Carnival Dream Docked At Galveston Cruise Terminal 1:
          Below are some pictures I took of the Carnival Dream docked at Galveston's Cruise Terminal 1. These pictures were taken on Thursday, August 15, 2019. The Carnival Dream was about to depart on a 4 night cruise to Cozumel, Mexico. 
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Carnival Dream Docked At Galveston Cruise Terminal 2:
               Below are some pictures of the Carnival Dream docked at Galveston's Cruise Terminal 2 and departing later in the day. These pictures were taken on Saturday, May 18, 2019. The Carnival Dream was departing on a 5 night cruise. I took these pictures on the same day I was cruising on the Carnival Vista. 
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       Carnival Cruise Line's main dining room experience at dinner offers a variety of different appetizers, main courses, sides, and desserts to try. During my cruises I try and take pictures of my own food plates as well as the plates of my family. This post is a compilation of food pictures from some of my recent Carnival cruises. I have mixed pictures of food dishes from both the American Table and American Feast dining concepts offered at dinner. The food pictures are sorted by appetizers, main courses, and desserts. The menu and food selection will vary by cruise because shorter cruises have less nights of dinner. Also, please keep in mind that the presentation of a specific food dish can vary too.  Food selections can vary by ship & cruise!

        The main dining room experience on a Carnival Cruise is part of the enjoyment of a cruise for many. However, before the cruise begins selecting a dinner dining option can be a challenging task for someone that is not sure which option is best. The goal of this post is to share some information about the different dinner dining options, what happens when a dining option you want is already filled, and address some common questions about the dinner main dining room experience on a Carnival Cruise vacation. 

What Main Dining Room Options Are Available For Dinner On A Typical Carnival Cruise? 
              Typically, there are three options for main dining room seating at dinner on a Carnival Cruise. The three options are called "Early Seating", "Late Seating" and "Your-Time Dining". 

• Early Seating -   The Early Seating option is a dining option that allows a cruiser to have dinner at a set time, enjoy the same table, and have the same waitstaff each night of the cruise. Generally, this option has the fixed time being a 5:30pm dining time.  If you select this option your Sail & Sign card will reflect what time you should report to the dining room.
• Late Seating -  The difference between late seating and early seating is the time. The Late Seating option is a dining option that allows a cruiser to have dinner at a set time, enjoy the same table, and have the same waitstaff each night of the cruise. Generally, this option has the fixed time being a 7:45pm dining time.  If you select this option your Sail & Sign card will reflect what time you should report to the dining room.​
• Your-Time Dining -  This dining option allows cruisers the flexibility to come to the dining room between a certain time for dinner. On most cruises Your-Time Dining is avaialble from 5:30pm to 9:00pm, but on Alaska cruises the dining times may be earlier. With this option you show up at any time between the range of times printed on your Sail & Sign card.  After the Covid-19 pandemic check-in is highly encouraged through the Carnival Hub App which will let you know when your table is ready. If no table that can accommodate you is available you will be given a pager. When a table becomes available you should be notified via the Carnival Hub App. For additional information regarding the Carnival Hub App Your-Time Dining Check-In feel free to read my post by clicking here. 

How Do I Know Which Option Is Best For Me? 
             All three options have positive and negative characteristics for each cruiser that can differ. Here are some things you should keep in mind when trying to determine which of these options is best for you:

• Early & Late Seating Cruisers That Do Not Arrive Within A Specific Time Will Not Be Allowed To Dine -  If you choose early or late seating dining and you come too late to dinner the dining room staff will not allow you to enter the dining room. Instead, you will have to eat in the buffet or order room service. I think the current policy is guests will be turned away after 30 minutes. This is because seating guests too late into the meal will create extra work for the waitstaff and slow down the dining process for other cruisers. If you feel like what time you will want dinner is uncertain or you do not know if you will be able to be timely to the dining room, do not pick early or late seating. Instead, you might be better off with Your-Time Dining because you will have a flexible range of time to go to dinner. 
• Early or Late Seating Could Mean You & Your Group Get Seated With Other Cruisers -  Sometimes tables for Early and Late Seating causes random groups of cruisers to be seated at the same assigned table for the cruise. For example, let's say a group of 3 are cruising together and another group of 3 people are also cruising together. The dining team onboard could assign both of these groups of 3 to be seated at the same table. Dining assignments for early or late seating could cause you to be seated with strangers, but there is still a chance you will have an assigned table that only has your group of cruisers. It depends on how the seating assignments for the cruise are done by the onboard dining team!  Your-Time Dining does not guarantee you will get a private table, but the chances are much higher if you do not want to sit with others.
• Consistency of Dining Vs. Flexibility -  Trying to decide between Your-Time Dining and one of the traditional seating times is a debate between consistency and flexibility. Early or late seating gives cruisers consistency of waitstaff, table, and dining room. However, Your-Time Dining gives a range of time flexibility, but there is still a good chance you can request the same table and waitstaff if you would like (depends on availability). 
• Cruising Round-Trip From Barbados? -  The problem of picking which dining option should not exist for you because Carnival advertises cruises round-trip from Barbados have to pick Your-Time Dining. 

