Carnival Celebration free specialty dining

[AtSeaWithChris]

4 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

Then you would understand why someone with early dining should not be allowed to switch around. The seats they would have occupied at early dining now go unused and wasted, and they would make waits or reservations for other venues worse 

The early dining seat wouldn’t necessarily go unused. On the Mardi Gras the large MDR was planned dining as well as YTD. So not everyone during the early time are early time diners. 

[BlerkOne]

1 minute ago, AtSeaWithChris said:

The early dining seat wouldn’t necessarily go unused. On the Mardi Gras the large MDR was planned dining as well as YTD. So not everyone during the early time are early time diners. 

When we had YTD on Mardi Gras we were limited to upstairs. We tried sitting downstairs and they refused.

[AtSeaWithChris]

10 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

When we had YTD on Mardi Gras we were limited to upstairs. We tried sitting downstairs and they refused.

On MG YTD is done by reservations through the app. We saw people around us that were YTD when we were early dining. When we had YTD we mostly got downstairs. So ymmv. 

[BlerkOne]

12 minutes ago, AtSeaWithChris said:

On MG YTD is done by reservations through the app. We saw people around us that were YTD when we were early dining. When we had YTD we mostly got downstairs. So ymmv. 

Yes. We only ate in the MDR twice and the rest of the time in other venues. YMMV.

[csm5986142]

On 7/23/2022 at 7:41 AM, CruizinSusan70 said:

We booked the 5 day sailing for January of 2023 as soon as bookings opened up.  We had such a great time on the Mardi Gras

 

We are booked on this sailing also!  For the same reason - we loved Mardi Gras so much that we booked Celebration as soon as we could, and also booked Jubilee (New Years Eve 2023). 

I'm jealous, unfortunately no B2Bs for us yet (we can't be away from work that long)... but someday... 🙂

I think the Excel class is a game changer for Carnival.

[CruizinSusan70]

1 hour ago, csm5986142 said:

 

We are booked on this sailing also!  For the same reason - we loved Mardi Gras so much that we booked Celebration as soon as we could, and also booked Jubilee (New Years Eve 2023). 

I'm jealous, unfortunately no B2Bs for us yet (we can't be away from work that long)... but someday... 🙂

I think the Excel class is a game changer for Carnival.

No question about the Excel Class being a game changer for the line.  Unless there is an itinerary that screams for us to take it, the rest of the fleet is in our rear view mirror.  We enjoyed our Havana area cruises on the Horizon, but with me needing a HC room now, that would eliminate that as a possibility.

With both my DH and myself being retired, the B2B's are the way to go if we're flying.  The only way we will do 7 day cruises is if we drive, like we'll do next year on the Anthem OTS out of Bayonne and the MSC Meraviglia out of Brooklyn.

[CruizinSusan70]

1 hour ago, csm5986142 said:

I think the Excel class is a game changer for Carnival.

Check out the Prima and Viva on NCL.  The Prima will be based out of Galveston after it's initial 7 months pinballing around the world and the Viva will be based out of San Juan.  These two innovative ships will be just as much a game changer for NCL.  Check out YouTube.

Edited July 28, 2022 by CruizinSusan70

[BlerkOne]

10 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

But 95% of the cruisers are not on cruise critic and are not aware of the fact that if they choose early set dining they lose the opportunity to eat early at Cucina or Chibang on the Excel Class.  The policy should be crystal clear so those cruisers are not left in the dark so they can make an informed decision.

Short cruises, including 7 day cruises, are not long enough to try all the venues anyway. Hopefully they will learn from their mistakes for the next time  

[BlerkOne]

On 7/22/2022 at 9:59 AM, alexsmale said:

Has anyone heard if restaurants like Cucina and Chibang will be free on the Celebration as it is on the Mardi Gras? Thanks.

Yes, and yes.

[mom2tcdx2]

On 7/27/2022 at 1:45 PM, CruizinSusan70 said:

But 95% of the cruisers are not on cruise critic and are not aware of the fact that if they choose early set dining they lose the opportunity to eat early at Cucina or Chibang on the Excel Class.  The policy should be crystal clear so those cruisers are not left in the dark so they can make an informed decision.

I am not sure I am quite following this - if I have chosen the late dining, we would be unable to eat until after 8 at this location, as well as if I chose the early dining?  The only option that allows flexibility at these two is to chose the ATD?  Personally I hated the ATD, we did on one cruise and the service was awful.  We waited over 20 minutes at our table before a single wait person even acknowledged that we were sitting at our table, completely disorganized, and took forever to get out food.  We tried again another night and same issues even when seated in a different area.  Just totally turned us off to that dining and we said if we couldn't get set dining then we would skip the dining room completely.  Our cruise in February doesn't have early dining as being available. 

