Overall I’m very happy. I have a warning, though. Baby boomers are becoming senile, and they’re spending their retirements complaining on Carnival cruises in January.

Item: Mardi Gras
Rating: 4.7
Author: frathornton

Mardi Gras Cruise Review

frathornton

Contributor Level: Purser

108 Days Till Next Cruise

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Reviews: 2

Helpful Votes: 35

Overall rating:

4.7 out of 5

7 Night Eastern Caribbean (Port Canaveral Roundtrip)

Sail date: January 13, 2024

Ship: Mardi Gras

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 15345

Traveled as: Singles/Friends

Reviewed: 8 months ago

Review summary

I think I would like to shop around for different cruises at different times with different passengers. I think about all the best and worse parts of the last week and all of them have to do with fellow passengers. This would never happen on Carnival, but I would spring at a chance to cruise with 50 as an age maximum. Not everyone was bad, but there were motorized scooters EVERYWHERE on this ship. More than once, I had to help fellow passengers in a capacity that made me feel like staff - lifting, holding doors, walking to grab something for someone, etc. that it wasn’t a very relaxing week. This time of year I thought it would be better because I was dodging the spring break and teeny boppers and college frat stars. But be careful what you wish for, I didn’t get very much of that, and instead got a whole lot of folks that don’t want to come to terms with the fact that they are retired, getting a lot older and quite curmudgeon-y. This January cruise to the Caribbean was practically a trial run for assisted living. Or at least a senior citizen community. I had a good time. I did! But if you’re a millennial like me and you are in the service industry working mostly with folks older than you, well, it might not be too relaxing! You might feel like this is more work because boomers this week didn’t seem to want to allow me to relax.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

We practically walked on, it was great.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Overall, the food was very good. Breakfast was really lackluster across the board. Otherwise, if I was dissatisfied with a meal it was my own fault!

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

I did play a round of putt putt. Even on a chilly overcast day I had fun. I tried trivia several times. I can get maybe 60-70% of jeopardy clues on a given night, but the trivia was stumping me. Even with help, I might get 8-9 out of 20. Graded on the honors system, *regularly* a certain couple teams would get 19 or 20 correct. It smelled fishy. But I’m an adult and well, whatever. I don’t expect fun squad to grade responses. Karaoke, when it was before my bedtime, was too crowded I didn’t participate.

Mardi Gras Casino

4 out of 5

The casino was always bumpin’. There are some very rude fellow passengers, however. I understand needing to vocalize frustrations, but this was a whole other level. If someone was loosing, I was somehow required to tolerate and commiserate with their misfortune. Dealers and staff were always professional and they should be proud.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

You don’t have to touch anything on this ship that hasn’t been sanitized recently. Bathrooms were beautiful. There was only once or twice I was able to catch the staff not *actively* in a public bathroom cleaning. I was very impressed.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

I had an interior room, and it wasn’t spacious. But I also wanted it that way because all I do there is sleep, poop, and shower. Interior rooms are DARK. Which is awesome. My room was directly below lido so I could hear deck chairs is they were being moved. But I’m not too bothered by that personally. If you are a light sleeper, that could become an issue for you.

Ship tip

Who you cruise with, (or not) makes a substantial difference in quality. If you dont want to hang out with them on land, a boat will not change that at all!

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