Our Marvelous Mardi Gras B2B (with pics!) - April 23rd, 2022

[Saint Greg]

22 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

 

She took these next two for Saint Greg…..

 

 

 

 

 

Wow if those have been there, I haven't noticed them. And I was just in there....in March. Had a beer in there and a beer outside at a table.

[Jamman54]

11 minutes ago, SRQbeachgirl said:

 

Hi Jamman - how do you find out the passenger count? I just realized in all the years I've seen passenger counts on this forum I've never actually known how everyone finds them.

 

And...we completed online check-in at 12:01 this morning for our 6/25 sailing. Mardi Gras here we come! 🥳

Usually from the Cruise Director. We have sailed with Lee quite a few times so he knows us, and we just ask him. It's public knowledge so if you see any officer, or Fun Squad member, they will tell you. Have a great cruise on the Mardi Gras, and if you see Lee, tell him Jeff and Patti say hi!  

[Jamman54]

13 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

 

Wow if those have been there, I haven't noticed them. And I was just in there....in March. Had a beer in there and a beer outside at a table.

 

Sometimes you just have to look up Greg!  

[Jamman54]

21 minutes ago, Vikequeen123 said:

Jamman,

Your review and Patti's pictures are just wonderful, and I've really enjoyed following along.

 

A bit off topic question: Did Patti get the new Canon SX740 HS camera yet? If so, how does she like it? I'm thinking about buying that same camera.

 

Thank you so much for following along!  Patti actually ordered it while we were in the car driving home from Florida, and it was delivered just a few days after we got home. She has been playing around with it since she got it, and so far so good. It's a bit heavier than the previous models, but the best part is that it uses the same batteries as her old one. The real test will come at the end of August when we board the Legend for B2B cruises to Bermuda and New England / Canada. 

[SRQbeachgirl]

1 minute ago, Jamman54 said:

Usually from the Cruise Director. We have sailed with Lee quite a few times so he knows us, and we just ask him. It's public knowledge so if you see any officer, or Fun Squad member, they will tell you. Have a great cruise on the Mardi Gras, and if you see Lee, tell him Jeff and Patti say hi!  

 

Thank you and I certainly will!

[Jamman54]

Day # 13  (May 5th)  -  Fun  Day  at  Sea  # 5. 

 

We were up at 7am to a beautiful day, and the seas were fairly calm. Here are the views from our balcony looking forward and aft…..

 

 

 

Here are today’s “Fun Times”……

 

 

 

We aren’t going to eat breakfast today because we have the Diamond Luncheon at noon. Patti puts together a couple of bags of laundry to send out, and I’m trying to catch up on Patti’s pictures for the review.

 

Just before 10am Patti leaves to go check out the $10 “sales” at the Fun Shops. Patti later told me that it was a complete bust as chaos reigned supreme!

 

I left the cabin at 10:30am to get seats at Center Stage for the Morning Show (The Wave), hosted by Lee and Tyler…..

 

 

 

 

Their two guests were the watch and jewelry experts aboard the Mardi Gras…..

 

 

 

To be continued………

[Jamman54]

Afterwards, it was time for the Diamond Luncheon in the Flamingo Restaurant. We invited John and Gerry to come along with us……

 

 

 

Here is the Diamond Luncheon menu…..

 

 

We have our drinks. We had several rounds during the event, and even had one to go!

 

 

Patti had the lobster bisque and the Japanese sea bass…..

 

 

 

I had the slow braised pork belly and the charred NY steak……

 

 

 

We both had the hazelnut and malted chocolate for dessert……

 

 

When we left the Flamingo Restaurant we saw the Eureka Strings playing at the Brass Magnolia……

 

 

To be continued……

[Jamman54]

Patti went back to the cabin as she wanted to get a head start on her packing, and to lay out in the sun on our balcony.

