First time on Carnival- Awesome Ship & Experience

Item: Mardi Gras
Rating: 4.7
Author: lgf239

Mardi Gras Cruise Review

lgf239

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 2-3 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 33

Overall rating:

4.7 out of 5

7 Night Western Caribbean (Port Canaveral Roundtrip)

Sail date: January 08, 2022

Ship: Mardi Gras

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 16259

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 2 years ago

Review summary

Great cruise. Brand new ship with lots to do and abundance of dining options.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Garage parking was easy, plenty of porters available to check bags. Organized into lines separated by boarding times. We arrived after our boarding time and were able to walk right into terminal. Long line to check COVID travel documents, but moved very quickly thanks to many staffed check station. Security took 90 seconds. After security you walk to towards ship, scan face, and enter ship. Total of less than 30 min from parking to boarding ship. Staterooms were ready at about 13:00.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Good selection of dining options. Hours of operation vary per establishment and depending on day of sailing (day at sea, in port, etc).

Guy's Burger Joint

5 out of 5

Big hit. Delicious burgers and fries. Toppings and condiment bar. Great choice for lunch or early dinner. Hours usually have it closing around 17:00-18:00 so make sure to get there during the day before dinner time.

Big Chicken by Shaq

4 out of 5

Solid chicken choices. Can sometimes be hit or miss with how well chicken and fries are cooked. But free option so you can always go back to try again if you get a bad batch.

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Bolt coaster ($15/person) was a lot of fun and allows you two laps around track. You can control your own speed and each coaster car can seat two people, so you can choose to ride doubles with someone of ride separate. Water slides were solid, and included a drop box style slide. Ropes course was a lot of fun and free. Features a mini zip line section over the edge of ship. Many different pools including adults only pool in Serenity deck area. Put put golf area looked decent. Full sized basketball court and running track well maintained.

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Cruise Director Mike was awesome. Abundance of activities scheduled conveniently and all were high energy and entertaining. Shows basically every night utilizing Grand Central Center Stage and Mardi Gras Theater. Lots of cool technology features in Center Stage venue including aerial rigs, large panel LED screens, stage lights, lasers, and hazers. Entertainment staff were very talented.

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

Probably one of the biggest issues for many people were the elevators. There are 3 elevator bays (FWD, Mid, and AFT) with 6 elevators each. With a ship of this size, it seemed that there were not enough elevators/elevators cars were too small. Long waits for elevators.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Beautiful views, no noise issues, quick and easy access to Lido deck.

Ship tip

Be open minded with new experience, especially if you are used to other Carnival ships. I heard many comments from people that didn’t like how big the ship was, and the unfamiliar layout. The ship has a lot to offer. Make sure to attend the big events around the ship and let yourself have fun. Choose your time dining was very convenient to us so that we were able to attend the shows we wanted to see, as well as dine when we were hungry.

Thumbs up