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

[jbhcw]

It’s been years since we stayed…and it was

showing wear and tear then…I would ck trip

advisor!  

[3Tannerbear]

Looking forward to your review. We were on MG in November and loved her so much have a BTB booked for April 2023. 
Jo

[Jamman54]

1 hour ago, jbhcw said:

also a bit late...company coming and I've been busy!  So wonderful you can be gone for month!  Loved the pics of the Hampton Inn...favorite hotel so glad to see one at Port Canaveral...we used to...ages and ages ago stay at the Radisson....Thanks so much for doing this Jeff and Patti!

 

Not late at all, just getting started. Glad to have you on board once again! 🤗

[Jamman54]

23 minutes ago, jbhcw said:

It’s been years since we stayed…and it was

showing wear and tear then…I would ck trip

advisor!  

 

We agree. The Radisson used to be our go to place but this time we wanted to try the Hampton inn and were glad we did. Plus, the Radisson was more expensive. 😎

[Jamman54]

24 minutes ago, 3Tannerbear said:

Looking forward to your review. We were on MG in November and loved her so much have a BTB booked for April 2023. 
Jo

 

Hey Jo! Glad to have you along for the ride. B2B'S are the best! 😀

[ciship]

On 5/16/2022 at 12:20 PM, Jamman54 said:

Here are some views of the Country Inn & Suites. This is the lobby seating area…..

 

 

I guess you can call this the business center…..

 

 

This is the area where they serve the included breakfast…..

 

 

 

This is the fitness center…..

 

 

 

 

The laundry room if you need to do laundry…..

 

 

This is the pool and spa area…..

 

 

 

 

 

Now let’s talk about how we are going to handle getting our covid tests now that we are in the window for getting them. We were hoping to get tested today here in Kingsland, but neither CVS or Walgreens offered the rapid antigen tests in the area. The nearest CVS that offered the rapid antigen test was just south of Jacksonville, so we had booked it two weeks prior for tomorrow at 9:30am. Knowing that CVS has a habit of cancelling appointments, we also booked a Walgreen’s in Cocoa Beach for later in the afternoon. In the event that didn’t happen, we had our proctored test kits ready to go if needed. One way or another, we would be tested by the end of the day tomorrow!

 

To be continued…..  

I can't see your photos, but I see where you have a photo of a laundry room?  I thought Mardi Gras didn't have any washing machines or dryers for passengers to use?

[Jamman54]

45 minutes ago, ciship said:

I can't see your photos, but I see where you have a photo of a laundry room?  I thought Mardi Gras didn't have any washing machines or dryers for passengers to use?

The laundry room pictures you can't see are at the Country Inn and Suites. The Mardi Gras doesn't have guest laundry rooms,  just ironing rooms. 😎

[Hogladyrider]

@Jamman54...just curious you mentioned you and Patti are retired, but you also mentioned that you had to "work" before posting more of the review?  What type of work that allows you to take a month off at a time?

 

We are also retired and we only work summers and travel in the winter.  Our jobs are at campgrounds or other facilities needing short term help.

[Jamman54]

20 minutes ago, Hogladyrider said:

@Jamman54...just curious you mentioned you and Patti are retired, but you also mentioned that you had to "work" before posting more of the review?  What type of work that allows you to take a month off at a time?

 

We are also retired and we only work summers and travel in the winter.  Our jobs are at campgrounds or other facilities needing short term help.

 

Patti and I both work part time at our local Target store. We use this money for our vacations. I work in Receiving,  and Patti shops for people that order online for order pick up. They love us there because we are dependable and hardworking. For that, they allow us to take off when we want, for as long as we want. They only ask that we don't take off from mid November through the first week in January. It's the perfect gig. Keeps us busy and funds our cruises! 🤗

Edited May 18, 2022 by Jamman54

[ALSPAUGHDOLL]

48 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

 

Patti and I both work part time at our local Target store. We use this money for our vacations. I work in Receiving,  and Patti shops for people that order online for order pick up. They love us there because we are dependable and hardworking. For that, they allow us to take off when we want, for as long as we want. They only ask that we don't take off from mid November through the first week in January. It's the perfect gig. Keeps us busy and funds our cruises! 🤗

I love this!!  I started my leadership career with Target, I have long since moved on.  I love the comment about November -January, I stress out just thinking about it!