 

I went to the casino and spent a couple of hours playing blackjack. I did pretty well and decided to quit while I was ahead, and cash out my chips. I then went to the Alchemy Bar to celebrate my good fortune with several Pain Reliefs.

 

Tonight for dinner we are heading back to the Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse……

 

 

 

These were compliments of the Chef…..

 

 

For our starters we both had the shrimp cocktail……

 

 

Patti also had a Caesar salad and I had the risotto……

 

 

 

For our mains, we both had the lobster. She added a baked potato, and I added the wasabi mashed potatoes and mushrooms…..

 

 

For dessert Patti had the fruit plate, and I had the cheesecake…..

 

 

 

Tonight’s food and service was spot on. Everything came out piping hot. It was a much better experience than last night.

 

After dinner we stepped outside to catch tonight’s not so great sunset…..

 

 

 

We continued to walk around the ship. The Playlist Production of Broadway Beats was playing in the Mardi Gras Theater. Marcus Anthony was doing his second night at Center Stage. There will be a Mega Deck Party later, followed by a Comedy Showcase in the Mardi Gras Theater. That’s past our bedtime. Back at the cabin we find that the laundry Patti sent out this morning is done and returned, and we find tonight’s towel creature……..

 

 

 

Coming up next: Our final day aboard the Mardi Gras! (for now!).

[kelkel2]

9 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

Yes we did, and we posted them several times during the course of this review. I'll post three of them now so you don't have to search.....

 

 

 

 

Usually when we take pictures of a venue, we like to take pictures of any signage that goes along with them. Somehow we failed to do this on the Mardi Gras for the Waterworks, so we apologize for that. Looking back at our Panorama and Horizon reviews, we've seen the "big" slides that have height requirements of 42" and 48". Hopefully, someone will see this and post these requirements for the Mardi Gras. 

Thank you so much!! 

[Jamman54]

Day # 14  (May 6th)  -  Farewell Fun Day at Sea  . 

 

We were up at 7am to yet another beautiful sunny day with calm seas, as the Mardi Gras makes her way back to Port Canaveral. For the final time, here are our views from our balcony…..

 

 

 

Here are the last “Fun Times” of the cruise…..

 

 

 

Once again I spent some time working on pictures for the review. Patti went to grab a bite to eat, and then made her way over to the Mardi Gras Theater for Lee’s Q & A session.

 

Around 10am I made my way over to the Blue Iguana Cantina to get a breakfast burrito, and then took it over to the Red Frog Tiki Bar where I got a Thirsty Frog Wheat to wash it down. This is my breakfast of champions!

 

 

 

Saying goodbye to my friends at the Tiki Bar…..

 

 

Joel Joseph is playing those Caribbean sounds on the steel drums…..

 

 

 

To be continued…….

[Jamman54]

Around 10:45am I went down to Center Stage to grab our seats for the final edition of “The Wave”, hosted by Lee and Tyler…..

 

 

 

 

After the show we posed for a picture with Lee and Tyler……

 

 

Here’s one of just Lee and Tyler. Tyler has since been promoted to Cruise Director. Congrats Tyler!

 

 

We also posed for a picture with our Cruise Critic friends Bob and Ann. (jedi bobs)........

 

 

Patti and I went to the last session of bingo, as it was for a free cruise. The place was packed! It was a good thing that Patti had purchased the cards earlier this morning. We got seats against the railing up on Deck 7 which gave us a pretty good view…..

 

 

 

We came close but we didn’t win. Afterwards, Patti went back to the cabin to pack, and to get some sun on our balcony. I wanted to go check out the upper decks since I hadn’t spent any time up there, so I took the camera with me. But first, I made a stop at Big Chicken. I got myself a chicken sandwich, fries, and potato salad, then took them over to the Tides Bar to eat…..

 

 

After eating I began to make my way up to The Ultimate Playground. Here is a picture of the Tides Pool and hot tubs……

 

 

This is the seating area at the aft end of Deck 17, which overlooks the Tides Pool…..

