Update 9/6/23: Now testing on the Mardi Gras and now being rolled out to Carnival Celebration. Guests can still dine complimentary in Cucina, Chibang! and Guy's Pig & Anchor on our Excel Class ships. However due to the popularity and to make sure everyone is able to get in, if they choose to go a 2nd time to Cucina or Chibang! there is an $8 pp cover charge. Lunch is still complimentary at both Cucina and Chibang! unlimited. There is not additional fee for going a 2nd time to Guy's Pig & Anchor. - Per Carnival communications.
Such a well done video. My husband and I thank you so much editing in the menu for the each restaurant. That beats having to go on a Google hunt for all the menus so thank you for that. Food looked amazing. We hungry lol
Thank you so much, you are so kind! You will have an awesome time if you're headed out onto the Mardi Gras! Food Review of the Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady hopefully coming out tomorrow, trying to finish it! Have an amazing day and thanks again for the kind words.
Thank you SO MUCH for your kind words! Next up will be the Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady in July for us. You can also find a lot of tips and reviews on our TikTok channel. We post almost daily over there. Thanks again for the kind words!
Excellent video! Thank you for making the menus so easy to read. I appreciate your honesty, especially on items that you felt weren’t the best. I also appreciate your generous use of “Holy Crap!” My first Carnival sailing will be on Glory towards the end of the year, and have been cruising since the mid-1980’s. How do you overall perceive Mardi Gras to your other cruises ?
Wow, thank you for all the kind words! We had fun experimenting with this episode playing with new ways to do a food review. We've gotten quite a few folks who enjoy it so we're replicating this same idea on our next food episode from the Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady. I do actually have a review of the ship itself here with some answers to your question: ua-cam.com/video/EHgkVqJ4YTU/v-deo.html But for some quick comments: I would put the Mardi Gras squarely down the middle of the road. For the most part the food is good, but it's not the best we've ever had. The exception being Rudi's Seagrill, that's amazeballs. Shaq's Chicken might be my favorite quick food on any ship, it's addictive. :) La Cucina Pizza was surprisingly good, but as I mentioned in the episode, the rest of the ship was hit or miss. So I would put the food down the middle of the road. It had a LOT more kids that we are used to, the most kids we've sailed with since 1000 kids on Freedom of the Seas one Thanksgiving. The pools are lovely, though the kids really hogged the two infinity pools in the back so they're not really relaxing back there. The best pool for adults was definitely the Serenity pool up front. But the main pool was really nicely done with the Red Frog right next to it. It was interesting how Overall it's a lovely ship and I think anyone who sails on her will have a great time. We would sail her again and I would like to sail the Celebration when she comes out. I still prefer the experience on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean more, especially having the indoor solarium pools which are awesome in the hot Caribbean sun. And the Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady absolutely blew us away, we were not prepared to like it as much as we did, but the food, drinks and ship design were just so much better than we expected. I have no experience with the Glory or any other Carnival ship other than the Mardi Gras so I can't give you any comparison for the ship you will be sailing. Thank you again for all your awesome comments!
Next time order a cup of peanut butter with the melting chocolate cake. Also on sea days, the brunch in the MDR is very very delicious !!! I love your style of presenting !!!! I’m looking forward to seeing more from your channel!!!!
Woooo that sounds delicious with the peanut butter for the chocolate cake!! Thanks so much for the kind words. We are aiming to get at least a.couplw of pieces of content up each week. Thanks souvh for watching!!
We are sailing aboard Mardi gras in February. You're video is the best I've ever seen. A frame filling food fest that highlights everything, including you eating and critiquing all the ships chow. Well done brother!
Thanks so much for the kind words. You should have an awesome time on the Mardi Gras! Let us know if we can ever be of asistance to your future travels. Have an amazing weekend! :)
Really enjoyed your "food" review, My wife and I have sailed the Mardi Gras twice (November 2021 & May 2022), it is such an amazing ship!! I agreed with all of your comments as we have tried most of what you did but, we were able to pre-book Teppanyaki and it is AMAZING! You did right in suggesting that you pre-book this place. Street Eats is awesome also, loved the variety! Thank you again for a great video which was honest and to the point! Happy Cruising!!
I love how you do these videos (meaning I've watched a few similar ones & this is one of the best Ive come across thus far). You gives a very precise, detailed & realtime outlook on what to expect, it feels like the real deal. The split screen effect is awesome, as are you providing restaurants/menus, showing the food and giving your honest feedback about it all . Please do more for other cruises &/or restaurants, thanks it was a pleasure. I'll be looking out for more where's Walter videos, love the name. Stay blessed.
