Late Night Food Upgrades

[lottiegreen56]

 I was just thinking about cruising, shocker I know. In past 18 months, we've done 7 (Yes, 7!!!) Carnival Cruises, 2 Royal and 1 Princess Cruise. I have 2 CCL and 2 Viking on the near horizon as well, we're very blessed.

 

In general, Carnival does the food the best in my opinion. The Seaday Brunch/Dinner/Breakfast/Lunch MDR experience is all better than Princess and much much better than Royal. Princess has better buffets by a small degree than Royal and Carnival is respectably behind them both though not by much. Royal probably has the best room service given they all pretty much charge now, but they all have dropped in quality/value. Guys Burgers/Blue Iguana sets Carnival apart and the sushi is the best at sea. Carnival's specialty restaurants are the worst but that doesn't affect me, my family or lots of other people who don't use them.

 

The area that Carnival is really lacking is late night dining options. The late night snacks buffet when the have them is nothing compared to the other lines. The pizza and Deli wait time is never worth it and the room service also seems to take forever to get service. I do understand and can appreciate that carnival is trying to minimize waste and cost associate with a Midnight Buffet but it seems to me that they could do a little more or offer high quality items at night. 

 

Am I in the minority here? If not, what would you like to see added? 

 

 

[LandlockedCruiser01]

Carnival already implemented a new late-night menu, starting in April 2018.  I think it's already fleetwide, but maybe not.  The new late night snacks are available 11:30 PM to 1:00 AM.  There are:

* chicken noodle soup

* 2 kinds of pasta

* 3 kinds of sandwiches

* 2 kinds of cookies

 

Link: http://www.zydecocruiser.net/menus/2018latenewcarnivalmenu.jpg

 

I think these are great drunk foods, except for, maybe, chicken soup.  (Unless it's an Alaska cruise, and you gotta warm up after a late-night stroll on the deck.)  Pastas in particular soaks up the alcohol pretty well, they're flavorful, and they're easy to eat when your coordination is all out of whack.  With many Fun Ship 2.0 features being more like Cutbacks 2.0 in disguise, I'd say this is a great improvement.

 

After 1:00 AM, the usual 24-hour pizza is still available like before.

 

Edited July 11, 2019 by LandlockedCruiser01

[lottiegreen56]

I've been on 6 CCL cruises on 3 ships since then and am familiar with what you're talking about. The sandwiches never seemed to rotate and always included coney dogs (yuck). I never did see a pasta option. The cookies are good but I guess I just wanted something different. I appreciate they tried but wish they'd tried harder!

[xDisconnections]

Prior to Guy’s, I loved the late night options on Carnival. Every night I stopped by the grill or the Lido restaurant (depending on the ship class) to get something. They had burgers, hot dogs, chicken fingers, grilled chicken, fries, and a few other options in addition to the pizza.

 

At least those items can still be found late at night from room service on other cruise lines and Princess keeps their grill open until 11pm. Much more reasonable than the limited hours at Guy’s.

Edited July 11, 2019 by xDisconnections

[TxTeach79]

Not dogsled?

 

The previous text is right... there's a solid late light menu til 1:30 in the lido now with a couple of pastas and a few different sandwiches. You've also got pizza and the deli open late or 24. It's not bad at all. 

[xDisconnections]

2 minutes ago, TxTeach79 said:

Not dogsled?

 

The previous text is right... there's a solid late light menu til 1:30 in the lido now with a couple of pastas and a few different sandwiches. You've also got pizza and the deli open late or 24. It's not bad at all. 

Weird autocorrect 🙂

 

Thanks

[mets123]

Was on the Sunrise last month. I did not like the layout of the Marketplace but food was available until 1 am.

[Out of Iowa]

We are not night owls....we are morning people.  I'd like to see something more added earlier for breakfast!  I realize I am in the minority.  But starting a beautiful day at sea at sunrise needs more than just a cup of cocoa...

