We're cruising on the Mardi Gras!

Hello, readers!  It's been a few weeks since we last published, but we're back on the road, this time with our neighbors, Brian & Nancy.

When we returned from our last adventure on the Celebrity Equinox, Nancy lamented that they haven't been on a trip in much too long.  I did a little research and Carnival was heavily discounting cruises on their newest ship, the Mardi Gras.  A little planning, and here we are, on our way to the Mardi Gras at Port Canaveral.

We made the short 1:45 drive from The Villages to the port and parked at Park Port Canaveral.  If you're looking for a parking solution, this one works well.  We parked and were on the shuttle in a matter of minutes for the short ride to the port.

Boarding was a little more of an event that we experienced with Celebrity or Viking, but still, from arrival at the port to onboard took less than 30 minutes.

We wandered around this impressive vessel.  At 19 decks and a passenger capacity of 5,282, based on double occupancy, and a full capacity of 6,465 passengers, plus a crew of 1,745, this is far and away the largest ship in Carnival's fleet.  Sporting the first roller coaster at sea, a microbrewery, comedy club, and a ton of eateries, the ship is impressive.

Arlona so enjoyed kissing the pig we found on Celebrity, she jumped at the chance to relive it here on the Mardi Gras.

As we sailed away, the Coast Guard provided us with the requisite machine gun escort out of the port.

All cruise lines ban smoking in guest rooms and on the balconies.  There are specific, designated smoking areas and that's it.  Well, except for this entitled genius just above us.  A call to guest services prompted a visit from security to their room.  We're hoping that ends it as it made our balcony smell terrible.

We enjoyed a nice dinner in the main dining room, called Palms on the Mardi Gras.  Afterward, we caught the fleeting sunlight from our balcony.

As I mentioned, this ship is pretty impressive.  Here is a look from both the front and the back of the main pool.

They were showing Cruella as the dive-in movie for tonight.

If you look closely to the left and right, up high, you can just make out the lighting on the Bolt roller coaster track. It was running briefly earlier in the day and looks like fun.  We'll explore that later.

After our walk, we went to the Punchliner comedy club and enjoyed a set from one of the two comedians for the first three days of the cruise.  Carnival will bring on two new performers for the last four days.  They do a very nice job for those of us that like live comedy.

Ultimately, we wound up at the Alchemy Bar, a favorite of ours on Carnival.

After a nightcap, we returned to our room on the 14th floor, port side, and retired for the evening.

Sunday and Monday will be sea days and then our first port on Tuesday, San Juan, Puerto Rico.