Wow, you are so kind, I'm so glad you enjoyed the review! I'm working on our Symphony of the Seas reviews right and we'll be on the Sky Princess in a few weeks. I do love eating my way through the cruise lines. :) Be sure to check out the Scarlet Lady food vlogs, oh my the food was amazing. I'm glad you like the name, we came up with that about six years ago and it's been fun to transition the social name over to a full fledged travel agency. The name works even better as a travel agency. :) If we can ever be of assistance in your travels, please do reach out. You can find us on the website. Again, thanks so much for your kind words! www.whereswaltertravel.com/
Great job 👏 on all your dining experience and review. Well done 👏. We really enjoy watching your this vlog. We are definitely going to subscribe to your channel. We can't wait to start watching all your videos. Thank you for sharing your experience and thoughts with all of us.
@@que_creations All specialty restaurants are one entree per meal, that's standard on all cruise ships. You should be able to ask for multiple appetizers and desserts, but not always. Enjoy!
I believe they started dinner at 5:30pm, the same time as everyone else. But you can double check that in the Carnival App, it's a really handy dandy app. Thanks for watching!
Does Carnival HAVE tea time? I don't recall seeing it. I didn't eat at Guy's Burgers because my brother in law said 'it was ok,' so I stuck with Shaq's Chicken which was awesome! The Panini sandwich is not worth getting, even though it's free. I didn't film it because I was tired at that point. :) Room Service costs extra so no reason to pay for that when you have so much free food included.
@@blackbirds4 We totally missed that to be honest. Sea Days we spent up in the Serenity area where we took advantage of the awesome salad bar for lunch, so we would have been too full for the Tea Time. :)
@@blackbirds4 In 15 or 16 cruises, we have used Room Service exactly twice. Each time for breakfast. We thought about doing a breakfast on this one because we had three adjoining balconies that we opened up, but it never happened. So many great places to grab breakfast. :)
Thank you for your food review of Mardi Gras restaurants. I cruised on Mardi Gras last week. I was very disappointed with most of the food on this ship. I did enjoy Guy's Burgers 🍔and Shaq's Big Chicken. Also, Rudi's Seagrill Restaurant was very good.
Haven’t sailed on Mardi Gras yet but want to. Sailed on Panorama Nov 2021 and felt the food on there overall was also hit or miss. And that’s including some of the specialty dining. Lido buffet was the most disappointing of all. Around the time we sailed there was a bacon shortage and it was the most disgusting bacon I’ve EVER had in my life! Best thing in the Lido were the empanadas. Sailed Freedom of the Seas with Royal for the first time May 2022 and the buffet was way better than Panorama’s.
@@AronRoss72 Thanks so much for watching and for the comments. Yes I remember that Bacon Shortage when it was going on. We were on the NCL Escape for Thanksgiving 2021 and I believe they were having the same issue, but they didn't put any out there. It was all sausage. :) Freedom of the Seas is a great ship and Royal's buffet is better than Carnival's from what we experienced on the Mardi Gras. Celebrity's buffet is even better. But since we've done this video, we sailed Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady and wow, THAT was an amazing food experience. Hoping to have the food review up by the end of this week. Again, my thanks for watching the episode and adding your comments!
@@WheresWalterTravel No Walter thank you for this great review and an honest one too. I just read about you, and not surprised you are a filmmaker since your video has really good production value. And Rebecca is your wife I assume? A sound designer…nice! Sound Design is my favorite aspect of filmmaking and tried to break in here in Los Angeles, but it was not easy. So I ended up doing what I’ve been for the last 30 years and that’s tech ops in broadcast. Anyway, I just watched the rest if the video and Rudy’s looks amazing! Too bad my other half only eats fried shrimp. I wonder if they would let her drink while I eat..ha ha! So do you have a favorite cruise ship? As for Celebrity, yes that is on our list and I’ve seen other Virgin posts regarding food and everyone loves it. And by the way, love how you post the menu split screen. It looks just like their Menus. I would assume you used Adobe After Effects for that? Lastly, not fair how Mardi Gras has a sushi roll with eel. That was one thing I was missing at Bonsai on Panorama. Keep up the great work and will subscribe
@@AronRoss72 That's cool you work in broadcast ops! I started at CNN 30 years ago. :) Rudi's IS amazing, yes your wife can sit there but they'll charge her $42. :) And the sushi was not good on the Mardi Gras, would not recommend spending money on it. :) Thanks for the kind words on the production value, I'm still working out the best way to film these by myself. I usually love the GoPro for this stuff, but the LED lights flicker badly with that camera and the phone. I'm using a lot of deflicker in this video through Resolve to combat that. On Scarlet Lady it was a problem as well, so I may switch to the DSLR for more filming so I can dial that out. Right now filming myself with the phone and everything else with the GoPro and GH4. Don't really have a favorite cruise ship, though if they replace that net with a swim up bar on the Scarlet Lady, that just might be it. Such an amazing experience, I'm editing the dining review now. Celebrity is probably my favorite cruise line right now, we love the food and the bars on those ships. But I'm really itching to try the Royal Quantum class with the bumper cars and iFly. :) Thanks again for all the kind words!
