Mardi Gras Back to Back February 5-19 2022....The Good, The Bad & The Ugly.

[KmomChicago]

22 minutes ago, mondello said:

That makes sense. It seemed they were moving CDs around quite a bit.

On Legend Leigh Xuereb said they lost some CDs during the shutdown and are still dealing with that. He came from RCI and it sounds like he’s winding down as well. Seems like a fun if challenging life for a while but eventually the schedule and virtual impossibility of maintaining a home sends them off into other branches of hospitality or other industries.

[ZoeyVictoria]

We were on the February 5 cruise and experienced one of the “uglies”.  On the first night, there was a man dining in the Pig & Anchor while vaping.  He was sitting at a table along the divider wall, facing me (and watching me watching him).  A bright green light on the device initially caught my attention.  He cupped his hand over the light after that puff.  The worst part is when he pulled his Cleveland Browns shirt over his mouth to exhale into the shirt.

[SNJCruisers]

3 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

 

I can't say for sure but my understanding was that Chris is permanently on MG which means that when he's not on it, he's at home with his wife and baby. 

 

The plan was apparently for him to switch out with Mike Pack, but Mike has decided to retire from this whole business, also due to a recent baby and desire for a settled home life. 

Mike Pack got promoted to a dual position with another yet to be named person in a newly created position as head CD.  The two of them will be above the individual CD's in the fleet and report to JH.

 

Chris told me he'll be on the MG for a few months and then take his vacation break.  He'll be returning to the MG in July.

[KmomChicago]

11 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

Mike Pack got promoted to a dual position with another yet to be named person in a newly created position as head CD.  The two of them will be above the individual CD's in the fleet and report to JH.

 

Chris told me he'll be on the MG for a few months and then take his vacation break.  He'll be returning to the MG in July.

Okay makes sense. I assumed Pack retiring as a CD meant leaving Carnival entirely so it’s wonderful he got this better gig. Chris’ comments track with the schedule mentioned previously for Lee Mason to cover.

[Knights on the Beach]

We'll be on MG on 3/12 and from what we're hearing, Chris will still be our cruise director that week but Lee (who is on the ship now) will take over the following week. 

[BennyBrun]

Great review!  I am glad that you liked the Mardi Gras and will be back!  It is a great ship with lots of entertainment and self serve food options!  Please do a review on the Oasis and let me know what you think.  The Excel class is supposed to compete directly with Royal’s Oasis class ships and with each trying to out do the other, we should have lots to look forward to!

[Saint Greg]

Thanks for the review! I think sea dogs is hidden gem. I loved trying something different there each day. I haven’t seen many people mentioning it in their reviews though.

 

 

Edited February 26, 2022 by Saint Greg

[cruiserbrianj]

On 2/24/2022 at 6:23 PM, SNJCruisers said:

The UGLY.....

Sounds like the "ugly" wasn't ship specific and more or less the ugly that can appear on any ship.  Thanks for the review and tips....we're trying to learn as much as we can about the ship before we sail on her in April.

[SNJCruisers]

18 hours ago, BennyBrun said:

Great review!  I am glad that you liked the Mardi Gras and will be back!  It is a great ship with lots of entertainment and self serve food options!  Please do a review on the Oasis and let me know what you think.  The Excel class is supposed to compete directly with Royal’s Oasis class ships and with each trying to out do the other, we should have lots to look forward to!

Just to give you a heads up Benny.  Just booked B2B 9 day cruises on the Beyond for November of 2023.  They each go to Grand Cayman, Aruba and Curacao.  One also goes to Bonaire and the other to Falmouth.  Substantially a better value  money wise than the 10 and 11 day cruises that follow through April of 2024.

[SNJCruisers]

10 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

Thanks for the review! I think sea dogs is hidden gem. I loved trying something different there each day. I haven’t seen many people mentioning it in their reviews though.

 

 

Unless you know about it, it's easy to just walk by.  The pretzel dog and  stoneground mustard were nice touches.  I will be visiting more than twice over our B2B over Labor Day.

[SNJCruisers]

9 hours ago, cruiserbrianj said:

Sounds like the "ugly" wasn't ship specific and more or less the ugly that can appear on any ship.  Thanks for the review and tips....we're trying to learn as much as we can about the ship before we sail on her in April.

Great pick up.  Didn't really think there was anything really ugly about the ship.  I am still kicking myself for procrastinating regarding the beignets.  Won't happen in August when we return.  

[BennyBrun]

5 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

Just to give you a heads up Benny.  Just booked B2B 9 day cruises on the Beyond for November of 2023.  They each go to Grand Cayman, Aruba and Curacao.  One also goes to Bonaire and the other to Falmouth.  Substantially a better value  money wise than the 10 and 11 day cruises that follow through April of 2024.

