San Juan Food and Formal nights

[Jennifer24r]

Hi everyone!

 

We are sailing on Carnival Sunshine next month and are so excited! We are doing the 8 day eastern Caribbean route and have never cruised with Carnival before. I have a few questions regarding formal nights and things to do in port.

 

1. Are formal nights on the first and last sea day? I know on one of the formal nights the main dining room serves steak and lobster....what is the specialty on the last formal night?

 

2. Where is the best place to find good authentic Puerto Rican food in Old San Juan? I looked at a few restaurants online and they seem very Americanized. I’m looking for authentic roast pig, Spanish rice and plantains with garlic 🤤[emoji39]

 

3. Any must see shows and/or events? With so much to do I want to make sure we are making the most of our time and usually love the shows on the ships we have been on.

 

Thanks for any info you can provide!!!!!!!

 

 

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[A&Jfamily]

Ours was a 7 day - so different, but I can make some educated guesses. Yes, the first sea day will be formal and that is known as lobster night (also have prime rib). The second has jumbo shrimp and a filet with short ribs. This likely will not be your last sea days, but one of the two days proceeding that - with the earliest departure from your port of call.

 

I can't comment about the food from memory but if you look on the ports of call board you will see several recommendations.

 

The things not to miss are alchemy bar and comedy club. You may want to go 20+ minutes early (keep an eye on the crowd) because the good seats are limited. They will open the doors after the lounge is cleared from the preceding show and then fill for the next. We have seen pretty much all the shows and nothing really stands out as outstanding with regard to the show lounge. We do have fun watching MUTS or going to piano bar for a sing along. Don't miss having dinner at JiJi's ($15 pp upcharge and fantastic) and we also love steakhouse.

[Alaskan Joe]

Hi everyone!

 

We are sailing on Carnival Sunshine next month and are so excited! We are doing the 8 day eastern Caribbean route and have never cruised with Carnival before. I have a few questions regarding formal nights and things to do in port.

 

1. Are formal nights on the first and last sea day? I know on one of the formal nights the main dining room serves steak and lobster....what is the specialty on the last formal night?

 

2. Where is the best place to find good authentic Puerto Rican food in Old San Juan? I looked at a few restaurants online and they seem very Americanized. I’m looking for authentic roast pig, Spanish rice and plantains with garlic 🤤[emoji39]

 

1. Are formal nights on the first and last sea day? I know on one of the formal nights the main dining room serves steak and lobster....what is the specialty on the last formal night? First off, formal nights are subject to change from the CD. However, they are pretty uniformed looking at your cruise this is what I project. Your formal nights will be day #2 sea day and day #6 San Juan. Remember formal night will never be your last day of the cruise because of having suite cases out in the hallway that night. You would not be able to pack formals do you want to wear formals home, so it should never be the last night. As for food for formal nights the first one should be the steak and lobster night (if you did not know ask for seconds if you want it's free), the second night I believe is prime rib, and its prime rib not roast beef.

[Alaskan Joe]

By the way I cannot commit on San Juan food we got stuck eating at one of those Americanized places.

[Organized Chaos]

Here's the four Playlist Production shows available on Sunshine. It's Carnival's live music shows held in the main theater. You'll probably read a lot of negative comments about Playlist Production, it's kind of hard to find many people on here that like them, but I suggest giving them a try if any of the descriptions sounds good.

 

Epic Rock - Rock's greatest hits are on display at this show featuring tunes from Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, Guns n' Roses, Journey and Bon Jovi, accompanied by lots of laser light effects.

 

Latin Nights - A musical tour through the pop hits that brought Latin music and dance to the masses, including favorites from Gloria Estefan, Enrique Iglesias, Jennifer Lopez, Santana and Shakira.

 

Motor City - The cool sounds of Motown R&B are the centerpiece of this show, with soul and pop hits from Lionel Richie, Martha and the Vandellas, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and The Supremes all featured.

 

Studio VIP - A musical tribute to the era of Studio 54 and Soul Train, this music-and-dance extravaganza showcases the glittery '70s with hits from KC and the Sunshine Band, Donna Summer, Barry White, Parliament and more. In a fun twist, a few lucky audience members are selected to join the singers and dancers on the big stage.

[Sixtytwo]

Carnival no longer has “formal” nights. They have gone to “Cruise elegant”. You are not required to wear ties or formal dresses. It is now pretty much what you would call nice “church clothes”.

 

 

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[Havingfun2010]

Hi everyone!

 

We are sailing on Carnival Sunshine next month and are so excited! We are doing the 8 day eastern Caribbean route and have never cruised with Carnival before. I have a few questions regarding formal nights and things to do in port.

 

1. Are formal nights on the first and last sea day? I know on one of the formal nights the main dining room serves steak and lobster....what is the specialty on the last formal night?

 

2. Where is the best place to find good authentic Puerto Rican food in Old San Juan? I looked at a few restaurants online and they seem very Americanized. I’m looking for authentic roast pig, Spanish rice and plantains with garlic 🤤[emoji39]

 

Started laughing when you said the food in PR was Americanized. Last I checked, PR food is American food just like all the other states/territories may have local flavors, but in the end, they are what our country is about. San Juan, is a tourist area. What you are looking for, won't be found in San Juan. Just like all over our country, the best foods come from the small independent owned restaurants off the beaten path. A roasted pig is made in a pit, in the backyard. You won't find that in a city.

 

3. Any must see shows and/or events? With so much to do I want to make sure we are making the most of our time and usually love the shows on the ships we have been on.

 

Thanks for any info you can provide!!!!!!!

 

 

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.....

[Jennifer24r]

Thank you everyone for all the great info! This definitely helps with the planning process [emoji2]

 

 

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[AZchieffan]

Restaurante Casita Miramar in San Juan is really good, but only open for dinner

[Organized Chaos]

Carnival no longer has “formal” nights. They have gone to “Cruise elegant”. You are not required to wear ties or formal dresses. It is now pretty much what you would call nice “church clothes”.

Po-tA-to, po-tAH-to. The constant correction over the semantics of formal and elegant is getting real old, real quick. Without fail, anytime someone uses the word "formal," they're met with this unnecessary clarification. They perfectly understand the concept of the evening regardless of which word they use.

[stargate fan]

Hi everyone!

 

We are sailing on Carnival Sunshine next month and are so excited! We are doing the 8 day eastern Caribbean route and have never cruised with Carnival before. I have a few questions regarding formal nights and things to do in port.

 

1. Are formal nights on the first and last sea day? I know on one of the formal nights the main dining room serves steak and lobster....what is the specialty on the last formal night?

 

2. Where is the best place to find good authentic Puerto Rican food in Old San Juan? I looked at a few restaurants online and they seem very Americanized. I’m looking for authentic roast pig, Spanish rice and plantains with garlic 🤤[emoji39]

 

3. Any must see shows and/or events? With so much to do I want to make sure we are making the most of our time and usually love the shows on the ships we have been on.

 

Thanks for any info you can provide!!!!!!!

 

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I searched on TripAdvisor and found these. Hope the link works. (remember to sub a period for "dot" when you copy and paste the link.)

https://www dot tripadvisor dot com/Restaurants-g147320-San_Juan_Puerto_Rico.html

[stargazer424]

We went to the food trucks a few blocks from the port and got something called pionono. It was fried plantains stuffed with meat. Greasy but really good!