Carnival Cruise Line’s new flagship and the largest vessel in the fleet, Mardi Gras, has received another award, this one based directly on ratings from cruisers. This is one more accolade for the new vessel, which has been winning a wide range of awards from different sources.
Best New Cruise Ship Based on Ratings
This latest award – “Best New Cruise Ship of 2021” from Cruiseline.com’s 2022 Member Choice Awards – is a culmination of more than 4,000 rankings from the website’s members, based on community-generated reviews. The reviews used to calculate the winning tally were posted from the industry restart in June 2021 through the end of the year.
Mardi Gras debuted on July 31, 2021 with her inaugural sailing from Port Canaveral. The ship is now offering 7-night Caribbean itineraries, with both Eastern and Western ports of call on different sailings.
In the past eight months, the ship has been honored at a variety of maiden visits to popular ports throughout the Caribbean, including Amber Cove in the Dominican Republic, Nassau in The Bahamas, and Costa Maya in Mexico.
Several of the ship’s initial visits have had even more significance, such as Mardi Gras being the first cruise ship to visit San Juan, Puerto Rico since the global industry shutdown, and being the first ship in the Carnival Cruise Line fleet to return to Nassau.
Other Best Ship Awards
Mardi Gras has also won several other “Best Cruise Ship” acknowledgements, including best new ship of the year in Cruise Hive’s own Cruise Ship Awards 2021.
The Excel-class vessel was also awarded the title of “Best New Cruise Ship” for 2021 in USA Today’s 10 Best Readers’ Choice Awards, and in 2020, Mardi Gras was named “Most Anticipated New Cruise Ship” by Cruise Hive.
While the entire ship is stunning and well-deserving of its Best Ship honors, other parts of Mardi Gras are also award-winning and attracting plenty of attention from cruisers, engineers, culinary experts, and more.
The ship’s hottest and most innovative attraction, BOLT, the first roller coaster at sea, received the “Best of What’s New” engineering award from Popular Science Magazine, “Best Cruise Ship Feature” of 2021 in Cruise Hive’s awards, and “Most Innovative New Ship Attraction” from The Points Guy Awards.
The popular eatery Guy’s Burger Joint has been winning awards for years, including several mentions in different years of Cruise Hive’s awards, beginning with 2015. On Mardi Gras, Guy’s Burger Joint is located on the port side of deck 17, near the Red Frog Tiki Bar.
More Awards Sure to Come
With Mardi Gras now sailing, the 181,808-gross-ton ship is sure to receive even more acknowledgements. Up to 5,282 passengers (double occupancy) or as many as 6,500 passengers (fully booked) may recognize the ship’s 2,000 international crew members for their excellent service, or choose Shaq’s Big Chicken as a great new dining venue.
Perhaps the innovative Grand Central atrium, with its LED screens, intimate seating, and stunning live performances will receive design or entertainment awards, or the ship’s brand new livery could be recognized as a great updated hull feature.
The entire Excel-class of ships, which Mardi Gras leads and will soon be joined by her sister ships, Carnival Celebration in November 2022 – which has already been recognized as the Most Anticipated New Ship for 2022 – and Carnival Jubilee in 2023, could be recognized for their LNG technology or other onboard innovations.
Whatever is to come, it is certain that Mardi Gras, her sister ships, and Carnival Cruise Line will continue to be award-winning and popular for millions of cruisers worldwide.
