I didn’t take near enough food porn photos – sorry! We did eat in a variety of spots, most free, some not. Here’s a little recap.
Main Dining Room [free]
We ate here every night of our first week except the first when we had booked the steakhouse. We lucked into a fantastic wait staff and asked for them every night. The menu was pretty much the same as we had on the Carnival Magic in January, so no big surprises. The dancing by the wait staff was so good – here’s a little video showcasing our waiter dancing with the passengers.
Due to staffing issues, our head waiter, Dedy, was called off to work the steakhouse two of those nights but the assistant waiter, Anak, worked his tail off trying to get everything done by himself. We were extra patient and always told the hostess, Alina, what a great job he had done.
All the major restaurants used QR codes to view the menus. We found we really liked this over the paper menus. Others may not have agreed and paper menus were available to those who asked.
Alina, the hostess, was a jewel. She was from the Ukraine and we had several short chats with her. She hopes things will be settled when she goes home for vacation. Sigh…I don’t think that will happen. We gave and got a big hug from her the last night of the second week. We wished her and her family well.
Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse [pay]
As has been our habit, we pre-booked a steakhouse dinner for the first night of the cruise. As on the Magic, most of the wait staff was Asian whereas in previous years, it’s been Eastern European. It’s been hard to get the original staffing levels back and many former employees found other jobs during the pandemic. The hardest thing was understanding what they were saying, a combination of soft voices, having to wear masks, and their accent while speaking fast. But they were patient when we asked them to speak louder and slower.
Dinner was delicious even though the serving time was much slower than normal. We were used to 90 minute dinners, this one was about two and a half hours. But we had nowhere we had to be, so we were patient. More so than a couple that sat down beside us, ordered, and left before eating.
We’ve decided first night dinners will no longer be in the steakhouse OR the main dining room. The first night is always hard on the staff and confusing for many new passengers. We’ll find another spot, there are plenty of them.
Bonsai Teppanyaki [pay]
This was the other specialty restaurant we pre-booked and we were really looking forward to it. It started out okay, we were seated with several other couples. But as the two other tables were seated, the noise level rose so high we couldn’t hear what our server was saying, even when she was right beside us. This was compounded by the same issues as in the steakhouse – Asian, soft voice, accent, talking fast, and mask. When the chef came out, it was the same way. But we all managed. The food was okay but both Stu and I felt it wasn’t worth what we paid for it. We’ve had better in stateside bonsai restaurants, much better.
You can see a few more photos in this SmugMug album.
Guy’s Burger Joint [free]
This has always been a favorite of ours and it was the first meal we ate on board. While the burgers were as good as ever, something had changed with the french fries. They weren’t bad, they just weren’t DELICIOUS like on previous ships. We never tried them again.
Guy’s Pig & Anchor [free with some pay items for dinner]
Stu had lunch here a couple of times, and we opted for dinner one night. Everything we got was free and yummy. The top was Stu’s order, the second was mine, and the bottom was our apple cobbler & ice cream dessert.
Shaq’s Big Chicken [free]
Chicken tenders – we got them several times – and fries that were a notch above Guy’s (but still not as good as the original Guy’s fries). Good and free!
Piazza Panini [free]
A wide variety of delicious sandwiches here. We ate there several times. Stu had the Reuben and loved it. I had a Salumeria (capicola, prosciutto, salami, provolone, mozzarella, and roasted peppers on focaccia roll) and it was delicious. The other times I had the Meatballs (meatballs, ricotta, parmesan cheese, and marinara on tomato focaccia). Also delicious and free!
Seafood Shack [pay]
We tried this the second week since I wanted to try the Fish & Chips. It wasn’t overly expensive, I think it was $7 for the Fish & Chips, but it was VERY good. Stu tried something different the first time, said it was good, too. So good, I got it a second time later in the week and so did Stu. Definitely worth it!
Java Blue Desserts [pay]
Can you say strawberry cheesecake to die for? $3.50 a slice that’s big enough for two (and one night we made four servings out of it and saved it in our cabin fridge). We never did try all the other delicacies, multiple cases full of treats! They also served breakfast sandwiches, but we never tried them.
Lido Buffet [free]
We never ate dinner here – too many other choices. Stu ate breakfast here every morning on the first week, opting for the quieter Pig & Anchor breakfast the second week. I usually had more of a brunch with fruit and small pastries, topped off with chocolate chip cookies for a mid-afternoon treat. But the food looked to be fairly similar to every other cruise we’d been on which meant decent.
Places we never got to…
- Chibang
- Sushi
- Emeril’s Bistro
Getting Started ~ Our Cabin ~ Entertainment ~ Food ~ Final Impressions
See All Cruise Photos in our SmugMug Album
