It has been a long time since I made a video about cruising!
With the global pandemic just completely shutting down the cruise industry this year...
I made a decision to step away from cruise videos for a while.
I didn't want to try making cruise videos during the shutdown.
With no cruises to actually go on and make my usual videos about...
I would have had to resort to talking about silly stuff that nobody would have really cared about.
So, instead... for the last few months...
I've just pretty much ignored the topic of cruising here on my YouTube channel...
And focused on other things that interest me...
Like model trains...
And aerial videos from my new Mavic Mini drone...
And the new home we've had built for us up in Washington state...
Where we'll be moving at the end of August.
So, my policy while the cruise lines are all shut down...
Is that I'll only make a video about cruising...
If I've got some important news to share that I think people will really care about.
And today, I have exactly that!
There's some news about Carnival's brand new ship, Mardi Gras...
Still under construction at the shipyard in Finland.
Before I go any further, though, let me explain why you should care!
Mardi Gras is the first of a completely new class of ships for Carnival Cruise Line.
Carnival ships have always gotten better with each new generation...
And that's why there's a lot of excitement about the first few sailings of Mardi Gras...
Because people want to see what Carnival has come up with for their brand-new class of ships.
One of the things I know they've put a lot of emphasis on with Mardi Gras is design of the cabins.
They hired an outside design firm with experience designing hotel rooms...
To come in and help them design the cabins for Mardi Gras...
And they've come up with a whole host of improvements, like...
Functional storage...
An all-new design for the nightstand next to each bed...
Multiple USB charging ports and power outlets...
A better refrigerator design...
A totally new flip design for the sofa beds...
And an improved design for the bathrooms...
This will affect every cabin on the ship...
Not just the expensive suites, but all cabins... even the least expensive inside cabins.
These simple design improvements to the cabins mean that everyone on Mardi Gras is going to have a better cruise.
Recent Carnival ships, especially the Vista class, have been nicely designed...
Way better than the older ships!
And with each new class of ships, you can tell...
That Carnival has spent a lot of time thinking about how to improve on the previous class.
Throughout the rest of this video, I'll put some artist's renderings on the screen...
Which will give you a look at how things should end up looking on Mardi Gras.
Quite a long time ago, when Carnival first started accepting bookings on Mardi Gras...
My wife and I reserved a suite...
A pretty amazing suite with our own private hot tub on the balcony!
And at the time, our travel agent, Caitlin Gallagher...
Made what turned out to be a brilliant suggestion.
She suggested that we also reserve some additional cabins, and make it a group cruise.
Well, then the pandemic hit... The cruise lines all shut down...
And all construction of Mardi Gras at the shipyard shut down for a few months, too.
So, Carnival stopped accepting any new reservations on Mardi Gras...
Since they really didn't know when construction would be able to resume again...
Let alone predict when construction would finally be complete...
And the ship would be ready to go in to service.
Mardi Gras was originally scheduled to go in to service in November of 2020.
But with the work at the shipyard completely shutting down for a few months during the pandemic...
It means that construction of Mardi Gras won't be complete by November.
But now that work has resumed at the shipyard...
And Carnival has a lot of confidence that the ship will be ready to go in to service beginning February 6th.
They've even got a brand-new cruise terminal in Port Canaveral, Florida...
Which will be the home port for Mardi Gras.
This is the same stategy that Carnival used here in California when Carnival Panorama was their newest ship.
They created a state-of-the-art cruise terminal for it...
And that makes embarkation and disembarkation go much smoother...
Than sailing out of some old existing cruise terminal built years ago when cruise ships carried far fewer passengers.
The delay of the first cruise for Mardi Gras to February 6th...
Is really interesting from my perspective, because...
When we booked our suite on Mardi Gras...
And reserved additional cabins for people like you that might want to come along with us...
We did so for the February 27th sailing.
So, that means our group cruise on Mardi Gras...
Will be just 3 weeks after Mardi Gras goes in to service!
That is super-exciting to me, because it means my wife and I...
Plus anyone that decides to join our group and come along with us...
Will be on Mardi Gras when she is completely brand new.
We'll be among the first to experience all the new improvements that Carnival has made to their newest class of ships.
And because I'll be making videos about Mardi Gras while I'm onboard...
I'll be among some of the first YouTubers to show the world what's so special about Carnival's new class of ships.
Now let me explain to you what this means for you!
Because of Caitlin's brilliant suggestion to reserve some cabins for a group cruise...
If you'd like to be among the first to sail on Mardi Gras...
Which is one of the hottest tickets in town right now...
With very limited cabin availability if you book directly with Carnival...
You can simply book through Caitlin, my travel agent, and become part of our group.
Allowing you to go along with us on Mardi Gras for the February 27th sailing.
Now if you know anything about booking a cruise on a brand-new cruise ship...
You know that, as time goes on and more and more cabins are booked...
Available cabins become more scarce, and the price tends to go up.
But we locked in our group cruise rate quite a long time ago...
When prices were pretty reasonable.
So, by becoming part of our group, you can take advantage of some pretty reasonable pricing...
Even though this is a brand-new cruise ship which would normally mean you'd have to pay more to be on it.
And there's another financial incentive for booking in to our group.
You'll get a $75 onboard credit per cabin, if you book in to our group.
We'd love it if you came along with us! Just be aware that this truly is one of the hottest tickets in cruising right now...
So, these cabins are going to sell out really fast.
I am not saying that to pressure you...
I just want you to have the true picture.
If you wait too long, all the cabins will be sold out.
If it sounds interesting to you, don't put it off.
Jump on this right now.
Start by taking a look at the information on Caitlin's web site...
And then, if you want to make a reservation, give Caitlin a call.
If you jump on this now... And then change your mind between now...
And when the final payment is due in early December...
Because the pandemic hasn't slowed down...
Or for any reason, that's OK.
Caitlin's rates are "refundable deposit rates" before final payment.
So, you can change or cancel the reservation without penalty until early December.
Making a reservation to join our group just keeps your options open.
If you DON'T move on this now, and decide a couple of months from now that you should have...
It's going to be too late.
I do hope you'll decide to be part of our group on the February 27th sailing of Mardi Gras!
It's not the first sailing, where things can sometimes go wrong as the crew works out all the kinks...
But it is within the first month of service for this brand new ship.
I am more excited about this one that just about any of my cruises from the last few years.
And looking ahead to all the new cruise ships coming out over the next couple of years...
Really, this one, Mardi Gras, is the one I think I'll love the most.
So, I hope you'll come along...
And that we'll get to have some fun times together on Mardi Gras.
I'll put a link up in the top right corner of the screen right now...
That'll take you to a page on my web site...
That has more information about this Caribbean cruise on Carnival's newest ship, Mardi Gras.
Check your calendar! See if you can come along with us...
For this 7-day Caribbean cruise beginning on February 27th, 2021...
Out of Port Canaveral, not far from the Kennedy Space Center and Disney World, in Florida.
If you've ever thought about doing a big Florida vacation...
Watching a SpaceX launch in person...
Spending some time at the theme parks in Orlando...
And then taking a Caribbean cruise on a state-of-the-art cruise ship...
This is your big chance!