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

[peteandpris]

Yeah! Love your reviews my turn on Mardi Gras is Nov.12 and Nov.19. Thank you.

 

[willdra]

1 hour ago, TravelGirlinDallas said:

I can't believe I just found your review a few days late - I needed this in my life today!! ❤️

Thanks for finding me! 😃😃

[willdra]

3 hours ago, sid_9169 said:

Willdra, I've been reading about your adventures while I'm currently on a back to back cruise on Virgin Voyages... I'm another Cruise Critic member from Atlanta, and I'm enjoying your Mardi Gras journey... Currently waiting to board again for the second leg!

Hey ATL neighbor!! Glad to have you drop in between your Virgin Voyages! I hope you are reviewing it when you get back, I’ve been wondering how those cruises are going! 😃😃

[willdra]

1 hour ago, Cherries Jubilee said:

I’m so happy to see another Wildra review! I was waiting for you to cruise again like I was actually going with you lol. I cruised Mardi Gras in April and loved her so much! Thank you for taking us back with you!

Thanks for coming to this after party! 🛳🎉🛳

[willdra]

50 minutes ago, peteandpris said:

Yeah! Love your reviews my turn on Mardi Gras is Nov.12 and Nov.19. Thank you.

 

Welcome back!!! November will be here before you know it! 🛳♥️♥️🛳

[willdra]

54 minutes ago, atxlady said:

OMG!!! Another Wilda and W adventure!!! Thanks for keeping me laughing. I so feel for W, it seems that "sh*t" just seems to happen w/ him.  LOL!!! 

I cant wait for the next updates. Have fun!!!

See, I feel like you totally get me!! W is a funny mess! 🤣🤣😭😭😭

[3Tannerbear]

I was on Mardi Gras in November and have a BTB booked for April!  Great review!  I am enjoying it very much! Love your hair!

[willdra]

28 minutes ago, 3Tannerbear said:

I was on Mardi Gras in November and have a BTB booked for April!  Great review!  I am enjoying it very much! Love your hair!

Thank you! BTB seems like the best way to enjoy everything Mardi Gras has to offer. That one week was just a tease for us! 😉

[scoobysnacks70]

On 5/29/2022 at 1:52 PM, willdra said:

So when you gonna tell her that we did that, too?

She thinks it's special, but it's all reused

That was our place, I found it first

I made the jokes you tell to her when she's with you

 

Do you get déjà vu when you CRUISE too?

Do you get déjà vu?

Do you get déjà vu, huh?-Olivia Rodrigo with my edit

 

 

Cousins! Shake the dice, and steal the rice, Willdra’s back with another round of rabble! This time, we embarked upon Fat Tuesday herself, the Massive Carnival Mardi Gras!

 

If you've never read any of my reviews, welcome and where have you been? To catch up, there are links below in my signature. If you're already one of my cruise cousins, welcome back! You know the drill. 

 

As always this will be WAY too many words, and lots of them will be irrelevant and unnecessary. You will most likely daydream and doze off while reading this. So, if you’re like me, and need a nap, keep reading.

 

On this journey it was just W, (a guy who takes me places, buys me things, and to whom I’m married) and I. I’m happy to report that we kept our pre-cruise drama to a minimum this time. God knows what we need. We got our tests done on the Wednesday at CVS, since we’re both boosted. I wasn’t taking chances and playing games with W this time, so I scheduled my test, then sent him a screenshot, so he would pick the right one, then I checked to make sure he did it correctly. I’ve learned. Test day came fast and it was as nerve wracking as ever. Btw, is it nerve wracking, nerve racking, or nerve wrecking? Let’s go with nerve wracking. I think they all mean the same.

 

I knew we didn’t have the big C, but there’s always a chance for a false positive. Don’t want it. My time slot was 10am. The whole ordeal took about 5 minutes. At this particular CVS, they come to your car in the parking lot, then give you the test kit and instructions. A very uncomfortable minute later, you’re done. After my test, I called W to let him know that he could come early. His test was at 10:45. He was already in the area, so he got his done right after mine. At about 11:30, we got our negative results. Deep Exhale. Times two.

