Pirate's LIVE and Back On The Mardi Gras Sept 16-23, 2023...Laissez Le Bon Temps Rouler!

[pirate4me2]

Ok, today’s recap up until now (dinner time):

 

Both Chris and I awoke at 6 a.m….what the heck?? At least it made for some good sunrise and empty ship pics, and a short line for go-go juice but still…I’m mad. Vacation is for being lazy and sleeping in! 
 

After getting go go juice (aka coffee) we went ahead and delivered our gift exchange gifts by 7:45. In return we have gotten some cool stuff…a reusable tumbler, door decorations, snacks, reusable straws, keychains, etc! It’s a fun social media event we joined. 
 

At 8:15 check in for sea day brunch opened. We checked in at 8:30 and our table was assigned at 8:35. Yay! Service was a bit slow tho, and we were seated next to a complainer…kinda dimmed the experience. We had a perfect table next to the window, I loved my view of the wake! I decided to be brave and “somewhat” deviate from my usual order. I *always” get eggs Benedict, no meat…today, I decided, be brave and get the smoked salmon! 

 

So…the fruit to start was yummy, and breakfast was…just ok. The salmon was probably good, but I need to finally realize I’m just not a huge salmon fan…quit trying to be. The hollandise (is that spelling right? Prob not) sauce was yummy, and muffin toasted perfectly, but the eggs…sigh. Both of them were not poached, they were hard boiled. Yuck. And the brunch potatoes were just yuck as well. Shoulda went with hash browns. 

Edited September 17, 2023 by pirate4me2

[LincolnLog]

That yolk is definitely hard boiled, 🤮!

 

I’ve gotta say, being new to Carnival I had read so many things about how great sea day brunch is. I don’t know if it used to be better and it’s gone downhill or what, but we’ve been to it twice in the last year on two cruises and it was disappointing both times. Not only the food but the whole experience. Both times it took soooo loooong and it was super uncomfortable because they seated us in between two other tables of two that were inches apart. Honestly we might as well have been put a table of 6 because at least then you know it’s a shared table and it’s not so awkward to talk to your table mates. 

 

[Drew B 58]

4 hours ago, pirate4me2 said:

Ok, today’s recap up until now (dinner time):

 

Both Chris and I awoke at 6 a.m….what the heck?? At least it made for some good sunrise and empty ship pics, and a short line for go-go juice but still…I’m mad. Vacation is for being lazy and sleeping in! 
 

After getting go go juice (aka coffee) we went ahead and delivered our gift exchange gifts by 7:45. In return we have gotten some cool stuff…a reusable tumbler, door decorations, snacks, reusable straws, keychains, etc! It’s a fun social media event we joined. 
 

At 8:15 check in for sea day brunch opened. We checked in at 8:30 and our table was assigned at 8:35. Yay! Service was a bit slow tho, and we were seated next to a complainer…kinda dimmed the experience. We had a perfect table next to the window, I loved my view of the wake! I decided to be brave and “somewhat” deviate from my usual order. I *always” get eggs Benedict, no meat…today, I decided, be brave and get the smoked salmon! 

 

So…the fruit to start was yummy, and breakfast was…just ok. The salmon was probably good, but I need to finally realize I’m just not a huge salmon fan…quit trying to be. The hollandise (is that spelling right? Prob not) sauce was yummy, and muffin toasted perfectly, but the eggs…sigh. Both of them were not poached, they were hard boiled. Yuck. And the brunch potatoes were just yuck as well. Shoulda went with hash browns. 

I love salmon but I detest smoked salmon!  Two totally different tastes!

 

And it’s “hollandaise”, but you were really close!  👏 

[pirate4me2]

2 hours ago, LincolnLog said:

That yolk is definitely hard boiled, 🤮!

