SUPER glad you had a good time at least. We went on the Icon of the Seas. Best buffet out of any ship we've been on. 3x as much money as the Mardi Gras though. Carnival is coming out with 2 more Excel class ships, so most likely we'll be going on one of those in the coming years.

No problemo

That's going to be a heck of a bday/anniv cruise. Def one of the better options to have some fun. That's exciting. We'd love to see the anniversary pics : ) We're looking to do our 10 yr wedding anniversary gathering on the Carnival Venezia. All about the content : )

To be honest, the buffet on Mardi Gras wasn't that great. It's mediocre. Not horrible food, but don't expect anything great. You'll get your better food at Guy's Burger Joint and Big Chicken. But how much can you really eat at those places every day? I (Gil) always said that each cruise line has great things but lacks things as well. Carnival may have the fun and drinks but miss on the food. NCL may have great food, but miss on the "fun" and stuff when it comes to the new ships. Older ships are well balanced. We have yet to do the Steakhouse on Carnival ships. Def wanna know how that cruise goes : ) #downtovacay

We went on mardi gras last year and we also thought the buffet was lacking. I loved eating in there but usually took shaqs or guys in there. The buffet just felt small with just a few options. I think this is due to the many other options people have for food. I loved the automatic soda fountains in the buffet. They need to have those everywhere on the ship where they have other drink stations.

Was pretty tough to get some bonafide misses, but these things may hinder some cruisers who want specifics. I know that I need good food at least. You'll have a blast on your cruise. Was well balanced.

We sailed on the Icon of the Seas last month and it was just so overwhelmingly great but surely had its misses. One and done for us. I like ships that are worth going on multiple times. Mardi Gras is one of those ships.

We were fortunate to have the CHEERS package, but that's a good comment. I'm sure they would let you double up if you pay a la carte. On NCL they let you double up even with the drink package. Who knows when they'll change it. Hopefully not on our VIVA cruise this weekend. Thanks pointing that out. I'm going to put it in the info section of the video.

Agreed, 1/2 price for second shot.

Oh man this would be a tough one, considering that our views are subjective. It really depends on a few things. Budget, what you're looking to do. Factor in the age too.Last year we went on the NCL Prima. Mardi Gras, Virgin Voyage Scarlet Lady, Royal's Freedom of the Seas and NCL Joy. The Prima, Mardi Gras and Scarlet are fairly new. Each showcasing unique things. The Prima, in our opinions, is geared towards foodies. More adults. It's not Adult only, but there are far less kids on this ship than any other NCL ship. Mainly because of the smaller size and less Kid attractions. The food is AMAZING. Problem with the Prima is the size of the venues. Too small. Activities seemed dull and not much, but the entertainment was solid. Broadway theater shows. - The Mardi Gras is well balanced. What lacks in food, made up in entertainment with the Atrium's Center Stage, the activities, the basketball court and the fast food. The bars were great and the bonus was having a solid Cruise Director who enhanced the cruise. Mardi Gras IS def fun if you like to drink, play ball, enjoy ship shows, like burgers and chicken sandwiches and parties. Really was a FUN ship. - Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady is geared towards those of ANY age who don't want kids around and are looking for "adult" experiences. If you're open for anything, this is the ship. It lacks entertainment and activities. I think it's for those who wanna go clubbin' at night and wake up late just to sit outside and tan then go back to it again at night. Rinse and repeat. It's a Miami boutique hotel on the ocean. Can't miss with the food experiences. Anything else is just not there. That was a "one and done" cruise for us. Unless it's with a group of youngins. So it really depends on what kind of experience you're looking for. Every ship has a gym, sauna and so on. When it comes to the price, Mardi Gras seemed cheaper until you start adding the Cheers drink package, Specialty dining and so on. With NCL, it's all added in there. Virgin has all specialty restaurants, so it's included in the price. Problem is, you don't get good bang for your buck. So, if you want FUN FUN FUN and some entertainment every night, then Mardi Gras is the one. If you want a tad luxury, spacious cabins, amazing food with broadway theater entertainment then Prima or Viva is for you. All other NCL Breakaway/+ class ships are well balanced as well. We're headed on the VIVA this weekend and at the end of March we'll be on the Icon of the Seas. Gonna be EPIC. Hope I answered your question. Ride the waves.