 

Next it was time to get serious about packing. Sort of. I pack a little every day, and it seems like it takes forever. I think it takes so long, cuz I try on stuff, dig for shoes, and perform other assorted time wasters whilst packing. It’s also cuz I have 4 closets to check for my things. Every time we go somewhere, I say “I’m going to consolidate some of this crap” but I never do. #consistent. So sometime Thursday night I finished “most” of my packing.

 

On travel day my alarm was set for my regular wake up time of 6:45. I got up at my normal 7am. We didn’t have a hard goal, so we took our time. I also like to make sure the house is super clean when we go away. There’s nothing like coming home to an already clean casa. That way when we return, all we have to do is unpack and relax. W took our little dude to the vet for boarding, while I finished my chores. We ended up leaving around 9. Just in time for Friday morning Atlanta traffic. To be honest, there’s always traffic here. I’m fortunate tho. My office is only about 8 miles from our house, so I really don’t get in traffic at all. W on the other hand, does. All of the time. As soon as he gets on the highway, it shows too. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride a'int got nothing on him. The good thing about his driving everywhere, if there is one, is that he drives, and he knows things. He is very knowledgeable about the exits on all of the major highways in GA. You name it, and chances are, he’s prolly been there. So when I say “I’m as hungry as a hostage”, he already has a plan.

Food is my love language. No shame.

 

 

We make it through GA and into FL which is not too complicated. Traffic was as thick as my thighs tho. There was also a noticeable police presence in spots. If you use Waze, it’s usually on point with letting you know where the popo is hiding. It relies on others reporting it, so we always pay it forward and either confirm, or report their hiding spots too. Keep your eyes peeled fam. They’re trying to take your cruise cash!

 

 As per usual, here are pics of W taking me places: 

 

 

 

Ya'll are so cute!  Love your shirt!  Can't wait for the review ❤❤

[mkcurran]

2 hours ago, willdra said:

Hey ATL neighbor!! Glad to have you drop in between your Virgin Voyages! I hope you are reviewing it when you get back, I’ve been wondering how those cruises are going! 😃😃

You can go catch up in time for the next installment.

[sid_9169]

3 hours ago, willdra said:

Hey ATL neighbor!! Glad to have you drop in between your Virgin Voyages! I hope you are reviewing it when you get back, I’ve been wondering how those cruises are going! 😃😃

You can read all about it right now over on the Virgin Voyages board... Live Review is currently under way! I can't wait to see how your adventure turns out...

[willdra]

1 hour ago, mkcurran said:

You can go catch up in time for the next installment.

 

Thanks for the link! Can't wait to read the review! 😆

[willdra]

Calling on Cozumel!

 

 

 

We weren’t in any hurry on this day. We would be in Cozumel from around 10 to 6:30 pm. I got up to use the facilities around 7, but kept my earplugs in, so I could fall back to sleep afterwards. Goals. When I opened the bathroom door, W was in there. He scared the Hamburger Helper outta me! I can't hear a thing when I have my earplugs in, so I had no idea that he was even up! Thank goodness it wasn’t an emergency, or we would've been cleaning up a mess.

 

In case you're wondering if I fell asleep after that, I am thrilled to announce that I absolutely did. Sleep is my oldest friend, and it never lets me down.  We officially got up at 9. I made the bed while W was getting ready. When W was done, I took my turn in the restroom-ette.  I put my right contact lens in, and I guess the solution that I use hadn’t finished working yet. I use a peroxide solution that cleans the lenses very well. The only downside is that it has to sit for 6-7 hours to neutralize. As soon as I dropped the lens on my eye, it started burning like somebody poured hot lava in my eyeball. I also still had mouthwash in my mouth, cuz multitasking. I started coughing, heaving, and choking as I tried to dig the radioactive lens out of my eye. I finally got the lens out, dropped it in the sink, and immediately spit mouthwash on it. I had zero control of my body right then. I wheezed and gasped for air for a full 2-3 minutes after that! W came in, and was like “What the?!?!!” When I tell y'all, I almost died. I swear I saw my granny reaching for me in the mirror! That would’ve been embarrassing too. Death by contact lens. No gracias. Sorry granny, I won't be joining you today. Side note: Why do we dance around waving our hands, while simultaneously jumping up and down, when unexpected sharp pain strikes?? Looking like a low budget, out of control, no rhythm having, tribal dance? Just me? Got it.