[kwokpot]

1 hour ago, mom2tcdx2 said:

I am not sure I am quite following this - if I have chosen the late dining, we would be unable to eat until after 8 at this location, as well as if I chose the early dining?  The only option that allows flexibility at these two is to chose the ATD?  Personally I hated the ATD, we did on one cruise and the service was awful.  We waited over 20 minutes at our table before a single wait person even acknowledged that we were sitting at our table, completely disorganized, and took forever to get out food.  We tried again another night and same issues even when seated in a different area.  Just totally turned us off to that dining and we said if we couldn't get set dining then we would skip the dining room completely.  Our cruise in February doesn't have early dining as being available. 

Correct. If you have fixed early or late dining you can't reserve Cucina or Chibang until later. 

[Jenzoe888]

On 7/24/2022 at 1:16 AM, CruizinSusan70 said:

If by those, you're referring to Cucina del Capitano or Chibang, you can't make reservations until the night of at 530 once they open on the app, assuming that you have anytime dining.  If you have set dining, I believe you can start around 800 pm.  Now, you can make reservations for teppanyaki, Steak House, Rudi's Seagrill or the Chef's table right now.  And I am on the first sailing of the Celebration in January.

So if I have set dining at 6:00 I cannot change it and reserve Cucina or Chibang instead until 8:00pm? If that is true should I change to anytime dining?

[hapytobehr]

22 minutes ago, Jenzoe888 said:

So if I have set dining at 6:00 I cannot change it and reserve Cucina or Chibang instead until 8:00pm? If that is true should I change to anytime dining?

I find that hard to believe.

[ngrund]

1 hour ago, Jenzoe888 said:

So if I have set dining at 6:00 I cannot change it and reserve Cucina or Chibang instead until 8:00pm? If that is true should I change to anytime dining?

Correct- anytime dining passengers have have the option of the main dining room (different floor than set time)  or Cucina and Chibang, if you have set time dining you won't be able to make a reservation until 8.

[ngrund]

1 hour ago, hapytobehr said:

I find that hard to believe.

Keep in mind that this is only Mardi Gras/Celebration and there is no up charge for Cucina or Chibang-

 

The set time dining/my time dining difference for making reservations does not apply with the specialty restaurants with the up charge

[kwokpot]

6 hours ago, hapytobehr said:

I find that hard to believe.

What you're not understanding is on Excel class ships Cucina and Chibang are defacto main dining rooms for Your Time Dining passengers. Set early or late dining customers have a guaranteed table, unlike  Your Time Dining passengers which have to 'find' a table every night. The official main dining room for YTD doesn't have the capacity to seat every passenger when they want to have dinner, which is not the case for set early or late dining. That is why Cantina and Chibang are utilized as defacto MDRs and YTD passengers are given 1st preference to dine there. 

[Saint Greg]

7 hours ago, hapytobehr said:

I find that hard to believe.

 

It's true. And that's how it was when I was on Mardi Gras in August 2021. Even with it only being available for YTD before 8pm, Cucina and Chibang were loaded every night. And that was with reduced capacity. I can't imagine what it's like now. I would guess long wait times.

 

Edited October 14, 2022 by Saint Greg

[Knights on the Beach]

12 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

 

It's true. And that's how it was when I was on Mardi Gras in August 2021. Even with it only being available for YTD before 8pm, Cucina and Chibang were loaded every night. And that was with reduced capacity. I can't imagine what it's like now. I would guess long wait times.

 

 

We were on MG in December, March and May and it was nearly at full capacity each time. We always have YTD on that ship and didn't have long wait times if we checked in early. The only time we had a long wait was in December on elegant night for the MDR - because we waited until 6:30 to check in on the app. Lesson learned, we check in early and don't go to the MDR on Mardi Gras anymore.  🙂

[CruizinSusan70]

3 hours ago, cruisemom2 said:

 

We were on MG in December, March and May and it was nearly at full capacity each time. We always have YTD on that ship and didn't have long wait times if we checked in early. The only time we had a long wait was in December on elegant night for the MDR - because we waited until 6:30 to check in on the app. Lesson learned, we check in early and don't go to the MDR on Mardi Gras anymore.  🙂

We too were on the MG for B2B's in February and again in August.  The August sailings had 6000 and 5700.  On night two the seating in the MDR opened up at 500 instead of 530, probably because of the influx of lobster tail eaters.  If you had checked in around 545, the wait could not have been more than 45-60 minutes.  You just have to adjust your check in times depending upon when you wish to eat.  There is a big difference between having 6000 people eating dinner on the Excel Class and 40-60% less people on the other ships in the fleet.  No need to avoid the MDR on the MG.

