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Thanksgiving on Carnival

JennN

By JennN,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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JennN

JennN

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Hi there,

 

I am cruising for the first time on a holiday (I've been on several other Carnival cruises) - has anyone been on board during Thanksgiving?

 

Is the food good? Typical fare? Do they do anything special for it? I understand it's not New Year's or Christmas or Hanukkah but just wondering. I don't think they decorate for winter holidays until December, if I remember correctly.

 

Selected this cruise since my former place of employment gave us half the week off (current gives 2 days) and it would mean more money but having to take less vacation time. Hope it is worth it! Thanks for sharing your experiences.

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SadieN

SadieN

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Normal turkey dinner in MDR.

Lido carves whole turkeys, only place to get dark meat.

 

Last week on the Miracle they served carved turkey, stuffing and yams on the lido one lunch. It was very good.

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sanmarcosman

sanmarcosman

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Hi there,

 

I am cruising for the first time on a holiday (I've been on several other Carnival cruises) - has anyone been on board during Thanksgiving?

 

Is the food good? Typical fare? Do they do anything special for it? I understand it's not New Year's or Christmas or Hanukkah but just wondering. I don't think they decorate for winter holidays until December, if I remember correctly.

 

Selected this cruise since my former place of employment gave us half the week off (current gives 2 days) and it would mean more money but having to take less vacation time. Hope it is worth it! Thanks for sharing your experiences.

A quick search produced this thread, post #6 is typical of what I have read here over the years about the dinner served in the MDR. Others say whole birds are carved in the buffet at dinner on turkey day so you can have white, dark or a combo in the lido.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2182820&highlight=thanksgiving

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JennN

JennN

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A quick search produced this thread, post #6 is typical of what I have read here over the years about the dinner served in the MDR. Others say whole birds are carved in the buffet at dinner on turkey day so you can have white, dark or a combo in the lido.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2182820&highlight=thanksgiving

 

Thanks for searching for me. I read that one but was hoping for a few more responses. Not sure what else I was looking for - maybe more hopeful that there were special activities?

 

Didn't even think about the increase in kids - we don't have any and aren't generally bothered by good behaving ones :) My MIL will be on this cruise with us. Also our first cruise in an aft extended balcony!!!

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JennN

JennN

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Normal turkey dinner in MDR.

Lido carves whole turkeys, only place to get dark meat.

 

Last week on the Miracle they served carved turkey, stuffing and yams on the lido one lunch. It was very good.

 

Good to know as DW likes dark meat. We might need to go to early dinner (we have YTD) then to Lido for second dinner :)

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JennN

JennN

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We sailed on the Liberty last Thanksgiving and will be on the Splendor this Thanksgiving. No special activities that I recall. Some people did decorate their doors with Thanksgiving themed decorations.

 

We'll be on the same cruise!!!

 

I didn't even think about decorating the door with turkeys :) I usually do tropical themed stuff. Thanks for the idea!

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JennN

JennN

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Another question -

 

We are in San Juan on Thanksgiving. Will anything be open? I don't think the Bacardi factory is (we're looking to eat lunch at Raices, but are worried it too will be closed).

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Mary Ellen1

Mary Ellen1

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Another question -

 

We are in San Juan on Thanksgiving. Will anything be open? I don't think the Bacardi factory is (we're looking to eat lunch at Raices, but are worried it too will be closed).

 

We were there on Thanksgiving 2 years ago, and EVERYTHING was closed. :( All the stores. Even the forts.

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SadieN

SadieN

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Just like home... Family owned and anything governmental will be closed. Hotels and some national chains will be open. Plan on window shopping and a sea day.

There should be excursions available.

Edited by SadieN
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JennN

JennN

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I'm on your cruise. Last year we had dinner on the Lido as we were watching football during our regular dinner. No special activities. I'm going to the beach early if you want to join me and share a taxi!! Email me if interested cntrydncr1@hotmail.com

 

Thanks for the offer but we were going to just go to the restaurant and stay on ship the rest of the time, walk around port.

 

Why on earth would they make Thanksgiving a port day then!?!?

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chadci

chadci

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We did a thanksgiving cruise a few years ago, also in San Juan. Some of the shops were open. The fort itself was closed but you could go walk around the grounds, we were satisfied with that. It was nice being there on that day as there were no hassles.

 

Only trouble of the day was returning to port for an injured passenger.

 

Food was fine. Nothing over the top. I may of had Indian that night.

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SadieN

SadieN

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This is GREAT! So worried about staying traditional, I forgot we can eat what we want :) Just hope there is a Tandoor on the Splendor!

 

 

Tandoor is outside, aft of the buffet, starboard side.

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  • 2 weeks later...
LHARTWICK

LHARTWICK

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So is there a traditional Thanksgiving turkey meal on board or not - I'm seeing yes AND no. Confused?? We'll be on the Dream that week. Jamaica is our port of call that day, but we won't get off the ship anyway, so whether or not stores are open/closed there doesn't matter to us.

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balcony bound

balcony bound

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We have cruised a couple of Thanksgiving weeks in the past. We have found the ship a little crowded on those trips; lots of families. As said above, U.S. ports lots of things closed, but we've also had port stop on Thanksgiving non-U.S. was very normal.

 

Also, the turkey in the lido buffet was far superior to the dining room if you want traditional thanksgiving food. Have a great trip!

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LHARTWICK

LHARTWICK

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Suddenly I'm really regretting booking this one! In my defense it's a big family cruise and these dates were the only dates possible for the person who arranged it. We'll try to have fun anyway. I'll make sure my ear plugs are packed! Beats being at work anyway!

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dhamilt0512

dhamilt0512

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Over the past 4 years we have taken a Thanksgiving cruise on Carnival 3 times. Everyone is correct that there will be a ton of kids on board. All three years the ship sailed at coast card capacity meaning if the room could hold 4 people it did. That being said what we found is lots of large family groups and therefore a little better supervising of the kids than we have seen on other cruises. Yes it was crowded but all three trips were wonderful and we had a great time.

 

enjoy your holiday!

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