Pirate’s LIVE Mardi Gras Review…11/12/22-11/19/22

[fozzy1975]

Great review! We leave on the 19th when you get back! So excited! Do you know if there is a watering whole bar on the ship

[pirate4me2]

3 hours ago, fozzy1975 said:

Great review! We leave on the 19th when you get back! So excited! Do you know if there is a watering whole bar on the ship

Here ya go!

I’ll try and leave some fun onboard for you 🙂 

[aml3679]

We usually sail Celebrity.

 

That being said, we live less than 3 hours from Port Canaveral.

 

We just got off the Freedom and had a great time.

 

The cruise bug hit hard.

 

Booked the Mardi Gras for a week next April.

 

Will be following 

 

 

[pirate4me2]

Sea Day #1 consisted of a lot of nothing and drinking. 😂

I sat on the balcony until 1245 reading, then headed up to Serenity. I stopped by Time Fries on my way, they had chili cheesesteak fries! Heck yeah! I got some and paraded up to Serenity and nabbed a lounger. There were TONS available, most in the sun. I ordered a Skinny Fizz, then got in line at Fresh Creations to get some veggies to go with it. I love the salad bar addition! They had nearly anything you could want in a salad available. 
I went back to the cabin around 2 when it started to rain to check on DH, he was doing schoolwork but was needing brain food so we headed to Lido to find him

some grub. He wanted Shaq’s, and I decided to try the Shaq Attack sammich, minus cheese. It was AWESOME. 
We spent the afternoon after that at Alchemy with Zoltan, who is a freaking awesome mixologist! He made me a Deal Closer (just as awesome as I remember it being), The Remedy (yum), The Pain Relief (holy moly it was strong) and a Cucumber Sunrise (so light, crisp and refreshing!). To close out my time there he made a creamy coconut martini, and oh my gosh y’all…that’s my new go-to drink onboard! It was PHENOMENAL! 
Now to try and get ready for dinner at Rudi’s. It’s elegant night…can I apply makeup drunk? Let’s give it a whirl! 

[pirate4me2]

Uh oh…better choose my next 4 wisely!!! 

[pirate4me2]

Ok…im 12 drinks in on my drink package now, excuse my typos! I’m not driving the ship tho, so it’s ok! 
dinner tonight was at Rudi’s Seagrille, after our preparty at Alchemy. They gave me a “free” bottle of Merlot y’all! This is in ADDITION to my Cheers package! Needless to say…it was consumed by the end of dinner. 
For starters, I had the scallops (freaking delicious!) and DH had calamari (tender). I did  the seafood bisque (ok, not great) then the crabcake (realllllly goooood!) and some kinda side (yuk) for my main, the the chocolate cake (moist and delicious but suuuuper Rich!) for dessert. 
oh yeah…by da way, I was obsessed with the cute plates at Rudi’s, so there are pics of those. 😂

[pirate4me2]

Fortune Teller drinks will be the death of my Cheers package tonight! We came here at 8:11 and made friends with a bartender who gave us a card for a “private event” tonight…oh crud.  I can hardly walk to the event! I’m too toasted! 
Anyway, drink review:

Abracadabra: good, but not my favorite 

New Moon: strong, but good! My new favorite from the menu!

lime in the coconut: good, but the new moon easily trumps it 
 

[mkcurran]

Private event? This is getting interesting.

[pirate4me2]

Ok  so…tonight’s events…

M Theory in the Mardi Gras Theater didn’t keep our attention. Left after 5 minutes.

Went to the Fortune Teller Bar where I’m shameless to say I maxed out on Cheers! 😳 The Bohemian Treat is very,  very good, and Vera and Aylin are very, very good bartenders!

The private event we were given a card to attend is a speakeasy in the Liquid Lounge (right above FT Bar), it has jazz music, drink specials, and im not sure what else…at 10:50 I said “take me drunk, I’m home.” I don’t know what we did to get an invite, a bartender from FT who we had yesterday and today gave us the invite, 

[pirate4me2]

View from 14502 tonight 

[ZoeyVictoria]

We were in 14486, very close to your cabin, in September 2021.  We could here (and feel) the Bolt running, could even tell when the “boost” button was pushed.  It sounded like it was running through our closet, but apparently the white space in that area is where the Bolt is fastened to the framework of the ship.  The hours it runs aren’t too bad and it amused us rather than bothered us, just curious if you can hear it or feel the vibrations?

[pirate4me2]

9 hours ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

We were in 14486, very close to your cabin, in September 2021.  We could here (and feel) the Bolt running, could even tell when the “boost” button was pushed.  It sounded like it was running through our closet, but apparently the white space in that area is where the Bolt is fastened to the framework of the ship.  The hours it runs aren’t too bad and it amused us rather than bothered us, just curious if you can hear it or feel the vibrations?

I hadn’t noticed it at all, I will try and keep an ear out to see if I notice it now. 

[Jelly_Toast]

Thanks for your review so far.  I'm taking notes on all your cocktails, so many are new to me I feel like I will be indulging a bit extra this cruise.

