Fresh off the Mardi Gras-thoughts & review

[RoperDK]

16 hours ago, PaulMedik said:

 

You steward has few assigned rooms and more to detail.

Our cabin steward had the standard number of rooms assigned.  Our Ocean Suite had no extra servicing at all.  Our OS was one of those OT rounded balcony staterooms so there were really no other suites in that area.  

[Drazil65]

But I think this may be by design so that people don't have the opportunity to ask about the time they service the room. We still have gotten pretty good service though.

 

We have been on 3 different ships since restart and MG was the last one in December in an OS.  I am glad you still got good service overall but we were asked on each ship (first day) when we wanted to have cabin serviced.  Right down to the time preference (we prefer dinner time as we know we will be gone from the room by 6 pm each evening).  We always ask for a fresh bucket of ice when they service the cabin so that we have for that night, no issues getting it.  We have done this for years well before covid,  we have no reason to get cabin serviced more than once a day.  We would actually find more than once a day slightly intrusive truthfully.  

[kelkel2]

21 hours ago, cheermom2four said:

We are in this exact cabin Sept 2nd cruise!  Thanks for the review as this will be our first Carnival cruise as we've done 4 Disney and 1 Princess but decided to expand our cruising. 

I think this cabin is perfect for a family with kids. I don’t think you’ll regret it. It did have a pull down extra bed, but I didn’t trust my kids on it, so we left it up and they shared the couch. They were fine with one on either end. 

[kelkel2]

20 hours ago, RoperDK said:

Our cabin steward had the standard number of rooms assigned.  Our Ocean Suite had no extra servicing at all.  Our OS was one of those OT rounded balcony staterooms so there were really no other suites in that area.  

Correct. That’s how ours was. The only suite in that area.

As far as the extra tips go, I just assumed it’s because the room is bigger and maybe requires more of their time? But I will say I don’t believe service was any better than you would get in any other cabin. At least it wasn’t on this cruise.

And I agree, I think Carnival has quietly changed the policy of giving you night or day service. We certainly weren’t asked.

[SmoothFlying]

12 hours ago, kelkel2 said:

And I agree, I think Carnival has quietly changed the policy of giving you night or day service. We certainly weren’t asked.

Then I guess me, my wife must be VSP guest, because on every one of our 20+ Carnival cruises, we've been asked what time would be agreeable for us either day/night. I leave it up to her, doesn't matter to me. Truth be known, all I want is the bathroom done and towels and sheets changed every three days, but hey I'm a man and I don't make my bed at home, so on vacation I'm easy-peasy. Course most women are different. soooo I'm speaking for myself, if ya know what I mean.

 

Mac

[sunkey1]

On 1/31/2023 at 9:15 AM, mistyinca said:

Regarding the cabin steward...I think they have quietly changed the policy about asking your time preference. The past 2 cruises, we were never greeted that first day like we used to be. We kind of had to seek her out to ask about daily ice. But I think this may be by design so that people don't have the opportunity to ask about the time they service the room. We still have gotten pretty good service though.

I think it depends on the steward. Both times we sailed on the Mardi Gras our stewards searched us out to find out our service preferences and any requests we had were fulfilled almost immediately. 

[PaulMedik]

On 1/31/2023 at 7:07 AM, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

Paul - HEY !

 

I don't see you on here too often 🙂

 

Tom

Hey Tom

 

Yeah I need to visit here more often.  Really miss the old atmosphere here.

[Thenagers]

On 1/29/2023 at 9:38 AM, kelkel2 said:

Fresh off the Mardi Gras here’s a few of my thoughts… sorry if this is scattered. I’ll try for it not to be.
We were in suite 14410, the room was lovely, although a bit narrow. I would have preferred the bed closer to the balcony to give more entry space into the room, but I don’t think the suites are ever set up that way. But, the extra living space with our 2 kids was perfect for our needs and totally worth the money.

