your favorite buffet item?

[sanmarcosman]

In all 9 of our cruises aboard Panorama since January we never missed dinner on Thursday night in the Lido Marketplace when freshly roasted whole turkeys were carved to order. The meat is always succulent and tender.

 

 

[mz-s]

1 minute ago, sanmarcosman said:

In all 9 of our cruises aboard Panorama since January we never missed dinner on Thursday night in the Lido Marketplace when freshly roasted whole turkeys were carved to order. The meat is always succulent and tender.

 

 

 

I love all the carved meats (well, except lamb - never really liked the flavor). One of the things I look forward to most on a cruise.

[Lee Cruiser]

As far as the buffet, I would have to say the salad bar.  Carnival always has a great salad bar with just about everything you would want.  Outside of breakfast and the salad bar, I don't eat at the buffet a whole lot.  I prefer other places like Guy's, the deli and now Shaq's Chicken.

Edited June 9, 2022 by Lee Cruiser

[vicky3vicky]

I love all the lunchtime cakes with a dollop of ice cream. There used to be a dessert called choclate decadence, my favorite dessert ever. I havn't seen it in over 20 years. I bought the carnival cookbook and it had the recipe. Unfortuately I lost the book years ago.

 

Had a fantastic beet and pea salad-also years ago- and I loved the chantilly swans.

 

Now, I need my eggs benedict at least once a cruise, and at lunch a huge salad to go with my Guys' burgers. I ussually eat one lunch buffet a cruise and have never been even remotely dissapointed. [but then, I'm not too "high class" to prevent me from not loving to go to Golden Corral]

[icft]

The omelet station is always good. While there is occasionally one good item that item never has appropriate side items - like finding a good meat in a good gravy but you will never find mashed potatoes to go with it. The only thing other than the omelet station I can count on is the salad you can make.

 

The nod to the salads is not really saying much. I don't eat salads except out of desperation on a Carnival ship.

 

The few times they have had a chicken noodle soup I have liked it, but since it is good it has not been served on our last five cruises after reopening. I think they are pushing folks to specialty dining with bad free food.

[BoozinCroozin]

It's better than a Golden Corral but not as good as say a Lonestar Steakhouse. I can always find something that will fill my stomach. This is one area I think Carnival needs to take from NCL. The need a 24/7 restaurant like O'Sheehan's that has nightly specials and a standard menu all day.

[Purvis1231]

Wow, I am glad so few people eat at the buffet now, I am sure there will not be a line when I sail in 12 days! 

I like the crab cakes! 

[Guest BasicSailor]

5 minutes ago, Purvis1231 said:

Wow, I am glad so few people eat at the buffet now, I am sure there will not be a line when I sail in 12 days! 

I like the crab cakes! 

Well, I wish I could say a dirty martini🍸. But that would miss the buffet conversation by a long shot 🤣

[sfaaa]

Mongolia wok

[DramaQueen22]

I really enjoy the salads each day.  Not the "make your own" salad bar, but the ones on the buffet itself.  And we LOVE the cake!

[DramaQueen22]

7 hours ago, cruisingguy007 said:

Seafood, meat, benedicts (salmon benedict is best IMO) and those tasty-tasty round hash-browns.  

OMG those hash browns are SO GOOD!

 

[madera cruiser]

Curried goat and cumin rice on Panorama. Never have seen it before or since.

[Guest BasicSailor]

7 minutes ago, madera cruiser said:

Curried goat and cumin rice on Panorama. Never have seen it before or since.

Strange food this goat meat.

[Batman5924]

Does the ice cream station count.  It’s technically in the buffet area🍦🍦

[madera cruiser]

9 minutes ago, BasicSailor said:

Strange food this goat meat.

Goat is very good. Somewhere between beef and lamb. We raised a few goats when I was a youngster.

Unlike sheep, goats have a personality. It is hard to not make them a pet, when the animal is going to be harvested for food.

