Carnival Mardi Gras - May 16, 2026

Carnival Mardi Gras -  May 16, 2026 - Cruise Review

Just The Facts:

Ship:  Mardi Gras, first of Carnival's Excel class @182,000 gross tons. 5282+ capacity.

Captain: Allesandro Iemmi  -   Hotel Director: Hugo Hidalgo (?)    

Ports: Port Canaveral, FL  - Nassau, Bahamas - Amber Cove, DR - Grand Turk, BWI - Cellegration Key, Bahamas

This is my 10th cruise on the Mardi Gras, my 115th Carnival cruise, and my 234th cruise overall.  I am sailing as a solo guest as part of a Seminar at Sea program for Carnival Travel Agents. 

Day 1 - Saturday, May 16 - Embarkation - Port Canaveral, Florida

I began the day early, finished my packing, and then met friends who are riding with me to the port this morning.  We were away at about 9:30 a.m. and arrived at Park-n-Cruise at about noon.  We were shuttled to the Mardi Gras pier and used the Diamond priority lines during check-in.  We were successful in hitting the sweet-spot, just after the initial rush,  all morning:  No lines at parking, embarkation, or boarding.  Just a smooth, keep-moving-along process.  After checking into our Muster Station, we dropped our luggage in our cabins.  We decided on BBQ for lunch, as it is the easiest option at embark, and, again, no line.  Also, several bar servers, if needed.  I enjoyed the Pig & Anchor BBQ plate, then returned to my now officially open cabin.  I have a nice balcony on deck 9 forward on the starboard side. Today is the second day of the NCAA WCWS softball championships, and my game of interest was at 3:00 p.m. I set up my WiFi and was ready by the opening pitch. I unpacked while watching the game. The cabin is spacious for a solo, and I was finished as Oklahoma won 8-0. Our Seminar at Sea group met for cocktails in the Havana Bar at 5:00 p.m., with unlimited cocktails for an hour, and excellent food options…I’ve never had many of these h’orderves offered by Carnival. I had fresh Shrimp, two different steak tenderloin items, and other items, including Chicken Satay, two different Sushi items, and fresh Fruit. I retired to the cabin and decided to skip dinner tonight as my body is still on Middle European time. The past three nights have been: sleep at 7:30 p.m., then wake between midnight & 1:00 a.m for an hour+, then sleep until 5:00 am. Not too bad of a schedule, but hopefully this cruise with set times will have me back to normal soon. I did get the blog updated in that middle-of-the-night window. We experienced a unique event at about 7:00 p.m., when we rescued a stranded boat with about 6 passengers. It was on the starboard side, so I had a front-row seat for this. They were taken aboard the Mardi Gras, and we were again on our way in about an hour. It was an easy embarkation day for me and the rescued on the Carnival Mardi Gras today.

Day 2 - Sunday, May 17 - Nassau, Bahamas

Smooth seas, and I slept very well overnight.  I like the automatic night lights that turn on when you get up at night.  It was the inspiration for what I did on our recent bath remodel in Florida.  Still on CET time, I was up early and first in line at the Blue Iguana @ 7:00 a.m.  I do miss my favorite cruise breakfast of: two fried egg heavos rancheros, salsas, & more…the Best Breakfast at Sea (photo).  Also nice to be first at the watermelon bowl.  I then went to Guest Services for a partial refund of my Premium Package after discovering that WiFi is included with my Seminar at Sea booking.  They were very cooperative about it. Kudos to Carnival.  Too early for the best Bloody Mary at Summer Landing, so I had one at La Bella Rosa.  I also took some Coke back to the cabin.  A productive early morning.  I took a mid-morning nap and went to Big Chicken for lunch at about noon.  I did a Walkabout when I woke, then watched the championship game of the NCAA Norman Softball Regional, which Oklahoma won.  I then met the girls at the Alchemy Bar and enjoyed some proper martinis before dinner.  Dinner was at 7:45 p.m. in the Palm Restaurant (MDR), and I ordered the Escargot, two Shrimp Cocktails,  the Beef Bourganone entree, and a Mango Fruit Tart for dessert. I enjoyed my French dinner choices.  The escargot was very nice, but the beef bourguignon was much better in France. All very good though. We met Andy, the Cruise Director, who was on the Fun Squad when I met him previously.  The girls went to his own comedy show at 9:30 p.m., but I retired.  I was happy to have stayed up long enough for dinner.  I'm hoping my jet lag will be over by tomorrow and I will be on a normal schedule. It was a nice Sunday on board the Mardi Gras.

Day 3 - Monday, May 18 - Day at Sea

I slept very well but woke up super early @ 5:00 a.m., so I updated this blog and reviewed the WCWS super regional softball matchups. I do enjoy following the Sooner team.  Streaming on cruise ships has improved so much that you can basically follow all the news and sports live while at sea.  Thanks, Elon.  I went to the Blue Iguana again for breakfast when it opened at 7:30 a.m. on this seaday, for IMHO, the best breakfast at sea.  One of my friends surprised me by coming by as well.  Our Seminar at Sea met this morning at 9:00 a.m.  They had a variety of soft drinks, coffee, fruit, and pastries available. They have been very professional in organizing this meeting.  The content is really for newbie agents, but I picked up a few interesting facts.  Certainly a lot of attention for the port of Galveston.  The next two Excel-class ships will be going to Port Canaveral and the Port of Galveston, giving each port two Excel-class ships.  The Carnival Diamond Luncheon was held at noon in the Flamingo Restaurant.  Andrew, the CD, was a very good host; everyone seems to love him. Our service team was very impressive, memorizing our names immediately.  The new menu was nice. I ordered the Teriyaki Pork Bites, the Filet Mignon entree, and the Five-Layered Pistachio Cake for dessert.  Cocktails were plentiful as well.  I took the afternoon off, but was unsuccessful with napping.  I did get some important Bosque Travel work completed that I could not do while in Europe.