The Points Guy rates Carnival Food as excellent.

[crewsweeper]

Obviously this is very controversial and varies by cruisers and tastes but interesting.

 

Best cruise food: These are the 6 cruise lines with the best food at sea (msn.com) 

[ColeThornton]

Carnival at #1?

 

LOL.....no.   Just...no.

[BobbiSox]

I can usually find something I like in the buffet. The ice cream has come a long way; years ago it was like eating a melted fudsicle. Now it's thick and creamy. I don't do dining room. Hubby will eat anything that doesn't eat him first (and it shows) so he likes everything. 

[asalligo]

I understand this rating after trying a few other cruise lines recently. I was paying more in some cases and not getting more and MSC was the worst food we have ever had at sea. It is not just the quality of the food, but the options with other lines. Celebration has nine places at night for me to choose to eat from and frankly all the food was really good. RCCL had plenty of options, but they were all for an additional fee. I worry that this was just because Celebration is the flagship right now and that this might change later. 

 

[finoky]

The points Guy wasn't on my last Carnival cruise. The food was very sub par. 

[davy jones]

My $0.02.....  Carnival does casual food options pretty well.  Burgers, pizza, chicken sandwich, deli, BBQ, burritos, wok, etc.).   MDR and hot buffet dishes can be hit or miss.

[sunonfire]

Hit or miss on the food is a topic on every single cruise line on cruise critic.

[Saint Greg]

It seems like that's heavily based on Excel class. He doesn't even mention JiJis in the specialty restaurant section and he should. 

[notscb]

It sounds like he's talking more about food quality for value, plus adding in paid options which are usually better quality overall. I also agree that Carnival's extra options such as Guys and Shaq's are some of the best food I've had on a cruise.

[Saint Greg]

I think the people that have been on Virgin Voyages would probably disagree because the food seems to be the high point of that cruise line.

[Roscoe13]

20 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

I think the people that have been on Virgin Voyages would probably disagree because the food seems to be the high point of that cruise line.

That and several NTTAWI activities...

[kwokpot]

1 hour ago, Saint Greg said:

I think the people that have been on Virgin Voyages would probably disagree because the food seems to be the high point of that cruise line.

The article mentions Virgin and it's all included food fair,yet doesn't rank it above Carnival. Not very consistent logic and i can't imagine anything thinking Carnival's food is overall better than Virgin.

Look at these photos from Virgin and you tell me Carnival's Excel Class is better than this? (BTW, NONE of the food shown in the photos were extra, it was all included in the cruise price!)

[havanadaydreaming]

here's my at sea food rankings: 

 

NCL

CCL 

MSC (great lunch pizza buffet, but 2 hour MDR consistently drops them for me) 

 

 

i have no problem finding good dinners on Carnival, especially the MDR.   that said, i like to stay dressed down in casual clothing a couple nights a cruise.  The dinner buffet is adequate, i give it a C.  

 

pizza, gooooooood. burgers, goooooood.  drinks, gooooooood! (hat tip Joey Tribiani) 

 

[Joebucks]

2 hours ago, kwokpot said:

The article mentions Virgin and it's all included food fair,yet doesn't rank it above Carnival. Not very consistent logic and i can't imagine anything thinking Carnival's food is overall better than Virgin.

Look at these photos from Virgin and you tell me Carnival's Excel Class is better than this? (BTW, NONE of the food shown in the photos were extra, it was all included in the cruise price!)

 

Nearly half of that doesn't look that special. The other half could be bought on just about any cruise line. I'm sure it's good. However, I'm sure a leading attribute is FREEEEEEE (with a larger fare). 

 

I don't think anyone is saying Carnival's strength is dish for dish comparisons. The elitists can have their 2-4x more expensive cruise because their fish looks a little better. I think Carnival shines because of the combination of quality and quantity.

 

Personally, I don't think I can name anywhere where I look more forward to lunch than on a Carnival ship. Is Guy's the BEST burger I've ever had? No. Is BlueIguana the BEST taco I've ever had? No. However, the quality and quantity is just enjoyable and fun. Honestly, for the price of the cruise, the food quality is better than you'd expect.

[KKB]

Interesting comments.

We have sailed 30+ times.

Tried Carnival for first time in Jan, 14 days to Hawaii.

We found ALL the food very good--MDR, buffet, Guys, MX place.

 

We find Celebrity, Princess, Carnival, RCCL & NCL MDRs to be fairly comparable.

Celebrity & Carnival buffets win--Princess & NCL are OK; been 5 yrs since RCCL, don't remember.

Big fan of pizza/burgers by the pool everywhere.

Specialty dining goes to Celebrity, RCCL, DCL & NCL. (never been impressed with Princess & didn't try Carnival)

 

[kwokpot]

31 minutes ago, Joebucks said:

 

Nearly half of that doesn't look that special. The other half could be bought on just about any cruise line. I'm sure it's good. However, I'm sure a leading attribute is FREEEEEEE (with a larger fare). 

