?s re. "Included Food" /Lido Deck

[SSBrickNJ]

I've been on Royal Caribbean twice and I'm used to the Windjammer Café. I'd go there for breakfast, then return for lunch...then eat dinner in the main dining room. Now I'm going on a Carnival ship for the first time and I need the basics. I'll be on the Valor. Is the LIDO deck or the LIDO buffet like the Windjammer Café? Can I go there for breakfast food and then return later for lunch? All for no additional charge? BTW, we have 6PM seatings in the main dining area.

[WLHyatt]

Yes, the Lido buffet is free of charge.

You can also eat dinner there, we have never done that before our cruise to Alaska this year but we were enjoying the scenery while sailing out of Skagway and did not realize we had already missed dinner.

[SSBrickNJ]

I'm the Original Poster with a follow up. Has anybody been on Royal C. and Carnival? Is Carnival's Lido Buffet the same idea and experience as Royal C's Windjammer Café?

[isaiahsnana]

Lido buffet provides service for all three meals if you choose, this ship also has a fish and chips place, mongolian wok, and a sea day brunch all included for free.

[springs741]

Also, you may wish to enjoy Brunch in the MDR on sea days and breakfast in the MDR on port days. This option is also included in your cruise fare and is open seating. The times will be listed in your "Fun Times"

[Towel Critter]

I'm the Original Poster with a follow up. Has anybody been on Royal C. and Carnival? Is Carnival's Lido Buffet the same idea and experience as Royal C's Windjammer Café?

 

I've done both, though it's been a few years since I was on a RC ship, but the concept is the same on both lines, unless RCCL has changed drastically since I sailed with them. If that is the case, I'm sure someone will correct me.

[SSBrickNJ]

OK....? #1 ..so I plan to eat Breakfast around 8:30 or so and come back for lunch around 11:45AM. I like buffets so I'll be going back to the same location. Carnival will adjust the food choices by 11:45AM. Am I good to go re. what I just typed?

#2 Help this Royal C. guy get out of that mindset and adjust to Carnival and the word "Lido"... "Lido" is it a deck? and on the deck is a buffet restaurant???...and if that is correct is the buffet restaurant simply referred to as "The Lido Buffet"??? What deck NUMBER is that?

Edited October 27, 2015 by SSBrickNJ

[Nic6318]

Pizza is available almost always as well as room service which is free of charge.

 

Check your daily Fun Times, it will list all dining venues and hours of operation.

 

I do especially like the sea day brunch in the MDR. You can also look out for an afternoon "tea" when offered.

 

have a great cruise

[dettlja]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think lunch starts at noon. My husband and I are early risers and like to have breakfast about 6am and lunch at 11 am and nothing is ever open early enough for us :-( but yes, you can visit the buffet as much as you want. They don't track it at all.

[SSBrickNJ]

I've read many helpful responses. Thanks everybody. I'm still hoping for some answers to my "Lido" vocab. questions...see post #7 above

[dallas52]

Lido is on deck 9 on the Valor.

[Towel Critter]

Lido is an Italian word for beach or swimming area, thus it is the name of the deck with pools and water slides. The buffet also happens to be on this deck (toward the aft of the ship) and thus is the Lido buffet. If the buffet happened to me on Panorama deck, I suppose it would be referred to as the Panorama buffet. Is this of any help?

Edited October 27, 2015 by Towel Critter

[montekat]

No matter which Carnival ship you are on, the Lido deck is where you will find the buffet. Each ship calls the buffet by a different name (i.e. Rosie's Restaurant on the Valor, Mermaid's Grill on the Pride, Red Sail Restaurant on the Glory, etc.), whereas RCCL always calls their buffet the Windjammer.

[WLHyatt]

Yeah, most ships have names for the buffet restaurant, but most people here typically just refer to it as the "lido buffet".

 

No real reason other than that's the name that is common across the ships. Royal must have a common name for their buffet since I see people call it the "windjammer".

[ohiowilly]

I've sailed both of the cruise lines, and have found the buffet offerings to be pretty similar. The entire buffet on the Valor may not be open at 6 am, but you will find at least one or more of the serving stations open. I'm not sure of the time that they transition from breakfast foods to the lunch menu, but I think you're safe any time after 11 am. Like the windjammer on RC, Carnival's buffet is free, all day long.

 

It's my understanding and experience that Lido is the deck on which the buffet resides. On some ships in the fleet it might be deck 9, and on others, it has been deck 10.

 

The Buffet has a different name on each ship, but typically, Lido is a part of the name. I think that people have grown to equate "Lido" to "Buffet."

 

Enjoy your cruise. I've found that Carnival offers a more relaxed experience than RC, when it comes to dining in particular. I've always had good food on Carnival cruises.

