American Table & American Feast Menu

[kgriff]

Did they serve you ALL the appetizers on Feast night as a smapler?

 

No.

 

Also, were you served a dessert that you didn't specifically order?

 

No.

 

Last question, did the sides all come out as family style (potato, veg, etc) or has anyone requested these served individually?

 

No, but yet sometimes. It was confusing at times. For instance 1 night me and my DIL both ordered the twice baked potato. A plate with 3 potato halves came out. So we figured that was for the 2 of us to share. But then a little later another waiter came by to deliver us another plate of twice baked potatoes. We told him that we didn't need it.

 

Then later in the week a few of us ordered mashed potatoes. They brought out a smallish plate / bowl of mashed potatoes. Was that supposed to be for all of us? Well, we all ate from it but then I asked for at least 1 more plate / bowl of mashed potatoes. (I don't recall if I ordered more than 1 or just 1.) And we got it pretty quickly.

 

Anyway, you can get your own. But yet it was very confusing as to whether it was an individual serving or a serving for the whole table. So you should probably ask to get clarification. And please realize that this is new for the servers as well. When we had mentioned that the new menu was "confusing" or that we "didn't particularly care for the new menu" the servers agreed.

Edited December 31, 2013 by kgriff
clarification

[2 cruzen]

I have a few questions from those that have experienced the new menu:

 

Did they serve you ALL the appetizers on Feast night as a smapler?

 

Also, were you served a dessert that you didn't specifically order?

 

My DH doesn't eat dessert, his mother is a diabetic, and 2 of my children don't eat dessert. I am the only one at the table that would eat dessert at all so I see a ton of wasted food!

 

Last question, did the sides all come out as family style (potato, veg, etc) or has anyone requested these served individually?

 

I think on the first Feast night, all appetizers listed are served as a sample plate and YES, you get the dessert that night, although I'm sure you can tell the waitstaff no thanks.

[Silverscreencruiser]

The menu looks very limited and sounds terrible. I'm glad it won't be on our upcoming January cruise. After 25 or so cruises with CCL, I too think we will be taking our cruise dollars elsewhere. There have been far too many changes (for the worse) over the past few years, while the things that really need to change, such as entertainment, remain stale.

 

Perhaps I'm not looking at the same menu everyone else is. I looked at the Cozumel menu posted above and found six appetizer choices, plus a hot soup and a "rare find" (you could also argue that the Greek salad side was an appetizer), ten main dishes, and five (or six, depending on how you count the Greek salad) side dishes. You may or may not like the choices available, but I wouldn't call that "limited."

 

For the record, I like a lot of the soups that apparently won't be on the Liberty when I sail (like the pumpkin, mango, and cherry), but if I had to guess, I would guess that they checked carefully on what people were and were not ordering before deciding what to discontinue, and on all the cruises I've been on, I can't recall anyone other than myself at the table trying one of those "exotic" soups.

 

I've been disappointed at some of what's disappeared in the nine years we've been cruising, but the menus I have seen actually bring back better cuts of steak some nights that the "flatiron" steak which has been the exclusive choice the last few years, so that's a big improvement for me (so is moving the rib night away from formal night).

[kgriff]

I think on the first Feast night, all appetizers listed are served as a sample plate and YES, you get the dessert that night, although I'm sure you can tell the waitstaff no thanks.

 

That was not our experience in either case. The did NOT bring us all the appetizers as a sampler. We had to order what appetizers we wanted. And they did NOT bring us a specific dessert whether we ordered it or not. Again we had to order what desserts we wanted.

 

That was OUR experience. Maybe others experienced something different.

[kgriff]

... that apparently won't be on the Liberty when I sail...

 

Once you have experienced the new menu please let us know how you liked it.

[tigercat]

I am worried about the menu as well. I can't have wheat, any kind of seafood, alcohol and kiwi. I don't think the last one is a problem but the other 3 are. Once you take off all the seafood items there really isn't much left. I am also not really a fan of chicken and don't want to spend the whole week eating steak. Hopefully at the time of my sailing things will work out.

tigercat

[michelle1836]

thanks for posting! not such great reviews. :( wonder if this is the majority, will Carnival actually make some changes

[Manatee Mom]

I have Celiac Disease and must follow a gluten free diet. In the past, Carnival has always had lots of options for me at meal times. I am wondering how they handle special dietary needs on this new menu. Anyone have any experience with that?

 

My mother in law is gluten allergic. See attached video highlights of the "nightly special orders she placed" with the asst matre d. She got gf special menu each eve to order for next day meal

[jeffcocruisers]

Just received survey in my email pertaining to the dining experience only. I have already filled out a survey pertaining to our whole cruise in general. I'm at work at the moment, so I'll be filling this out this evening after I get home and have time to be able to express our feelings about this. We didn't like it!

