Mardi Gras 10/09 - 10/16 -- lots of good, some bad, and some of the quirky

[Pellaz]

My friends Kathy and John (married couple from Kentucky) were on this sailing with me (from Georgia), and we had 4 other cruise-friends from Virginia joining us.

We three had an aft-extended balcony, two of our VA friends booked an aft Excel wraparound balcony and the two others were in the balcony cabin adjacent to theirs.    Overall, we were pleased with the ship, but there are some quibbles we had that Carnival could fix pretty quickly.  

 

I'll discuss the ship first since that's what everyone REALLY wants to read 🙂 ,  and then the other boring aspects of our drive down through flooded side-roads.

 

Embarkation:  was very fast.  We had an 11:30 arrival time.  We arrived at around 11:10 and were held at the terminal entrance for ten minutes but were allowed in ten minutes before our scheduled arrival time because the lines inside were short.  After a short delay in line we headed to the round tables for document check, got the green check-mark on our boarding passes and then through security quickly and we were on the gangway within minutes!

 

Food:  

• so many food options and so many free/included options....
• ...BUT every eatery closes at 10pm except upcharge sushi (at 11 pm), pizza and upcharge room-service.  Pretty embarrassing for Carnival's food-heavy flagship!   This is my biggest single complaint about Mardi Gras.  After the late-night shows let out at 11 or 12, the line at the Pizzeria got VERY long.  Carnival should keep the Piazza Panini (i.e., the deli) location open until 11 pm, like on EVERY OTHER ship in the fleet, and open up Late Night Snacks on Lido, as on EVERY OTHER SHIP in the fleet per the Carnival website's guide to food.  
• High points for food for me:  Chibang stir-fry at lunch; Big Chicken (fried and grilled); pleasant surprise:  Street Eats -- the bulgogi beef was great! 
• Disappointment:  Guy's Smokehouse for dinner.  Our group had mis-plated orders, and ribs so carbonized the maitre'd took a photo of them to shame the chef.   😮    You also want to bring earplugs with you.  Nothing says "nice pleasant dinner" like a band blaring horns in your face....not.
• unlike other ships, Cucina and Chibang (nee Jiji's Asian Kitchen) are NOT open for lunch on embark days and are open only on sea days; we've loved the lunch stir-fry and lunch pasta bar at those eateries on past cruises
• They really need a windbreak at Fresh Creations -- salads were great but at times the winds tossed lettuce back and into the Serenity pool!  

 

Stateroom 10501:  

• Drawers and closet doors in room are soft-closing -- no more slamming!
• Storage was adequate for us three people in one cabin.  The drop-shelves in the closets and the retracting shoe rack are nice touches.
• Balcony door is a sliding door, really awesome.  When you latch the door (handles up), it seals in place and is well sound-proofed
• Shower door is also awesome.  I love the way it's hinged and rotates outward but not in the way.  
• There are lots of outlets and USB plugs in room, BUT no AC outlets near the beds; CPAP users take note 
• The entry doors to the staterooms appear to be too narrow to allow some scooters in that would ordinarily fit.  There were a LOT of scooters parked out in the hallways and this might come down to how the doors are hinged.
• It appears that regular deck loungers were added to the aft-extended balconies at some point after the initial sailing.  Ours had one and all the aft-extended balconies we could see had one.  Blue loungers as from the open decks, not matching the beige color of the chairs on the balcony.  

The ship and some quirks:

• Pools are chlorine, NOT saltwater as on most ships
• Love the number of pools and hot-tubs; basically there are three nice pools for everyone and one additional pool for adults only.
• The Serenity area was awesome!....but very windy when we were underway with headwinds or crosswinds.  They NEED to provide the bartenders with paperweights or clipboards for drink receipts, which would easily fly off into the wind.  Same story for the Watering Hole Bar.  
• Wi-fi worked well, chat app worked for us also -- a pleasant surprise.  I had the Value plan and the only restriction seemed to be that videos were slow to load...which was fine because that is not promised as part of the Value plan.   Wi-Fi calling was not available, unlike on Royal where their wi-fi allows you to make or receive wi-fi phone calls if your phone is so equipped.
• Mask compliance by guests was good indoors, 90+%.   Outdoors...well, they weren't required outdoors and I was fine with that.   On the occasions where I forgot my mask in the room, I didn't get any unpleasant feedback from masked guests; I just returned to the room to get one or asked for one at the MDR entrance.  
• With the exception of one solo singer-guitarist the musical entertainment was quite good to excellent
• Bolt coaster was awesome and it IS two laps, but I got stuck 😮 and I was offered a second ride for free afterwards.  The really cool guy working there said it happens 1-3 times per sailing.  I thought it was worth $15...especially if you have a lot of OBC.   (For the curious, I think it was a track-block issue; I was stopped abruptly on the final turn before the station.)  
• The left-side railings for the Bolt coaster stairway are unique:  They have serrated "teeth" underneath...just like the Bolt track 🙂  
• The carpet design by Alchemy Bar has the chemical symbol for ethanol 🙂   

