Mardi Gras, One and done for us.

[KaiBlue]

We also just got off the MG - I think it depended upon hitting things at just the right time as we never had much of a wait at any restaurant (at least not to get in - meals were certainly slow processes and that seemed to be across all venues).  This was our second time on the MG and I think it would be our last unless we got a great deal.  Overall, we have enjoyed it, however, just like some variety.  Agree completely with others than have commented on the venues not having the best layout - some seats are just not good at all depending upon what the show is (the Vegas show as an example as aerialists and some seats there would be no way you could have seen much of that).  I hate the seats in the main theater too - they lean too far back for me and the rows are very close together - and no way they could even consider having any bar service in this venue - wait staff wouldn't be able to deliver!  We tried ChiBang again despite not being overly impressed the first cruise, and while lunch was fine (albeit slow), dinner was by far the worst meal we had on the entire trip.   I ordered the pork tacos which honestly they shouldn't have let that plate leave the kitchen as it was clearly all fat, then the main entree was super-small and not consistent - couple to the left of me had the same dish and all 3 of our meals looked completely different.  Ordered drinks at the beginning as we were sitting down and got them after we were done with dessert.  Would have just walked out without but saw that they had already charged our account for them.  Not due to the wait staff not working hard - they were practically running - but we commented how Carnival would never be able to charge for this venue.  And we wouldn't go back if we ever sailed on MG again.  Ate at Cucina twice and got an inside-the-restaurant table both times (around 6:00pm I'd estimate).  Didn't understand why they think people would want to eat out in the hallway and put tables out there - wouldn't be something I would enjoy.  Didn't have any issues at any bars, except for P&A where the bar itself was almost empty and had 4 bartenders behind it ignoring me and I had to get down and walk down to the other side of the bar to get any attention.   The plus side of this ship for us is the pools (love the aft pool on deck 8), the multiple locations to eat, the ability to find a seat on deck even at max capacity and the variety of the entertainment (strings, small bands, guitarists, etc).  

[mz-s]

6 minutes ago, Riles34 said:

I do think this has to do with most places in the restaurant world, get what you can get as supply is so low. Won't ruin my cruise by any means as the food is "free" in my opinion. 

 

The food is not free. I wish people would stop saying things on a cruise are free. They are included but by no means free! If you're getting free cruises spill the beans on how!

[kdr69]

25 minutes ago, Retiredmedic said:

Yes we had anytime dining. But we knew people on the ship that had anytime dining and they got to sit inside. Yes the hub app opened for seating at 5:15 and they started seating at 5:30. 

ok good to know i was curious.  I agree hard to believe it was full in 15 min.

[Riles34]

1 minute ago, mz-s said:

 

The food is not free. I wish people would stop saying things on a cruise are free. They are included but by no means free! If you're getting free cruises spill the beans on how!

Considering a week vacation in a decent hotel is $2000 a week with no amenities, my cruise on the Celebration 02/23 for 4 in an extended balcony, $1450 total, I will consider the food free. I am very easy going and am glad to just spend time with the family and not having to cook every day.

[mz-s]

Just now, Riles34 said:

Considering a week vacation in a decent hotel is $2000 a week with no amenities, my cruise on the Celebration 02/23 for 4 in an extended balcony, $1450 total, I will consider the food free. I am very easy going and am glad to just spend time with the family and not having to cook every day.

 

I expect a little more than "at least I don't have to punch in" for my hard-earned vacation dollars, no matter how many of them I spend. Each to their own!

[BlerkOne]

Just now, Riles34 said:

I do think this has to do with most places in the restaurant world, get what you can get as supply is so low. Won't ruin my cruise by any means as the food is "free" in my opinion. 

I wouldn't eat at Golden Corral if the food was free, and certainly wouldn't pay for it.

[periduncan]

49 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

The food is not free. I wish people would stop saying things on a cruise are free. They are included but by no means free! If you're getting free cruises spill the beans on how!

I agree.  When I'm asked about going to the paid restaurants, my reply is always, "I've already paid for my food; I'm not paying double."  One plus for Carnival vs. RC is that Carnival has more delicious included options (Guy's, Iguana, others on bigger ships).  Although I did agree to pay for Wonderland on one of the RC ships, and that was worth it.  It was a dining experience (but as such, a one-time visit).

Edited October 17, 2022 by periduncan

[CruisingWalter]

Mardi Gras was badly understaffed in March when we were there as well, really felt for the staff. They were still just as friendly and eager to please as ever, but they looked exhausted.

 

Agree with the Simple Syrup, in fact adding Mint Simple Syrup makes a daquiri even better. I had no issues at the Fortune Teller bar on our cruise, could belly right up to the bar every time with 5500-5900 sailing on our cruise. That bar was so much better than I expected.

 

ChiBang, they need to deep six the mexican side of the menu. Blue Iguana is much better. The Asian side is pretty good. 

 

Guys Pig and Anchor we had an amazing BBQ filet on night one, then three nights later one of the worst meals we've ever had on a cruise ship. 

 

The Grand Central is poorly designed as a bad imitation of Royal Caribbean's 270 lounge. the seating is just awful and you have to be there about 2 hours early if you want to see the show. 

