AMAZING 1ST CRUISE!!

Mardi Gras Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)
Reviews: 2
Helpful Votes: 38

Overall rating:

5 out of 5
Mardi Gras

7 Night Western Caribbean (Port Canaveral Roundtrip)

Sail date: November 27, 2021

Ship: Mardi Gras

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 9348

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 2 years ago

Review summary

We had a great time....I would recommend trying different things that you think you may like. We will be booking the Mardi Gras again....LOVED IT!!

Embarkation

5 out of 5
We had passport/vaccination card pulled and ready to go along with the boarding pass

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5
Buffet small and decent, main dining room (didn't care for it), Specialty restaurants AWESOME!! Only bad was Rudi's too much mayo in stuffed lobster and crab cakes, and picked at least 10 shells out of my mouth from stuffed lobster....otherwise everything else tasted wonderful, staff was nice but very slow. Chef's Table, Carnival Kitchen, Steakhouse, Emerils (needed a little more spice) but fabulous, Chibang was AWESOME (except for 1 thing they sat us a party of 2 at a table for 4 and put two strangers very close to us...can't wear masks while eating), couple was very nice though. Although tables are close at other venues, this was way too close (if you can reach over and lick someone's face...it's too close in a pandemic). Even though we test a couple days before the Radisson was hosting a Tiki Party for people staying before the Mardi Gras cruise (you don't need a test for this and they are not checking)? Just food for thought

Chibang!

4 out of 5

Dined here twice and it was fabulous both times!! Red Dragon was really good too! On second seating wished they hadn't seated us next to strangers (yes we were right on top of each other, kinda risky in a pandemic?). I'm fine with close seating, but this was uncomfortably close for eating with no masks

Palm Restaurant

3 out of 5

Not the best service and food was ok, didn't care for location if you have sea sickness. When I asked for Latte instead of coffee, the waiter says ....same thing referring to Latte and coffee was the same (he looked annoyed that I wanted Latte). Tried again and still not impressed?

Lido Marketplace

4 out of 5

Loved the convenience, food wasn't as good as some of the other options but service was great and I liked better than the MDR

Rudi's Seagrill

3 out of 5

Although we had very good items, they missed on stuffed lobster, crab cakes, and slow service. They had some really great things too Muscles, bisque, beef tartar (complement from the chef), bread, lobster mac and cheese was good just too runny for my taste. Servers were friendly

Limelight Lounge

4 out of 5

Enjoyed the comedian, but the lady next to me sounded AWFUL!! I could hear all kinds of stuff in her chest and it really made me nervous...I can't believe she was sitting next to people in a closed in public space? She should have been tested and it was not just sick, she was really sick!

Alchemy Bar

5 out of 5

Was very crowded (only went to once), got a table close (was hoping for bar), waitress was very friendly brought out nets, olives, and cheese...very good, also our drinks were really good!! Will go to more on our next cruise!

Pizzeria del Capitano

4 out of 5

Pizza was pretty good and open 24 hours, wished they offered Jalapeno's

JavaBlue Cafe

5 out of 5

Loved the selection of coffee...we had the latte and tried the mexican and irish coffee

The Brass Magnolia

5 out of 5

Nathan was AWESOME....Best Hurricane's and Sazerac ever!! So friendly...really enjoyed talking to him!

Redfrog Tiki Bar

5 out of 5

Viktoria and Yudhi were so attentive and always friendly, the drinks were great! Can't say enough nice things about them

Cucina del Capitano

4 out of 5

We really enjoyed, wouldn't order the appetizers that I picked again, but husbands was really good

The Chef's Table

5 out of 5

The Chef's Table was AMAZING!!! Will attend the Chef's Table ever cruise, because we loved it so much!! Executive Chef and staff were top notch!

Street Eats

5 out of 5

Always spot on...friendly service, fresh, and tasty!

Guy's Burger Joint

5 out of 5

Really enjoyed...the burgers were great and even had peppers on the toppings bar

Fortune Teller Bar

5 out of 5

Loved all the different drink options, they were a lot of fun!! So glad we got the cheers package!

Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse

5 out of 5

Service excellent, food excellent, everything was just amazing

Emeril’s Bistro 1396

5 out of 5

Everything was really good, the only thing I would change is more spice added

Brass Magnolia Bar

5 out of 5

Best Hurricane and Sazerac ever...Nathan nailed it!! :)

Big Chicken by Shaq

4 out of 5

We stopped here 1st and ordered Uncle Jerrome, and Shaq Attack (they were ok, but nothing special) fries were good in the evening. Tried chicken and biscuit and it was fabulous, but fries were cold.

