Cruise Tips: Food & Drinks

One of the most enjoyable parts of cruising is, well, eating!  There are so many amazing foods to try at every turn.  And you’re on vacation, so why not have a few cocktails…  Here are 13 cruise tips on food and drinks.  Some are specific to Carnival Cruise Lines.

Choose the nights for specialty dining

Check the dinner menus for the week and pick which night to dine in a specialty restaurant – do this the first day as these can book up.  Check with the Maitre D and he should have these.

Make specialty dining reservations

If you did not pre-book reservations online, make them early in your cruise.  Especially at the Chef’s table as it has a very limited seating.  The steakhouse is a good idea for the first night and you get a free bottle of wine!

Lunch at Cucina del Capitano

Eat lunch at Cucina del Capitano – it’s free at lunch but there is a cost at dinner.  It’s a pretty cool experience too as your dish is made to order from choosing your pasta, your sauce, your meats, etc…  And the bread is to die for!

Breakfast room service

Order room service for breakfast the night before an early port day.  If you are getting off the ship at 7am, this will save you time from fighting the crowds at the buffet!

Cheese plate

Ask for cheese and fresh fruit plate at the beginning of the meal, let your server know you want this every night and it will be on your table at dinner when you arrive.  This item is on the dessert menu but if you ask they can bring it before the meal.  Our family absolutely loves this as the cheese goes great with the bread service.

Check out the kid’s dessert menu

Nothing on the dessert menu looks good to you? Ask for kids desert menu in the dining room.  Can you say cookies and hot fudge sundae???  YUM!

Tea Time

Check out Tea Time which is held mid-afternoon on sea days.  This is similar to a traditional English High Tea with… well tea of course, but also small sandwiches and delicious desserts.  These cakes and pastries are REALLY GOOD!  I enjoy tea time especially for these!  There will be a couple of tea options at no cost, but they will also have more exotic teas for about $1 per tea bag.  If you want coffee or hot chocolate instead, just ask!

Sea Day Brunch

Sea Day Brunch is fantastic and a nice break from buffet breakfast.  It is served from 8am through lunchtime and the menu has favorites such as ‘Funnest French Toast’ which is french toast covered in cereal, pancakes (my favorite are the chocolate chip with chocolate syrup), steak and eggs, eggs cooked any way you want and Huevos Rancheros!  And let’s not forget to start the day with a cocktail… you can get a mimosa or treat your self to the build-your-own Bloody Mary menu!

Snacks for port days

Pack some snacks from the buffet when you leave the ship.  Items like dry cereal or fruit are perfect to throw in your backpack.  Just remember no fruit in Cozumel, they have dogs as you enter the port checking for ‘contraband’ and fruit is one of them.  I heard that Cheerios are fun for feeding fish – disclaimer I have never tried this before…

Make a custom pizza

Custom pizzas are available at the 24 hours pizza spot. You will have to wait a bit, but you get the whole pie!  I don’t recommend requesting this if there is an extremely long line, but if they are not too busy they will be more than happy to make what you want.  I like getting a pizza with extra cheese and taking it to a Dive-In Movie 🙂

ORDER WHAT YOU WANT!

You CAN order what you want off the menu!!! More than one appetizer or entrée or dessert are fine!  You are on vacation, if you want to try more than one item then do it!  Now, I am not saying to waste food and order one of everything off the menu and take a single bite.  But, try new things.  If you order something and you don’t like it, order something else.  We love this with our kids because they will try things they have never dared to try before (ox tongue, calamari, escargot, frog legs) because they knew they didn’t have to finish it if they didn’t like it.  And guess what?  They usually really enjoyed it and discovered something new they would eat.  It has made our kids so much more brave with food!

Pre-Order drinks

You can pre-order bottled water and it will be delivered to your room.  This is actually the case for many beverages.  you can order sodas, juice and even alcohol for your room.  The water is reasonably priced but I feel the other drinks are a bit pricey!  For alcohol, you can get a bottle of liquor (rum, vodka, etc), bottles of wine or champagne and packs of beer.

Drink Packages

This is a topic that is very controversial… should you or should you not get the drink package???  Well first off, let’s mention that there are two different drink package on Carnival:  Bottomless Bubbles and Cheers!

Bottomless bubbles is the soda package.  With this, you can get unlimited soda and juice during your cruise.  The cost is as follows: $4.95 per person, per day for children 17 and under plus 15% gratuities or $7.50 per person per day for adults plus 15% gratuities.  Since you are allowed to carry on a 12 pack of soda per person, this does not seem like a good deal to me, but that is a personal opinion.  The other drawback is that the kids have to go to a bar to order the soda and it is sometimes difficult for them to get a bartenders attention.

Cheers! is the alcoholic beverage package.  But it also includes UNLIMITED bottled water, sodas, smoothies, specialty coffees, energy drinks, etc.  On the alcoholic beverages, you are limited to 15 per day.  The cost is $51.95 plus 15% gratuity if preordered before the cruise and $56.95 plus gratuity if purchased on the ship.  This cost is per person, per day and has to be purchased for the length of the cruise (you cannot pick and choose the days to buy it for).  The only exception is when cruising out of Texas, it is not available on the first day of your cruise. The other catch is every adult 21 and older in a cabin HAS to purchase.  So you have to decide if it is worth it for your family to purchase Cheers!

I hope you find these tips helpful!  Be sure to check out our other posts for: what to do before your cruise; extras to pack; what to do after boarding; ports & excursions; shopping; tips & gratuities and activities not to miss on a Carnival cruise.

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Thanks,

Alisa

EECC Travels