LIVE 4/2 Mardi Gras--Another lemonade from lemons cruise

[rxlowry]

Welcome to my live reports from the Mardi Gras!  This should have been a live from NCL Escape but that cruise was cancelled due to the sandbar incident she had about three weeks ago.  It has been a pretty stress filled three weeks wondering if this cruise would happen especially since we were surprising our friends who booked this cruise way earlier than us.  We decided to book it after coming home from our last lemonade cruise on the NCL Joy in February.  That cruise was supposed to have been a cruise on the Crystal Symphony but the company went bankrupt, ships arrested and our cruise (plus the one in October) cancelled.  With just two weeks, we booked the NCL Joy and tried the Haven (feel free to visit my blog if your have interest in that trip or others.....alpacamybagsblog dot com) and we had a great cruise.  We thought it would be fun to surprise our friends on this cruise so we booked it without telling them.  We had all kinds of fun plans to surprise them on board but after the sandbar incident and subsequent cancellations, we started to worrry.  On Monday, some passengers who booked with Costco found out ahead of everyone that the cruise was cancelled. We knew NCL was offering options but they did not work for us so we were planning to take refund and book on the Mardi Gras.  Our friends would likely take one of the options so we had to let the cat out of the bag. They decided they would rather cruise with us so on Tuesday morning we both booked cabins on the Mardi Gras.  We were lucky they had three Havana insides for us as they are traveling with two teens.  

It's been over ten years or so since I've sailed on Carnival.  The last one was on the Pride from Baltimore.  I am very excited to go back and be on this new ship.  It looks amazing.  Please feel free to offer some tips and advice.  Although this is my 41st cruise, I am not a Carnival expert and appreciate any little nuggets of wisdom.  

Since the booking was made the same week as sailing, we are waitlisted for anytime dining.  If we don't get this, we will be ok with late seating.  It's been quite sometime since I've had a set dining time on a cruise (I think the Pride) so that will be different.  

We did secure a reservation at Rudi's and at the Chef's Table so I am really excited to experience those offerings.  The cocktail menus look fantastic as well much better than NCL so I'm happy about that.  It's fun to try new things and break from my old standbys on NCL. 

We are flying to Orlando and the weather seems a tad stormy.  Hopefully all will be good with our flight tonight.    I will also post a more detailed day by day on the blog.  Sometimes that can be hard to update but I will post there eventually.  

Thanks for reading!

 

 

[mjrcruiser]

Looking forward to your review!  We're sailing on the 9th!  😃

[Cherries Jubilee]

I’m on this sailing too! I can’t wait to read your report!

[rxlowry]

We made it to Orlando!  We were worried after seeing people’s flights cancelled on the book of faces.   It wasn’t an uneventful flight though.  I thought we were going to witness someone get kicked off and that held up the boarding. Then, when we landed the jetway did not work.   The could not move us because all gates were being used so we sat over an hour waiting for a mechanic “from the city.”   Eventually, the brought in the stairs!   At least we didn’t have to wait for our suitcases at baggage claim!  Made it to the hotel, Courtyard Marriott at airport by 12:30.  
We have a driver picking us up this morning.  We have a 1:30 boarding time so I know we will be too early.  The plan is to dump bags, meet up with our friends and grab some lunch near ship.  

[Knights on the Beach]

Yay, a Mardi Gras review - our favorite ship!  Hopefully the weather will hold out here until you board.  It's beautiful right now but will be a stormy afternoon.  Seems to be a theme lately.  Have fun!

[kelkel2]

I’m looking forward to your review!! 

[rxlowry]

It’s a sunny ride to the port.   If it could stay like this it would be amazing since so many are having travel difficulties.  
The hotel was find for a late arrival.  I didn’t take any photos or video this time as it was pretty standard unlike the gigantic room we had in Miami in February.  We posted a video of that on the blog.  It was huge although noisy because you could hear the inner workings of the elevators.  I have to say I preferred this one as it was very quiet and I do not require that much space.  

[rxlowry]

First drinks on board at outside Havana Bar.   Mojito was a little sweet so switched to gin and tonic.  Havana area small but nice.  

[Knights on the Beach]

32 minutes ago, rxlowry said:

First drinks on board at outside Havana Bar.   Mojito was a little sweet so switched to gin and tonic.  Havana area small but nice.  

I hope they stocked up on mint this week.  Last month it was hit or miss whether I could get a mojito or not.

 

How was traffic when you arrived at the port?  We were on the bike around noon and were going to go by and take a peek at Mardi Gras (like we do almost every weekend) but both lanes had traffic backed up and stopped before N. Atlantic Avenue.  Usually the right lane keeps moving but not today.

