Mardi Gras: Day 1
After the muster drill I wanted to head up to deck 16 lido for Shaq’s Big Chicken. There is too much food on this ship to try to eat everything. My strategy is to try to eat things I can’t get on other ships.
Carnival has gone away from the smart elevators they had on Horizon and Panorama. Too many passengers weren’t using them properly when I was on Panorama. It’s kind of odd having these elevator buttons on the side of the elevator. A person could easily lean up against it and accidentally push buttons.
Seafood Shack and Street Eats are where you would normally find the Red Frog Rum bar on most Carnival ships. The Blue Iguana Cantina has moved to where the Blue Iguana Tequila bar would normally be.
The double decker Red Frog Tiki Bar is where you would normally find the Blue Iguana Cantina on a Carnival ship.
Shaq’s Big Chicken is in the back of the ship where you would expect to find the Pizza place on most Carnival ships.
I went with the Shaq Attack.
And my traditional embarkation day drink, the funship.
The good thing about embarkation day is the waiters are just walking around with trays of fun ships.
Here is the schedule of events for today.
Chibang! is the restaurant I’m going to be eating in tonight. It’s a new restaurant that has both Asian and Mexican food. I made reservations for two nights so I can try both sides of the menu. I booked those when they first opened it up. Now they’ve made this a part of the Your Time Dining program and they don’t take reservations. If you have Your Time Dining you can just request a table in the Carnival Hub app when you’re ready to eat. I believe you have to wait until 7:30 to request a table if you do not have Your Time Dining.
My favorite Carnival bartender is on this ship. I haven’t seen Maria in three years. She transferred from Alchemy to Havana on Horizon before COVID-19 so that was the first place I looked on Mardi Gras. Neither of these bartenders are Maria .
I would later find Maria at the second floor Red Frog Tiki bar during the day and at the Alchemy late at night. She was upset that I didn’t give her a goodbye hug before I left the ship. If you are going on Mardi Gras and want to do me a personal favor, find Maria and give her a hug from Greg.
This is Grand Central. It basically replaced the atrium. There’s a stage for entertainment. A huge screen that can be raised for shows. Bars are on the first and second floor. And the coffee shop is right there on the first floor as well.
Pixels, where you can view and order your pictures, is just past Grand Central. If you are a platinum or diamond member, this desk is where you will pick up your gift (still the luggage tag as of now) and pin.
Now we are walking through the Piazza.
Cucina Del Capitano is directly across from Bar Della Rosa. They are open for lunch on sea days and dinner each night. Dinner here was an additional charge of $15 on older ships but it is included as a part of the Your Time Dining program on this ship.
Pizzeria Del Capitano and Piazza Panini are right next to Cucina Del Capitano. It think it was smart connecting the deli, pizza, and Italian restaurants in the same area. Now the Italian restaurant can offer an expanded lunch menu with pizzas on it without really adding anything.
Next is Rudi’s Seagrill which is the new high end seafood restaurant on this ship. I do have that booked one night this cruise. If you want to eat there, make your reservations now. I was going to wait until I got on the ship to use my onboard credit. But when I saw all of the times were filling up, I went ahead and booked a 9pm spot before the entire week sold out. The price to eat here is $38 which is the same price point of the Steakhouse. I haven’t heard a bad review on it yet.
Summer Landing is the last section of deck 8 with Pig & Anchor being the star of the show. Pig & Anchor is also a part of Your Time Dining on this ship along with Chibang, Cucina, and the main dining room.
This is the Hero’s lounge. This is basically what has become of the sports bar. On Panorama they rebranded the sports bar as the Hero’s Bar. The Hero’s Bar has evolved into a lounge inside the Pig & Anchor on this ship.
If you go out the back door of the Pig & Anchor you’re in the area they call the patio. It has a couple of seating areas with TVs and a small pool.
Around the corner on the port side is the outdoor portion of the Pig & Anchor BBQ where they serve lunch.
They announced that they are refueling and you aren’t allowed to smoke or use electronic devices on open decks so I’m going to put my little tour on hold and go back upstairs for a couple more drinks.
I got another fun ship.
I finished that at the Red Frog Tiki Bar and switched to a Pina Colada.
I bring my own plastic straws but they are all in my suitcase which I don’t have yet. I’m going to have to use the sugar straws they provide.
The sugar straw didn’t make it out of the wrapper before snapping in half.
Since I’m not supposed to be using my phone outside, I’m going to tour some indoor areas.
I found the theater deck 7 forward.
The casino is huge. It has a smoking side and a non-smoking side. The non-smoking side is at least twice, maybe three times as big as the smoking side.
This is the casino bar. The left side of it was smoking and the right side was non-smoking. That may not be the case anymore because Carnival just sent out a notice saying they are closing all casino bars. It seems they are really trying to get smokers who aren’t gambling out of the casino.
At the very back of the non-smoking side is this room which overlooks the Brass Magnolia in the French Quarter section of the ship. If you like to play one of these machines, you can have a very unique view.
When the gift shop is open I’m hoping to find a Mardi Gras Inaugural season shirt and a ship ornament which I have been collecting for every ship I’ve been on.
This is the Limelight Lounge which is supposed to host the PG comedy while the Punchliner club will host the R comedy. The interesting thing is the room that is hosting the PG comedy has a bar. The room that is hosting R comedy does not.
