Definitely A PARTY on Mardi Gras, that's it!!

Item: Mardi Gras
Rating: 3.6
Author: destinyatk

Mardi Gras Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

destinyatk

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 5

Overall rating:

3.6 out of 5

7 Night Eastern Caribbean (Port Canaveral Roundtrip)

Sail date: October 07, 2023

Ship: Mardi Gras

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: 4366

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 6 months ago

Review summary

Overall, there was pros and cons when comparing to other cruise lines we're used to traveling with. The pros was that it definitely is a PARTY ship. Leaving to start cruise was THE BEST. WE LOVED it!! THE MUSIC WAS THE BOMB!! WE LOVED IT. Food was better in certain parts of the ship. We LOVED GUYS on deck 17 but it closed too early. The shows on the ship was OK not Broadway shows we're used to on Royal. Only certain parts of the ships was pretty like the Mirrored staircase and The Swaying Flower Garden. My husband loved being on Deal or No Deal but prizes NEED to be better and not used as credits. Need to step up non drink package drinks for passengers who select to not buy the drink package. All of the staircases LACK pretty art work like Royal has. need larger area in Casino for non smokers. Add Sausage pizza on Deck 8? even if it's for one night. Add cheesecake as one of the dessert options in The Market Place buffet cafeteria. I don't think we'll travel on The Mardi but maybe we'll give it another go later in the future on a different ship. To say politely, it was a lot of not so nice-looking people on the ship and some of the teenagers were out of control. No parenting.. The elevators are too small, especially with a disabled person in a wheelchair. Elevators took a long time and even passed us a few times when there was no one on it. Bathrooms were hard to find and only had 2 stalls when it should have been at least 6. There was always a wait line to even get into the bathrooms. Hot tubs not handicapped friendly to even get in so we skipped it.

Embarkation

2 out of 5

They had us sitting with our disabled wheelchair daughter on the main deck for something called munster and would not let us go too our cabin, when everyone else clearly was. We sat there for 45 min & the employee who hand gestured us to the seats couldn't speak English.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Terrible to navigate with someone in a wheelchair and the only drinks available if you didn't have the drink package was VERY SWEET lemonade. There was NO sugar free tea or other flavored beverage that my husband could drink. He's diabetic. Some of the food was SALTY,I have High blood pressure. There needs to be food & drink options for people with diabetes or high blood pressure and there was none. Royal Caribbean offers this & has a variety of non carbonated drinks and sugar free drinks without the drink package. Food menu was the same every other day and there NEVER was Sausage pizza on deck 8. The cheesecake sold on Deck 6 the main stage area was NOT GOOD & OVERPRICED as well as the candy store that was next to the coffee shop. We will not sail again Mardi Gras. This was our first time trying Carnival Cruise Line & probably our last

Guy's Pig & Anchor Bar-B-Que

3 out of 5

Portions are small so don't get your hopes up like we did and the food is salty imo. Gives you different option instead of buffet all the time

Big Chicken by Shaq

4 out of 5

Pretty good. We tried it once but it was a bit too salty and breaded for me. I still would recommend them and they serve breakfast. I saw chicken and waffles. Gives you a different alternative to the buffet.

Guy's Pig & Anchor Smokehouse / Brewhouse

4 out of 5

This is place is good abut imo has salty food. They also serve late night snacks that start at 11 or 11:30PM which we were tired of the late night pizza. Pretty good

Lido Marketplace

4 out of 5

Same food every other day but one day they had pot roast and mashed potatoes. They were the best I ever had ANYWHERE for that matter. Mashed potatoes were creamy and buttery but food overall was better than Royal. Cons were dessert selection, not so good and if you don't have drink package you're stuck with SUPER SWEET lemonade and unsweetend tea and water..that's it. Not any type of drinks for diabetics.

Guy's Burger Joint

5 out of 5

We caught this on the last 2 days of our cruise and I couldn't get enough of this place. We LOVED it. Best burgers I have ever had on a cruise ship. Different styles of burgers, some with onion rings on it or plain if you like & served with fries. Cons, they close at 6pm every day, on the dot so get there or be in line by 5:30. Opens at noon. Highly recommend.

Limelight Lounge

4 out of 5

Had a great time in here for comedy or karoake. Depends on the day.

