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Mardi Gras Update - Ever Changing

gullgeorge

By gullgeorge,
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gullgeorge

gullgeorge

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With everything changing on a daily basis, wanted to give an update on what's happening on the Mardi Gras.

 

I would like to thank some of the other contributors that reported on their earlier experiences and provided so many picture of the ship (I don't do pictures).  This thread will cover both the 9/18 and 9/25 sailing.  This is my 12th Carnival sailing (all on different ships) and have sailed with most of the other cruise lines with Princess having the same number of sailings.

Embarkation

We had a 10:30am boarding time and a A01 boarding group.  Drove our own vehicle to the pier and arrived at 9:45am.  There is a common drop-off and pick-up area and only 1/10 of the area was being used for drop off.  They did have people directing traffic but it is still chaotic. After dropping off luggage went up the ramp and parked the car.  Park on level three and you can walk directly across the bridge to the terminal.  If you are doing a back to back, you need to purchase two weeks of parking or per the parking attendant, the sheriff may have the car impounded.

When you cross the bridge you will be asked to put on your mask and they do a quick verification that you have your documentation.  There is no verification of your check-in time.  You will then go to a check-in station to have your documentation verified; the person that checked our documentation scrutinized everything, especially the COVID test results. Other people I talked to said they just glanced at the documentation.  They also ask the health questions again and then they take your picture. Then on through the airport type scanners.

The lobby resembles a large warehouse/train station with chairs and the worse sound system I have ever heard.  You cannot understand anything that is said unless you are at the customer service counter. Masks are required but nobody was enforcing them and there were a number of people walking around without them.  The suite passengers have their own sitting area and entrance to the ship. There is no platinum/diamond sitting area.  General boarding started at about 10:45am when the employees start screaming out boarding groups. They check your boarding group numbers, have your picture taken again and then head up the gangplank.

Next section, the cabin.

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GTO-Girl

GTO-Girl

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Had family members that were on last week.  They had their test done at their local hometown pharmacy…..it didn’t have their date of birth on there!!  They were pulled out of line and had to call the pharmacy and put them on the phone with a supervisor there in the terminal before they were finally allowed to board!!!

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gullgeorge

gullgeorge

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Cabin

We have a balcony in the front portion the ship on the 15th deck.  Room is little different from other Carnival ships but not significant.  Some changes are the door for the shower, more lighting and the slider balcony door.  If you use a CPAP machine there is no plug by the beds, only USB.  You will need to use an extension cord from the desk in the middle portion of the cabin to the beds on the other side towards the back of the cabin.  We used hooks attached to the ceiling to run the extension cord to eliminate tripping over the cord on the floor. You will need between 15 – 20 feet of extension cord.  The little shelf on the wall fits a mini CPAP machine but not a full size one.  If you separate the beds and put both shelf between the beds, and do not mind squeezing out the balcony door, you may be able to fit a larger CPAP machine on the bottom shelf.  There are three plugs, turned upside down on the desk along with a four more USB plugs.

The balcony floor does not get very hot but does stain easily.  The white railing also does not get hot and is more comfortable to lean on then the wooden railings.

Masks

There is conflicting information on when masks are required on the ship.  The printed material says all the time, both in and out doors.  The announcements say in restaurants, elevators, theaters and other designated venues.  There are signs to these areas that say masks are required past this point. Carnival employees do motoring some areas (and carry extra masks) but not everywhere.  In addition, some people wear the mask to get by the Carnival employee and then immediately take them off.

Next Platinum Benefits.

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gullgeorge

gullgeorge

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Platinum Benefits

Preferred Boarding – This is being offered by being able to check-in two days earlier.  When you get to the terminal, everybody is equal (except suite customers who do have a separate sitting/boarding area).

 

The following onboard benefits are your responsibility to obtain.  There is no written information provided to the passenger about how to receive the benefits on the ship.

Gift – This is available at Pixels (currently it is a luggage tag).

Drink at brunch – Tell the staff you are redeeming your drink and it will be on your account.

Chocolate delight (strawberries) – Call room service.

Party – Invitation was deliver to room on Wednesday for party at 4pm Friday.  A free drink will be added to your account 1 hour prior to the party.  They were handing out a glass of wine when you entered the theater.  You do not need to go to the party to redeem your free drink.

Bottle water – Go to any bar and say you are picking up your Platinum water.  The first week we had to sign a receipt, the second week we did not.

Casino credit – Each person currently receives a $25 free play credit for either the tables or the slot machines and this is redeemed at the casino cashier (back left in the casino).  If you choose slot machine, the free play is added to you sail and sign card and then you transfer that amount to the machine you are playing. You can cash out at any time.  The money you won and the free play will show as different amounts on the machine display.  When we exhausted the free play, we then cashed out of the machine and went to the cashier to receive our money.

