Late night food

[Tammyd549]

I've sailed Carnival more times that I can count since 1991.  But I'm a NCL fan. Considering a Panorama cruise next month cause the price is right but wondering if they solved the late night food issue. Last cruise on the Horizon in 2019 had only pizza available late night with an INSANE wait, like 2 hours.

Does anyone know if this has been addressed? Our family likes to stay up late and eat late so, maybe we need to spend the extra $$ and do NCL again.

I want to love Carnival , I really do, I've been sailing them so long but since the midnight buffet disappeared, so has my devotion to the Carnival.

Thanks for any input or tips. !!

[1025cruise]

Well, due to current staffing issues, pizza is no longer open from 3am to 8am. Otherwise, its room service.

[jerseygirlinAZ]

We're planning on keeping a sandwich or two in the room for those nighttime hunger pains.  Will likely take a cheese plate to go from the MDR as well.

[Itried4498]

We returned from the Panorama last Saturday.  For late night dining, the deli was open until 11PM*, and pizza until either 1AM or 3AM (both times were listed on the app, and we don't stay up that late 🙂 to check which is accurate).  Room service is also available.  *The deli literally closed shortly after 11PM; they closed the line off before 10:30PM.

 

And I think you can replace "staffing issues" with "cutbacks" :).

[HEATH3913]

The Local for some wings or a snack sure is nice at 1 am. Just bite the bullet and get room service that late on Carnival.

[xDisconnections]

Yikes — two hours for a pizza? 

[cruisingguy007]

1 hour ago, xDisconnections said:

Yikes — two hours for a pizza? 

 

Three in some cases, no late night lido buffet to grab a hotdog/hamburger fries and other greasy eats. Total cluster. Hopefully that's one of the first things that returns. It's sorely needed.  

[mondello]

I was on Sunshine 12/26 and Vista 3/26, both ships opened a late night section of the buffet every night. Grilled ham/cheese, small meatball sub, caprese sandwich, penne pasta w/marinara, chicken noodle soup, and cookies. This was offered every night around 11:30-1:00 or 1:30.

[Itried4498]

2 hours ago, mondello said:

I was on Sunshine 12/26 and Vista 3/26, both ships opened a late night section of the buffet every night. Grilled ham/cheese, small meatball sub, caprese sandwich, penne pasta w/marinara, chicken noodle soup, and cookies. This was offered every night around 11:30-1:00 or 1:30.

Our Panorama cruises early in the year had the same selection, but it’s now gone, blamed on “staffing” issues but likely just a $ervice cutback.

[ScratchTheRat]

Maybe it's a cultural thing, but I've never understood the need or desire to eat that late. Nor have I ever been hungry on a cruise. I can barely eat at each meal time, there's so much food!

 

I don't think I've ever eaten after 9pm on a cruise.

[1025cruise]

2 hours ago, Itried4498 said:

Our Panorama cruises early in the year had the same selection, but it’s now gone, blamed on “staffing” issues but likely just a $ervice cutback.

No, its staffing issues. The US government is being slow in issuing the visas needed for the crew to return to work. Once the ships are fully staffed up again, these thing are expected to return.

[mz-s]

It's probably even worse these days. I've seen reports that the Deli is now closing earlier due to staffing issues, at least on some sailings. And the late night snacks buffet is going away, replaced by the pizza counter (yes, the place that has ridiculous lines) serving pastas late at night.

 

I sorely miss the late night snacks buffet on Carnival, back when it was good - hot dogs with chili, fries, things like that. And the 24/7 room service. It's a shame they're gone.

[Indiansbaseball]

32 minutes ago, ScratchTheRat said:

Maybe it's a cultural thing, but I've never understood the need or desire to eat that late. Nor have I ever been hungry on a cruise. I can barely eat at each meal time, there's so much food!

 

I don't think I've ever eaten after 9pm on a cruise.

I don’t think it’s cultural, we don’t eat that late either. I think it’s something they like to do. 

[ScratchTheRat]

20 hours ago, Indiansbaseball said:

I don’t think it’s cultural, we don’t eat that late either. I think it’s something they like to do. 

My point with the cultural comment was that I've seen a lot of people talking about this lately and it seems to be from only US cruisers. Is it more common in the US to eat later? I'd say here in the UK, the only time anyone eats after say 8pm is if they've been out drinking at the clubs lol

[Purvis1231]

It is my understanding you can now order room service anywhere on the ship so that is a simple solution to the late-night munchies if you are still out and about on the ship. I understand why there is limited late-night food. Low staff and food waste. 

[ScratchTheRat]

3 minutes ago, Purvis1231 said:

It is my understanding you can now order room service anywhere on the ship so that is a simple solution to the late-night munchies if you are still out and about on the ship. I understand why there is limited late-night food. Low staff and food waste. 

