Carnival Mardi Gras

"First time on the Mardi Gras. Carnival is a ghetto cruiseline. The FOOD WAS AWFUL everywhere we dined, even at the places we had to pay extra money out of pocket. The food was cold, mushy, and undercooked. Food choices are basic. The only restaurant that was decent and delicious was ChiBang. Your first dinner dining at ChiBang is free, but anytime thereafter, you have to pay $8 per person. Javablue Cafe is another place we liked to visit for coffee and shakes. Overall, the Free drinks onboard are watered down (lemonade, etc). The Free drinking water tastes like chemicals. The Carnival Hub app you use on the boat is inaccurate, especially when it comes to wait times for your dining reservations. Workers are overworked and absolutely show and say how much they despise their jobs. Managers act entitled and are rude. Their elevators are grossly tiny. They smell bad, and there's no air blowing in them. You are bound to get sick riding on these elevators since they are always packed like sardines with people. This is most likely how my husband and I got deathly ill during the cruise. We got sick while on the boat with the rhonavirus, upper respiratory infections, and sinusitis. Spent so much money going back and forth to doctor office visits after we arrived back home, IV sessions, Salt Room visits, many meds to help with symptoms, and lost wages to having to miss going to work. We are STILL sick, by the way. It's now 15 days of being sick at the time I'm writing this Review. Their entertainment is mediocre compared to other cruiselines. Cleanliness is not important or enforced. Always dirty tables everywhere that need to be cleaned. The dining tables stay dirty for up to 30 mins making it difficult for people to find a place to sit and eat. They also don't enforce having clean hands at the Buffet like other cruiselines do to stop the spread of germs. Their Spa and expensive/exclusive Thermal Suite are small. Thermal Suite doesn't even offer any drinking water. This is dangerous, for if anyone gets dehydrated, they may pass out in the Thermal Therapy Pool or Steam Room. You never see any Spa attendants coming in to make sure everyone is doing okay, nor clean up all the dirty towels lying around and/or overflowing the baskets. The Thermal Suite always smelled like mold and mildew. Cigarette smokers have a lot of free reign on smoking wherever they want, especially on their Cabin balconies. You weren't supposed to do that, but they never get in trouble, so they continue to smoke, making it impossible to enjoy your own expensive balcony. All the Public restrooms we used were filthy and disgusting. You have to pay $15 per person to ride the 2-seater roller coaster. Not sure about the other outdoor entertainment they offered on the ship, and if you had to pay extra to use them. There's so much more that I can complain about, but I know people will always go on Carnival due to their low prices compared to other cruiselines. Just beware, there are reasons why they are a budget cruiseline. The only reason we chose the Mardi Gras was because of the Ports they were visiting at the time we sailed. I highly recommend cruising on the Norwegian, Disney, and Royal Caribbean. You get what you pay for on any cruiseline. For a low-budget Carnival ship, especially the Mardi Gras, we were highly upset and disappointed overall. Carnival nickle and dime you for EVERYTHING, and you may leave their ship with a debilitating, lingering, agonizing illness(es) like what we experienced. Beware."

"Amazing 7 day cruise to Mexico. Boat was amazing with tons to do. Unfortunately the weather wasn't the best but the staff was great and plenty of activities to keep you entertained. Food was not the best and portions at the dinners were smaller, so order two of everything. Quality of food was not great compared to previous cruises and it was noticeable. Oh and forget taking an elevator, the ship is massive and it takes forever to get an elevator. Walk it and get your steps in lol"

"This was our first time on this vessel. My pros was the Entertainment. The Fast O Jazz Trio was the highlight of my cruise life, all three members are talented. These guys were like friends. Daniel sound is pleasurable. The Chemistry from the band is unmatched. The restaurant foods were just ok. The Flemingo had the worst food and customer service. San Juan was my favorite port. All entertainment is walkable. So many sights to see and shopping to do. I had a balcony room on 11th floor and my room wasn’t cleaned well all seven days . The sheets did have some stains and hair was on them. The floor wasn’t vacuumed at all. Cups and plates were left outside of doors in hallways. The new cruise director Marty wasn’t social enough like other directors have been, he seems to have a select view that he did speak to."