 

I’ve gotta say, being new to Carnival I had read so many things about how great sea day brunch is. I don’t know if it used to be better and it’s gone downhill or what, but we’ve been to it twice in the last year on two cruises and it was disappointing both times. Not only the food but the whole experience. Both times it took soooo loooong and it was super uncomfortable because they seated us in between two other tables of two that were inches apart. Honestly we might as well have been put a table of 6 because at least then you know it’s a shared table and it’s not so awkward to talk to your table mates. 

 

Those were the exact words a lady at the table (2 inches) from us said..,”should just make it a table for 6!” 
As far as sea day brunch..,pre Covid I loved it! It was yummy, menu was bigger (they removed several favorites!) and it was our go to. Now…it’s still good, but with more limited hours, smaller menu, and yeah…not what it once was. I still have a few things to try this cruise, but I gotta admit…the next few days, being port days, I’m hitting up Big Chicken (have the biscuits improved? At least Bojangles quality?) and Blue Iguana (WHEN is the last time I had a breakfast burrito? I think pre Covid! Gotta change that!) and maybe, possibly, depending on my previous 2 choices… the regular buffet? Or maybe just pizza? I dunno. 

10 minutes ago, Drew B 58 said:

I love salmon but I detest smoked salmon!  Two totally different tastes!

 

And it’s “hollandaise”, but you were really close!  👏 

Dang, so close! I tried. 😂 

I love the Alaska salmon my husband smokes, but this..I dunno. Maybe being early morning, or it being pink (his is usually a more white/clear color on the smoker back home), it just was not appealing. I tried it..it’s my “something new” this cruise…not a fan! 

[Drew B 58]

People generally either love or hate smoked salmon.  There’s not a lot of middle ground…

[pirate4me2]

After brunch, we went to the casino to load our $25 FunPlay money to slots. From there, we headed to the spa around 10:00. Holy moly, that was a hopping place today! I will *try* and get pics of the thermal areas sometime this week, but if it continues like it was today…yeah, sorry. We did manage to get into the TPool, which was interesting..there are hardly any jets except in this one corner, and, ummm…if you’re a lady, be careful how you position yourself in that corner. all the jets come from down below…and yeah..’nuff said. 
I did enjoy the spa time tho, and plan to go back! The aromatherapy steam was nice, and those tile loungers…ahh! So relaxing! 
At noon we went to Center Stage to see the Family Feud auditions. They were fun, but it was PACKED. We left right before the end to avoid the mass exodus to go find lunch. Chris opted for some icky buffet stuff (is it just me or is the buffet more limited on MG? Salad staton seemed MUCH smaller!) while I opted for the so unhealthy but soooo food Street Eats, along with a Serenity Fresh Creations salad. The cheesesteak fries were delish, the beef thingy in a wrap delish, and the salad PERFECT!! 

[pirate4me2]

After lunch we hit the casino…which treated us both badly. Within 15 minutes we both lost our $25 free FunPlay moolah, so we said to heck with it and left. The dang Panda machine hates me!

We headed to good ol’ Alchemy at 2:15 to drown our sorrows, and Drazen made those memories disappear! He made me absinthe drinks, but also kept me hydrated. We left around 4:45 to get ready for elegant night, with promises to come back

after dinner for drinks! 

[pirate4me2]

We showered and got ready for dinner, and I checked us in on the app at 5:45. We got notice JUST AS WE SAT at alchemy to wait it out, at 6:00, that our table was ready. So much for pre dinner drinks! Like we needed them, right? 
I liked tonight’s menu! I couldn’t decide between the avocado soup or the Caesar salad to start, so I got both. For me, the salad won, even tho the servers never offered fresh ground pepper or grated cheese. The soup was ok, just very cucumber-y and chilled…not quite what I expected. For my main, I got the shrimp and fish cake, which I LOVED, the shrimp were delish, side of broccoli cooked just right so it was crisp, not mushy, and fish cake was not overly fishy, just mild. It was delicious! I also got a white sangria to go with my dinner, but they said they didn’t have any (after they brought me a red one), so I rolled with it, and you know what? I kinda like the red. Cool. Another something new today! 

