Food Review - Carnival Paradise...

Carnival Paradise 4 Day Cruise Food Review…

So some more specifics for the Foodies on my recent Carnival Paradise 4 day cruise…

Here’s the link to get to the main review so far:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=626010

In general, (as usual) the food on the smaller Fantasy Class ships (like this Carnival Paradise) was very good.

Sure there are things that people can always nit-pick on, but in general all good.

Putting it into perspective, my brother is a chef at a 4 star restaurant in Beverly Hills.

He is HUGE Foodie. We (as a family since we were both kids) have been on several lines, from the highest of the high end to the most casual.

As an adult he continually books Carnival, because according to his palate; for the amount of people they have to serve and the price of the cruise compared to the quality you get; he swears it is the best bang for the buck.

Can you get better higher quality food on other lines, yes, but you must pay a premium.

For this caliber cruise line, you are getting better than you are paying for…

There’s an opinion, take it or leave it.

That being said, I’m going to take you through my food experience, to give you a vicarious idea…

Enjoy!

CJW

Day One:

Worked late, didn’t get on the ship until 3 PM, so already ate.

Checked in, did Muster Drill etc.

Had 8 PM seating (which is what I requested), and had already double checked with the Maitre’D (Elvis Brkyacic and Jean-Pierre) so I knew I liked my table.

Now it’s about 5 ish PM, I’m settled, Muster Drill is over, we’re not quite sailing away yet, so dinner is a few hours yet.

No problem, the made to order sushi bar is set up and running, and people haven’t discovered it yet, so barely a line!

Now on Carnival, they have this open generally about 5 PM to 8ish, depending on the ship and the itinerary; so it will be slightly different for each ship.

And the menu changes every day.

This day they had…

So, 3 of these with a little bit of cucumber and carrot on the side, I’m great to go until dinner.

Perfect, fresh, and just enough to hold me over until dinner.

On to dinner…

There are two dining rooms on this class of ship, so in general you will get the mid-ship dining area for 6:15 PM and 8:30 PM seating (with Elvis on this cruise)…

Or the aft dining area for 5:45 PM and 8:00 PM seating (with Jean-Pierre).

On this class of ship, there are mostly 10 tops in the middle, 8 tops near the windows, 6 top booths, and a very few couple of 4 tops (that can easily be made into seating for 2 if you request)…

I ended up at a great table for 8 near the window. All "singles" in one way or another male and female ranging in age from 24 to 60 something. By the end of the cruise we dubbed ourselves "The Island of Misfit Toys" ala the "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer" claymation Holiday TV movie, in all of the best ways that means.

It really was a great table, and I have always had a great experience with Carnival matching my dining companions.

So, I’m going to try to remember and guestimate what I had on each night…

I figured originally that it would just be the normal 7 day menu, cut down to 4 days, but it actually was not. It was a pick and choose mix up (in a good way from that).

The unfortunate thing for you on the boards here, is that I did not take pictures or write down the menu each night, because I figured I could get back re-look up the standard menu and figure out what was each night.

Not so, at least on this ship, they seemed to have taken the best parts of the regular 7 day menu and melded them for 4 days.

So, I’ll do best to my knowledge at this point…

First night, Always have the bread (I switch off depending on my mood between the sundried tomato and the french rolls)…

Then for me…

Gazpacho Andalouse to start…

Didn’t do a salad, although they had a Classic Wedge of Iceberg Lettuce Salad, and Caesar Salad.

Main courses this evening (trying to read through my fuzzy notes- and you won’t get this for the rest of the review here) were:

Ziti with Italian Sausage, Assorted Red Peppers and Mushrooms

Pan Seared Fillet of Tilapia

Chicken ala Greque

Grilled Marinated Center Cut Pork Chops

Tenderloin of Beef Wellington

Grilled Fresh Garden Vegetables

So for that I had the Grilled Fresh Garden Vegetables…

Fantastic! I know it doesn’t sound like a lot, but it was, and good, and several people at the table ordered an extra after seeing mine…

(Also side note, there is food available all the time, so when I’m on a cruise, I taste and eat smaller portions about every 3 or 4 hours, instead of 3 huge meals a day).

Desert…

This evening the options were Key Lime Pie (my 24 year old tablemate chef from Vegas – said it was really well prepared), Strawberry Cheesecake, and Orange Cake.

Then they have certain standards, like Warm Chocolate Melting Cake, always a good backup good to go choice...

