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

When you’re on a cruise, you may be surprised to learn that it’s not truly an all-inclusive experience. You’ll still pay for specialty dining, spa or beauty treatments, excursions and the like.

That said, while there are plenty of ways to upgrade your cruise experience, you don’t have to. You can enjoy a cruise to the fullest without paying a penny more than your cruise fare.

If you go this route, it’ll mean dining at only your ship’s free, complimentary restaurants — and, on a Carnival Cruise Line ship, your options will be both plentiful and delicious. These are the free Carnival cruise dining options that you’ll want to check out during your next Carnival cruise. Go on. Dig in — it’s free!

The Main Dining Room

Every cruise ship has a main dining room (or two or three!) and every cruise line includes dining in the main dining room in the price of your cruise fare. It’s a classic cruising experience and it’s open to everyone.

On Carnival, the main dining rooms serve both breakfast and dinner. The dinner is three courses, but don’t let that make you think the experience will be stuffy.

The dining rooms are “cruise casual,” so while you won’t wear your bathing suit to the dinner table, you also don’t need to dress to the nines either. (Unless, of course, you’re attending one of Carnival’s Cruise Elegant evenings, during which cruisers typically gussy up for the fun of it.)

During breakfast, expect all your classics: pastries, pancakes, waffles, eggs and cereals. During dinner, you’ll have your pick of an appetizer, entrée and dessert. Options might include roasted duck rolls or shrimp cocktail for the appetizer, short rib or Cornish game hen for the entrée and then cheesecake or chocolate cake for dessert.

The dining room is also home to special dining events, such as the seaday brunches (free!) and Dr. Seuss-themed family breakfasts (which come with a small fee).

The main dining rooms will typically have some sort of “fancy”-sounding name, like Carnivale and Festivale, which are the main dining rooms on Carnival Celebration. They’re also typically located on Decks 3 and 4.

Lido Restaurant

Like main dining rooms, buffets are a staple on cruise ships. You’ll find a Lido Restaurant on every single Carnival cruise ship and typically on, as the name suggests, the Lido Deck.

This is arguably your most casual dining option, and it’s also open well into the evening, so you can nearly always find a bite.

The Lido Restaurant serves a breakfast buffet from 7:30 a.m. until noon, a lunch buffet and specialty stations from 12 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., and dinner from 6 p.m. until 9:30 p.m. Then, there are smaller “stations” within the Lido Restaurant that have their own hours (we’ll get to those in a bit).

Worth Reading: What You Should Never Do at the Cruise Ship Buffet

You can find just about anything here. There’s a deli counter, salad bar, Asian station, pasta station, barbecue, pizza and more.

Carnival Deli

The Carnival Deli is considered a separate entity from the Lido buffet, but it’s still sometimes located inside or near the buffet. Expect a pretty standard sandwich or sub shop experience here, with hot and cold sandwiches piled high with all your typical toppings.

Choose from hot sandwiches like meatball subs or a grilled ham and cheese, or cold sandwiches like tuna salad or BLTs. You can choose sides like fries or cole slaw, and there’s even a hot dog and veggie burger, as well as a wrap, on the menu.

The Carnival Deli is located on Carnival Breeze, Carnival Conquest, Carnival Dream, Carnival Elation, Carnival Freedom, Carnival Firenze, Carnival Glory, Carnival Horizon, Carnival Legend, Carnival Liberty, Carnival Luminosa, Carnival Magic, Carnival Miracle, Carnival Panorama, Carnival Paradise, Carnival Pride, Carnival Radiance, Carnival Spirit, Carnival Splendor, Carnival Sunrise, Carnival Sunshine, Carnival Valor, Carnival Venezia and Carnival Vista. 

Other ships may have sandwich shops, but these ships are the ones that specifically have the Carnival Deli.

Swirls

Similarly, Swirls is considered its own thing, but it’s typically located inside the Lido buffet. It’s a self-serve ice cream and frozen yogurt stand that’s open until midnight. The options are limited, and include your basic chocolate, vanilla and strawberry.

Swirls ice cream is available on all Carnival cruise ships.

The Sweet Spot

Likewise, The Sweet Spot is typically located within the buffet, and is your place to go for all the other desserts (beyond the ice cream at Swirls) that your heart could desire. There’s pie, cakes, cookies, fruit and more, and it’s all available nearly all day, and on all ships.