 

I picked up the lens to inspect it after the "incident", and sure enough there was now a tiny hole in the middle where I ripped it out of my eye. These lenses were a trial pair. I just switched to bifocal lenses and my doctor gave me 2 pair to try before I buy the box. The other pair were already rubbish, so this was my last pair of the bifocal lens. Y’all know me though, I still had unused boxes of my other lens. I keep a box of 6 lens in my travel bag. Be prepared. The bad thing, was I would have to put on my old lady readers to see up close. Unattractive, but effective.

 

I finished whatever that was, and we went to eat. I asked W while we were in the cabin, if he wanted to go to the Palm Restaurant instead of the Lido, and he said yes. So when he led us up to Lido I was confused. I said “I thought we were not going here, when I asked, you didn’t want to”. He said "oh I didn’t hear the question". So you just go around saying yes to questions you don’t fully understand? Where they do that at? Sir, I’m going to need you to hear and understand questions before you answer them. Especially if they involve money, food, and/or um me. 

 

The Lido was crowded. This was what I wanted to avoid. The omelet stations had the longest lines. Everything else was jump in jump out. W stood in the omelet line, while I found a table and got other stuff. I settled on Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal, French Toast, and Coffee.  W was in line like 10-15 minutes. He brought me an extra cheesy omelet and he had 2 eggs over easy (gag). I have absolutely zero clue how anyone could possibly want to eat raw egg yolk. Dry heaves. W loves it tho. On the other hand, the omelet that he brought me, was easily one of the best ship omelets I’ve ever had. The cheddar cheese was giving "born for this omelet" vibes. I finished up, and started to feel that familiar, unwelcome, rumble in my tummy. No not from hunger, but from lactose. I’m not exactly lactose intolerant. I’m more lactose indifferent. I can take it in small doses alone. When I have lactose from more than one source, my belly rebels. It gets angry, and it lets everyone know that I abused it by eating too much dairy. It’s ugly, and it does not play well with others. I had to go deal with it, before it got me quarantined, for all the wrong reasons.

 

 

 

 

 

[aztekpm]

I feel you, though mine is not indifference, it is completely and utterly intolerant!

[willdra]

We were ready to leave the ship around 10:30. Walking thru Dufry, after walking off of the ship is easily one of my least favorite cruise activities. We had a reservation (fancy) at Paradise Beach. We normally do a la carte, but they had an online all-inclusive special for $51/person. We walked thru the people soup down to the taxi stand. It was still $15 total to ride to Paradise Beach from the pier. There were lots of taxis waiting to take passengers to the many destinations on the island. 10 minutes after getting in the cab, we were assisted by Arni when we entered the resort. I had my confirmation printed, so it was easy for them to pull us up. We were given wristbands and taken to chairs by the pool.

 

 

 

 

 

After we settled in, we were thrilled to see Jeff (Jamman54) and Patti. It was so awesome to meet these two in person! It felt like seeing long lost cousins that we hadn’t seen in years. They had gotten to the resort before us and were in a sweet cabana! Jeff suggested that we get one too. I thought it was extra, so when our server asked if we wanted one, I said "no". As soon as Arni came back around, I asked, and he moved us to the last available cabana. Thanks for the tip Jeff! Now we could spread out, and I could be comfortable getting caught up on this review.

