Who sailed the Carnival Mardi Gras?

[Ljp5365]

My husband and I were on the Mardi Gras in 1991. We had a great time. It seems like a long time ago. It was a great old ship.

[Rotnkid49]

Wow! My dh & I were on her in April, 1986, prior to our 7/86 wedding. Remember my parents wanted to know if we were honeymooning before the wedding, lol.

[elcuchio24]

Never sailed on her. When she was sailing I was only getting a buck a week allowance and spent my days playing with cabbage patch kids and slip-n-slide...

[lillian marie]

We really liked that ship and it seemed so big to us then.

[sweetcincy]

in '81 my husband and i sailed the mardi gras for our honeymoon out of miami. it was lovely, i have a collage of honeymoon pictures on our rec room wall. Our cabin stewards name was Charles. wonderful man :)

when contacting carnival to make sure this cruise would count for our past cruise, they told me they didnt have passenger records back that far. i still had receipt, in my wedding box thats full of receipts of everything we paid for, and also sent a copy of onboard picture in our collage. So, the mardi gras is listed as one of our carnival cruises.

we met so many wonderful people on that cruise, it was 7 days, nassau, st. thomas, & puerto rico. this last year we took cruise on Inspiration and we had our dinning in Mardi Gras dinning room. my husband and i took our picture infront of dinning area where they have a mardi gras ship under glass. its 30 years of marrage this year, and we are meant to be :D

The coolest thing is that when we went to past guest appreciation party, they announced the ships, and asked for passengers to stand when they did that if they sailed on that ship. so, my husband and i proudly stood when they announced The Mardi Gras :D

[Fergus]

We sailed on the MG in about 1985 or 86. My husband had won the cruise at his company Christmas party. We had a porthole cabin (I was too short to see out of it) and bunkbeds..........I don't remember the cabin being as swanky as some of Snowy Owl's photos appeared!! I remember the carpet was very thin indoor/outdoor bright green and having to step into the shower to close the bathroom door.

 

The couple across the hall from us was on their honeymoon and they FOUGHT the entire cruise..........every night one of them was out in the hall with their suitcase, drunk and crying, beating on the door, screaming at the other one - it was a hoot!

 

I remember that you had to step across the thresholds, there was a movie theater onboard, and the waiters with the flaming cake on their heads - looking back, I can't believe they did that!!!

 

It was definitely a blast. We didn't cruise for many years after that, but have gotten back into it since we've had kids - always have a GREAT vacation on Carnival! I found a pic of us on the ship in the Mardi Gras printed frame - I gotta dig that out so I can get credit for the cruise!

[Fergus]

Oh, does anybody remember that the cabin steward would lay out your nightclothes?? I was a little wigged out by that and would try to hide mine, but he always found them and always knew which bunk was mine. Later somebody told me they would sniff the pillows to see who was sleeping where - then I was REALLY wigged out! :eek:

[pnjkeith]

I know I'm dating myself, but are they any cruisers out there that ever sailed on the Mardi Gras? We sailed back in 1986 and that seems like centuries ago.

 

Yes , 1978

[srlafleur]

Now that you mention it, I remember that's the ship we took our first cruise on! Jan. 1, I think 1986. (might have been '87) First vacation without the kids.

We had such a good time! The bathroom was a trip!

We even enjoyed the "dinner theater" - a guy (he & his wife could have been from central casting for The Godfather") in the dining room loudly harassing the waiter, bus boy, and maitre'd because he wanted lobster...his TA had told him he could have anything he wanted, and he wanted lobster! Never mind that there was no lobster anywhere on the ship, he was told "anything he wanted". I think he may have expected them to drag a trap... We felt badly for the staff, but they just shrugged it off.

[vegasvic88]

Yes - I was on the last cruise before it got sold (thought it was in the 80s but must have been 90s). There was four of us in a porthole cabin (we had been upgraded when we checked in) so we had the sink in the room with the toilet/shower combo. It was a 3-day Port Canaveral to Nassau and my 1st cruise. I remember how smooth the water was and how the captain would steer the ship out from under the clouds.

 

We didn't find the cinema until the last night and saw "Amos and Andrew". Also, found a "shower room" down the hall the same night. Didn't know there was an alternative to standing on the toilet to take a shower so you didn't have to stand in the water that leaked all around the toilet. CDC would never allow that these days!!!

 

The DOD was served in REAL glasses instead of plastic ones which you got to keep. I think I brought 4-5 home with me.

 

I remember I was a little disappointed in the ship. It was old and not what you saw on TV. When people would ask me about the cruise later my only comment was "it wasn't the love boat". They have come a long way since then.

 

Now I'm going to have to try to find my pictures!

[katiel53]

That was my first cruise. I remember the bathroom only has a toilet and shower in it. And the shower was just a shower head on a hose attached to the wall - you'd have to pull a curtain across to stop water going on toilet (which never worked - so paper always got wet). Water would leak into the cabin. The sink was in the cabin. I had to go down the hall to a little "room" to dry my hair, there wasn't a plug available in the cabin.

 

That's exactly how I remember this ship. This was our first Carnival cruise and it was in February of 1984. I remember taking a shower before breakfast and coming back from breakfast, the bathroom floor still had about an inch of water on it.

