Carnival Mardi Gras Review
Really nice cruise except for a few hiccups
Rating by category
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We were on the Mardi Gras with only 60% capacity. I have been on large ships before and the Mardi Gras does not have the space for a lot of people. The Center Stage area was spacious and beautiful, but it was still too small for some of the events /crowds. For Bingo, there was standing room only even if you got there 1/2 hr before the start time. They did have clip boards in the front/stage area. Forget about social distancing, it did not happen in most parts of the ship. Everyone was great about wearing mask. There was someone stationed throughout the ship to hand you a mask if you "forgot" to wear one. I did not see any disturbance except on embarkation. This was one of the worst I have ever seen boarding a ship. You are standing in 2 lines going up a winding ramp. You are suppose to be there at your boarding time. When you got to the top, you had a mass of people coming off the elevator from the garage. A big swarm of people had to narrow down to one lane. You had to show your times and if you were early, they sent you to the back of the long line. But once you passed the sentry, it went smoothly.
The dining rooms were great. The Carnival Hub worked well for this. The food and desserts are, as always, why I looooove to cruise. It did not let me down. Also, remember to nominate the staff on your survey. They get a day off for this. I got the Bottomless Bubbles package. The trick for this is to have your 2x tall glasses filled with ice ready to fill under the spout of your chosen beverage. Scan your room key and then start to push your soda button. You get about 12 seconds. During this time you can fill about 1 1/2 glasses. The bad part is that other cruisers took the tall glasses for water and tea instead of using the smaller yellow ones. So you had to walk around and look for the tall glasses. The staff was more than helpful. It was clean. There were washing stations and hand sanitizers near the food. I did not like that the buffet still was self serving except for a few items. I would have liked to have staff serving my food. The coffee shop near the middle of the ship had long, long lines.
The ports:
Cabin Review
The cabin location was great and not so great. Just a few steps to most of the food and entertainment. But...while on the balcony you are looking down on a roof overhang from Guy's Pig and Anchor Smokehouse. We thought it was going to be loud from the live entertainment they have, but we did not hear anything. Also, there was not odor from the Smokehouse. The only noise was from the Roller Coaster that was going over throughout the day. You did hear it in the room, but it wasn't that bad. The room was small for a Balcony. The couch could be used by a third person but it was tight in there with only two. If you were walker dependent, you could not get out onto the balcony. The space was too tight between the bed and wall. The couch was deep and uncomfortable to sit on if you are short. There were no chairs but the ones on the balcony. You could not open the bathroom door if someone was standing in front of the closets. So it was tight whenever you were getting ready in the morning or evening. There also is no plug to plug in your CPAP next to the bed. I was happy that I had read about this in an earlier blog and I brought an extension cord. There are 2x USB ports above the shelves that now count as a bedside table. Plenty of closet and drawer space. About 8 hangers per each closet. Plenty of USB port and plugs on top of the vanity. The bathroom was nice. I think they took some of the room space for a bigger shower. Also, the glass door on shower nice. The shampoo provided did not say if there was conditioner provided with it. Nice shelf and closet space in bathroom. I would book this room again. * Do not bring beach towels from home. You can not use them off the ship. You have to use theirs.