 

If you have any questions about the ship, please ask.  I was also able to experience our friends' aft Excel wraparound suite -- yes, with the jacuzzi 🙂 -- so I can answer questions about that also.  

Some photos and trip commentary will be forthcoming.  

[K_e_short]

Thank you for posting this. I am booked for December 26th in a balcony on Deck 16.

 

I do have two questions:

 

1 - how easy and how long does it take to get from the beach pool on deck 16 to the waterslides on deck 18?

2 - how loud was the beach pool, both during the day and at night.

 

Thank you. Can't wait to see pics 🙂

[ninjacat123]

Great review!  I concur about the solo guitarist, good guitar playing and singing not so much.  Did you have dinner in MDR?  We both thought the food was meh and we usually are happy with most of our MDR choices pre-Covid.  Big Chicken was a big hit!  So yummy!

Looking forward to your pics and trip commentary!

[Pellaz]

5 minutes ago, K_e_short said:

Thank you for posting this. I am booked for December 26th in a balcony on Deck 16.

 

I do have two questions:

 

1 - how easy and how long does it take to get from the beach pool on deck 16 to the waterslides on deck 18?

2 - how loud was the beach pool, both during the day and at night.

 

Thank you. Can't wait to see pics 🙂

 

It would take an average person about two minutes to climb the stairs (or take the midships elevator to Deck 17 and climb fewer stairs) from the Beach pool up to the water slides.  

 

I forgot to mention that the water slides were awesome, but the orange capsule-drop slide wasn't working when I went up there.  I flipped over on the mat slide on the first turn.  🙂   

 

The beach pool was "averagely" loud.  Loud during deck parties and activities, and during loud portions of Dive-In movies, but otherwise it wasn't too bad.  A general buzz, I suppose.  

 

[Pellaz]

4 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

Great review!  I concur about the solo guitarist, good guitar playing and singing not so much.  Did you have dinner in MDR?  We both thought the food was meh and we usually are happy with most of our MDR choices pre-Covid.  Big Chicken was a big hit!  So yummy!

Looking forward to your pics and trip commentary!

 

One of the solo guitarists was good; the other sounded like average karaoke.  

 

Yes, we had YTD in the MDR (Palm, upper deck) on all nights but two and we thought the food was fine; about even with pre-COVID offerings.  We established a rapport with our service crew (Anak, Ayu and Ni Putu) on the third night and requested them every night thereafter as they were excellent.  I recommend them.  

 

 

[ninjacat123]

1 minute ago, Pellaz said:

 

One of the solo guitarists was good; the other sounded like average karaoke.  

 

Yes, we had YTD in the MDR (Palm, upper deck) on all nights but two and we thought the food was fine; about even with pre-COVID offerings.  We established a rapport with our service crew (Anak, Ayu and Ni Putu) on the third night and requested them every night thereafter as they were excellent.  I recommend them.  

 

 

Yes I was happy with our MDR staff, Dean, Loving and Samiatra. Very nice people who did a wonderful job!

[Pellaz]

[Pellaz]

After the power failed shipwide for about 4 minutes, I took that last photo a few seconds after the engines (azipods) were restarted. 😮    We were still making headway but you can see where the cavitation from the props started up again.  

 

The top photo was taken from the loading platform while I was stuck on the Bolt.  

[Pellaz]

[Pellaz]

I really love "Towel Menagerie Morning" on Carnival.  These critters were all placed on the morning of our last cruise-day when we were arriving at Nassau.  

I don't think any other cruise line does this; another reason why I like the "Fun" side of Carnival.  