 

I don't think anyone is saying Carnival's strength is dish for dish comparisons. The elitists can have their 2-4x more expensive cruise because their fish looks a little better. I think Carnival shines because of the combination of quality and quantity.

 

Personally, I don't think I can name anywhere where I look more forward to lunch than on a Carnival ship. Is Guy's the BEST burger I've ever had? No. Is BlueIguana the BEST taco I've ever had? No. However, the quality and quantity is just enjoyable and fun. Honestly, for the price of the cruise, the food quality is better than you'd expect.

Have you actually sailed on Virgin? If not you really don't have a basis of comparison. And tbh if you compare the fares between a Virgin cruise and on Excel Class on Carnival you'll probably find that Virgin isn't more expensive if you factor in that Virgin bundles gratuities, soda and other soft drinks and unlimited specialty level dining that qualify as add-ons with Carnival (steakhouse, bonsai sushi, Rudi's, Emirl's).

[pc_load_letter]

58 minutes ago, Joebucks said:

Personally, I don't think I can name anywhere where I look more forward to lunch than on a Carnival ship. Is Guy's the BEST burger I've ever had? No. Is BlueIguana the BEST taco I've ever had? No. However, the quality and quantity is just enjoyable and fun. Honestly, for the price of the cruise, the food quality is better than you'd expect.

 

Yup!

 

We are on Radiance next week and both my wife and I can't wait for Shaq's chicken. While we are generally healthy eaters and will occasionally do Popeyes but it's rare. But on a cruise, we will eat tenders, slaw and chicken sandwiches several times over the cruise.

[LatinaInTexas]

That's surprising. Out of the 4 lines I have sailed I have consistently rated Carnival last on food in the MDR. On my last Carnival cruise I was not looking forward to MDR dinners so I booked specialty dining for all but one night out of 7. Really hoping we have the new menus for Sept cruise.

Not only was the food on MSC and NCL better tasting it actually looked good. When I read trip reviews and see the food pics it doesn't look good or appealing. I don't do the buffet but other food venues on Carnival are great.

[Drew B 58]

4 hours ago, KKB said:

“Celebrity & Carnival buffets win”

 

 

I find that comment shocking!  From everything I have seen (and I haven’t sailed Celebrity in about 15 years but I have seen lots of videos), Celebrity’s buffet blows Carnival’s out of the water in terms of both quality and selection!

[KKB]

1 hour ago, Drew B 58 said:

I find that comment shocking!  From everything I have seen (and I haven’t sailed Celebrity in about 15 years but I have seen lots of videos), Celebrity’s buffet blows Carnival’s out of the water in terms of both quality and selection!

I was shocked how good it was!

[jimbo5544]

10 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

I think the people that have been on Virgin Voyages would probably disagree because the food seems to be the high point of that cruise line.

sure beats the austere rooms....

[jimbo5544]

I sense some bashing coming....

[jimbo5544]

9 hours ago, kwokpot said:

The article mentions Virgin and it's all included food fair,yet doesn't rank it above Carnival. Not very consistent logic and i can't imagine anything thinking Carnival's food is overall better than Virgin.

Look at these photos from Virgin and you tell me Carnival's Excel Class is better than this? (BTW, NONE of the food shown in the photos were extra, it was all included in the cruise price!)

Just for sake of discussion, which cruise line would you rate Carnivals food better than?  Inquiring minds want to know.  

[kwokpot]

20 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

Just for sake of discussion, which cruise line would you rate Carnivals food better than?  Inquiring minds want to know.  

Overall? MSC (Non-Yacht Club). Where Carnival falls down is their buffet and MDR. It's inconceivable that anyone would rate Carnival's buffet over Celebrity. If you do then you're not being objective. Where Carnival excels is their fare included lunchtime offerings, especially on the Excel Class. I'll be on a new Royal ship (Odyssey) next month, the first Royal since 2020 literally a week before the shutdown and it will be right after a 12 night Celebrity Apex to Iceland so I'll be able to compare the latest Royal offerings. The next Carnival will be 30 nights on the Luminosa on the TP from Seattle to Brisbane.Then in December I'll be on NCL's newest flagship the Viva after my last cruise on them since 2017. 

[Joebucks]

6 hours ago, kwokpot said:

Have you actually sailed on Virgin? If not you really don't have a basis of comparison. And tbh if you compare the fares between a Virgin cruise and on Excel Class on Carnival you'll probably find that Virgin isn't more expensive if you factor in that Virgin bundles gratuities, soda and other soft drinks and unlimited specialty level dining that qualify as add-ons with Carnival (steakhouse, bonsai sushi, Rudi's, Emirl's).

 

The cheapest cruise on Virgin now through 2024 is $666 pp (before taxes and fees) for a 2 night cruise. It unequivocally is more expensive. I don't care how many things you think you're getting for free.