Onboard Mardi Gras Now & they are having some challenges

[Joebucks]

A new ship, at a size they've never operated at before, with new venues, a new crew, and out of COVID. Sorry to say, but you couldn't have asked for it more.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

6 minutes ago, Joebucks said:

A new ship, at a size they've never operated at before, with new venues, a new crew, and out of COVID. Sorry to say, but you couldn't have asked for it more.

 

A Perfect Storm, if you will.

 

Imagine if the ship was at full capacity !!  eeek

[stellarose]

I am still excited for December on the MG

[Lil2Angelic]

I still remember all the major issues with Vista's inaugural. When I saw this thread I was expecting some major problems. To me, this thread post sounds like things must be going pretty smoothly with the ship. I wonder if they are not sailing with a full crew? Do we have any info on the number of guests and crew onboard? Perhaps they need more servers? How is the casino otherwise? Thx OP!

[Cruise Related]

7 minutes ago, Lil2Angelic said:

I still remember all the major issues with Vista's inaugural. When I saw this thread I was expecting some major problems. To me, this thread post sounds like things must be going pretty smoothly with the ship. I wonder if they are not sailing with a full crew? Do we have any info on the number of guests and crew onboard? Perhaps they need more servers? How is the casino otherwise? Thx OP!

Not sure about the Mardi Gras but on the Horizon on the July 18th sailing, they were sailing with about 309 crew, which according to the crew member I was speaking with, is significantly less than normal. 

[BlerkOne]

7 minutes ago, Lil2Angelic said:

I still remember all the major issues with Vista's inaugural. When I saw this thread I was expecting some major problems. To me, this thread post sounds like things must be going pretty smoothly with the ship. I wonder if they are not sailing with a full crew? Do we have any info on the number of guests and crew onboard? Perhaps they need more servers? How is the casino otherwise? Thx OP!

You have to remember that all Carnival ships were sailing at the time, and the best crew from the working fleet could be picked for Vista. The supply chain was well established and debugged. Everything from the bottom to the top was working.

 

This is a restart of everything including getting the ships supplied and up. There is opportunity for failure at every step. I was surprised things were going as smoothly as they were.

 

We were on the Vista Inaugural and even through his mask I recognized one waiter on Horizon who serve us on Vista. He even remembered the table number. Where John Heald sat. Etc.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

It's rather interesting... We sail on the MG this Saturday, it will be its second sailing out of Pt. Canaveral (and second sailing, period).

 

We had booked the inaugural sailing of the Glory (7/19/03), BUT - she was completed a bit early, and arrived in Pt. Canaveral for a shorter (5-nt) sailing before ours, so we ended up being the second set of people onboard. I recall going on that ship and having the distinct feeling that they were not hitting on all 8 cylinders. It had that new ship smell, but they had to work out the kinks.

 

I had to do a little research to verify the sailing before ours on the Glory, it was christened by Sally Ride for its pre-inaugural sailing on 7/14/03.

 

OK --- just a trip down memory lane for me!  🙂

 

Tom

 

 

[snowballs mom]

3 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

It's rather interesting... We sail on the MG this Saturday, it will be its second sailing out of Pt. Canaveral (and second sailing, period).

 

We had booked the inaugural sailing of the Glory (7/19/03), BUT - she was completed a bit early, and arrived in Pt. Canaveral for a shorter (5-nt) sailing before ours, so we ended up being the second set of people onboard. I recall going on that ship and having the distinct feeling that they were not hitting on all 8 cylinders. It had that new ship smell, but they had to work out the kinks.

 

I had to do a little research to verify the sailing before ours on the Glory, it was christened by Sally Ride for its pre-inaugural sailing on 7/14/03.

 

OK --- just a trip down memory lane for me!  🙂

 

Tom

 

 

We sailed the Magic Mediterranean itinerary two months after the inaugural sailing. It was plenty of time for them to work out all of the kinks - it was a great trip!

[BrianMD]

1 hour ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

Carnival "Drinks on Us" --- (if you can find us)

 

LOL

 

You almost have to figure, with all the casino bookings they've made of late - that keeping a large contingent of bar waiters roaming in the casino might not be the best idea for them!

 

Tom

I had a similar thought that with Carnival giving out DOU cards like candy with the casino offers there is surely going to be a bottleneck in the casinos.

[BlerkOne]

48 minutes ago, BrianMD said:

I had a similar thought that with Carnival giving out DOU cards like candy with the casino offers there is surely going to be a bottleneck in the casinos.

Brilliant marketing!!!!!

[Elaine5715]

These starter cruises are loaded with casino players who were targeted so yes, the casino is packed and and they all have DOUs   and it has been a long time in-between Bahama Mamas   

[Frank12]

8 hours ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

Thanks for the update - no doubt that can be frustrating (2 drinks during a 4 hour casino visit... yikes)!

 

Yikes Indeed!!😳

 

[soremekun]

Oh no!  The stateroom attendant didn't make the bedsheet corners as crisp as they do on Regent!  This Mardi Gras cruise is terrible!

Edited August 3, 2021 by soremekun

[Eli_6]

I have heard MDR service is slow.  Is it better to do anytime dining than scheduled dining?

[JaniceB]

9 hours ago, ScottsSweetie said:

We had noticed this on our last couple of cruises (and we last cruised Carnival in 2017). I think our routine will include a visit to the steakhouse bar (where I've been told they have a better selection of wine) before dinner so that we arrive with our wine.

