Bolt-less cruise on the Mardi Gras April 23-30

[sparks1093]

17 minutes ago, creativegenius said:

 

I highly recommend Danny Harr's Ship Tour on YouTube. We watched it when we booked the cruise and then watched it again two days before we sailed to re-familiarize ourselves with everything on the ship. Harr Travel is the channel. 

Sounds like an excellent link to send to our group, thanks!

[Houst]

I really loved it. You "feel" like you're over the ocean. 

[Cruisin_Mo]

6 hours ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

We were in an aft cabin on Deck 14 and it sounded like the Bolt was running through our closet.  We could actually tell when the boost button was pushed.  We also thought the ship was too new to have the vibration that it did until we felt it on a port day, while docked.  That’s when we realized our cabin vibrated from the Bolt.  I believe the base of the ride is attached to the ship on Deck 14.

 

Oh, no. That's where our cabins are. I wish I had known this. This only goes during the daytime, correct?

[ZoeyVictoria]

3 minutes ago, Cruisin_Mo said:

 

Oh, no. That's where our cabins are. I wish I had known this. This only goes during the daytime, correct?

Yes, daytime only.  It struck us as almost funny, so the only time it was really annoying was during mid-afternoon nap/rest time.  We were in 14486, and the noise seemed to come from the huge white space in that area.  We went up there to look more carefully once we figured out what it was, and the base of the ride appears to be in that area.  

[Homosassa]

7 hours ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

We were in an aft cabin on Deck 14 and it sounded like the Bolt was running through our closet.  We could actually tell when the boost button was pushed.  We also thought the ship was too new to have the vibration that it did until we felt it on a port day, while docked.  That’s when we realized our cabin vibrated from the Bolt.  I believe the base of the ride is attached to the ship on Deck 14.

Maybe the Bolt designer is a Woody Allen fan:

 

 

[cruisequeen4ever]

I would be mighty disappointed to go on Marci Gras for all of its new features, including Bolt, only to have Bolt not running. 

[ChrisNCruiser]

5 hours ago, cruisequeen4ever said:

I would be mighty disappointed to go on Marci Gras for all of its new features, including Bolt, only to have Bolt not running. 

We had plenty of new stuff to see and experience otherwise, and it gives us an excuse to sail the Mardi Gras again 😉

 

[CruisingWalter]

21 hours ago, cruisequeen4ever said:

I would be mighty disappointed to go on Marci Gras for all of its new features, including Bolt, only to have Bolt not running. 

 

Bolt is one tiny part of the experience on that ship and honestly once you see it, you realize how much of a gimmick it actually is. It sounds a lot better than it actually is. I'd sail Mardi Gras again just for all the included food options! We've never had that much food included on any ship. Some of it was terrible of course, but the majority of it was good and we certainly did not go hungry. I would not be surprised to see the roller coaster at sea retired within the next two-three years because it is going to be (and already seems to be) a maintenance nightmare. 

[Megan_Strick]

On 5/2/2022 at 5:36 PM, Jamman54 said:

We were also on the Mardi Gras last week and noticed it didn't run, even with the beautiful days we had in Amber Cove and Grand Turk. We are on again this week,  and today we are in Cozumel, and we've finally seen it running. 🤗

Wait...You cruised last week?? Review up yet??

[ChrisNCruiser]

2 hours ago, creativegenius said:

 

Bolt is one tiny part of the experience on that ship and honestly once you see it, you realize how much of a gimmick it actually is. It sounds a lot better than it actually is. I'd sail Mardi Gras again just for all the included food options! We've never had that much food included on any ship. Some of it was terrible of course, but the majority of it was good and we certainly did not go hungry. I would not be surprised to see the roller coaster at sea retired within the next two-three years because it is going to be (and already seems to be) a maintenance nightmare. 

agree on all counts!

[Jamman54]

2 hours ago, sthrnbll said:

Wait...You cruised last week?? Review up yet??