[pirate4me2]

After dinner, we headed to Manny Olivera’s 7:45 comedy show. We LOVE Manny, but he’s…well, he’s a love him or hate him act. We have seen him 4 times now so we know what to expect. It was a good show, in our opinion. 
From Manny’s show we headed to Fortune Teller, and I gotta say…I’m not as big a fan as I thought I was last year. The drinks are all for show, not as good a flavor. I got the Crystal Ball and the Lime in the Coconut. They’re ok, but at heart, I think I’m truly an Alchemy girl. 

[pirate4me2]

I finished out my night at Alchemy. Angel (working on his black coat) remembered I like spicy stuff, and there is still some hot pepper infused vodka left. Lord, please help my poor stomach…by the end of this week my bottle of Tums will be gone! He made me 2 more “spicy” drinks, and at #13 (my lucky number, by the way), I called it. No way can I reach 15, unless I start at 6 am with spiked coffee. Maybe tomorrow? No wait, tomorrow is Cozumel, no way is that happening. 
Ohhh Cozumel…tacos…tacos sound good right now. Yum. Are we there yet? I need carbs. Corn tortillas, with shrimps, cilantro, cheese, and spicy sauce! 
No tacos? Really? Fine…Chris, go fetch me Big Chicken. Chicken tenders with honey mustard.

Crud Big Chicken closed at 5. Sigh. Pizza isn’t cutting my craving. Guess it’s bedtime. 
Tomorrow…Cozumel! And TACOS!!!!!

[pirate4me2]

Hello from Cozumel!

I woke up about 8, and we took our time getting ready. We headed to Lido about 8:25 to grab breakfast, and I opted for Blue Iguana. I lucked out and they had arepas! I had to get one, along with my egg, chicken sausage, and guac burrito. Mmmmm, perfect port day breakfast! 

[rizkeeper]

How hard is it to get a seat at the comedy shows?  Do you have to reserve a seat via the app? if yes, how far ahead do you need to reserve? 

[rizkeeper]

On 9/17/2023 at 8:59 AM, pirate4me2 said:

Breakfast with a view! 

 

 

 

 

What diner is this?  What are the breakfast hours?  Do you need to reserve? 

 

Edited September 18, 2023 by rizkeeper

[zencruisers]

14 hours ago, pirate4me2 said:

After lunch we hit the casino…which treated us both badly. Within 15 minutes we both lost our $25 free FunPlay moolah, so we said to heck with it and left. The dang Panda machine hates me!

We headed to good ol’ Alchemy at 2:15 to drown our sorrows, and Drazen made those memories disappear! He made me absinthe drinks, but also kept me hydrated. We left around 4:45 to get ready for elegant night, with promises to come back

after dinner for drinks! 

 

I have never had absinthe before but I am thinking of having some on our 3 day booze cruise on the Radiance in 2 1/2 weeks. Thanks for the pics.

 

[zencruisers]

Enjoy your day in Cozumel.

 

[pirate4me2]

3 hours ago, rizkeeper said:

How hard is it to get a seat at the comedy shows?  Do you have to reserve a seat via the app? if yes, how far ahead do you need to reserve? 

No reservations, last night we walked into the 7:45 show at about 7:30 and still lots of seats left. 
 

3 hours ago, rizkeeper said:

What diner is this?  What are the breakfast hours?  Do you need to reserve? 

 

Sea Day brunch, reserve a spot thru the Hubb app 

 

3 hours ago, zencruisers said:

 

I have never had absinthe before but I am thinking of having some on our 3 day booze cruise on the Radiance in 2 1/2 weeks. Thanks for the pics.

 

Have a great cruise!