Hi, ..... QUESTION: regarding Rudy's Sea Grill, did you make your reservations prior to getting on the ship? Thanks in advance. Great video .... keep up the great work. 😎⛹️♀️🤸♂️🚴♂️
Good review. We are booked for Thanksgiving week. I really hope that the staffing issues will have been ironed out by then. Carnival gets a bad rap. We've done a mix of cruise lines and they have some awesome included eats. You are correct regarding their buffet--even on their newest ships, they put out a very limited and uninspiring buffet, not like Celebrity, ncl, royal, princess, who consistently put out a variety of curries, Chinese dishes, etc. So this particular ship, which is still including chibang, Guys pig and anchor, and Cucina, has a lot more variety than most of their ships. But we always seem to find enough to eat. Good heads-up regarding the ramen. I had ramen at an Asian place on an NCL ship and it was also really bad. Asian family next to us all bailed on their barely eaten bowls. Not sure why they can't make a really good broth on these ships.
I really hope they do get the staffing issues figured out, but it doesn't seem to be getting any better for them at the moment. I know the pizza is no longer 24 hours for the moment. It's still a lot of hours, but not longer 24. They've made some cutbacks in other areas as well across other ships. I'm wondering how the Celebration launch will play into the staffing issues. You know who actually made a good ramen broth? Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady in the Noodle Around food hall stand. And the Norwegian Getaway had a really good noodle bar as well. Thanks for watching and have an amazing Thanksgiving cruise! Just be careful of Shaq's Big Chicken, those sandwiches are so addictive! :)
I really don't know, I know lobster and filet are still there, just not sure whether they're a charge or not. I know on Royal Caribbean we can get one lobster tail and if you want a second one you have to pay for it. One thing we've heard that's changed is the BBQ Filet at Guy's Pig and Anchor is on night two now, not the first night.
@@WheresWalterTravel thank you! If we ask the servers would they be able to tell us or is that one of those things they don't want us to know when the lobster/filet are free for carnival?
@@Prettyfulco Oh they'll absolutely tell you as will the Dining Captains when you get to the MDR. They don't hide anything like that and you should ask. You can even ask as soon as you get on board, go see if the Dining Captains are around in the MDR when you board. Mardi Gras has a really good crew, short staffed, but a really good crew.
@@bodyloverz30 That's news to me. Cafe Al Bacio gelato has always been a charged item across the entire Celebrity fleet. That would be very strange if they made an exception on the Edge fleet. Again, I've never heard of the gelato being free on any of the Celebrity ships in the fleet in the 10 years we've been cruising them.
@@bodyloverz30 That's not the Cafe Al Bacio Gelato. Cafe Al Bacio is a stand alone venue not part of the buffet. They have a smaller version in the Buffet to serve specialty coffees.
Not at Guys Smokehouse. It's the standard "line up and wait." At Cucina, you can request a table each evening via the app starting at 5:30pm if you have Your Time dining and after 7:00pm if you have standard dining. No advanced reservations
@@WheresWalterTravel Thanks for the quick reply - yeah I saw that. Do you schedule them on your carnival hub every time or just walk in? I didn’t know if they had restrictions especially with all the changes Carnival is implementing. Also we have to anytime dining for flexible options right?
@@carolpowell7026 With the MDR and the included dinners, you just go on the Carnival Hub and select "I'm Ready." The phone will buzz when your table is ready. You have 10 minutes to get to the restaurants. I believe Guy's Pig and Anchor is the only restaurant that doesn't use this system.
