Monday, July 22, 2019

Dreams Do Come True- Foodie Blog

The Foodie Blog- Carnival Dream 2.0
Carnival Dream- Summer 2019

We are true foodies and love trying new things while on a cruise ship as well as enjoying our favorites. The Carnival Dream offered a variety of dining options including numerous complimentary dining venues. In fact, there are so many it is difficult to fit them all into your cruise. 

I am going to highlight all of the Lido/ Complimentary deck offerings and the Main Dining Room. We did not dine at the 555 Steakhouse this cruise but we have in the past and it is FABULOUS! (See attached Blog Post) 
Chris and I cruise frequently and enjoy "rating" each menu item from 1-5 with 2.5 being what you would expect from a restaurant on land. We consider a 4.0 to be about standard for most cruise food! I realize that food is VERY subjective but we enjoy reviewing these menu items to help us remember what we do like for future voyages. 

RATING SYSTEM
1- awful and would be fast-food level quality (McDonald's or Taco Bell)
2- decent on land offering 
2.5- par for land meals (Chili's and Red Lobster) 
3- Upscale land restaurant quality 
4.0- standard for cruise industry food 
5.0- One of the best foods (of the corresponding category) we have ever had

 Complimentary Dining Venues (Lido Deck)

 Guy's Burgers (Deck 10 MidShip)
Guy's Burgers NEVER disappoints and the options are ENDLESS!
This venue is open DAILY from 12-6PM ONLY! 
The Guy's Burgers MENU! Try them all! 


Tip- The lines will be long... Almost always! Just ROLL WITH IT! The food is worth the wait! Trust Me! 

Blue Iguana Cantina (Deck 10 MidShip)
This complimentary venue is open for BREAKFAST and LUNCH only. (Check FunTimes for specific times for your voyage). Blue Iguana offers Made to Order breakfast and lunch burritos as well as taco salads, tacos and much more. The service of Blue Iguana is amazing and the line, even if it looks long, moves incredibly fast! 


The Breakfast and Lunch menus! 

The fresh salsa bar is my favorite part! 

Made to order breakfast burrito and "huevos rancheros" taco. 


The freshly prepared Taco Salad. This is such a great option because it gives the flavor without all the bulge of the tortilla. 

Mongolian Wok (DECK 10 MidShip)
This is a complimentary lunch venue in the buffet area. It offers made to order food with an Asian flare. This is an outstanding option for lunch and is one of our favorites. HOWEVER, since it is made to order and there are only 3 WOKS, the wait time is incredibly long! Be forewarned. 

The options to put into this wok dish are endless. They offer beef, chicken, pork and several types of seafood! 
Seafood Wok- 4.5

Pasta Bella (Deck 11 AFT)
This is a complimentary dining venue FOR LUNCH. At dinner time it turns into the Pasta de Capitano and is an a la carte dining experience. However, it is 100% free for lunch. It is a hidden gem and not a lot of people know about it so it is a great options, especially on SeaDays! 

Another great thing about this made to order Pasta Bar is you can ask for the servings to be SMALL! This is great as we always want to try EVERYTHING but it's just too much! 

Carnival Deli (Deck 10 AFT)
This a new, complimentary venue open 11AM to 11PM. Carnival upgraded the menu to have regular sandwich options as well as new and improved "fancy" options. We were not blown away by any of the sandwiches and since it is made to order, the line was often very long. 

The Buffalo Chicken sandwich- 3.5


Meatball Marinara- 2.0

Pizza de Capitano (Deck 10 AFT) 
This 24 hour complimentary pizza venue offers 5 different pizzas and a salad option as well. TIP- This is literally the worst pizza at sea and the line is SO LONG! Even at 7AM! The workers are not near as friendly as other workers around the ship and we just do not like this venue. 

Flavorless Pizza- 1.0

 Guy's Pig and Anchor BBQ (Deck 5 Lanai Starboard)
This is a newer feature on the Dream class ships and features FREE BBQ for LUNCH only on SeaDays as well as Embarkation Day. TIP- This is another hidden gem, and sorta out of the way from the Lido Deck, so most people will just stay upstairs for convenience. This is the PERFECT location for embarkation lunch! 
The BBQ is excellent and offers a variety of BBQ sauces depending on your area of flavor (ie- Kansas City, Carolina, Memphis, etc)


The Guy's BBQ menu! 


It is a smaller venue but SO WORTH the small wait.
TIP- Go to the AFT line for a shorter wait! 

 Bonsai Sushi (Deck 5- Ocean Plaza AFT)
This is some of the absolute best sushi we have had and is so reasonably priced. It is open on SeaDays for lunch (12-2:30PM) and daily 5PM-12AM. It is priced a la carte and can be taken TO GO!

Bonsai Menu


The California Roll- 4.5

Crimson Main Dining Room- Anytime Dining (Deck 3 MidShip) 
This is the dining room for passengers with AnyTime Dining. This allows the guests to go to dinner from 5:45 to 9:30PM. The service was INCREDIBLE this particular cruise and the food was fine. We will highlight the menu daily.

