Willdra's Massive Carnival Mardi Gras Apr 30- May 7 Review

[willdra]

From there we wanted to get a load of that behemoth of a ship! We walked around some. Up to Lido then to Serenity. We took pictures along the way. Then we went up to the playground area to see Bolt and the Putt Putt Golf Course. It was really nice up there. That was a great time to be up there. It wasn’t crowded at all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

 

 

 

 

Our selfie game is on point! 🤣

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

Hunger had not set in yet, surprisingly, so we went back down to the cabin. It was still “open”, but it was clean. The water that I ordered was delivered while we were in there. We looked around the cabin a little more, and took it in. I wasn't sure, but it seemed narrower than normal. Or maybe I was having a stroke and didn’t know it. I asked W, and he said it felt a little smaller to him also. Cool, no stroke. The bathroom was absolutely smaller. It was nice, but little. No multitasking would be occurring in there. It had a "one function at a time" feel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

The top of the ottoman turns into a tray, when you flip the lid over. 

 

There were extra blankets inside. This cabin could sleep 4. 

 

 

We loved these pull-out lights and USB ports on each side of the bed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

I’d forgotten to download books on my Kindle for the week before we left home. I did that while we still had a signal. Our SNS cards arrived while I was on the balcony using my cellular service while I could. 10 minutes later our luggage arrived. W unpacked while I fiddled around. He also went into the ironing room to iron his elegant evening dinner shirts. Smart. Luckily, the ironing room was on the same deck as our cabin. I was still trying to get caught up on my notes here, when W said he was deep in the throes of hunger. I was at a good point to pause, so we went to find food.

 

There are many many choices of food on Mardi Gras. I wanted to try Big Chicken, but W wanted Guys Pig and Anchor. I won. Ha! We walked up 2 decks and we were there. The line was short but still slow. From my observations, saying a lot of words when you were ordering, usually meant that you had to stand to the side and wait. When I got up there, I thought my order was simple, with very few words. Yeah no. I only wanted the dark meat chicken sandwich instead of white. Well, all 3 of the servers had to hold a short meeting, then they elected the loser, who had to go to the back to make it. So there I was, standing to the side waiting. After I was sure that my order was easy. It took maybe 10 minutes. It felt like an eternity. Now during that time they communicated with me, telling me they didn’t forget, and they apologized, so I wasn’t mad. I just felt bad cuz I was impeding progress. Sorry to everyone behind me! They finally brought my sandwich out, and I went to find W. He was sitting at a table outside, but I wanted to go inside in the AC. All of those wall to wall bodies back there blocked the breeze, and it was warm. There was ample seating throughout the ship, especially in the Lido area. We got a decent seat and dug in.

 

My "special" dark meat chicken sandwich. 

 

 

 

[ItsADryHumor]

The rooms really are lovely and thoughtfully designed. 
 

I love your reviews! Keep it coming! ❤️🎉

[willdra]

A server showed up while we ate, and asked if we wanted a drink. I wanted a rum punch, but he insisted that he needed to make me a special one. Nice. He also said it would take a while so I shouldn’t leave. He sped off before I could ask "how long is a while, and for why?" While we waited, W went to get us gelato. They had coffee and raspberry. He got us the coffee. Just that fast, I forgot I was waiting for my drink, and we almost left after we finished the gelato. I have the mind of a guppy.

 

 

Oh I didn’t say how the Big Chicken was. It was big and it was chicken. It was good, no lie. Just not spectacular. Many cruisers loved it tho, cuz it was often packed throughout the week.

 

When my drink finally arrived, it was fantastic! I was happy that I got it. Our cabin was 14484, on the 14th deck. The cabin is very aft-ish, and it was strange to be that far back past the aft elevators. I got turned around every time we left the cabin, the first few days, which is not hard for me. I quickly determined this would be a "just follow W" cruise. I had no idea where I was going, and I was ok with it.

 

 

 

Before we got back to the cabin, my watch notified me that I’d met my exercise goal for the day. Cha Ching! That meant I could eat as much as I wanted the rest of the day, guilt free (I was going to do it anyway). I need that kinda exercise in my life every day. Cruise ship calories don’t count. That really also shows how much walking we did, and we hadn't even seen the whole ship at that point.

