Newest XL LNG ship to be named Carnival Mardi Gras

[Thorncroft]

6 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

Just to pick nits, the proper term is "stern", which is a noun referring to the back of a vessel.  "Aft" is an adjective (use the aft elevator), or adverb (I am walking aft).  And, to the best of my knowledge, you can't have a different name on the bow and stern of a vessel.

 

My stern teachers in school were just aftholes.  Is it a requirement to display the name, at all?  Navy ships have the number on the bow and number and name on the stern. 

 

Edited December 7, 2018 by Thorncroft

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, Thorncroft said:

 

My stern teachers in school were just aftholes.  Is it a requirement to display the name, at all?  Navy ships have the number on the bow and number and name on the stern. 

 

Yes, the requirements of ship markings require the ship's name to be on the bow and stern, visible from both sides.  Governmental vessels, like Naval vessels, do not adhere to SOLAS or IMO regulations.

[rukkian]

14 hours ago, eroller said:

 

 

I agree completely.  I’ve sailed OASIS, ALLURE, and HARMONY. They all felt less crowded than most ships half their size and are superbly designed.  Certainly less crowded feeling than any Carnival ship I’ve sailed.  

 

Royal Caribbean in general seems to put more thought into their ship designs and a better balance between space and revenue.  Carnival is more about revenue and adding as many cabins as possible, but then again they are the price leader for a reason.  You can’t have it all I guess.  

 

I do have high hopes for MARDI GRAS though.  I’ve pretty much outgrown Carnival but I’ll go back to experience this new ship. 

We loved the Allure, but have a much smaller ship with more passengers makes me wonder how crowded this will be.  I agree on the Allure, it really never felt crowded.  

[philbob84]

On 12/6/2018 at 5:14 PM, eroller said:

 

 

Hopefully they will drop the "Carnival" from these names.  Based on the rendering it's not on the bow or the signage on top of the ship.  If we follow tradition, CARNIVALE would be the next ship followed by FESTIVALE.    

Carnival Carnivale would be visually intresting. I dont think they reuse the names of the 7 early ships.

[jimbo5544]

9 hours ago, philbob84 said:

Carnival Carnivale would be visually intresting. I dont think they reuse the names of the 7 early ships.

They are dropping the "Carnival" front portion of the name.

[xDisconnections]

19 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

They are dropping the "Carnival" front portion of the name.

Flawless.

Edited December 8, 2018 by xDisconnections

[Thorncroft]

If all the cruise lines would exercise some originality and quit copying each other's names, they could stop having to use the cruise line name as a preface to the ship's name. 

[cruzin Phillis]

On ‎12‎/‎6‎/‎2018 at 5:31 PM, cathi007 said:

6500 people on the ship, yeah I'm not to sure about that. Although I'm sure it's going to be amazing, but that might be too many people for me. I guess I'll have to see

I sailed on RC Oasis of the Seas and they did a great job with crowd control for a ship that carries over 5,000 people. It will be interesting to see how Carnival does it. I look forward to trying her out.

[AdGuyMG]

On 12/8/2018 at 11:38 AM, Thorncroft said:

If all the cruise lines would exercise some originality and quit copying each other's names, they could stop having to use the cruise line name as a preface to the ship's name. 

The worst offender of this unimaginativeness is Disney.

 

3/4ths of their fleet (75% of their ships) are the same namesake of Carnival ships.

 

Disney DREAM / Carnival Dream  .. Disney MAGIC / Carnival Magic .. Disney FANTASY / Carnival Fantasy

 

[Saint Greg]

On 12/5/2018 at 9:59 PM, tallyho8 said:

I think that this means it is coming to New Orleans, WHOO HOOOOOO!

 

That was my first thought. But honestly, they can send it to Florida and send Breeze or Magic to New Orleans and I’d be happy.

[tallyho8]

11 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

 

That was my first thought. But honestly, they can send it to Florida and send Breeze or Magic to New Orleans and I’d be happy.