[Hogladyrider]

1 hour ago, Jamman54 said:

 

Patti and I both work part time at our local Target store. We use this money for our vacations. I work in Receiving,  and Patti shops for people that order online for order pick up. They love us there because we are dependable and hardworking. For that, they allow us to take off when we want, for as long as we want. They only ask that we don't take off from mid November through the first week in January. It's the perfect gig. Keeps us busy and funds our cruises! 🤗

Retirement is a wonderful way to live, being able to work part time like you are is the icing on the cake, it keeps the body active and the mind fit!

 

For some reason I was thinking you were independent travel agents like so many others here on CC!

Guess that came from the wonderful reviews you provide us with!

 

[Megan_Strick]

On 5/16/2022 at 3:56 PM, Jamman54 said:

The view of the patio and the pool from our window….

 

 

Patti got these views of the Freedom and Elation from the hallway windows at either end of the building…..

 

 

 

Patti now takes us on a tour of the hotel, starting with the lobby and breakfast areas…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

I swear that Astronaut is in EVERY hotel in PC!

[MistyRo76]

On 5/16/2022 at 1:06 PM, Jamman54 said:

Ahoy, Cruise Critic family! My beautiful wife Patti and I have just returned from another month long adventure. We spent three days in Port Canaveral / Cocoa Beach, then boarded the beautiful Mardi Gras for two weeks, then finished off our trip with six days in Orlando. Our first week on the Mardi Gras was a 7 day cruise to the Eastern Caribbean, stopping at San Juan, Amber Cove, and Grand Turk. The second week was a 7 day cruise to the Western Caribbean, stopping at Cozumel, Costa Maya, and Isla Roatan (Mahogany Bay). For us, this was the perfect rotation as the first two days of the first cruise were sea days, and the last two days of the second cruise were also sea days.

 

These cruises on the Mardi Gras were a long time coming. To tell this story let me take you back to January 2019. Bookings for cruises on the Mardi Gras were to begin at 10am on January 30^th. At this point no itineraries had been released, and only unofficial copies of the deck plans were in existence. At 7pm on the 29^th my PVP called me and said that we could book. Startled at getting the call, and not knowing what the itineraries were, we told him to book us on the first cruise out of Port Canaveral. Having seen the unofficial deck plans, we booked an extended balcony on the “hump”, as we loved our “hump” balcony when we sailed on the Explorer of the Seas.

 

The next day when the itineraries had been released, we saw that there was a 15 day repositioning cruise from New York to Port Canaveral. It had an awesome itinerary and was just what we were looking for. We changed our booking to that cruise, and we were able to keep the same “hump” balcony that we had originally booked. To say we were pleased would be an understatement. Now all we had to do was sit and wait for the ship to be built.

 

Fast forward to December of 2019, when Carnival announced that because of construction delays, the first eight sailings would have to be cancelled. We were devastated to say the least. The 25% Future Cruise Credit that was given helped soften the blow a little bit. Having our 2020 and 2021 cruises already booked, we chose our April, 2022 dates and booked her again. Three months later the nightmare that is the pandemic came, and is still here today, but I don’t want to dwell on it anymore, so let’s fast forward back to the present day.

 

We will be driving down to Florida once again. Being away from home for so long it just makes sense to have your own car down there. You can pack as much of your stuff as you want to, since you don’t have to worry about luggage weights and car rentals. Back in the day when our vacation time was limited, we used to drive straight through in one shot which used to take about 16 hours. Since we have the time now, we break it up into two days.

