More than any other holiday, Thanksgiving is all about food. While different families have their own favorites, classic fall flavors like turkey, pumpkin, vegetables, and apples are all common choices for a Thanksgiving meal.

Carnival Cruise Line’s special Thanksgiving menus for 2025 do not disappoint and hit all the most popular tastes while giving guests even more elevated options to enjoy for their holiday meal.

To whet the appetite, guests in the Main Dining Room restaurants across the Carnival fleet can begin with warm baked brie with a spiced pear, cranberry, fig, and pecan crumble; deviled eggs with candied bacon and a ham, pea, and potato salad; or smoked ham and split pea soup.

Classic favorites are also available. This includes wild mushroom soup in a buttery puff pastry crust, a beef tenderloin tartare with horseradish cream, and a crab cake with lobster creole sauce.

For lighter fare, Caesar salad, shrimp cocktail, and “holiday salad” with cherry tomatoes, peaches, pickles, and orange herb dressing are available as appetizers.

Moving on to the main course, guests may be hard pressed to choose between these mouth-watering options:

• Roasted tom turkey with stuffing, sweet potato casserole, green beans, gravy, and cranberry relish
• Maple-glazed pork tenderloin served with apple compote, brussels sprouts, and sweet potato gratin
• Seared duck breast with cherry port sauce alongside red cabbage, fingerling potatoes, and asparagus
• Roasted lamb duo of loin and chaps with a potato rosette, carrot puree, and rosemary reduction
• Beer-braised beef short ribs served with a mac and cheese croquette garnished with pomegranate
• Blue cheese-crusted filet mignon with black truffle jus, mustard potatoes, and roasted vegetables
• Salmon wellington and spinach with tarragon cream sauce in a baked puff pastry enhanced with dill

Guests who prefer vegetarian dishes will be able to enjoy spinach and ricotta ravioli with a pumpkin and tomato cream sauce, a hearty lentil and vegetable pie with tomato brioche, or the flavors of India with a paneer tikka with fragrant spices and biryani rice.

The classic Steakhouse Selection entrees will still be available on the Thanksgiving dinner menu, including the surf and turf combo of grilled filet mignon and lobster tail, a New York strip steak, and more. An extra fee does apply for these choices.

The crowning glory of a holiday meal (at least for guests with a sweet tooth) is dessert, and Carnival’s Thanksgiving menus certainly deliver.

The swirled pumpkin pie cheesecake with spiced crisp and the caramel apple cobbler with butter pecan ice cream are sure to be top choices, but guests can also indulge in the seasonal taste of the maple pot de creme with caramelized pecans.

Classic favorites, including the warm chocolate melting cake, fresh tropical fruit, the iconic cheese plate, and a selection of ice cream and sherbet, are also available. It’s a holiday, try more than one dessert!

Buffet Also Offering Holiday Fare

Carnival guests don’t have to eat in the Main Dining Room to enjoy top holiday treats. While the presentation will be less elaborate and there may not be as many options available, guests who prefer the casual vibe of the Lido Marketplace buffet won’t be missing out.

Carved tom turkey and all the fixins will be on offer at the buffet, along with beer-braised short ribs, salmon wellington, maple-glazed ham, striploin steak, and more.

Read Also: Christmas on a Cruise Ship – What to Expect

The buffet does have a special difference that guests won’t find in the Main Dining Room, one that can matter a great deal to diners who like their turkey a certain way – or more specifically, who like a certain part of the turkey.

“Do they carve the meat at your table? If not why not?” one guest who will be on Mardi Gras for Thanksgiving asked John Heald. “Can anyone tell me how this works. Can you request the leg?”

Turkey legs can be a hotly contested delicacy for diners, but every turkey does, unfortunately, only offer two of these treats. With thousands of guests onboard every Carnival ship, who gets the legs?

“The meat is not carved at your dinner table in the dining room although it is carved on Lido at the buffet,” Heald confirmed.

He does suggest asking the dining room server for a turkey leg if preferred and they will try to fulfill the request, but it may not be possible to give everyone the exact cut they wish.

Nevertheless, with so many delicious options available, every guest is sure to find a way to stuff themselves with a wide menu of tasty treats to celebrate the season. What would you choose?

