scuba_ninja Posted January 27, 2018 Author #201 Share Posted January 27, 2018 Thank you for your response-maybe attendance for the deck parties and movies will be better on our spring break cruise! Hopefully it will be warm :D I hope so! I bet I'd have enjoyed a little party time. They one party I did see that had a decent amount of people attend was the hairy chest contest. I stopped by for about 2 minutes on my way to something else (can't remember what any more) but it looked like people were having fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scuba_ninja Posted January 27, 2018 Author #202 Share Posted January 27, 2018 scuba_, this has to be one of the best reviews I've read. THANK YOU for the lovely photos and lively dialogue. I hope you cruise again soon and gift us with another fantastic review! THANK YOU! It means a lot to me that people are enjoying the review. I want to give a little more than "cruise was bad. I got a drink that had 4 ice cubes but I specifically asked for 3, cleary this is an indication that carnival is cutting back and trying to screw us". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scuba_ninja Posted January 27, 2018 Author #203 Share Posted January 27, 2018 Loved your review, it was very entertaining! [emoji16] Your pictures are wonderful too! Sent from my iPhone using Forums Thanks! I'm glad I got some good pics to share with everyone. I've still got a few days of fun in NOLA to share too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scuba_ninja Posted January 27, 2018 Author #204 Share Posted January 27, 2018 Throughly enjoyed your review. Thank you for sharing your experience. Thanks for taking the time to read it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scuba_ninja Posted January 27, 2018 Author #205 Share Posted January 27, 2018 SCUBA diver, IT professional, certified supertaster, expert cruise reviewer, and poet laureate. Color me impressed. 😂 Thanks for the stellar review! It was hilarious and super helpful. Hey, what can I say, I like to keep busy! Thanks! I'm really pumped that so many of you have enjoyed the review! Here's a bonus poem since you're enjoying my prose so much: Roses are red, violets are blue I hope you're enjoying this review who knows, maybe one day I'll even be cruising with you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scuba_ninja Posted January 27, 2018 Author #206 Share Posted January 27, 2018 French Quarter really is just a great place to walk around. Lovely shops, friendly people. I will say it was PACKED with people in town for the sugar bowl. Tons of team colors everywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Princess Ariel Posted January 31, 2018 #207 Share Posted January 31, 2018 Great review! I've really enjoyed it and it is making me miss New Orleans. I haven't been in years! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phinfan63 Posted February 6, 2018 #208 Share Posted February 6, 2018 OK, I'm going to show you the plate I ordered. And after that, let me please warn the ummm, sensitive amongst you that I'm about to get medieval on this "bbq". I ordered a sausage, some beef, pork, slaw and collards. OK. Let's talk. I know I'm going to make a lot of you mad, but here goes. THIS IS NOT BBQ. THIS IS NOT GOOD. THIS WAS THE WORST MEAL I HAD ON THE SHIP. I Carried it up to my wife who was happily eating a burger. I took a few bites and went and ordered a burger. I'm not kidding, it was that bad. When I walked up to the BBQ and saw tons of plates strewn about on the tables, abandoned but still piled high with food, I should have known. OK, haven't punched a hole in the screen yet and called me names? Let's discuss in detail. 1) The sausage was weirdly sweet, and very clearly made with cheap fillers and ground turkey. 100% positive about this. I'm a verified supertaster with a practiced palate. Ground turkey is one of my LEAST favorite flavors, I can pick it out with ease. 2) The beef was dry, flavorless and had no bark or even fake smoke ring (in competition, smoke ring is no longer judged because it's easy to fake with chemicals). 3) Pork was dry and flavorless. 4) Potato salad was.... bland. It was just there. 5) Collards were inedible. Horrendously undercooked and had zero flavor other than bitter. 6) The meat isn't smoked. Period. It's cooked in a sauce full of liquid smoke. ::sound of record player scratching to a halt:: #6 alone deserves some more explanation. See, liquid smoke itself is not the WORST sin in the book when it comes to large scale food production, but it IS when you are calling it BBQ. I can almost sort of excuse it when you're making beef jerky, or even a sauce of some kind. Some liquid smoke brands actually DO distill and filter smoke. It's a neat process actually, and it's made from, well, real wood smoke. No matter where it comes from, liquid smoke has a very distinct flavor and odor profile and it's all over this meat. It permeates it. Some people don't mind it, I can't stand it. LEGALLY, you can use the wording Carnival does to call their food "smoked". It's not smoked. I know, I know, "BUT LOOK AT THE SMOKERS BEHIND THE COUNTER". Yeah, guess what, THEY ARE NOT BEING USED FOR SMOKING!!!!!!!! Look, to actually smoke a brisket of the sizes they were slicing it would take almost 20 hours. I passed those smokers many, many times, hoping to catch them on. Nope. Never. What they do is a trick used by many cheap restaurants like Applebees. They fire up the smoker maybe an hour before service and finish the meat in there at high temps. Cheap trick, makes for lousy BBQ. Also, yes, DO look at the smokers. Look inside them. Notice how little buildup is on them. Sorry, Carnival's not doing a better job cleaning those than anything else on the ship. 7) I'm willing to accept that differences in suppliers, staff, etc might mean that the BBQ is better on some ship/sailings. 8) It's just not good. End of story. I've had better BBQ at Applebees. It's not tender, or smokey. Or even a good cut of meat. 9) Even knowing that the outdoor smokers were not on long enough, I WAS excited to try it, hoping that maybe they had some indoor ones in the galley. Nope. 10) The sauces that were availible were not terrible, but nothing to write home about. OK, I know I've gotten under the skin for some of ya, I'm ready for battle! I am from Memphis and we have some of the best bbq around - I had already decided to skip the ship bbq :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teknoge3k Posted February 6, 2018 #209 Share Posted February 6, 2018 I am from Memphis and we have some of the best bbq around - I had already decided to skip the ship bbq :-) Hey now, I'm from North Carolina and thems' some fightin' words! :D:cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phinfan63 Posted February 6, 2018 #210 Share Posted February 6, 2018 Hey now, I'm from North Carolina and thems' some fightin' words! :D:cool: LOL.... I'm sure it's very good too! ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teknoge3k Posted February 6, 2018 #211 Share Posted February 6, 2018 LOL.... I'm sure it's very good too! ;) We take pride in our BBQ, just I am sure Memphis does as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lounroxluv Posted February 7, 2018 #212 Share Posted February 7, 2018 Absolutely loved the review!! I feel like the only thing missing was a picture of you and your wife. I want to see the faces behind the story. Felt like I could hear, see, smell, and and touch everything with you. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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