Mardi Gras... worth the extra money?

[Pellaz]

On 12/22/2022 at 11:54 AM, lazydayz said:

I like Royal ships, but with MG you get many free options that are not to be found on the Royal ship.  Guys Burgers (versus paying extra per person for Johnny Rockets), Shaq's Big Chicken, Street Eats, etc.  And two of the specialty restaurants are included at no charge on the MG, Cucina and ChiBang. 

Actually, THREE specialty restaurants:  Guy's Pig & Anchor is also complimentary for lunch (on sea-days) and dinner.  

 

On 12/22/2022 at 11:54 AM, lazydayz said:

In addition, there are more pools and not just on the Lido deck.  

 

...We'll get back to that in just a few moments.  🙂  

 

On 12/24/2022 at 9:10 AM, Joehult said:

Mardis gras isn’t a very good family ship. Entertainment is mostly adult oriented, the bolt is constantly shut down(only ran 8 hours over a 7 day cruise, a few weeks ago).

Bolt was running nearly the entire time I cruised on MG.   I do suggest people book it while in port since winds can cause a shut-down...and it's also less busy if some folks are still off-ship. 

 

On 12/24/2022 at 9:10 AM, Joehult said:

And those ports suck, with grand Turks being the only one with a beach right off the ship. Also, for a being a good sized ship, carnival really botched the floor plans. Over half of the free roam space is being taken up by the center stage, which is the main hub of the entertainment on board. The central pool deck is about 60% the size of carnivals average ships.

But there are other pools, including the one at the back (Summer's Landing, Deck 8  ) , which never seemed that crowded at all on our cruise, and was open to all.  

On 12/24/2022 at 9:10 AM, Joehult said:

The water slide area, was also constantly shut down due to weather and waves.

Again, while this COULD be the case for the OP's future cruise, it might not be the case at all.  Those areas were open most of the time on our MG cruise.  I liked the mechanical warning bell on the dump-bucket.  🙂 

 

On 12/24/2022 at 9:10 AM, Joehult said:

I don’t know, it’s a poor ship for those that just want to relax, and not a great ship for kids. 

 

Hmmm, we will agree to disagree.  

[Joebucks]

Very peculiar question. Where Puerto Plata has free things to do on RCL, but requires hundreds of dollars through Carnival. Since when is Grand Turk so costly?

[lazydayz]

3 hours ago, Joebucks said:

Very peculiar question. Where Puerto Plata has free things to do on RCL, but requires hundreds of dollars through Carnival. Since when is Grand Turk so costly?

interesting,  but if MG is going to Amber Cove, which is her usual stop, there is a huge free pool at the port with water slides.  Grand Turk is not costly either. 

[Pellaz]

14 hours ago, lazydayz said:

interesting,  but if MG is going to Amber Cove, which is her usual stop, there is a huge free pool at the port with water slides.  Grand Turk is not costly either. 

If Grand Turk isn't the most casual and easy-to-visit-cheaply port in the Caribbean, I'd like to know what is.  Walk off the ship, beach is right there to the left with free loungers and umbrellas (marked with "GTCC"). 

To the right of the pier is a more low-key beach (away from Margaritaville). 

No annoying in-your-face vendors, just a quick walk through a DuFry (and not the gauntlet you have to run at Coz).  

Further over to the left is Jack's Shack plus a few other places.  Governor's Beach is right beyond there, now with 100% less unsightly wrecked cargo ship. 🙂  

The island's population is only about 4,500 so when a ship docks, the population doubles.  Crime is almost nonexistent because all the locals know that any major hassling of cruise guests or theft could imperil their island's economy.   Cockburn Town (not pronounced how you might think  🙂 ) is the capital of Turks & Caicos and past the small town is the lighthouse and the Friendship 7 historic marker.  

While there is no immediate beach access at Amber Cove, there are excursions that can take you to one.  I've never felt the need because the Carnival-built port area is pretty awesome and the water there isn't particularly clear or "blue."    The zipline there is surprisingly inexpensive, too, and no-doubt fun for kids.  

 

[Drazil65]

Bolt was running nearly the entire time I cruised on MG.   I do suggest people book it while in port since winds can cause a shut-down...and it's also less busy if some folks are still off-ship. 

 

This was our experience last week as well, booked it while ported in Turks later in afternoon right before the masses were filing back on the ship (we were ready to get back on by the time our slot was coming up).  It was fun and we thought worth it, we only did it the once.  DH & DS thought they might do it again but never got around to it.  

 

There was plenty of things for children of all ages to do on MG and as we were sailing at capacity last week no one appeared to be bored or at a loss for things to keep them busy.  Everyone we ran into was having a great time and loving the ship in general.  We absolutely loved it and especially loved the ship flow as it reminded us a lot of RCCL ships layout.  Food and drinks were great, we had a great suite, lots to do and see (plenty of show choices and 6 different comedians over the week each doing several shows a day).  Excellent cruise and we are already booked for next December again on MG and cant wait to go back!