Piazza Panini

This new addition to the Carnival lineup only currently appears aboard Mardi Gras, on Deck 8, and is open for lunch and dinner. The counter-order restaurant tries to offer a bit of an Italian street food vibe, mixed with what you could typically find at The Carnival Deli. (Note that The Carnival Deli is not on Mardi Gras.)

So, you can get some of the same sandwiches you’d normally get at The Carnival Deli, here, like the tuna salad and grilled ham and cheese, but you also can get pressed paninis like a caprese panini or a Sicilia panini with eggplant parm, mozzarella, basil and tomato sauce on ciabatta.

The menu also offers specialty Italian desserts after 8 p.m. The eatery closes at 10 p.m.

Deco Deli

Similarly, Deco Deli is only on Carnival Celebration, and offers some Carnival Deli fare, but this is the ship’s main sandwich spot. Deco Deli is also open for lunch and dinner, and is situated in the 820 Biscayne zone on the ship. It channels the ship’s overall Miami vibes, offering Cuban-style eats.

So, again, expect those same deli sandwiches you can get on most other Carnival ships, but also some extra-specific options like a Cubano sandwich, with roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese and mustard, or Pan Con Lechon, with pulled pork, onion and mojo sauce.

Il Mercato

Only on Carnival Firenze, this is a deli also offering a lot of Carnival Deli menu items, but also a build-your-own meatball plate, where you can choose between beef or chicken meatballs and three types of sauce. There’s also a build-a-hot-dog option.

The eatery is located on Deck 11 and is open for both lunch and dinner, until 10 p.m.

Beach Buns

Yes, yet another sandwich concept from Carnival, and this one is likewise just on one ship: Carnival Jubilee. Open for lunch and dinner until 10 p.m., it’s a casual counter-service restaurant located on Deck 8.

Whereas Deco Deli offers deli sandwiches and Cuban eats, and Piazza Panini offers deli sandwiches and paninis, Beach Buns offers deli sandwiches plus brats and hot dogs. It also has some soups, salads and desserts on offer. The hot dog selection allows you to choose from four sausage styles, five bun styles and five toppings.

Pizza Pirate

Whether you’re looking for a slice of pizza to soak up the many drinks you’ve had over the course of a sea day, or you’re searching for a casual, late-night bite after most of the other restaurants aboard the ship have closed, Pizza Pirate delivers.

Pizza Pirate is a buffet that’s typically found near the ship’s pools, and it serves up pizza until 4 a.m. each day. It’s located on the following ships: Carnival Breeze, Carnival Conquest, Carnival Elation, Carnival Freedom, Carnival Glory, Carnival Legend, Carnival Liberty, Carnival Miracle, Carnival Paradise, Carnival Pride and Carnival Valor.

Expect more than your mere pepperoni and cheese here. Margherita pizzas and pies topped with fresh mozzarella, gorgonzola, roasted garlic, prosciutto and more await.

Pizzeria del Capitano

Pizzeria del Capitano is extremely similar, but just found on different ships.

You can find this small pizza buffet with late hours and a handful of tasty pizza options on Carnival Dream, Carnival Horizon, Carnival Luminosa, Carnival Magic, Carnival Panorama, Carnival Radiance, Carnival Spirit, Carnival Splendor, Carnival Sunrise, Carnival Sunshine, Carnival Vista and Mardi Gras.

The menus at both pizzerias are the exact same, so don’t worry if you’ve only been to one and not the other. You’re not missing anything! Pizzeria del Capitano is also open 9 a.m.–4 a.m.

(It’s worth noting that there are two other pizza restaurants with the exact same concept, on Carnival cruise ships, but with different names: Miami Slice on Carnival Celebration and Coastal Slice on Carnival Jubilee.)

Pasta Bella

Similarly to the two different pizza options on Carnival’s ships, which are basically the same concept but with a different name, there are also two pasta bars that you’ll find on select ships. They likewise have two different names, but they’re pretty much the same, and both only serve lunch.

The first is Pasta Bella, which you’ll only exclusively find on Carnival Dream, above the Lido deck. The eatery is basically a make-your-own pasta counter, with your choice of three pastas, five sauces and then 12 vegetable and protein add-ons. You can also order lasagna, Caesar salads and bread.

