Cruise Squad Family Vacation 2022
Mardi Gras Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 36
7 Night Eastern Caribbean (Port Canaveral Roundtrip)
Sail date: July 16, 2022
Ship: Mardi Gras
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 10476
Traveled as: Family (older children)
Reviewed: 2 years ago
Review summary
Beautiful ship, very clean, great staff, many food options, and unique activities, like the only cruise ship with a roller coaster! Ship was however very crowded at full capacity, especially at elevators & theaters! Despite requirements to be fully vaccinated & test negative 3 days prior to travel, I feel it was a Covid super spreader! By the end of the cruise many people were coughing, 4 out of our group of 11 tested positive, & in the Facebook group for our sailing MANY people posted & commented they had Covid upon return!Embarkation
When we arrived at the scheduled time, they were not boarding the ship yet so all the groups in front of us were in a holding room, then we got in a line that didn’t move & waited for quite some time. Once they allowed boarding, the process moved very quickly, we were able to check in with our VeriFLY & documents, & board the ship.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
I would say the greatest thing about the Mardi Gras was the number of dining choices, but we didn’t get to try them all! We enjoyed going to the Palm dining room, especially for sea day brunch, tried both Chibang & Cucina for dinner which were very good, had Big Chicken, empanadas at Javablue, Pig & Anchor, & pizza & paninis. My husband really wanted to try Guy’s Burgers, but didn’t make it. For so many people on that massive ship, I was impressed we never waited more than 10 mins for a table for our group of 11 in the dining room. However once seated, often times there was a delay for service. We were considerate of the staffing issues & enjoyed visiting with family while waiting. I would say our least favorite food was the Buffett. Some things were ok, but several were tasteless & lesser quality than I expected. I quickly learned not to eat lunch at the buffet, to go to one of the many alternatives. We would grab breakfast there on port days out of convenience, I’d get a made to order omelette, which was good.
Onboard Activities
We enjoyed the pools, though they were very crowded so we tried to avoid the main pool on lido. The water slides, ropes course & zip lining, & Bolt roller coaster were awesome! I think this is the first time ever I didn’t use the spa on a cruise, though I did try to book a couples massage. There was availability, but I thought the price was unreasonable so I declined. As far as scheduled activities during sea days, I did find the options disappointing compared to previous cruises. Typically I can’t fit in all the scheduled activities I want to do, but on this ship there wasn’t a lot of scheduled daily activities that I found interesting. However, I can’t say this was necessarily bad, as it allowed time to explore the massive ship, have some down time to relax, & do the listed activities above we enjoyed! We did want to do mini golf, but didn’t get a chance. I was disappointed in the stores, all the expensive jewelry & watches don’t interest me. I was surprised they had a big watch store on a newer ship, most people use smart watches these days. Also disappointed in the size & limited merchandise in the shop with Carnival souvenirs, first time ever I didn’t buy anything! The “special” sales were disappointing as well. No discounted T-shirt sale. The $10 sale is usually my favorite, but it was on a small cart, the items were unappealing, & poor quality. So many of the jewelry pieces were broken such as several necklaces not attached at the center, earrings missing off the ear hook, etc.
Entertainment
I was somewhat disappointed in the entertainment. A lot of singing shows without much entertainment / show to go along with it. I love magic, but was very disappointed by the magic shows! One we left before it was over & the other I fell asleep. A huge stage, theater, & audience needs big, wow you magic, not card tricks that you have to watch on a monitor. The cruise director was great, I loved his energy! Every time he was on stage, it was entertaining! Family Feud was the best, followed by love & marriage! The last night we came from dinner & caught the tail end of a show with props all over the theater, aerial acts, & a good performance….I was like this is what I’ve been waiting on all week!
Children's Programs
My 13 y/o daughter & 14 y/o niece went to Circle C every evening & absolutely loved it! My daughter said it was “amazing!”
Service and Staff
Top notch! Very friendly, helpful, & attentive! As mentioned above we did have some long delays in the main dining room, apparently due to staffing issues, however thankfully I was prepared to expect this from Facebook comments & we were considerate of it.
Ship Quality
For being just a huge ship, I actually felt it was the easiest to learn & navigate of any I’ve been on! Everything was very clean!
Cabin / Stateroom
Of course cruise cabins are expected to be small, but I really thought all of the storage options really helped with organization & not feeling as cramped / cluttered. I loved that all of suitcases so easily stored under the bed, out of the way for the week. The room was cool, bed comfortable, & liked the sliding shower & balcony doors. Online tips of a clear over the door shoe organizer & magnetic hooks for the walls helped with organization as well.
Ship tip
Get to the shows early, the theaters fill up!
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
No excursions, as we live a few hours from there & visit the area from time to time. The port was nice & efficient, the on-site parking was very convenient.
We were all disappointed that the itinerary was changed from Puerto Rico to Nassau of all places that could have been chosen, which most cruisers have been to many times. However, we bought day tickets through Resort Pass for the Fins Up water park at the new Margaritaville resort & had a fabulous time! Their restaurant was disappointing! Once seated, we waited forever for service, forever for our overpriced food, & it was quite tasteless!
Amber Cove (Puerto Plata), Dominican Republic
First time here & loved it! We booked the 12 waterfalls tour through Iguana Mama on TripAdvisor. The mountain climb was gruesome & challenging, but so worth it for the experience once you arrived! Cliff jumping or sliding down the waterfalls into water between rock walls, then swimming & walking through the water rushing through the rock walls - one of the top experiences of my life! Afterwards we enjoyed the pools & slides at the port. We wanted to zip line, but didn’t get a chance. Crowded, but a very nice, free port area!
First time & loved it! The water was absolutely beautiful there! We did an am tour of taking our daughter for a private horse riding on the beach through Sunset Rides & Tours, which we found online & TripAdvisor. Guy picked us up in a dinky, crappy car & took us to the horses, which they had waiting along the road outside of their facility. We got on & had more riding through the town & streets to get to the beach, than actual beach riding. Once we got to the beach, rode along it & in the water, it was great. We were allowed to swim about 15 min., water & views were gorgeous! Afterwards shopped at the port, really liked the unique stores with not your typical souvenirs. We went back on the ship for lunch, then got off to swim & snorkel at the beach right by the ships. Water shoes recommended, it’s very rocky!
Disembarkation
Quick & easy, no issues!