How Do I Actually Pick What Dining Option I Want?
               If you booked directly on Carnival's website, after booking you will be able to select your dining time from the online booking manager. If you booked with a travel agent or Carnival representative directly, they should be the ones to handle the selection of dining. You should tell your travel agent or representative which dining option you want. 

If my preferred option is not available, what happens?
​                Usually a waitlist is available for an option if it is full. If you have a second choice dining option I recommend you go with that choice (if it is not full too).

Is The Food & Menu The Same Between The Options? 
               Regardless of whether you choose Early Seating, Late Seating, Or Your-Time Dining the food is the same! You should have the exact same menu options as the cruisers in the other dining room. 

Can I Change My Dining Assignment Once Onboard? 
                 Unfortunately, the answer depends. Once on your cruise you should go see the dining team & maitre'd to ask if you are able to change dining assignments. 

Does My Main Dining Room Dinner Assignment Apply At Breakfast Or Lunch?
               It does not! Typically, Carnival ships serve a Sea Day Brunch in the dining room that is open seating. When traditional breakfast and lunch seatings are offered these are also open seating. Tables are assigned by the hostess station when someone comes to check in for the particular meal. Carnival usually has brunch available in only one of the ship's main dining rooms. 

This post was updated on Saturday, August 13, 2022 to reflect some changes made after the Covid-19 pandemic. 

            Carnival Cruise Line's main dining room experience is not complete without ordering dessert! There are several desserts on the American Table or American Feast menu that I recommend trying even if you are already feeling a little full. Although the desserts offered during a cruise depends on the length of the cruise, one dessert you should be on the lookout for is the Smores Parfait. 
          The Smores Parfait dessert has chocolate, vanilla mousse, and roasted marshmallow. These are the three ingredients Carnival has listed on the dessert menu under the Smores Parfait. In addition to these three things, the Smores Parfait has graham cracker (or something very similar to a graham cracker) crumbled inside. I am surprised Carnival's menu did not mention this ingredient. 

​Overall Rating:
             On a scale of 5 stars (5 = highest rating and 1 = lowest rating) I would give this dessert 5 stars. Here are my reasons for giving this dessert the highest possible rating:

• Large Portion Size -   The portion size of my Smores Parfait on the Carnival Vista was more than enough for dessert. On most ships that I have seen the Smores Parfait offered, it is served in a cup. ​I was already full by the time I ate this dessert, but I still ate the whole thing regardless because it was too good for me to not eat it all. I felt stuffed later, but it was worth it. 
• Chocolate Pudding -   The chocolate pudding was extremely good. Sometimes chocolate dishes on Carnival ships are too rich, but this chocolate pudding had a chocolate taste that was not too strong. There are two layers of chocolate pudding in each cup of the Smores Parfait. Both layers are close to the graham cracker which means you can enjoy the chocolate pudding with some graham cracker mixed in!
• Marshmallow Taste -  The roasted marshmallow at the top of the Smores Parafait reminded me of marshmallow that had been actually roasted over a real fire. I wish the dessert would have more marshmallow mixed in with the chocolate pudding, but it was good enough.

Common Questions:

• Is this served on all cruises?  -   This dessert dish is not served on all cruises. I have only seen this dish offered on cruises that are considered longer in length (6+ days). However, the chef onboard has the right to change the menu so having a longer cruise does not guarantee this dish will be served. By the same logic, just because a cruise is shorter does not mean there is no chance this dish will not be served, but it is unlikely. 
• Does Carnival serve this dish on the buffet?  -   I have not seen this dish served on the ship's buffet. My guess is it is not served in the buffet, but you never know!
• Can I request a side of ice cream to go with this dessert?  -  The waitstaff on Carnival's ships are usually very happy to accommodate bringing extra desserts and I am sure your waitstaff would be willing to bring you some ice cream to go with this if you ask.  If you want  a lot of ice cream I recommend asking for a full order of ice cream as a second dessert, but if you only want a little bit of ice cream I recommend asking for a scoop of ice cream in the small bowl like what is served with the warm chocolate melting cake dish. 