Did you watch the entire video? I didn't say the food was bad. I said it's a mixed bag. Rudi's Seagrill is the 2nd best meal we've ever had at sea. Shaq's Chicken is AWESOME! Cucina del Capitano and the Pizza are good. We had a TERRIBLE second meal at Pig and Anchor. MDR was ok. So the food is a mixed bag but we like more than we didn't.
@@elite4681 We'll have to wait and see, I don't know if they've announced the restaurants yet, but I assume they will be the same. With 6000+ capacity, I believe they opened those restaurants up because the MDR would be overwhelmed at dinner time. Be sure to go with Anytime Dining so you can get those reservations first for Cucina, ChiBang and Pig and Anchor.
I don't mind the fingers, I mind the wearing of a hat inside of dining rooms. Looks like most venues have outside seating, wear ca hat out there, where they belong. Just my opinion for what it's worth.
Update 9/6/23: Now testing on the Mardi Gras and now being rolled out to Carnival Celebration. Guests can still dine complimentary in Cucina, Chibang! and Guy's Pig & Anchor on our Excel Class ships. However due to the popularity and to make sure everyone is able to get in, if they choose to go a 2nd time to Cucina or Chibang! there is an $8 pp cover charge. Lunch is still complimentary at both Cucina and Chibang! unlimited. There is not additional fee for going a 2nd time to Guy's Pig & Anchor. - Per Carnival communications.
Such a well done video. My husband and I thank you so much editing in the menu for the each restaurant. That beats having to go on a Google hunt for all the menus so thank you for that. Food looked amazing. We hungry lol
Thank you so much, you are so kind! You will have an awesome time if you're headed out onto the Mardi Gras! Food Review of the Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady hopefully coming out tomorrow, trying to finish it! Have an amazing day and thanks again for the kind words.
Wow! Really good food review enjoyable watching .1st time watching looking forward to many More reviews keep'em coming
Thank you SO MUCH for your kind words! Next up will be the Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady in July for us. You can also find a lot of tips and reviews on our TikTok channel. We post almost daily over there. Thanks again for the kind words!
The best maradi gras food video update !!!
Thank so much for the kind words and for watching!
Nice food tour/review. I'm counting down the day to my Mardi Gras sailing and have Rudis, the Steakhouse and Teppanyaki booked.
Thanks for the kind words. You will LOVE Rudi's. So amazing!! Have a great cruise!!!
We have Rudi's & Bonsai Teppanyaki reserved
@@margaretharmon7485 Awesome! Have an amazing cruise!!!!
Amazing job with the video and thank you for sharing. The food looks amazing!
Thank YOU for watching! :)
Thank you for the food review, we will definitely check out Pig & Anchor day 1 for dinner.
Thank you! It may not necessarily be Day 1 any longer, so check the menu for the BBQ filet. :)
Food looks good can't wait for next year to go on the Mardi gras cruise ship 🚢 yummy thanks for the updates and video.
Thank YOU for watching!
Excellent video!
Thank you for making the menus so easy to read.
I appreciate your honesty, especially on items that you felt weren’t the best. I also appreciate your generous use of “Holy Crap!”
My first Carnival sailing will be on Glory towards the end of the year, and have been cruising since the mid-1980’s. How do you overall perceive Mardi Gras to your other cruises ?
Wow, thank you for all the kind words! We had fun experimenting with this episode playing with new ways to do a food review. We've gotten quite a few folks who enjoy it so we're replicating this same idea on our next food episode from the Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady.
I do actually have a review of the ship itself here with some answers to your question: ua-cam.com/video/EHgkVqJ4YTU/v-deo.html
But for some quick comments: I would put the Mardi Gras squarely down the middle of the road. For the most part the food is good, but it's not the best we've ever had. The exception being Rudi's Seagrill, that's amazeballs. Shaq's Chicken might be my favorite quick food on any ship, it's addictive. :) La Cucina Pizza was surprisingly good, but as I mentioned in the episode, the rest of the ship was hit or miss. So I would put the food down the middle of the road.
It had a LOT more kids that we are used to, the most kids we've sailed with since 1000 kids on Freedom of the Seas one Thanksgiving. The pools are lovely, though the kids really hogged the two infinity pools in the back so they're not really relaxing back there. The best pool for adults was definitely the Serenity pool up front. But the main pool was really nicely done with the Red Frog right next to it. It was interesting how
Overall it's a lovely ship and I think anyone who sails on her will have a great time. We would sail her again and I would like to sail the Celebration when she comes out. I still prefer the experience on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean more, especially having the indoor solarium pools which are awesome in the hot Caribbean sun. And the Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady absolutely blew us away, we were not prepared to like it as much as we did, but the food, drinks and ship design were just so much better than we expected.