The Breeze and Magic are just clones of the Dream that has been here for years. Evidently Carnival was expecting less passengers for their 7 day cruises in 2019 due to the fact that the larger Norwegian Breakaway and the Royal Caribbean Vision will be here and with the Disney Wonder coming here at the start of 2020 so they moved a smaller ship in.

It would not surprise me if they swapped for a larger ship in mid 2020 after the others leave New Orleans.

[Saint Greg]

41 minutes ago, tallyho8 said:

The Breeze and Magic are just clones of the Dream that has been here for years. Evidently Carnival was expecting less passengers for their 7 day cruises in 2019 due to the fact that the larger Norwegian Breakaway and the Royal Caribbean Vision will be here and with the Disney Wonder coming here at the start of 2020 so they moved a smaller ship in.

It would not surprise me if they swapped for a larger ship in mid 2020 after the others leave New Orleans.

 

With the new ships coming in eventually they’re going to have to move Breeze and Magic somewhere. I’m hoping New Orleans gets back to a Dream Class at some point. NCL and Disney are seasonal.

Disney is doing a whole six cruises out of New Orleans in 2020. And the people I know who sail Disney would never sail carnival. They only sail Disney.

 

The main part of the Dream move is increasing capacity on 4-5 day cruises. New Orleans upgrades from Triumph to Valor. Galveston upgrades from Valor to Dream. No reason why they can’t put a Dream Class back in New Orleans for 7-day cruises once one is replaced by a mega ship.

Edited December 11, 2018 by Saint Greg

[MrFunInTheSun]

On 12/6/2018 at 10:35 PM, xDisconnections said:

If done properly, there’s nothing to worry about. As it’s Carnival, perhaps you should worry about the possible overcrowding situation. When reviewing historical data, Carnival frequently removes public areas and replaces them with additional staterooms causing a greater number of passengers with fewer venues to disperse the crowd.

 

With that said, the Allure of the Seas never felt crowded during my recent sailing apart from the embarkation day lunch and it had a fantastic passenger flow to spread out the guests.

 

Totally agree, Royal Caribbean has crowd control mastered on the mega Oasis class ships. As others said will be interesting to see how well Carnival executes on this.

 

On 12/6/2018 at 11:08 PM, eroller said:

 

 

I agree completely.  I’ve sailed OASIS, ALLURE, and HARMONY. They all felt less crowded than most ships half their size and are superbly designed.  Certainly less crowded feeling than any Carnival ship I’ve sailed.  

 

Royal Caribbean in general seems to put more thought into their ship designs and a better balance between space and revenue.  Carnival is more about revenue and adding as many cabins as possible, but then again they are the price leader for a reason.  You can’t have it all I guess.  

 

I do have high hopes for MARDI GRAS though.  I’ve pretty much outgrown Carnival but I’ll go back to experience this new ship. 

 

Agree with this. I’ve felt more crowded on smaller Carnival and Royal Caribbean ships than I did on any Royal Caribbean Oasis class ships. Oasis class ships are by  far my most favorite ships. Can’t wait to sail on Symphony of the seas in February. 

 

I too felt I outgrew and got bored with Carnival after sailing on 14 cruises. My last cruise on Carnival was back in 2012. That said I’m ready for a cruise or two back with them. 2020 checking out their new step into mega ships seems like a nice leap back with Carnival. Will be interesting to see and experience. It will take a lot though to beat or meet an experience one has on the Oasis class though, but I’m sure my expectations will be met. 

Edited December 11, 2018 by MrFunInTheSun

[eroller]

52 minutes ago, MrFunInTheSun said:

  Will be interesting to see and experience. It will take a lot though to beat or meet an experience one has on the Oasis class though, but I’m sure my expectations will be met. 

 

 

I think we are on the same page.  One thing is for certain though, the burgers will be far superior on the new Carnival ship.  I just love those Guy's Burgers, but unfortunately they alone are not reason enough for me to sail Carnival.  