         Carnival's Vista Class of ships includes the Carnival Vista, Carnival Horizon, and Carnival Panorama (launching December 2019). On all three Vista class ships there are numerous outside deck areas for cruisers to enjoy, but not every area is well known to all cruisers. One particular area that is not well known to cruisers is a small front area located on Deck 14. Although this area is public, I visited this area several times and never encountered anyone else because hardly any cruisers know about this outside deck space. In this post I will share some pictures of this area and explain how to find this hidden outside space. 



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Locating The Deck 14 Front Outside Area:     
                 In order to locate this outside deck area you will need to go to Deck 14 by using the front elevator/stairwell area. Once you are up on Deck 14 you will see an entrance to the second level of the ship's Cloud 9 SPA. You do not need to enter this area because there is a much easier way to get to the front area. From the front/elevator area, on the sides you be able to see stateroom hallway entrances on both sides of the ship.  
                     Enter one of the Deck 14 stateroom hallways (it does not matter which side).  Walk towards the front of the ship. If you do not know which way is the front you will want to walk in the direction that the stateroom hallway numbers get smaller. If the numbers are getting bigger you will want to turn around and head the opposite way! 
                      Once you are at the very front of the stateroom hallway you should nearly dead-end into a stateroom door. However, on the middle side of the hallway you should see a door that leads to small area with a stairwell within the SPA. On the Carnival Vista this door has a circular porthole that allows you to see into this area before opening the door. After stepping out into this area you should see another entrance to the Cloud 9 SPA on one side and a stairwell on another side. This stairwell leads to the Deck 12 level of the SPA. You do not need to use this stairwell. On both sides of this stairwell you should see a hallway with doors at the end. Both hallways have a metal or glass door at the end. Walk down this hallway and unless indicated you cannot exit using the doors, open the doors. On the Carnival Vista, there are two doors that you must open before being able to go outside and I would imagine the Carnival Horizon and Carnival Panorama have the same process. After you open these doors, you are outside. Due to the wind the doors may be hard to open! 

​What Exactly Does This Area Have?
                   Although the view from this area is not exactly panoramic, you can look down towards the front of the ship and see into the horizon. The Carnival Vista had places for 5 people to sit and a moderate sized table between the outside furniture. This seemed like a good place to read, talk, rest, or play games (what type of game would depend on the wind). 
                     For the Carnival Horizon and Carnival Panorama, I do not know for sure if any furniture is outside. If you are cruising on one of these two ships please let me know if you find out! 

Pictures:
             Below are some pictures I took on the Carnival Vista that will hopefully help you find this area: 

                 There are many areas to explore on your cruise ship and looking around a ship is something I greatly enjoy. Although this area is technically not a secret it is very well hidden. Some other areas on the Carnival Vista that include a public front observation area includes Deck 5, Deck 6, Deck 7, Deck 9, Deck 10, and Deck 11. My favorite front decks for looking out on the Carnival Vista are Decks 5 (Promenade) and Deck 9. On this class of ships, Deck 8 does not have a front observation area because this is where the navigational bridge is located. 
                     If you are cruising on the Carnival Vista, Carnival Horizon, or Carnival Panorama have a great cruise and don't forget to check out the many areas of your ship you might be missing out on! 

        Carnival Cruise Line has released the 2019 Christmas decoration schedules for the ships. On the day the ship is decorated for Christmas, the atrium and other public areas of the ship are decorated with Christmas and holiday decorations. This schedule includes the dates Carnival Cruise Line has planned to decorate each ship with Christmas and holiday decorations. 
             Below the Christmas decoration schedule, I have posted a few of the Christmas themed events and activities that take place on Carnival ships during this time of the year once the ship is decorated. Most Carnival Cruises during the Christmas season offer a Holiday show, atrium festivities, and much more! 

Christmas & Holiday Events
Holiday Show:  If you see the "Holiday Show" listed on your daily activity newsletter, the Fun-Times you will have an opportunity to see Carnival's Christmas & holiday themed show. Carnival advertises this show to have the ship's singers & dancers as well as a special performance by the kids onboard. The show also has a visit from Santa and the Grinch. 

