Looking for older Carnival menus

Hey everyone,

I'm writing my thesis about the history of food on cruises. Menus are a great way for me to examine how the food offered on cruises has changed over time. I've had great success with stuff from 1880-1970 and 2012-2017, but I cannot find much from that middle period.

If anyone happens to have menus or anything food-related lying around from any of their cruises between 1970 and 2012 I would really appreciate them. At least for the modern era my project focuses on Carnival and Royal Caribbean, but I would appreciate anything from any cruise line. Feel free to PM me with them if you prefer. Kindly let me know the year you took the cruise and which country/state it departed from. Also let me know how you would like to be credited i.e. by username, real name, or anonymous.

Thank you!

This is from the Carnival Celebration from 1994. The food offerings since then have not significantly changed as far as I can tell. The presentation however has changed vastly. The menu I scanned is one I saved from that cruise. Every evening a brand new menu would be rolled up like a scroll and was waiting for you as part of your place setting. The service in the dining room was 4 to 5 star every night. As I recall, our table of eight had a waiter and 2 assistants exclusively for our table. I recall the attention to details. Bread crumbs on the fine linen table cloth? No problem, out came the little, silver, crumb picker upper, thing.

Have you contacted Carnival or Royal Caribbean directly? Most of the years you want are pre-internet and most people wouldn't have thought to take a physical menu home. I doubt many would have snapped a film photo.

This is from the Carnival Celebration from 1994. The food offerings since then have not significantly changed as far as I can tell. The presentation however has changed vastly. The menu I scanned is one I saved from that cruise. Every evening a brand new menu would be rolled up like a scroll and was waiting for you as part of your place setting. The service in the dining room was 4 to 5 star every night. As I recall, our table of eight had a waiter and 2 assistants exclusively for our table. I recall the attention to details. Bread crumbs on the fine linen table cloth? No problem, out came the little, silver, crumb picker upper, thing.

 

Thank you for the menu and for your attention to detail, SeaScout :). That description is going to be helpful.

Have you contacted Carnival or Royal Caribbean directly? Most of the years you want are pre-internet and most people wouldn't have thought to take a physical menu home. I doubt many would have snapped a film photo.

I did ask Carnival (though not Royal Caribbean) for some more recent ones and they were happy to help me. It's a good idea, though. You're right in that most people wouldn't have a photo of the older stuff. I'll give both a call tomorrow. Thanks for the suggestion!

Also the recipes can change.

Since the beginning of the American Table I have had four different preparations of the Root Vegetables in a Pie Crust.

Whatever Happened to...? is a Message Board on Cruise Critic that I would suggest you make this inquiry as well. There may be some who might be able to help/

I find your thesis idea intriguing as a cruiser. For what degree in what major are you working towards?

Personally, I have nothing for either Royal Caribbean or Carnival that would be of use to you. I lost much of my paper memorabilia from my earliest cruises with HAL, Home Lines, NCL, and Royal Viking Lines due to a disaster. I saved "everything"! Then all gone!

Best wishes!

Also the recipes can change.

Since the beginning of the American Table I have had four different preparations of the Root Vegetables in a Pie Crust.

It's a good point that is worth examining further. I just wish they listed the ingredients on there as well, but often they don't. Though I've only been cruising a few years, so I've not seen any noticeable change in the preparation of different dishes.

Whatever Happened to...? is a Message Board on Cruise Critic that I would suggest you make this inquiry as well. There may be some who might be able to help/

 

I find your thesis idea intriguing as a cruiser. For what degree in what major are you working towards?

 

Personally, I have nothing for either Royal Caribbean or Carnival that would be of use to you. I lost much of my paper memorabilia from my earliest cruises with HAL, Home Lines, NCL, and Royal Viking Lines due to a disaster. I saved "everything"! Then all gone!

 

Best wishes!

Thank you, I will make a post there now. Sounds like a good place for this sort of inquiry.

This is for a Master of Arts majoring in US History. I use food on cruise ships to explore how Americans have changed their interactions with other cultures through the lens of cruise tourism.

Sorry to hear that you lost all of that stuff! It would have been fascinating to see. I love looking through memorabilia. Cruise ship stuff is particularly intriguing to me.

My best wishes to you too!