The Captain’s Pasta Bar

The Captain’s Pasta Bar is basically the same thing as Pasta Bella, but on more ships. It’s also only open for lunch, and can be found on Carnival Breeze, Horizon, Magic, Panorama, Sunrise, Sunshine and Vista. It’s typically located on one of the higher decks.

Like Pasta Bella, The Captain’s Pasta Bar serves your choice of three pastas, five sauces and then 12 vegetable and protein add-ons. Unlike Pasta Bella, though, The Captain’s Pasta Bar transforms into a specialty Italian restaurant for dinner: Cucina del Capitano.

Fresh Creations

Fresh Creations is only on a limited number of Carnival cruise ships and situated within the Serenity adults-only retreat. Serving lunch, it’s basically a salad bar.

You can pick from nine different kinds of greens, add on your pick of six proteins and then go all out with your choice of toppings — there’s more than three dozen topping options to pick from.

If you’re having a bit of a problem picking, the restaurant does offer a few salads that are made for you, with a specific combination of ingredients.

Fresh Creations is on Carnival Celebration, Carnival Firenze, Carnival Horizon, Carnival Jubilee, Mardi Gras, Carnival Panorama and Carnival Vista.

Chibang!

This unique restaurant is found on Carnival Celebration, Carnival Jubilee and Mardi Gras. It offers both lunch and dinner and is considered an alternative to the main dining room.

Unfortunately, Carnival has put some odd parameters around the dining here. While it is technically free, you’ll be charged $8 per guest per visit if you go to the restaurant more than once during your cruise (this rule only applies to Carnival Celebration and Mardi Gras, not Jubilee).

Regardless, if you go, you’ll find menus that combine Chinese and Mexican flavors. From the very same lunch menu, you can order both a noodle bowl and a burrito bowl.

At dinner, you can order appetizers like egg drop soup and pot stickers, but also nachos and quesadillas, before digging into entrees like sweet and sour shrimp and kung pao chicken or steak ranchero and pollo en mole.

BlueIguana Cantina

BlueIguana Cantina was added to the Carnival dining lineup in 2011, as part of the Fun Ship 2.0 series of ship refurbishments, and the eatery has been a fan favorite ever since.

Typically located on ships’ Lido Decks, near the main pool, the restaurants feature an automated tortilla-making machine, and those tortillas then go on to appear in the various Mexican-inspired menu items.

The main highlight here is lunch, with menu items including, tacos, a salsa bar and build-your-own burritos. However, BlueIguana Cantina also serves breakfast. Avoid the crowds at the buffet and come here to enjoy breakfast tacos, arepas and huevos rancheros.

Near BlueIguana Cantina, there’s typically also the BlueIguana Tequila Bar, serving tequila-based libations.

BlueIguana Cantina can be found on Carnival Breeze, Carnival Celebration, Carnival Conquest, Carnival Dream, Carnival Elation, Carnival Freedom, Carnival Glory, Carnival Horizon, Carnival Jubilee, Carnival Legend, Carnival Liberty, Carnival Magic, Mardi Gras, Carnival Miracle, Carnival Panorama, Carnival Paradise, Carnival Pride, Carnival Radiance, Carnival Spirit, Carnival Sunrise, Carnival Sunshine, Carnival Valor and Carnival Vista.

Tacos & Burritos

Carnival Luminosa does not, sadly, have its own BlueIguana Cantina outpost, but for those on the ship, they don’t have to forgo their taco and burrito cravings.

The ship has its own complimentary dining venue near the pool that’s very nearly the same, offering both breakfast and lunch and, as the name suggests, primarily tacos and burritos.

Tomodoro

Tomodoro is a unique restaurant featured just on Carnival Firenze and Carnival Venezia. It’s near the main pool and open for both breakfast and lunch, and it does offer Mexican eats, just like BlueIguana Cantina and Tacos & Burritos. However, this restaurant gives that concept a spin, with an Italian fusion take.

As such, the menu includes not just tacos and burritos, but also Italian-inspired sandwiches and wraps. At breakfast, you can build your own burrito, choosing your tortilla, protein and other fillings.