 

IMG_5180.MOV 65.56 MB · 63 downloads  

 

 

I had this layout and prefered it.  It was nice to have more separation between the living/sleeping area and the main bed area for watching tv and if your kids are sleeping in the curtained off area? The closet area was a nice buffer sound wise considering it is all one room.

Edited April 16, 2023 by Thenagers

[Thenagers]

On 1/29/2023 at 9:40 AM, kelkel2 said:

Dining room- the first night was fantastic, fast service, food was great. First formal night took away too long. The last night we had a server who seemed new, so I totally understand that. But they brought our kids meals out with our appetizers and it took another hour for our meals to come. It’s really hard to keep 4 year olds occupied for that long and it really makes me not want to eat in the dining room. But my son is picky and it’s the only place we can get him the pb&j he wanted without paying $6 from
room service for it. 

Another thing- when they cleaned the balconies, they left standing water on ours, there is a drain but the water didn’t seem to want to travel towards the drain. It was just sitting there. So both of my kids went out on the balcony and immediately fell. We were promised someone would come with a squeegee and take care of it, no one showed. We ended up throwing towels down. Is that the fantastic service that we were promised as suite guests?? The fact that both of my kids slipped and fell and no one even cared just irritates me so much. 

Lido- I really miss something be available between meals. Even if it’s something small. I feel like basically between 2pm-6pm there was absolutely nothing on the buffet, it was completely shut down. It’s just hard when you have little kids and are returning to the ship and that stuff isn’t available. 

Street Eats- fantastic! Huge win! We loved it. The hours were kind of strange where at one point it didn’t open until 2pm. But the food was fantastic. 

Shaq’s chicken-fantastic and a favorite for my daughter. I love that it was strategically placed near the ice cream and pool! Last day had a pretty decent line but we got through to very quickly. 

Guy’s- wonderful as usual and I like the placement/set up of this location. Lines could be long at times but we gladly got in line and we’re very happy with how fast it moved. Those guys work really hard! 

Bars- I loved all the different options! And I loved that each bar offered different menus! Tides Bar was packed and understaffed. The bar tender there was phenomenal but he’s one person. He needed a helper. The whole tide’s area seemed like a hidden gem. It was never crowded. 

ATD- we didn’t take advantage of dining in the “other” venues. But the check in on the app was awesome! We didn’t have that on our last cruise and this was a huge improvement! It seems like closer to 6pm is the best time to check in to avoid the rush, and I noticed that those who sat down close to 6 got their food at the same time as us who were seated when it opened. So save yourself the struggle and go closer to 6. There were still plenty of tables. 

Is it too much to ask for a bar near Water Works?
My kids loved it and spent hours and hours up there! My daughter kept shouting “this is the best day ever!!” 

Kids club- my kids were in penguins. Patricia and Augustin were absolautly amazing. We will remember them for a long time. I really appreciate how they made me feel like they were going to care for my kids as if they were their own. Fantastic crew. My kids came back every night with some kind of project, facepaint, craft etc that they had done! 

Overall- the Mardi Gras is probably the best cruise we’ve ever done. We were pleasantly pleased that the ship never felt crowded. Everyone seemed to be spread out and even on a sea day we never struggledu to find a lounger or a chair near water works. We loved the ship and are thrilled to have a cruise booked on the Jubilee!

I actually was on the week before you and never went to the buffet.  I honestly did not want or need it with the other options? I even grabbed coffee and pastries in the casino each morning.  What a nice option from the chaos of lido!

[Thenagers]

On 1/30/2023 at 2:53 PM, Houst said:

Why do your tips more when staying in a suite if they don't do anything different? Like twice a day? Just wondering.

You get some perks. They do not advertise it enough but you do get 1 free bag of laundry.  It was nice because my husband had a work trip prior and was running out of certain items. We called our attendant and he picked it up and dropped it the next day.  Plus the Excel class ships do not have self serve laundry rooms. My room was ready on embarkment which I think is a good perk.  Our other cabin, an interior with Faster to Fun, was not ready until 1:30 although we could have left bags in there.  I think they do try to service the suites 1st. 

Edited April 16, 2023 by Thenagers