 

Edited June 9, 2022 by madera cruiser
addition

[LatinaInTexas]

I don't do buffets on ships or land so the only time I step foot in the buffet is to grab a piece of cake so I guess it's cake.

[mz-s]

59 minutes ago, Batman5924 said:

Does the ice cream station count.  It’s technically in the buffet area🍦🍦

 

Do you agree that Carnival has multiple kinds of vanilla ice cream? Only my wife and I acknowledge this fact apparently!

[SOPHIHEYY]

Didn't eat once in the buffet last trip on the Mardi Gras. heading on the Paradise next month where our selections are limited so I imagine I'll be in the buffet a bit. Hoping its decent!

[cruisingguy007]

3 hours ago, BoozinCroozin said:

The need a 24/7 restaurant like O'Sheehan's that has nightly specials and a standard menu all day.

 

This!!^^^^

[sgttami]

I've never eaten at the buffet on a Carnival cruise.  The closest I came was The Deli and loved the different sandwiches.  All good!

 

[Pellaz]

With all the alternate "free" (included) dining options offered on Carnival my visits to the buffet have slacked off...not from any specific hatred of the buffet, just that there are other, usually tastier options that beat the crap out of, say, my sailings on Royal's Freedom-class ships.  🙂

 

-- For breakfast, the omelet station, the hashbrowns, the eggs benedict, the link sausage, and on ships so equipped the breakfast burritos at the Blue Iguana Cantina.   (Or Shaq's Big Chicken, of course.)

-- For lunch, Mongolian Wok (or Jiji's or Chibang) if equipped; also the carved meat station, shawarma (on Mardi Gras), and the salad bar.  While I love Carnival's caesar salads, I also love to make my own masterpiece every once in a while.  (See also Fresh Creations salad bars on ships so equipped.)   I'm leaving out the Cucina since it's generally one deck above the buffet -- a fact that we make great use of on embark day.

-- About the same story for dinner except subtract the Mongolian Wok and its fleet equivalents.  

[ilovesparky13]

SHRIMP TOSTADA!!!!
 

I still think about how delicious they were, and regret not getting more. Served at the buffet during lunch. 
 

Crunchy tortilla topped with refried beans, shrimp, lettuce, tomato (or maybe pico de gallo?), cheese sauce, crema, and avocado sauce. 

[ilovesparky13]

8 hours ago, mz-s said:

 

Do you agree that Carnival has multiple kinds of vanilla ice cream? Only my wife and I acknowledge this fact apparently!

They have vanilla soft serve and vanilla frozen yogurt. I can confirm that they taste different. 

[BoozinCroozin]

3 hours ago, Pellaz said:

With all the alternate "free" (included) dining options offered on Carnival

Yes, there are quite a few options and no need for a buffet. However, there are a lot of things I found on the buffet that I enjoyed. The carving stations were always good. The hot sandwich machine was good. What I found is that the MDR wasn't much better than the buffet. It was just buffet food put on a plate. People may argue it, but that was my experience. The only real time we went to the MDR is when we wanted to relax for 2 hours.

[BearsBeets]

Breakfast- Banana bread! Usually take a few slices to my room that evening. I rarely see any desserts I like in the MDR, so that's my go-to sweet.

Lunch- Gelato. If they have a good cake that day, then I'll take it to my room to have after dinner.

 

10 hours ago, madera cruiser said:

Curried goat and cumin rice on Panorama. Never have seen it before or since.

I loved the lunch buffet when we docked in Ocho Rios on Horizon. The curry goat, jerk chicken & ital stew were amazing. They also had the best hummingbird cake that day and one other day. Haven't seen any of these items on other trips.

 

9 hours ago, SOPHIHEYY said:

Didn't eat once in the buffet last trip on the Mardi Gras. heading on the Paradise next month where our selections are limited so I imagine I'll be in the buffet a bit. Hoping its decent!

You didn't miss anything. Mardi Gras buffet ranged from just ok to lousy. Thankfully there were lots of complimentary options. I mostly went for the salad, fruit, and gelato.