Key Aspects:
- Food trucks and restaurants on Celebration Key will now open at 10 a.m. when ships with shorter visits are in port.
- This change comes following guest feedback and examining itinerary schedules for ships from more distant homeports.
- Celebration Key has 14 food trucks offering diverse menus featuring both classic favorites and Bahamian specialties.
Less than a month after its grand opening, Carnival Cruise Line is making operational adjustments to Celebration Key in a way guests will appreciate. In particular, guests sailing on Carnival Pride will benefit from the tweaking.
It is the hours for the various food trucks and restaurants at the destination that the cruise line is adjusting, with good cause. Since Celebration Key opened, the 14 food trucks and numerous casual and full-service restaurants have begun serving Island Eats and other delicious options at 11:30 a.m.
For most ships, this is a perfectly reasonable time for guests to enjoy chicken wings, cheeseburgers, tacos, wraps, mini donuts, caesar salads, and more.
For one particular ship with unique timing to the destination, however, that might be leaving lunch a bit late compared to the overall port time.
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This has come to the attention of John Heald, Carnival Cruise Line’s brand ambassador, and he announced the change in a daily Facebook video.
“A quick thing about Carnival Pride and maybe one or two other ships that have a shorter time at Celebration Key,” he said. “Now, obviously it takes longer to get all the way up to Baltimore than it does just to cross and up a little bit into one of the Florida home ports.”
Numerous guests have written to Heald, noting that when the food doesn’t open until 11:30 a.m., that doesn’t give a lot of time for everyone to enjoy a meal, then return to the ship for an earlier departure.
Carnival Pride sails from Baltimore and her 7-night Bahamas cruises visit Celebration Key, but only from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.
With dining service not starting until 11:30 a.m., that means guests can enjoy just 90 minutes of food service at most, depending on the all-aboard time.
In comparison, Carnival Celebration sails from Miami and visits Celebration Key from 7 a.m. until 4 p.m., giving guests much more flexibility for onshore dining.
Similarly, ships sailing from Port Canaveral, including Carnival Freedom and Mardi Gras, are at Celebration Key from 7 or 8 a.m. generally until 4 p.m. or 5 p.m.
Now, however, food service is being adjusted to better accommodate ships with shorter port visits.
“All the restaurants, the food trucks, the food hall, everything there, are now going to be opening as of today, for the shorter [visits], from 10 a.m.,” Heald confirmed.
“That should give you enough chance to enjoy all the food options and not have to rush back to the ship after doing so.”
Heald does not indicate that there will be any opening hours change for ships that remain in port longer. Nevertheless, this news will be welcome for the thousands of guests who might not have quite as long to enjoy Celebration Key.
Food Options at Celebration Key
Carnival’s new private destination on Grand Bahama Island is using restaurants as well as a food truck model of service rather than the classic all-you-can-eat island barbecue (which, quite frankly, every other island does).
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To that end, there are 14 different food truck stations, all offering unique and flavorful options. This provides more selections and vastly different tastes for guests to enjoy, such as:
- Streatery Sushiva – Orange chicken roll or a Crazy California roll, plus other fusion tastes with tuna, conch, shrimp, and more
- Mini Donut King – Classic plain, glazed, powdered sugar, and cinnamon sugar as well as specialty donuts like pina colada and guava cheesecake
- Grand Bahama Taco Co. – Jerk chicken, fried fish, steak, and cheese tacos and quesadillas with Bahamian coleslaw or jerk mayo
- Flippin’ Fritters – Conch, shrimp, and corn fritters as well as lobster, veggie, and sweet options with different dipping sauces
In addition, several restaurants are available with even more options, such as Gill’s Grill with both land and sea family-friendly choices and the Surf N’ Sauce BBQ & Brews restaurant with its outdoor smoker.
These are just a few of the tasty bites available at Celebration Key. Guests can select one meal from a food truck’s “Island Eats” menu for free, and other menu options are available for different prices.
Carnival’s one-meal-only dining plan at Celebration Key has caused some controversy, but portions are generous and guests can always purchase additional food if they wish.
Heald has explained that many of the food vendors at Celebration Key are independent operators, hence why the “Island Eats” menus are more limited. Guests’ Sail and Sign cards are valid at Celebration Key, however, and charges can be made directly to their onboard accounts.