[Pellaz]

They had some of the MDR serving crew singing as part of "Ssssssssshowtime!"  -- first two photos are of one young lady who sounded better than that one lousy guitar soloist.  🙂   

 

I included one day's worth of options at Street Eats.  As I mentioned earlier, I was pleasantly surprised by their offerings on a few of the days (they change daily).   

 

 

[stellarose]

ok. we are on 17. I want a nice quiet -ish to chill by a pool with a lounger. no loud music but a cool vibe. serenity? summer landing?  we have spa room - so cool new for me. 

 

best breakfast?

best bar?

did you try coffee shop free food?

 

hmm. more questions to come. 

 

thanks. 

[Pellaz]

Some ship-stuff:  

 

The first photo shows a Port Canaveral fire-suppression vessel (see the water nozzles on the front?) that was stationed aft of Mardi Gras during LNG fueling.  It's a bit different than regular bunker fueling; please DON'T smoke on the outside decks.  

 

Second photo is the refuelling vessel itself; it had just blown its whistle and they made the "all-clear" announcement for the upper decks.  

 

Third and fourth photos show the Elation departing on her test cruise.  Bon voyage!

 

Fifth photo shows a casino boat returning before we left, and the sixth photo shows the Independence of the Seas, which has been my home for the 70,000 Tons of Metal cruise six times, now redeployed to P.C. from Port Everglades.  

Edited October 18, 2021 by Pellaz
added missing word

[Pellaz]

21 minutes ago, stellarose said:

ok. we are on 17. I want a nice quiet -ish to chill by a pool with a lounger. no loud music but a cool vibe. serenity? summer landing?  we have spa room - so cool new for me. 

 

best breakfast?

best bar?

did you try coffee shop free food?

 

hmm. more questions to come. 

 

thanks. 

Then I'd say Summer Landing or Serenity -- but note that the Serenity pool area was less than "serene" at times during our particular sailing due to some boisterous patrons in the area. 

 

Best breakfast:  Sea-Day Brunch...but that's cheating.  🙂   

My friends liked the breakfast buffet offerings at Guy's Smokehouse.  I had no problem with breakfast (and made-to-order omelettes) on Lido a couple of times during the cruise.  The Big Chicken breakfast sandwich was good.  

 

Best bar:  we liked Tides bar (16 Aft) because it was seldom crowded.  I also liked Cornelius, the bartender at the Serenity Bar, and we also used the Watering Hole a few times.  

 

I never got a chance to try the freebies at JavaBlue but I did get a really good reuben at Piazza Panini.  I ate half then and saved the other half for The Dark Times.....i.e., after 10 pm when everything is closed except pizza and upcharge room-service.  And Swirls.  

Edited October 18, 2021 by Pellaz
added breakfast reviews

[Pellaz]

Here's a video of the NASA "Lucy" probe launch, taken from Deck 8, Summer's Landing aft at around 5:34 am on the 16th.   

We were just entering the port channel and blocking the public's view from Jetty Park...oops.  🙂  

 

We had to make fast time between Nassau and Port Canaveral because the launch would have had to be delayed if we'd still been out at sea and within the down-range safety zone for the launch.  We were clocking almost 22 knots and the ship was shimmying like a car with bad front alignment.  🙂  

Still, this was a nice bonus for the end of the cruise.  

[ninjacat123]

8 minutes ago, Pellaz said:

Here's a video of the NASA "Lucy" probe launch, taken from Deck 8, Summer's Landing aft at around 5:34 am on the 16th.   

We were just entering the port channel and blocking the public's view from Jetty Park...oops.  🙂  

 

We had to make fast time between Nassau and Port Canaveral because the launch would have had to be delayed if we'd still been out at sea and within the down-range safety zone for the launch.  We were clocking almost 22 knots and the ship was shimmying like a car with bad front alignment.  🙂  

Still, this was a nice bonus for the end of the cruise.  

Awesome!!

[Pellaz]

Here are some photos from Amber Cove.  I just got off the ship and went to the pool area for a while.  The "amber statue" (probably not real amber) is tucked inside a small pathway past the excursion kiosks.  The Nathan's Famous snack-cart (is that new?) is over by the kids' slides in the pool area.  Prices were surprisingly good, so it's a viable option if you want to grab something and avoid the hurly-burly of the main pool restaurant.  I got the cheese fries and a Diet Coke for US$7 and a buck tip, paid in cash.  

[ninjacat123]

So the prices listed at Nathans are in DR money?

