Mardi Gras Experience

Mardi Gras Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

jamacdonaldnh

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 30

Overall rating:

4.3 out of 5

7 Night Eastern Caribbean (Port Canaveral Roundtrip)

Sail date: April 23, 2022

Ship: Mardi Gras

Cabin type: Suite

Cabin number: 8257

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 2 years ago

Review summary

Mardi Gras is a nice ship. The Havana experience is better on the Horizon MDR is better on almost any other ship Shaq Chicken !!! soo good Serenity Area is huge, the best in the fleet. Room turndown is once a day, lunch dishes and dirty towels will be there all night long.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

Boarding was fine, the line was long but went quickly.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

The different neighborhoods of the ship are nice, and flow to and from each area is good. There are lines for everything but no more than you would expect. Cleanliness is good but it was clear that this ship was understaffed. Specialty dining was good but the wait staff was either new or had too much to do to provide the service level expected for a +$ experience. In the dining rooms they take your appetizer, main course and desert orders all at the same time. There are no options for side dishes, you just get what's on the plate. Portions are much smaller, and for some reason Carnival did away with the destination themed meals and cocktails. They used to have a daily meal and drink themed after the port you just visited. That's gone, just food with no particular theme.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Boot Camp classes are prohibitively expensive on the Mardi Gras.

Entertainment

4 out of 5

Entertainment is really good, the Central Stage has pretty much replaced the theater for music and dancing shows after dinner. We didn't even go to the theater.

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

Everyone on the ship was friendly, but it was very clear in the MDR that there were only two people working our section and they had more tables than they could handle. The MDR used to be our favorite un-wind dinner after a day of site seeing, but this trip was very rushed and disorganized. The wait staff was trying very hard, but unable to keep up.

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

The Mardi Gras is a cool ship, but Carnival has reduced many services so that the experience feels very generic. - rooms are cleaned once a day,

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

The Havana Suite is slightly larger than a regular Havana Cabana, what makes this room stand out is the other Suite amenities such as priority embarkation / debarkation and priority customer service lines.

Ship tip

If you are a long time Carnival sailor, the Mardi Gras will look like a sparkling new experience, however don't expect the same service as your past experience.

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