I sure hope they listen and do not continue with this "new feature".

[wantocruisemore]

My mother in law is gluten allergic. See attached video highlights of the "nightly special orders she placed" with the asst matre d. She got gf special menu each eve to order for next day meal

 

My DD is gluten free. carnival has taken care of her in the past but I am a little concerned about the new menu. Could you share with us some of the items your MIL had and her opinions?

[manmachine]

I am very concerned about the amount of time we will be there for dinner. I have a 5 year old and she cannot sit still for that long. We went on a different cruise a few years ago (not Carnival) and had to eat at the buffet every night because the service was slow in the sit-down restaurants :(

 

We ate in the MDR 5 nights over Christmas week. It took 4-ever.

[manmachine]

Just got off of the Glory yesterday for our first Christmas cruise, it was me and my daughter who just turned 18 on Dec 20th so it was a cruise to celebrate her bday and Christmas. We were excited to try this new menu and were disappointed as well to the extent that we just started going to the buffet for dinner instead. We were on the Glory this past February and really enjoyed the service and food but this was just a letdown. As others have stated it was dreadfully slow. We had 8:15 dining and by 9:30 we would have easily been done with desert and headed back to the room on the last cruise but not this time. We both love the chocolate melting cake and had it the first night and we didn't get out until almost 10pm.

Besides being slow as others have mentioned it just doesn't have the variety that the old menu had and we didn't see the cold soups like they had before either. Also on the second night we were just served a piece of cake without even being asked whether we wanted it or not. Honestly it was good but it wasn't what we wanted. So we got desert 2 nights and choc melting cake once. We just got disgusted and went to the buffet instead after the 4th night we just couldn't take it anymore. I cant tell you how annoyed I am that we paid so much for the Christmas cruise only to be so let down by the dining experience. I have a cruise booked on the Dream in Feb and I really hope we don't have to endure this again or it will be my last Carnival cruise.

 

I have to agree with everything you said. IMHO: it was not the servers. It was the kitchen backed up.

[kgriff]

Just received survey in my email pertaining to the dining experience only. I have already filled out a survey pertaining to our whole cruise in general. I'm at work at the moment, so I'll be filling this out this evening after I get home and have time to be able to express our feelings about this. We didn't like it!

I sure hope they listen and do not continue with this "new feature".

 

Yeah, we just answered our survey. But here is a question for you. Five of us went on this cruise and we were in three different cabins. But only one of us got this survey. What's up with that?!?! As you mentioned, we already filled out the general cruise survey. But again, only one of us got that one too. And the two different surveys went to two different people. I got the cruise survey and my wife got the menu survey. I don't get it. Anyway, we filled it out trying to be fair but yet most answers were on the negative end of the spectrum.

Edited January 3, 2014 by kgriff

[kgriff]

BTW, it's good to see more responses from those that actually experienced it. Keep the responses rolling in. I would like to hear more.

[janewe]

We are on the Glory Jan 5th sailing and I will report back. A concern of mine is having to share a bowl of potatoes or salad or whatever. How do I know if the person that served themselves before me, washed their hands? Do I need to ask? I don't think so!

[awhcruiser]

You can request your own without sharing.

We are on the Glory Jan 5th sailing and I will report back. A concern of mine is having to share a bowl of potatoes or salad or whatever. How do I know if the person that served themselves before me, washed their hands? Do I need to ask? I don't think so!

[2retiredtravelers]

We are going on a back to back on the Liberty Jan 11 and Jan 18. So it will be interesting to see if there is an improvement on the second week. I understand that it is difficult for the servers to be doing something new and different.

I have been noticing that the food on all the cruise lines that I have been on (Carnival, NCL, Princess and Royal Caribbean) are not as good as they used to be. I'm just guessing that they want people to eat more often in the specialty restaurants, that charge a fee. The cruise prices have not gone up and in some cases are cheaper then years ago. How else are they going to make a profit, if they don't push the extras? That is just my opinion. But as far as the new menu, I am excited to try something different, AND hope I don't hate it.

I will post my view when I return.

[gordongirl0306]

I was not happy with the new menus. we skipped dessert everynight because there was really nothing there that sounded appetizing. As for the menu options it was hard to find something I liked therfore I ate steak every night. I was very disappointed!!!

[Elaine515]

Is there a place where we can see all the menus day by day, port by port.. I'll be on the 2/1 Liberty sailing and am a bit concerned only because I don't want to spend 3 hours in the dining room.. Thanks...