Bar della Rosa

5 out of 5

Stopped by a couple of times for wine, and got a few latte's while we waited to disembark....excellent service and latte's, and wine were fabulous!! Highly recommend

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5
Comedy club, Let's make a deal, Bingo, Carnival Kitchen were all fabulous!!! I do wish there were more comedy, or Let's make a deal and Bingo during the day. Most things we wanted to do were at night.

Guest Services

5 out of 5

They were so helpful...just amazing

Summer Landing

2 out of 5

Guys Pig and Anchor for breakfast was not good at all, so we didn't bother for dinner.

Mardi Gras Casino

5 out of 5

Had fun and gambled a little, they even had scratchers that went into a drawing

Entertainment

5 out of 5
The violin players at the Brass Magnolia was fabulous, and we saw pieces of practicing for a couple shows. My husband had a slight case of motion sickness at the beginning of the cruise, until we figured it out

Punchliner Comedy Club

5 out of 5

Only missed one comedian...really enjoyed all the shows but one comedian was pretty brutal on one family up front (enjoyed his PG show), I just felt so sorry for one family in late night show that it was hard to enjoy their misery. They had been sitting front row every night for 3 nights that we witnessed after the show I'm referring to, they moved to 4th row (they were a really nice family).

Mardi Gras Theater

3 out of 5

Only time we went to theater was for a shopping show and didn't care for it (way too long). If you have sea sickness wear your band, husband didn't feel well after being in there for a long time

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
Nathan and Viktoria @ the brass magnolia fabulous, our room steward Kun Kun fabulous, the staff @ Emeril's fabulous (they waved at us when we walked through), Yudhi @ Tiki Rum bar was sooo awesome! The Executive Chef Joaquim Dias@ the Chef's table 1st night, and the staff, and Carnival Kitchen pasta class AMAZING!!!

Ship Quality

5 out of 5
My husband had motion sickness when we stayed too long @ the front or back of the ship...Thankfully the design of the ship was great for what we enjoyed doing!! Loved it so much...looking @ rebooking the same ship!

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Cabin was on the small size, and the bathroom was tight but loved the shower door and the bar for shaving and the removeable shower head. Wish they had switched the toilet paper and the tissues for more convenience, and the balcony was fabulous!

Ship tip

Splurge on specialty dining, and don't bother with MDR (disappointing)! I saw a lot of Carnival cruisers that had been on a lot of Carnival ships and one thing a lot said was they didn't like MDR or buffet, but there are a lot of options on this ship. Also...if you have motion sickness and my time dining, the MDR was at the back of ship (my husband didn't feel well after dining here because of motion sickness)

Ports of call

Port Canaveral, Florida

5 out of 5
Stayed here at Hampton Inn Cocoa Beach, staff was friendly, place was clean, and we had beautiful view. No excursion here

Cozumel, Mexico

5 out of 5
LOVED IT....We did a private excursion with Leon travels our drivers was JC and he was excellent and took us where we wanted to go. Tequila museum, local place with hand made tortillas over a campfire, took us to see the ruins and had a private guide....Just amazing!!

Costa Maya (Mahahual), Mexico

5 out of 5
We did this excursion through Carnival it was the VIP ruins tour (less people so you could get to know the one's in your party). Very good excursion

Mahogany Bay, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras

5 out of 5
We booked a tour through Charlies excursion and he sent us out with Dave (Dave was very nice and took us everywhere we wanted), We went to the animal park and loved the sloths, monkeys, and macaws (only 4 of us in the pary) we held the sloth, and went into the monkey cage (lots of fun), we went in the cage with the Macaws and held them too!! Drove around the island, went on a rum tour, and went to the chocolate factory!! Highly recommend and ask for Dave!

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
Very smooth, and we are 1st time cruisers
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13 Comments

Cruisers4Lyfe     3 months ago

Thanks for sharing

k9nurse011    2 years ago

Great review!! I loved Nathan too!

kelskazoo22    2 years ago

Great review! Especially the chef’s table!

Pheznt55    2 years ago

Thank you for the review. We’re staying at the Radisson in August before our cruise.

izrgreen    2 years ago

Thank you for taking the time to write a review

CurlyCruiserYAY    2 years ago

picalo    2 years ago

I am so impressed with Radisson for throwing that Tiki party... super cool thing to do... I guess that is part of what makes them the goto port canaveral hotel... thanks for review.

byhisgrace    2 years ago

Thank you for your review. We are boarding the Mardi gras on January 8th and can't wait

hollysmomtravel    2 years ago

Glad you enjoyed it

cruising2004    2 years ago

Thank you for sharing your experience

javawoody    2 years ago

Thanks for the update

AuntPinkie    2 years ago

Appreciate your detailed review. Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

GalenB    2 years ago

I'm glad you had a wonderful time. I have a cruise booked for April, and I'm ready for it.

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