Mardi Gras / Live / Solo / Nov-27-Dec-04-2021...

[LaRue1975]

Thanks for the review, felt like I was right there with you. I ordered all your hangover helpers and was waiting to read how they worked but you dropped the ball and didn’t need them so I guess I’ll have do it myself, cheers! I wonder if some of your malaise was due to the crew being masked, especially the bartenders, they are the best thing about getting a seat at the bar. I’ll find out in April on the Panorama, like you I can avoid most places where they are required but will miss seeing the smiles behind the masks. 
 

I look forward to reading your review in May, I think it will be even better if it’s not live as you might have more fun living in the moment, have a great time and lots of good cheers! 🍹🍸🥃

[crewsweeper]

14 hours ago, darleean said:

Well I was ON the ship same time as you and I still read your review!  - Never saw you ....  but I will say I loved the Mardi Gras!   The food... oh the Shaq's!  I will back you up that it is better then Jesus Chicken any day! 

 

Next up in 29 days ... back on the Mardi Gras .. with my husband instead of my mom... see how much of a different experience that will be for me! 

We were on too. And saw Sid multiple times.  So much going on.  So many places we never went to.  Breakfast every day but 1 at Emerils.  Street eats on sea days.  Only time we ate in the MDR besides 1 sea day brunch was 2nd elegant night.  And music everywhere.  Never made it to Havana Bar for the Latin ones. 

My only complaint was way too many smokers.  We erred in booking on starboard side, thinking smoking was on port side.  Rarely used the balcony.  Don't book starboard cabins decks 9-11 from 389 to 407.  right above the the outside smoking on deck 8.

And for people who need mobility assistance, this Mardi Gras cruise had more scooters and walkers than I think I've ever seen on all my past cruises combined.  But never saw any parked in cabin passageways on the few decks I walked through.  Passageways on main areas and seating in all areas seemed to easily handled the number.

[kpark895]

Sid, thanks for all of the time and effort you spent on this review.  I really hope you can figure out why you feel as you do - I know you have real life things you are dealing with.  By chance, might you also suffer from seasonal affective disorder?

[ray98]

Great job....I enjoyed following along.  We are on the MG soon and this really has me excited.

[sid_9169]

Back to reality for real today... I got up at a reasonable time, and took my usual morning walk, stopping by Publix for milk and blueberries. I wanted to try and take a motorcycle ride, but it's turned rainy today, so... My mailbox was stuffed full of bills after being gone for over a week. I wanted something decent and reasonably priced to eat, so I headed up Buford Highway to my favorite hole in the wall Bangladeshi place, Bismillah Cafe. Picked up my "usual" large mixed biryani, with chicken and lamb, and I'll have enough leftover for lunch tomorrow. Nothing else significant going on here today, other than trying to get mentally prepared to go back to the "ol salt mine in the morning... Thanks to Shaded Lady, I'll have my traditional "Thank You" list together sooner than later, but not today. I'm still trying to get acclimated to being back at home, with the traffic and everything. (Yes, we have traffic here, even on Sunday) Thanks again to all of you who stuck it out until the end, and I'll be back soon to personally thank EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU!...

 

 

 

Edited December 5, 2021 by sid_9169

[heffy2]

That Biryani looks SO good! Thanks for the review, yours have always been some of the best live reviews on CC.

[pinklucky61]

Thanks for the Live, enjoy your Sunday.

[flwinejunkie]

Thanks again Sid for taking us along on your trip! 

 

We were on the Mardi a couple of months ago and didn't get to experience everything she has to offer either.  I think I also suffered some type of malaise on the trip too.  I was on the Horizon and Celebrity Equinox before Mardi Gras so maybe I was in cruise overload or getting tired of Carnival even though it had been over 2 years since my last cruise. 

 

But then again, I didn't have the pressure like you of trying to report everything live.  I'm trying to change it up with Princess later this week for my bday .   I'm hoping that going on Virgin again will help snap you out of your funk since you had a great time on your 1st Virgin voyage.  (especially if you skip the live review)

 

Take care of yourself!  I keep telling myself that and it's slowly sinking in.

[LeeRB]

Sid I have a question for you concerning private drivers. I have done over 30 cruises, most of which were solo and only on two of those cruises was I the only passenger on an excursion/tour. One was in Bermuda (Sep 2018) where I hired a taxi after we got there and the taxi driver gave me a tour of the high points; as things turned out it was cheaper and better than the tour offered by the ship. The other was supposed to be a group tour of Nevis (Feb 2019) with a tour company I had used in the past and it only turned private because the rest of the people scheduled didn’t show up. I have contact info for several tour operators that I learned about on cruise ships and then used in the past but no private driver contact information.

 

How did you know how or who to contact in advance to arrange for a private driver in a POC?

[sid_9169]

27 minutes ago, LeeRB said:

Sid I have a question for you concerning private drivers. I have done over 30 cruises, most of which were solo and only on two of those cruises was I the only passenger on an excursion/tour. One was in Bermuda (Sep 2018) where I hired a taxi after we got there and the taxi driver gave me a tour of the high points; as things turned out it was cheaper and better than the tour offered by the ship. The other was supposed to be a group tour of Nevis (Feb 2019) with a tour company I had used in the past and it only turned private because the rest of the people scheduled didn’t show up. I have contact info for several tour operators that I learned about on cruise ships and then used in the past but no private driver contact information.