 

I know this might be surprising, but I write a lot of words when I’m reviewing the trip. I take notes pretty much during and after each activity, so I don’t forget important or funny stuff. When I’m at a place where I can type my notes, I take the opportunity. I also try to take pictures that go along with what I’m writing and/or things that I think may be of interest to others. Because I know how much work is involved, I am so grateful for others like Jamman54 who take time during their vacation to tell us about it.  I pray that you continue to enjoy doing it, cuz we appreciate the sacrifices!

 

I have this one teeny tiny picture of Patti, when we were just taking random pictures. For better pictures, you'll have to cruise back over to Jamman54's review. Patti took way better pictures than we did! She's so good at it too! 

 

 

Our Marvelous Mardi Gras B2B (with pics!) - April 23rd, 2022

 

 

[willdra]

Now back to our day. Arni came around, and I ordered a Paradise Punch. It was delicious! W got one as well with some nachos, ceviche, and guacamole. Unfortunately the only shade in the cabana at the time was on my side. So W came and sat next to me, crunching on nachos. He stopped with a nacho midair when he felt my hot stare. “What?!?” He asked. “So you’re just gonna crunch those in my face?”. He apologized and said the sun forced him to. Cousins, I have whatever that disorder is, that makes me choose violence when I hear any type of eating sounds. Smacking, crunching, swallowing, and chewing will send me over the edge. I’m sorry, I’ve tried to ignore it, but I can’t help it. I get homicidal. In my head mostly. In lieu of throwing the plate of nachos across the pool deck, I took that time to go and take pictures.  I was just at Paradise Beach in Nov, and not much changed since then. I took a lot of pictures anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jamman54]

23 minutes ago, willdra said:

We were ready to leave the ship around 10:30. Walking thru Dufry, after walking off of the ship is easily one of my least favorite cruise activities. We had a reservation (fancy) at Paradise Beach. We normally do a la carte, but they had an online all-inclusive special for $51/person. We walked thru the people soup down to the taxi stand. It was still $15 total to ride to Paradise Beach from the pier. There were lots of taxis waiting to take passengers to the many destinations on the island. 10 minutes after getting in the cab, we were assisted by Arni when we entered the resort. I had my confirmation printed, so it was easy for them to pull us up. We were given wristbands and taken to chairs by the pool.

 

 

 

 

 

After we settled in, we were thrilled to see Jeff (Jamman54) and Patti. It was so awesome to meet these two in person! It felt like seeing long lost cousins that we hadn’t seen in years. They had gotten to the resort before us and were in a sweet cabana! Jeff suggested that we get one too. I thought it was extra, so when our server asked if we wanted one, I said "no". As soon as Arni came back around, I asked, and he moved us to the last available cabana. Thanks for the tip Jeff! Now we could spread out, and I could be comfortable getting caught up on this review.

 

I know this might be surprising, but I write a lot of words when I’m reviewing the trip. I take notes pretty much during and after each activity, so I don’t forget important or funny stuff. When I’m at a place where I can type my notes, I take the opportunity. I also try to take pictures that go along with what I’m writing and/or things that I think may be of interest to others. Because I know how much work is involved, I am so grateful for others like Jamman54 who take time during their vacation to tell us about it.  I pray that you continue to enjoy doing it, cuz we appreciate the sacrifices!

 

I have this one teeny tiny picture of Patti, when we were just taking random pictures. For better pictures, you'll have to cruise back over to Jamman54's review. Patti took way better pictures than we did! She's so good at it too! 

 

 

Our Marvelous Mardi Gras B2B (with pics!) - April 23rd, 2022

 

 

 

What a great afternoon we had. W and I went through about 6 of those quart size Dos Equis! Since I'm still on our turnaround day on my review, I don't want to keep the peeps waiting, so here's a couple to tide you over.....