 

But overall, we did actually enjoy the ship. Rudi's Seagrill is the big saving grace on that ship. One of the best restaurants at sea. Shaq's Big Chicken was amazing. Blue Iguana was great. Pizza del Capitano was great. So while the food was not the best, we did enjoy the ship, though we did have an extended balcony and ended up spending a lot of time there. 

[Drazil65]

I wouldn't eat at Golden Corral if the food was free, and certainly wouldn't pay for it.

 

100%...

[BlerkOne]

Just now, WheresWalter said:

ChiBang, they need to deep six the mexican side of the menu. Blue Iguana is much better. The Asian side is pretty good. 

That makes it JiJi Asian, which clearly Carnival chose not to have.

 

 

Just now, WheresWalter said:

 

The Grand Central is poorly designed as a bad imitation of Royal Caribbean's 270 lounge. the seating is just awful and you have to be there about 2 hours early if you want to see the show. 

 

 

Grand Central and Emeril's are really the only venues that are worthwhile.

[Colorado Beach Bum]

4 hours ago, crewsweeper said:

Thank both of you for your reviews.   Always interesting to see different points of view from same cruise.   I'm assuming that the Mardi Gras docked in Grand Turk last week.  There's a question out about having to show vaccination status there.  Did either of you have any issues?

Carnival knows who’s vaccinated so you didn’t have to show again.  And those without a vaccine were not allow to get off at that port.

[sunkey1]

15 hours ago, Retiredmedic said:

Yes we are sticking to ship no bigger than the Vista class from now on. Right now Galveston has the Vista, Dream and Breeze, next October we are getting the Jubilee, just wonder which of the three the move out. We will take the grandkids are 4-5 day cruises out of Galveston, but we are branching out for our fall cruise from now on.

And this is just more proof of "different strokes for different folks". We were on both the Breeze and Dream and did not care for them at all, but loved the Mardi Gras. This is why lines need variety, everyone is looking for different things.

 

[asalligo]

Carnival is just bad at running large ships and I hope one day they will address that issue. Anything they have over 3500 passengers just ends in a week of waiting in line for everything. 

 

 

[CruiserLucas]

20 hours ago, Retiredmedic said:

no one there could make the classic Daiquiri. They just put rum and lime juice in a glass, shook it for a second and handed it to you. I asked why they were not putting a simple syrup in it, they told me the drink does not have simple syrup in it just rum and lime juice.

I had the same problem trying to order a classic daquiri on another Carnival ship, too. I think because so many of the go-to cocktails ordered are just the advertised menu items or frozen strawberry daquiri using a mix, they don't know the recipe to other drinks or classic versions. Not so much a fault with the bartender personally, it's a fault with Carnival's training and service expectations. I just explained to the bartender how to make it and she understood and made it. 

[nhilding10]

We unfortunately had many of the same issues and have seen a lot of similar reactions and opinions since. That's very discouraging. We got off the MG on 10/1 and our initial thoughts were that the wait times at bars and venues were horrendous and the food was meh at best. The servers who were there did a phenomenal job, I'm not taking anything away from them, at all. At all. They did exceptionally well and we let them know that, however, there needed to be about triple the amount of them, that's all. The wait times at any bar were that way. The Lido could stand to have another bar in the corner, replace Street Eats and add a second bar. When you have Sail Away, the Glow Party, the Mega Party, all of that, and the deck gets full, the one Red Frog bar just can't handle it. They were doing all they could, and I commend them for it, but they needed serious help that just doesn't appear to be coming. One of the comedy clubs, I can't remember which (maybe it was both?) didn't even have a bar, and there were just too many choke points. The layout is what it is now, but it could have been better. Grand Central is nice, the shows there are good, but posters are right, either commit an hour (at least!) to getting a seat, or try again another time. Also, we ate at Cucina and I had the chicken parm, it tasted like a frozen microwaved reheated store bought meal, at best. It was the worst meal I've ever had on a ship. I dont hold that against the servers or the staff, they did what they could with what they had, but you can tell the quality just wasn't there. If that's a supply chain issue or something else, I dont know, but it was disappointing. Overall we loved the entertainment, the activities, and everything about the cruise, MG has its flaws as others have pointed out with sightlines and such, and that can make it tough at times, but overall we felt it was still more Pros than Cons, and loved the vacation. I can nitpick on any little thing, and believe me I did, but still found it to have value at the end of the day. If they (and this is the million dollar question, right?) could get more servers and more staff, MG would be a lot better. It does feel like they're still figuring out their way around operating a ship that size, and given that, it can only get better, right? So it's worth another shot to us, we're booked on Celebration for next September and already looking forward to see what improves, as I'm sure it will. 

[coldweather]

2 hours ago, asalligo said:

Carnival is just bad at running large ships and I hope one day they will address that issue. Anything they have over 3500 passengers just ends in a week of waiting in line for everything. 

 

 

Thanks for the honest feedback.  Due to crowding, I just can't bring myself to go on the large, high-passenger ships for any cruise line.   