 

In the cabin, I unpacked while W rested. Jason our Cabin Steward came by to introduce himself. We opted for late cabin service again. After I unpacked, I made our dinner reservations for the Steakhouse for the first night. Because free wine. Hello!

 

I already knew that we could miss the first Main Dining room dinner that night. No FOMO. During check in, we selected Your Time Dining so we could choose where we wanted dinner every night. There was no reason to be locked into the MDR when there were so many other wonderful places to try. #options

 

 

[crewsweeper]

Saw @Jamman54post a warning on another thread.  So had to check this out.  Great start.  Can't wait to hear your thoughts on Emeril's, especially breakfast.  Nice to hear Big Chick wasn't crowded on Day 1. In November it was jammed, didn't get there until breakfast Day3.

And yes, the cabins are narrower.😒

[willdra]

The sail away party was set to start at 4. I was done unpacking and organizing around 3:50. I shook W awake, and we walked up 2 decks to the Lido. This is when we realized there were other people on this cruise. Many people. We are not amateurs, so we found a decent spot. As always it was fun and lively. Even when this mature couple insisted on squeezing in next to me, then proceeded to do some funky form of dancing, that resembled what I imagined, was a conniption. Mmmmm how about no? A few people left shortly after, and thankfully we could move down. We danced and sang and watched the Freedom sail away. From the Mardi Gras, the Freedom looked like a little baby ship. No shade. The Mardi Gras is just that massive.

 

While we were enjoying the party, a couple came up next to us, and the guy had the ashiest feet I’d ever seen. Cousins. It’s 2022 outchea. There is absolutely no reason to be ashy. None. As a nation, we have access to some of the best moisturizers on the planet. Use 'em. Didn’t we learn anything from Lieutenant Dan on Forrest Gump? One of the first things he said to Forrest and Bubba was "There are two standing rules in this outfit. 1.Take care of your feet. 2. Don't go doing something stupid like getting yourself killed". Words to live by.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

Since we hadn’t spent enough time in Serenity, and this was as good a time as any, we sat up there for a spell. Dinner wasn’t until 9pm which gave us plenty of time to burn. It was nice and cool in Serenity. W went and got another soda, while I sat out and existed. W and I were already plotting our next opportunity to sail on Mardi Gras again. We have our next two cruises booked, but we started to seriously question our choices. How in the world will we go back to a smaller, older ship after this? Whooo. Jesus be a good VIFP deal on Mardi Gras in the fall! Y'all let me know when you see a sale. Sharing is caring! 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

Later on, we went back to the cabin so I could get my iPad and start reading one of the books that I downloaded. We were only there a few minutes when W declared that it was time for pre-dinner. As always, I’m intrigued. But where? We checked our options and decided on the Piazza Panini. We were out of the door 3 seconds later. You’d think we hadn’t just eaten a couple of hours before. The setup there was smart. They have the sandwiches premade, and they just heat them up when you order. Saves a lot of time. I did the Ham and Cheese, W did Turkey. Sorry no pics. We ran out of the cabin so fast; I forgot my phone and my camera. Blame it on W. We found seats outside, and it was calm and pretty out there. This ship had great seating areas. Did I mention that already? If so, blame it on the guppy. 🐟

 

 

After our “snack” we went back to chillax before the real dinner. I read some, and W sat on the balcony dozing off. In other words, dull old folks stuff. At about 8, I got up to shower, and W followed after me. At the start of my shower, the drain was slow and cloggy. Then I noticed that a clump of hair was clogging it.  We didn’t order our shower with preinstalled hair, so it had to go! I got out, and used a towel to clear the drain. The hair was blonde, so I could see why the steward didn’t see it. It blended in. Once the drain was free of debris, it worked a lot better. Balance was restored. 

 

We got dressed, then made our way to the steakhouse. We were about 10 minutes early for our reservation. We checked in then sat in the bar area until our table was ready. On the first night you can get a bottle of Merlot or Chardonnay free at the steakhouse. We chose the Merlot. It was really nice and smooth, which was a surprise for free Merlot. I’ve had my share of rough Merlot, and this was not one of them. Thankfully, it wasn’t as dry as the Sahara.  I had about 3/4 of the bottle, since W drinks way less wine than I do. Yay me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

Our meal began with bread. Then the chef sent out some sliders, which were tasty. I had the Lobster Bisque as my appetizer. W had the Risotto. Then he had the Lobster Bisque. It was rich and flavorful. For my main, I had the Filet Mignon, while W chose the Cowboy Steak. The Filet was pure perfection. I couldn’t ask for a more exquisite cut of beef. Child Jesus himself blessed that cow! 