Next Food and B2B Information.

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Tom-n-Cheryl "Live from...." Rare

Tom-n-Cheryl

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17 hours ago, gullgeorge said:

...  The suite passengers have their own sitting area and entrance to the ship. There is no platinum/diamond sitting area.  General boarding started at about 10:45am when the employees start screaming out boarding groups. They check your boarding group numbers, have your picture taken again and then head up the gangplank.

Next section, the cabin.

 

Are they utilizing the suite waiting area yet - for suite guests? For our 8/7 sailing, it was only used for overflow and/or testing.

 

Tom

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lele100

lele100

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Am interested to know, on your b2b, 

 

Did all the b2b cruisers have to meet somewhere on the ship the day of disembarkation?  If so what time?

 

Did they do your test the day of disembarkation? or the day before?.  where do they do it on the ship or in the terminal?

 

How long did the process take and what time were you back on board?

 

Thanks

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gullgeorge

gullgeorge

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The suite waiting area in the terminal was being used by the suite passengers last week.  COVID testing for B2B is now being done on the ship.

 

Parked in the garage after last cancellation of a cruise on the B2B day, it saved us hours of waiting for a shuttle in the middle of the night.  When we arrived around 9:45, there was plenty of parking available on level 3 (most people stop on level 2).

 

Cabins are available at 1:30 for all guests.

 

B2B

Had COVID test at 8:15am in the Limelight Lounge (having specific times to reduce the congestion did not work) and then went to the Flamingo Dining Room at 8:45am to wait.  There about 150 -200 doing the back to back.  We were led out of the ship at 9:40am, walked through the facial scanners in the baggage claim area and then back on the ship.  Total time was about 2 hours depending on your test time.  No mention of test results and received an email from the lab at 12:00 with results.

While in the dining room you will receive your new room key and have your pictured taken.  In additional you will receive another envelope with a drink coupon for each person and a free picture next to the car outside of the Italian restaurant.  This picture must be taken between 6:30 and 10:00 that evening and you can pick up the picture the next day at Pixels.  Later that day sparkling wine and a bowl of fruit was delivered to the room.

 

Food (1st review)

Working on getting to all the free food restaurants and will report that tomorrow.  I strongly recommend the use of the Carnival Hub application to book you restaurants (it works like a call ahead reservation).  The application has all the menus, opening times of restaurants, daily schedule and lots of other information. Another recommendation is to book the fine dining restaurants as soon as possible since most of them only had very limited availability after the first day.

 

There are many more passengers on board this week.  This is evident from the time it is taking to get a reservation at the sit-down restaurant at dinner.  Last week the application showed less than 10 minutes at all restaurants and it was less than 10 minutes. This week the application still shows less than 10 minutes but it has been 20 – 30 minutes before a table is ready.

 

Social distancing is not present in the dining rooms, as many seats (especially tables of 2) have no more than 18 inches between tables.  In addition, a large number of tables are right next to server stations, so you have that congestion next to your table.

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lele100

lele100

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1 hour ago, gullgeorge said:

The suite waiting area in the terminal was being used by the suite passengers last week.  COVID testing for B2B is now being done on the ship.

 

Parked in the garage after last cancellation of a cruise on the B2B day, it saved us hours of waiting for a shuttle in the middle of the night.  When we arrived around 9:45, there was plenty of parking available on level 3 (most people stop on level 2).

 

Cabins are available at 1:30 for all guests.

 

B2B

Had COVID test at 8:15am in the Limelight Lounge (having specific times to reduce the congestion did not work) and then went to the Flamingo Dining Room at 8:45am to wait.  There about 150 -200 doing the back to back.  We were led out of the ship at 9:40am, walked through the facial scanners in the baggage claim area and then back on the ship.  Total time was about 2 hours depending on your test time.  No mention of test results and received an email from the lab at 12:00 with results.

While in the dining room you will receive your new room key and have your pictured taken.  In additional you will receive another envelope with a drink coupon for each person and a free picture next to the car outside of the Italian restaurant.  This picture must be taken between 6:30 and 10:00 that evening and you can pick up the picture the next day at Pixels.  Later that day sparkling wine and a bowl of fruit was delivered to the room.

 

Food (1st review)

Working on getting to all the free food restaurants and will report that tomorrow.  I strongly recommend the use of the Carnival Hub application to book you restaurants (it works like a call ahead reservation).  The application has all the menus, opening times of restaurants, daily schedule and lots of other information. Another recommendation is to book the fine dining restaurants as soon as possible since most of them only had very limited availability after the first day.

 

There are many more passengers on board this week.  This is evident from the time it is taking to get a reservation at the sit-down restaurant at dinner.  Last week the application showed less than 10 minutes at all restaurants and it was less than 10 minutes. This week the application still shows less than 10 minutes but it has been 20 – 30 minutes before a table is ready.

