Carnival Breeze
When it comes to mealtime, snack time, or pretty much any time on a large cruise ship there’s always plenty of choices for where and what to eat. Carnival Breeze is no exception, having quite the variety of tasty things available. Most of the eateries on the Breeze have no extra charge to eat there including the ever popular Guy’s Burger Joint and Blue Iguana Cantina.
GUY’S BURGER JOINT
Determined to try Guy’s Burger joint this time even though they haven’t wised up enough to start offering people the option to swap the beef patty for a turkey or veggie patty, I decided to try just ordering bacon and cheese on the bun, hold the beef. Unused to special orders, the two guys behind the counter had great difficulties figuring that one out and kept trying to put a beef patty on the bun. Finally they came up with some sort of cold pressed meat that may have once been bacon, but looked nothing like it now. And no cheese. I’d expected a few slices of actual bacon hot off the grill and a slice of their super melty cheese. No such luck. At least they have a toppings bar to dress it up with. The addition of some grilled onions, mushrooms and lettuce certainly made it look edible.
Guy’s Burger Joint on Carnival Breeze – Guy’s way or the highway
If I could have replaced that questionable substance with actual bacon it would have been quite good. The grilled onions and mushrooms on the toppings bar were great. (They did have bits of actual bacon on the condiment bar, I’d have been better off with that.) My husband once got someone at Guy’s to give him just the bun with cheese and some fries, and he then took the bun over to Blue Iguana and got some chicken to put on it. That worked out a whole lot better for him than the bacon thing did for me.
Blue Iguana Cantina – where you can have the food your way
The fries, though somewhat on the greasy side, taste good and are of a thick cut reminiscent of homemade. So the conclusion is, if you don’t eat beef, Guy’s really has nothing for you. If you do, then have at it, it seems to be quite a popular spot.
Carnival would like to accommodate all their guests, however they can’t add things to the menu without Guy’s approval. Perhaps after the bad publicity his New York restaurant got for refusing to serve veggie burgers he will wise up and acknowledge the large population of non-beef eaters. But don’t count on it. Bobby Flay’s Burger Joint anyone?
UPDATE 2015: Veggie burgers are finally available at Guy’s! They are not listed on the menu, but if you ask for one they will cook it for you. They said it would take 15 minutes, but had it ready in 10.
Even favorites like chocolate cake get dressed up fancy on cruise ships
Cruise Ship Desserts
Desserts make the top of just about anyone’s list of favorite things to eat. Cruise food is no exception. Carnival has a variety of excellent desserts to choose from after each meal. The ones that cost extra at places like Cherry on top or the Plaza Café look mighty good too, but I can never see paying extra for even more desserts when we already have way too many for free, though I used to say that about the pay extra eateries before I tried them. My favorite Carnival desserts include the Bitter and Blanc and Chocolate Melting Cake. This time I’m adding a couple new favorites, the White Chocolate Bread Pudding (which rather reminds me of the Bitter and Blanc) and the Chocolate Gateau, served at lunchtime the day we ate lunch in the dining room. The daily menu offered more tasty desserts than any one person could ever eat. We also topped off our meal at their Italian place with a tasty dessert not seen elsewhere on the ship.
dessert at the Cucina del Capitano
Cucina del Capitano
Carnival has a tradition of hiring all Italian captains, so having their Italian restaurant called the captain’s kitchen works out well whoever takes the helm on any given cruise. Located above the main Lido buffet area, this restaurant has a complimentary pasta bar at lunch time and dinner service for a nominal fee. Dinner starts with a fancy bread tray. A waiter rolls a wine barrel over to the table for an optional tasting. The dinner menu includes spaghetti carbonara, a piece of history as Carnival once served this tasty dish on their very first ship, the Mardi Gras. The portions are enormous. John liked my spaghetti carbonara better than the dish he ordered, and after we’d both eaten our fill more than half of this very rich and filling dish still remained on the plate. The Spaghetti Carbonara tasted so good we asked for the recipe, and the Breeze staff gave it to us. Their recipe says it serves 10, and considering the monstrous size of their servings it probably serves a lot more, so the average person would most likely want to cut down on the portions of ingredients this recipe calls for.