awesome thanks for the reply! We decided to give CArnival a shot. We are long time cruisers with status on Royal, NCL and Celebrity so we are a little nervous after all the years of crazy Carnival stories. We have no little ones and are about your age or a little older. We are foodies so this should be interesting to see how they fare. We aren't big drinkers so will probably just pay as we go on it. Gonna try it in May. @@downtovacay

@@ArizonaMMJ Aaaah yeah, we're Platinum on NCL, so I know how that is. Not sure about your location, but the new Jubilee is sailing out of Galveston, TX. Kyndall Fire, the cruise director, is on that cruise. Albeit, the theme on the Mardi Gras is pretty cool, and that VooDoo Moon show is pretty cool too. You won't find that on the Jubilee. I soooo wanna go on a Celebrity Beyond or Acent ship. No basketball court. Bummer. For the record, there's always an issue on a cruise. I find that the cruises that have more of the issues are old cruises that are cheaper. This is based on what I've seen and heard.

@@downtovacay beyond was my last cruise. It was our fave so far. APEX we did when it came out and it was really nice as well but the Beyond was just better by a good margin

Off topic but was is the drink you were getting in the beginning

Yeah, we can do that on NCL. I would be able to use my card to get 2 drinks at once OR double up the alcohol. We've tried it on Royal, but no go. Bummer. Not a game changer though. Mardi Gras was still great. You made not of the CHEERS package, which I forgot to add info for. Dang it!!!

The complimentary food isn't bad at all. Chi Bang was ok. Wasn't great, but it sure beats paying for it as a "Specialty Restaurant". Cucina Del Capitano was decent. The better foods were finger foods like Shaq's Big Chicken and Guy's Burger Joint. We don't always want finger foods. We have gone on other cruise lines/ships where the complimentary food is amazing like NCL Prima & Viva as well as recently the Icon of the Seas. You may love it more than us and/or the menus or cooks have changed. It all depends to be honest. Pig & Anchor is also complimentary during the afternoons and some options at night. Are you planning on the Mardi Gras?

@@downtovacay we were looking at a sept sail date w a large group. But the only cruises we have been on are Disney cruises. Thank you so much for your response. Your videos are actually super helpful. 👏🏼

@@PilatesbyGina Aaaah the Disney cruise. We're not sold on shelling out Icon of the Seas money for only 4-5 night cruises. Waiting til our grandson gets a little older BUT that is on our bucket list. We've seen the behind the scenes of the Disney Wish and were in awe. We like to keep our videos normal and not really scripted. We're all over the place half the time haaaa. Glad we could shed some light. We have some travels this summer and more videos pushing out.

@@downtovacay oh gosh I agree!! We would never go on Disney just to go, (unless it was our job & money was no object) but our kids were younger at the time. We started when our youngest was 5! We went four times. It was bananas start to finish-they kids loved it and we did too. Their private Cay is amazing. But as the kids are now older teens, we want to avoid Disney bc 🥴cha-CHING😂😂 We gotta pay for college soon. 🤦🏻‍♀️But look, Icon of the Seas is looking good to me rn, I am gonna find some of your other videos on cruising-they have helped my husband and I so much w the Mardi Gras. Better than our TA😝Thanks so much for sharing such amazing videos. They really are helpful!!!

@@PilatesbyGina Here is a link to the Icon video section. kzfaq.info/sun/PL8jgtwd2PsykkjnC_TEgQ01OKptWMl2u0 We're working on a couple of Icon videos as well. Reviews are subjective. What may be good for one is not good for the other. So we think it's important for everyone to look at other reviews as well. We appreciate the views. If there's anything we missed from what you've experienced, give us a shout. Always interested in how your vacays go.