Main Dining Room Night #1 
Night #1 Menu choices (Including GALVESTON port of call)

Calamari
Kellie 4.5- It was great and just as I remember. 
Chris- 4.0

Jalapeno Poppers 
Kellie- 4.0 Great but cheesy 
Chris- 3.5 Too much cheese not enough pepper

Quesadilla- Kellie 2.0
Too much beans and not THAT flavorful

Sweet and Sour Shrimp 
Kellie- 3.0 Just not as good as I remember 
Chris- 3.5 Rice was bland

Honey Glazed Pork Loin- Chris 4.0

Tiramisu
Chris- 4.5
Kellie- 3.5 It was WAY too rich! 

Chilled Strawberry Bisque- Kellie 4.5
This NEVER disappoints! 

 Main Dining Room Night #2 (FORMAL NIGHT)
Formal Night (American Feast) menus 

Crabcake 
Kellie- 5.0 This is SO GOOD. My advice... ORDER TWO! 
Chris- 4.5

Baked Mushrooms 
Kellie- 4.0 These were good and flavorful 
Chris- 4.5

Mushroom Pasta 
Kellie and Chris- 4.5 
WOW they have really stepped up their game. This was not on the Formal menu last time we sailed and this is INCREDIBLE! We ordered it as an appetizer size (You can do this ON ALL Pastas) and we should have ordered it as the regular large size. This was FANTASTIC! 

Wild Rice Soup 
Chris- 4.0 This was a surprise
Kellie- 3.5

Grilled Jumbo Shrimp 
Kellie- 4.0 Not as "WOW" as I remember
Chris- 4.0

Prime Rib (Not pictured) 
Chris- 4.5

Creme Brulee
Kellie- 4.5
Chris- 4.5

Main Dining Room Night #3
Night #3 Menu 

Spring Rolls 
Kellie- 4.5 These NEVER disappoint
Chris- 4.0

Baked Meatballs 
Kellie- 2.0 These were bland
Chris- 3.5

Shrimp Cocktail 
Chris- 3.5 It is hard to MESS this up! It is so simple!

Greek Salad- Kellie 4.0
I need to learn how to make this at home because it would be a PERFECT diet lunch! 

Flat Iron Steak
Kellie- 3.5 This was a better cut of meat than I expected! 

Veal Parmigiana 
Chris- 2.0 It was WAY TOO DRY with too much breading and not enough sauce! 

Apple Pie al la Mode
Kellie- 2.5 Just so-so in my opinion

Chocolate Tres Leche
Chris- 4.5 This was EXCELLENT! 

Main Dining Room Night #4 
Night #4 Menus 

Night #4 Port of Call Menu (Progreso)

Marinated Chicken Tenders 
Chris- 4.0 This was better than I was expecting 

Frog Legs 
Chris- 3.0

Fried Shrimp 
Chris- 4.0

Shrimp Quesadilla 
Kellie- 4.5 This was very flavorful and full of shrimp!

Steak Soup
Chris- 4.0
Kellie- 4.0 This was unexpected and really good! 

Lasagna 
Kellie- 4.5 The presentation was off but it tasted GREAT! 

Penne Mariscos 
Kellie- 4.5
Another pasta I got as an appetizer size! 

RIBS (Not Pictured) 
Chris- These were very dry and tasted like "Grandma's Roast". 

Cheesecake 
Chris- 4.0

Popcorn de Creme 
Kellie- 3.0 Just weird! So Weird! 

Main Dining Room Night #5
 Cannelloni 
Kellie- 4.0
Chris- 4.0

Shrimp Ceviche from the Port of Call Menu 
Kellie- 2.0 This was really weird. Like pickled shrimp! 

Sausage Linguine 
Kellie- 2.5 This was just not as good as I remember 
Chris- 4.0

Country Fried Chicken 
Chris- 4.5

Ribs and Cornbread 
Chris- 4.0

Baked Alaska 
Kellie- 1.5 Not bad for Neapolitan Ice Cream and Meringue
Chris- 3.5 

OVERALL THOUGHTS ON THE FOOD 
Carnival did an amazing job with the service in the Main Dining Room but the food was just lackluster in our opinion, especially compared to our last Carnival cruise on the Breeze in 2017. The complimentary lunch options did not disappoint and we enjoyed them all. 


We like to choose our favorites from the trip!

Kellie
Favorite Appetizer- Crab Cake
Favorite Entree- Grilled Jumbo Shrimp
Favorite Dessert- Creme Brulee
Biggest Surprise- Mushroom Pasta from Formal Night 
Biggest Disappointment- Sausage Linguine
Chris
Favorite Appetizer- Crab Cake
Favorite Entree- Prime Rib
Favorite Dessert- Creme Brulee
Biggest Surprise- Mushroom Pasta from Formal Night 
Biggest Disappointment- Veal Parmesian


We love cruising and EATING on cruises. We use this blog as means for us to know what to order on future cruises and it is fun to look through and get our mouth watering while we are dieting! 

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