 

I'll sail on MARDI GRAS for sure.  I love the name, and it will be a ship worth trying at least once.  It will be refreshing just to have a Carnival ship not based off the 22 year old Carnival Destiny.  

[xDisconnections]

1 hour ago, eroller said:

 

 

It will be refreshing just to have a Carnival ship not based off the 22 year old Carnival Destiny.  

That’s for sure.

[rukkian]

13 hours ago, MrFunInTheSun said:

 

Totally agree, Royal Caribbean has crowd control mastered on the mega Oasis class ships. As others said will be interesting to see how well Carnival executes on this.

 

 

Agree with this. I’ve felt more crowded on smaller Carnival and Royal Caribbean ships than I did on any Royal Caribbean Oasis class ships. Oasis class ships are by  far my most favorite ships. Can’t wait to sail on Symphony of the seas in February. 

 

I too felt I outgrew and got bored with Carnival after sailing on 14 cruises. My last cruise on Carnival was back in 2012. That said I’m ready for a cruise or two back with them. 2020 checking out their new step into mega ships seems like a nice leap back with Carnival. Will be interesting to see and experience. It will take a lot though to beat or meet an experience one has on the Oasis class though, but I’m sure my expectations will be met. 

It is posts like this that make me second guess booking the magic.  We loved Allure, it was incredible.  Hoping the burgers and the ports make up for it.  We are doing 4 new ports including AC (out of ABC).  I will still try the new ship if the prices are right, but I think they may increase pricing more in line with Oasis class I suspect.

[Joebucks]

15 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

 

With the new ships coming in eventually they’re going to have to move Breeze and Magic somewhere. I’m hoping New Orleans gets back to a Dream Class at some point. NCL and Disney are seasonal.

Disney is doing a whole six cruises out of New Orleans in 2020. And the people I know who sail Disney would never sail carnival. They only sail Disney.

 

The main part of the Dream move is increasing capacity on 4-5 day cruises. New Orleans upgrades from Triumph to Valor. Galveston upgrades from Valor to Dream. No reason why they can’t put a Dream Class back in New Orleans for 7-day cruises once one is replaced by a mega ship.

 

I'm sailing on the Dream out of New Orleans in two months.

 

I've never really experienced crowding issues on Carnival, aside from a few poorly-designed venues. I am a bit worried about them fitting that many passengers on a ship that size though.

Edited December 11, 2018 by Joebucks

[ProgRockCruiser]

4 minutes ago, Joebucks said:

 

I'm sailing on the Dream out of New Orleans in two months.

 

I've never really experienced crowding issues on Carnival, aside from a few poorly-designed venues. I am a bit worried about them fitting that many passengers on a ship that size though. However, I think it is largely overblown. The Mardi Gras isn't THAT much smaller than the Symphony. Weight isn't everything. 

 

Beam

Mardi Gras 138 ft

Symphony 151 ft

 

Length

Mardi Gras 1106 ft

Symphony 1188 ft

 

Decks

Mardi Gras 20

Symphony 17

 

 

 

Assuming deck heights are same, and that each ship consumes the beam x length available area in a similar fashion, then they are almost identical in perceived volume - the Mardi Gras is taller, while the Symphony is a bit wider & longer.

 

Looking at the deck plans & depictions for the (allegedly similar build) P&P Iona, I see that the aft end of the Iona for the upper half of the decks has a concave shape, such that the aft-facing balconies on decks 9 through 15 are more inset the closer to the middle they are.  This animation video on YouTube from P&O shows it the best (and is a link that should last a long while...):

 

 

There are no depictions of the Mardi Gras yet showing the aft that I have found.  I wonder if Carnival will also make that area concave or flat across like the Sunshine, Liberty, etc?  We like the aft-facing balconies on those Carnival ships, not sure I like the concave arrangement of the Iona...

