An Incredible Ship with a Baffling Cruise Operator

There was a little bit of confusion with one staff member pointing me any my group to a seating area, only for another to rush forward and move us somewhere else. Additionally, requiring printed out boarded passes feels very outdated and adds an unneeded step to cruise preparation.

The food onboard Mardi Gras is probably the aspect that disappointed me the most. The two specialty restaurants I tried were Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse and Rudi’s Seagrill. Both restaurants seemed under seasoned, and the overall quality was lackluster relative to the high prices. Many of the reviews I’ve seen praise the ships quick service options, such as Guy’s Burger Joint, Guy’s Pig and Anchor, or Shaq’s Big Chicken. These were good as quick snacks, but I would have preferred if they weren’t the best food onboard, and that the specialty restaurants were worth the upcharge. Additionally, I ate dinners at the a La carte restaurant Emeril’s Bistro, and the included restaurants, Guy’s Pig and Anchor, ChiBang!, and Cucina Del Capitano, which brings me to my next point; the inconsistency. When waiting for a table at Guy’s pig and anchor, guests are given a traditional table buzzer. When going to Chibang! Guests book their table through the virtual queue in the app, and when going to a specialty restaurant, guests make reservations in advance. Like everything with Carnival, pricing was inconstant as well, and made for some confusion, not knowing when to expect a check or not. ChiBang! And Cucina Del Capitano were included, but if you wanted to go to Cucina Del Capitano a second time, you had to pay. Emeril’s bistro was unlike the other specialty restaurants in that every item was priced was a La carte, and Guy’s Pig and Anchor was mostly included, with select options having an additional fee. With dining in particular, it just seemed needlessly complicated. I liked the virtual queue and through it worked well, so why not have that option at Guy’s as well? Why implement an entirely different system to do the same thing? Overall the food was good, but a step down from previous experiences I’ve had, and the needless confusion Carnival injected soured the experience more than it should have.

This is very much a personal opinion, as carnival takes the approach of entertainment that makes use of their guests, such as Family Feud Live! In place of traditional production shows. I would have liked a proper theater show, but was still thoroughly entertained by the Voodoo Moon and the start the fun shows in Grand Central. But even though I liked voodoo moon, it was more difficult to see than I would have hoped. While Grand Central is a very cool venue, it doesn’t have nearly enough seats, a problem made worse by the fact that an activity was scheduled immediately before the Voodoo moon show. I arrived at Grand Central 45 minutes prior to the show only to find all seats filled and another ongoing show. Seats were not vacated between shows, so the only way to see voodoo moon was to get there more than an hour early and watch both shows, even if you’re not interested in the first. Fortunately, the staff members working the area were incredible, and spoke with me while I was waiting and when the voodoo moon show officially started, he escorted me to an infilled reserved seat, and I got to see the show from the front row. That turned out to be the highlight of my cruise, and that man made my night.

The staff were incredible and very hard working.

I absolutely loved Mardi Gras as a ship. The main reason I wanted to write this review was because I was torn between how much I loved the ship itself, but was constantly flustered by how Carnival operated the ship. I think the only complaints I can think of regarding the design of the ship itself are 1) the hot tops on the Patio are very small and impossible to just sit in like a normal hot tub. I heard multiple people complain about them while on board and in those hot tubs. 2) Carnival elected to give half of the top deck to state rooms, and I disagree with that design choice. In doing so, they wasted valuable outdoor space and I would have loved to see additional spaces of activities added in the place of additional staterooms.

I booked an interior stateroom aboard the Mardi Gras. While the room felt modern and well designed, it was the smallest room I’ve stayed in by far. The bathroom in particular felt closer to a closet with very little room to maneuver. The room was nice, but smaller than the interior cabins I’ve stayed in on other lines which left me a little underwhelmed.