The room service menu is lovely looking too!

[rtrtx2]

On 5/14/2022 at 4:41 AM, mondello said:

I was on Sunshine 12/26 and Vista 3/26, both ships opened a late night section of the buffet every night. Grilled ham/cheese, small meatball sub, caprese sandwich, penne pasta w/marinara, chicken noodle soup, and cookies. This was offered every night around 11:30-1:00 or 1:30.

I was on Vista last month and they did too, but just off Vista yesterday and the late night section of buffet is no longer being offered. Pizza is only included item until 3 am, after that it is only for a fee room service. The deli also closed earlier at 10 pm versus 11 last month. 

 

[jsglow]

1 hour ago, ScratchTheRat said:

My point with the cultural comment was that I've seen a lot of people talking about this lately and it seems to be from only US cruisers. Is it more common in the US to eat later? I'd say here in the UK, the only time anyone eats after say 8pm is if they've been out drinking at the clubs lol

No, it's just a vocal minority.

[CruisinNana]

Are soft serve ice cream machines available 24/7?

[vwrestler171]

You may think it is late, but when I'm sailing out of the east coast, its 2 hrs earlier for me.  

 

That being said, the wait for room service has led to a lot of food waste  I've placed an order and fallen asleep by the time it gets delivered.

[mz-s]

2 hours ago, Purvis1231 said:

It is my understanding you can now order room service anywhere on the ship so that is a simple solution to the late-night munchies if you are still out and about on the ship. I understand why there is limited late-night food. Low staff and food waste. 

 

Included room service ends at 10PM I believe. But I love the PB&J with pretzels. I miss the shrimp salad sandwich that used to be on the menu back when it was all included 24/7.

[Indiansbaseball]

4 hours ago, ScratchTheRat said:

My point with the cultural comment was that I've seen a lot of people talking about this lately and it seems to be from only US cruisers. Is it more common in the US to eat later? I'd say here in the UK, the only time anyone eats after say 8pm is if they've been out drinking at the clubs lol

And my best friend is from Montreal Quebec and their norm is to eat late. When we cruise with them, we choose late seating. When we cruise alone, we choose YTD. I think it’s just personal preference. Like the poster above said, time zone differences make people eat at different times to sync with being home. 

Edited May 15, 2022 by Indiansbaseball

[ScratchTheRat]

1 minute ago, Indiansbaseball said:

And my best friend is from Montreal Quebec and their norm is to eat late. When we cruise with them, we choose late seating. When we cruise alone, we choose YTD. I think it’s just personal preference. 

I find that very interesting.

I always see people being judgemental etc, but my questions are always to learn and show interest.

We all vacation differently and that's a good thing.

For me, I'm in bed usually before the buffet closes lol - I can't keep my eyes open past 11pm lol.

 

I'm really excited for my cruise in 4 weeks on the Pride and I doubt late night eating will be a factor for me, but I do hope that the staffing issue won't cause too many delays for dinners in the evening.

[Indiansbaseball]

Just now, ScratchTheRat said:

I find that very interesting.

I always see people being judgemental etc, but my questions are always to learn and show interest.

We all vacation differently and that's a good thing.

For me, I'm in bed usually before the buffet closes lol - I can't keep my eyes open past 11pm lol.

 

I'm really excited for my cruise in 4 weeks on the Pride and I doubt late night eating will be a factor for me, but I do hope that the staffing issue won't cause too many delays for dinners in the evening.

Learning is good, it’s why I come here. We are in bed early as well.  Try as hard as we can, we just can’t stay up late. Hubby starts work at 4 AM and we go to bed early and can’t seem to get out of that routine even on vacation ! 
Happy Cruising, just off the Magic and our next is the October ! 

[SRQbeachgirl]

1 hour ago, ScratchTheRat said:

I find that very interesting.

I always see people being judgemental etc, but my questions are always to learn and show interest.

We all vacation differently and that's a good thing.

For me, I'm in bed usually before the buffet closes lol - I can't keep my eyes open past 11pm lol.

 

I'm really excited for my cruise in 4 weeks on the Pride and I doubt late night eating will be a factor for me, but I do hope that the staffing issue won't cause too many delays for dinners in the evening.

 

Even at home hubby and I are rarely in bed before 11:30 - 12. During the week we are up by 6:45am. 

 

On vacation we will go to bed anywhere from midnight to 2am. Considering we usually have dinner around 6pm, we often get a little hungry before we go to bed. 

 

The room service BLT was always one of my go-to late night items, so I'm bummed they don't offer that on the after-10pm menu (unless someone knows if we can request it??). Pizza was our other preferred snack, but there's no way we're going to wait 2+ hours in line. Might have to be proactive and keep some sandwiches in the cabin fridge to combat those late-night munchies.