I recently returned from a 21-day cruise on Holland America’s Rotterdam. Now, I’m embarking on another cruise, this time on Mardi Gras, a unique ship in the Carnival Cruise Line fleet that is distinct for not having “Carnival” in its name. Mardi Gras, the first vessel of Carnival’s Excel-class, is named in homage to the first-ever Carnival ship, thus breaking the usual naming convention as a tribute.
Mardi Gras was launched on July 31, 2021, after delays caused by COVID-19 and shipyard issues that resulted in six changes to her initial sailing date. She is the first in the Excel-class, followed by Carnival Celebration in November 2022. Soon, the third ship in this class, Carnival Jubilee, will set sail from Galveston, TX.
I had my first journey on Mardi Gras in May 2023 during an 8-day Eastern Caribbean cruise. This cruise is a 7-day Eastern Caribbean voyage starting from Port Canaveral, FL. The itinerary includes stops at Cozumel and Costa Maya in Mexico, and Roatan, Honduras, where Carnival operates a destination called Mahogany Bay, frequented by various ships under Carnival’s corporate group.
This cruise is booked under a Casino Last Minute Offer, which provides a free inside stateroom for $50 per person or $100 for solo travelers, in addition to $129.65 in taxes and port fees. This charge is reimbursed as onboard credit. Additional costs will include daily gratuities, beverage packages or individual drinks, specialty dining fees, shopping, and potential casino expenses.
To take advantage of these last-minute cruise offers, it’s essential to have the ability to travel at short notice. These deals are aptly named “last-minute cruises” because they are typically announced only a few days before the cruise’s scheduled departure date. This means potential travelers must be ready to embark on their journey with minimal preparation time.
My boarding time for the Mardi Gras cruise was scheduled for 1 PM, but I arrived about 30 minutes early and was allowed to proceed straight to check-in. The ship departs from the new Terminal 3 at Port Canaveral, which conveniently includes its own parking garage that doubles as a luggage drop-off zone. Upon entering the garage, it’s straightforward: drop off your luggage, pay for parking, and find a parking spot.
The check-in process inside was somewhat chaotic, more so than my experience with Carnival Celebration at PortMiami. Despite the crowded conditions, it took only about 30 minutes to complete security, check-in, and board the ship. While I don’t have many positive things to say about PortMiami due to its disorganized nature, I must admit their boarding process is more streamlined.
For this cruise, my accommodation is in stateroom 10214, located on Deck 10. It’s an inside stateroom designed to accommodate up to four people, though it’s quite compact for four people. The room layout includes two twin beds that can be merged into a king bed, along with two upper berths. While it’s hard to imagine four people comfortably sharing this space, especially when the upper berths are in use, it might work for some, but if I were one of the four, I’d sleep outside on the deck!
The stateroom is well-equipped with USB ports on either side of the bed (one on each side of the bed and two for each of the upper berths), plus four additional ports at the writing desk, alongside three electrical outlets. There’s also a large flat-screen TV, storage space under the bed for suitcases, a cooler (not a refrigerator), and ample closet space – adequate for one or two people, but certainly not for four.
The bathroom is snug, yet a big improvement in the Excel-class ships is the larger showers, thankfully without the clingy shower curtains found on other ships. However, those of a larger build might find the bathroom space challenging.
Sail away was scheduled for 4 PM, and we departed exactly as planned. Leading our departure was the Carnival Freedom, a ship that had recently returned from a dry dock refurbishment. This update was particularly significant as it included the installation of a new “whale tail” funnel. The replacement was necessary due to damage sustained in a fire earlier in the year. This alteration was quite a change from its appearance back in May, when it lacked this signature feature.
And here is how she looks sporting her new funnel:
Mardi Gras can accommodate some six thousand people and the majority of them were up on the lido deck for the sail away party.
While the Sail Away Party marked the official start of the journey other events were scheduled throughout the day including trivia, auditions for Family Fued Live which offers families a chance to participate in the game show. The evening included a Hanukkah Service, comedy shows a Master the Martini session at the Alchemy Bar and a ….Botox party at the Spa.
Once my luggage was delivered and put away, it was time to meet up with my traveling companions and figure out the plans for the night. First stop was the casino, where we quickly found out that the slots are extremely tight. With the emphasis on extremely. Money was disappearing faster than shots of tequila at the sail away. Needless to say, the amount of time we spend in there was very limited and quite disappointing.
For dinner, we decided to hit up the ship’s Italian restaurant, Cucina del Capitano. On Mardi Gras and the other Excel-class ships, this restaurant has a different menu and is free for one visit with subsequent visits coming with an $8 per person charge.
The Carnival HUB app is used for almost everything onboard including making dining reservations in specialty restaurants or checking in for a table at the main dining room if you have anytime dining. We checked ourselves in and were given a 10-20 minute wait time, which turned out to be much less. Having eaten here before, I wasn’t expecting dinner to have a “wow” factor, as it’s pretty much equivalent to an Olive Garden.
Appetizers included Mussels and Clams, a bowl of about 6 of each in a broth accompanied by some garlic toast. The broth was very tasty with plenty of garlic and the shellfish had great flavor, but the clams were very small. Not bad overall.
Next up is Nonna’s Meatballs. Notice the plural. Notice the single, lonley meatball. While one would expect a meatball or two, you only get one.
Meat is more expensive than rice, so while one meatball is served, when it comes to Arancini, you get three of these lightly fried balls of rice.
If you want something a little lighter, the Caprese salad will fit the bill with a few slices of tomato and not-homemade mozzarella.
For entrees, I went with the Chicken Parm which is a big ole piece of chicken, pounded flat, breaded and topped with sauce and cheese. It doesn’t come with anything but the chicken so if you expect it to come with pasta, you will need to order a side, which I did. Now this isn’t the world’s best chicken parmesean, but it if you have a hankering for it, it’s a suitable dish.
Then there was the bone-in pork chop, also not served with any type of side dish.
When it came time for dessert, we had a few different things brought to the table.
Overall, as a free dining option, Cucina del Capitano on Mardi Gras isn’t the best Italian restaurant but it’s not the worst. This isn’t gourmet Italian so don’t expect it. Service was great throughout the meal and we weren’t rushed at all.
With Day 1 behind us, the next day will be spent at sea as we make our way to our first port of call, Cozumel, Mexico. Till then, thanks for following along!
Fun Times for Day 1:
The Fun Times for December 9, 2023 can also be downloaded as a PDF by clicking here.