Carnival Cruise Dining

Carnival cruise food information, about Carnival Lines Dining policy and rules, Carnival ships dining options, schedules, menus, types of venues. The Carnival Line offers 3 general types of dining venues - Main, Club, and Bistro (all smoke-free), plus a complimentary 24-hour room-service menu.

MAIN Dining - "Total Choice", open seating (guests choose their own dining time). The MAIN dining rooms are 2 huge capacity restaurants on each ship (no surcharge, reservations are required). The dining room dress code is resort-casual (shorts and swimwear are not allowed, as well as jeans at dinner), formal dress code for the 2 formal dinners (per sailing).

• MAIN Dining Schedules. Breakfast Time (7.45 through 9.00 AM), Lunch Time (12:00 through 1:30 PM closed when the ship is on dock), 4 different luncheon menus. Dinner  Time (may slightly vary by itinerary; you must select one of two types seatings) - early (from 6pm) and late (from 8:15), always including 6 entrees, 2 salads, and 5 dinner menus each night of the voyage. The open seating at dinner is  5:45 through 9:30. The Carnival Dinner menus consist of offered nightly classic selections with steak, lobster, and salmon, grilled chicken, pasta, vegetarian dishes, and the classic dessert menu of 6 items, including the renown "Warm Chocolate Melting Cake". Selected wines are offered at the Formal Dinners ("Captain's Welcome", "Gala Dinner"). Spa and Kids menus are always available.

FINE (Club) Dining options. The specialty restaurants are located on the Spa decks of the newer ships. They serve dinner only, from 5:45 through 9:30, reservations are recommended (low capacity), formal dress code is required, live entertainment, surcharge $25 to $30 per passenger.

• The Carnival specialty dining venues are of two types - Steakhouses (mostly seafood and steaks), and Supper Clubs (classic gourmet recipes). The newest Carnival ships also offer the "Cucina del Capitano" family restaurant (Italian cuisine, surcharge $10, $5 for kids older than 11). The Carnival Lines fine restaurants rival many of the upscale chains, the main disadvantage being their small sizes compared to the ships total passenger capacity. For better availability - make pre-cruise reservations on-line, or early at embarkation.
• The most expensive and extravagant Carnival dining experiences pertain to the available on all ships "The Chef's Table" gourmet tour - a multi-course dinner with the ship's master chef. It requires on-board booking, costs around $80 per person for up to 12 guests.

BUFFET (Self-Service) Dining. The venues are located on each ship's Lido deck, breakfast and lunch only, at dinner time (5:45 -9:30) serve as bistros.

• The buffet dining on Carnival ships offer made-to-order dishes, and the signature Carnival sauces. The list of Bistro-type venues includes a NYC-style Deli, a cafe  (pastries and sundaes), and several pavilions for regional themed food (among which Asian, Mexican, Grill, Pasta, Chicken, a Salad Bar), pool grilles (the American classics hamburgers, chicken and steak sandwiches, hot dogs), a 24-hour Pizzeria (serving also 7 kinds of pies). The Buffet-Menus also offer fish and meatballs. The Carnival casual style dining couldn't go anywhere without the never-closing ice cream parlor, the pre-dinner complimentary Sushi bar, or the low-calorie /sugar-free desserts.

24-hour ROOM-SERVICE. Continental breakfast (until 10:00am), or served-on-deck full breakfast and lunch. Special Requests - a children menu, a vegetarian, and the Spa Fitness menu (low cal-sodium-cholesterol-fat).