The Carnival Mardi Gras has a total of 6 pools and 7 hot tubs. 2 of the pools are exclusive access, which means there's either an extra charge to access them or you need to book a certain class of cabin to have access to them. Carnival Horizon has fewer pools than the Mardi Gras and fewer hot tubs. It doesn't say which boat is which in the pictures, but I would go with the 7 day cruise from Port Canaveral assuming they are similarly priced. I haven't been on Mardi Gras but people have nothing but good things to say about the newer Carnival ships like Mardi Gras/Celebration. The ports on the 7 day are much better. Mardi Gras has the best food out of all Carnival ships. She has 22 different dining venues to choose from, including more interesting options such as Emeril’s Bistro, a New-Orleans inspired venue. Food on board is varied, although reviews do criticize portion sizes across the whole Carnival fleet. The Mardi Gras is also over 40% bigger than the Vista Class ships and will have different food and entertainment options. We enjoyed our 2 Horizon cruises staying in the Havana area, but tastes evolve and that's why our next two Carnival cruises are on the first two Excellence Class ships. The Horizon is the pick because of the much better Havana area, the 8 days and the Southern itinerary. I did the Horizon area for two different 8 night itineraries out of NYC and MIA and stayed in the Havana area both times. It was excellent. Pick the Horizon and then go on the Mardi Gras after reviews come in. I’ve been on many Carnival ships and Mardi Gras is my favorite. So if the ship is a more important deciding factor than the itinerary, I’d definitely go Mardi Gras. That said, Horizon isn’t a bad ship, it’s just not the latest, greatest, biggest like Mardi Gras, Celebration, and Jubilee. With mardi gras you get a bunch of speciality restaurants included, plus it has bolt. For an adult trip the southern Caribbean itinerary would be fabulous, but when my 7 year old don is with me I love ports that have kid friendly stuff to do right off the ship amd he would love every day being a beach/snorkel day. Carnival Mardi Gras Second place for Carnival Mardi Gras , the flagship for the XL Class. It was launched in 2021 and definitely stands out for its innovative features , including being the first cruise ship in North America powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG) , which is very important to reduce the environmental footprint. The horizon ship looks great for my kids who love karaoke with lip sync battle and the hasbro game show but Mardi Gras is a little less expensive for when we want to go and obviously is newer. It seems they've taken a bunch of the kid friendly stuff out though (lip sync battle, hasbro, imax, thrill theatre, etc.). The Horizon is the pick because of the much better Havana area, the 8 days and the Southern itinerary. I did the Horizon area for two different 8 night itineraries out of NYC and MIA and stayed in the Havana area both times. It was excellent. Pick the Horizon and then go on the Mardi Gras after reviews come in. The Carnival Horizon has a total of 3 pools and 6 hot tubs. 1 of the pools and 2 of the hot tubs are exclusive access, which means there's either an extra charge to access them or you need to book a certain class of cabin to have access to them. Carnival Mardi Gras has more pools than the Horizon and more hot tubs. 7 day Mardi Gras (Cozumel, Costa Maya, Mahogany Bay) Right now Mardi Gras is at the bottom because we have already been to Cozumel and Costa Maya. The Celebration has a balcony room for almost the same price as an inside room on the Horizon but of course you don’t get the extra day. Is the Celebration a much better ship than the horizon? Getting ready to book a Valentine’s Day trip for my Bf and me , and I was looking at the Celebration or Mardi Gras for our 7 day trip. This is his first cruise and my fourth (all carnival) obviously my first time on either ship but I’m leaning towards Celebration however I’m still undecided even tho they are VERY similar I think the destinations that Celebration offers is better for this The Carnival Mardi Gras was built in 2021. The Mardi Gras pays homage to Carnival's first ship, also named the Mardi Gras. It has two unique zones not found on its sister ships: The French Quarter, a New Orleans-themed area, and La Piazza, which is dedicated to the Italian heritage of Carnival cabins. The Carnival Mardi Gras was built in 2021. The Mardi Gras pays homage to Carnival's first ship, also named the Mardi Gras. It has two unique zones not found on its sister ships: The French Quarter, a New Orleans-themed area, and La Piazza, which is dedicated to the Italian heritage of Carnival cabins. Haven’t been on Vista but have been on Panorama, Horizon and Mardi Gras. I agree with most of what’s been said but as a Cloud 9 Spa fan I hated the Thalassa pool on Mardi Gras, much nicer on the Vista class (Dream class still best). Loved the food options on Mardi Gras, Shaq’s Chicken is great, never ate a Guy’s burger on Mardi Gras. The Mardi Gras is also over 40% bigger than the Vista Class ships and will have different food and entertainment options. We enjoyed our 2 Horizon cruises staying in the Havana area, but tastes evolve and that's why our next two Carnival cruises are on the first two Excellence Class ships. I have been on both the Celebration and the Mardi Gras. They are basically identical minus some of the theme areas. The Mardi Gras has a New Orleans/Mardi Gras theme while the Celebration is Miami/Art Deco. The biggest difference in venues is two of the bars on deck six. They have different themes and drinks on the two ships. Carnival Celebration and Mardi Gras are the newest and biggest ships in Carnival Cruise Line’s fleet. Both Carnival Celebration and Mardi Gras are in the Excel class, with Carnival Jubilee joining them in December 2023.Carnival Celebration and Mardi Gras offer more fun than ever before; after all, that is part of their brand! The Excel class of ships are 40% larger than all the other The Mardi Gras has a construction date of 2020 and a total size of 180,800 gross tons. The ship measures 1,130 feet (344 meters) in length and falls in line as number 3 among the 27 active ships that make up the fleet. Carnival Mardi Gras is included in Carnival’s XL Class. At full capacity, the Carnival Mardi Gras holds 8,375 passengers.
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