Spaghetti Carbonara at Cucina del Capitano on Carnival Breeze
Carnival’s Spaghetti Carbonara Recipe
Spaghetti
Cook 2 lb spaghetti in salted water for 8 minutes
Sauce
2 lb bacon
2.5 lb yellow onion (soup diced)
1 oz fresh garlic (chopped)
Heavy cream 2 ea (sorry, this is what their recipe says. It does not say 2 what. I looked up some other spaghetti carbonara recipes and most did not have cream at all, but one had 1/2 cup cream in a recipe using one pound of spaghetti.)
1/2 liter half & half creamer
1 lb fresh parmesan cheese (grated)
10 fresh egg yolks
salt & pepper to taste
Directions
Heat frying pan. Dice bacon and add to hot pan. When 70% done drain excess fat and add onions and garlic. Saute until onions reach golden color. Remove and place in perforated pan. Make some crispy diced bacon for garnish as well.
Add egg yolks to creams, whisk until smooth texture.
Heat pan, add cream mixture and sautéed bacon & onion. Cook until sauce starts to form coating consistency. Reserve some sauce for serving before adding spaghetti.
Blanch spaghetti in salted water, add to the sauce. Stir in grated parmesan cheese, season with salt and crushed black pepper. Finish with olive oil.
Note: Do not overcook the sauce.
Finish & Presentation
Place tossed pasta in bowl, pour 1 oz of sauce on top and garnish with crispy diced cooked bacon and parsley sprig. Serve hot. Serves 10 (probably more since their idea of one serving was more than 2 people could eat)
Fahrenheit 555 Steak House on Carnival Breeze
Fahrenheit 555 Steak House
Unlike Guy’s Burger Joint, the steakhouse does have options for non-beef eaters. We tried their delightful pan-seared sea bass, and also went to a cooking demonstration where they made a meal featuring chicken. Of course they have plenty of beef options too. The steak house has its own chef and an open grill where guests can watch meals in preparation. The décor is more elegant than the rest of the ship, and the seating limited in this reservations only eatery, where the tasty food does cost extra.
Fat Jimmy’s C-Side BBQ on the deck 5 lanai on Carnival Breeze
Fat Jimmy’s C-Side BBQ
This very popular eatery on the starboard side Lanai on deck 5 has very limited hours of operation. It just opens for lunch on sea days, but only in nice weather. We even had a calm sunny beautiful sea day where it did not open for reasons unknown. When it did open it had quite the line-up the entire 2 and a half hour time of service. We had a sudden brief shower and even that did not dissuade those in line from reaching their barbecued goal. We thought the pulled pork sandwich was the best thing on the menu, and found it worth the wait. The grilled yams tasted pretty good too. Since I have a huge aversion to lines, saying anything is worth a wait is high praise from me. At the buffet my choice of food is usually whatever I can get without waiting in line.
A whole boatload of sushi
Bonsai Sushi
Located on deck 5, the sushi bar has nice décor and inviting tables. Unlike last year’s cruise on the Liberty where the Sushi was free, on the Breeze it costs extra. They do have a more extensive menu though. Sushi sells by the piece for those who just want a taste, or for a meal passengers can buy a whole boatload. Seriously, it comes in a little boat shaped dish.
Coconut Shrimp with Pina Colada sauce to die for
Red Frog Pub
In addition to the Red Frog Rum Bar on the Lido deck, the Breeze also has a Red Frog Pub on deck 5. The Red Frog Pub serves excellent food, always fresh and hot because it is cooked to order rather than made ahead to serve a crowd of people. Depending on a person’s appetite, one or two of their appetizers makes enough for a whole meal. The cost on these is very nominal. They make their own delicious sauces. The coconut shrimp comes with an excellent pina colada sauce, and the hot wings come with a rum barbeque sauce to die for. The sauce is not spicy so it tempers the hotness of the wings a bit as well as adding wonderful flavor. For dessert they have a delicious little cake called Icky Sticky Coconut Cake. It lived up to the sticky part, but we found nothing icky whatsoever about that tasty morsel. Red Frog Pub has some of the best food on the ship, and the cost per item is quite low. We did not particularly care for the conch, but loved everything else we tried there.