 

 

To be continued……

[Jamman54]

I have made it up to Deck 18 aft and The Ultimate Playground…..

 

 

Here is the mini golf course…..

 

 

 

Here are the rules and equipment for mini golf…..

 

 

 

Bolt is running. I finally get to see it up close…..

 

 

 

 

Here is the entrance to Bolt…..

 

 

Here is some Bolt information and the test car…..

 

 

 

To be continued……

[Jamman54]

Here are a few more views of The Ultimate Playground……

 

 

 

 

I make my way to the Beach Pool, and though Groove for St. Jude has just ended, Cruise Director Lee is still partying with the crowd…..

 

 

 

Back at the cabin I see Patti on the balcony soaking in the sun…..

 

 

The VIFP party is scheduled today for 3:30pm in the Mardi Gras Theater….

 

 

Patti and I will not attend again this week. We will take the free drinks that they loaded onto our Sail & Sign cards, and head down to the Alchemy Bar……

 

 

We spent an hour or so there enjoying a couple of drinks, and listening to the Eureka Strings, who were playing right below us at the Fortune Teller Bar…..

 

 

 

To be continued…….

[Jamman54]

We went back to the cabin to finish packing and relax before dinner. Tonight, we decided our last dinner was going to be back at the Pig & Anchor. We had to wait a few minutes for our table, so we sat at the bar and ordered a round of drinks……

 

 

Once we were seated, they took our order pretty quickly. At the risk of stirring up plate-gate again, here is what we had to eat.

 

 

 

 

After dinner we decided to walk the Lanai on the port side of the ship. Here you will find the Pig & Anchor BBQ, which is open for lunch on embarkation day and sea days……

 

 

Walking forward you’ll find the outside seating for Rudi’s SeaGrill and Cucina del Capitano…..

 

 

 

 

 

This is as far forward as you can go from this side…..

 

 

We are looking up towards our cabin…..

 

 

From here, we watched the last sunset of this cruise…..

 

 

 

 

We went back inside and walked around the ship for the last time. We stopped at the Center Stage Bar for one last drink since Patti liked the way they made the Chocolate Mocha Getaways there. We decided to call it a cruise(s), and made our way back to the cabin to finish packing and put our suitcases out. Here is the final towel creation…..

 

 

Coming up next: Debarkation and off to Orlando!

Edited June 12, 2022 by Jamman54

[CruisinPedsNurse]

On 6/11/2022 at 12:40 PM, Saint Greg said:

 

I wonder if pedestrians ever get hit in the head with falling footwear.

We saw someone loose their shoe into the trees when we were on the way! Oh well at least it’s a beach and bare feet are acceptable:)

[motheroftwocats814]

Love this review. Thanks so much for taking the time. I feel like I was vicariously living the experience.

Can't wait to get back to cruising.

 

[illinoisfive]

Jeff, 

Those bacon green beans look delicious!  Actually both meals looks delicious!

Thank you for such a great review!

[x lindsay x]

On 6/11/2022 at 6:46 AM, kelkel2 said:

Jamman, did Patty get any pics of water works? Or do you guys happen to know what the height requirement is for the bigger water slides? 

Can confirm that the blue (ride with a mat) and yellow slides are 42", the orange drop slide is 48". We were on the same MG trip and my 4 year old just hit the 42" mark but kept asking to see if she grew enough during the trip to be able to ride the orange slide. She did not. 

[Jamman54]

17 hours ago, motheroftwocats814 said:

Love this review. Thanks so much for taking the time. I feel like I was vicariously living the experience.

Can't wait to get back to cruising.

 

 

Thanks for reading! We try to make our readers feel like they are sailing along with us. 

 

2 hours ago, illinoisfive said:

Jeff, 

Those bacon green beans look delicious!  Actually both meals looks delicious!

Thank you for such a great review!