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

2 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

 

What a great afternoon we had. W and I went through about 6 of those quart size Dos Equis! Since I'm still on our turnaround day on my review, I don't want to keep the peeps waiting, so here's a couple to tide you over.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

OMG Thanks for posting these Jeff!!!  Tell Patti thanks for capturing our day!! We really enjoyed hanging out with y'all! I will be watching the future cruises in your signature to see when we can hook up with you again. That's not stalking is it? 😜

[Jamman54]

2 minutes ago, willdra said:

 

OMG Thanks for posting these Jeff!!!  Tell Patti thanks for capturing our day!! We really enjoyed hanging out with y'all! I will be watching the future cruises in your signature to see when we can hook up with you again. That's not stalking is it? 😜

 

Not at all! Our biggest regret is that we didn't set another time to meet you guys for drinks or dinner. We looked for you guys the rest of the cruise, but we never found you. On a ship that big with 5,400+ people, it's not surprising. Next time we won't let that happen! 

[willdra]

My next drink was a Strawberry Mojito which was tasty. Going forward, checking online for all-inclusive deals before going there, will be my new move. W certainly enjoyed ordering Dos Equis as much as he wanted.

 

After I sat awhile catching up on my notes I joined W, by putting my feet in the pool. Jeff and Patti came over, and we chopped it up for the rest of the day. Way too soon, it was time to get ready to go back. Boooooooo!!

 

We found Arni, and gave him his tip for taking such good care of us. We walked out front and there were taxis waiting. I wanted to take the taxi to Starbucks to get a gift for one of my team members. The driver charged us the same $15. I went in when we got there, and they had the cup that I wanted. They also accept the Starbucks gift card in the app for payment. I have over $100 in gift cards loaded, cuz so many people give me Starbucks cards as gifts. This whole detour literally took maybe 5 minutes. There were cabs waiting to take us back . It was $10 to go back to port.

 

When we got back, I had more gifts to buy, so I popped in and out of the shops, while W went and found a seat. He knows me well. This could take a while.

 

We stopped to take pictures after we walked thru Dufry.  We got one or two of the whole ship. The Mardi Gras is enormous. Even out in the water by itself, you can see how huge it is. I’m here for it. I like big boats and I cannot lie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

We climbed back onboard next, and it didn’t take long. We picked a good time to go back, there wasn’t a line to get back on.

 

For dinner, we had reservations for Rudi’s Sea Grill at 8, but we wanted something light to bridge the hunger gap. We opted for the Lido. I made myself a salad, and W had some assorted random items. We didn’t want to eat too much and spoil dinner.

 

 

 

After our snack, we went and crashed for an hour or so. We got up right at 7:45. We took quick showers and ran out of the cabin at 8:08. When we got to Rudi's, W had on shorts, so the hostess said we had to sit outside. We didn't recall seeing a dress code, but that was fine. Not surprising that we missed it. It was nice out there. No big deal.

 

 

[willdra]

Dinner was decent. I had the Tropical Smash Cocktail, Calamari, Lobster Bisque, Crab Cake, and Key Lime Pie. W had the Oysters, Lobster Mac and Cheese, Crab Stuffed Lobster, and Chocolate Truffle Cake. Everything was lovely. The Crab Cake especially. I liked the Tarragon Mustard Hollandaise that they paired with it. Delish!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Somebody please give Bugs Bunny his carrots back! 

 

W wouldn't keep his fork out long enough for me to take a picture!

 

There, I got it! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[willdra]

We were filled to the brim when we left. We got out just in time to catch Family Feud. We didn’t get there early, but we had good enough seats. The game was really funny. Definitely a "must do" evening activity. They had an adult version (18+) later on as well. We weren't allowed to take pictures during the show, but I snapped a few when we first sat down.

After the show, we walked through Java Blue on the way back to the cabin, so I could get water for tea. I drink chamomile tea before bed just about every night to help me turn off my brain, and sleep. W went to the casino for a little while, and I read a book.

 

 

Before I fell asleep, I thanked God for my hair braider. I’ve gotten so many compliments on my hair during this cruise. My girl has them hands y'all!

[SenatorsFan]

Happy to say I'm all caught up and, as usual, really enjoying the trip! Great pictures and stories, @willdra. 🥰 How special that you were able to meet @Jamman54 and Patti. #goals