Incredible First Cruise Experience

Item: Mardi Gras
Rating: 4.7
Author: SopMat

Mardi Gras Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

SopMat

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 27

Overall rating:

4.7 out of 5

7 Night Western Caribbean (Port Canaveral Roundtrip)

Sail date: August 19, 2023

Ship: Mardi Gras

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 9383

Traveled as: Large Group

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

My first cruise but it wont be my last! I met people that told me I have ruined it for future cruises as this one was one of the best! They did not misinform me!

Embarkation

5 out of 5

extremely smooth, no line up no wait. Arrived at 10:30 on Lido deck with first drink at 11:05

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

The food was amazing in all restaurants, the Italian was superb, we did the Japanese and it did not disappoint, buffet had so many choices and was always being replenished

Guy's Burger Joint

5 out of 5

Loved the burgers and fries! Wish I had been able to come back again.

Guy's Pig & Anchor Smokehouse / Brewhouse

5 out of 5

Great atmosphere and they made one heck of a Bloody Mary!

Redfrog Tiki Bar

5 out of 5

I loved Miller at this bar. As busy as they were it never took too long to get your drink.

Pizzeria del Capitano

5 out of 5

If there was a line up it always went fast. Great pizza!

Piano Bar 88

5 out of 5

This ended being one of our nightly places to hang out. Sudarat the bar server was the BEST! Her memory was stunning!

JavaBlue Cafe

5 out of 5

This was our morning stop for a tea or spiked milkshake. The lady at the till was a beautiful person! Never a frown always smiling and called us Mamma or Mommy every time. LOVED HER!

Cucina del Capitano

5 out of 5

This meal was perfect! We had three servers who were all super attentive!

Bonsai Teppanyaki

4 out of 5

Great performance and food! Only concern was it was hard to hear our chef over the others because it is all so close together.

Big Chicken by Shaq

5 out of 5

OMG this chicken was amazing! I wanted to go back several times but there was so much to try on this ship!

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

I played deal or no deal, bingo, duck hunted, 90's Glow in the Dark, piano bar, love and marriage, family feud, bolt and ropes course, serenity deck, all pools except Havana - LOVED all that I did!

Waterworks Aqua Park

5 out of 5

What a great place for littles and adults. I enjoyed the water slides and splash area with some of the littles that were in our group.

Serenity Adult-Only area

5 out of 5

Such a peaceful spot in the early mornings I did not get to enjoy the pool here. I didn't see the salad bat here until the last day which I really enjoyed. Had I known this was where it was I would have ate here every day for lunch.

Guest Services

5 out of 5

Always accommodating and efficient. Wait line sometimes was long but we just chose to come back another time.

Entertainment

5 out of 5

incredible Broadway style shows were top notch, I loved the game shows too

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Our stateroom attendant, Tari, was such a funny and accommodating person! All bar staff were fantastic! Every morning any staff I passed always said good morning. Sudarat, in the piano bar, was hands down the BEST bar server I have ever had! Her memory killed it!!!! We never had to tell her what we wanted to drink after the first one unless we changed it. She even remembered we liked our drink in a certain glass.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

The layout was confusing the first few days but once you figured it out it was easy. I was surprised that I did not see garbage containers around elevators and other common areas however it was extremely rare that I saw any garbage laying anywhere! Well done cleaning staff!

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

The beds and pillows were super comfy! I was pleasantly surprised! The size of the room was good as we spent very little time in it other than to get ready and sleep. The bathroom was small but functional.

Ship tip

make sure you go to the serenity deck (18) to watch the sunrise, use the HUB app to plan the activities you want to attend

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Port Canaveral, Florida

5 out of 5

we embarked at this port so nothing to report

Thumbs Up 0

Cozumel, Mexico

5 out of 5

loved Cozumel, lots to see close to port. Very pricey for anything

Thumbs Up 0

Costa Maya (Mahahual), Mexico

3 out of 5

Not much to do here unless you leave the port area. We walked around and got back on the ship in two hours. Very pricey area

Thumbs Up 0

Mahogany Bay, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras

5 out of 5

LOVED this port! Did the Danielle Johnson sloth and Iguana adventure, this was fantastic! Had lots of time for looking around the market area when we got back. Prices were a bit more reasonable

Thumbs Up 2

Disembarkation

5 out of 5

Was shocked at how smooth this was! Very organized chaos! We left ship at 9:30 and were on our bus to airport by 10:05.

6 Comments

lsbs 1 year ago

Welcome to cruising! Glad that you enjoyed.

Thumbs Up 1

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Carnivalfoodie 1 year ago

Excellent review!!!!

Thumbs Up 1

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ericbran 1 year ago

I'm glad you had a great cruise. Hopefully, there will be many more to come.

Thumbs Up 1

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javawoody 1 year ago

Glad you enjoyed your first cruise

Thumbs Up 1

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OriskanySal 1 year ago

Thank you for your review! Sounds like you had a great time. I’m looking forward to our time on that ship.

Thumbs Up 1

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cruising2004 1 year ago

Welcome to cruise life! Thank you for sharing your experience. Glad you enjoyed.

Thumbs Up 1

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Other reviews of this sailing

Mardi Gras was the 5th Carnival ship we’ve been on

Excellent cruise!

Will stick with Royal Caribbean