Mardi Gras Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Really enjoyed the ship and the ports we visited. Would go again!

I’m not a person who likes large crowds and there are a lot of passengers on this ship.

Me and my family booked a trip for the Mardi Gras after getting off of the Carnival Freedom. We are experienced cruisers and we had such a fantastic trip on the Freedom so we were expecting Carnival to go above and beyond on their newer ship, the Mardi Gras. I'm going to break my trip down into the good, the bad, and everything that was average. The Good: We had two inside cabins, they were small but functional enough to live in for 7 days. The rooms were always clean and the housekeeping staff was friendly. The shows were good, high production for a cruise and entertaining. The best show we all enjoyed was Chris VS Magic and I highly recommend you see! The best restaurant on the boat was Bonsai Teppenyaki and Sushi restaurant. We ate here for my birthday dinner and the staff went above and beyond and the food was excellent! This was the only fantastic customer service and meal we had on the boat. Embarkation and Debarkation was very easy for us and we were on the boat in under an hour and off in under an hour. The casino was very big and they had both a smoking and non smoking section both of which were closed off with doors so there was hardly no smoke smell on that deck. The one thing that is an absolute must is the wifi! Carnival has the best wifi I've ever seen on a cruise. We had the highest package for the wifi and I was able to text, stream movies and shows, and go on any app during my entire vacation. The Average: The customer service we experienced was average at best. I almost felt as if I was constantly bothering the staff if I asked them any type of question, ordered food at a restaurant, etc. The food situation was something that I really have never seen on a cruise. Every time I went to go get food, almost everything was closed. Especially around lunch time the only places open were the pizza place, the sandwich place or the buffet at times. The food everywhere on the boat for us was lackluster at best. The food was almost always cold, stale or bland. The buffet had pretty the same options everyday all day. Emeril's was good but they mainly have seafood so if you do not like seafood you're kinda out of luck. The big takeaway with the food situation is you have to pay for your meal for it to taste somewhat decent. The rollercoaster Bolt is not something I would say you have to do, but if you like rollercoasters I would say go on it! It was a lot of fun but it was closed a lot during our trip due to wind The lido deck was average. The main pool was kind of small but there was a lot of seating. There was just no like music or anything happening at the pool, only movies. I also noticed during our trip how there was a lot of free time or "dead time" where there really is not much to do. There would be times before dinner where there was not a show, game, or event happening for hours. I just thought I would mention this because I feel like people should know this as well. The Bad: Unfortunately, we had a bad experience on this boat with staff. We were abruptly approached by a fun squad member named Carlos who was extremely hostile and confrontational towards me and my family for moving a chair not even an inch in front of us before a show. This was just our experience and we were extremely disappointed about this. We talked to guest services and the entertainment director but we feel as though our situation was kind of brushed under the rug. While there is two sides to every story, as a fun squad member it is extremely uncalled for to approach a family trying to start a fight. I also felt as though the entire fun squad almost saw the guests as a bother to them and you could feel that vibe through the entire boat. We are not the family to complain we just simply wanted to enjoy our vacation. I put this in to just show another side of the cruise experience we had that influencers won't show you. Overall, we had an average trip on the Mardi Gras. The entertainment, when there was entertainment, was fantastic and we had a lot of fun at all of the shows and parties. Amber Cove was beautiful and a lot of fun! I highly recommend going they have stuff for all ages there! We tried very hard to not let any of our bad experiences affect our trip but after the 5th cold meal and a staff member yelling, it was getting kind of hard to brush past everything. I would never go on this boat again just due to our personal experience. I really have seen nothing but great reviews for this boat so after going on it, I am disappointed. I tried to go in depth into as much as I could remember so people can see a negative experience to hopefully prepare you for your trip if you are planning to go on this boat. I wish this cruise was up to the expectations we had for it but I am so let down!

Loved all the dining options available on this ship. The ship is beautiful but very big and spread out! I don't base my cruise on the CD like many people do but I really enjoyed Jacky Tang, he was so funny and didn't feel the need to be making announcements every few minutes like some CD's do! The aerial acts at Center Stage are amazing so be sure to catch at least one of the show's.

Third time on Mardi Gras. She is a fantastic ship.

I guess I already wrote a lot. The ship is beautiful, clean, great staff, but needs less trivia and more things to do especially on days when you go to port but, decide do stay in. I slept more than anything, which isn't bad, but, it was not what I paid for.

It was really a good unwinding cruise for my wife and I. We got plenty of rest. It was just us traveling, so we did not have to worry about anyone else. First time in a long time that we had traveled alone.

Had a great time. Traveled with a party of 17. Would definitely book another trip on Mardi Gras.

Overall we enjoyed the Mardi Gras and would consider sailing on her again. We really enjoyed the non-smoking area of the casino being so large and having so many gaming options. The shows were top notch and the food options were good.

Excellent staff and food in MDR. Never felt over crowded

This was my first cruise with Carnival and I have to say overall it was a great experience. I will definitely be cruising with Carnival again in the future.

This was our second cruise on Mardigras, we love the layout of the ship and many great places to eat. We're looking forward to our 3rd trip in June 2025, this time to Southern Caribbean.

Had a great time, staff is always great. A bit disappointed with the ship, while it was nice and many things to do the much smaller venues were not great as seating was extremely limited even in the main theater.

Love everything on this ship and wouldn't mind coming back on this ship

Even though it was lacking on some issues we still had a good time. I can honestly say I’ve never been on a bad cruise. Next cruise in may I will just go down in size

This was a good cruise, I have had better and I have had worse. But id did enjoy this trip

Very enjoyable and will cruise again. Don't have much to compare it to yet.

Although Mardi Gras is a beautiful ship, I think I prefer a little smaller ship. But I would not turn down a trip.

Very disapointed in Carnival this time been on several sailings and never any this bad hopefully a one and done

If you like large ships, you'll love this one. Take advantage of the sea day brunches and don't expect too much from the specialty dining.