 

Also, I understand that passengers on the next two sailings of the Liberty received a letter or an email regarding the new menus... can someone share it here please...

[richard1s]

I cannot imagine anything more cheesy or disgusting as a table of strangers passing around and sharing a platter of mediocre food. Instead of looking for ways to enhance a cruise experience, Carnival is relentless to find the bottom of the barrel and will try anything to devalue your vacation.

[reno3]

We also were on the Christmas Glory cruise. I would agree with all of the other posts, limited menu, a little confusing, some portion sizes small. We ate in the MDR 6 of the 7 nights. My husband asked if we could go to the buffet the last night.

We had early seating and always got there at 6:00. Three of the six nights it took two hours to finish dinner and leave.

My husband was not impressed with the menu, I was ok for the most part with it. I do all of the cooking at home so when someone else is cooking, serving and cleaning it I am a little more understanding :p

My husband is a big fan of the cold soups....gone. One night I ordered three items, main dish and two sides. Main dish was fine by both sides were not what I had ordered, I kept them, one was the chicken pot pie. Lots of chicken but not much of anything else, kind of dry, no gravy.

One night there was a big cake dessert at the station that we could see. My husband asked if he would have that for dessert, it looked very good, we did not know what it was called. The waiter said yes, when it came it was nothing like the cake that was still there (being served to other tables) when my husband said it did not look the same the waiter said it was, It was not.

Myself and son ordered the filet mignon. Both meals came out raw. We showed the waiter and he had two new perfect meals on our table in 5 minutes.

A couple of high points.

The carafe of water on the table was nice. The full bread baskets on the table was also nice. Fried calamari every night, family style. Mashed potatoes very good. The apple pie ala mode was good, a good size personal pie, could have been a little warmer. Another dessert was a donut/danish kind of thing that came with four toppings, chocolate, strawberries, shaved coconut and a frosting/white cream, that was very good.

[reno3]

Is there a place where we can see all the menus day by day, port by port.. I'll be on the 2/1 Liberty sailing and am a bit concerned only because I don't want to spend 3 hours in the dining room.. Thanks...

 

Also, I understand that passengers on the next two sailings of the Liberty received a letter or an email regarding the new menus... can someone share it here please...

Tty this

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=10&cad=rja&ved=0CFkQFjAJ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fzydecocruiser.net%2Fmenus%2FaNew%2Findex.htm&ei=JwjKUvidCLKlsQSmzICgDQ&usg=AFQjCNH6yGKSBdK02DsWcrfyzRK9iwiI4g&bvm=bv.58187178,d.cWc

[BigRed93]

I was on the 12/8 sailing and the very first elegant night all the appetizers were served, and everyone received the same desert. You only had the option of ordering an entree. This did not happen on the 2nd elegant night. I think they were bombarded with complaints. I do have to say the cake that was served was probably one of the best I have ever had on carnival.

 

I happen to like the options on the new menu and I definitely think the taste is better than my prior cruise this past year. It is broken up differently, but there are several options in each category still. Also, you can still ask for sugar free desserts, ice cream, cookies, etc that are not on the menu. That they left out language on there stating sugar free desserts available upon request was one of my criticisms when I completed the survey. They do say that the grill items are available upon request as well.

 

The addition of the choices of sides added another column to the kitchens list, and supposedly that is where some of the delay is coming in. A few time we received sides in larger bowls, but sometimes we rec'd them as individual servings even if several of us ordered the same. Even sharing, you are touching the utensil, same as tongs in the buffet. I don't get the cootie thing about that. No one is touching your food with their fingers and you have no idea what is happening behind the scenes. I choose not to think about that.

 

I miss some of the dies but goodies from the old menu, but overall it was getting stale. Some of the things I like on the new menu- desserts-s'mores parfait, tropical flan, and a different bread pudding that domes with coconut ice cream. If you like the WCMC, get it that night and ask for the side of coconut ice cream. Yum!

 

I liked the healthier options of kale salads and plainer meats and fish.

 

I liked the port of call sections. Especially the tortilla soup.

 

I hated!! How long dinner took the first few nights. Late shows were at 10-10:30 and we weren't even done with entrees at that point. We had to skip the dining room if there was something we wanted to go to, because you just couldn't leave early unless you wanted pizza, because even lido was done serving by that time. As the week went on, service did improve. I do have to give some credit for that, and had to remind myself it was their very first days of this change as well, but OMG it was painfully slow.