 

Glad you enjoyed the review. Have a little more to show you, then of course our post cruise adventures! We like the Pig & Anchor for dinner. We ate there three times during our two weeks aboard. 

 

[Jamman54]

54 minutes ago, x lindsay x said:

Can confirm that the blue (ride with a mat) and yellow slides are 42", the orange drop slide is 48". We were on the same MG trip and my 4 year old just hit the 42" mark but kept asking to see if she grew enough during the trip to be able to ride the orange slide. She did not. 

Thanks for posting the height requirements. We dropped the ball on that one! 

[Megan_Strick]

21 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

We went back to the cabin to finish packing and relax before dinner. Tonight, we decided our last dinner was going to be back at the Pig & Anchor. We had to wait a few minutes for our table, so we sat at the bar and ordered a round of drinks……

 

 

Once we were seated, they took our order pretty quickly. At the risk of stirring up plate-gate again, here is what we had to eat.

 

 

 

 

After dinner we decided to walk the Lanai on the port side of the ship. Here you will find the Pig & Anchor BBQ, which is open for lunch on embarkation day and sea days……

 

 

Walking forward you’ll find the outside seating for Rudi’s SeaGrill and Cucina del Capitano…..

 

 

 

 

 

This is as far forward as you can go from this side…..

 

 

We are looking up towards our cabin…..

 

 

From here, we watched the last sunset of this cruise…..

 

 

 

 

We went back inside and walked around the ship for the last time. We stopped at the Center Stage Bar for one last drink since Patti liked the way they made the Chocolate Mocha Getaways there. We decided to call it a cruise(s), and made our way back to the cabin to finish packing and put our suitcases out. Here is the final towel creation…..

 

 

Coming up next: Debarkation and off to Orlando!

Hahahahahaha. Plate gate. I said what I said about the beans on the naked plate and I don't take it back. LOL

Edited June 13, 2022 by sthrnbll

[canes20]

1 hour ago, sthrnbll said:

Hahahahahaha. Plate gate. I said what I said about the beans on the naked plate and I don't take it back. LOL

[Saint Greg]

3 hours ago, sthrnbll said:

Hahahahahaha. Plate gate. I said what I said about the beans on the naked plate and I don't take it back. LOL

You should bring a plate from the buffet down to the bbq place, put in an order, and say “can you put my food on this?”

[Saint Greg]

On 6/12/2022 at 5:18 PM, Jamman54 said:

We went back to the cabin to finish packing and relax before dinner. Tonight, we decided our last dinner was going to be back at the Pig & Anchor. We had to wait a few minutes for our table, so we sat at the bar and ordered a round of drinks……

 

 

Once we were seated, they took our order pretty quickly. At the risk of stirring up plate-gate again, here is what we had to eat.

 

 

 

 

After dinner we decided to walk the Lanai on the port side of the ship. Here you will find the Pig & Anchor BBQ, which is open for lunch on embarkation day and sea days……

 

 

Walking forward you’ll find the outside seating for Rudi’s SeaGrill and Cucina del Capitano…..

 

 

 

 

 

This is as far forward as you can go from this side…..

 

 

We are looking up towards our cabin…..

 

 

From here, we watched the last sunset of this cruise…..

 

 

 

 

We went back inside and walked around the ship for the last time. We stopped at the Center Stage Bar for one last drink since Patti liked the way they made the Chocolate Mocha Getaways there. We decided to call it a cruise(s), and made our way back to the cabin to finish packing and put our suitcases out. Here is the final towel creation…..

 

 

Coming up next: Debarkation and off to Orlando!

I noticed the Mac n cheese and cobbler warranted a separate dish yet the beans did not. I wonder who makes those decisions…

[Jamman54]

9 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

I noticed the Mac n cheese and cobbler warranted a separate dish yet the beans did not. I wonder who makes those decisions…

 

Yes, we were very upset that our mac and cheese, apple cobbler, and vanilla ice cream were not scooped directly onto the plate! Killed the ambience.