Mardi Gras Back to Back February 5-19 2022....The Good, The Bad & The Ugly.

[SNJCruisers]

I'll keep the background and pre-cruise stuff to a minimum since most of you just want another cruisers perspective on the new jewel of Carnival cruise line.  Been on about 8 different classes of ships with Carnival, my first being on the Jubilee when she debuted in 1986.  Our Covid testing went very smooth at a nearby CVS as well as our nonstop flights on American into MCO and our stay at the Wingate by Wyndham.  We used Cruise Control Transportation as our shuttle and things were very smooth.  It was 80 bucks for private service in an Uber XL type of vehicle that picked us up at 845 at our hotel.  On our return trip to MCO, I opted for shared van service from the same company for 40 bucks which picked us up at 1030 to take us back to MCO.

 

We had gotten an arrival time slot of 10:00 am-10:30 am and received boarding zone A-01.   We were processed and sitting waiting outside the Suite waiting room just before 10:00 am and we sat there till just after 11:00 when boarding commenced.  We came onto the ship adjacent to Grand Central on deck six and she looked exactly like the various YouTube videos we had seen of her.  There wasn't the awe of the old central atrium with the glass elevators of the Farcus ships, but there was certainly an indication that this ship was more in line with what Carnival's competition was currently offering and at the same time had a few spins that were innovative such as the multi use central area that spanned three decks which gave cruisers a different perspective daytime versus nighttime.

 

Embarkation was a breeze, debarkation was very quick because of facial recognition and our turnaround day was just like debarkation day except for the fact that we walked back onto the ship and had the ship to ourselves (about 175 of us) for just over an hour.  It took us about two days to get acclimated for the most part but of course we still made the occasional wrong turn here and there over the course of our 14 days.  There is no way that you can get to all of the nooks and crannies and fully appreciate everything that this ship has to offer over the course of 7 days, so if it's possible to do a B2B I would highly recommend it.  It was our first B2B on Carnival and the majority of our future bookings on all lines are via B2B or S2S.

 

The GOOD.....There were 57 comedy shows and 32 trivia events over the course of the week.  Fifty seven comedy shows....let that sink in.  Most cruise lines give you maybe two or three.  There were six different comedians over the course of the week.  The PG shows were usually at the Limelight Lounge and the R rated shows were at the Punchliner Comedy Club.  There were also 3 shows on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday at 11:00 pm in the Mardi Gras theater that featured two comedians doing about 20 minute sets each, while all of the regular shows were about 30 minutes each.

Big Chicken lived up to it's hype and was a very good option for lunch.  The fries were just OK if they were sitting out, but one time I got a fresh batch and they were really good at that point.  Since I do like spice on my food at times I went to Blue Iguana and got some of the orange Habanero sauce and put it on my Big Chicken sandwich which elevated the taste even further for me.  Another great lunch choice was the day that they had chorizo as an option at Sea Dogs.  They always have hot dogs, plus two other types that rotate on a daily basis.  You can get them on a standard roll or a pretzel roll, which I opted for.  They also had three different kinds of mustard, yellow, brown and stone ground.  Chorizo on a pretzel roll with stone ground was my go to on two different days.

We were able to get 715 reservations at Teppanyaki for the last night of the 14 days we were onboard.  At 32.00 plus automatic 18% gratuity it was a good show and I had the filet mignon/lobster tail combo.  It was good, but will be a one and done.   The fact that Chibang, Cucina and Pig & Anchor were all included for dinner helped spread out the dinner crowd.  We had just under 5000 and around 5000 passengers for our two weeks.  I would hate to see what it would be like at full capacity of up to 4 in a cabin which puts the capacity well over 6000 passengers.

 

I preferred the pool and hot tubs on Summer Landing on deck 8 as opposed to the two pools up on Lido, which seemed to have more kids and be a bit more crowded.  The two rectangular hot tubs on the starboard side of deck 8 before you hit the Watering Hole Bar were nice.  Further up the starboard side of the ship is the outside portion of Bar Della Rosa, but once you go past there, that is one of the primary smoking areas of the ship, so the smoke will shift depending upon how the wind is blowing.  The Pig & Anchor as usual had the best Bloody Mary on the ship with the infused Tito's with the cooked bacon added as well. 