That is good to know as I am looking at beyond for the 2023 season.  Might get another chance to say hello!!  I am going to miss your Celebration cruise, since I am booked on that for the Christmas holiday cruise 2022 and then in January 2023.

[SNJCruisers]

1 minute ago, BennyBrun said:

That is good to know as I am looking at beyond for the 2023 season.  Might get another chance to say hello!!  I am going to miss your Celebration cruise, since I am booked on that for the Christmas holiday cruise 2022 and then in January 2023.

Which date in January of 2023?  We're on the special 5 day on January 3.

[firefly333]

I was shocked to read 5203 onboard .. I guess its mardi gras. Vista is sold out. Last I read even bre had 3400 on it. They really ramped up capacity fast. I was thinking of jumping on vista for the sailabration but decided not to take the chance so close to liberty.

 

I'm driving myself crazy trying to pick between a couple of choices to Panama while I'm in miami next spring. MSC divina goes there and fits my dates. So does rcl vision. I'm tempted to try msc. Its 14 days .. a long time if I hate the food. I'm not a fan of Italian but like the ports.

 

Have you done msc? MSC divina leaves feb 24 and goes to panama and costa rica etc. I'm driving myself crazy trying to decide about trying msc since I dont eat italian food. 

 

I'm waiting for jubilee to hit Galveston to book it. Lol. Glad you mostly liked mardi gras. I'm sure I'll get around to it. After this years run to 340 rcl pts my cruising schedule is wide open to try whatever. Back to more variety. Mostly I just like to cruise .. it's a addiction I think. Thanks for your review.

[SNJCruisers]

33 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I was shocked to read 5203 onboard .. I guess its mardi gras. Vista is sold out. Last I read even bre had 3400 on it. They really ramped up capacity fast. I was thinking of jumping on vista for the sailabration but decided not to take the chance so close to liberty.

 

I'm driving myself crazy trying to pick between a couple of choices to Panama while I'm in miami next spring. MSC divina goes there and fits my dates. So does rcl vision. I'm tempted to try msc. Its 14 days .. a long time if I hate the food. I'm not a fan of Italian but like the ports.

 

Have you done msc? MSC divina leaves feb 24 and goes to panama and costa rica etc. I'm driving myself crazy trying to decide about trying msc since I dont eat italian food. 

 

I'm waiting for jubilee to hit Galveston to book it. Lol. Glad you mostly liked mardi gras. I'm sure I'll get around to it. After this years run to 340 rcl pts my cruising schedule is wide open to try whatever. Back to more variety. Mostly I just like to cruise .. it's a addiction I think. Thanks for your review.

Did MSC once.  On the Seaside when she first came out in January of 2018.  Stayed in an inside cabin in the Yacht Club.  The food was ok, but we had our own dining area if not the MDR.  The entertainment was very European skewed.  With the increase in pricing with Yacht Club, I doubt we would go back, but if the right deal came along I would consider it.  

At this point we have 7 more cruises for this year, which would bring us to 77 nights and 11 cruises and when I get done booking next year, it'll be 11 more cruises and 79 nights.  Just waiting for more 2024 options to open up.  We have bookings on the newest ships from Carnival (Celebration x3), Princess (Discovery x2), NCL (Prima x3) and Celebrity (Beyond x2) booked.

[KmomChicago]

11 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

Unless you know about it, it's easy to just walk by.  The pretzel dog and  stoneground mustard were nice touches.  I will be visiting more than twice over our B2B over Labor Day.

 

We missed Sea Dogs entirely - in fact I am sure we did walk right past it a couple of times without even noticing, ah, the perils of having the dumb luck to be on the 2nd sailing, which was not planned at all. We also missed out on Emeril's though it was on my loose plan all along - just didn't quite manage to get to it.

As your review shows, most of us are missing certain things or not necessarily mentioning everything about the ship in our own reviews - there is just so much going on, so much potential detail to experience and discuss. You've managed to find topics that have not been covered already by others. Thank you!  

I would say that Mardi Gras and Oasis are the only 2 ships we have sailed where the 7 nights was not long enough to fully enjoy the floating resort and I can see why your up and comers are all on the newer /newest mega ships.  As we have neither time nor funds to take so many voyages I will be looking forward to vicariously experiencing them through your wise eyes.

[peteandpris]

Great review thank you. My turn is coming in Nov.

[jerseyjjs]

I was going to pull the trigger on Mardi Gras but the very low Space to Passenger Ratio scores and multiple reviews of the public spaces running out of room quickly chased me away.  From what I've seen, the Mardi Gras almost holds as many passengers as the RCL Oasis class but is about 50,000 gross tonnes lighter.   Did you find overcrowding to be prevalent?