Then, for me personally, they do a really good cheese plate every night.

It’s more of a light European end to a meal, so that’s my go to…

(I’ll order an extra something else, if it looks good and I want a taste, but otherwise this is my standard)…

Cheese Plate (that is available every evening):

Port Salut, Brie, Gouda, Imported Swiss, Danish Bleu

Served with small rustic bread slices, and various fruit such as fresh strawberries, grapes, and marinated pears (mmm, mmm)…

So what I like to do each evening, is mix and match bites, so that some gently meld together and others are contrasting but work well.

Love the brie on the rustic bread, but then for a real kicker I love the Bleu with the marinated pears!

Okay dinner is done, off to late night activities, then for snack before bed…

Pizza!

So, I will say that Carnival pizza is great. But you need to know what to expect.

(Just as I will say with any pizza)…

You cannot get good New York Pizza unless you are in New York.

You cannot get good Chicago pizza unless you are in Chicago.

And you cannot get good California Pizza unless you are in California.

They are all different and specific to the area.

That being said, the Carnival pizza is very light, and probably my best description is a combination between California Pizza, and the really light crisp pizza you get in Florence or Venice Italy -–it's really right between a meld of those.

My personal favorites on Carnival are Margherita and De Chevre (Fresh Goat Cheese and Mushroom)…

So one De Chevre pizza later, and I’m mmm, mmm, mmm, happy and ready to sleep!

Day Two:

Sleep sleep sleep, sleeping late…

Get up, head to the Buffet for lunch.

They do have a different "theme" for each day, but I generally go for my basic favorites at this point…

Today, fresh salad bar…

Huge salad with different types of lettuce (they have a few choices, iceberg, romaine, and then several greens such as raddicio – sometimes in the same big bowls, so you can easily picks and choose what you want), broccoli, carrots, raisins, sunflower seeds (I don’t know, I’m just going with my mood this day), and to top it all off…

There is a deli station at the back, that creates made to order sandwiches and such…

And they have a panera bread press if you want that!

Reubens, Beef, etc.

And a great Tomato, Basil, and FRESH Mozzarella Baguette!

Now I don’t know if they make this on this ship, or if they just get it fresh on board each Monday and Friday, but it's fresh. It’s not that solid thick prepackaged Mozzarella you get from a grocery store. It’s light, and fluffy, and mild and amazing.

So my little secret trick is get a couple of slices fresh from the deli to add to my salad.

Yum, and again I say Yum!

Out to Catalina, I didn’t eat here, but I know it well, and my favorite place is The Landing almost to "The Casino", great views, out on the terrace, and fresh California cuisine!

Back on this ship…

About 5 or 6ish, more sushi to tide me over until dinner…

Grilled Portobello with Spinach Sushi!

Never had it before, but I will have it again, and it was SO good and I ate it SO fast, that I didn’t get a picture!

Dinner:

So guessing and remembering at this point:

This was formal night…

This evening I started out with the Strawberry Bisque (had it before, love it)

Then moved onto the Baked Stuffed White Mushrooms (stuffed with Spinach, Romano Cheese, and fine Herbs)…

(what I thought was funny – in a "practical" way – is that I thought that night, "Aren’t they serving this on an Escargot dish/plate"? – because each mushroom was in it’s each little indented spot on the dish – and yes I saw the next night when they had escargot, it was the same plates, so I gave them big golf claps for being practical yet inventive!)

This was actually really great!

Now I know that they had Lobster and Prime Rib that night, my table mates had it and enjoyed.

I had the Zucchini and Eggplant Parmigiana (served on a "lake" of Pomadero sauce) and it was GREAT! - Light, but filling, and very well put together…

Desert:

The Cheese plate again, but this night I HAD to order the Warm Chocolate Melting Cake, and have some bites and tastes (and it actually went really well in between cheeses!)

Okay, now it’s LATE party night…

So I did have some more pizza the Margherita this time…

Day Three:

Slept LATE!

We’re in Ensenada.

Up to the Lido for another fresh Mozzarella salad.

Back to the cabin to work for a bit.

Back to the Lido Grill…

They do fresh grilled to order hamburgers and such here, and GARDEN burgers!

Great great great.

Wait in line while they’re cooking my veggie burger!