"Spirit Of The Season Atrium Moments": 
         Although each class of Carnival ships has a different sized atrium, each ship has an atrium that hosts a variety of Christmas & holiday themed events and activities. On the first night of the cruise, Carnival hosts a tree lighting ceremony in the ship's atrium that is led by the cruise director onboard. The tree lighting ceremony features the Christmas tree's lights synchronized to music. In addition, the ship's atrium should have a red box that says "Letters To Santa". Guests can drop letters off in this box that might get read during the ship's morning show.  Besides the official tree lighting ceremony, Carnival's ships have been known to have Christmas caroling and singing in the atrium throughout the Christmas season. 
               Another event that typically takes place in the ship's atrium is the "Spirit of the Seas - 'Tis the Season" event. This event gives guests an opportunity to wear ugly sweaters and enjoy a guest visit from Santa Claus. 
On ships that sail from Australia, instead of ugly sweaters the ship's will do festive hats. 
Will my ship have snow in the atrium?
Most Carnival ships feature "snow" in the atrium during the Christmas season once the ship's are fully decorated. However, Carnival specifically wrote the Carnival Breeze, Carnival Vista, Carnival Horizon, and Carnival Panorama will not feature snow.

Will Christmas & holiday themed movies be shown on the ship's SeaSide Theater?
                 Carnival's information about the 2019 Christmas & holiday season says ships that have a Seaside Theater will show holiday themed movies. In addition, movies will be shown on the ship's stateroom TVs. The movie channels can be found in the Fun-Times daily activity newsletter or on the Carnival Hub app. 

What other miscellaneous Christmas events occur?
                     Carnival usually does a Christmas & holiday themed trivia session at some point during the cruise. The scope of this trivia includes music, movies, TV shows, and more. It sounds like anything related to Christmas or the holidays is fair game for this trivia!
                      Carnival also is advertising a Holiday Arts & Crafts that will take place during the cruise. Check the Fun-Times onboard the ship for more information if you are cruising during this time of year.
                         According to Carnival's Christmas information, a holiday themed duck hunt will be another option for cruisers. Some hidden ducks will available around the ship that will allow cruisers to get a prize if the duck is found! I have a feeling more information about these ducks, what they look like, and what types of prizes will be given will be available onboard. 

If you are cruising during the Christmas season in 2019 have a great time. Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays 2019! 


All of this information is subject to change and is not designed to be comprehensive. Some things may vary by cruise. Information is from Carnival's main website and was accessed on August 10, 2019. 
Source:  Carnival's Website (Link will take you away from RyG's Cruise Guide)

        One event Carnival Cruise Line ships usually host on sea days is called Tea Time. This event typically takes place in one of the ship's dining rooms or a smaller lounge in the middle of the sea day's afternoons. Tea Time is advertised in the Carnival Fun-Times Daily Activity Newsletter if the event is being held during the day. 
           When the doors open for tea-time a host or hostess will seat guests. The way tea time is run will vary by the ship's crew members working. Both times I have been to this event it was setup to where guests were served by waitstaff. However, I have heard and seen reviews that have the tea time desserts available in a mini-buffet setup. The main thing you should know is the format of the event can vary by cruise! 

September 2022 Note: According to John Heald's Facebook Tea Time is now being offered on all cruises again as of 9/6/22 after being temporarily paused for several months on shorter cruises. Check your Carnival Hub App onboard to see which day or days tea time is being offered during your cruise!

Not All Teas Are Free, So Be Careful!
              One thing some people may not realize is not all of the tea options are complimentary. As of the time of writing, Carnival offers regular tea, green tea, and decaf tea complimentary. If you are unsure if the tea packet is free, just ask the waiter or waitress that is serving you.
                  The tea packets that are not complimentary are flavored. On my Carnival Freedom cruise in 2017, the tea packets available for sale consisted of Art of Tea flavors such as: Egyptian Chamomile Caffeine Free, Mint Green Tea Low Caffeine, Black Tea Organic Breakfast Bold Caffeine, Earl Grey Creme Medium Bold Caffeine, and more. My picture of the tea packets does not clearly show the names of all of the packets available so I was unable to type all that were sold during my cruise on here. 
                

Desserts
             The desserts offered can vary by ship and tea time session. Here are a few pictures I managed to capture of desserts during some of my cruises:

          When the Chocolate Extravaganza is offered on a Carnival Cruise it is typically in the ship's Lido buffet at lunch-time on the cruise's last sea day. Although the food offerings can vary by ship and cruise, I have seen a variety of chocolate desserts and items available as part of the Chocolate Extravaganza. On almost all of my recent Carnival Cruises, the Lido dessert crew members were making ice cream swans on request as well. 
              This post is designed to share some pictures of desserts and items that I have seen offered on Carnival's Chocolate Extravaganza on my own past cruises. These pictures are from at least two separate cruises which means not all of these things were offered at the same time. If your cruise does the Chocolate Extravaganza, I recommend trying to see what if being offered before getting in line because the Chocolate Extravaganza line can be long at times!

Note: Items will vary by cruise and depend on if the Chocolate Extravaganza is being held!