[Ozzie26]

After reading this thread I have to chime in. We sailed MG in May and then again in August. We are boarding once more on the 29th and the. We are done with Carnival. The august cruise was the worst cruise I had ever been in on. Everything was overcrowded. We had anytime dining and our table was ready quickly but after getting seated we waited anywhere from 10 minute to 20 minutes for a server to acknowledge we were there. We are Platinum but had to wait until 3:30pm to access our cabin because it was not ready. We have sailed on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean and noticed a change since restart but nothing as bad as carnival. We also sailed on the Breeze in July 2021 at the beginning of restart and it was so much better. I think it is the big ship that Carnival does not do well. I am close to my 100th cruise so I do have experience to make the comparisons.
I will say Java Blue was a bright spot for us. We ate breakfast there every morning. 

[ray98]

I love the MG but it certainly has room for improvement that all seem to revolve around staffing.  Our first time on her was around 50% capacity and I realized then they would really have to staff it well to avoid lines.  The next time on it was full and the staffing level hadn't really changed that much.  That made for insane lines everywhere and a poor experience in the restaurants because the servers were maxed out.  The P&A was the only one we found that truly had poor food. I guess they can pass it off as traditional BBQ to people who don't have access to it at home.  I think at this point this is a decision Carnival has made, they have decided to save the money and that is the experience the customers will get.  That ship has some very interesting concepts that Carnival can really move forward with however if they won't commit to the proper level of service it will end up getting lost in the shuffle.

[DanOO]

I'm booked for MG sailing 12/31.  I hope the service level is not as bad.  The last four cruises we did RCCL Oaisis Ships and they are crowded, but it never bothered us.  I hope this trip will not push us back to other Cruise Lines because we used to Love Carnival Cruises.

[sammee]

I was on this same sailing and same experience at Cucina except for a very badly done version of Veal Marsala, lol. I could go on about the different things I experienced too, but this is your post, I'm just adding a little to it.

 

After first day, elevator situation calmed down. Last morning, not so much. We were taking our own luggage off as were driving 1k miles home. Luckily we only had to carry our luggage only one flight to avoid the elevators.

 

Would I sail her again? Yes, but I wouldn't make it a priority. Nothing major, just little jabs here and there. It is a very pretty ship and I'm sure others will have different experiences and/or opinions.

 

I still have to complete my survey, dragging my feet since I know it's not going to be glowing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Retiredmedic]

11 minutes ago, sammee said:

I was on this same sailing and same experience at Cucina except for a very badly done version of Veal Marsala, lol. I could go on about the different things I experienced too, but this is your post, I'm just adding a little to it.

 

After first day, elevator situation calmed down. Last morning, not so much. We were taking our own luggage off as were driving 1k miles home. Luckily we only had to carry our luggage only one flight to avoid the elevators.

 

Would I sail her again? Yes, but I wouldn't make it a priority. Nothing major, just little jabs here and there. It is a very pretty ship and I'm sure others will have different experiences and/or opinions.

 

I still have to complete my survey, dragging my feet since I know it's not going to be glowing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had an 1k mile drive too. Was a long and painful drive because Carnivals beds do not agree with my back.

[Retiredmedic]

3 hours ago, CruiserLucas said:

I had the same problem trying to order a classic daquiri on another Carnival ship, too. I think because so many of the go-to cocktails ordered are just the advertised menu items or frozen strawberry daquiri using a mix, they don't know the recipe to other drinks or classic versions. Not so much a fault with the bartender personally, it's a fault with Carnival's training and service expectations. I just explained to the bartender how to make it and she understood and made it. 

I asked them to put simple syrup in it and they did not have any to put in it.

[sammee]

2 minutes ago, Retiredmedic said:

We had an 1k mile drive too. Was a long and painful drive because Carnivals beds do not agree with my back.

I couldn't complain about the bed (this time). But had to cancel a family stopover on the way home. Husband started with sore throat, sneezing, etc. And now it's my turn. Not covid, back to the cruise crud. His driving was miserable. I was lucky enough to not have it hit til we got home. Had to reschedule a doctor appt even though I tested negative. The FB group that I had joined had a fair share of colds, covid & flu, so not a surprise.

 

[Retiredmedic]

1 minute ago, sammee said:

I couldn't complain about the bed (this time). But had to cancel a family stopover on the way home. Husband started with sore throat, sneezing, etc. And now it's my turn. Not covid, back to the cruise crud. His driving was miserable. I was lucky enough to not have it hit til we got home. Had to reschedule a doctor appt even though I tested negative. The FB group that I had joined had a fair share of colds, covid & flu, so not a surprise.

 

Yes, my girlfriend started coming down with it Thursday night on the cruise, stay in the cabin on Friday and gave it to me on drive home. She is still affected by it, mine lasted two days. She saw niece yesterday who is a NP and was COVID negative also. 

[sammee]

6 minutes ago, Retiredmedic said:

Yes, my girlfriend started coming down with it Thursday night on the cruise, stay in the cabin on Friday and gave it to me on drive home. She is still affected by it, mine lasted two days. She saw niece yesterday who is a NP and was COVID negative also. 

Hope you both feel better. This was my 5th cruise since restart. Last time I got sick after cruise was Feb. 2019 on Oasis.