We recently took a cruise on the Carnival Mardi Gras, and it gave me plenty to think about as an MSC cruiser.
Whenever you compare ships across cruise lines, I think it is important to keep the comparison fair. A brand-new ship should not be stacked up against something built in a very different era and then used to make sweeping statements. Since Mardi Gras launched in 2020, it makes more sense to compare it to MSC’s newer-generation thinking, like World Europa and the later ships in the Meraviglia and Seaside EVO families.
And after a week onboard, I came away with two clear thoughts.
First, Carnival has done several things on Mardi Gras that are genuinely smart and would be interesting to see MSC learn from. Second, MSC still does a few things better in ways that really matter to the overall experience.
So this is not a “Carnival wins” or “MSC wins” discussion. It is more of a reflection on what stood out, what worked, what did not, and how MSC compares when you put the two side by side.
Carnival Mardi Gras really gets complimentary food right
If there is one area where Carnival Mardi Gras stood out immediately, it was the complimentary food variety.
For lunch alone, there were so many included options that the buffet almost became an afterthought for us. We had Guy’s Burger Joint, BlueIguana Cantina, Guy’s Pig & Anchor Bar-B-Que, Big Chicken, Street Eats, pizza, paninis, and the main dining room. At dinner, there were still more no-extra-charge choices than I expected, including Guy’s Smokehouse, Cucina del Capitano, and ChiBang. Several of these venues also handled breakfast.
What made this especially impressive was that these were not just “more options” on paper. They were actually good. The food was high quality, each venue felt unique in its own way, and it was a genuinely fun way to try different styles of cuisine throughout the cruise without constantly running into an upcharge. Instead of feeling like you were bouncing between watered-down versions of the same casual food, it felt like each place had its own personality.
That variety changed the way we ate onboard. Normally, on a lot of cruises, the buffet naturally ends up being a big part of the plan. On Mardi Gras, outside of breakfast, we ate a grand total of two meals in the buffet during the entire sailing.
That is probably the biggest compliment I can give Carnival here. Mardi Gras made complimentary dining feel like part of the fun. It gave cruisers a chance to try a wide variety of good food without making every interesting option a specialty restaurant.
This is one area where MSC could absolutely take notes. MSC has improved its casual dining lineup over time, but Mardi Gras makes the ship feel like a collection of included dining venues rather than one main buffet plus a few alternatives.
But the buffet itself felt surprisingly limited
The downside to all of those extra complimentary venues is that the buffet felt much smaller and weaker than I expected.
I was honestly shocked at how few stations there were. For a ship that size, the buffet felt limited in both scale and selection. Every time we walked through, it felt underwhelming. There just was not much there that made you want to linger, browse, or build a meal the way you can on some other ships.
So while Carnival wins big on the spread of included food venues around the ship, I do not think it wins on the buffet itself.
This is where MSC still has the edge for me.
MSC’s buffet can absolutely get crowded, especially at peak times, but on most of the newer ships it still feels more like a true food hall. There are more stations, more choices, and more of a sense that the buffet is a major part of the cruise experience rather than a backup option.
So if Carnival has the stronger variety of complimentary dining venues, MSC still has the stronger buffet model.
The cabin felt huge – but the bathroom felt tiny
We stayed in an interior cabin on Mardi Gras, and the room itself was one of the biggest surprises of the trip.
It felt huge compared to other interior cabins we have had on different cruise lines. Instead of the usual long rectangular layout, the room had more of a square shape, and that made it feel much more open and livable. For an inside cabin, it was a very nice setup.
Then there was the bathroom.
This was the smallest bathroom I have ever had in a cruise cabin.
There was enough room for the shower, the toilet, and basically one person to stand. That was about it. The shower did at least have a glass door instead of one of those clingy curtains that tries to attach itself to your legs, which was a plus. But the bathroom overall felt extremely tight and claustrophobic.
So this ended up being a tradeoff. Carnival made the cabin itself feel larger and more comfortable, but it felt like some of that extra space came directly out of the bathroom.