 

HIDDEN GEMS.....Little shelf above the bed is a great place to put your cell phone.  Chibang and Cucina are open on the three sea days from 1200-200 for lunch for cooked to order pasta bowls containing your choice of pasta/rice, protein, vegetables and sauce.  Chibang also has three noodle broth bowls of chicken, steak or shrimp that are outstanding.  On Saturday night the Pig & Anchor has a 7 oz filet mignon on their menu, which I added brisket and ribs to for a great combo. If you have Cheers, the Watering Hole Bar as well as the Pig & Anchor Bar both have homemade lemonade that are included with Cheers.  You can of course get your liquor of choice added which I did a few times with either Chambord or Kraken Spiced Rum.

 

The BAD.....Some of the venues are way too small.  The Piano Bar was often at capacity and many patrons claimed their seats in Grand Central and never budged for the duration of the evening.  Luckily there were over 50 comedy shows because many of them were at full capacity and you do need to show up early to make sure you get in if you 100% do not want to miss a certain show.  Some of the other ships in the fleet were handing out 25.00 in cash to Platinum and Diamond cruisers for the casino benefit fulfillment.  On the Mardi Gras they gave you the option of either having 25.00 downloaded onto your sail n sign card casino account or you were given a play only 25.00 chip.  I took our chips from each week and on night 14 went to the roulette table and put 100.00 on red.  It came up black.  So no 100.00 that cruisers on other ships had to do nothing for.  My final bad is the Fortune Teller Bar.  I had high hopes going in, but 8 of the drinks on the menu were more for show than taste, in my opinion.  Went a few times, but probably won't go back on our next sailing unless the violin trio is playing.  The same goes for the Brass Magnolia.  It was OK, but didn't have the wow factor for me.   My final bad is a venue that had many positive reviews  online as well as on YouTube and that is Rudi's Seagrill.  The seared shrimp appetizer and the white chocolate bread pudding with bourbon sauce were very good, even though the shrimp consisted of 3 jumbo sized shrimp.  If you're only giving me three, make them colossal size please.  The lobster mac n cheese did not have much lobster, the seafood bisque was smoky with a thin consistency and the crab stuffed lobster tail imperial was not at all like it was pictured when the Mardi Gras started sailing.  Instead of being a good sized tail, it was a whole split lobster with no claws and a small split tail.  The crab imperial was the best part and if they had a large casserole dish of it, it would be great.   The final bad will be pointed at myself for procrastination.  Early on during week two I had seen a husband and wife enjoying an order of beignets at Emeril's.  I had waited until the last day to get them.  Emeril's is only open at lunchtime on sea days and every time I walked by the place was empty.  On out last day at 3:00, the place was packed and every table but one was filled.  They were also out of beignets.  Seems like more people than just me had the same idea.

 

The UGLY.....Supply issues came up over the course of our sailings as well as the prior one.  On day 5 of our previous sailing, the ship ran out of Bud Light and Michelob Ultra resulting in many upset patrons as I was told.  Typical inconsiderate Carnival cruisers, also know as card carrying members of the "me society". Bluetooth speakers poolside or at the hot tub blaring music, people walking through the Lido buffet area in either swimwear without a covering or men without a shirt, cruisers leaving wet pools of water in elevators, a guy resting his bare feet on an adjacent chair in grand central, guys wearing gym shorts and a t shirt in the MDR on cruise elegant night, and my favorite.....a woman taking a cell phone picture of her family's picture from one of the kiosks at Pixels.  I guess she didn't realize or didn't care that there was a waterline going through the picture.

 

That's about it.....all in all we really had an enjoyable 14 days.  By doing my research before hand and seeing what was going to come to fruition I had already booked another B2B over Labor Day and a special 5 day sailing of the Celebration next January.  Am in the process of booking a B2B on the Celebration for September of 2023.  I truly think that the Excel Class is a game changed for Carnival.  Since it is so drastically different from the other ships in the fleet there of course will be some Carnival loyalists that will prefer the older smaller ships.  That's fine.  Diversity is a good thing and there is a reason we can choose between vanilla, chocolate and coffee.  Even though there were multiple days at Java Blue that they were out of chocolate and coffee ice cream.  They were cranking those milk shakes out big time.   If anyone has any questions feel free to fire away and I will try my best to answer them.

Edited February 24, 2022 by SNJCruisers

[firefly333]

I thought you said you booked a inside cabin in the special area? I guess that was another cruise. Havana. I assume not this time since you dont mention Havana...lol doesnt make me want to rush to book jubilee. I liked my Mdr meals and buffet enough better on rcl, I'm not rushing to book carnival but might.  Too many nights on carnival I didnt like the menu ..but I'm a fussy eater. Just thought the meals showed cut backs on carnival. Cutting corners.

