Way too crowded

Mardi Gras Cruise Review

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 16
Helpful Votes: 562

Overall rating:

4.2 out of 5
Verified Review
Mardi Gras

7 Night Western Caribbean (Port Canaveral Roundtrip)

Sail date: April 02, 2022

Ship: Mardi Gras

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 15343

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 2 years ago

Review summary

I hate writing negative cruise reviews, but I think it’s important to be aware that not everyone is suited for a Mardigras Cruise. You have to not mind the atmosphere of a busy amusement park, you have to embrace the idea of hurry up and wait, you have to be ok with loud music with loud resonating bass woofers and you must be prepared to deal with mass humanity up close and personal. There were some wonderful parts of the ship—The Bolt was amazing— but book all the times you want on day 1 or else you will be shut out of times. The entertainment — singers/actors were the best we have seen on 30+ cruises—the sound and light systems would be the envy of any theater. The guys mixing the sound must be deaf— allowing the music and vocals to be so loud and poorly balanced as to be painful to listen to at times. The pools were heavenly but could only be appreciated on port days when the ship was nearly empty. And all of Guys restaurants were wonderful. The elevators were so small and impossibly busy. The public bathroom doors were mind boggling— who designed the doors that wouldn’t close in a timely manner?— the guys just gave up and peed in the urinals with the doors wide open for all to watch. And then there were the doors to the outside that sometimes opened automatically and sometimes you had to locate the small button and press it about 3 times before the door would reluctantly open. As for me— I prefer a less crowded cruise— I hate to worry about not finding a seat when I want to watch a show or having to wait over an hour in order to eat dinner anywhere. And you also don’t need to mind the extra charges popping up everywhere. Everything is expensive— $22.00 for a digital picture. Probably would have bought most of our pictures in digital format and spent several hundred dollars if the prices had been more reasonable.

Embarkation

4 out of 5
Took about an hour— but considering that they were trying to get 5000+ people on board, not bad. If you get there before your boarding time-you wait in a separate line and you are admitted when there is a lull in people who are showing up on time for their appointments.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

2 out of 5
I was disappointed— with a few exceptions the food was really not great. Loved Guys burgers and Smokehouse though. The other issue is that it’s stressful knowing you have to stand in lines at most venues to get in. The Hub app was great but often underestimated the wait. Was unable to book Teppanyaki because was sold out before we even got on board the ship.

Rudi's Seagrill

3 out of 5

The quality of the food was more in line with what I expected from a main dining room— although desserts are beautifully presented.

Big Chicken by Shaq

4 out of 5

One of the better food venues on the ship. There were long lines on Sea Days— but the lines went quickly. The fried chicken was juicy.

Guy's Burger Joint

5 out of 5

Excellent as always. Line up of 100 people at opening but the grill was organized and we were served relatively quickly.

Guy's Pig & Anchor Bar-B-Que

5 out of 5

Thought this was the best restaurant on board for dinner. Unfortunately not on the hub app— so be prepared to wait 30 + minutes for a table. Excellent desserts. Banana bourbon pie was fantastic.

Palm Restaurant

3 out of 5

Average to below average comparing to dining rooms on similar cruise lines. Steak on formal night was pretty chewy.

Pizzeria del Capitano

4 out of 5

Pizza is good as it usually is on Carnival ships and they work hard to keep the lines down— very popular though so be prepared to wait. Not open 24/7.

Lido Marketplace

3 out of 5

Long lines for sea days breakfast. About 20 minutes for an omelet. No waiters to bring coffee or juice like other cruise lines. Limited selection of food. Have to dodge children running up and down the aisles and check your salt shakers before using them (several times ruined our food because the tops were loose).

Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse

4 out of 5

The best extra cost specialty restaurant. Took an hour to get thru the first appetizer. Had to return the steak because it was well done instead of medium rare. Sides took so long to come that we had already finished our steaks. (Our waitress admitted she had lost our order for sides so just brought us a few of everything— I was too tired to mention that she forgot the onion rings I had ordered). After dinner coffee was cold and the sugar container she brought was empty.

Emeril’s Bistro 1396

3 out of 5

Went there for breakfast to try the banana foster crepes— definitely not worth paying extra for. Never crowded because most folks didn’t want to pay for this venue.

Cucina del Capitano

3 out of 5

Food was just Ok. After being seated sat there for about 15 minutes before the waitress came by. Clearly— they were understaffed— many uncleared tables despite lots of people waiting for their table. (We waited 30 minutes longer than the Hub app initially indicated.) My kids were hoping for a more typical Italian restaurant experience— for example they would have liked to order spaghetti with the chicken Parmesan. Again food wasn’t particularly warm and appeared to have been sitting for a while before we got it. No kids menu and were told couldn’t order “regular Carnival food” even though the salmon etc was on the last page of the menu.

Chibang!

2 out of 5

Our food was served cold (the beef broccoli) and other food was undercooked (lobster tail). Took 20 minutes to get soda after it was ordered.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5
Lots of on board activities. However the 4 “public” pools were jam packed full of bodies on sea days. The Lido main pool was so cloudy by noon that only kids were brave enough to go in. Really not enough pool space for the number of people on the ship. Loved the ropes course, the slides, the mini golf, and the football and other games tables.

Serenity Adult-Only area

4 out of 5

Only went on port days because of how crowded it was on sea days. People were literally shoulder to shoulder in the water. All were surprised the bar doesn’t open until noon.

Tides Pool and whirlpool

5 out of 5

Another nice but very crowded pool. Liked that carnival has lifeguards on duty.

Summer Landing

5 out of 5

Beautiful infinity pool area— less crowded due to others due to being windy. No towels available.

Waterworks Aqua Park

3 out of 5

Small area— the slides are nice but enjoyment limited by lines.

Mardi Gras Casino

4 out of 5

Beautiful casino. Very busy. Smoking section was very smoky and smelly.

Children's Programs

5 out of 5
Excellent friendly programming. Were shut out several times because of too many kids signed up.

The Warehouse

5 out of 5

Nice selection of arcade games.

Service and Staff

4 out of 5
Overall excellent service but sometimes the ship seemed understaffed.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5
Beautiful clean ship. Main theater smaller than usual. I really miss not having a promenade for walking that allows one to walk around the ship.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5
Very clean— however skinnier than the usual carnival balcony cabin. Can’t open the cabin door if someone is coming from the bathroom or standing in front of the closet. Enough closet space for 2. Our family was also in the room next door and the bed for the 3rd person (the couch) is only really appropriate for a child. An adult would not fit unless very short. Loved the extended balcony. Excellent room steward although I still like it better when the room is cleaned twice a day. The location midship and just under the lido was a major error —I just took what the cruise consultant recommended and we ended up hearing and feeling the loud pulsating bass from the deafening music that played both during the day and at night.

Ship tip

Book restaurants and shore excursions before embarkation. Bring ear plus if you are noise sensitive.

Ports of call

Costa Maya (Mahahual), Mexico

5 out of 5

Cozumel, Mexico

5 out of 5

Mahogany Bay, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras

5 out of 5

Port Canaveral, Florida

5 out of 5

Traveler Photos

Ropes course Mini golf
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