[chengkp75]

While your idea of "perceived volume" is possibly correct, the statement "weight isn't everything" shows the typical confusion with regards to "Gross Tonnage".  Gross Tonnage has absolutely nothing to do with weight, it is a unitless number representing the internal volume of the ship.  It is unitless, since the actual volume is modified by a factor "K"that is not linear with increasing volume.  So, since Symphony has 24% more gross tonnage, it will have, even with the non-linearity factor, more volume than the XL class.  Also, the outdoors "Central Park" areas of Symphony do not count towards Gross Tonnage.

 

"There are no depictions showing the aft" what?  There is no part of the ship called the "aft".  Aft is not a noun, it is an adjective or adverb that modifies a noun or verb.

[BoDidly]

4 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

While your idea of "perceived volume" is possibly correct, the statement "weight isn't everything" shows the typical confusion with regards to "Gross Tonnage".  Gross Tonnage has absolutely nothing to do with weight, it is a unitless number representing the internal volume of the ship.  It is unitless, since the actual volume is modified by a factor "K"that is not linear with increasing volume.  So, since Symphony has 24% more gross tonnage, it will have, even with the non-linearity factor, more volume than the XL class.  Also, the outdoors "Central Park" areas of Symphony do not count towards Gross Tonnage.

 

"There are no depictions showing the aft" what?  There is no part of the ship called the "aft".  Aft is not a noun, it is an adjective or adverb that modifies a noun or verb.

I've been having my coffee in the AFT of the ship for years, who cares what anyone calls the back of the ship..  Is class over now ,I need to grab a late lunch .

[Joebucks]

2 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

While your idea of "perceived volume" is possibly correct, the statement "weight isn't everything" shows the typical confusion with regards to "Gross Tonnage".  Gross Tonnage has absolutely nothing to do with weight, it is a unitless number representing the internal volume of the ship.  It is unitless, since the actual volume is modified by a factor "K"that is not linear with increasing volume.  So, since Symphony has 24% more gross tonnage, it will have, even with the non-linearity factor, more volume than the XL class.  Also, the outdoors "Central Park" areas of Symphony do not count towards Gross Tonnage.

 

"There are no depictions showing the aft" what?  There is no part of the ship called the "aft".  Aft is not a noun, it is an adjective or adverb that modifies a noun or verb.

 

I admit after I made the post, I did more reading and discovered the basic definition of gross tonnage. I would like to learn more though. It seems confusing to me that the symphony has that much more "volume" with less decks. It's obviously possible, just hard to picture for me. 

[ProgRockCruiser]

1 hour ago, chengkp75 said:

While your idea of "perceived volume" is possibly correct, the statement "weight isn't everything" shows the typical confusion with regards to "Gross Tonnage".  Gross Tonnage has absolutely nothing to do with weight, it is a unitless number representing the internal volume of the ship.  It is unitless, since the actual volume is modified by a factor "K"that is not linear with increasing volume.  So, since Symphony has 24% more gross tonnage, it will have, even with the non-linearity factor, more volume than the XL class.  Also, the outdoors "Central Park" areas of Symphony do not count towards Gross Tonnage.

 

"There are no depictions showing the aft" what?  There is no part of the ship called the "aft".  Aft is not a noun, it is an adjective or adverb that modifies a noun or verb.

 

Wow dude.  Chill.

 

I said "showing the aft" because I was too lazy to get all grammar Nazi on myself and state "no view of the stern, looking forward, showing the aft area of the ship, a.k.a. stern".  It was also a play on words.  Think of the word that pairs with Jack or hole.

 

I wasn't trying to replicate the calculations for gross tonnage (nowhere did I use that phrase, the mention of weight was in the original post I quoted, which was omitted in your reply), I was simply doing a quick back-of-napkin calculation that showed me, at least, that although the Mardi Gras is "skinnier" and shorter than the Symphony, that the additional decks might make up for it, and maybe it won't seem so crowded.

 

And I have no idea whether the additional Gross Tonnage that Symphony has goes to anything useful towards "feeling less crowded".  For all I know, the extra "volume" is where the captain keeps his balloon collection.