I will definitely recommend (if you like this kind of thing) the shredded zuchinni salad (it has a really light dressing on it – yum)…

Then fantastic french fries, not too thick, not too thin, and if you like them softer take them from the top, if you like them crispier, they’re always a little lower (dig a tiny bit, they continually make them fresh, and dump the new ones in on top. The "right out of the frier" softer ones are right on the top layer, the ones that have had a few minutes to "settle" and crisp up, if you like them that way are just below the surface there).

Then if you like mushrooms, they have fresh grilled mushrooms there.

You can use them as a "side dish", but I LURV to put them on top of my burger before adding the top bun on!

And another side note, if you want to get creative, or you happen to like things other than ketchup or mustard on your burgers, slide back to the mid section where the salad bar is…

They have several dressings for the salads, that are GREAT on burgers…

Ranch, Blue Cheese, Thousand Island, etc.

(Just sayin’ – and also if you like something different for french fry dipping, there you go)…

Alright, out to Ensenada, back to the ship for dinner!

This night I had the…

Chilled Cucumber Soup with Dill (yum)

(There was also French Onion Soup, and Proscuiutto with Melon that night)…

Then I had the Baked Herb Polenta (with Ragout of Wild Mushrooms)…

It was okay, definitely my least favorite of the cruise, I don’t know if I’d ever order it again.

Cheese plate for desert…

And "Spa Cuisine" (read that as diet low calorie) pumpkin pie, only 2 bites.

I love pumpkin pie, so that’s why I ordered it.

If I was on a supreme diet, it would have been great, but I’m not, so it was like a light gelatin-ish version, and not worth it for me.

But, then back to karaoke, and DISCO, and dancing until late…

And THEN!

Room Service Night!

Now, some people complain about Carnival room service in the fact that you can’t get hot food from the dining room. I don’t care, it is what it is…

There’s a certain thing (you know?) where you can only get certain food, in certain areas of the world or country or at certain restaurants? And it kind of signifies that place and that experience?

Like you can only get New York pizza in New York, you can only get those certain Banana Daquiri’s at the top of St. Thomas…

So for me (and my brother) there are these only items that you get from Carnival room service.

The one thing we both always HAVE to HAVE at least once on a Carnival cruise is the toasted Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich (with potato chips mind you!)…

Is it a childhood memory thing? Maybe…

But, is it a great snack late at night, oh yeah!

So got that, ate it all…

And got my Foccacia Grilled Veggie Sandwich,

and (extra hungry) Veggie Plate with Blue Cheese dip!

Oh Yeah!

(PS The fresh red pepper slices and zuchinni were especially good)

Side note – my chef boy brother schwears by the Roast Beef and Brie Sandwich, and the BLT (which like the PB & J, he says is only tasty like this from Carnival Room Service)…

There you go, ate it ALL, and went to sleep!

Day Four:

Didn’t wake up until 1 PM, didn’t get out of the cabin until 3 ish (are you surprised?)

Back to the grill for lunch for another veggie burger (with fresh grilled mushrooms on top), fries and zuchinni salad.

(and NOW that I think about it, I should have gotten some slices of fresh Mozzarella to put on that friggin burger! Next time that will be awesome!).

Late, sea day, so not hungry until dinner…

Dinner:

In general they always have standard items that you can order off of the menu, every night, so I’ll put them here, because they’ll make sense in a minute…

Black Tiger Shrimp with American Cocktail Sauce

Fresh Fruit Cocktail

Broiled Fillet of Fresh Pacific Salmon

Grilled Breast of Chicken

Premium Black Angus Jumbo Burger

Grilled New York Sirloin Steak

Baked Idaho Potatoes, French Fries, Steamed White Rice, Pasta of the Day (Plain with no sauce or butter)…

So this evening…

I looked over the menu, and the vegetarian main course available was the Indian Curry.

Bear in mind, this is REALLY good, I’ve had it several times, but it seemed to much and too spicy for my mood this last evening of the cruise…

Then, they had the Fried Mozzarella with Mixed Greens served with fresh Marinara Sauce on the Starter Menu…

And, they do whatever they can to work with you…

SO!

This evening, they had (my NEW FAVORITE – although I didn’t know it yet) Asparagus Vichyssoise!

I just figured it would be a "filler" until my "invented" main course…

I got that, a little salty for my personal taste, but SO good I didn’t mind.

Then, add the sun dried tomato bread for dipping…

"Uhmmm, Jose, please cancel my salad, and please bring me another bowl of the Asparagus Vichysoisse – and more Sun Dried Tomato Bread"…

Second bowl and more bread later, I know what I’m personally looking forward to on my next cruise!

