Carnival Cruise Lines’ new Breeze is a truly gorgeous ship equipped with features that will make her passengers very happy, but much of the buzz on board centers on the food. It ranges from good to spectacular, and there is a tremendous variety of choice for every taste and dietary need.
The Lido is definitely the best on any Carnival ship. Lunchtime, once pretty predictable, makes you wish you had three or four stomachs, just to be sure you didn’t miss something. We never even made it to the dining room, and more than one passenger wished that Carnival would publish a map of the Lido Marketplace. Passengers asked one another where they got their Indian food, tacos, pastas, Lower East Side deli sandwiches and much more.
The Tandoori Bar draws crowds with meats, vegetables and the traditional accompaniments such as chutneys and naan. If you aren’t full from the Tandoori Bar, you can run over to Guy’s Burger Joint, where the Breeze doles out an average of around a thousand decked-out burgers a day, along with French fries.
Or you can obey the call of the Taco Bar, which features amazing fish tacos, meats and vegetarian fillings as well as a station filled with salsas of all kinds. Guests choose their ingredients for custom Mongolian Wok meals and balance stacks of sandwiches or tuna salad from the deli, along with real New York dill pickles. The real miracle is that there is room for the dessert spread. All this is without charge, as is the pasta lunch in Cucina del Capitano and the pie selection at the 24-hour Pizza Pirate.
You can also pay a small fee and munch out in the new Sushi +, try Mexican fare at Blue Iguana Cantina, head for the dining room for a gracious, relaxed lunch or enjoy pub grub at the Red Frog. Carnival has invested in new, distinctive uniforms for each dining venue and matched music and staff to the particular dining atmosphere. Expect Asian staff in the Sushi restaurant, for example.
The Breeze offers plenty of vegetarian, vegan, sugar-free and fat-free choices, from sugar-free jams and jellies to the dessert table, and there is soy milk as well as milk and cream on offer at the coffee machines, as well as herbal teas, juices, iced tea, lemonade and more available at the press of a button all day.
Room service also has a nice selection of sandwiches, salads, desserts and fruit. There are specialty coffees, pastries and more at Cherry on Top, which is set up like a New York candy shop with glowing jars of every color as well as little chocolate mice that are much too charming to eat.
In short, nobody’s starving aboard the Breeze.
The Details
Carnival Cruise Lineswww.carnival.com