It’s 1:30 so I can go to my room now. Pre-COVID I would have access immediately as a platinum cruiser but they aren’t doing that right now.
I like not having to open a cabinet door to get to the refrigerator and the clear glass door so you can see what’s in it.
The safe used to be on this side of the closet but now it’s on the other side.
The glass door on the shower is new.
This is something I started with my Mexico trips. I keep my masks on lanyards which helps with the mask on, mask off situation and keeps me from losing them.
The Alchemy Bar opens at 2pm so I want to get over there now.
I was able to get the last seat at the bar. I don’t like the way the color changes here. It messes up the lighting for pictures.
I ordered a Perfect Storm and was told they didn’t have any rosemary for it. They didn’t put cinnamon in it either. I wouldn’t get it this way again.
Another of my favorites it the Spicy Chipotle Pineapple Martini. This lighting is much better now.
Cucumber Sunrise.
Basil Drop.
This is supposed to be a Purple Sunset. Now Purple Sunset is something that wasn’t always on the Alchemy menu. An alchemist created it, won a mixology competition with it, and it got put on the menu. I have never had one. The bartender told me it normally has rosemary and he doesn’t have that now. But the pictures I’ve seen of it have been purple. It’s still pretty good.
The Deal Closer.
I stopped by the room hoping to find my luggage so I can shower and change clothes before dinner.
I have dinner at Chibang! tonight so I headed down to deck 8. I get out of the elevator and feel my pockets. “Where is my phone?” I have to go back to the room. I get back on the elevator and as we’re heading back up I think “how late am I going to be?” I look at my phone. “I’m two minutes late already!”
They recommended the Chibang Margarita. I knew I probably wouldn’t like it but I still went with it. This one is better than most but still has the bitter margarita taste.
The pork belly was very disappointing. It’s so good at JiJi’s on Vista class ships. The waiters here are telling everyone they love it . It tastes like cold turkey to me. I only ate two pieces and told them I was saving room. Give me a couple of pieces of bread, some mayo, college football and it could be the day after Thanksgiving here.
The sweet and sour shrimp were good. I could be wrong but I thought they were bigger at JiJi’s.
Jasmine rice. Love it. This is the piping hot steamed rice I get from a Chinese place back home. I will eat the heck out of it.
This is the chocolate c-bang dessert. It’s basically a brownie and ice cream. It’s good. Nothing special.
I guess since this is included now they aren’t bringing you a check to sign. I didn’t think about that and didn’t bring cash. I’ve been writing in all of my tips since I got my sail and sign card. I either have to go to the room and get it or request this team next time and leave double. Neither of the tables next to me left a tip but It doesn’t feel right. Since this is a part of Your Time Dining I’m sure the auto gratuities are covering this but it still feels like a specialty restaurant to me.
I offered the waiters double the tip next time or half or what I win in the lottery. They went with double the tip.
It looks like the Chef’s table is going on in the Carnival Kitchen.
I am going to try the Fortune Teller bar in the French Quarter. This is directly below the Alchemy Bar.
They have a solo guitarist as entertainment.
Cornelius here is an alchemist. I don’t know if he’s moved from the Alchemy permanently or if they’re just rotating. I know two bartenders in the Brass Magnolia this week were in the Alchemy last week so it could be a rotation.
They have quite an interesting menu here.
I’m trying the Golden Galaxy. I like sweet. But this is too sweet.
Here you can see where the Alchemy is above the Fortune Teller’s bar.
Is this the Halloween cruise early?
I am moving to another French Quarter bar, The Brass Magnolia, to try their Praline Truffle drink.
I liked that a lot better than the Golden Galaxy. Now I’m heading to the comedy club. Jim Brick has a show coming up. I haven’t seen him yet. They have six comedians on this ship and I’ve seen four of them on other ships.
The ship coin is just outside of the Punchliner.
As I was walking in the comedy club, the comedy club host was dancing around. I noticed I didn’t have my mask on. I grab it. She asks how I’m doing. I say “Great. I’m just making sure my mask is thick enough and tight enough.”
After the comedy show I stopped by Grand Central for Meet the Cruise Director. Our cruise director is The Flying Scotsman, Chris Williams.
Here he is introducing the Fun Squad.
The Flying Scotsman doing “The Nations of the World.”
Rock Revolution is the main show in the theater tonight. I saw it on Panorama so I’m going to pass on it here. I have the song list available on my Playlist Productions page and I have videos on Panorama: Mazatlan.
I went back to the comedy club for another Jim Brick show. It was a good show. No profanity and totally impromptu based on the people in the front row.
I see Chris Williams took the stage at Grand Central so I stopped to see what was going on. It looks like he’s just repeating his Meet the CD show from earlier.
I’m heading back to the comedy club. As I pass by the Piano Bar, I see they’re handing out masks at the door.
This show is Thea Vidale. I’ve seen her before. She’s pretty good. She’s the star from the 90’s sitcom “Thea.”
After the show I headed to the Piazza area for pizza.
They have some serious ovens here and really move that line fast.
In the buffet they have soda machines where you can just swipe your card and pour. They charge by the ounce but it’s included if you have cheers as I do.
I’ll show that to you another day. For now I’m off to bed.