 

I would be happy to try these menus again on a future cruise and might actually be disappointed if I have to go back to the old one. I guess I am just the odd person out here. :)

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[Elaine515]

I cannot imagine anything more cheesy or disgusting as a table of strangers passing around and sharing a platter of mediocre food. Instead of looking for ways to enhance a cruise experience, Carnival is relentless to find the bottom of the barrel and will try anything to devalue your vacation.

 

 

I totally agree.. do not want to share my food with people that I have just met, even if I like them and we get along great... In addition, while it was told that you do not have to share, unless you read it here, how would you know you could ask for separate individual dishes?

 

 

Tty this

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=10&cad=rja&ved=0CFkQFjAJ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fzydecocruiser.net%2Fmenus%2FaNew%2Findex.htm&ei=JwjKUvidCLKlsQSmzICgDQ&usg=AFQjCNH6yGKSBdK02DsWcrfyzRK9iwiI4g&bvm=bv.58187178,d.cWc

 

Thanks.. headed there now

Edited January 6, 2014 by Elaine515

[kgriff]

I was on the 12/8 sailing and the very first elegant night all the appetizers were served, and everyone received the same desert. You only had the option of ordering an entree. This did not happen on the 2nd elegant night. I think they were bombarded with complaints.

 

There have been many questions about this so I'm glad that you posted that to help explain. You were on the first sailing with this new menu and we were on the second. We didn't experience that either elegant night. We were able to order our appetizers, main dish, and dessert. Nothing was "automatically" brought to us. But many people have asked that. I didn’t know what they were talking about or why they were asking. So again, thanks for clarifying that for us.

 

 

The addition of the choices of sides... A few time we received sides in larger bowls, but sometimes we rec'd them as individual servings even if several of us ordered the same.

 

I don't recall how much I said about this topic. But we did like the fact that you could choose the sides that you wanted. But at times it was confusing as to whether or not what they brought to the table was for the whole table or an individual. They were not clear about that at all. So we simply ordered another one once we figured out we were supposed to share it with the whole table. Also there were nights where we never did receive the side that we ordered. So that was an issue too. But we did like the side choices.

 

 

...but overall it was getting stale.

 

I've heard other people make this same comment. We only had two previous cruises (this was our third) with the old menu. So to us it wasn't stale. Also, we are the type of people who think "If it's not broke then don't fix it." We have a local "expensive" restaurant that we go to once or twice a year for special occasions. And when we go we both get the same thing. We have done this for years and will continue to do that for years to come. Having the same awesome meal once or twice a year does not get old or stale with us. And there is no other place that we can get THAT meal. We could get the same meal by name elsewhere. But it's not the same. I would venture to say however, that if we ate that same awesome meal every day, day after day, that somewhere along the line it probably wouldn't be so awesome any more. But for us, eating that meal only twice a year will NEVER make it fall from the "awesome" category. Therefore we would feel the same way about taking a cruise once or twice a year: the awesome menu items will NEVER fall from the "awesome" category when only consumed once or twice a year.

 

 

I liked the healthier options of kale salads and plainer meats and fish.

 

We like having choices. Not everyone likes or wants the same things so choices are good. I do think that they should, as they always have, have some "plain" main menu items. On the old menu these "plain" main menu items were in the "Every Day" section. On the new menu these "plain" main menu items are in the "From The Grill" section. However, the rest of the main menu items shouldn't be something "plain" that I could get from some chain restaurant IMHO. I want to be able to order main menu items on a cruise that I can't get anywhere else. And judging by the questions on Carnival's survey that's their goal as well: to serve items that we can't get elsewhere. Ironically, when it comes to salad I would like a "plain" garden salad option with "plain" 1,000 Island dressing. Again, IMHO, there should be a choice there. Allow me to order a "plain" garden salad and allow you to order a kale salad. Unfortunately, that was not the case. I couldn't order just a "plain" garden salad. We tried. No go.

 

 

I liked the port of call sections.

 

We do like the "Port Of Call" menu section. Even if there was nothing that we wanted to order from the "Port Of Call" menu section we do like that we had that choice.

 

 

I hated!! How long dinner took... it was painfully slow.

 

Yes it was. And I can only imagine how slow it was the first few nights. Mmm mm mmmm.

 

 

I would be happy to try these menus again on a future cruise and might actually be disappointed if I have to go back to the old one. I guess I am just the odd person out here.

 

I'm glad that you enjoyed the new menu. From what I have heard from others, in this thread and in person on the ship, you are definitely in the minority. Unfortunately for us in the majority I doubt that Carnival will go back to the old menu. Personally I wish they would. But I doubt they will. Only time will tell. And if that’s the case, then that means that the majority will be disappointed by being stuck with the new menu.