 

 

 

How did you know how or who to contact in advance to arrange for a private driver in a POC?

 

I do online research before visiting new ports, and also check out the ports of call section of Cruise Critic... 

[stellarose]

still in search of a good place , not lido, for embarkation lunch. the breeze had cucina open for lunch on embarkation.  can't get a yes or no on embarkation for MG. 

[sid_9169]

3 minutes ago, stellarose said:

still in search of a good place , not lido, for embarkation lunch. the breeze had cucina open for lunch on embarkation.  can't get a yes or no on embarkation for MG. 

Shaq's Big Chicken... 

[Knights on the Beach]

36 minutes ago, sid_9169 said:

Shaq's Big Chicken... 

That's what I'm thinking too - looking forward to it.

 

Thanks for posting your review, I enjoyed it!

[stellarose]

37 minutes ago, sid_9169 said:

Shaq's Big Chicken... 

for two vegetarians?  my son yes, me and DH no.

 

but son will soooo love that option.

[TN Roz]

Welcome home, Sid! We are actually driving from our home here in Maryville, TN to Port Canaveral on Friday. It's been a while since we have made this drive and will be traveling 75 South. If we leave home at 5, should hit Atlanta between 8:30 and 9. Do you think the traffic would be better if we leave an hour later? Also, your pinion on staying on 75 or doing the bypass.

[LeeRB]

2 hours ago, sid_9169 said:

I do online research before visiting new ports, and also check out the ports of call section of Cruise Critic... 

Thanks, I'l will give it a try when I book my next cruise; I guess this proves an old dog can learn a new trick every now and then.

 

[SNJCruisers]

4 hours ago, stellarose said:

still in search of a good place , not lido, for embarkation lunch. the breeze had cucina open for lunch on embarkation.  can't get a yes or no on embarkation for MG. 

Cucina is closed, Chibang is closed.  Lido of course contains the buffet, Street Eats, Seafood Shack and Blue Iguana.  The aft contains Big Chicken.

Non Lido choices come down to 4 options.  One deck up at Guy's Burgers, or deck 6 for Piazza Panini, Pizza or Java Blue Cafe, which has sandwiches and grab n go things.  This would be my non Lido choice, but come February, I'll be at Big Chicken, no matter the length of the line 

[Etta1213]

Sud, Thank you so much for sharing with us. Your honesty regarding ups and downs makes your writing even more endearing. Blessings 

[MeganGC1983]

1 hour ago, SNJCruisers said:

Cucina is closed, Chibang is closed.  Lido of course contains the buffet, Street Eats, Seafood Shack and Blue Iguana.  The aft contains Big Chicken.

Non Lido choices come down to 4 options.  One deck up at Guy's Burgers, or deck 6 for Piazza Panini, Pizza or Java Blue Cafe, which has sandwiches and grab n go things.  This would be my non Lido choice, but come February, I'll be at Big Chicken, no matter the length of the line 

Insert Shaq shimmy

[sid_9169]

Back to reality for real today... When the alarm went off this morning, I wasn't ready face it, but we're on the downhill slide into the holiday season, and I only have 14 days of work left for the rest of the year... Hopefully, 2022 brings some kind of normalcy back to the World, as well as all new adventures for me personally... 

[dliteu]

On 12/4/2021 at 6:38 PM, sid_9169 said:

If I were to tell you that the new Mardi Gras is the greatest Carnival ship ever, it would be true, in every way possible... This ship is on a whole nother level  as far as the cruising industry is concerned... With variety beyond anything preceding it in the CCL brand anyway...  Although, I never even experienced most of the stuff that was going on all over the ship, it's safe to say that you could spend a week on the Mardi Gras, and still not discover all she has to offer...

Thanks for the review.  

 

[jmklade]

On 12/4/2021 at 4:53 PM, sid_9169 said:

And, that concludes a long strange week on the Mardi Gras... I'll return soon to add my final summary, as well as thanking EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU personally (*by username)... Thanks for joining me on this adventure...

 

 

Thanks for your review.  I truly enjoyed it!

[ninjacat123]

Love the review and pics!  Made me feel like I was back on MG!  Thanks for taking the time creating this during your vacation!

[canes20]

15 hours ago, Etta1213 said:

Sud, Thank you so much for sharing with us. Your honesty regarding ups and downs makes your writing even more endearing. Blessings 

[ProgRockCruiser]

I've been away from this forum recently, only popping in every now and then.  But sooner than later we are headed off on our own next cruise, on Mardi Gras, same itinerary, so I've decided to dedicate some time to look at other people's recent experiences.  This was a great thread to read, and I only really hopped and skipped through it so far.

 

I don't recall seeing it explicitly, but I imagine the second elegant night was night 6, the second-last sea day, as per the usual Carnival pattern?

 

I'm not sure how we're going to fit in all the various restaurants we want to enjoy while also enjoying the MDR (we like most of the offerings at the MDR).  We have a reservation for Chibang one night, but I certainly want to hit most of the other places.  We have some OBC to consume, we were going to use it towards a couple of excursions (booking once we get on board), and probably the auto-grats, but there should be some leftover for a specialty restaurant or two...

 

We pre-purchased Cheers.  We'll exercise it well...

 

Thanks again for a great thread!