Key Aspects:

• Carnival Cruise Line has introduced a new Bagels @ Sea menu for breakfast aboard Carnival Panorama.
• The menu includes different bagels and spreads as well as elaborate breakfast sandwiches.
• The new option is not yet available aboard other Carnival ships but may be expanded in the future.

Breakfast can be a big deal on a cruise ship, whether you’re a casual buffet-goer (that would be me!), prefer a cup of coffee on your balcony, or enjoy a full sit-down breakfast in the Main Dining Room.

For bagel-lovers (also me), Carnival Cruise Line is making breakfast an even bigger deal with a new Bagels @ Sea menu of breakfast sandwiches. The new menu is being tested aboard Carnival Panorama, but may be rolled out fleetwide in the future if the test is successful.

Bagels @ Sea is found during breakfast hours at the ship’s Pizzeria del Capitano, portside aft on Deck 10 (Lido Deck). This is aft of the Lido Marketplace, making it a convenient option for another breakfast treat.

A variety of choices are on the menu, from customizable bagels and spreads to elaborately crafted, hearty bagel sandwiches sure to provide plenty of energy for a fun-filled day at sea or extensive port exploration.

For a simple bagel, guests can opt for plain, whole wheat, seed, asiago, or blueberry and have it topped with plain cream cheese, scallion and bacon spread, nova (lox) spread, or “wedding cake” spread that has a sweet vanilla flavor.

Okay, that’s plenty of choices for me and I’m set for breakfasts all week just with that, but there’s more!

For the full breakfast bagel sandwiches, guests can choose from:

• Breakfast Club – Western omelet, sausage patty, bacon strips, melted cheddar cheese, chive cream cheese, and “sunrise sauce”
• Carnival Lox – Smoked salmon, capers, fennel, onion, fork-mashed avocado, mixed greens, and cream cheese spread
• Powerhouse Protein – Pesto chicken, egg whites, fresh spinach, mashed avocado, sliced tomato, and pepper jack cheese
• Rainbow – Cream cheese, chopped strawberries, funfetti sprinkles, and maple caramel on a rainbow bagel (great for kids and kids at heart!)

For the moment, these delicious options are only available onboard Carnival Panorama. The 133,800-gross-ton Vista-class ship is homeported year-round from Long Beach, California, offering primarily 6- and 8-night Mexican Riviera cruises.

There is no charge for Bagels @ Sea, just as other popular dining options, such as Guy’s Burger Joint and the Big Chicken quick-service venues are included for no extra fee.

Eager guests who have noticed the menu being shared on social media have reached out to John Heald, Carnival Cruise Line’s brand ambassador, wondering if Bagels @ Sea may be expanded to additional ships.

“It is being tested on one of the ships and I’ll let you know if and when we put them across other ships as well,” Heald explained. “Certainly from the [posts] I have seen they have been extremely popular.”

Even without Bagels @ Sea on other ships, bagel-loving guests aren’t without their favorite breakfast breads no matter which Carnival ship they are sailing.

Read Also: Free Carnival Cruise Dining Options You’ll Want to Know (With Menus!)

A variety of bagels are typically available each morning at the Lido Marketplace buffet, and they can be toasted or enjoyed plain. Cream cheese and other spreads are also available, though not with the same variety as the new menu.

Will Bagels Be Coming Soon to Other Carnival Ships?

While Heald is noncommittal about when or if the new breakfast option will be offered on other Carnival cruise ships, it is possible the menu will remain exclusive to Carnival Panorama.

This would not be unprecedented. Aboard Carnival Sunrise, for example, there is a Guy’s Burger Joint breakfast menu that includes burgers topped with fried eggs, hashbrown patties, maple gravy, and other morning treats.

That breakfast option was introduced in 2019 and was believed to be a test before all Guy’s Burger Joints across the ship would begin serving breakfast.

That was not to be, however, and it has remained exclusive to Carnival Sunrise. Even as recently as January 2025 Heald noted that the breakfast remained on just one ship.

Of course, one must never say never. Carnival Cruise Line is constantly evaluating different options onboard its ships, noting where popularity may change and what choices guests prefer.

Feedback through post-cruise surveys and contacting Heald can also be effective ways for the cruise line to gauge guest interest and determine whether or not options should be expanded or contracted.

Time will tell if this new breakfast option will be made available onboard other ships, if it will remain exclusive to Carnival Panorama, or if it could quietly disappear altogether.