?s re. "Included Food" /Lido Deck

[ladygal4.4]

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?

 

 

The food will change officially at 12. But they will be mostly done by 11:45.

 

Lido deck is normally deck 10-11'ish depending on how high the ship is. It's the "main" gathering area for the buffet, extremely easy to find. If the boat has The burrito bar and Guy's burgers, you'll find it there as well. It's also where the main pool and large dive-in movies are.

 

 

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[N2Mischief]

I've been on both, and yes, almost exactly the same. I don't remember the Royal Caribbean ship having a Deli, and I personally think the food is better on Carnival.

[Donh44]

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

 

 

 

Hey Brick, someone may have already mentioned this. Go to Carnival.com and search out the deck plans. That way you can see what is on each deck. I have been on 7 Carnival cruises and happy with each one. Lots of options for food. Hope you have a great 1st Carnival experience. It is the "FUN" ship.

[hirent]

OP, here's the complete list of all the free options for eating on the Valor.

The specific times will be listed on the daily 'Fun Times' delivered to every stateroom.

Sometimes, they will keep the buffet going if more and more people keep showing up. It happened to us on the Valor a couple of years ago during late afternoon lunch time.

Soda is not included, but there are a selection of juices, coffee, tea etc. available during breakfast buffet & dinner buffet.

 

[1] Buffet (includes omelet station, salad bar, carving station, sweet/dessert spot, breakfast grill etc.) - open for breakfast, lunch & dinner.

[2] Main Dining Rooms (one for Anytime, one for Fixed) - open for breakfast & dinner. Brunch only on sea days. I believe they don't do lunch anymore in the MDR.

[3] Fish & Chips (above the buffet area) - open only in the afternoon.

[4] Mongolian Wok - open only in the afternoon.

[5] Carnival Deli (hot & cold sandwich selection).

[6] Poolside Grill (Burgers, fries etc.)

[7] Burrito Bar

[8] Taste Bar (evening dining) - features a small item for free from the specialty restaurants.

[9] Pizza - 24 hours

[10] Room service - 24 hours

[11] Swirls - frozen soft-serve (ice-cream).

 

The only two 'additional charge' locations on the Valor are the Steakhouse and the Coffee Bar. Every other place is included in your cruise fare.

In addition, they have a Dr. Seuss 'Green Eggs and Ham' breakfast for an additional fee in one of the MDRs.

Edited October 27, 2015 by hirent

[SadieN]

The Valor also has the Chef's Table.

[wantocruisemore]

I've been on both RCCL and Carnival. Food is very good on both, but for some of carnivals ships I say they have the edge. Windjammer and lido are synonymous, both being the main buffets.

 

I may have missed it but what carnival ship are you on? Like RCCL, carnival has anytime free pizza. If on a ship with all the 2.0 features, there's more free varieties on carnival. In fact I think carnival has more separate free places to eat.

 

We like both lines and it normally comes down to price and itinerary when choosing, since they are so similar.

[cruznjan]

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?

 

Depending on which ship you are on, it's the deck where the pool is located.

[guxu]

One big difference between Carnival and RCCL is Carnival's Lido buffet has longer service hours and never closes its door. Even if the buffet lines were closed, people could still hang out in Lido buffet, enjoying pizza and drinks, playing cards and board games, or just chat. RCCL's Windjammer closes its door in early evening. Plus the fact of lacking other food options, it turns RCCL's Lido deck to ghost town really early.

[Cruisegoer]

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?

 

To the best of my knowledge the freestyle soda machines are not fleetwide at RCL so you may have just been spoiled with that single ship you happen to be on. How do they manage soda machines if soda is either pay by the can or with the Soda program????

[Raxter54]

To the best of my knowledge the freestyle soda machines are not fleetwide at RCL so you may have just been spoiled with that single ship you happen to be on. How do they manage soda machines if soda is either pay by the can or with the Soda program????

 

The only RCI ships with the free-style machines are the ones that do not reposition to Europe. You swipe the RCI version of the Sail & Sign card. They also use cups with RFI chips in them.

[SSBrickNJ]

Denas(Post 26) those are great points you made....specific observations coming the 2 cruise lines that I found to be very interesting. Thanks!

[SSBrickNJ]

Yes, more than one person recommended that I go to Carnival's website to check out the deck plan. Yet since I was already so happy about Cruise Critic...I'm amazed in a positive way by all the people who have responded...well I went to google and entered: "Cruise Critic Carnival Valor Deck Plans" ...and....Tuh Dah! There it was. So the lido deck for my upcoming Valor ship is Deck 9. Rosie's Restaurant was viewable on that deck. So everyone who messages here, before sending someone to Carnival's site, consider the beautiful user friendly deck plans that are available here on Cruise Critic. :)

[travelnteach64]

To the best of my knowledge the freestyle soda machines are not fleetwide at RCL so you may have just been spoiled with that single ship you happen to be on. How do they manage soda machines if soda is either pay by the can or with the Soda program????

 

Your cup has a chip in it that unlocks the screen to select your soda. It's very sleek, it's the same thing you find at Noodle and CO or Qdoba. I never had any issues getting soda nor were people getting soda who didn't pay. You had to use your travel mug that it came with.

 

My only complain there was after a few days they got really sticky. Just washing it in the sink was not sufficient.

[IPlayWithString]

 

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.

 

That's because drinking Diet Coke (which, as I recall, has no calories) cancels out all the food people are eating at the buffet which unfortunately DOES have calories.;):D

 

Duh.:p

[lizziez00]

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.

Even if you DO try sea day brunch, you can still go to the buffet....LOL :D