I have no experience with the Glory or any other Carnival ship other than the Mardi Gras so I can't give you any comparison for the ship you will be sailing. Thank you again for all your awesome comments!
Brad - the Glory is NOTHING like the Mardi Gras since it’s an older ship and Mardi Gras has all the bells and whistles.
Next time order a cup of peanut butter with the melting chocolate cake. Also on sea days, the brunch in the MDR is very very delicious !!!
I love your style of presenting !!!! I’m looking forward to seeing more from your channel!!!!
Woooo that sounds delicious with the peanut butter for the chocolate cake!! Thanks so much for the kind words. We are aiming to get at least a.couplw of pieces of content up each week. Thanks souvh for watching!!
We are sailing aboard Mardi gras in February. You're video is the best I've ever seen. A frame filling food fest that highlights everything, including you eating and critiquing all the ships chow. Well done brother!
Thanks so much for the kind words. You should have an awesome time on the Mardi Gras! Let us know if we can ever be of asistance to your future travels. Have an amazing weekend! :)
We will and thanks again .
Really enjoyed your "food" review, My wife and I have sailed the Mardi Gras twice (November 2021 & May 2022), it is such an amazing ship!! I agreed with all of your comments as we have tried most of what you did but, we were able to pre-book Teppanyaki and it is AMAZING! You did right in suggesting that you pre-book this place. Street Eats is awesome also, loved the variety! Thank you again for a great video which was honest and to the point! Happy Cruising!!
Thank YOU for all the kind words!!
Can I ask, how do you pre-book the Teppanyaki?
Awesome video!! I’m on the Mardi Gras in 9 days, and your video gives great details with the food choices. I’m sooo excited. Thanks for sharing 😀😀!!
Thank YOU for watching and have an AMAZING TIME!! She's a great ship, make the most of it! :)
I love how you do these videos (meaning I've watched a few similar ones & this is one of the best Ive come across thus far). You gives a very precise, detailed & realtime outlook on what to expect, it feels like the real deal. The split screen effect is awesome, as are you providing restaurants/menus, showing the food and giving your honest feedback about it all . Please do more for other cruises &/or restaurants, thanks it was a pleasure. I'll be looking out for more where's Walter videos, love the name. Stay blessed.
Wow, you are so kind, I'm so glad you enjoyed the review! I'm working on our Symphony of the Seas reviews right and we'll be on the Sky Princess in a few weeks. I do love eating my way through the cruise lines. :) Be sure to check out the Scarlet Lady food vlogs, oh my the food was amazing.
I'm glad you like the name, we came up with that about six years ago and it's been fun to transition the social name over to a full fledged travel agency. The name works even better as a travel agency. :) If we can ever be of assistance in your travels, please do reach out. You can find us on the website. Again, thanks so much for your kind words! www.whereswaltertravel.com/
My wife and I have been on the Mardi Gras twice this year already.. going back in October !!!… it’s a great ship 🚢 👍👏😎👍
It definitely is a fun ship!
i love this review please do more!!
Thank you! I will be doing more as we cruise. Next up will be the Virgin Scarlet Lady!
Thanks much for the vid, I am booking Rudi's right now!!!
My pleasure! Enjoy it, we sure did!! :)
Best cruise food video I have seen!! Great job!!
Thank you!
I subscribed. You are entertaining and hilarious.
Thank you so much! My wife agrees, most everything I say is hilarious. I'm not sure if that's a compliment or I should be concerned.... :)
Great job 👏 on all your dining experience and review.
Well done 👏. We really enjoy watching your this vlog.
We are definitely going to subscribe to your channel. We can't wait to start watching all your videos.
Thank you for sharing your experience and thoughts with all of us.
Thanks for the kind words!
Absolutely, love the video can’t wait till my cruise in December.
Thank you so much! You should have a great time! Some of the policies have changed since we cruised, but it's a lovely ship. Thanks for watching!
You explained it the best .eating food and showing it to us.. keep up the good work nice job
You are too kind. Thank you so much. Food review of Symphony OTS coming as soon as I can finish editing it! :)
Thanks for the awesome video! The pig and anchor, can you get more than one desert?
I think you can but not sure what the current rules are.