[pirate4me2]

We headed off the ship at about 10:15, and holy moly…it was a madhouse to leave the pier. It was just us and Breeze in port, but the line to get off the pier was long and slooooow…apparently they check everyone’s bags now leaving the pier? I don’t remember my cruise on MSC doing this a few weeks ago. I had a small purse with me, which I thought may qualify as a bag, but at the encouragement of passengers beside me and my husband, I jumped into the “no bag, use this line” express lane and whizzed thru. Nobody grabbed me and threw me into a Mexican jail, so I guess I was ok doing that. Whew. Note to self: on future trips to Coz, wait an hour after the ship clears to get off, and don’t take a bag. 

[pirate4me2]

The next crazy long line we encountered was the taxi stand. It was backed up all the way outside the tiki hut-ish area, and snaked around several times. We stood there for probably 30ish minutes, the longest we have ever spent getting a taxi. I have to wonder, with just MG and Breeze in port, if it’s that bad, what’s it like with 4-6 ships in port? I don’t think I wanna know…

Anyway, taxi cost to Paradise was $15 each way for a taxi of 1-4 peeps. Going to Mr Sanchos? That’ll be $19. We got our taxi, and the driver got us safely to Paradise Beach, which wasn’t crowded at all today. It was a perfect relaxing day, with Luis serving us. Sorry for the lack of pics…I was too busy enjoying myself. I can say, the volcano nachos were disappointing (the chips were soggy-ish and glued together by melted cheese..the other toppings were good tho), the spicy garlic shrimp tacos were not really spicy but were delicious, and the blackened Mahi tacos had more spice than the shrimp and were DELICIOUS! 

[pirate4me2]

We stayed at Paradise until 4:00, our back

on board time was 5:30. It was a great day. The line to get back on the ships at the port was long, but moved fairly quickly. We changed and showered, then hit up Alchemy for a pre dinner drink. Angel made me “something spicy” again, yum! 
We went to dinner at about 6:08, and there was barely a wait for a table. Dinner tonight was really good. I got the shrimp and crab cake starter, which was so darn yummy!  Chris and I were both curious about the chicken roulade, so we got that to split, as well as the stuffed portobello mushroom for me. I thought the chicken was just ok, nothing to write home about, but the mushroom dish was really good…very, very flavorful! I got a cheese plate to

end my meal. 

[pirate4me2]

I hate to admit that after dinner I was a bit of a weenie, and called it a day after just a few more drinks at Alchemy. The sun wore me out, and tomorrow is a fairly early port day…8 am arrival. However, it’s my last port day this cruise (I have no plans in Roatan, but Chris does), so I can start being a night owl tomorrow! Whoo hoo! I’ll probably still pass out early tho…I’m getting old. 
coming up tomorrow: Costa Maya!!

[Knights on the Beach]

On 9/15/2023 at 1:29 PM, pirate4me2 said:

We made it to Nolan’s Irish Pub at 1:08. Just got a black & brown (Guinness & Root Beer) and an expresso martini. 
Chris says the black & brown is ok, but he prefers his usual half & half (Guinness and Harp). My expresso martini is top notch tho…almost as good as the ones I sucked down on MSC a few weeks ago! 

 

We love Nolan's! But we never heard of a black & brown - is it with regular root beer or hard root beer? Mark drinks Guinness there and I drink Not Your Father's Root Beer, so now I'm curious! While you were at Nolan's, we were at Grills for our standing Friday lunch. 🙂

 

Anyway, I'm finally caught up and hoping to hear you had a good day in Costa Maya!

 

[ItsADryHumor]

On 9/17/2023 at 9:53 PM, pirate4me2 said:

Those were the exact words a lady at the table (2 inches) from us said..,”should just make it a table for 6!” 
As far as sea day brunch..,pre Covid I loved it! It was yummy, menu was bigger (they removed several favorites!) and it was our go to. Now…it’s still good, but with more limited hours, smaller menu, and yeah…not what it once was. I still have a few things to try this cruise, but I gotta admit…the next few days, being port days, I’m hitting up Big Chicken (have the biscuits improved? At least Bojangles quality?) and Blue Iguana (WHEN is the last time I had a breakfast burrito? I think pre Covid! Gotta change that!) and maybe, possibly, depending on my previous 2 choices… the regular buffet? Or maybe just pizza? I dunno. 

