Key Aspects:

• One Carnival guest has complained to John Heald that there wasn’t enough to do while Mardi Gras was in port on a recent sailing.
• Heald followed up on the complaint by asking if guests get off the ship in ports of call, with a resounding positive response.
• It’s not unusual for fewer activities to be offered while a ship is in port, but there is always a schedule of games, trivia, and more.

One of the great things about a cruise vacation is that you can do as much or as little onboard the ship as you like. Or can you?

One Carnival Cruise Line guest has reached out to John Heald, the line’s brand ambassador, with the complaint that there just isn’t enough to do on certain days, even on one of the largest ships in the fleet.

“Question and complaint. We was [sic] on Carnival Mardi Gras last week. Why are there are never enough activities on the boat when the ship is at one of the islands?” the guest asked.

“At least half the ship stayed on board all three of the islands. Boredom!! There needs to be more shows, movies, comedy shows and trivia and competitions.”

Mardi Gras is the first of Carnival’s Excel-class ships. Homeported from Port Canaveral, she offers primarily 7-night Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries.

If by “last week” the guest means the ship’s August 30, 2025 departure, that itinerary was actually an 8-night sailing that visited four ports: St. Thomas, San Juan, Amber Cove, and Celebration Key.

On a typical 7-night Western Caribbean sailing, however, the ship does indeed visit just three ports: Isla Tropicale, Cozumel, and Celebration Key.

But exact dates and numbers of ports aside, the guest’s claims are interesting. It is true that while a cruise ship is in port, there are generally fewer activities on the daily schedule, as many guests will be off the ship enjoying time ashore.

Port days are also when crew members get a few hours’ break and have a chance to get away from the ship for a bit themselves. This means there would be fewer crew members available to host different “shows, movies, comedy shows and trivia and competitions.”

Heald does not directly disagree with the guest, but he will pass on their concerns to the staff onboard as well as the appropriate departments fleetwide.

“Thank you so much, I will definitely be sharing this with my colleagues,” he noted. “I’m sure they do a wonderful job already providing extra entertainment for those who remain on the ship.”

He went on to ask his followers whether or not they get off the ship in port, just to gauge if it is true that “at least half the ship” stays onboard.

Most of the more than 2,700 responses did seem to indicate that either they would get off the ship in every port of call, or they would perhaps skip a particular port, but certainly not all of them.

One commenter did offer more specific insight to the original poster’s comments.

“My friend was on that sailing last week. She said it literally was storming & raining at every port hence why no one got off the ship last week,” they explained. “Context is key.”

Other guests noted that those who are lucky enough to sail more often may prefer to stay onboard in some ports just because they’ve been there more frequently (Nassau comes to mind here).

Read Also: 11 Reasons Cruise Passengers Remain on the Ship While in Port

Mobility concerns, illness, or just the desire to stay onboard to enjoy a quieter-than-normal ship are other reasons many guests might not get off the ship in a port.

Is There Not Enough to Do Onboard?

I have personally sailed on Mardi Gras as well as her Excel sister ship, Carnival Celebration. I can firmly say there certainly is plenty to do onboard, even while in port.

True, I don’t like every activity, and there might be periods when nothing on the schedule appeals to me. Those are great times to enjoy the pools, visit the gym, read a book, grab an ice cream (no Sunscreen flavor for me, thanks), play mini golf, or even have a nice stroll around the ship.

I can honestly say I haven’t been “bored” at any time, even if some daily schedules are less appealing than others.

Carnival always offers a range of daily activities, even on port days. The fun begins with puzzles at the cafe or a morning trivia, followed by crafts, Lido deck games, dance lessons, towel-folding demonstrations, sports competitions, and more.

Of course, once the port visit has ended, the schedule fills up even more as the retail shops and casinos open and the evening’s production shows or comedy performances begin.

Key Aspects:

• Upcoming sailings for Carnival Radiance and Carnival Firenze have parking restrictions and limited availability at Long Beach.
• Very few offsite spaces are available and they are subject to a variety of restrictions, including no oversized vehicles or back-to-back cruise parking.
• With cruise capacity at Long Beach continuing to increase, these parking difficulties may also increase for future sailings.

Parking problems are nothing new at the Port of Long Beach, but now, three upcoming cruises will all experience a shortage of available spaces for eager guests.

The impacted sailings are the September 15 and September 19 sailings of Carnival Radiance, a 4-night and 3-night Baja Mexico sailing, respectively.

The September 18 departure of Carnival Firenze has the same restriction. That cruise is a 5-night Mexican Riviera itinerary.

Booked guests have all received the same notification alerting them – very strongly! – to the parking shortage.

“The parking facility at the cruise terminal has very limited capacity,” the email explained. “Please make plans to use alternate transportation that does not require parking.”

There is hope for guests who do drive to the port, however.

“We have secured a few extra spaces at an offsite facility,” the notification said.

Those few extra spaces do come with more than a few restrictions, however. Vehicles higher than 6 feet, 6 inches cannot be accommodated, nor can any vehicles that might use more than one parking space, such as RVs or trailers.

Furthermore, guests on back-to-back cruises are also prohibited from the offsite facility, which can only accommodate vehicles for one voyage.

If guests need accessible parking, those even more limited spaces are first-come, first-served and subject to availability.

Guests who can take advantage of the extremely limited parking will need to drop off their luggage and traveling party at the cruise terminal in order to pick up directions and an entry card for the offsite facility. The guests’ boarding pass will be checked once they reach the parking area.

The parking site is $23 per day, including both embarkation and debarkation days. Payment is required in advance, and only card payments are accepted.

Read Also: Full Guide on Long Beach Cruise Terminal Parking

Complimentary shuttles will be available to take guests to and from the cruise terminal. The last shuttle will leave the parking facility 30 minutes before the ship’s final boarding time, which guests can find on their boarding passes.

Once again, Carnival is strongly urging guests to find alternative ways to get to the Long Beach cruise terminal.

“To improve your embarkation experience and avoid the hassle of parking at an offsite location, we highly recommend taking a ride share or getting dropped off for your cruise,” the notification concludes.

Will the Parking Situation at Long Beach Improve?

This is not the first time parking has been limited at the Port of Long Beach, but the urgency of the language in Carnival’s notification letters appears to be getting stronger.

Similar notifications go back at least to late 2022, when Carnival Miracle faced parking shortages for multiple cruises.

In the meantime, cruise popularity at Long Beach has only increased, with more (and larger!) ships sailing from the southern California homeport.

Carnival Miracle, for comparison, has a double occupancy capacity of 2,124. The ships impacted today, Carnival Radiance and Carnival Firenze, have capacities of 2,984 and 4,126, respectively.

Carnival Firenze is scheduled to redeploy to Miami in early 2027, but a replacement (if any) has not yet been announced.

If Carnival Cruise Line were to homeport an even larger ship from Long Beach, such as one of the Excel-class ships, the parking problem could become even more critical.

The cruise line has not yet released complete deployment plans for Long Beach for 2028, though such announcements should be forthcoming over the next few weeks.