Thanks! Everything looks great.
Thanks for watching!
When you said the Mac n Cheese needed cream cheese….I’m trusting your food reviews!Thanks!
Well thank you! Who does Mac N Cheese without cream cheese?!?
I have $190 of on board credit left for my Mardi Gras cruise in October 2023. This video convinced me to use $48 of it on the Seagull restaurant.
Thanks so much I really hope you enjoy Rudi's Seagrill!
@@WheresWalterTravel I know I will. Is it an extra charge to get another entrée or you can keep getting different ones and it's part of the cost?
@@que_creations All specialty restaurants are one entree per meal, that's standard on all cruise ships. You should be able to ask for multiple appetizers and desserts, but not always. Enjoy!
@@WheresWalterTravel Thx for the info!
@@que_creations My pleasure!
Thanks for the foodie information. we will finally get on the Mardi Gras in July this year.
You should have a fantastic time!!
I’m going on in July also!! Great video!
@@TheSblore What days in July?
@@TheSblore Thank you so much! Have an amazing time on the cruise!
A What time Guys starts serving dinner? And do you need to make reservations? Thanks for the informative review.
I believe they started dinner at 5:30pm, the same time as everyone else. But you can double check that in the Carnival App, it's a really handy dandy app. Thanks for watching!
No Guys Burgers? No Deli? No Room Service? No Sea Day Brunch? No Tea Time?
That said excellent video fun to watch.
Does Carnival HAVE tea time? I don't recall seeing it. I didn't eat at Guy's Burgers because my brother in law said 'it was ok,' so I stuck with Shaq's Chicken which was awesome! The Panini sandwich is not worth getting, even though it's free. I didn't film it because I was tired at that point. :) Room Service costs extra so no reason to pay for that when you have so much free food included.
@@WheresWalterTravel Tea Time 2 pm on sea days in the Main Dining Room.
@@WheresWalterTravel Room Service free until 10pm.
@@blackbirds4 We totally missed that to be honest. Sea Days we spent up in the Serenity area where we took advantage of the awesome salad bar for lunch, so we would have been too full for the Tea Time. :)
@@blackbirds4 In 15 or 16 cruises, we have used Room Service exactly twice. Each time for breakfast. We thought about doing a breakfast on this one because we had three adjoining balconies that we opened up, but it never happened. So many great places to grab breakfast. :)
Thank you for your food review of Mardi Gras restaurants. I cruised on Mardi Gras last week. I was very disappointed with most of the food on this ship. I did enjoy Guy's Burgers 🍔and Shaq's Big Chicken. Also, Rudi's Seagrill Restaurant was very good.
Thank you VERY much for your kind words! The food was very hit or miss but dang, Shaq's Chicken was so freakin good! :)
Haven’t sailed on Mardi Gras yet but want to. Sailed on Panorama Nov 2021 and felt the food on there overall was also hit or miss. And that’s including some of the specialty dining.
Lido buffet was the most disappointing of all. Around the time we sailed there was a bacon shortage and it was the most disgusting bacon I’ve EVER had in my life! Best thing in the Lido were the empanadas.
Sailed Freedom of the Seas with Royal for the first time May 2022 and the buffet was way better than Panorama’s.
@@AronRoss72 Thanks so much for watching and for the comments. Yes I remember that Bacon Shortage when it was going on. We were on the NCL Escape for Thanksgiving 2021 and I believe they were having the same issue, but they didn't put any out there. It was all sausage. :)
Freedom of the Seas is a great ship and Royal's buffet is better than Carnival's from what we experienced on the Mardi Gras. Celebrity's buffet is even better.
But since we've done this video, we sailed Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady and wow, THAT was an amazing food experience. Hoping to have the food review up by the end of this week. Again, my thanks for watching the episode and adding your comments!
@@WheresWalterTravel No Walter thank you for this great review and an honest one too. I just read about you, and not surprised you are a filmmaker since your video has really good production value. And Rebecca is your wife I assume? A sound designer…nice! Sound Design is my favorite aspect of filmmaking and tried to break in here in Los Angeles, but it was not easy. So I ended up doing what I’ve been for the last 30 years and that’s tech ops in broadcast.
Anyway, I just watched the rest if the video and Rudy’s looks amazing! Too bad my other half only eats fried shrimp. I wonder if they would let her drink while I eat..ha ha! So do you have a favorite cruise ship? As for Celebrity, yes that is on our list and I’ve seen other Virgin posts regarding food and everyone loves it. And by the way, love how you post the menu split screen. It looks just like their Menus. I would assume you used Adobe After Effects for that? Lastly, not fair how Mardi Gras has a sushi roll with eel. That was one thing I was missing at Bonsai on Panorama.