[Joebucks]

I tried the room service philly cheesesteak. It was outstanding.

 

I also love the new deli. Sometimes the lines are longer than others, but man that buffalo chicken sandwhich with truffle fries? Too good. I wish it was available a little later though

[CruisingViper]

1 hour ago, Joebucks said:

I tried the room service philly cheesesteak. It was outstanding.

 

I also love the new deli. Sometimes the lines are longer than others, but man that buffalo chicken sandwich with truffle fries? Too good. I wish it was available a little later though

yes, I love that and the reuben. Was very disappointed the Valor didn't have the buffalo chicken last year.

 

Also, I appreciate the late night food options, but it's not a big deal to me because, damn, I have to stop eating at some point right?

Edited July 11, 2019 by CruisingViper

[Garth2]

We prefer late seating for dinner, so we rarely eat in the wee small hours and everything is available to us during the day. 

[purplephenom]

I wish the late night sandwiches would at least rotate a little.  Say have 4 options and 2 available each night.  They're not my favorite thing ever, but if I'm starving at night, they're ok.  But a little variety would be nice to see.  

 

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

I must disagree on what other ships offer. Carnival is the worst at late night. Years ago they had the awesome midnight buffet, were you took pictures of it before you were allowed to eat. Celebrity has fresh baked pizza, in a pizza oven not a conveyor and not burnt. A large variety of desserts and a full salad line. Including you make your own sandwiches with fresh bread or rolls. As for the buffet. Carnival has the least variety for sure. We are diamond and like the Carnival ships and cruises. The food has a lot do be desired. As for Guys. They WERE great when they started. No longer. still a good burger but not like they were. I also disagree on the specialty restaurants not being any good. We think the steak house has excellent steaks and the least cost in the industry. $38.00 including the gratuity.

[amyotravel]

You can get a cheese plate from the MDR or make one off the buffet and take it to the room for later/put it in the fridge. Also, can get something earlier from deli and do the same; just have to plan ahead and be in the mood for that thing when it comes time.

[DukeASUGirl]

4 hours ago, Out of Iowa said:

We are not night owls....we are morning people.  I'd like to see something more added earlier for breakfast!  I realize I am in the minority.  But starting a beautiful day at sea at sunrise needs more than just a cup of cocoa...

Yes! Continental breakfast just doesn't cut it if you're an early riser and want to eat before getting off the ship for port. Sure, I can wait 30 minutes for breakfast in the buffet or an hour for the MDR, but I don't want to. Why can't we have full breakfast at 6 am? Am I really that much in the minority, especially on days when you can get off the ship at 7:30?

[purplephenom]

3 minutes ago, DukeASUGirl said:

Yes! Continental breakfast just doesn't cut it if you're an early riser and want to eat before getting off the ship for port. Sure, I can wait 30 minutes for breakfast in the buffet or an hour for the MDR, but I don't want to. Why can't we have full breakfast at 6 am? Am I really that much in the minority, especially on days when you can get off the ship at 7:30?

 

You might be. :-)  I feel i'm cutting it close, getting up to Lido 45 minutes or so before we can get off the ship.  But it never fails, the lines just as I am finishing up breakfast are waaaaay longer than when i first get up there. 

[DukeASUGirl]

Just now, purplephenom said:

 

You might be. 🙂 I feel i'm cutting it close, getting up to Lido 45 minutes or so before we can get off the ship.  But it never fails, the lines just as I am finishing up breakfast are waaaaay longer than when i first get up there. 

I'm up anyway. I don't want to wait another 30 minutes to eat. I am up by 5 at home, so sleeping in until almost 6 on a cruise feels like a huge luxury. There's no way I'd be able to sleep later than that! LOL (And if I have an excursion, I'm not bothering with a shower because I'll just get sweaty, so "getting ready" is really just using the restroom and putting on clothes.)