[Knights on the Beach]

6 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

We too were on the MG for B2B's in February and again in August.  The August sailings had 6000 and 5700.  On night two the seating in the MDR opened up at 500 instead of 530, probably because of the influx of lobster tail eaters.  If you had checked in around 545, the wait could not have been more than 45-60 minutes.  You just have to adjust your check in times depending upon when you wish to eat.  There is a big difference between having 6000 people eating dinner on the Excel Class and 40-60% less people on the other ships in the fleet.  No need to avoid the MDR on the MG.

 

Except for the fact that we prefer - by far - the food at Cucina and Chibang. Even Pig & Anchor and the buffet were better than the MDR. Not the case on other ships.

[Knights on the Beach]

6 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

 

Duplicate 

Edited October 15, 2022 by cruisemom2

[CruizinSusan70]

8 hours ago, cruisemom2 said:

 

Except for the fact that we prefer - by far - the food at Cucina and Chibang. Even Pig & Anchor and the buffet were better than the MDR. Not the case on other ships.

Personal preference.  We don't do buffets much, never at dinner.  The wiener schnitzel was the best thing we had at the MDR and the prime rib was nice and red and not too marbleized.  Besides, you need to go to the MDR for Grand Marnier souffle and Bitter n Blanc.

Doesn't matter much, four sailings on the MG and she is in our rear view mirror.  On to five bookings on the Celebration.

[CruisingWalter]

On 7/22/2022 at 9:21 PM, kwokpot said:

I can say with 100% assurance that the Cucina and Chibang will setup the same as on the MardiGras. Not because I have inside information but because of the logistics. Celebration holds more passengers than the Mardi Gras

 

Where is that information about Celebration holding more passengers? Everything I can find shows the two ships being identical for passenger counts. Approx. 5280 double occupancy, 6500 completely full. Jubilee is showing similar numbers as of right now as well.

 

As for the original question, I would fully expect ChiBang the Cucina del Capitano to be included the same as Mardi Gras in order to spread out the dinner crowds. The MDR would be overwhelmed if they didn't. As with Mardi Gras go with the anytime dining so you have first choice at those two restaurants starting at 5:30. I would suspect Pig and Anchor will also be included like Mardi Gras, again to spread out the dinner crowds. 

 

If ChiBang is like the Mardi Gras version, stick with the Asian side of the menu. Blue Iguana has better Mexican food than ChiBang if that's your hankering. Cucina is on par with Olive Garden, maybe a little better, though I will say the lunch during sea day was fun. 

 

Best restaurant on Mardi Gras is Rudi's Seagrill so if you're looking for an awesome night out, I highly recommend that restaurant. 555 is a good steakhouse, but Rudi's was the best meal onboard for us. 

[rs45thompson]

2 hours ago, WheresWalter said:

 

Where is that information about Celebration holding more passengers? Everything I can find shows the two ships being identical for passenger counts. Approx. 5280 double occupancy, 6500 completely full. Jubilee is showing similar numbers as of right now as well.

 

As for the original question, I would fully expect ChiBang the Cucina del Capitano to be included the same as Mardi Gras in order to spread out the dinner crowds. The MDR would be overwhelmed if they didn't. As with Mardi Gras go with the anytime dining so you have first choice at those two restaurants starting at 5:30. I would suspect Pig and Anchor will also be included like Mardi Gras, again to spread out the dinner crowds. 

 

If ChiBang is like the Mardi Gras version, stick with the Asian side of the menu. Blue Iguana has better Mexican food than ChiBang if that's your hankering. Cucina is on par with Olive Garden, maybe a little better, though I will say the lunch during sea day was fun. 

 

Best restaurant on Mardi Gras is Rudi's Seagrill so if you're looking for an awesome night out, I highly recommend that restaurant. 555 is a good steakhouse, but Rudi's was the best meal onboard for us. 

What was your favorite item on the menu at Rudi's.  We are going on the Celebration next month and wanted to try something different from what I had on the Mardi Gras.

[kwokpot]

2 hours ago, WheresWalter said:

Where is that information about Celebration holding more passengers? Everything I can find shows the two ships being identical for passenger counts. Approx. 5280 double occupancy, 6500 completely full. Jubilee is showing similar numbers as of right now as well.

Carnival's own website.