Edited December 11, 2018 by ProgRockCruiser

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, Joebucks said:

 

I admit after I made the post, I did more reading and discovered the basic definition of gross tonnage. I would like to learn more though. It seems confusing to me that the symphony has that much more "volume" with less decks. It's obviously possible, just hard to picture for me. 

Well, the one thing most don't account for when "counting decks" to determine size is how much volume is below the lower most passenger deck.  And, you are assuming that deck heights are all the same.  Gross Tonnage includes all internal volume, both passenger and crew/technical spaces.  Symphony, being longer and wider, will have more volume in the hull, though whether that is used for passenger space or not is unknown.  So, you need to see what the additional volume added to each deck is (Symphony is 12% wider, and 7% longer, and loses 15% on deck count), and whether the additional decks on Mardi Gras are "full decks", as non-fully enclosed spaces like the pool decks don't count towards Gross Tonnage, so how much do the 3 additional decks on Mardi Gras actually add to GT.  What I've always felt was a better measure of "passenger spaciousness" is a Net Tonnage/passenger ratio.  Net tonnage is the volume assigned for the "cargo" of the ship, in this case passenger space.  It deducts engine room, tankage, and all crew only space from Gross Tonnage.  Given that the Mardi Gras will be outfitted with LNG tanks, this will take up more volume than the comparable spaces on Symphony, even though Symphony has more installed power, hence requiring more volume for the engines themselves.  So, while Mardi Gras may require less engine room volume for smaller engines (and total plant power), the requirements for LNG storage and handling will most likely outweigh this in regards to Symphony.  What I'm saying is that Mardi Gras may well have an even smaller Net Tonnage/Gross Tonnage ratio than Symphony, and therefore feel even more crowded than the GT/passenger ratios show.

 

Problems come with finding data on "air draft" (the height of the ship above the water), and the Net Tonnage, as these figures are of very little value to anyone other than the ship operator.

[BlerkOne]

Perception is subjective and tonnage is irrelevant if everyone (or no one) is in line for a specific venue. What I am saying is, who cares?

[outdoors27]

5 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

Well, the one thing most don't account for when "counting decks" to determine size is how much volume is below the lower most passenger deck.  And, you are assuming that deck heights are all the same.  Gross Tonnage includes all internal volume, both passenger and crew/technical spaces.  Symphony, being longer and wider, will have more volume in the hull, though whether that is used for passenger space or not is unknown.  So, you need to see what the additional volume added to each deck is (Symphony is 12% wider, and 7% longer, and loses 15% on deck count), and whether the additional decks on Mardi Gras are "full decks", as non-fully enclosed spaces like the pool decks don't count towards Gross Tonnage, so how much do the 3 additional decks on Mardi Gras actually add to GT.  What I've always felt was a better measure of "passenger spaciousness" is a Net Tonnage/passenger ratio.  Net tonnage is the volume assigned for the "cargo" of the ship, in this case passenger space.  It deducts engine room, tankage, and all crew only space from Gross Tonnage.  Given that the Mardi Gras will be outfitted with LNG tanks, this will take up more volume than the comparable spaces on Symphony, even though Symphony has more installed power, hence requiring more volume for the engines themselves.  So, while Mardi Gras may require less engine room volume for smaller engines (and total plant power), the requirements for LNG storage and handling will most likely outweigh this in regards to Symphony.  What I'm saying is that Mardi Gras may well have an even smaller Net Tonnage/Gross Tonnage ratio than Symphony, and therefore feel even more crowded than the GT/passenger ratios show.

 

Problems come with finding data on "air draft" (the height of the ship above the water), and the Net Tonnage, as these figures are of very little value to anyone other than the ship operator.

Wow, things are getting really technical here on Cruise Critics. Lets just all wait and see what happens when the ship is actually built. Or before complaining about over crowding maybe check the other boards from P&O or Aida and see what they are saying about crowds since the ships will be similar XL builds. How's that sound