JennN Posted October 14, 2015 #1 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Hi there, I am cruising for the first time on a holiday (I've been on several other Carnival cruises) - has anyone been on board during Thanksgiving? Is the food good? Typical fare? Do they do anything special for it? I understand it's not New Year's or Christmas or Hanukkah but just wondering. I don't think they decorate for winter holidays until December, if I remember correctly. Selected this cruise since my former place of employment gave us half the week off (current gives 2 days) and it would mean more money but having to take less vacation time. Hope it is worth it! Thanks for sharing your experiences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SadieN Posted October 14, 2015 #2 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Normal turkey dinner in MDR. Lido carves whole turkeys, only place to get dark meat. Last week on the Miracle they served carved turkey, stuffing and yams on the lido one lunch. It was very good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanmarcosman Posted October 14, 2015 #3 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Hi there, I am cruising for the first time on a holiday (I've been on several other Carnival cruises) - has anyone been on board during Thanksgiving? Is the food good? Typical fare? Do they do anything special for it? I understand it's not New Year's or Christmas or Hanukkah but just wondering. I don't think they decorate for winter holidays until December, if I remember correctly. Selected this cruise since my former place of employment gave us half the week off (current gives 2 days) and it would mean more money but having to take less vacation time. Hope it is worth it! Thanks for sharing your experiences. A quick search produced this thread, post #6 is typical of what I have read here over the years about the dinner served in the MDR. Others say whole birds are carved in the buffet at dinner on turkey day so you can have white, dark or a combo in the lido. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2182820&highlight=thanksgiving Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennN Posted October 14, 2015 Author #4 Share Posted October 14, 2015 A quick search produced this thread, post #6 is typical of what I have read here over the years about the dinner served in the MDR. Others say whole birds are carved in the buffet at dinner on turkey day so you can have white, dark or a combo in the lido.http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2182820&highlight=thanksgiving Thanks for searching for me. I read that one but was hoping for a few more responses. Not sure what else I was looking for - maybe more hopeful that there were special activities? Didn't even think about the increase in kids - we don't have any and aren't generally bothered by good behaving ones :) My MIL will be on this cruise with us. Also our first cruise in an aft extended balcony!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennN Posted October 14, 2015 Author #5 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Normal turkey dinner in MDR. Lido carves whole turkeys, only place to get dark meat. Last week on the Miracle they served carved turkey, stuffing and yams on the lido one lunch. It was very good. Good to know as DW likes dark meat. We might need to go to early dinner (we have YTD) then to Lido for second dinner :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrislo Posted October 14, 2015 #6 Share Posted October 14, 2015 We sailed on the Liberty last Thanksgiving and will be on the Splendor this Thanksgiving. No special activities that I recall. Some people did decorate their doors with Thanksgiving themed decorations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennN Posted October 14, 2015 Author #7 Share Posted October 14, 2015 We sailed on the Liberty last Thanksgiving and will be on the Splendor this Thanksgiving. No special activities that I recall. Some people did decorate their doors with Thanksgiving themed decorations. We'll be on the same cruise!!! I didn't even think about decorating the door with turkeys :) I usually do tropical themed stuff. Thanks for the idea! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennN Posted October 15, 2015 Author #8 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Another question - We are in San Juan on Thanksgiving. Will anything be open? I don't think the Bacardi factory is (we're looking to eat lunch at Raices, but are worried it too will be closed). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Ellen1 Posted October 15, 2015 #9 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Another question - We are in San Juan on Thanksgiving. Will anything be open? I don't think the Bacardi factory is (we're looking to eat lunch at Raices, but are worried it too will be closed). We were there on Thanksgiving 2 years ago, and EVERYTHING was closed. :( All the stores. Even the forts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SadieN Posted October 15, 2015 #10 Share Posted October 15, 2015 (edited) Just like home... Family owned and anything governmental will be closed. Hotels and some national chains will be open. Plan on window shopping and a sea day. There should be excursions available. Edited October 15, 2015 by SadieN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cntrydncr1 Posted October 16, 2015 #11 Share Posted October 16, 2015 I'm on your cruise. Last year we had dinner on the Lido as we were watching football during our regular dinner. No special activities. I'm going to the beach early if you want to join me and share a taxi!! Email me if interested cntrydncr1@hotmail.