[pirate4me2]

1 hour ago, Jelly_Toast said:

Thanks for your review so far.  I'm taking notes on all your cocktails, so many are new to me I feel like I will be indulging a bit extra this cruise.

Oh my gosh I’ve been indulging more as well. I’m glad I packed a thing of Tums! 

[pirate4me2]

Finally got DH up and we went to SeaDay Brunch again, after getting our magical life-giving juice. I opted for an iced moccachino this morning, it was delicious but went down too easily! 
For breakfast I got the eggs Benedict, no ham or salmon, and a side of pork sausage. The eggs Benedict was delicious, gosh I wish I could make that back home…the hollandaise (however you spell that) sauce always messes me up. The sausage tho…yuck. Is that really pork sausage??? 

[PortSideCruzan]

Hi @pirate4me2🙂

 

Be sure to try a 'Mocha Chocolate Getaway' on deck 6 mid-ship at the bar in the 3-deck high space of 'Grand Central', called 'Center Stage Bar'.

 

The ingredients are: Irish cream; Dark rum; Butterscotch Schnapps; Kahlua; Ice cream & Chocolate syrup. YUM!

 

(Special Note & Tip)

Center Stage Bar also features specialty cocktails inspired by the theme of that particular evenings entertainment🎶🎸

 

 

 

 

🍹🍷🥂🍾🍻🍹🍷🍸🍺🍾🍷🥂🍸🍹

[pirate4me2]

7 minutes ago, PortSideCruzan said:

Hi @pirate4me2🙂

 

Be sure to try a 'Mocha Chocolate Getaway' on deck 6 mid-ship at the bar in the 3-deck high space of 'Grand Central', called 'Center Stage Bar'.

 

The ingredients are: Irish cream; Dark rum; Butterscotch Schnapps; Kahlua; Ice cream & Chocolate syrup. YUM!

 

(Special Note & Tip)

Center Stage Bar also features specialty cocktails inspired by the theme of that particular evenings entertainment🎶🎸

 

 

 

 

🍹🍷🥂🍾🍻🍹🍷🍸🍺🍾🍷🥂🍸🍹

Oh I loooooove Mocha Chocolate Getaways! That was one of my first drinks ever on a CCL ship. 😋 

[pirate4me2]

We have been out & about this morning doing different things. First off, after brunch we went to The Wave morning show in the Mardi Gras theater hosted by KFire and a member of her fun squad. Immediately after that was the Mardi Gras king & queen auditions, which was entertaining to watch. 
We came back to the room for some balcony time after that. One thing I forgot to mention that was new to me was that our room steward ONLY offers morning service. He works from 8 am to 2 pm each day he said, so no option at all of evening service. That’s usually my preference as I like to sleep in on vacation. He said just to make sure we put the Snoozin sign out each night and then take it off when we leave for breakfast, which isn’t a huge deal but I almost forgot last night to put it out. Oh well. He’s a great steward, our room is tidy and he’s leaving me my towel animals to collect for the week 🙂 

[pirate4me2]

Had a late lunch (3:30) from the Piazza Panini. It was a crazy long line (16 people ahead of us) and took about 20 minutes to get thru. The line was still building as we sat down with our sandwiches too. 😳 I have to say, I was disappointed in my choices. I couldn’t decide between the Caprese, my usual go to, or the Sicilia, so I decided to get both a nibble a bit of each. The Sicilia had good flavor, but was soggy. The Caprese was just bland all together. I think I miss the regular deli on other CCL ships. 
We headed to Pig & Anchor for a few drinks and check out the Backyard Bash. The Smokey watermelon Margarita was different, in a good way! I also decided to try one of Carnival’s hard seltzers, and Danggit, now I’m going to be spoiled…I really liked the berry hibiscus!!

[pirate4me2]

We headed to Alchemy at about 4:45 to hang out with Zoltan. He made me another creamy coconut martini (these things are ADDICTING!) and then threw a twist my way…why not add chocolate to it? Uh, yes please!! After that one I asked him to make me something coffee flavored, and he delivered. 😋

[pirate4me2]

Much to my dismay, Zoltan swapped ends of the bar with another Alchemist, Jakub, about 545. What?! How can you abandon me Zoltan??? Fine, fine, I’ll give Jakub a try. I asked him for a “sexy water” to help me rehydrate, along with a drink that was not too sweet, and refreshing. He asked me a few questions to see what I liked, then said he had an idea. Whatever he came up with (it’s blue) was good! 
As we were drinking, the string players were playing a deck below us, and wow…they are great! They went from playing Despacito to All of Me to Stairway to Heaven and more. They’re amazing!