 

This is going to be a very long review so be patient with us. Patti took well over four thousand pictures during this adventure, so I have a lot of sorting, cropping, and re-sizing to catch up on. Even though I took my laptop with me and worked on the photos from time to time, there’s no way I could keep up with Patti’s itchy shutter finger! We also have to catch up with life, work, and such, so we may not post anything for a day or two from time to time, but just remember we have always finished our reviews.

 

As usual, our reviews start and end at home and cover everything in between. I know that some people like to get right into the cruise stuff and I understand that, but when doing these reviews we want to re-live the whole vacation, not just part of it. So, the cruise stuff may take a few days to get to, but once we’re on it, we’re on it! Our format will remain the same as our past reviews with a day by day account. As always, there will be many, many pictures with plenty of explanations and details. For those that are wondering, our go to camera is the Canon PowerShot XS720 HS, and our water camera is the Fuji FinePix XP60.

 

So, let’s get this party started! We strive to make you feel that you are cruising right along with us, so grab yourself a DOD, and hop on board with us and join the fun!

 

To be continued…..

Yay! You're back! I have some catching up to do on your review already...but luckily it's a slow work day! 😉🤪

[MistyRo76]

On 5/16/2022 at 2:58 PM, Jamman54 said:

A couple miles down I-95 we saw a sign for Buc-ee’s. We had never been to one before, so we wanted to see what all the fuss is about…..

 

 

 

 

 

I tell you we were pretty impressed, and can see why everyone raves about the place. Back on the road again and soon the texts from CVS arrived…..

 

 

 

 

 

I have never heard of Buc-ee's....what is this place? And what makes everyone rave about it? 🙂

[kelkel2]

I’m a little late to the game but I’m so excited to following along with another awesome Jamman review! 

[Megan_Strick]

1 hour ago, MistyRo76 said:

I have never heard of Buc-ee's....what is this place? And what makes everyone rave about it? 🙂

It's a HUGE basically truck stops but for families. There are no truckers there. They have everything you could ever think of. Food, gifts, drinks, clothing, coolers, etc.

[Jamman54]

2 hours ago, MistyRo76 said:

Yay! You're back! I have some catching up to do on your review already...but luckily it's a slow work day! 😉🤪

 

Glad to have you along again, and I'm about to add a bunch more. Enjoy! 

 

1 hour ago, kelkel2 said:

I’m a little late to the game but I’m so excited to following along with another awesome Jamman review! 

 

You're just in time! Thanks for following along! 

 

[Jamman54]

Day # 1 (April 23^rd)  -  We board the Mardi Gras!!!

 

 

We were up at 6am to get ready for the big day! Weather wise, it was going to be a beautiful sunny day. We finish re-arranging and packing our suitcases, and then went downstairs to have a light breakfast. Afterwards, Patti got these pictures of four of the five ships in port today from the hallway windows up on the 6^th floor. The only ship missing was the Disney Fantasy. Here’s the Carnival Magic…..

 

 

The Norwegian Escape…..

 

 

The Mariner of the Seas…..

 

 

And off in the distance, the Mardi Gras…..

 

 

We checked out of the Hampton Inn at 9am. Patti and I really enjoyed staying here, and plan to return here in the future. We loaded up the car and then headed for Terminal 3. Here are the signs for the terminals…..

 

 

We have entered the port…..

 

 

 

We are approaching Terminal 3 and the Mardi Gras…..

 

 

There was no line at all entering the parking garage…….

 

 

We were directed down to the end, where porters were waiting to take your luggage…..

 

 

You then continued up the ramp to the second level where you paid for your parking. You handed the attendant your credit card, he stuck it into the machine, and you were charged $136 for the week. You weren’t given a ticket or receipt since you wouldn’t be stopped or checked in any way when you left the garage after your cruise…….

 

 

To be continued……

[sid_9169]

On 5/16/2022 at 3:50 PM, Jamman54 said:

This time we are staying at the Hampton Inn. It is a new property, and it is located very close to the port entrance. When searching for hotels for this trip, the Hampton was the lowest price, so we decided to give it a try. We are Hilton Honors members, so that helped sway us as well. We have arrived at the Hampton Inn, Port Canaveral…..