La Piazza

4 out of 5

Gives you a different option for something quick but there was always a line. NO SAUSAGE pizza...but still good overall

JavaBlue Cafe

4 out of 5

We didn't buy the coffee but they have other desserts like cheesecake, cookies and donuts, that were overpriced and Not all that good to me. I LOVE cheesecake but it just was not as sweet or creamy for me. Bacon caramel donut was different. I think desserts are seasonal. It might be different. Let me know.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

Deal or No Deal. Bingo and Karaoke, Comedy Club we REALLY LIKED. It was better than Royal Caribbean and the onboard music by the pool and departure was THE BEST PARTY EVER!!

Mardi Gras Casino

3 out of 5

Kinda small compared to Royal and VERY SMOKEY. We don't smoke but even though the space for non smokers, you could still smell smoke or had to walk through it. If you smoke, then it's fine but if you don't, it's a gamble (no pun intended), lol

Entertainment

3 out of 5

One show we missed called enchantment I think had only ONE show time. The other called VOO DOO Moon, we didn't understand it and seating was horrible being in a wheelchair. WAIT LINES for EVERYTHING wrapped around the corner, that was ridiculous. Not enough Broadway shows

Children's Programs

We don't have kids

Family Harbor Lounge

4 out of 5

We actually stayed in the cabin that has the same name but this is right down the hallway from our cabin. It's a lounge that we were unaware of until the very last night of our cruise, bummer. Had we'd known we would've relaxed more with our daughter whose is special needs and you can eat in there as well. Hang out. They also serve breakfast and snacks. Has tv area for lil ones. Wish our steward had mentioned it but now we know. It's on deck 4, go check it out. Nice place to chill out.

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

Most of the staff was very nice and friendly. Cruise Director was very funny and Luis in the Comedy clubs was very nice to us.

Ship Quality

1 out of 5

Common areas were HORRIBLE. cups, plates and bowls in the common area on the floors, on the elevators on the stairs and outside of other cabins. There were NO trash cans near the elevators like on Carnival or Disney Cruise ships. Some tables were not cleaned right away in buffet cafeteria on deck 16. The design of the ship was restricted. Meaning the top floor and none of the decks was full 360 like Royal and Disney are. I took video footage of an elevator that I could literally barely fit my daughter in with her wheelchair. Me, my husband and our daughter rode on what looked like a service elevator that took forever for the door to close.

Cabin / Stateroom

2 out of 5

The cabin was very outdated. The size was very tight for it to be an accessible cabin with SIX suitcases. Our cabin on Royal was MUCH larger and the bed for our daughter was NOT a bed. It had some type of ottoman attached to the end of a fold out chair & I was afraid she would roll out of it. She's disabled. The accessible door I kept getting caught in it with my daughter in her wheelchair and it took forever to close, while people walked by peering in. I HATED the sensor faucet in the bathroom as I had to keep waving my hand to get the water hot enough and our attendant (Rizal) didn't keep kleenex in our bathroom. I only saw him 2 times the entire trip. He did make a special bday message for my husband on the mirror & he liked it. The curtains needs to have a pamphlet explaining how to operate them, that was annoying. The thermostat was annoying to operate and the cabin was cold which flared up my husband and daughter's allergies. Was not happy with our cabin overall.

Ship tip

Get to the shows wait lines 20 min early, otherwise, you will be far around the corner. Also, be sure to have a passport and not birth certificate for disembark, otherwise you WILL BE IN THAT LONG line to get off the ship.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Port Canaveral, Florida

5 out of 5

The transportation available for handicapped person in wheelchair. That service was THE BEST, even BETTER THAN DISNEY CRUISE

Thumbs Up 0

Nassau, Bahamas

4 out of 5

We did no excursions but the people at the boarding really helped with our daughter, getting her on and off the ship. The ramps need to be wider when trying to turn the wheelchair to get off the ship.

Thumbs Up 0

Amber Cove (Puerto Plata), Dominican Republic

5 out of 5

Did no excursions. We like there was beach and pool options but more accessible for wheelchair person like our daughter for the pool.

Thumbs Up 0

Grand Turk Island

5 out of 5

VERY BEAUTIFUL and we liked that there was a chill side of the beach without all the hustle and bustle. Coming back was a PARTY. I LIKED IT ALOT

Thumbs Up 0

Disembarkation

4 out of 5

We were glad we had passports as there was a over a mile long line from the ship to where the luggage were off the ship. Those people had birth certificates so that's why the lines to get off the ship was long but we walked past all of that and came off in less than 5 min but this was something we took on our own because the cruise director was taking a long time to call our number if we had waited we would've missed our shuttle pick up to go to the airport. Carnival called the night before to confirm shuttle service but the next day there was a slight problem.

9 Comments

Other reviews of this sailing

Great cruise

Is this cruising after Covid? Not impressed

Fantastic experience