At 6:21 we decided we needed food to soak up some alcohol, and we decided that Italian was calling our names. I checked us in on the Hub app, it said a 20-30 minute wait. That was wayyyyy better then Chibang, which was a 50-70 minute wait! At 7:10 we got the notice our table was ready, so we climbed up the 1 floor to Cucina. 
Saung was our server, and she was really sweet! I couldn’t decide between the caprese, which is my old favorite, or arancini for my starter, so I got both. The caprese disappointed me, it was not as delicious as I remember, but the arancini was great! I’m so glad I got it! For my main I got my old favorite, the chicken parm, with a side of spinach. That spinach y’all…just bring me a big old bowl of that and call me Popeye! It was garlicky and freaking amazing. The chicken parm was ok, not great….I remember it being thinner, and more tender, this one was thicker and a bit tough. I didn’t go hungry tho. I only managed to eat half of it! 
Now for the funny part. I ordered the tirimusu (however you spell it) for dessert. It came out and I went to dig in…but it was frozen! What. The. Heck. I took my spoon to it and was stabbing it like a mad woman, trying to break it apart, as DH stared at me in horror. Then he busted out laughing and I paused, spoon mid-air. What are you laughing at, turdhole? Think this is funny? Then I saw out of the corner of my eye a bar server staring at me and trying not to

laugh. Oh crap!

Luckily the server didn’t call security on the madwoman brutally stabbing her innocent dessert. He took my spoon and tested the dessert himself, then shook his head and took it to somebody wearing a top hat and asked if it was suppose to be that way. They whisked it away and he told me a new one was on the way, and when it came out, it was nice and soft. Yay!! 
 

[pirate4me2]

After dinner we walked to Grand Central for KFire’s Guess that Groove at 8:30. We got front row seats, heck yeah! We hung there for Deal or No Deal as well, then headed back to Alchemy to see what Zoltan and Jakub could whip up for us. I gave Jakub creative freedom, first requesting something cucumber-y, to which he made me a drink with a PICKLE in it. Where the heck did he have a pickle hidden behind that bar?? It worked tho, it was different, but GOOD! Then I told him I just wanted dessert in a glass, it would be my last drink, and he made me this amazing concoction with cinnamon crème, chocolate, and other ingredients. It was PERFECT! 

[IntrepidFromDC]

23 minutes ago, pirate4me2 said:

Much to my dismay, Zoltan swapped ends of the bar with another Alchemist, Jakub, about 545. What?! How can you abandon me Zoltan??? Fine, fine, I’ll give Jakub a try. I asked him for a “sexy water” to help me rehydrate, along with a drink that was not too sweet, and refreshing. He asked me a few questions to see what I liked, then said he had an idea. Whatever he came up with (it’s blue) was good! 
As we were drinking, the string players were playing a deck below us, and wow…they are great! They went from playing Despacito to All of Me to Stairway to Heaven and more. They’re amazing!

At 6:21 we decided we needed food to soak up some alcohol, and we decided that Italian was calling our names. I checked us in on the Hub app, it said a 20-30 minute wait. That was wayyyyy better then Chibang, which was a 50-70 minute wait! At 7:10 we got the notice our table was ready, so we climbed up the 1 floor to Cucina. 
Saung was our server, and she was really sweet! I couldn’t decide between the caprese, which is my old favorite, or arancini for my starter, so I got both. The caprese disappointed me, it was not as delicious as I remember, but the arancini was great! I’m so glad I got it! For my main I got my old favorite, the chicken parm, with a side of spinach. That spinach y’all…just bring me a big old bowl of that and call me Popeye! It was garlicky and freaking amazing. The chicken parm was ok, not great….I remember it being thinner, and more tender, this one was thicker and a bit tough. I didn’t go hungry tho. I only managed to eat half of it! 
Now for the funny part. I ordered the tirimusu (however you spell it) for dessert. It came out and I went to dig in…but it was frozen! What. The. Heck. I took my spoon to it and was stabbing it like a mad woman, trying to break it apart, as DH stared at me in horror. Then he busted out laughing and I paused, spoon mid-air. What are you laughing at, turdhole? Think this is funny? Then I saw out of the corner of my eye a bar server staring at me and trying not to

laugh. Oh crap!

Luckily the server didn’t call security on the madwoman brutally stabbing her innocent dessert. He took my spoon and tested the dessert himself, then shook his head and took it to somebody wearing a top hat and asked if it was suppose to be that way. They whisked it away and he told me a new one was on the way, and when it came out, it was nice and soft. Yay!! 
 

That blue drink does look intriguing!  I also love caprese and from that photo the fresh mozzarella looks good, but the tomatoes look substandard!

[allinwonderland]

You got some awesome Alchemy drinks! I pretty much always said "fruity and vodka-based" when I did an off-the-menu one but I gotta get more creative next time.

[pirate4me2]

29 minutes ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

That blue drink does look intriguing!  I also love caprese and from that photo the fresh mozzarella looks good, but the tomatoes look substandard!

Yeah, it just was not what I remember their caprese being. Oh well, better luck next time I hope! 

24 minutes ago, allinwonderland said:

You got some awesome Alchemy drinks! I pretty much always said "fruity and vodka-based" when I did an off-the-menu one but I gotta get more creative next time.

It has been so fun giving them creative freedom, and I think both Jakub and Zoltan appreciate it.