[Pellaz]

Our first stop after two consecutive sea-days was at San Juan and since we'd only partially explored El Morro the last time (we spent a lot more time at El Cristobal), we decided to only go there.  We took a taxi there and back -- although it IS walkable, my friend John's knee was really starting to hurt by this point -- and here are just a few of the 40+ photos I took there.  This was the first time we'd ever made it down to Level 2 or Level 3.  We never found a way to get down to Level 1 but we saw people walking on that path.  <shrug>  

That's John and Kathy by the sign, and John and me inside the garita.  

You can also see Ye Olde Purple Plastic Chairs by one of the casemate windows.  I'm guessing they were NOT period furniture, but they were most welcome for us to sit on.   😄  

 

[Pellaz]

8 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

So the prices listed at Nathans are in DR money?

 

Nope, US dollars.  

 

Also, the soda is served as a can, but they give you a cup of ice for it "on the rocks."  

Edited October 18, 2021 by Pellaz
added soda can info

[Pellaz]

Here are some pics from Nassau, our last port-stop.    The port is under heavy construction, as you can see.  There is no longer an annoying straw-market to (almost literally) fight through, which is a major plus.  On the downside, the water taxis that used to take you to Atlantis are gone.  

Some of our group bought day-passes to Atlantis Aquaventure and I went along as their paid guide, since I visit there every November (except 2020, natch).  Our port time (7 am arrival, 2:30 back on board) made this a very quick visit indeed, but with my help we were able to ride all the slides that were open in a little over two hours, which is pretty good.   (For a wonder, all of the slides on the Power Tower were open. 😮 )   Lines were short until 1 pm, which was fine since we left at 1:30 to head back to the ship.

I got a couple of pics of some nice geodes (?) I saw in the Dig (aquarium) that I didn't remember from before.   We explored the Dig between 8 and 9 am since it's open 24 hours, then we went to the excursion desk in the Royal Towers lobby, which didn't open until 9 am, and then we went over to Aquaventure.  Note that the Predators Lagoon tunnel is closed for a while 😞 , and lockers are NOT available at Aquaventure, which was almost a deal-killer for some of us.  (In my experience your stuff is safe if you place it on a lounger there and exercise reasonable caution not to have valuables visible.)   

The two ships in port with us were Allure of the Seas and the comparatively tiny MSC Divina.  The Allure, of course, dwarfed US a bit.  🙂    

[Pellaz]

Here are some general photos of San Juan.  The ship next to us is Norwegian Sky, NCL's "all open bar" ship, doing her COVID test cruise with almost no-one on board.   That's John and then me posing with the ship.  (My shirt says "Ensiferum" if you're really curious; they're a Finnish folk-metal band.)  

 

There was a large cruise ship docked at a commercial pier over to the west of the cruise terminals, but I never found out which ship it was or why it was there.  

 

Also included is a photo of the small airfield located near the port.  While ships are approaching or leaving the dock, prop planes can fly over the ship and land there, but faster planes have to wave off and wait.  

Then a photo of U.S. Coast Guard Station San Juan, some departing photos of El Morro ("we went THERE, and THERE, and over THERE") and a San Juan pilot boat returning.  

 

 

[Pellaz]

Here are some more photos of me on the Bolt; I'm posting these on the "well, heck, I PAID for all of these!" principle.   🙂   

Also note the two railings on the left side of the stairway up to Bolt...and their serrated gear "teeth."   A nifty and unique touch.   Sorry the railing photos are upside-down; I've tried three times to invert them.  

[nimiq]

Question 1  : Would you sail her again once those free dinning options become for charge ? 
 

Question 2:  How was the food in the MDR ? 
 

Question 3 : What did you think about the main production shows ? 
 

last Question 4 : Is there a dance club on this ship ? Seems like no one has mentioned it.

 

Thanks in advance 

 

Sea Ya 

Eric 

[IntrepidFromDC]

1 hour ago, Pellaz said:

Here are some more photos of me on the Bolt; I'm posting these on the "well, heck, I PAID for all of these!" principle.   🙂   

Also note the two railings on the left side of the stairway up to Bolt...and their serrated gear "teeth."   A nifty and unique touch.   Sorry the railing photos are upside-down; I've tried three times to invert them.  

Awesome! Best pics I've seen of Bolt!  If Meatloaf and Riff Raff had a child...