[Aplmac]

54 minutes ago, rxlowry said:

First drinks on board at outside Havana Bar.   

 

I'm loving the way they can make the glasses stick horizontally -

 without spilling the contents!! That is so cool.

[rxlowry]

Not sure why the pictures are posting that way as I think I’m posting the same as I always have.  
I’ll try to figure that out and skip posting until I do.  I tried again and it was sideways.  
We had a nice evening.  Enjoyed great cocktails at the Fortune Teller bar.  Dinner was in the main dining and we all like it.  Entertainment is crowded at night but we did catch the piano bar and the last comedy set.  
We got up early and walked.  Finally saw the lido deck as we never made it that far yesterday.  Tried Shaq for a breakfast snack.  Very tasty.  

[peteandpris]

Looking forward for your review my turn is in Nov. Thank you.

[RCLcruiser2012]

My parents are on this cruise!  I am 39.  🙂 I'll be reading along! 

[rxlowry]

Our first sea day is done. I haven’t posted too much because our friends keep us busy and  Internet is very slow.  I’ll catch up on things now

 

Tried Shaq chicken for first breakfast.  Very yummy.  Brunch was second breakfast.  Chia seed pudding delicious and a nope on the 12 hour French toast.  It was very greasy.  I wasn’t starved by any means so no worries.  
The Havana area is great.  We sat there in the late morning.  I wrote the blog so I’ll try to post day one very soon.  It was chilly and the pool was freezing so we moved to Serenity.  Very crowded but found four loungers in the sun.  
I really wanted to try Street Eats for lunch.  I loved it.  Great concept. Couldn’t stay long because main pool was insanely loud.  My watch kept alerting me.  People having fun but that’s just not my cup of tea right now.  
Joe wanted something different so he hit Guy’s Bbq.   I went out to look for seats at the pool.  No seats.  Hot tubs packed with people playing their own music.  It didn’t seem to promising.  Then during lunch I notice the pool looks empty.  Uh oh.  We had a pool puker so that got shut down.  Back to Havana.   We played a game outside then braved the icy waters.  
Pre dinner drinks in Brass Magnolia.  Excellent.  Better drinks than NCL. Elegant night dinner.  Loved it.  The food is better than NCL.  Did a few dances in Havana.  I will say I miss dancing.  Is there a lounge with a dance floor I’m missing so far?

Caught end of a show in Grand Central.  Visited Fortune Teller for nightcap. 

[kwokpot]

2 hours ago, rxlowry said:

 I will say I miss dancing.  Is there a lounge with a dance floor I’m missing so far?

Limelight Lounge is used as the dance nightclub on the MG.

[Knights on the Beach]

Sounds like your cruise is off to a great start!  We didn't brave the icy pools last month at all but did find some out of the way hot tubs with no one in them a few times.  

[1BDNANA]

Thanks for the review...your off to a great start.

 

[TomCruise48]

Is Lee Mason back as the cruise director this week?  Halfway through last week's cruise,  Lee lost his voice and Cookie, who was onboard for training, took over as cruise director. 

[csm5986142]

We are on this cruise (also in a Havana area room) and it was such a nice surprise to hear Cookie's voice (we have seen him twice on the Breeze recently and just love him) so yes he is still acting CD.

[TomCruise48]

1 hour ago, csm5986142 said:

We are on this cruise (also in a Havana area room) and it was such a nice surprise to hear Cookie's voice (we have seen him twice on the Breeze recently and just love him) so yes he is still acting CD.

It has been 6 days since Lee was onstage. Must be more serious than what was reported as a lost voice. Wishing Lee a speedy recovery. Lee and Cookie are two of the best current CD's.

[rxlowry]

Update the blog with the first day post if you want to read about the drama.  
Had fun at Mr Sanchos today. 
I’m heading to Alchemy for a barrel aged Negroni.   Haven’t tried that spot yet. Then it’s Rudi’s for dinner. 
Life is good in Cozumel today!!

[jimbri]

Enjoy!

[phoneman69]

Any idea what capacity your sailing at ? We board Mardi Gras May 7th and was hoping there not back to full capacity yet. 

[rxlowry]

25 minutes ago, phoneman69 said:

Any idea what capacity your sailing at ? We board Mardi Gras May 7th and was hoping there not back to full capacity yet. 

They are at full capacity.  It’s about 6000

[SNJCruisers]

It was reported on YouTube by a reliable source that Carnival had a first quarter 2022 occupancy of 70% and had 40 sailings of 100% or higher for the fleet.

Edited April 5, 2022 by SNJCruisers