 

Social distancing is not present in the dining rooms, as many seats (especially tables of 2) have no more than 18 inches between tables.  In addition, a large number of tables are right next to server stations, so you have that congestion next to your table.

Great info Thank you

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gullgeorge

gullgeorge

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Food

There are many dinning venues to eat at on the Mari Gras High recommend using the Carnival Hub to keep track of the menus and times.  You can book reservations at high-end restaurants (do that in advance) and the other sit down restaurants use the “call ahead” reservations method.  The app will send you a notice when to proceed to the restaurant and provide your table number.  Show the hostess your confirmation and they will have somebody take you to the table.  As I mentioned before, the app has always said less than 10 minutes but the wait time in the past week has been up to 30 minutes.

I will not provide an opinion on the food since it is very subjective, but I can say that there was very little that I would not eat.  There are the typical hits and misses and some interesting interpretations but overall the food was consistent.

I did say before that many of the dining rooms have tables (especially tables for 2) within 18 inches, but I have now found many to be about 6 inches apart.

Below is a summary of the “free” restaurants by mealtime with some observations.  Mealtimes will vary depending on sea or port days and there is an occasion that a restaurant is not open for a particular mealtime.

 

Breakfast

Big Chicken – Open every morning with breakfast items and full menu.

Blueiguana Cantina – Open every morning with Burritos and Huevos rancheros.

Cucina del Capitano – (Sit-down) Open sea days and some late port days.  Uses the Palm breakfast (not brunch) menu. More relax environment than the Palm.

Guys Burger Joint – Was open a couple of days the first week (Western Caribbean) but has not been open for breakfast this week (Eastern Caribbean).  Was serving a hamburger with an egg.

Guy’s Pig and Anchor – (Buffet) Open most mornings and services about the same breakfast as the Lido Marketplace.  More relax environment that the Lido.

Lido Marketplace – (Buffet) Open every morning with standard breakfast buffet.

Palm – (Sit-down) – Standard breakfast menu on port days and brunch on sea days (open until about 1 for brunch).

 

Lunch

Big Chicken – Open every day for lunch until mid to late afternoon.

Blueiguana Cantina – Open every day for lunch until mid-afternoon.

Chibang – (Sit-down) Open on most sea days using a specific lunch menu for a couple of hours.

Cucina del Capitano – (Sit-down) Open on most sea days using a specific lunch menu for a couple of hours.

Guys Burger Joint – Open every day for lunch until mid-afternoon or early evening.

Guy’s Pig and Anchor – (Buffet) Open most sea days and at Port Canaveral and uses a specific lunch menu until mid-afternoon.  You need to go outside to get your food.

Lido Marketplace – (Buffet) Open every day for lunch until mid-afternoon.

Palm – (Sit-down) – Only open on sea days for brunch until about 1pm.

 

Dinner

Chibang – (Sit-down) Open on most evenings with a dinner menu.  Gets very crowed and noisy after 6pm.

Cucina del Capitano – (Sit-down) Open on most evenings with a dinner menu.

Guy’s Pig and Anchor – (Sit-down) Open most evenings with a "fill-out" form dinner menu.  Has live entertainment and can get very noisy later in the evening.

Lido Marketplace – (Buffet) Open every day for dinner.

Palm – (Sit-down) – Only open every night for dinner.  Avoid table 699.

Next debarkation and general observation.

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Colorado Beach Bum

Colorado Beach Bum

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2 hours ago, gullgeorge said:

Food

There are many dinning venues to eat at on the Mari Gras High recommend using the Carnival Hub to keep track of the menus and times.  You can book reservations at high-end restaurants (do that in advance) and the other sit down restaurants use the “call ahead” reservations method.  The app will send you a notice when to proceed to the restaurant and provide your table number.  Show the hostess your confirmation and they will have somebody take you to the table.  As I mentioned before, the app has always said less than 10 minutes but the wait time in the past week has been up to 30 minutes.

I will not provide an opinion on the food since it is very subjective, but I can say that there was very little that I would not eat.  There are the typical hits and misses and some interesting interpretations but overall the food was consistent.

I did say before that many of the dining rooms have tables (especially tables for 2) within 18 inches, but I have now found many to be about 6 inches apart.

Below is a summary of the “free” restaurants by mealtime with some observations.  Mealtimes will vary depending on sea or port days and there is an occasion that a restaurant is not open for a particular mealtime.

 

Breakfast

Big Chicken – Open every morning with breakfast items and full menu.

Blueiguana Cantina – Open every morning with Burritos and Huevos rancheros.

Cucina del Capitano – (Sit-down) Open sea days and some late port days.  Uses the Palm breakfast (not brunch) menu. More relax environment than the Palm.