[TravelBluebird]

Thanks for the report!

 

One question...I prefer to start my day with some sort of espresso coffee. Are there other places to get espresso (cappuccino, macchiato, cortado, etc) besides Java Blue? How long were the lines for Java Blue in the morning? 

[SNJCruisers]

17 minutes ago, TravelBluebird said:

Thanks for the report!

 

One question...I prefer to start my day with some sort of espresso coffee. Are there other places to get espresso (cappuccino, macchiato, cortado, etc) besides Java Blue? How long were the lines for Java Blue in the morning? 

The best alternative would be on deck eight at Bar Della Rosa.  It's located across from the pizza place on the starboard side of the ship.  Lines at Java Blue can be very long, even sometimes late at night with only one person working.

Another Hidden Gem that I forgot to mention are the sandwiches at Java Blue for breakfast.  They have them until 900 on port and debarkation day and untill 1100 in sea days.  Four types on English muffins and another three on a multi grain wheat bread.

[ninjacat123]

Loved MG!  All the choices of food, drink and entertainment was awesome.  It was hard dialing my expectations down for our cruise this past January on Sunshine butt I found I was still excited to be on a cruise.  Now I will be on Ecstasy this May with my DDs and that is even more of a dialing down, but I think I'll manage.  😎  Thanks for your review!!

[TravelBluebird]

Just now, SNJCruisers said:

The best alternative would be on deck eight at Bar Della Rosa. 

Thank you! I will check out the coffee there!

[SNJCruisers]

43 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I thought you said you booked a inside cabin in the special area? I guess that was another cruise. Havana. I assume not this time since you dont mention Havana...lol doesnt make me want to rush to book jubilee. I liked my Mdr meals and buffet enough better on rcl, I'm not rushing to book carnival but might.  Too many nights on carnival I didnt like the menu ..but I'm a fussy eater. Just thought the meals showed cut backs on carnival. Cutting corners.

The inside Havana cabins were on our Horizon cruises back in 2018 and 2019.  Havana was an after thought for Carnival with the Excel Class.  With four pools to choose from, it's not as bad as the other ships in the fleet.

[SNJCruisers]

3 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

😎  Thanks for your review!!

My pleasure.  Just paying it forward and giving another perspective to the long list of reviews and live reports.

[TNcruising02]

Thank you very much for the run down on all of the good, not so good, and bad things about your experiences on the Mardi Gras.  We are boarding this ship in two days and reviews like yours are extremely helpful so that we can keep our expectations realistic.  We are very excited about our cruise and having a different Carnival cruising experience.

 

Thanks again!

[ninjacat123]

4 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:

Thank you very much for the run down on all of the good, not so good, and bad things about your experiences on the Mardi Gras.  We are boarding this ship in two days and reviews like yours are extremely helpful so that we can keep our expectations realistic.  We are very excited about our cruise and having a different Carnival cruising experience.

 

Thanks again!

Remember gelato near the shawarma on Lido.  Emeril's, sooooo good!  Big Chicken, I enjoyed both lunch and bfast there.  Get seats near the front near the stage at Grand Central early so you can see the whole background screen.  Family Feud is very funny.  Street Eatz changes daily and is yummy.

I wasn't a big fan of the Mtheory show.  Chibang was a fun ambiance but I wish we would have eaten at Emeril's again. Bonsai Teppanyaki was extra fun for me since the chef sang Carpenter songs and we all joined in.  Food wise it was fine.  I agree with OP that Rudi's is pretty food but I wish I would have eaten at Emeril's. 

Have a wonderful cruise!!! 

[TNcruising02]

1 minute ago, ninjacat123 said:

Remember gelato near the shawarma on Lido.  Emeril's, sooooo good!  Big Chicken, I enjoyed both lunch and bfast there.  Get seats near the front near the stage at Grand Central early so you can see the whole background screen.  Family Feud is very funny.  Street Eatz changes daily and is yummy.

I wasn't a big fan of the Mtheory show.  Chibang was a fun ambiance but I wish we would have eaten at Emeril's again. Bonsai Teppanyaki was extra fun for me since the chef sang Carpenter songs and we all joined in.  Food wise it was fine.  I agree with OP that Rudi's is pretty food but I wish I would have eaten at Emeril's. 

Have a wonderful cruise!!! 

Thanks Ninjacat!  Your advice is very helpful.  We can't wait!  