Chicken Shack

Another limited restaurant, Chicken Shack is only on Carnival Firenze. Chicken Shack offers lunch only, and fried chicken sandwiches. The restaurant is a bit of a spiff off of the Shaq’s Big Chicken restaurant that you’ll find on some other Carnival ships.

Choose from an array of chicken-based sandwiches topped with a variety of sauces, cheeses and similar, and then pick a side, like potato salad or slaw.

Guy’s Burger Joint

Guy’s Burger Joint may arguably be the most beloved Carnival restaurant of them all. Like, BlueIguana Cantina, Guy’s Burger Joint first came about in 2011, as part of the Fun Ship 2.0 series of ship renovations, and now you can find this eatery on every single Carnival ship except Carnival Luminosa.

With a menu crafted by celebrity chef Guy Fieri, this restaurant has big road trip vibes (a la Fieri’s hit show, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives) and offers larger than life burgers and tasty hand-cut fries. There are multiple condiment and topping stations, and walls are covered with road trip paraphernalia.

The menu includes a handful of burger options, whether you want something a little basic (like “The Plain Jane”) or something loaded down with chili, onion rings, bacon and more.

Burgers can also come topped with “super melty cheese” and a “secret” Donkey Sauce that’s really just a mix of mayo, mustard, garlic, Worcestershire, salt and pepper.

If you pay a visit to Guy’s Burger Joint during your next cruise, make sure to go on a port day. The restaurant is quite popular so lines can get long, especially on sea days. Or, try to go to the restaurant a little later than typical lunchtime.

Read Also: Guy’s Burger Joint on Carnival Cruise Line – Menu, Which Ships, Details

On some ships, Guy’s Burger Joint offers breakfast as well, and also special menu items. For example, on Carnival’s Italian-style ships, Carnival Venezia and Carnival Firenze, the eatery offers some Italian-style burgers with pepperoni and mozzarella. Breakfast is available on newer ships, with menu items like breakfast sandwiches and breakfast-inspired burgers.

Regardless of the ship, you can typically find Guy’s Burger Joint on the Lido decks, mid-ship, near the main pool.

Off the Grill

As mentioned, Carnival Luminosa is the sole ship that does not include a Guy’s Burger Joint. However, Carnival has tried to make up for this a bit by installing a somewhat different poolside burger joint, Off the Grill.

There, you can find burgers and fries, during the lunchtime and late afternoon. The specialty is the garlic butter buns, and otherwise you can find basic burgers like a classic beef, cheeseburger, veggie burger and chicken burger.

Guy’s Pig & Anchor Bar-B-Que Smokehouse

Seeing all the success that the cruise line had with Guy’s Burger Joint, it’s just natural that Carnival Cruise Line would go on to partner with Guy Fieri again, to craft a new restaurant. This time, they went the way of a barbecue restaurant, with Guy’s Pig & Anchor Bar-B-Que Smokehouse.

Now, you can find this eatery on the following ships: Carnival Breeze, Carnival Dream, Carnival Magic, Carnival Radiance, Carnival Sunrise and Carnival Vista. It’s located on the Promenade Deck.

So, what’s the menu look like? Choose from a selection of in-house smoked meats, such as pork butt, chicken, beef and sausage, and add on classic barbecue sides like potato salad, slaw, collard greens or mac ‘n cheese.

Do note that there is another part of this restaurant concept that is not fully complimentary, and that’s Guy’s Pig & Anchor Bar-B-Que Smokehouse | Brewhouse.

Announced in 2017, this concept is an expansion of the former, offering full-service dining at dinner and a brewery located within the restaurant. This eatery also offers a broader menu, with items like smoked salmon and desserts. This restaurant is on Carnival Celebration, Carnival Horizon, Carnival Jubilee, Mardi Gras and Carnival Panorama.

That said, while this isn’t a fully complimentary restaurant, if you’re sailing on one of these ships, that doesn’t mean that you have to give up your dreams of trying Guy Fieri’s barbecue.

On sea days, the restaurant does offer a complimentary buffet for lunch. Additionally, on Carnival Celebration, Mardi Gras and Carnival Jubilee, you can eat dinner at this restaurant for free, as it’s considered an alternative to the main dining room.

