One lunch option offered on a few of Carnival's ships is a custom pasta station. When a guest arrives at the pasta, they are instructed to fill out a form that has a variety of pasta, sauce, and fillings that go into a custom pasta bowl. When the guest is finished filling out the form, a hostess will bring the form to crew members cooking the pasta and they will make the bowl to the guest's specifications. 

What ships have the Pasta Bar? 
                The Carnival Dream, Carnival Breeze, Carnival Magic, Carnival Vista, Carnival Horizon, Carnival Panorama, Carnival Sunshine and Carnival Sunrise have the pasta bar.  Unfortunately, not all ships have the pasta bar.  This feature is expected to be on the Carnival Radiance (transformed Carnival Victory) and Mardi Gras when these ships debut.

Is the Pasta Bar the same as Cucina Del Capitano?
                    On all of the ships that have the pasta bar (except for the Carnival Dream) the pasta bar is located in Cucina Del Capitano's space at lunch. At lunch, the Cucina Del Capitano space is used for the complimentary pasta bar. Cucina Del Capitano serves a variety of Italian dishes to guests at dinner for a fee (it is s a specialty dining venue).  Some people have confused the pasta bar and Cucina Del Capitano in the past. Keep in mind the pasta bar is only open at lunch and is complimentary. Cucina Del Capitano is only open at dinner and is not complimentary. If you are confused about what is free or not, ask a crew member before ordering (just to be safe). 

What options are available for my pasta bar bowl?
Pasta Types:  Linguini, Penne, & Farfalle
Sauce:  Pomodoro (Tomato Basil), White Clam Sauce, Bologonese (Meat Sauce), Alfredo, & Butter Sauce
Other Items: Grilled Chicken Strips, Italian Sausage, Garlic Shrimp, Cherry Tomatoes, Onions, Mushrooms, Zucchini, Peppers, Eggplant, Broccoli, Spinach, and Arugula 

Besides custom pasta dishes, the Pasta Bar also has meat lasagna. For a side dish, guests can ask for a caesar salad and/or bread. 

General Tips For Filling Out The Order Form:
1.  Do not forget to write your name on the form. This helps the crew members keep track of who each order belongs to.
2.  If you want extra of something or very little of an item, feel free to write a little note by the item on the form. Since this food option is very custom, the bowls are put together as each order is placed. It should not slow down the process to put a little or extra of an item in a bowl for a guest. 

Is this venue open daily on the cruise?
               On typical cruises, the pasta bar is open each day at lunch of the cruise (including port of call days). You can check the Pasta Bar's hours in the Carnival Fun-Times newslettter or on the Carnival Hub App's dining section. 

Can I get my food to go from the Pasta Bar?
                    Although you cannot order your food to go, once you have it you are able to take it with you. Some people prefer to get their food and eat it outside or in the main buffet. 

Is pizza served at the Pasta Bar?
                     Although the Pasta Bar has an italian theme, pizza is not a part of the Pasta Bar concept. All Carnival ships have a pizzeria open 24 hours that is complimentary. Look for your ship's pizzeria on the Lido Deck if you are hungry for pizza. 

       Carnival Cruise Line's 2020 newbuild, the Mardi Gras, is still under construction and will be making its debut later this year. Carnival recently updated the deck plans of the Mardi Gras to include some virtual tours of some of the ship's public areas. Once the ship enters service and has completed cruises, I am sure we will see many Mardi Gras cruise reviews with pictures, but at this time Carnival has given us some virtual tours of a few public areas to enjoy. 
      Viewing these virtual tours is extremely easy. I will give you a step by step tutorial on how to find these virtual tours on Carnival's website: 

​1)   Go to Carnival Cruise Line's official website. The Mardi Gras has its own separate ship page & profile that contains a variety of photos, information, deck plans, and more. To make this easy on you, here is a direct link to this page:  https://www.carnival.com/cruise-ships/mardi-gras.aspx#home    (Link will open in a separate window) 

2.  Once you are on the Mardi Gras' page on the Carnival website look for a page called "Deck Plans". When this first comes up you may have to click another button that says "View Deck Plans". If this is the case for you click on "View Deck Plans". When you have the screen below appear you will be in the right place: 

4.  When you click on the deck of your choice, it should appear. You can zoom in using a scroll bar at the bottom of the deck plan. Find a public area with a red circle that has a white cross in it. This means that you are able to see more on this public area. Click on that red circle and a little pop-up should open that pertains to that area. At the bottom of this little pop-up you should see "Images" and "360-View". Click on the "360 View" to view the virtual tour. If "360 view" is not listed, that probably means this area of the ship has no virtual tour available. ​

These Areas Have The 360-View Virtual Tours Available On The Deck Plans:
These areas have 360 views (in no particular order): ​
Deck 4:  Family Harbor Lounge
Deck 5:  Cloud 9 Spa Thermal Suite
Deck 6:  Piano Bar 88, Mardi Gras Theater, Atrium Lobby, Punchliner Comedy Club, Java Blue Cafe, Cherry On Top, Fortune Teller Bar, The Brass Magnolia & Emeril's Bistro 1396
Deck 7:  Mardi Gras Casino, Alchemy Bar, & Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse 
Deck 8:  Havana Bar, Bonsai Teppanyaki, Bonsai Sushi, La Piazza, Rudi's Seagrill, Guy's Pig & Anchor Brewhouse, The Watering Hole, & Patio Pool
Deck 16: Street Eats, Blue Iguana Cantina, Beach Pool, & Red Frog Tiki Bar
Deck 17: Guy's Burger Joint & Red Frog Tiki Bar
Deck 18: SportsSquare, The Utlimate Playground, & Carnival WaterWorks

Some Additional Notes:
-   These 360 views (virtual tours) Carnival has provided are of renderings. The ship is still under construction, which means the actual public areas are not finished yet.

     Thank you Carnival for providing this feature on the Carnival Mardi Gras' deck plans! While these are only renderings, cruisers can still use these to tour the ship and get excited about their upcoming vacation.