Cruising this week as well, and then a week in Orlando. Look for the review mid month. Btw, Willdra was sailing with us this week,  so expect her review in a week or two. 😁

[Guest BasicSailor]

1 hour ago, Jamman54 said:

Cruising this week as well, and then a week in Orlando. Look for the review mid month. Btw, Willdra was sailing with us this week,  so expect her review in a week or two. 😁

Gonna have to do reviews on the road 🙃

[Megan_Strick]

18 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

Cruising this week as well, and then a week in Orlando. Look for the review mid month. Btw, Willdra was sailing with us this week,  so expect her review in a week or two. 😁

OMG yay! I'm excited!

[Pellaz]

On 5/2/2022 at 8:47 PM, csoud68 said:

Never know, maybe people dont want to pay $15 for 30 seconds.

 

That's a little dishonest.  

Each lap is easily more than 30 seconds...and you DO control your speed, so you can take a bit more time if you want to.  

AND, of course, you get two laps when riding it, not just one.  

 

On 5/3/2022 at 9:35 AM, creativegenius said:

 

On our cruise it was basically sold out, so at the moment they are not having any issues selling it at the $15/rider price. Until they can't sell it, they'll definitely hold that $15 price. 🙂 

 

Same with my cruise in October...sailing at around 60% capacity the Bolt was still running continuously except during wind or weather shutdowns.  

 

Like any coaster, it WILL have issues, often with safety interlocks.  When I rode Bolt, it stopped my "bike" short of the loading platform...possibly because I got there too soon (I was pouring on the "turbo" button 😄 ).  I had to wait there a while, tilted sideways and down, and then they brought me into the "station."   To make up for it, I got to ride it again for free.  🙂  

 

[CruisingWalter]

49 minutes ago, Pellaz said:

 

That's a little dishonest.  

Each lap is easily more than 30 seconds...and you DO control your speed, so you can take a bit more time if you want to.  

AND, of course, you get two laps when riding it, not just one.  

 

 

According to my nephew and sister-in-law, they had no control of the speed. They both simply 'held it open' and the bike sped up and slowed down of its own accord. My sister-in-law went about 2/3 the speed of my nephew but we saw that bike was having issues prior to her riding. We timed the ride when the nephew r0de it. About 40 seconds total for both laps. It might feel longer when you're riding it, but it's a very fast two laps because the track is so short. 

[Pellaz]

21 hours ago, creativegenius said:

 

According to my nephew and sister-in-law, they had no control of the speed. They both simply 'held it open' and the bike sped up and slowed down of its own accord. My sister-in-law went about 2/3 the speed of my nephew but we saw that bike was having issues prior to her riding. We timed the ride when the nephew r0de it. About 40 seconds total for both laps. It might feel longer when you're riding it, but it's a very fast two laps because the track is so short. 

 

The track length is 800 feet. 

You're saying Bolt makes one lap in about 20 seconds.  

That works out to a speed of about 40 feet per second.

Not sure that's right.  😄  

 

When I rode it, the throttle DID seem to make a difference.  I'm not as sure about the "Boost" button, but when I pressed it on the final "straightaway" stretch, it might have caused my "bike" to approach the station platform too soon...which is why I got stuck on it for about 5 minutes.     

 

Edited May 8, 2022 by Pellaz

[CruisingWalter]

18 hours ago, Pellaz said:

 

The track length is 800 feet. 

You're saying Bolt makes one lap in about 20 seconds.  

That works out to a speed of about 40 feet per second.

Not sure that's right.  😄  

 

When I rode it, the throttle DID seem to make a difference.  I'm not as sure about the "Boost" button, but when I pressed it on the final "straightaway" stretch, it might have caused my "bike" to approach the station platform too soon...which is why I got stuck on it for about 5 minutes.     

 

 

As I shot video of my nephew's entire ride, I just clocked it in the video editing software, 46 seconds for him to complete both laps. I was off by 13 seconds.

 

The fastest part of the ride is the launch, you're shot out like a cannon, but then it immediately slows down in the loop, you get more speed along the straight but the braking on the hill slows you down. It's 12-14 seconds to the halfway point of each lap depending on how quickly you go through the loop.

 

 So your $15 gets you a 45 second semi-thrill ride on a cruise ship. 🙂 

Edited May 9, 2022 by creativegenius

[Pellaz]

On 5/8/2022 at 10:50 PM, WheresWalter said:

 

As I shot video of my nephew's entire ride, I just clocked it in the video editing software, 46 seconds for him to complete both laps. I was off by 13 seconds.