Breakfast Burrito at the Blue Iguana Cantina
Blue Iguana Cantina
All the non-beef eaters who found nothing to eat at Guy’s can go just across the deck to the Blue Iguana. They have a number of choices of everything from a selection of tortillas to numerous fillings and toppings to have your taco or burrito your way. Take it over to the nearby salsa bar for a large selection of sauces to top your meal. They serve tacos and burritos. Blue Iguana opens for breakfast as well as lunch, with breakfast burritos making a tasty change from the usual breakfast fare. And unlike Guy’s “My way or the highway” attitude, you can have things however you wish at the Blue Iguana. Make sure you pick up something to drink before visiting the Blue Iguana or Guy’s because there’s no free drink stations out by the pool where they are located. (The Red Frog Rum Bar and Blue Iguana Tequila Bar are nearby if you want drinks that cost extra.)
Pizza Pirate – one of the Lido Buffet Stations
Lido Marketplace Buffet
The Marketplace Buffet on the Lido has a number of different stations serving a variety of different foods. Many of the stations change not only from one meal to the next, but sometimes also from one day to the next. A station that served full meals one day becomes the chocolate buffet the next. One might change from comfort food to Caribbean food on a given day. You can always find a variety of things for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Some stations have food ready to grab and go, and others like the Mongolian Wok or at breakfast time, the waffle station, cook things hot and fresh to order while you wait. Other Lido food includes the Deli, and out on the back deck the Pizzeria, and Tandoor – where you can find late night sandwiches after the other food venues close.
soup and salad for lunch at the Taste Bar – with the ever-present hand sanitizer dispenser found at every cruise ship food venue
Taste Bar
Stop by the taste bar on at the Plaza on deck 5 for a sample of what’s for dinner. At lunchtime they serve full meal size soup and sandwiches. Come by in the morning for continental breakfast.
the dining rooms serve lobster on formal night so bring your good clothes along on a cruise
Sapphire Restaurant/Blush Restaurant
The main dining rooms on board the Breeze are the midship Sapphire Restaurant and the Blush Restaurant at the stern. Passengers are assigned to a particular dining room and level depending on whether they choose early or late seating or the your time dining where you eat dinner at any time during the hours of dinner service. We dined mainly at the Blush Restaurant downstairs on your time dining, but did get a chance to make occasional visits to the Sapphire for tea, comedy brunch and lunch. Dinners include a variety of excellent choices for multi-course meals and desserts with menus that change daily, and usually include lobster on formal night. Carnival’s wonderful signature dessert, the chocolate melting cake, appears on the dinner menu nightly.
Fancy treats for sale at the Plaza Cafe
Plaza Cafe
If all the tasty treats served at meals or teatime isn’t enough, you can buy some really fancy goodies at the Plaza Cafe. They make nice gifts for your onboard friends or relatives too.
Sea Dogs
I was unaware this food venue existed during our cruise on the Breeze, but according to Carnival’s website there’s hot dogs available at SportSquare up on top of the ship.
Room Service
In case all that food isn’t enough, 24-hour room service is available for free. For days with early shore excursions, the menu cards that you fill out and leave on the door for breakfast served at your chosen time come in quite handy. There’s also a room service menu to call and order from whenever the mood strikes.
Cruise Stories 
I’d have a hard time deciding where to eat!
Luckily we had a long cruise so we got to try lots of places.
If you want the Pan Seared Sea Bass Recipe, here’s the video taken during the cooking demo.
I love food, and so really enjoy seeing pics of different foods in your posts. The only thing missing is their prices. People on budgets (like myself) would like to know of the costs involved. Well, I do, anyway! Can you reveal this to me – and maybe include money amounts in your posts in the future? Or is this something you’d rather keep private?