Dang, so close! I tried. 😂 

I love the Alaska salmon my husband smokes, but this..I dunno. Maybe being early morning, or it being pink (his is usually a more white/clear color on the smoker back home), it just was not appealing. I tried it..it’s my “something new” this cruise…not a fan! 

I loved the biscuits in May on the Celebration. They were big and fluffy. A little butter and jelly from the buffet made for a great breakfast. 
 

I loved the skillet cake at brunch. Is that not your breakfast style? I know some folks don’t like sweets at breakfast, and I support them…I just don’t get it. 🤣

[Knights on the Beach]

On 9/17/2023 at 11:28 PM, pirate4me2 said:

After dinner, we headed to Manny Olivera’s 7:45 comedy show. We LOVE Manny, but he’s…well, he’s a love him or hate him act. We have seen him 4 times now so we know what to expect. It was a good show, in our opinion. 
From Manny’s show we headed to Fortune Teller, and I gotta say…I’m not as big a fan as I thought I was last year. The drinks are all for show, not as good a flavor. I got the Crystal Ball and the Lime in the Coconut. They’re ok, but at heart, I think I’m truly an Alchemy girl. 

 

I think our last time on Mardi Gras, we only went to Fortune Teller once or twice. We definitely spent more time there during our previous cruises. Abracadabra is my favorite drink there but Lime in the Coconut is ok too. Brass Magnolia was our favorite last time, mainly due to the excellent bartenders who were more like Alchemy bartenders - mixologists, they call them in New Orleans. Next up for us is Celebration in December but I'm already longing to be back on Mardi. 

[Frank12]

On 9/16/2023 at 3:56 PM, Jamman54 said:

Perfect! They are the only balconies where you can look straight down to the water. 😎

We had one of these on MG in May.  Great room!!

[pirate4me2]

11 hours ago, Knights on the Beach said:

 

We love Nolan's! But we never heard of a black & brown - is it with regular root beer or hard root beer? Mark drinks Guinness there and I drink Not Your Father's Root Beer, so now I'm curious! While you were at Nolan's, we were at Grills for our standing Friday lunch. 🙂

 

Anyway, I'm finally caught up and hoping to hear you had a good day in Costa Maya!

 

I think the menu did not specify hard or regular, and we didn’t see them mix it, so I couldn’t tell you which. Sorry! 
Had a good day in Costa Maya, just stayed out laaaate last night so couldn’t post before bed. I’ll be catching y’all up in a few! 

3 hours ago, ItsADryHumor said:

I loved the biscuits in May on the Celebration. They were big and fluffy. A little butter and jelly from the buffet made for a great breakfast. 
 

I loved the skillet cake at brunch. Is that not your breakfast style? I know some folks don’t like sweets at breakfast, and I support them…I just don’t get it. 🤣

I’m not a huge sweets at breakfast person…unless it’s MSC’s sticky buns. Those were my exception! 
 

2 hours ago, Knights on the Beach said:

 

I think our last time on Mardi Gras, we only went to Fortune Teller once or twice. We definitely spent more time there during our previous cruises. Abracadabra is my favorite drink there but Lime in the Coconut is ok too. Brass Magnolia was our favorite last time, mainly due to the excellent bartenders who were more like Alchemy bartenders - mixologists, they call them in New Orleans. Next up for us is Celebration in December but I'm already longing to be back on Mardi. 

The bartenders can definitely make or break a bar I think. They contribute to the vibe and whether or not you want to hang out. 
 

1 hour ago, Frank12 said:

We had one of these on MG in May.  Great room!!

I’m loving it!!