[firefly333]

6 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

Did MSC once.  On the Seaside when she first came out in January of 2018.  Stayed in an inside cabin in the Yacht Club.  The food was ok, but we had our own dining area if not the MDR.  The entertainment was very European skewed.  With the increase in pricing with Yacht Club, I doubt we would go back, but if the right deal came along I would consider it.  

At this point we have 7 more cruises for this year, which would bring us to 77 nights and 11 cruises and when I get done booking next year, it'll be 11 more cruises and 79 nights.  Just waiting for more 2024 options to open up.  We have bookings on the newest ships from Carnival (Celebration x3), Princess (Discovery x2), NCL (Prima x3) and Celebrity (Beyond x2) booked.

I know you love the newest ships.

 

I'm wanting partial Panama and the ports and they are on older ships. But it's the last cruise I havent yet seen those ports. Vision ots has the best partial. 

 

Harmony is coming out next week for 2024 out of Galveston.. so i should probably add some more allure before it leaves texas. And prima ..and jubilee. Gotta figure out partial Panama first. Thanks for your msc thoughts. Every poster says yacht club only when I ask about the food. I'm so confused which to pick. Vision is older but has the best ports. Fewer days for more $$$.

 

Thanks again for this review. I should decide on 2023 as prices are apt to go up with inflation. Cant make up my mind. Glad you enjoyed it. Wish carnival wasnt at such a high capacity. Was nice lower to me.

[Joebucks]

Pretty jealous. 2 weeks on the Mardi Gras sounds pretty good right now!

 

That amount of comedy shows is mind-blowing. It is a huge disappointment that the venues continue to be so small. However, if comedy is almost always going on, maybe that is a better solve. I can't imagine wanting to go to more than a quarter of the shows.

[BennyBrun]

12 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

Which date in January of 2023?  We're on the special 5 day on January 3.

Ohhhh… just as you disembark we will be embarking on 1/8.  Need a little break in between from the 12/19 Christmas cruise.

[shiner6]

On 2/24/2022 at 8:14 PM, cruisemom2 said:

We don't go to the Pier too often - we usually frequent Grills at the Port or Sandbar but for a fun neighborhood bar, check out Ellie Mae's Tiki Bar on Jackson.  That's my favorite.

 

 

I second this---the pier is far too touristy and pricey, even though it has a great view!   Grills and sandbar have great prices, ambiance and staff.

[SNJCruisers]

8 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

 

I would say that Mardi Gras and Oasis are the only 2 ships we have sailed where the 7 nights was not long enough to fully enjoy the floating resort and I can see why your up and comers are all on the newer /newest mega ships.  

We have 7 B2B's booked including our first time on the Oasis for 12 days in June and a bucket list cruise for 14 days on the Majestic Princess to Alaska for May/June of 2023.  Covid forced me into early retirement and the game plan is to try to get away every other month.  

We're already looking forward to our next B2B on the Mardi Gras as well as our 5 day appetizer sailing on the Celebration in January before we do a B2B on her in September of 2023.

[SNJCruisers]

5 hours ago, jerseyjjs said:

I was going to pull the trigger on Mardi Gras but the very low Space to Passenger Ratio scores and multiple reviews of the public spaces running out of room quickly chased me away.  From what I've seen, the Mardi Gras almost holds as many passengers as the RCL Oasis class but is about 50,000 gross tonnes lighter.   Did you find overcrowding to be prevalent?

Yes and no.  The two sailings I was on had just under 5000 and about 5000 people.   The main Lido pools were packed just like every other Carnival ship to but there were other options on deck 8 at summer landing as well as up at Serenity.  The Serenity was about 3-4 times the size compared to the other ships in the fleet.  

Having cucina, chibang and p&a included for dinner was a great option to spread out the crowds and on lobster tail night they even opened up the MDR a half hour early at 500 to help with the volume.

I did my research ahead of time and realized that this ship was going to be a game changer for Carnival and I would go into it with a go with the flow attitude.  You sometimes need to prioritize what you want to do since there is so much going on and you sometimes need to be flexible with your choices if there are no seats available at a particular bar you wish to imbibe at.  If you go into it with a flexible mind, you'll have a great time.

[SNJCruisers]

3 hours ago, Joebucks said:

Pretty jealous. 2 weeks on the Mardi Gras sounds pretty good right now!

 

That amount of comedy shows is mind-blowing. It is a huge disappointment that the venues continue to be so small. However, if comedy is almost always going on, maybe that is a better solve. I can't imagine wanting to go to more than a quarter of the shows.

There are six different comedians and they do at least 2 PG and 1 R rated show by themselves as well as a different  R rated show in the theater with another comedian. So that adds up to 18 different individual shows and 3 shared theater shows. Every show we saw at Punchliner was at capacity.  Every night the Piano Bar was at capacity at sometime.  If we saw an 1100 comedy show, we would sometimes then go right into the Piano Bar for the last hour or so of Eden's set.