Edited December 27, 2022 by Drazil65

[SunshineGal2022]

On 12/20/2022 at 4:02 PM, CanadianCruiseCritic said:

Thank you! Yes having to drive to Fort Lauderdale is a bit of a pain. Odyssey looks beautiful, but it is missing the Comedy Club that Mardi Gras has... we loved it on our last Carnival Cruise! 

The Brightline train should be up and running by then.  It will travel from Orlando airport to downtown Miami.  You can take a train from Miami to Fort Lauderdale (maybe even the same one from MCO?).

 

Trains are very fun 5-7 year olds. 

 

(Hauling luggage onto a train isn't as fun for a parent.)

[rs45thompson]

On 12/21/2022 at 6:27 PM, RoperDK said:

Mardi Gras would definitely be more convenient than the drive down to Ft. Lauderdale.  Wonder of the Seas sails from Port Canaveral.  Have you checked that ship out?  We don't usually make it to the comedy shows because we are always in the casino at night, lol.  However, I do know that Odyssey has comedy shows.  Don't remember the venue's name.    

The thing with royal and comedy is they don't have a PG show everyday like Carnival.  I believe they do one PG show (if memory serves).  My son loves the comedy show so we would go just about every night on our Carnival cruise along with the nightly movies on deck.  We missed this when we were on Royal (Allure, Symphony, Independence, and Mariner).  I have never been on Odyssey so don't know if it is different.

 

The amount of different included food options are amazing on Mardi Gras.   Also, in my opinion (food is subjective) the food on Carnival is better than royal. 

[rs45thompson]

On 12/24/2022 at 9:10 AM, Joehult said:

Mardis gras isn’t a very good family ship. Entertainment is mostly adult oriented, the bolt is constantly shut down(only ran 8 hours over a 7 day cruise, a few weeks ago). And those ports suck, with grand Turks being the only one with a beach right off the ship. Also, for a being a good sized ship, carnival really botched the floor plans. Over half of the free roam space is being taken up by the center stage, which is the main hub of the entertainment on board. The central pool deck is about 60% the size of carnivals average ships. The water slide area, was also constantly shut down due to weather and waves. I don’t know, it’s a poor ship for those that just want to relax, and not a great ship for kids. 

I'm sorry I have to disagree with this.  We went on Mardi Gras in October 2021 and Celebration November 2022 and both were beautifully laid out.  I loved Grand Central and all of the shows they have there.  The layout was easy enough to navigate.  Loved all on the different areas from Summer Landing to the Magnolia area.  The kids program on Carnival are amazing and the Dr Suess Breakfast is back.  They have a kids splash area and tons of water slides.  Everything was running when we went, nothing was shut down.  When did you sail?  Must have been a storm in the area- if so it would affect any ship that was in the area the same way.  

 

We actually just did this last month.  We went to Disney for 4 days and then went on the Carnival Celebration.  It was the best trip that we have taken to date.

[cruisinqt]

On 12/31/2022 at 9:39 AM, rs45thompson said:

I'm sorry I have to disagree with this.  We went on Mardi Gras in October 2021 and Celebration November 2022 and both were beautifully laid out.  I loved Grand Central and all of the shows they have there.  The layout was easy enough to navigate.  Loved all on the different areas from Summer Landing to the Magnolia area.  The kids program on Carnival are amazing and the Dr Suess Breakfast is back.  They have a kids splash area and tons of water slides.  Everything was running when we went, nothing was shut down.  When did you sail?  Must have been a storm in the area- if so it would affect any ship that was in the area the same way.  

 

We actually just did this last month.  We went to Disney for 4 days and then went on the Carnival Celebration.  It was the best trip that we have taken to date.

I agree wholeheartedly. Sounds like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed because the Excel class is the best of the fleet in my opinion. And how could they say it isn’t a family ship? It’s main show is circus themed with big tops, clowns, and acrobats. Then there’s build-a-bear workshop, green eggs & ham character breakfast, summers landing with free ice cream foosball & a pool, a full sized mini golf course, a roller coaster, and a ropes course. How much kid friendly stuff does this cruiser require to consider a ship a family friendly ship? I personally saw 2 different Dr Seuss parades and the kids faces were beaming. It made me wish my kids were still little just so they could enjoy it too. Don’t listen to that cruisers advice he’s wrong. It’s a very family friendly ship and you’d love it. 

[uscgrl93]

On 12/26/2022 at 3:08 AM, Pellaz said:

Bolt was running nearly the entire time I cruised on MG.   I do suggest people book it while in port since winds can cause a shut-down...and it's also less busy if some folks are still off-ship. 

 

Does Bolt run on embarkation day? If so, what are generally the hours that day? What are generally the hours the other days?

[Pellaz]

15 hours ago, uscgrl93 said:

Does Bolt run on embarkation day? If so, what are generally the hours that day? What are generally the hours the other days?

Hmm, not sure about the hours of operation on embark day but I know that it DOES usually run on that day.