 

The fastest part of the ride is the launch, you're shot out like a cannon, but then it immediately slows down in the loop, you get more speed along the straight but the braking on the hill slows you down. It's 12-14 seconds to the halfway point of each lap depending on how quickly you go through the loop.

 

 So your $15 gets you a 45 second semi-thrill ride on a cruise ship. 🙂 

 

No, it gets you 90 seconds of thrill on a cruise ship.  Each ride consists of two laps.    

Considering that Batman The Ride at Six Flags Over Georgia is a mere 46 seconds from the top of the lift-hill to the station brake, I'll accept that.  🙂  

[CruisingWalter]

1 hour ago, Pellaz said:

 

No, it gets you 90 seconds of thrill on a cruise ship.  Each ride consists of two laps.    

Considering that Batman The Ride at Six Flags Over Georgia is a mere 46 seconds from the top of the lift-hill to the station brake, I'll accept that.  🙂  

 

 

Wow, Batman, that takes me back! We lived in Atlanta for about 27 years and we visited Six Flags a few times. I still love the old Cyclone thought that was really getting rough the last time I rode it and the Scream Machine is a classic. When I rode Mako for the first time at Sea World here in Orlando, that's totally what it reminded me of, but a modern, higher, faster version of Scream Machine.

 

The rides my nephew and sister-in-law both got on Bolt was 46 seconds total for both laps. As I mentioned, I shot it on video so it's very easy to clock the ride by setting at In at the beginning of the ride and an Out at the end of the ride. The video editing software gives me the time down to the frame. 

 

Universal's Velocicoaster is only 60 seconds, but with a 70 mph first launch, 55 mph second launch and the stunning 155 foot top hat along 4700 feet of track. Now THAT is a thrill ride coaster that brings me back to Universal Orlando often. 🙂 Everything else in the world is tame compared to that, even the new Guardians Cosmic Rewind which I would put as the second best coaster in Orlando right now. Then Kraken/Mako, then Hagrid's/Hulk. I do need to get to Tampa to get on Iron Gwazi though, that looks amazeballs. 

 

That's why I couldn't get behind the Bolt. $15 for 46 seconds-ish for a ride along 800 feet of track that's more gimmick than thrill, at least from my perspective. If it was included like it was originally supposed to be, I definitely would have tried it.

 

But I'm glad you enjoyed it! It certainly is a unique attraction in the world of cruising. 🙂 

Edited May 20, 2022 by WheresWalter

[BlerkOne]

As Bolt will also be on Celebration and Jubilee, I think it is here for a while and they do sell out.

 

We enjoyed it on Mardi Gras and look forward to riding it again. My time is too valuable to analyze everything down to the penny. It will get old soon enough. Did I have fun? Hell yes. And should they remove the ride(s), I will certainly have gotten my share. No regrets.

[BlerkOne]

On 5/8/2022 at 9:50 PM, WheresWalter said:

 

 So your $15 gets you a 45 second semi-thrill ride on a cruise ship. 🙂 

Depends on how fast you go.

[Tradestock]

DH would definitely pay the $15 dollars, but would like the experience to match the competitors launch into outer space.  The rockets would have to immediately fire above Mach 4, no booster required, and the brakes should be on fire at the end.  This should look like the Evil Knievel Snake River Canyon jump, but with more success at the end and a free Mojito.

[rs45thompson]

On 5/3/2022 at 8:56 AM, csoud68 said:

I would bet that $5 or $10 bucks a ride will ultimately be the cost.

 

If it was free there would be too long a line...

 

But carnival needs passengers to ride the bolt in order to make money on the thing..

 

$15 wont do it..unless they figure they are in it for the long haul..

I don't know.  My kid rode it on our cruise and wanted to ride it again but there were no more time slots.  It was sold out, why would they drop the price if people are paying it.

[jimbo5544]

On 5/3/2022 at 7:10 AM, sparks1093 said:

We're planning a cruise with a group of friends and at our meeting last night we chose Mardi Gras in the spring of 2024. Some in the group might be disappointed if they charge for this activity. 

They do charge, two laps for one fee

[jetsfan58]

We keep forgetting it's Carnival's Ships and it's Carnival's Rules!