 

I joke about how one could sit on the john and take a shower at the same time. I also remember how the extra roll of TP was up on a hook near the shower head so it would get wet and swell up to about 3x the size.

 

I wish I had all the early photos from Mardi Gras, Carnivale, Jubilee, Festivale etc. as we would be close to a Milestone cruise by now. Great memories though!

[nonna5]

Yes, we sailed her 3 times along with the Carnival Tropicale 3 times. Also Celebration, Jubilee and Holiday. Those were most certainly the days. For sure cruising has come along way. Especially the bathrooms. One thing I really do miss is the enforcement of the dress code in the dining room. The last thing I want to see is some guy's hairy legs while I am eating. And also baseball caps.

[NOLALADY]

Yep, high school graduation trip! (present to myself :))! June, 1980. Seven days out of Miami! What a blast! 4 girls in an inside cabin. Had one of those awful bathrooms and had to go down the hall to do hair and makeup! And everyone wore evening dresses!!! Do you think it will count towards my Platinum status???:D

[cruzinblondie]

We sailed the Mardi Gras in Feb. 1981 for our 4th year anniversary. She was a special ship. But I do remember going to the "local" place to dry and curl my hair! And the "Formal" nights - quite different these days. This was our first cruise - but not our last!

[sarge98]

The wife and I went on Carnival's only other ship at the time,actually names Carnival. That was in 79. The next time we went on a Carnival cruise, Valor, in 09 Carnival wouldn't accept us as past guest , no records kept at the time. I found an invoice, a few pictures, and a old Capers which I sent to Carnival. Results we were declaired past guests Send them whatever you can find, never know.

[wdnoble9999]

What a fun thread! My wife and I had our honeymoon on the Mardi Gras back in 1978. Fell in love with cruising, but with kids, developing careers, etc., didn't get to take another one for 21 years later when we sailed on the Fascination. So different from all of the more recent cruises. The ship seemed big at the time, but a something a bit over 27,000 tons, it was a gnat compared to the ships out there today. And the motion! No stabilizers, and I remember that when we were in the crowd heading to the dining room, everyone swayed from one side of the hall to the other in perfect synchronization. Considering it was our honeymoon, it was important that we have a room with at least a double bed, of which there weren't all that many. Ended up on the main deck, cabin 118. So tiny that we could barely turn around, and with a private bath that matches up with what many others on this thread have described. But we did have a porthole!

 

Here' some pics from 'back in the day'. Wish I had taken more of the inside of the ship, but...

 

 

In this pic taken from Old San Juan towards the harbor, you can see the front of the ship ...

 

 

 

 

[Vanessa L]

I know I'm dating myself, but are they any cruisers out there that ever sailed on the Mardi Gras? We sailed back in 1986 and that seems like centuries ago.

 

We sailed her twice, once in 1985 and again in 86. THIS was when cruising was REAL. This ship and the Carnivale were absolutely gorgeous ships. They offered what the behemoths of today cannot even come close to matching--class. Sigh. I miss the day.

[Vanessa L]

The wife and I went on Carnival's only other ship at the time,actually names Carnival. That was in 79. The next time we went on a Carnival cruise, Valor, in 09 Carnival wouldn't accept us as past guest , no records kept at the time. I found an invoice, a few pictures, and a old Capers which I sent to Carnival. Results we were declaired past guests Send them whatever you can find, never know.

 

I hate that they didn't keep records :( All of my cruises from the 80s were with a previous husband so all records, pics and etc., are long in the trash. I'd have been platinum ages ago had they kept the records. Sigh.

[douglinc@msn.com]

Never got to sail her, our 1st. was on the Celebration. Another really great ship.

 

Doug

[GlendaleCruiser]

Another question: who's sailed the Ecstasy pre/post fire? We did, and have been on her 8 times. Ready to go again!

 

My daughter went on her honeymoon 2 weeks pre-fire on the Ecstasy. As a mom, I saw the fire and the E being towed and was sorry for all they had to go through but relieved that my daughter wasn't on her then.

[BenjiRodney]

My very first Carnival Cruise was on this ship in 1993 it was a 3 day cruise from Port Canaveral to Nassau.

 

Mardi Gras 1993

Fantasy May 1995

Fantasy Oct 1995

Fantasy Nov 1996

Glory Nov 2010 (Will November ever get here)

[frednsb]

it was a great cruise!!! Went with my mom, dad, two uncles and their families. Loved her!

[frednsb]

I looked it up and we sailed on a 7 nighter to San Juan, St. Thomas, haiti and the Dom. Rep.

We had an outside cabin with a full size bed and an upper bunk. It was a great ship!!!

I was my 3rd cruise having sailed on P&O's SS Miami, NCCL (that's what NCL was back then) Norway, and one other NCCL o thnl Starward..

Edited July 16, 2010 by frednsb

[c6mq]

My wife & I sailed on the Mardi Gras for our honeymoon back in 1990. We had an inside room & the beds did not move & were apart. We settled that by taking the mattresses off the beds & putting them together between the beds. The cabin stewart was great & made up the mattresses on the floor everyday.:)

[shiloh25]

Best thread idea in a long time.

 

I never sailed on her, but I have heard that story so many times at the past cruiser party that I sometimes imagine I actually was there when she went aground on that sandbar.

 

Q- why are ships always sent to India to be broken up?