There are only two days left to this 8-day Eastern Caribbean cruise on Carnival’s Mardi Gras and today we’re in St. Thomas, USVI, our final port-of-call. The first time I visited St. Thomas was in 1994 when I took my first cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Sovereign of the Seas (subsequently scrapped). Not a whole lot has changed since then… or has it?
The port area was never anything special, and post-COVID it may have even gotten worse. The cruise ship terminal is simply a dock surrounded by fencing that leads you out into the Havensight Mall where a few bars, a BBQ and Chinese restaurant, and a bunch of your typical tourist-trap shops are set up in barracks-like buildings that have seen their better days.
Across the street is the cable car system, the Skyride to Paradise Point, which will take you to the top of Paradise Point for the roundtrip cost of $24.95 per adult and $16.95 per child. Once at the top of the mountain, you’ll see a fantastic view of the harbor and on a clear day you can see as far as Puerto Rico and St. Croix. Most people travel up for the photo opp and the bar / restaurant that awaits at the end of the 7 minute ride.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t include a picture of me taking in that view (which hasn’t changed!) back in ’94:
I took a stroll around the area outside the port, and it has changed quite a bit since COVID, and not for the better. While never really nice, the area obviously feel victim to the lack of tourist dollars when cruises were put on hold for 2+ years due to the pandemic. Trash littered the streets, many businesses were closed, and the shops that were open, were lacking customers. Most were beelining it to the cable car to take their pictures and have a couple drinks.
I didn’t spend much time off the ship, and when I got back on board, it appeared I wasn’t the only one. For a port day, many fellow passengers decided to stay on and skip St. Thomas completely.
Once back onboard, there was a surprise waiting at the Lido Pool!
Towel animals took over the area much to the delight of everyone walking by – a great, fun effort shown by the crew that definitely put a smile on adults and kids faces walking by. Speaking of kids, there’s no shortage of activities for them onboard Mardi Gras. One of the most popular areas, is the Ultimate Playground – the top deck that’s reserved for activities such as basketball, a ropes course, mini golf, and BOLT the first roller coaster at sea.
For the adults who want to get away from the kids, there’s the 18+ Serenity Deck that features plenty of loungers in and out of the sun, daybeds, a small pool, and the Serenity Bar.
I’m going to talk about food for a moment. On Mardi Gras and Carnival Celebration, there is an area on the Lido Deck called Street Eats, which is home to four different food outlets. Time Fries for loaded french fries; Steam Dream for Asian steamed small plates; Mad Sizzle for kebabs; and Seafood Shack for lobster rolls and fresh seafood. With the exception of Seafood Shack, they are generally open for lunch (later in the day on port days) daily, with the Seafood Shack being open for lunch and dinner. Seafood Shack is the only one of the four that is an additional charge.
The evening’s entertainment was a show called The Residency and was billed as hits made popular by Vegas headliners from yesterday and today. It was a very high-energy show that resonated with the audience and kept everyone in their seats for the entire performance. And no, I didn’t walk out on this one like I did last night… this was much better!
For dinner, I headed over to Chibang! the ship’s Chinese Mexican mash-up restaurant that is free for your first visit and then $8 per person for additional visits. Right now, that price structure is being tested on Mardi Gras. Chibang! on Carnival Celebration remains free no matter how many times you visit.
Being that I had the Chinese menu at Chibang! the other night, I went to try out the Mexican side.
I started out with the Super Loaded Nachos which were pretty bland. The only thing that gave them flavor was the birra sauce drizzled on top.
Next up, I went with the Tacos de Carnitas, two pork tacos that you constructed yourself served with house-made tortillas. The pork was tender but lacked any flavor, so you needed to “salsa it up” with the included extras.
For mains, my server recommended I order both the Steak Ranchero and the Pollo en Mole. I asked for the steak medium rate, it was pretty much well done, very tough, and the only redeeming quality it had was the very flavorful sauce that it was served with.
The highlight of the meal was the Pollo en Mole, a half-roast chicken that was smothered in a 36-spice mole sauce. The sauce was fantastic, and the chicken itself was fork-tender and just fell right off the bone.
Dinner was capped off with a small chocolate cake served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Service was once again on point with my water glass never being empty and my drinks coming before the last one was finished. The server team was constantly checking in to see if everything was going well and despite the restaurant being very busy, they were on top of everything.
The portions in Chibang! are not large and you can mix and match from both the Chinese and Mexican menus. Is it worth an $8 per person charge for a second visit? Sure. Compared to $38 and $48 per person for the other specialty restaurants on board, it’s still a good value, but the food is average.
The day ended with a trip to the casino, where once again… well, you can guess what happened.
The final two days of the cruise will be sea days as we head back to Port Canaveral and wrap up this adventure, which so far has been excellent despite the few hiccups that I mentioned yesterday.
Fun Times for Day 6:
The Fun Times for May 18, 2023, can also be downloaded as a PDF by clicking here.