MSC cabins may not always feel as roomy in the living area, but I generally think MSC does a better job with the overall balance of the layout. A slightly smaller room is easier to live with when the bathroom does not feel like a phone booth.
Carnival’s bars have more personality
One thing Carnival did very well on Mardi Gras was make the bars feel memorable.
On a lot of ships, bars can start to blur together. You may have a different view, a different seating layout, or a slightly different decor style, but the overall experience can feel pretty similar from one venue to the next. On Mardi Gras, that was not the case.
The best examples were Alchemy Bar and Fortune Teller Bar. Both had distinct atmospheres, distinctive drinks, and a sense that even watching the bartenders work was part of the entertainment. The drinks were not just being made. They were being presented. There was a little bit of theater to it, and that made those spaces feel like destinations rather than just places to pick up a cocktail.
MSC is starting to move in this direction, especially on the World Class ships, where some bars feel more individual and more immersive. But on many older MSC ships, the menus and bar experiences can still feel pretty similar from venue to venue.
Carnival deserves credit here. Mardi Gras made the bars feel like part of the ship’s personality.
MSC still does drink service better
As much as I liked the atmosphere of Carnival’s bars, this was also one of the clearest areas where MSC still has the advantage for me.
On Mardi Gras, there was very little wait staff service in the bars or out on deck. Very occasionally, someone would come by and ask about drink service, but it was rare. Over the course of seven days, only one drink was delivered to us that way. Everything else meant getting up and going to the bar ourselves.
That is a very different experience from MSC.
On MSC, I have generally found there are staff members actively working public areas, especially around the pool deck and in lounges, ready to take drink orders. You are much more likely to have someone come by instead of needing to leave your seat and go hunt down a bar line.
The one area on Mardi Gras where service seemed better was the Serenity deck, where drink service felt more consistent. But across the ship overall, this was one of the most noticeable differences of the cruise.
So while Carnival may do a better job creating entertaining bar environments, MSC still does a better job when it comes to the convenience of actually getting a drink.
Mardi Gras shows what a ship feels like with less exclusive space
This was one of the more interesting takeaways from the sailing.
Carnival has only a very small exclusive area on Mardi Gras. That means more of the ship feels open to more people. There are fewer places where the average cruiser walks by and feels like a large, attractive section of the ship is reserved for somebody else.
And honestly, it was interesting to experience that.
It made the ship feel bigger for the general guest population. There was more of a sense that the ship belonged to everyone onboard rather than increasingly being divided into premium and non-premium spaces.
That does not automatically make it better, of course. MSC’s Yacht Club is an excellent product and one of the best premium experiences at sea. For many travelers, it is one of the biggest reasons to book MSC in the first place.
Still, sailing on Mardi Gras was a reminder of what a ship feels like when less square footage is carved out for the highest-paying guests. It creates a different atmosphere, and it is at least worth thinking about as more cruise lines continue expanding suite enclaves and private areas.
So how does MSC compare?
After sailing on Carnival Mardi Gras, my main takeaway is not that MSC should try to become Carnival.
It is that Carnival has figured out a few things really well.
The biggest one is complimentary dining variety. Mardi Gras makes it easy to eat well, try something different, and enjoy a lot of high-quality food without extra charges constantly getting in the way. Carnival also deserves credit for creating bars that feel more unique and more entertaining than what you find on many MSC ships.
At the same time, the cruise also reminded me why MSC still works better for me in a few important areas. MSC’s buffet is generally stronger. Its drink service is more attentive. And even if some MSC cabins do not feel quite as roomy, the overall layout usually feels more functional than the setup we had on Mardi Gras.
All in all, it was a very good cruise. We enjoyed Mardi Gras and came away impressed by several things Carnival does right. But it also made me appreciate some of the things MSC already does better.
And that is why comparisons like this are useful.
Sometimes it takes sailing another line to see more clearly what you would love MSC to improve, and what you would not want it to change.