Keep up the great work and will subscribe
@@AronRoss72 That's cool you work in broadcast ops! I started at CNN 30 years ago. :) Rudi's IS amazing, yes your wife can sit there but they'll charge her $42. :) And the sushi was not good on the Mardi Gras, would not recommend spending money on it. :)
Thanks for the kind words on the production value, I'm still working out the best way to film these by myself. I usually love the GoPro for this stuff, but the LED lights flicker badly with that camera and the phone. I'm using a lot of deflicker in this video through Resolve to combat that. On Scarlet Lady it was a problem as well, so I may switch to the DSLR for more filming so I can dial that out. Right now filming myself with the phone and everything else with the GoPro and GH4.
Don't really have a favorite cruise ship, though if they replace that net with a swim up bar on the Scarlet Lady, that just might be it. Such an amazing experience, I'm editing the dining review now. Celebrity is probably my favorite cruise line right now, we love the food and the bars on those ships. But I'm really itching to try the Royal Quantum class with the bumper cars and iFly. :) Thanks again for all the kind words!
Sir,you are the MVP
Thanks!
Hi, ..... QUESTION: regarding Rudy's Sea Grill, did you make your reservations prior to getting on the ship? Thanks in advance. Great video .... keep up the great work. 😎⛹️♀️🤸♂️🚴♂️
Yes, we made the reservations in advance of the cruise.
Good review. We are booked for Thanksgiving week. I really hope that the staffing issues will have been ironed out by then. Carnival gets a bad rap. We've done a mix of cruise lines and they have some awesome included eats. You are correct regarding their buffet--even on their newest ships, they put out a very limited and uninspiring buffet, not like Celebrity, ncl, royal, princess, who consistently put out a variety of curries, Chinese dishes, etc. So this particular ship, which is still including chibang, Guys pig and anchor, and Cucina, has a lot more variety than most of their ships. But we always seem to find enough to eat.
Good heads-up regarding the ramen. I had ramen at an Asian place on an NCL ship and it was also really bad. Asian family next to us all bailed on their barely eaten bowls. Not sure why they can't make a really good broth on these ships.
I really hope they do get the staffing issues figured out, but it doesn't seem to be getting any better for them at the moment. I know the pizza is no longer 24 hours for the moment. It's still a lot of hours, but not longer 24. They've made some cutbacks in other areas as well across other ships. I'm wondering how the Celebration launch will play into the staffing issues. You know who actually made a good ramen broth? Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady in the Noodle Around food hall stand. And the Norwegian Getaway had a really good noodle bar as well. Thanks for watching and have an amazing Thanksgiving cruise! Just be careful of Shaq's Big Chicken, those sandwiches are so addictive! :)
We will be eating at Rudi's on my husband's birthday April 19th. Do they or will they sing happy birthday?
I assume they will, I've never been to a restaurant on a cruise where they didn't. :) Be sure they know it's his birthday.
Is the FREE lobster and Filet Mignon still available for the first day/night, with all the changes and price changes ?
I really don't know, I know lobster and filet are still there, just not sure whether they're a charge or not. I know on Royal Caribbean we can get one lobster tail and if you want a second one you have to pay for it. One thing we've heard that's changed is the BBQ Filet at Guy's Pig and Anchor is on night two now, not the first night.
@@WheresWalterTravel thank you! If we ask the servers would they be able to tell us or is that one of those things they don't want us to know when the lobster/filet are free for carnival?
@@Prettyfulco Oh they'll absolutely tell you as will the Dining Captains when you get to the MDR. They don't hide anything like that and you should ask. You can even ask as soon as you get on board, go see if the Dining Captains are around in the MDR when you board. Mardi Gras has a really good crew, short staffed, but a really good crew.
@@WheresWalterTravel thank you so much will definitely do that
@@Prettyfulco Enjoy your cruise!
The Celebration is the only ship I've been on, with fresh, Gelato, changed daily, which is free! Even Celebrity now charges for it, fleetwide.
Celebrity has always charged for Gelato. The ice cream in the buffet is free. On our Mardi Gras sailing the Gelato stand was closed every evening.
@@WheresWalterTravel They weren't on the Edge, until this year.