 

We followed up dinner with the Chocolate Sphere for dessert. Another phenomenal choice. This was composed of a warm chocolate ball topped with warmer melty chocolate. The warm chocolate mixes in and melts the ball when it's poured on. It was like liquid love on my tongue. As we were eating we made friends with the couple sitting next to us. We talked for what felt like hours. We even missed the first comedy show that we wanted to see at 10:30. We ended up leaving just in time for the 11:30 show. It is so rare that we click with people like that, so W and I were all in. Turns out one of them shared a birthday with W. This also meant that 3 of us were Libras, so it was a natural connection. Hopefully we would see them around the ship later.

 

 

[willdra]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

We ran out at about 11:15 to hit the comedy club. Thank goodness there were still a few seats available. We found and good spot and settled in. The comedian was Jason Blanchard. He was decent. I chuckled a few times.  The show really only lasted around 30 minutes. We got back to the cabin right after midnight. I started my turn in routine, while W went to the casino for a while. He came back around 1, he said the energy was off cuz it was the first night. Who knew good vibes are essential for craps to be lucrative? "Not I" said the cat.

 

We turned in shortly after he got back. Day 1 was in the bag, and it was smashing! I can already tell this cruise is gonna go by way faster than I want. Who can I see about slowing this week down?

 

Before I fell asleep, I said a prayer thanking God for W. I may joke about him (a lot), but he really is a guy who would chase my wig down the street, if it blew off of my head. The true definition of a ride or die, and I'm thankful that he puts up with my me-ness. 

[Jamman54]

GREAT first day Willdra!  Patti and I were keeping an eye out for you guys, but with 5,400+  other people on the ship, it's not easy to connect. We're looking at your pictures to see if we're in any of them, and technically we were somewhat. We were hanging out with friends on the upper level of the Red Frog Tiki Bar for sail away.  Your balcony cabin was set up exactly as ours was, so we can relate to those pictures. Now as a teaser to your readers: We do connect with Willdra and W during the cruise, but I'm not saying where or when. We have pictures to prove it! Stay tuned to both of our reviews! 

Edited May 30, 2022 by Jamman54

[willdra]

12 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

GREAT first day Willdra!  Patti and I were keeping an eye out for you guys, but with 5,400+  other people on the ship, it's not easy to connect. We're looking at your pictures to see if we're in any of them, and technically we were somewhat. We were hanging out with friends on the upper level of the Red Frog Tiki Bar for sail away.  Your balcony cabin was set up exactly as ours was, so we can relate to those pictures. Now as a teaser to your readers: We do connect with Willdra and W during the cruise, but I'm not saying where or when. We have pictures to prove it! Stay tuned to both of our reviews! 

 

We had an awesome time with y'all! I'm getting excited all over again! Can't wait to read yours and post mine! 💃🏾🥳🥳

[rwest898]

I'm already laughing!! Thanks for the review. 

[AKR2011]

I've been looking forward to this one! I'm a huge fan of your reviews.  Love yout style, and you and W seem like my kinda people. Thanks so much for sharing! 

 

❤⚓ Ashley 

[aztekpm]

Yay, another Wildra review. What a week for reviews!

 

You and W are looking good and as always I laughed thru the start, you have a fantastic sense of humor and a way of telling a story.

 

I just did a road trip from Toronto to FL and back and gas seriously fluctuates thru every state.  You do NOT want to know what we pay up here!  LOL I also got the roadkill notice while driving.

 

Can't wait for more!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[natefish95]

Oooooooh I am excited for this! Your reviews are always some of my favorite and I love all your random observations. The ashy feet man made me choke on my water lmao. 

 

Your hair is gorgeous by the way! 

[jimbri]

Great review and photos!

[SRQbeachgirl]

First, this review is So. Much. Fun.

 

Second, is it weird to get so excited over a shower door? Asking for a friend. 😉

[ALSPAUGHDOLL]

You have a way of writing that makes me want to beg for more!!  I love your humor!!  We board the Mardi Gras June 18th.  I can't wait!