[Colorado Beach Bum]

1 hour ago, firefly333 said:

I thought you said you booked a inside cabin in the special area? I guess that was another cruise. Havana. I assume not this time since you dont mention Havana...lol doesnt make me want to rush to book jubilee. I liked my Mdr meals and buffet enough better on rcl, I'm not rushing to book carnival but might.  Too many nights on carnival I didnt like the menu ..but I'm a fussy eater. Just thought the meals showed cut backs on carnival. Cutting corners.

Agree with you on Carnival MDR.  Been on many Carnival cruises and MDR no longer exciting.  That said, we only had one MDR dinner on Mardi Gras.  The other restaurants made it feel like a new experience vs the same old MDR food.  And with Big Chicken, Street Eats, Sea Dogs and Swarma the lido food also a new experience.  I was about done with Carnival because of the food but MG changed my mind. 

Edited February 25, 2022 by Colorado Beach Bum

[ninjacat123]

Just now, TNcruising02 said:

Thanks Ninjacat!  Your advice is very helpful.  We can't wait!  

My pleasure!  If you are in Port Canaveral the night before embarkation, go to Rikki Tiki Tavern at the end of Cocoa Beach Pier.  It's a little hidden but a great way to start off your cruise with yummy food and drinks while watching surfers.

[TNcruising02]

6 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

My pleasure!  If you are in Port Canaveral the night before embarkation, go to Rikki Tiki Tavern at the end of Cocoa Beach Pier.  It's a little hidden but a great way to start off your cruise with yummy food and drinks while watching surfers.

We are actually in Port Canaveral now.  I will have to look this place up!  We decided to fly in two days early instead of one this time.

[WES143]

2 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

I'll keep the background and pre-cruise stuff to a minimum since most of you just want another cruisers perspective on the new jewel of Carnival cruise line.  Been on about 8 different classes of ships with Carnival, my first being on the Jubilee when she debuted in 1986.  Our Covid testing went very smooth at a nearby CVS as well as our nonstop flights on American into MCO and our stay at the Wingate by Wyndham.  We used Cruise Control Transportation as our shuttle and things were very smooth.  It was 80 bucks for private service in an Uber XL type of vehicle that picked us up at 845 at our hotel.  On our return trip to MCO, I opted for shared van service from the same company for 40 bucks which picked us up at 1030 to take us back to MCO.

 

We had gotten an arrival time slot of 10:00 am-10:30 am and received boarding zone A-01.   We were processed and sitting waiting outside the Suite waiting room just before 10:00 am and we sat there till just after 11:00 when boarding commenced.  We came onto the ship adjacent to Grand Central on deck six and she looked exactly like the various YouTube videos we had seen of her.  There wasn't the awe of the old central atrium with the glass elevators of the Farcus ships, but there was certainly an indication that this ship was more in line with what Carnival's competition was currently offering and at the same time had a few spins that were innovative such as the multi use central area that spanned three decks which gave cruisers a different perspective daytime versus nighttime.

 

Embarkation was a breeze, debarkation was very quick because of facial recognition and our turnaround day was just like debarkation day except for the fact that we walked back onto the ship and had the ship to ourselves (about 175 of us) for just over an hour.  It took us about two days to get acclimated for the most part but of course we still made the occasional wrong turn here and there over the course of our 14 days.  There is no way that you can get to all of the nooks and crannies and fully appreciate everything that this ship has to offer over the course of 7 days, so if it's possible to do a B2B I would highly recommend it.  It was our first B2B on Carnival and the majority of our future bookings on all lines are via B2B or S2S.

 

The GOOD.....There were 57 comedy shows and 32 trivia events over the course of the week.  Fifty seven comedy shows....let that sink in.  Most cruise lines give you maybe two or three.  There were six different comedians over the course of the week.  The PG shows were usually at the Limelight Lounge and the R rated shows were at the Punchliner Comedy Club.  There were also 3 shows on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday at 11:00 pm in the Mardi Gras theater that featured two comedians doing about 20 minute sets each, while all of the regular shows were about 30 minutes each.

Big Chicken lived up to it's hype and was a very good option for lunch.  The fries were just OK if they were sitting out, but one time I got a fresh batch and they were really good at that point.  Since I do like spice on my food at times I went to Blue Iguana and got some of the orange Habanero sauce and put it on my Big Chicken sandwich which elevated the taste even further for me.  Another great lunch choice was the day that they had chorizo as an option at Sea Dogs.  They always have hot dogs, plus two other types that rotate on a daily basis.  You can get them on a standard roll or a pretzel roll, which I opted for.  They also had three different kinds of mustard, yellow, brown and stone ground.  Chorizo on a pretzel roll with stone ground was my go to on two different days.

