OK. So... we are back from our cruise on Mardi Gras. I thought I'd do a bit of a comparison since we were able to do the Oasis (January) and Mardi Gras (March) so close together this year. I'll go into more detail, but these new Excel Class Carnival ships are really nice. So, I'll do a point by point breakdown, then some overall thoughts.
Embarkation:
We did the Oasis Embarkation at the RCCL Terminal in Miami and the Mardi Gras embarkation at the new Terminal 3 in Port Canaveral. Both were fine. The RCCL terminal is a little more visually attractive, but I thought that the Carnival terminal was more efficient. We were on the ship faster in Port Canaveral. Winner: Tie
Ship Common Areas:
This is a really, really subjective category. I will say that the Oasis class ships are uniquely designed with the open air spaces of Central Park and Boardwalk and that gives an open and airy feeling to the ship. That said, those areas aren't great when it rains. However, Oasis was revolutionary in its design. Conversely, Mardi Gras feels more evolutionary in its design as it is a more classic cruise ship layout. However, that has plusses and minuses. It doesn't have the open airy spaces of the Oasis class, but it has SO many nooks, crannies, and areas to explore with the space that it works. It's just different. Both have a unique theater design in addition to the main theater. On Oasis, it's the AquaTheatre. On Mardi Gras, it's Center Stage. Both of those are really well done IMHO. This is a really hard category. I really liked the feel of Central Park on Oasis, but I also hated the Promenade area that was dead most days and nights (full disclosure, our Oasis only sailed with 2800 passengers) and seemed more like dead space off of it other than the Pizza place. Conversely, on Mardi Gras, every single area was hopping (full disclosure, our Mardi Gras sailed with 5800 passengers). I liked both. Winner: Oasis (by a hair... it's just a unique design)
Casino:
This is the biggest surprise. The Oasis casino, while fine, was a bit sleepy and I thought a bit undersized for the size of the ship (though there were never a lot of people in there). On the Mardi Gras, the casino is HUGE and let me tell you, it was packed full every time I went in there. Definitely a different vibe. Plus, the casino team seemed a lot more interactive, always giving things away, etc. And this is coming from someone that doesn't gamble much. Winner: Mardi Gras (by a large margin)
Staterooms:
Another surprising area. The Oasis stateroom was just fine. It was comfortable, classy, plenty of storage, and a nice balcony. The surprise was just how nice our Mardi Gras stateroom was. I had sailed Carnival once before, and while the stateroom was fine, let's just say it wasn't the best one I had been in. On Mardi Gras, Carnival has upped its game. Our stateroom was really, really nice. The storage was great, with nice sliding baskets in the closet and plenty of storage. The bathroom was a bit small, but the shower was much better. Thank you Carnival for going to the glass shower doors! The Oasis balcony was nice, but our Mardi Gras balcony was amazing. We had a "bump out" balcony towards the back that was much larger than a regular balcony and we had a lounger in addition to the 2 chairs and a table. Also, some free movies on the TV (on RCCL they were all $11.99). My only complaint on Mardi Gras was that the door is a little tight. Winner: Tie (which surprised me!)
Cruise Director:
I know that this is a more general Carnival vs. RCCL thing, but on Carnival, the CD is everywhere. Our CD was Chris "The Flying Scotsman" Williams. He was amazing. He seemed to be everywhere all the time. He had his own show at Center Stage that was so much fun. On Oasis, I think his name was "Mike" (maybe?) and we saw him one time when he had to announce the cancellation of the Aqua Show due to rough seas (which was the right call, BTW). Winner: Mardi Gras (not even close)
Entertainment:
Another very subjective category. I felt that RCCL relies more on it's big theater shows, ice shows, and aqua shows to provide entertainment. There are some music clubs like Bolero's (which was the one place that seemed to have a crowd at night), but other's like the comedy club and jazz club down on Deck 4 that I don't know if I ever saw anybody in there. There was a music hall, but we never made it in there, or found where it is. On Mardi Gras, there was entertainment everywhere. Much more live music going on all around the ship as opposed to Oasis, where it seemed like it was only the lady singing at the pub. I will credit Oasis in that I think that the Aqua80 aqua show may be one of the best shows I've seen at sea. However, the Oasis version of "Cats" may be one of the worst. On Mardi Gras, there were shows both in the main theater and on Center Stage every night. Quite honestly, some of the Center Stage shows, such as the Circus themed one (can't remember the name) and the Voodoo Moon show were absolutely amazing. A special mention goes to one of the main singers at Center Stage, who may be the best vocalist on a cruise ship that I've ever heard. If you've been on Mardi Gras, you know who I am talking about. Also, the show the CD put on was great too, as well as the "Motown Showdown" that he did. In the main theater, the Family Feud show was a lot of fun too. Winner: Mardi Gras (just more entertainment going on all the time, however, Aqua80, you are amazing...)