Now my "invented" main course shows up…

Like I said, you can always get the pasta of the day plain or with a little butter…

I got prefect al dente penne, with a light coating of butter, and fresh parsley on top.

Then, the Fried Mozzarella with Mixed Greens and fresh Marinara Sauce.

The light fluffy Fried Mozzarella, just slightly breaded and crispy on the outside, and soft and melty on the inside (NOT one of those solid firm things you get at TGIF or something like that)…

Cut and chopped it into smaller pieces, on top of the pasta and mixed in with the fresh Marinara (and this is not canned Ragu, but fresh with slight little tomato pieces, are you hungry yet?)…

This looked SO appetizing to a few of my table mates that they ordered more of the Fried Mozzarella appetizers to have after dinner and before desert.

That being said, I plan on doing this again in the future!

Finally last night, several desert choices, but I had to go with the Baked Alaska!

Again, old school personal happy memory cruise choice!

Then late night, I’m full, have to debark in the morning…

But I get a De Chevre Pizza and a couple slices of Margherita to put on "ice" in a zip lock in my cabin.

Sleep sleep sleep, debark, and enjoy a slice of both pizzas for breakfast on the drive home.

And I still have some in my freezer for when I have Post Cruise Depression (ahhh, the advantage of sailing from your home cruise port)…

I hope you vicariouly enjoyed this, or it was helpful in some way.

I’ll do a dining room staff, and Maitre’D review later after this, but probably not until next week or so.

Let me know if you have any questions!

CJW

great food review! I was searching for it last night, after reading your main review.

This will be my first time cruising (9/21 on Paradise) with my brother. Is there only one formal night? is formal night an assigned night? Is the menu different each night?

We're trying to get as much details on what and when to eat, thats why they were "foodie" questions.

thanks!

great food review! I was searching for it last night, after reading your main review.

 

This will be my first time cruising (9/21 on Paradise) with my brother. Is there only one formal night? is formal night an assigned night? Is the menu different each night?

 

We're trying to get as much details on what and when to eat, thats why they were "foodie" questions.

 

thanks!

First of all, you're welcome, more people need to post them on here for the Foodies...:D

So, it sounds like you're on the 3 day though (Friday to Monday), so it's slightly different, and correct me if I'm wrong...

But, specifically on this cruise (and in general on the Carinval Cruises of 7 days or less)...

Formal night is always 2nd night, so on the Monday to Friday 4 day, it's 2nd day Tuesday night; and for the 3 day (Friday to Monday) it's Saturday night...

All I will tell you for eating and "Foodies", there are a LOT of good food options on this cruise 24 hours a day...

So, take this as a "guideline" and, realize that there's always going to be more good food in a an hour or two...

Another good hint, is if you are up for breakfast, and before you have lunch anywhere...

Go to the main dining room entrance, and they will have the dinner menu for that evening posted...

Then you can see what is available, and decide what you're going to have for lunch or sushi, or whatever...

For example that last night, I didn't have pasta for lunch, because I looked at the menu and thought I might try my fried mozzarella pasta invention for dinner...

Hope this helps...

CJW

i love the smart thinking. thanks! I'll post my food "review" after our excursion.

-dw

Curt-

thank you , thank you , thank you, for a vegetarian food review.

from reading your review I eat similar to you do. Mix things here and there. ranch dressing on baked potato, honey mustard on fries, lasagne dumped on salad. Fresh mozzarella, your speaking my language

I have been happy with Royal Caribbeans veggie selections. NCL, not so much

This will be our first Carnival and am looking forward to trying the food. I have seen different menus on different sites and it looks great.

Very excited Dream will have a pasta bar. Very anxious to try the infamous pizza

thanks again

Thanks for the review. I'm so excited. Theres so much food i want to try but i dont htink 4 nights will be enough-lol!

I keep hearing about those BLT's i have no idea what a Brie Sandwich is.

This is our first cruise and we plan on getting to port early so we can have lunch on the ship. I think i'm going to gain so much weight. Oh well if i dont get to try everything i want to try i guess i'll have to book another cruise-lol!

This is just a test

Thanks for the review. You won't catch me on Carnival, but this gives me a great idea of how to write a food review on my B2B next summer.

You won't catch me on Carnival

that's snooty and unesscessary.

Even though it's an older thread...WOW...thanks!