Not perfect, but a great cruise!

Mardi Gras Cruise Review

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 8

Overall rating:

4.4 out of 5
Mardi Gras

7 Night Eastern Caribbean (Port Canaveral Roundtrip)

Sail date: June 29, 2024

Ship: Mardi Gras

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 9475

Traveled as: Family (young children)

Reviewed: 3 months ago

Review summary

Wonderful cruise! Carnival has slacked and gotten rid of a lot of the classic carnival ways. Was disappointed in that but still an exceptional cruise.

Embarkation

2 out of 5
1 hour embarkation. Very hot and crowded. One of the worst I’ve had in 14 cruises.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5
Food is wonderful, tons of options. Can’t physically try them all if you tried! Breakfast buffet is good. Negative is they only had bacon every other day. Lunch buffet is terrible. Did not try dinner buffet.

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5
Tons of fun to be had! Pools and hot tubs need to be bigger. Walking track is in an unusable area.

Entertainment

5 out of 5
So many good shows, and live music. Missed many great options due to another great option. Did not attend the classic cruise ship performance shows.

Children's Programs

5 out of 5
Very fast and friendly. Makes children feel welcome. They give you a cell phone for the entire week to keep for contact between you and them whenever you have a child at the program.

Service and Staff

4 out of 5
Overall cannot complain. However the friendliness of 75% of the staff was not how Carnival used to be. Still had exceptional service.

Ship Quality

4 out of 5
Ship was perfectly clean all the time. Staff worked very hard to keep the ship clean. Multiple people cleaning in each room/area 24/7. Ship was beautiful. Completely different than Carnival has ever had before. The ship tightly designed. Walkways were too close to the venues.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Up to the standard of the cruising industry. Would have liked to see a colder room temperature setting.

Ship tip

A room near the summer landing venue is very convenient. Pool and hot tub is close, also close to food, ice cream, water, pizza. A fast commute to any spot on the ship. Faster elevator service due to being in the aft of the ship.

Disembarkation

4 out of 5
Was way better than the embarkation. Hardly stopped moving. Customs was very fast.

Traveler Photos

Classic Carnival Melting Cake. Beat desert in the cruising industry!
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