We were able to get 715 reservations at Teppanyaki for the last night of the 14 days we were onboard.  At 32.00 plus automatic 18% gratuity it was a good show and I had the filet mignon/lobster tail combo.  It was good, but will be a one and done.   The fact that Chibang, Cucina and Pig & Anchor were all included for dinner helped spread out the dinner crowd.  We had just under 5000 and around 5000 passengers for our two weeks.  I would hate to see what it would be like at full capacity of up to 4 in a cabin which puts the capacity well over 6000 passengers.

 

I preferred the pool and hot tubs on Summer Landing on deck 8 as opposed to the two pools up on Lido, which seemed to have more kids and be a bit more crowded.  The two rectangular hot tubs on the starboard side of deck 8 before you hit the Watering Hole Bar were nice.  Further up the starboard side of the ship is the outside portion of Bar Della Rosa, but once you go past there, that is one of the primary smoking areas of the ship, so the smoke will shift depending upon how the wind is blowing.  The Pig & Anchor as usual had the best Bloody Mary on the ship with the infused Tito's with the cooked bacon added as well. 

 

HIDDEN GEMS.....Little shelf above the bed is a great place to put your cell phone.  Chibang and Cucina are open on the three sea days from 1200-200 for lunch for cooked to order pasta bowls containing your choice of pasta/rice, protein, vegetables and sauce.  Chibang also has three noodle broth bowls of chicken, steak or shrimp that are outstanding.  On Saturday night the Pig & Anchor has a 7 oz filet mignon on their menu, which I added brisket and ribs to for a great combo. If you have Cheers, the Watering Hole Bar as well as the Pig & Anchor Bar both have homemade lemonade that are included with Cheers.  You can of course get your liquor of choice added which I did a few times with either Chambord or Kraken Spiced Rum.

 

The BAD.....Some of the venues are way too small.  The Piano Bar was often at capacity and many patrons claimed their seats in Grand Central and never budged for the duration of the evening.  Luckily there were over 50 comedy shows because many of them were at full capacity and you do need to show up early to make sure you get in if you 100% do not want to miss a certain show.  Some of the other ships in the fleet were handing out 25.00 in cash to Platinum and Diamond cruisers for the casino benefit fulfillment.  On the Mardi Gras they gave you the option of either having 25.00 downloaded onto your sail n sign card casino account or you were given a play only 25.00 chip.  I took our chips from each week and on night 14 went to the roulette table and put 100.00 on red.  It came up black.  So no 100.00 that cruisers on other ships had to do nothing for.  My final bad is the Fortune Teller Bar.  I had high hopes going in, but 8 of the drinks on the menu were more for show than taste, in my opinion.  Went a few times, but probably won't go back on our next sailing unless the violin trio is playing.  The same goes for the Brass Magnolia.  It was OK, but didn't have the wow factor for me.   My final bad is a venue that had many positive reviews  online as well as on YouTube and that is Rudi's Seagrill.  The seared shrimp appetizer and the white chocolate bread pudding with bourbon sauce were very good, even though the shrimp consisted of 3 jumbo sized shrimp.  If you're only giving me three, make them colossal size please.  The lobster mac n cheese did not have much lobster, the seafood bisque was smoky with a thin consistency and the crab stuffed lobster tail imperial was not at all like it was pictured when the Mardi Gras started sailing.  Instead of being a good sized tail, it was a whole split lobster with no claws and a small split tail.  The crab imperial was the best part and if they had a large casserole dish of it, it would be great.   The final bad will be pointed at myself for procrastination.  Early on during week two I had seen a husband and wife enjoying an order of beignets at Emeril's.  I had waited until the last day to get them.  Emeril's is only open at lunchtime on sea days and every time I walked by the place was empty.  On out last day at 3:00, the place was packed and every table but one was filled.  They were also out of beignets.  Seems like more people than just me had the same idea.

 

The UGLY.....Supply issues came up over the course of our sailings as well as the prior one.  On day 5 of our previous sailing, the ship ran out of Bud Light and Michelob Ultra resulting in many upset patrons as I was told.  Typical inconsiderate Carnival cruisers, also know as card carrying members of the "me society". Bluetooth speakers poolside or at the hot tub blaring music, people walking through the Lido buffet area in either swimwear without a covering or men without a shirt, cruisers leaving wet pools of water in elevators, a guy resting his bare feet on an adjacent chair in grand central, guys wearing gym shorts and a t shirt in the MDR on cruise elegant night, and my favorite.....a woman taking a cell phone picture of her family's picture from one of the kiosks at Pixels.  I guess she didn't realize or didn't care that there was a waterline going through the picture.

