Cucina del Capitano

[SCcruiser123]

I am booked for the New England Canada cruise on the Radiance in September.  When I cruised on the Dream a few years ago, the Cucina del Capitano restaurant was free for lunch, but charged for dinner.  Will it be the same on the Radiance?

[amyotravel]

Just now, SCcruiser123 said:

I am booked for the New England Canada cruise on the Radiance in September.  When I cruised on the Dream a few years ago, the Cucina del Capitano restaurant was free for lunch, but charged for dinner.  Will it be the same on the Radiance?

I would say so. It is that way on all ships that have it so far. I have not heard anything about any changes coming.

[coevan]

4 hours ago, SCcruiser123 said:

I am booked for the New England Canada cruise on the Radiance in September.  When I cruised on the Dream a few years ago, the Cucina del Capitano restaurant was free for lunch, but charged for dinner.  Will it be the same on the Radiance?

 

 

you do realize they are 2 completely different menus

[Cruising_Addict]

The Carnival Dream does not have Cucina del Capitano. You can see a list of the ships that do here: https://www.carnival.com/cruise-food/cucina-del-capitano.

 

Also, to clear up a common misconception: Cucina is NEVER free for lunch on the ships that have this restaurant. They use the restaurant space at lunchtime to serve Pasta Bella, which is free. This is what the Dream has. As coevan has already pointed out, it’s a completely different menu. Not even remotely the same other than the fact that they both have pasta dishes. 
 

It’s the same case with the ships that have Jiji’s Asian Kitchen. They use this restaurant space to serve Mongolian Wok during the day. Also free, but not at all the same food as what Jiji’s serves. 

[SCcruiser123]

I did not realize that there were two different menus. I just knew they had good Italian food for free during lunch.  Thanks for clearing things up for me.  I look forward to enjoying lunch (and possibly dinner) there.

[coevan]

2 hours ago, SCcruiser123 said:

I did not realize that there were two different menus. I just knew they had good Italian food for free during lunch.  Thanks for clearing things up for me.  I look forward to enjoying lunch (and possibly dinner) there.

 

 

it's more of a pasta bar, pre order filling out a form on what pasta, what sauce, pick a meat, we did not consider it good Italian food, but it was ok

[stellarose]

I told my dear family that we were going there for embarkation lunch- best decision. no one was there. we got a nice table. food was awesome.  GO First Day!!!!

 

FREE too. 

[crusinpsychRN]

Ate at Cucina for lunch. The portion was enough for 5 football players!

[Organized Chaos]

On 3/6/2020 at 11:51 PM, Cruising_Addict said:

Also, to clear up a common misconception: Cucina is NEVER free for lunch on the ships that have this restaurant. They use the restaurant space at lunchtime to serve Pasta Bella, which is free.

 

Well, if you really want to clear things up, then you might want to call it by it's actual name, The Captain's Pasta Bar, not Pasta Bella. 😉

[PhillyFan33579]

On 3/7/2020 at 10:12 AM, SCcruiser123 said:

I did not realize that there were two different menus. I just knew they had good Italian food for free during lunch.  Thanks for clearing things up for me.  I look forward to enjoying lunch (and possibly dinner) there.

Food is subjective, but if you liked their lunch I highly recommend eating dinner there. The dinners are significantly better in my opinion. 

[CRocks]

We enjoyed Cucina on Panorama, not as good as JiJi's, but well worth the small premium charge.

[Saint Greg]

On 3/23/2020 at 6:07 PM, crusinpsychRN said:

Ate at Cucina for lunch. The portion was enough for 5 football players!

Sounds like you’re getting a bigger bowl than I am.

[Saint Greg]

If you go for dinner I recommend the pork chop. But if radiance has JiJi (I think it does), I would eat dinner there twice before I’d eat at Cucina once.

[tandemcruzr]

Looking at the deck plans for the Radiance, it shows the Cusina on deck 10 aft. Didn't see a JiJi's.

Edited March 25, 2020 by tandemcruzr
Spelling

[Organized Chaos]

3 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

Sounds like you’re getting a bigger bowl than I am.

 

I agree. Lunch portions really aren't that big. In fact, I compared the portion of Caesar salad that I got earlier this month to pictures posted by another user about a year ago and their portion now is noticeably smaller. As far as the pasta goes, I'd say they're just right.

[Saint Greg]

2 minutes ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

I agree. Lunch portions really aren't that big. In fact, I compared the portion of Caesar salad that I got earlier this month to pictures posted by another user about a year ago and their portion now is noticeably smaller. As far as the pasta goes, I'd say they're just right.

Oh yeah it’s a good portion for me. It won’t feed five though. 

[bazarr2]

On 3/24/2020 at 11:44 PM, Organized Chaos said:

 

Well, if you really want to clear things up, then you might want to call it by it's actual name, The Captain's Pasta Bar, not Pasta Bella. 😉

I'm looking at a menu on the Carnival Dream from a year ago and it says Pasta Bella on the top of the pasta menu. 

 

[Saint Greg]

27 minutes ago, bazarr2 said:

I'm looking at a menu on the Carnival Dream from a year ago and it says Pasta Bella on the top of the pasta menu. 

 

Pretty sure it was called Pasta Bella on the Dream when I was there as well. It’s  The Captain’s Pasta bar on other ships. Kind of like Pizza del capitano and Pizza Pirate.

[thesmiths]

Nonna's Meatball or 2!

 

[teknoge3k]

On 3/23/2020 at 7:07 PM, crusinpsychRN said:

Ate at Cucina for lunch. The portion was enough for 5 football players!

 

I agree with Greg, you must be getting different plates than us. Every time I have eaten there for lunch, it's been tiny portions and I have ended up ordering 2 plates. They are small, like salad portions. 

[stellarose]

we loved it on the breeze.  yes free for lunch.  its more like pick a pasta/ sauce and get garlic bread. not a huge menu for free. but GOOD. 

[bdever]

On 3/23/2020 at 4:07 PM, crusinpsychRN said:

Ate at Cucina for lunch. The portion was enough for 5 football players!

Agreed! On Panorama generous portions were served. The lasagna portion was HUGE. 
 

Tip - order 1/2 red and 1/2 white sauce since they don’t offer a pink sauce on the lunch menu.

[sarmat1]

And don't forget the caesar salad and bread to go along with the pasta.  We always love going there for lunch as it's typically not crowded and the food is a step above many of the other lido buffet items.  Load up that pasta with shrimp, all the veggies and top it with an alfredo sauce.  Side it with the caesar salad and bread and we're good to go.  Of course, we finished it off with swirls afterward (or gelato on the Vista) . . . . 

 

 

[stellarose]

I forgot about the salad and bread.  we loved it and so going to hit it when we board MG in December. 

[evandbob]

If you like the Olive Garden, Cucina is comparable.

 

If you grew up in da Bronx and had an Italian G'Ma who made her own pasta and gravy, well then, Cucina doesn't compare at all.