Pool area:
This was an interesting category. Oasis has great pool area on its top decks. There are 3 pools in the main area along with a water play area. There is an additional pool in the solarium and there are a number of hot tubs. On Mardi Gras, there were also a number of pools, but where Oasis had them all on the top deck, on Mardi Gras, they were spaced out. There was an adult pool and hot tub in the Serenity area, the main lido pool, another pool behind the buffet area on the back of the ship, and another pool area down on deck 8 at the back of the ship. Winner: Oasis (both were great, but I liked the Solarium area just a bit better than Serenity on Mardi Gras)
"Flashy Stuff"
Both of these ships get a lot of attention for the extra stuff they put on the ship. Oasis has the rock walls, the zip lines, the flow riders, Abyss, mini golf, the ice rink, and waterslides. Mardi Gras has a ropes course, mini golf, waterslides, and a stinkin' roller coaster. A few points here. I give RCCL a hard time because they upcharge a lot of things, but all these are included. On Mardi Gras, most are included, but the roller coaster is $15 a ride. And it broke down. A lot. We didn't get to ride it because it broke down the day we were going to ride it. Winner: Oasis (but Carnival is catching up... if they can get Bolt working regularly, everyone that did it seemed to love it)
Soda (or as we say in the South, "Coke"):
Winner: Oasis (because they serve Coke products, other than that, pretty similar)
Ice Cream:
Winner: Mardi Gras (by a landslide. On Oasis, the one soft serve location on the pool deck closed at 5:30pm everyday. On Mardi Gras, there are 3 stations around the ship with more choices and it's open 24/7).
Included Food
On our sailing of Oasis, we had dinner in the MDR every night, save one that we ate in the Windjammer. We are not extra charge restaurant people (for the most part) and didn't partake in any of the upcharge venues on Oasis. For lunch, there was the Windjammer (buffet), the Park Cafe, El Loco Fresh, Sorrento's Pizza, and the Promenade Cafe (there is also a Solarium Cafe, but it was closed most of the time on our cruise). On Mardi Gras, in addition to the MDR, you could also eat in Cucina del Capitano, ChiBang, and Guy's Pig and Anchor for no charge. In addition to all these venues for lunch were Shaq's Big Chicken, Guy's Burger Joint, Lido Marketplace, Java Blue Cafe, Prego Panini, Pizzeria del Capitano, Street Eats, and Blue Iguana Cantina, and Fresh Creations (a salad place in Serenity). There is just simply way more choice to eat without shelling out more $$ on the Mardi Gras. On Mardi Gras, we never ate at the MDR. We ate at Cucina 3 nights, Chibang 2 nights, and did a couple of other options the other 2 nights. And, we felt that the food was really good on Mardi Gras, especially at Cucina del Capitano. I used to think that Guy's Burger Joint was Carnival's secret weapon against RCCL after our first Carnival cruise, and while it didn't disappoint, the real revelation on Mardi Gras is Big Chicken. It lived up to the hype. I went there 3 times for lunch and a couple of times for breakfast (honey chicken biscuit??? Yes, please!). To me, it's the best included food option on a cruise ship save for the wonderful Alfredo's on the Princess ships... Winner: Mardi Gras
Specialty Dining
This is tough for me to rate, because we didn't do any of the specialty restaurants on Oasis, as they were all $50-ish dollars a person to try. There was Playmakers and Johnny Rockets, but even they were over $10 for most items. On Mardi Gras, we did 2 of the extra charge eateries. We didn't try Rudi's SeaGrill or the steakhouse or the teppanyaki place, but we DID try Emeril's Bistro. Emeril's is amazing. We thought it may not be as it's on a cruise ship, but the quality was really good. What surprised me was the prices. The first night we ate there, I had a muffuletta and my wife had red beans and rice as well as an alfredo pasta. I also got Bananas Foster for dessert. Our total bill was $18. (for reference, the large bowl of Red Beans and Rice is $3). The next time we went, she got the pasta again, and I got the Shrimp Scampi (which, BTW, is one of the single best things I've ever eaten on a cruise ship) and an order of beignets. Bill was $15. I also had an order of sushi one day (bento box of miso soup, a salad, california roll, and 3 pieces of sushi) for $12. Again, while we are not generally extra charge food people, we found the places on Mardi Gras to be extremely reasonable. However, since we didn't eat at any of the places on Oasis, I am not going to declare a winner in this category.
Debarkation
While both were easy, I am going to give the edge here to Mardi Gras. I am not sure I've walked off a ship easier than we did off Mardi Gras. They use some sort of facial recognition from your passport scan to check you out and you are on your way. Pickup and drop-off were much easier here than at the terminal in Miami for Oasis that seemed so chaotic. Winner: Mardi Gras
Overall Thoughts
We had a good time on both cruises. That being said, I am a bit surprised to say that I think that we had a better time on the Mardi Gras, but that may be just because of how we enjoy our cruise style. I loved the Center Stage shows and all of the things going on. For instance, there is WAAAAYYYY more trivia/games on Mardi Gras than on Oasis, and it's all varied. There was stuff going on all the time. Quite honestly, at times on our Oasis cruise, I found myself a bit bored, which really surprised me. I think that it's going to be real interesting once Carnival gets Celebration and Jubilee up and running over the next 2 years as they will have the 3 Excel class ships compared to the 5 Oasis class ships at RCCL. The big winner, though, in all of this is us cruisers, as hopefully they will all try to keep one-upping each other. One other quick note is that I don't know that I got a great feel for how the ships handled people as our Oasis cruise only had 2800 people and our Mardi Gras cruise was the first full sailing they had at 5800 people. You definitely felt the more people on Mardi Gras, however, I don't know if that was the ship or if it was because the Oasis was at less than half capacity. Also, on our first 2 days on Mardi Gras, the weather was terrible, so no one was outside. That had an impact. When the weather got better towards the end of the week. Crowds were no problem at all.
All this being said, I think that we are more "mid-class" ship (2000-4000) people and we prefer something like Princess, Disney(if we can afford it), or especially Virgin Voyages to either RCCL or Carnival. That said, I would not hesitate to sail either again.