Guys Burger Joint – Was open a couple of days the first week (Western Caribbean) but has not been open for breakfast this week (Eastern Caribbean).  Was serving a hamburger with an egg.

Guy’s Pig and Anchor – (Buffet) Open most mornings and services about the same breakfast as the Lido Marketplace.  More relax environment that the Lido.

Lido Marketplace – (Buffet) Open every morning with standard breakfast buffet.

Palm – (Sit-down) – Standard breakfast menu on port days and brunch on sea days (open until about 1 for brunch).

 

Lunch

Big Chicken – Open every day for lunch until mid to late afternoon.

Blueiguana Cantina – Open every day for lunch until mid-afternoon.

Chibang – (Sit-down) Open on most sea days using a specific lunch menu for a couple of hours.

Cucina del Capitano – (Sit-down) Open on most sea days using a specific lunch menu for a couple of hours.

Guys Burger Joint – Open every day for lunch until mid-afternoon or early evening.

Guy’s Pig and Anchor – (Buffet) Open most sea days and at Port Canaveral and uses a specific lunch menu until mid-afternoon.  You need to go outside to get your food.

Lido Marketplace – (Buffet) Open every day for lunch until mid-afternoon.

Palm – (Sit-down) – Only open on sea days for brunch until about 1pm.

 

Dinner

Chibang – (Sit-down) Open on most evenings with a dinner menu.  Gets very crowed and noisy after 6pm.

Cucina del Capitano – (Sit-down) Open on most evenings with a dinner menu.

Guy’s Pig and Anchor – (Sit-down) Open most evenings with a "fill-out" form dinner menu.  Has live entertainment and can get very noisy later in the evening.

Lido Marketplace – (Buffet) Open every day for dinner.

Palm – (Sit-down) – Only open every night for dinner.  Avoid table 699.

Next debarkation and general observation.

Great recap.  We were on Mardi Gras last month and missed a few of the breakfast/lunch places you highlighted.

 

There are also free breakfast/lunch items at Java Blue.

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Tom-n-Cheryl "Live from...." Rare

Tom-n-Cheryl

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It's not only on Carnival, or just at sea, but I find the two top tables VERY undesirable. They are so close together that you might as well be at a single larger table with your neighbors.

 

Cruise lines realize that a fair number of people don't care to dine with others - as was customary in the past - so they reduce the number of larger tables and throw in a bunch of tables for two - one.right.next.to.another.

 

Call me antisocial, but if I wanted to sit next to strangers and (practically) feel compelled to make small talk, I'd ask for a group table. When I'm enjoying a meal with Cheryl, I prefer for her to be my only focus of conversation.

 

Tom

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gullgeorge

gullgeorge

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Food #3

Forgot two other "free" restaurants for lunch:

 

Street Eats - Open during sea days and may be open on some port days later in the afternoon.  On sea days the time varies and has been open late in the afternoon.

 

Fresh Creations - Open on sea days and located in the Serenity area.

 

Also Tea Time is usually the last day at sea in the Flamingo restaurant at 3pm.

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Pellaz

Pellaz

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On 9/29/2021 at 4:00 PM, gullgeorge said:

Food

 

[....]

Lunch

Chibang – (Sit-down) Open on most sea days using a specific lunch menu for a couple of hours.

Cucina del Capitano – (Sit-down) Open on most sea days using a specific lunch menu for a couple of hours.

 

For lunch, isn't Chibang doing the stir-fry (similar to Mongolian Wok) or a burrito bowl, and the Cucina doing the pasta bar?    

 

I think you forgot Piazza Panini, which is similar to the Carnival Deli but inexplicably closes at 10pm and not 11pm like on every other ship in the fleet.   Not sure if they have breakfast options, though.  (There are so many other breakfast options that it's not a big deal.)

 

Also, I thought Big Chicken was also open during dinner hours?   The menu states "breakfast served all day," too.  

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itp

itp

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On 9/30/2021 at 7:50 AM, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

It's not only on Carnival, or just at sea, but I find the two top tables VERY undesirable. They are so close together that you might as well be at a single larger table with your neighbors.

 

Cruise lines realize that a fair number of people don't care to dine with others - as was customary in the past - so they reduce the number of larger tables and throw in a bunch of tables for two - one.right.next.to.another.

 

Call me antisocial, but if I wanted to sit next to strangers and (practically) feel compelled to make small talk, I'd ask for a group table. When I'm enjoying a meal with Cheryl, I prefer for her to be my only focus of conversation.

 

Tom

We found the 2 tops on Mardi Gras ridiculously close together, have never seen them that close on any other ship on Carnival or the many other lines we have been on, seemed really crazy to put people that close with Covid precautions in place.  We learned to ask for a table for 4 every time we went to the dining room, luckily not a problem since the times we went were not super busy.

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