Ol’ Fashioned BBQ

Other Carnival ships do have barbecue concepts on offer, even if they’re not Guy Fieri-approved. Ol’ Fashioned BBQ is located in the Lido Marketplace on Carnival Conquest, Carnival Freedom, Carnival Glory, Carnival Liberty, Carnival Luminosa, Carnival Splendor and Carnival Valor.

There, you’ll find a limited menu of barbecue — your choice of pork butt, chicken or smoked beef — and sides that include mac ‘n cheese, potato salad, slaw, baked beans and bread.

La Strada Grill

Another complimentary restaurant that only shows up on Carnival’s Italian-themed ships, Carnival Firenze and Carnival Venezia, La Strada Grill is situated on Deck 5 and has been compared to Guy’s Pig & Anchor Bar-B-Que Smokehouse, but with an Italian twist.

The menu offers smoked pulled pork and Italian sausage, as well as roast beef and chicken heroes, alongside sides dishes like mac ‘n cheese and various Italian salads, such as a Caesar and panzanella salad.

The restaurant is only open for lunch on embarkation days and sea days.

Big Chicken

Big Chicken is among the newest complimentary restaurants that can be found on Carnival cruise ships. It’s only found on Carnival Celebration, Carnival Jubilee, Mardi Gras and Carnival Radiance. It serves both breakfast and lunch, with lunch available until 5 p.m. and all-day breakfast available from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m.

This restaurant is the result of another celebrity partnership, this time with Shaquille O’Neal. The partnership was announced in 2018. However, you won’t just find this restaurant on Carnival ships; it also has some land-based locations, such as in Las Vegas.

What’s the menu look like? Your chicken options include a traditional fried chicken basket, chicken strip sand chicken sandwiches with toppings like various cheeses, slaws, bacon, sauces and more. Sides include potato salad, slaw and pickles. For breakfast, choose between an omelet, biscuit sandwich or fried chicken and biscuits.

Masala Tiger

Masala Tiger is an Indian restaurant that you’ll only find on Carnival Splendor, on Deck 9. Only open for lunch, the restaurant offers Indian signature menu items cooked in a traditional clay oven, as well as vegetarian options.

You can view the full multi-page menu right here.

Compared to a lot of lunch-only complimentary restaurants that you’ll find across Carnival’s fleet, you’ll actually see quite a few meal options here.

In addition to the chaat buffet and various bread options, there’s typically eight entrée options that range from chicken reshmi kabab to vegetable biryani to chicken malai tikka. Depending on when you sail, the menu items may vary.

Street Eats

Another newer addition to Carnival Cruise Line’s complimentary restaurants, Street Eats is only found on Carnival Celebration, Carnival Jubilee and Mardi Gras. With a food truck-style approach, the restaurant is open for lunch and offers three food stalls that change up what they serve, depending on the day.

The three counter-service food stalls are themed, and dubbed Mad Sizzle, Steam Dream and Time Fries. Mad Sizzle specializes in Asian and Middle Eastern bites, Steam Dream specializes in bao buns and pot stickers and Time Fries specializes in gourmet french fries.

At any given time, you might find kebabs or chicken satay at Mad Sizzle, pork dumplings or beef bao at Steam Dream and chimichurri or poutine fries at Time Fries. The offerings change up frequently, so consider stopping by multiple times during your cruise!

Street Eats is located on Deck 16.

Lucky Bowl

Only found on Carnival Sunrise, Lucky Bowl offers Asian-style bowls, whether you opt for a brothy pho, a rice bowl topped with Hainanese chicken or a bowl of rice noodles topped with bulgogi beef. The offerings change daily, with usually three options available at lunch. Breakfast options are also available.

Lucky Bowl can be found behind BlueIguana, near the deli.

Room Service

Lastly, while Carnival does offer 24/7 room service, it’s worth noting that not all of the room service is complimentary. In many cases, extra charges do apply.

You can get complimentary continental breakfast from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., every day of your cruise except for on the last morning of the cruise. You will need to pay a delivery fee, though, even if it’s pretty small.

Read Also: What to Expect When You Go on a Carnival Cruise

The menu includes fresh fruit and cereal, baked items, yogurt and beverages. You can order breakfast sandwiches from the same menu, but, again, those are not free.

You can only get the continental breakfast items for free. The rest of the day, room service comes with a fee. Also, beverages ordered through room service will not be covered by your beverage package. An extra fee will apply.