[A&Jfamily]

It might help if you went on CCL site and pulled up the deck plans. As another said all carnival ships have a lido, main, empress, sun etc deck. The names are the same but the floor numbers may change slightly. The promanade for example has the shops bars etc and is usually around deck 5. There are often 2 MDR

 

So if you study the lido you will see tons of other buffet like places - the main buffet is supported by the grill, pizza subs etc. They change over food at some stations starting around 1130 and all have made the transition by 12.

 

Don't forget room service is free too. Along with ice cream. The only places you pay for food on carnival are the specialty restaurants like steakhouse or sushi and coffee bar type places.

[travelnteach64]

Another first timer to Carnival here, we also have experience on RC. On RC they had the Coke Freestyle machines, which was amazing. What do you do if you want a soda at the buffet?

[joeyancho]

Brick, I have been on both RCCL and CCL, many times. Whatever you do on RCCL you can do on CCL. You won't notice much of a difference. There is zero charge for food in the buffet. There is also a grill out by the pool, same as RCCL. Hotdogs, hamburgers, etc, no charge. Breakfast is also served in the main dining room on port days. On seadays the main dining room serves Seaday brunch. It includes standard breakfast items and lunch items. It is not a buffet. It is sit down. It is very popular. Once again ,No charge. If you don't want to try seaday brunch, you can still go to the buffet. Hope this helps. Have fun with your new cruise experience.

[joeyancho]

Another first timer to Carnival here, we also have experience on RC. On RC they had the Coke Freestyle machines, which was amazing. What do you do if you want a soda at the buffet?

 

No freestyle machines on CCL. Bar service will bring you sodas at the buffet.

[funinthesun1964]

Another first timer to Carnival here, we also have experience on RC. On RC they had the Coke Freestyle machines, which was amazing. What do you do if you want a soda at the buffet?

 

Stop at a bar and buy it.

[Raxter54]

Another first timer to Carnival here, we also have experience on RC. On RC they had the Coke Freestyle machines, which was amazing. What do you do if you want a soda at the buffet?

 

No free-style on Carnival. If you want soda, you have to get a waiter or bartender to get it for you. And you will be charged, unless you purchased the soda package.

 

I liked the Windjammer on the Serenade of the Seas, especially the way it was set up with different "islands" for salads, entre, deserts, etc. Be interesting to see how the Lido buffet is set up on the Dream...

[SSBrickNJ]

THANK YOU EVERYONE. You all made a great difference in my confidence level and explained all my questions in a clear and helpful way. Great job and thanks again! :)

[AdrenalineRush]

No free-style on Carnival. If you want soda, you have to get a waiter or bartender to get it for you. And you will be charged, unless you purchased the soda package.

 

I liked the Windjammer on the Serenade of the Seas, especially the way it was set up with different "islands" for salads, entre, deserts, etc. Be interesting to see how the Lido buffet is set up on the Dream...

 

If you want a sneak peak this is a video of the breakfast and lunch setup on Dream

 

[Hawaiifrank]

Another first timer to Carnival here, we also have experience on RC. On RC they had the Coke Freestyle machines, which was amazing. What do you do if you want a soda at the buffet?

 

I see someone has already answered your question, but I just wanted to add, if you have the soda package, the drink waiters can get you soda. At least ours did, I think all the buffets have a soda fountain at some drink stations, behind the counter, of course. It's not self-service. And I don't believe the regular servers are set up to charge you, they can only get it if you have the Bottomless Bubbles.

 

I too liked the Coke machines on Royal, except they NEVER, EVER had regular Diet Coke in any of the machines for the entire cruise.

[denas]

One thing that I thought was different about RCCL and Carnival (especially if you compare the 2.0 upgrades with the newer RCCL ships with the Royal Promenade). Carnival puts all of the additional free food options besides the buffet on the pool deck/lido deck whereas Royal sticks those types of things in the Promenade. So while the Windjammer is on the same deck as the pool, the pizza, paninis, early morning coffee and pastries, etc are all actually in the Promenade - so on deck 5 or so. Carnival has Guys/Blue Cantina/pizza/early morning coffee, etc all on the Lido deck. I prefer this because as an early morning riser, I much prefer to have my first cup of coffee and pastry outside looking at the ocean rather than inside in a mall. And secondly as the mother of picky kids who (just to drive me bonkers) will always all want something different for lunch, I much prefer that everything is located on the lido deck rather than someone wanting a panini or pizza and someone else wanting the buffet which means food options on deck 11 and deck 5!! Hard to sit down and have lunch as a family that way.

 

This is just a slight difference and doesn't really change the types of free food offered on both lines (very similar), but since the OP was specifically looking at locations for the free food, I just wanted to point out on Carnival it is generally all on the Lido deck!!