I do this most evenings.  I then arrive with my drink and request the drink waiter for my next glass.  

[BlerkOne]

2 hours ago, soremekun said:

Oh no!  The stateroom attendant didn't make the bedsheet corners as crisp as they do on Regent!  This Mardi Gras cruise is terrible!

I want compensation!!!!!!!!!

 

There - just like the good old days.

[CruisingFromLA]

On board now, and my husband has been pissed every night for dinner. I have to keep reminding him it's only night 1, night 2, now night 3 so far and the staff is still learning. He is trying to be understanding, but it's getting hard for him as each night didn't seem to get better. 

 

For example, we ate at Cucina del Capitano today for dinner. Started off well, as they came and gave our party bread and took our drink order within 2 minutes of sitting down. I received my cocktail within 10 minutes after ordering. My husband had to ask 3 additional times before he got his glass of wine 70 minutes later. Appetizers came within 10 minutes after placing our food order. Then we waited over an hour to get our entrees. 3 out of 4 of us got our entrees at the same time, which were all cold. My husband didn't get his entree until 30 minutes after ours. Dessert took another 20 minutes after clearing our entree plates. Oh our ice creams for dinner every night has always been melted and soupy, which is disappointing.

 

Not complaining, just noting our experience so far. 

[onlyslightlymad]

2 minutes ago, CruisingFromLA said:

On board now, and my husband has been pissed every night for dinner. I have to keep reminding him it's only night 1, night 2, now night 3 so far and the staff is still learning. He is trying to be understanding, but it's getting hard for him as each night didn't seem to get better. 

 

For example, we ate at Cucina del Capitano today for dinner. Started off well, as they came and gave our party bread and took our drink order within 2 minutes of sitting down. I received my cocktail within 10 minutes after ordering. My husband had to ask 3 additional times before he got his glass of wine 70 minutes later. Appetizers came within 10 minutes after placing our food order. Then we waited over an hour to get our entrees. 3 out of 4 of us got our entrees at the same time, which were all cold. My husband didn't get his entree until 30 minutes after ours. Dessert took another 20 minutes after clearing our entree plates. Oh our ice creams for dinner every night has always been melted and soupy, which is disappointing.

 

Not complaining, just noting our experience so far. 

"On board now, and my husband has been pissed every night for dinner."

oh my goodness, I had to read this a couple of times to understand.  I thought you were complaining that your husband was drunk every night.  I'm glad that's not the case.

[TNcruising02]

19 minutes ago, CruisingFromLA said:

On board now, and my husband has been pissed every night for dinner. I have to keep reminding him it's only night 1, night 2, now night 3 so far and the staff is still learning. He is trying to be understanding, but it's getting hard for him as each night didn't seem to get better. 

 

For example, we ate at Cucina del Capitano today for dinner. Started off well, as they came and gave our party bread and took our drink order within 2 minutes of sitting down. I received my cocktail within 10 minutes after ordering. My husband had to ask 3 additional times before he got his glass of wine 70 minutes later. Appetizers came within 10 minutes after placing our food order. Then we waited over an hour to get our entrees. 3 out of 4 of us got our entrees at the same time, which were all cold. My husband didn't get his entree until 30 minutes after ours. Dessert took another 20 minutes after clearing our entree plates. Oh our ice creams for dinner every night has always been melted and soupy, which is disappointing.

 

Not complaining, just noting our experience so far. 

That really is terrible service. Hopefully, it will improve with every cruise.  I would rather eat at the buffet than go through a dinner experience like that.

[Joe817]

2 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:

That really is terrible service. Hopefully, it will improve with every cruise.  I would rather eat at the buffet than go through a dinner experience like that.

Totally unacceptable. Waiting that long for a glass of wine, especially you asked more than once? Either it was really overcrowded, or they were severely understaffed, or the existing staff did not have proper training. We could never endure that kind of thing. We would have(and have in the past at a regular sit down restaurant in my area) walked out and found another food venue....AFTER  complaining to the management. 

[mommysoncruiser]

I don't think someone giving their honest opinion is a problem. Not sure why so many are jumping down their throats. I for one appreciate it so that I might know what to expect on my upcoming cruise. 
 

OP: thank you for sharing your experience! I really appreciate the feedback from someone who is experiencing this firsthand. Hiccups are okay but some of the things are unacceptable. Good on you for voicing your observations.

[SNJCruisers]

9 hours ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

I'd rather read about "challenges" onboard than devolve into a deleted vax or smoking threads !!  

 

🙂

 

Tom

I'm surprised that no one has inquired if there are chair hogs at the new Serenity area yet.

[ray98]

I am not one to excuse substandard service but on an inaugural cruise I think you have to expect some hiccups.  It is going to happen.

[SNJCruisers]

8 hours ago, BrianMD said:

I had a similar thought that with Carnival giving out DOU cards like candy with the casino offers there is surely going to be a bottleneck in the casinos.

What bottleneck?  The casino on the Mardi Gras is over twice the size of any other casino in the fleet.

[BlerkOne]

Apparently Mardi Gras temporarily stopped at sea when the hull of a partially sunk ship was spotted. That's  not something you see everyday.

 

https://www.facebook.com/carnivalcruiselinemiamiblog/videos/222303859668445/