 

The buffet lines are longer the closer it gets to the time to get off the ship. I don't actually get there at 6 when continental breakfast starts, but more like 6:15 or 6:20 and then I have to twiddle my thumbs until 6:30 to get something more substantial. But getting there at 6:30 I feel like I'm cutting it close because I don't want to just eat and run -- need to get back to cabin afterwards to brush teeth and get everything organized before I go.

[pacruise804]

We would like early breakfast (5:30 or 6:00) too.

[scpirate]

On 7/11/2019 at 11:17 AM, CruisingViper said:

yes, I love that and the reuben. Was very disappointed the Valor didn't have the buffalo chicken last year.

 

Also, I appreciate the late night food options, but it's not a big deal to me because, damn, I have to stop eating at some point right?

If you must! We are on a cruise so eating 8 times a day is a requirement.when we are home twice is enough.

[lottiegreen56]

7 hours ago, scpirate said:

If you must! We are on a cruise so eating 8 times a day is a requirement.when we are home twice is enough.

 

 

Lol it's funny, I eat 0-2 times a day at home but at least triple my consumption at sea. I work out a ton, walk a lot more (stairs) and drinking gives me the munchies so I would say some of it is justified. I usually gain 2-5 pounds on a trip from salt/water retention. 

[beshears]

Maybe I haven't paid that much attention to the food that a person can get after 9:00.  The reason I say this, I try to go up to the buffet area around that time to see what is available.  Normally they are cleaning up, and putting the food that has been out, away.  Someone mentioned "cookies", which I love!  I have never seen any out late, unless they picked the cookies up "earlier" than 9:00 or so?

[LandlockedCruiser01]

1 hour ago, beshears said:

Maybe I haven't paid that much attention to the food that a person can get after 9:00.  The reason I say this, I try to go up to the buffet area around that time to see what is available.  Normally they are cleaning up, and putting the food that has been out, away.  Someone mentioned "cookies", which I love!  I have never seen any out late, unless they picked the cookies up "earlier" than 9:00 or so?

You were there at the tail end of the dinner service; it cuts off at 9:30.  Before Fun Ship 2.0, late-night snacks consisted of burgers, hot dogs, fries, chicken strips, etc.  I've sailed on ships that haven't been 2.0'ed, so I've seen it.  That changed with introduction of Guy's Burgers, due to some non-compete clause, where only Guy's could serve burgers and fries.  Which left only pizza at night.  Better late-night food offerings, which includes cookies, were reintroduced with the recent upgrade.  And since none of them are burgers or fries, I guess they're legit.

Edited July 13, 2019 by LandlockedCruiser01

[coevan]

4 hours ago, LandlockedCruiser01 said:

That changed with introduction of Guy's Burgers, due to some non-compete clause, where only Guy's could serve burgers and fries

 

 

What? Guy's closes at 6, who would a late night burger compete with? 

[vicky3vicky]

Are these new late night options served on a buffet? Or where? I think a cup of chicken soup before going to bed sounds wonderful!

[LandlockedCruiser01]

1 hour ago, coevan said:

What? Guy's closes at 6, who would a late night burger compete with? 

The clause applies to "where", rather than "when": only Guy's can serve burgers on the lido deck.  (The new Seaday Brunch menu has burgers, so the clause doesn't apply to the MDR.)  The same is true with BlueIguana Cantina (Carnival's own brand); because of their clause, the mega deck party no longer has the full Mexican buffet, but only chips and salsa.  I remember reading about on this site some years ago.

 

1 hour ago, vicky3vicky said:

Are these new late night options served on a buffet? Or where? I think a cup of chicken soup before going to bed sounds wonderful!

It's on the buffet, same place where the old late-night snacks used to be before 2.0.  I don't know if I'd eat chicken soup as a bedtime snack; it strikes as more of a lunch or dinner food.  Then again, the Japanese eat miso soup for breakfast.  So if chicken soup is served, there must be a demand for it.

Edited July 13, 2019 by LandlockedCruiser01