@@bodyloverz30 That's news to me. Cafe Al Bacio gelato has always been a charged item across the entire Celebrity fleet. That would be very strange if they made an exception on the Edge fleet. Again, I've never heard of the gelato being free on any of the Celebrity ships in the fleet in the 10 years we've been cruising them.
@@WheresWalterTravel It was next to buffet and was called something else. Now it is paid, since this year.
@@bodyloverz30 That's not the Cafe Al Bacio Gelato. Cafe Al Bacio is a stand alone venue not part of the buffet. They have a smaller version in the Buffet to serve specialty coffees.
Are reservations required for Guys or Cucina del Capitan at dinner?
Not at Guys Smokehouse. It's the standard "line up and wait." At Cucina, you can request a table each evening via the app starting at 5:30pm if you have Your Time dining and after 7:00pm if you have standard dining. No advanced reservations
@@WheresWalterTravel Thank you so much for the info!
@@JoeVol5249 My pleasure, thanks for watching!
We sail on the Mardi Gras in April 2023. I hope the service gets better 👍
I'm sure you will have an AMAZING time! Just be careful with Shaq's Chicken. The addiction is real! So freakin' goooooooood!
I am going on this boat in December and I have been on the original boat
MSC pizza is amazing good!
We have yet to sail MSC but we have heard great things about the food onboard. Thanks for watching!
for the mozzarella sticks, were they on the menu? or did you have to ask for them
Yes, they were on the lunch menu. Not the greatest mozzarella sticks, but the sauce was decent.
Can you do multiple restaurants for dinner?
On the same night? Yep, we did it in that video. :)
@@WheresWalterTravel Thanks for the quick reply - yeah I saw that. Do you schedule them on your carnival hub every time or just walk in? I didn’t know if they had restrictions especially with all the changes Carnival is implementing. Also we have to anytime dining for flexible options right?
@@carolpowell7026 With the MDR and the included dinners, you just go on the Carnival Hub and select "I'm Ready." The phone will buzz when your table is ready. You have 10 minutes to get to the restaurants. I believe Guy's Pig and Anchor is the only restaurant that doesn't use this system.
I just see this video and u say the food is bad. And I booked this ship this past Friday for October 2023
Did you watch the entire video? I didn't say the food was bad. I said it's a mixed bag. Rudi's Seagrill is the 2nd best meal we've ever had at sea. Shaq's Chicken is AWESOME! Cucina del Capitano and the Pizza are good. We had a TERRIBLE second meal at Pig and Anchor. MDR was ok. So the food is a mixed bag but we like more than we didn't.
Walter stated he thought SOME of the food was bad. Honest reviews are good reviews. And it’s quite possible other opinions may differ.
Other opinions WILL differ. It's the nature of food, everyone has different tastes. :)
I thought chi bang and dinner at Pig N Anchor had a fee!
Not on Mardi Gras. On other ships yes, in addition to Cucina Del Capitano. But on Mardi Gras those three are included.
@@WheresWalterTravel Thanks I wonder if the will do the same on the Celebration?
@@elite4681 We'll have to wait and see, I don't know if they've announced the restaurants yet, but I assume they will be the same. With 6000+ capacity, I believe they opened those restaurants up because the MDR would be overwhelmed at dinner time. Be sure to go with Anytime Dining so you can get those reservations first for Cucina, ChiBang and Pig and Anchor.
@@WheresWalterTravel thanks so much !I always do anytime dining!
I don't mind the fingers, I mind the wearing of a hat inside of dining rooms. Looks like most venues have outside seating, wear ca hat out there, where they belong. Just my opinion for what it's worth.
100% agree in the main dining rooms and restaurants. I don't mind them in the buffet but they should not be in restaurants. Thanks for watching!
You don’t put cream cheese in Mac and cheese.
I do. :)
Yes, you do.
Nice video but the food isnt really all the great on this ship.
It's hit or miss as I said in the review. We found more to like than not, but food is incredibly subjective. Thanks for watching!
As our time to sail nears, Im all over mardi gras videos. Im back at your video again because the rest is boring
Great review except the “Holy Crap” constantly being said.
Well, I try to keep my comment PG. 😂 Thanks so much for watching!
Good video but you hold your fork like a 7 year old.
I hold my fork in a lot of ways. All depends on my mood and also I'm trying to not block the camera sometimes. :) Thanks so much for watching!
Carnival is the BEST! Get yer PaRtY oN!🍹👙🩳