I don't think Carnival has yet etched in stone to advertise "free dining options." However, they appear to have continued to do it without an end date. Probably some sort of test to see how they can handle Excel dining flow, ticket price, value perception, etc. I love to see it. Solves a lot of complaints about dinner menus getting stale.
I heard that you have to do anytime dining to be able to get your preferred time at these venues (or more specifically, early). Is that the case? I'm torn what to do. I'd like to try some of these, but in all honesty, we really enjoy early dining in the MDR.