I haven’t included prices because they tend to change over time and people would read this and think things are one price and then take the cruise and find out it’s something different. I suppose they could see by the date of the blog when that price was in effect though. You do have a good point there, maybe I should think about including them as people might appreciate that information.
In general the fancy eateries such as the steakhouse on the Breeze tend to cost about $25 for dinner. If they are open at lunch that tends to cost less, maybe $10. The food at the Red Frog Pub was per item, about $3 for the appetizers and I think about $2 for the cake. The goodies in the case at the Plaza Cafe I think were mostly in the $2 – $5 range. Cucina del Capitano was $12 for dinner, and well worth it since that spaghetti carbonara was one of the best meals we’ve ever had anywhere, not just on a cruise ship. Often we get complimentary meals at these places due to writing about them, but that one we actually paid for. I have no idea what the sushi cost, I did not venture far enough into the sushi place to see the prices because I don’t eat raw fish. They did have a limited selection of free sushi at the Lido Buffet sometimes though. At the rest of the places on the Breeze only alcohol or soda cost extra.
Wow, those prices are sure reasonable! Plus, free is good, for promoting them. Do you get free cruises, too? 🙂
If so, I’m going to take over your job! LOL
Not too many free cruises. Once in awhile. We usually get some sort of perks – PR rates or free upgrades, behind the scenes tours, room tours, the private cooking demo in the video My Travel Tastes put in the comments here. Sometimes we get VIP status (which is normally just for suite guests) and often free treats delivered to the room. Sometimes we get interviews with important staff members or the captain. It varies from one cruise to another.
My friend, Milton, would be in his bliss at so many of these restaurants. But he and I are a lot alike i.e., neither of us knows how to swim and we’re both squeamish about boats. Milton is even averse to flying. So, basically, he’s pretty limited to staying in the tri-state area. That Italian pastry in your fifth image down is called a Cannoli. I used to love them, but since I am now so severely lactose intolerant, I can only look at them in pretty pictures. They were so delicious!
That is hard to have to give up things you used to like. I suppose those would be tough to make for yourself since you’d probably first have to start by making your own alternative cheese. I once had a vegan co-worker who made cheese from cashews. I have no idea how, but like anything else it can probably be found online.
You don’t need to know how to swim to go on a cruise – these are big ships. They also have life jackets and life boats for everyone onboard.
Cashew cheese is very tasty. I have no idea how to make it, but I live very near many excellent markets and not far from some terrific vegan restaurants that can provide a fast fix if it. Going without foods I once loved is okay especially since I feel so much better. I suffered a lot until I finally saw a gastroenterologist who diagnosed what was wrong.
So if you could find a vegan Italian restaurant perhaps they’d have some cannoli you could eat!
The vegan version of Fettuccine Alfredo I had at a restaurant out here was very good. And better yet, it didn’t make me feel sick.
I’ve always wanted to try Guy Fierri’s burger joint looks delicous, The Carnival Breeze is such a great ship and the food looks amazing, the only problem is there is too much choice!
People who eat beef love Guy’s Burger Joint, it’s very popular on the ships that have it. You’re right, it does look delicious. I just wish they had some sort of non-beef patty. I’ve seen Guy eat a turkey burger on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, and he liked it!
Not everyone who loves beef likes Guy’s Burger Joint. The man who invented the hamburger is my hero but Guy’s was to salty. Red Robin is the best place there is to get a burger. They should put Red Robins on cruise ships.
I forgot to say Blue Iguana is awsome. Breakfast lunch or dinner you can’t go wrong at Blue Iguana.
YUM!!! This looks better than Princess!
Can you please clear up the confusion on the recipe for the spagetti carbanora. It says heavy cream 2 ea. ??? What is 2 ea?
2 ea was all the recipe I got from Carnival said. I went with what I found in another recipe, which was 1/2 cup to one pound of spaghetti. That would make it a whole cup for the amount of spaghetti this recipe calls for. I thought it could have used a little bit more when I made it though, maybe 3/4 cup of the heavy cream per pound of spaghetti would work better. The amount of portions the recipe says it makes would not make portions nearly so large as those served on the ship either.