Carnival Cruise Line Testing Dining Room Menu Changes

Carnival Cruise Line will be trialing a fully revamped Dining room menu onboard Carnival Dream, with plans to roll out the changes to the rest of the fleet by the fall.

The company’s president, Christine Duffy, unveiled the plans during a video shot onboard Carnival Venezia. Not only is Carnival addressing portion sizing, but it will also bring dishes from the specialty restaurants to the main dining rooms and introduce many new dishes, including vegetarian options.

After a long period without change, Carnival Cruise Line president Christine Duffy announced today, June 16, a massive change to the cruise line’s dining menus. The cruise line’s fans will welcome the changes as it addresses many issues that guests have brought forward. 

The upcoming changes to the dining experience, which include the introduction of nearly 60 new dishes, will be tested first onboard Carnival Dream. According to Duffy’s recent video message, the changes result from a rigorous process. You can watch the video below:

“Starting with this Saturday’s embarkation on Carnival Dream, we’re gonna be testing a new menu in the main dining room. Then the goal is that we’ll start implementing these changes across the fleet this fall.”

“Now, this was all done in consultation with our chief culinary officer, Emeril Lagasse. Where we’ve been looking at every aspect of the main dining room offerings. I think our guests are gonna be very excited as we plan to bring more variety with nearly 60 new entree presentations that will rotate through,” Duffy said in a video shot onboard the cruise line’s newest cruise ship, Carnival Venezia.

Variety and Portion Sizes

The new menu aims to bring a sense of variety to the dining room with nearly 60 new rotating entree presentations. Moreover, it’s not just the number of choices that are changing – certain dishes will now be available in larger portions, while the cruise line also plans to introduce certain specialty restaurant offerings in the main dining room.

“The menu in Main Dining the menu is gonna include offerings from our specialty dining restaurants across the fleet so that more of our guests can experience the wide variety of great food we offer no matter which ship you’re sailing on. And we’re also addressing bigger portion offerings on certain entrees based on your feedback,” Duffy noted.

However, fan-favorite dishes such as the chocolate melting cake and bitter and blanc will still be on the menu. Moreover, the enhancements will bring a broader range of dietary items, with Duffy revealing an increase in vegetarian options and the introduction of a dining entree salad with a protein component.

The menu changes also extend to the Carnival Journeys voyages. Guests aboard these longer itineraries can look forward to more variety to keep the dining experience exciting. 

Christine Duffy: “We’re also gonna be offering more vegetarian options and we’ve decided to add a dining  entree salad, so a nice big salad with a protein and Carnival Journeys voyages will also have more variety to keep things fun.”

Carnival Dream Takes the Lead

As Carnival Dream embarks on its 8-night Eastern Caribbean voyage from Galveston, Texas, on Saturday, June 17, it will provide the first real test for the new menu. Before returning to Galveston, the cruise includes stops at Key West, Florida, and Freeport, Half Moon Cay, and Nassau, Bahamas.

As part of the trial, Duffy encourages guests sailing on Carnival Dream this summer to enjoy the new menu and share their feedback. “So if you are gonna be sailing Carnival Dream this summer, enjoy the new menu. I know you’ll be sharing your feedback.”

With the cruise line planning to introduce these menu enhancements fleetwide soon, it will be interesting to see if the changes are indeed something guests will love.