 

 

 

We arrived at 1pm and our room was ready. All the staff here was very friendly and accommodating…..

 

 

 

We were given room # 449, which gave us a view of the patio and the pool…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

I'm going to make a note of this hotel... That Radisson Resort at the Port wasn't very nice at all... Looking forward to the rest...

[Jamman54]

We were able to park pretty close to the elevators and stairwells. We took the stairs up to level three, which is where you lineup to enter the terminal. There were four lines, one for the suites, one for the 10 – 10:30 arrivals (that’s us), one for the 10:30 – 11 arrivals, and one for later arrivals……

 

 

 

 

The doors were opened a little before 10am, and after the suite guests we were let in. This nice lady was imploring us to check in with her…..

 

 

She took care of everything, from checking our documentation, vaccination cards, test results, taking our pictures, and completing our check in, so that after going through the security scan we could sit down in the waiting room. The whole process didn’t take 10 minutes.

 

On the way to the waiting room we stopped to have our embarkation photo taken…..

 

 

That done, we made our way into the waiting room. The suites are given the priority waiting room……

 

 

 

The rest of us peons have to wait in here…..

 

 

 

We grabbed some seats just outside of the priority waiting room, close to where we would be boarding…..

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

The only thing that annoyed me about the new terminal is the sound system. When announcements were made you could not understand most of what they were saying! At 10:45am, suite passengers were allowed to board followed by boarding group A01. That’s us! Soon, we were heading up the gangway leading to the Mardi Gras…..

 

 

You enter the Mardi Gras on Deck 6, and the first thing you see is the beautiful Center Stage…..

 

 

Now the first thing that we wanted to do was complete our muster. Our muster station was C7 in the casino, which was right up the stairs from where we were, so up we went. Here’s the view of Center Stage from Deck 7. We’ve got the feeling that we’ll be spending a lot of time there…..

 

 

We get to our muster station in the casino, and the crewmember with the scanner hadn’t arrived yet. While we waited, Patti took some shots of the casino…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once the scanner guy arrived, another crewmember demonstrated how to don a life jacket, and our muster drill was done!

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Now that’s done, here are today’s “Fun Times”…..

 

 

 

Next, we are going to drop off our carry-ons at our cabin. On our way we pass the Alchemy Bar…..

 

 

Looking down at Emeril’s Bistro……

 

 

We take the elevator up to Deck 11 and we find the usual sign on the big doors….

 

 

Platinum and Diamond members are allowed to drop off their bags in their cabin, but not to linger. Our cabin door is wide open, our sail and sign cards are not there, and it’s clear the room hasn’t even been started to be made up. Our room steward is nowhere in sight, so we leave him a note letting him know that we put our bags in the closet.

 

Feeling hungry, we grab an elevator and head up to Deck 16, and Shaq’s Big Chicken, which is on the port side aft. It is not busy at all.....

 

 

 

We get our food and sit at the Tides Bar which is on the starboard side aft. Patti had the chicken strips….

 

 

I had two Shaq Attacks. We both had the potato salad which we thought was really good…..

 

 

Here are our first drinks of the cruise…..

 

 

 

 

Right across the way from the Tides Bar is Swirls, perfect for dessert…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

After finishing our lunch, we head all the way forward and up to Deck 18 to check out the Serenity area…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s looking up to The Loft pool on Deck 19…..

 

 

To be continued……

[hockeyluver]

Looking forward to the rest of your review, we were on the Mardi Gras in February and had a bump out balcony OMG loved it.   So glad we have one booked for the Celebration next February as well !! 

[Jamman54]

Patti heads up to check out Loft 19……

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Patti’s looking down at the Serenity Pool and Bar…..

 

 

 

Patti catches the Missouri Birthday girls attacking me. We met them at the muster drill and we know that they were going to have a great cruise!

 

To be continued…..