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- Introduction: My “Free” Carnival Glory 14 Day Crossing Cruise from Barcelona Spain
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- Carnival App plus Pre-Boarding and Boarding Experience Arriving Early
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- Carnival Glory Main Dining Room Food Review 2024
- Carnival Glory Entertainment Reviews 2024
- Expedia Booked “Rapha Transport” Driver Speeding at 90+ MPH While Blasting Religious Music From Carnival Cruise to Orlando Airport Transfer!
- My Disappointing Delta Air Lines 757 First Class Flight from Orlando to Detroit
- Final Thoughts on my “Free” 14 Day Carnival Cruise from Wydham Status Match Offer.
If you have never been on a Carnival cruise you likely have two overall impressions just from what you have heard about the cruise line and that is 1) this is a party boat and 2) the food is surprisingly really good. For our two week crossing there were very few in group one (but many it seemed when we arrived in Port Canaveral) but the second one was spot on.
Before I cover a bunch of food from the main dining room let me quickly touch on the buffet aft. We had breakfast here almost every day, choosing to sit in the quieter upstairs area, because it was just quicker and simpler than the main dining room (MDR) and the food really was similar.
Same goes for lunch. Most days we had the BBQ, that was not bad, as well as sandwiches or a burger or pizza and so on. Many days we took food back to our room to enjoy our expansive balcony since we paid an upcharge to be there. We tried the main dining room for lunch a few days and it was fine but not something to “write home about” shall we say. Now on the dinners in the MDR:
First up appetizers. We did have a salad a few days and considering it was a 14 day crossing I was impressed how well everything held up and was fresh and crisp.
It is hard to mess up “the basics” when it comes to things like calamari or flat bread pizza style or shrimp (well unless you are MSC, that is) and all were fine and enjoyable. I thought the marinara was a bit flat but otherwise enjoyable bites.
We tried a number of soups. I love a French onion but Carnival is very, and I mean very, cheese forward. The mushroom caps however were a pleasant bite and I would order them again.
One of the best appetizer bites during the voyage were these Asian chicken strips. They were flavorful and gone quickly! On to a bunch of dinners:
Here are a few examples and I hope the quality comes through in the photos. A pork roulade with mushrooms, bacon pasta that I added some beef to round it out and beef short rib. All were quite good and satisfying. Now some steak:
I only had the strip steak once that was on the menu for every day if you wanted it. It was just OK. The prime rib was also acceptable if not inspiring. I ordered two of the filet mignon and they were very pleasing and a perfect medium.
One night my wife had the bone in pork chop and she said it was all but perfect. I tried one another night it and it not as special but still acceptable and flavorful.
I was honestly very impressed that Carnival still has a complementary lobster night (NCL no longer offers this unless in the Haven and even then rarely). Due to the length of the 14 day crossing we even had two lobster nights and you could order two tails at no charge. Once again impressive and the only complaint was too little butter and since everyone went to MDR on lobster night service was limited shall we say. On to desserts:
Two of the nights I ordered a cheese plate. Are you impressed? Yeah me neither. This was something more out of an airline lounge buffet than a proper cheese dessert. We mostly stuck with sweets the rest of the nights.
I think my favorites were the creme brulée and the rich chocolate with vanilla ice cream. But every bite was good and the only issue was having room to finish after the good meals preceding dessert.
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Overall, as you can see, the food really was good and not just “good for Carnival”. The food was hot and came out reasonably quickly and flavors were spot on. But there are reasons I am just not a Carnal fan. Every night we got something like the above video during dinner – just not my thing. Plus the servers did NOT wipe down the stations after dancing on them – YUCK! Plus I just miss a white table cloth at dinner even in MDR.
As part of our “free” cruise we did not receive a drink package so at dinner many nights we splurged for a bottle of wine to enjoy at dinner and later take with us to the shows. Adding some $50 per day in wine costs did add up but as stated in other posts using free monthly $25 Swagbucks Mastercards from points loaded into our onboard account took care of most of our drink fees.
Overall what you have been told is true. Carnival MDR meals are quite good and once in a while excellent. For the price we paid (free plus cabin upgrade plus port fees) this was an outstanding value and a very nice way to cross the Atlantic! – René
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