 

That's about it.....all in all we really had an enjoyable 14 days.  By doing my research before hand and seeing what was going to come to fruition I had already booked another B2B over Labor Day and a special 5 day sailing of the Celebration next January.  Am in the process of booking a B2B on the Celebration for September of 2023.  I truly think that the Excel Class is a game changed for Carnival.  Since it is so drastically different from the other ships in the fleet there of course will be some Carnival loyalists that will prefer the older smaller ships.  That's fine.  Diversity is a good thing and there is a reason we can choose between vanilla, chocolate and coffee.  Even though there were multiple days at Java Blue that they were out of chocolate and coffee ice cream.  They were cranking those milk shakes out big time.   If anyone has any questions feel free to fire away and I will try my best to answer them.

I though it was just me in regards to the Fortune Teller bar drinks. I’ve seen several videos of the drinks and the bartender in me immediately saw all fanfare and NO alcohol. I like to TASTE my alcohol. It doesn’t need to be pretty lol.

[Knights on the Beach]

1 hour ago, TNcruising02 said:

We are actually in Port Canaveral now.  I will have to look this place up!  We decided to fly in two days early instead of one this time.

We don't go to the Pier too often - we usually frequent Grills at the Port or Sandbar but for a fun neighborhood bar, check out Ellie Mae's Tiki Bar on Jackson.  That's my favorite.

 

 

Edited February 25, 2022 by cruisemom2

[TNcruising02]

2 minutes ago, cruisemom2 said:

I love Grills at the Port but for a fun neighborhood bar, check out Ellie Mae's Tiki Bar on Jackson.  

 

 

Thanks!  I will look that up too.  We have all day tomorrow to find things to do here.  It's nice not being rushed.

[Knights on the Beach]

The weather has been great here this week - enjoy!

[Jamman54]

Thanks for the great review. A lot of useful information that we will utilize on our B2B in April. 😎

[SNJCruisers]

15 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

Thanks for the great review. A lot of useful information that we will utilize on our B2B in April. 😎

No problem.  My pleasure Jamman.  Have to look out for another Jersey guy. 😉

[SNJCruisers]

Want to thank Ninjacat for jogging my memory about two other shows.  M-Theory was ok, with the last trick revealed being the best.  And Family Feud has three different shows.  PG shows at 730 and 930 and an adult show at 1100.  The previous day in the afternoon they have the audition round which was worth seeing.  We went to both audition and adult shows and enjoyed them.

[SNJCruisers]

Another thought.  Chris "The Flying Scotsman" Williams is truly fantastic.  He was all over the ship and his one man show he does at Grand Central is great.

[mondello]

10 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

Another thought.  Chris "The Flying Scotsman" Williams is truly fantastic.  He was all over the ship and his one man show he does at Grand Central is great.

Did Chris "The Flying Scotsman" Williams say where he was going? I saw in another thread that Lee Mason was taking on the CD duties from 2/19-7/16.

Thank you for the cruise review. I thought I'd read somewhere that Emeril's Bistro had a less than desirable location. I think it's awesome how many different dining venues they have on a Mardi Gras. I'd probably skip breakfast and eat two lunches.

[KmomChicago]

21 minutes ago, mondello said:

Did Chris "The Flying Scotsman" Williams say where he was going? I saw in another thread that Lee Mason was taking on the CD duties from 2/19-7/16.

Thank you for the cruise review. I thought I'd read somewhere that Emeril's Bistro had a less than desirable location. I think it's awesome how many different dining venues they have on a Mardi Gras. I'd probably skip breakfast and eat two lunches.

 

I can't say for sure but my understanding was that Chris is permanently on MG which means that when he's not on it, he's at home with his wife and baby. 

 

The plan was apparently for him to switch out with Mike Pack, but Mike has decided to retire from this whole business, also due to a recent baby and desire for a settled home life. 

Edited February 25, 2022 by KmomChicago

[mondello]

5 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

 

I can't say for sure but my understanding was that Chris is permanently on MG which means that when he's not on it, he's at home with his wife and baby. 

 

The plan was apparently for him to switch out with Mike Pack, but Mike has decided to retire from this whole business, also due to a recent baby and desire for a settled home life. 

That makes sense. It seemed they were moving CDs around quite a bit.