better, we a great time.

 

At the last past cruiser party, as they were going thru the ships, we were the only ones to applaud when the MG was shown.

[domima2]

The Mardi Gras was my first cruising experience at the age of 7 in 1988! We did a 3-day cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to the Bahamas, stopping at Freeport and Nassau. I loved it then, and we're taking our next Carnival Cruise in May.

[hookedoncruises12]

I sailed her back in 1973! It was the summer before I started high school. Went with my 2 best friends and their parents. We had an absolute blast. It was a 7 day to Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, St. Croix, and Nassau. Wish I had proof of that cruise for Carnival. :(

[MaryAnn261]

We sailed her in 1989 on our first cruise. Loved it.

[Shelbyjane56]

I know I'm dating myself, but are they any cruisers out there that ever sailed on the Mardi Gras? We sailed back in 1986 and that seems like centuries ago.[/quote

 

 

We sailed on the Mardi Gras for our honeymoon back in 1976. It is amazing how different the ships of today are compared to 35 years ago. I can still remember the first time we took a shower and found out you would be left with wet toilet paper. We also went back and forth as the ship was moving and you had to learn how to stay on the wood platform...on the sad side we were right next to an older man who died right in front of us from a heart attack. Wish it were still around so people could see what it was like back then!

[WES143]

I did!! Carnival has really changed since then. Some good changes and some not so good.:)

[WES143]

i sailed her back in 1973! It was the summer before i started high school. Went with my 2 best friends and their parents. We had an absolute blast. It was a 7 day to puerto rico, st. Thomas, st. Croix, and nassau. Wish i had proof of that cruise for carnival. :(

i feel you! I can't get credit for my 1st two carnival cruises, because they didn't count them back in the early 80s.:(

[scchasgal]

Only remember snippets of it but I sailed the Mardi Gras PRIOR to being the MD. Empress of Canada transatlantic sailing.

[edwardsm]

I know I'm dating myself, but are they any cruisers out there that ever sailed on the Mardi Gras? We sailed back in 1986 and that seems like centuries ago.

 

Yes, 1992 first cruise and honeymoon cruise on the Mardi Gras.

Sorry but I was not impressed with the ship, guess I had very high expectations or mabey we missed parts of the ship. I dont remember it having an atrium, very very small cabin and casino.

[G'ma]

My first Carnival cruise was on the Mardia Gras. It was the only ship they had at that time---the 2nd sailing....1972.

 

4 years later, I bought a little travel ageny. We specialized in group travel and cruises. Carnival by then had the Carnivale..maybe even the Festivale..can't recall. They were busy calling on agencies tryimg drum up business. Bob Dickinson was the regional sales representative (time flys). Anyway, the sales reps were quite a team and were all over the tri-state area training agents, holding cruise nights, calling on agencies regularly..and offering great deals for groups. Micky Arison would often show up at the cruise nights....

 

My little place did 1/3 groups cruises a MONTH on Carnival...sailed many times on Mardi Gras which was a favorite of mine and my clients.... I loved that little ship...and the others in the "triad" of the small fleet...

 

During those first days..the other cruiselines made fun of the little upstart. Said it would never work. Said the average American wasn't interested in cruising and those who did cruise would settle for nothing less than luxury....HA....

 

I find devine justice in the fact that Carnival now OWNS those other lines.....

Edited January 22, 2011 by G'ma

[tuscandream]

Ah I remember the Mardi Gras that was my first cruise and it was our honeymoon. I will never forget when we got to the port I was in awe. I thought wow it was so big, compaired to the ships now the mardi gras looks like a toy boat. I have been addicted to cruise ever since. :D

[douggw]

Was our first cruise on our honeymoon in 1989. Paid a ton for that cruise! We had a cabin up in the very very front, and the floor was slanted upwards and the beds were shorter on one side to compensate for the slanted floor. It was our honeymoon and the beds could not be put together-separate beds. We LOVED the cruise! We thought the ship was so HUGE and elegant!

 

Ah...the memories back in the day!