All Carnival ships have one or two main dining rooms (all dining venues are non-smoking), and dinner is in either two or four seatings (depending on the ship and configuration). Menus are standardized across the fleet.
Don’t even think about a quiet table for two, or a candlelight dinner on deck – it’s not Carnival’s style (unless you pay extra to go to an “alternative” restaurant). Dining aboard a Carnival ship is all about table mates, social chat, lively meals, and fast eating. Tables are, however, nicely set with white tablecloths, plenty of silverware, and iced water/iced tea whenever you want it. Oh, and the peppermill routine (where the waiter brings a huge peppermill to your table before you’ve even tasted the food) is all part of the show – delivered with friendly service that lacks polish but invites extra gratuities. The waiters also sing and dance (be prepared for Simply the Best, Hot, Hot, Hot, the Macarena, and other popular hits of yesteryear), and there are constant waiter parades with flashing lights. The dining room marries food and show business, all in the name of fun – and gaining positive passenger comments.
Taste-filled food is not the company’s strong point, but quantity, not quality, is – although consultant chef Georges Blanc has now created daily “Georges Blanc Signature” menu items. The company does strive to improve its cuisine and menu choices look good, but the actual food delivered is simply banquet-style catering, with its attendant standardization and production cooking. While meats are of a decent quality, poultry, fish, seafood and desserts are dissapointing. Sauces and gravies are used well as disguises, and there are few garnishes. The selection of fresh green vegetables, breads, rolls, cheese and ripe fruit is limited, and there is much use of canned fruit and jellied desserts, not to mention packets of jam, marmalade, butter, sugar – the same stuff you’d find in family eateries in the USA. It is virtually impossible to obtain anything remotely unusual or off-menu, and the “always available” items appear to have disappeared from the menus. Vegetarian menus and children’s menus are available, although they wouldn’t get many marks for their nutritional content.
The wine list, however, is excellent and quite varied (it includes some fine Bordeaux reds of good vintage), but there are no wine waiters or decent-sized wine glasses. Waiters have to serve both food and wine, which doesn’t work at all well (they pour wine like soft drinks – too fast). Carnival has also initiated a really good “wines by the glass” program, with state-of-the-art storage and presentation facilities that enable wines to be served properly in several locations and not just in the restaurants aboard each ship.
Alternative (Extra Charge) Dining Spots
(Reservations Required)
Carnival Conquest, Carnival Destiny, Carnival Freedom, Carnival Glory, Carnival Liberty, Carnival Miracle, Carnival Triumph, Carnival Valor:
Fine table settings, china and silverware are featured, as well as leather-bound menus. Menu favourites include prime American steaks such as filet mignon (9 ounces), porterhouse steak (24 ounces) and New York strip loin (be prepared for huge cuts of meat – shown to you at your table before you order), and broiled lobster tail, as well as stone crab claws from Joe’s Stone Crabs of South Miami Beach. Reservations are necessary, and a cover charge of $30 per person (for service and gratuity) applies.
A connoisseur’s wine list is impressive (it includes such names as Opus One and Château Lafite-Rothschild). The food is extremely good, and the ambiance is reasonably quiet. But if you are a couple and you have just two glasses of wine each (Grgich Hills Chardonnay or Merlot, for example, at $12.50 a glass), and pay the cover charge, that’s over $100 for dinner (caviar is an extra $29 for a 1-ounce serving); it’s worth it.
Casual Eateries: In addition to the main dining rooms, all ships have large food court-style spaces for casual food, fast food items, grilled meats, pizzas (each ship serves over 800 pizzas in a typical day), stir fry, deli and salad items. There are self-help beverage stands, coffee that looks like rusty water, and tea provided in paper cups with a teabag (tea dust is a more accurate description), plastic or wooden stirrers (no teaspoons and no saucers), and packets of chemical “milk” or “creamer.” But some people are happy to have it that way, and it’s actually better than what is offered aboard competitor Royal Caribbean International’s ships.
The Coffee/Tea Factor: Regular coffee is weak and poor, scoring 1 out of 10 (paper/foam cups in buffet areas). Espresso/cappuccino coffees score 2 out of 10 (paper/foam cups, in buffet areas).
Berlitz Guide © Apa Publishing 2010