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennN Posted October 16, 2015 Author #12 Share Posted October 16, 2015 I'm on your cruise. Last year we had dinner on the Lido as we were watching football during our regular dinner. No special activities. I'm going to the beach early if you want to join me and share a taxi!! Email me if interested cntrydncr1@hotmail.com Thanks for the offer but we were going to just go to the restaurant and stay on ship the rest of the time, walk around port. Why on earth would they make Thanksgiving a port day then!?!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadci Posted October 17, 2015 #13 Share Posted October 17, 2015 We did a thanksgiving cruise a few years ago, also in San Juan. Some of the shops were open. The fort itself was closed but you could go walk around the grounds, we were satisfied with that. It was nice being there on that day as there were no hassles. Only trouble of the day was returning to port for an injured passenger. Food was fine. Nothing over the top. I may of had Indian that night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennN Posted October 19, 2015 Author #14 Share Posted October 19, 2015 I may of had Indian that night. This is GREAT! So worried about staying traditional, I forgot we can eat what we want :) Just hope there is a Tandoor on the Splendor! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SadieN Posted October 19, 2015 #15 Share Posted October 19, 2015 This is GREAT! So worried about staying traditional, I forgot we can eat what we want :) Just hope there is a Tandoor on the Splendor! Tandoor is outside, aft of the buffet, starboard side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LHARTWICK Posted October 30, 2015 #16 Share Posted October 30, 2015 So is there a traditional Thanksgiving turkey meal on board or not - I'm seeing yes AND no. Confused?? We'll be on the Dream that week. Jamaica is our port of call that day, but we won't get off the ship anyway, so whether or not stores are open/closed there doesn't matter to us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SadieN Posted October 30, 2015 #17 Share Posted October 30, 2015 The turkey dinner in the MDR is the same one that is served weekly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balcony bound Posted October 30, 2015 #18 Share Posted October 30, 2015 We have cruised a couple of Thanksgiving weeks in the past. We have found the ship a little crowded on those trips; lots of families. As said above, U.S. ports lots of things closed, but we've also had port stop on Thanksgiving non-U.S. was very normal. Also, the turkey in the lido buffet was far superior to the dining room if you want traditional thanksgiving food. Have a great trip! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunkie103 Posted October 30, 2015 #19 Share Posted October 30, 2015 We had Thanksgiving dinner on the Breeze a few years ago. I ordered the turkey and it was nothing special. If I had it to do over again I would order something different.:o Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topo Gigio Posted October 30, 2015 #20 Share Posted October 30, 2015 I did the Dream out of NY when she was brand new, and it was a madhouse with 1300 kids onboard. I said never again a Thanksgiving cruise until last year when I did one on the Eurodam and there were only 25 very well behaved kids onboard! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PekingeseLady Posted October 31, 2015 #21 Share Posted October 31, 2015 Thanksgiving dinner is in no way typical. I too would never order turkey dinner again.:mad: Tons of kids, following week hardly any kids. We did a B2B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LHARTWICK Posted November 2, 2015 #22 Share Posted November 2, 2015 Suddenly I'm really regretting booking this one! In my defense it's a big family cruise and these dates were the only dates possible for the person who arranged it. We'll try to have fun anyway. I'll make sure my ear plugs are packed! Beats being at work anyway! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cntrydncr1 Posted November 2, 2015 #23 Share Posted November 2, 2015 The wild kids were the downside to our trip last year but not bad enough to keep us home this year! just go with the flow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCruisers Posted November 2, 2015 #24 Share Posted November 2, 2015 Normal turkey dinner in MDR. Lido carves whole turkeys, only place to get dark meat. Absolutely go to the Lido! :) The turkey at the MDR for Thanksgiving Dinner on Fantasy was from a pressed turkey roll and REALLY bad. LuLu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhamilt0512 Posted November 2, 2015 #25 Share Posted November 2, 2015 Over the past 4 years we have taken a Thanksgiving cruise on Carnival 3 times. Everyone is correct that there will be a ton of kids on board. All three years the ship sailed at coast card capacity meaning if the room could hold 4 people it did. That being said what we found is lots of large family groups and therefore a little better supervising of the kids than we have seen on other cruises. Yes it was crowded but all three trips were wonderful and we had a great time. enjoy your holiday! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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