Lunch, Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Up before 6:00AM to watch the sunrise and the approach to Jamaica. We did not disembark in Jamaica. Our day was a relaxing one on a quiet ship.

Sunrise with Jamaica in distance

Lunch: Cucina Capitano

Cucina Capitano (deck 11 above the Marketplace Buffet) serves lunch at no charge (dinner has a charge). Lunch consists of bread, Caesar salad, pasta bowl or lasagna.  We were greeted by a friendly hostess, seated and each given a sheet to choose our pasta and sauce. The three pasta choices were linguine, farfel, and penne. The sauces were a white clam, bolognese, and marinara. There were also some additional toppings. A half order is also an option, which is a very generous portion.

Entrance from Marketplace 

Linguine with white clam sauce

Lasagna

Breakfast, Lunch, Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Second Sea Day: Breakfast & Lunch, September 20, 2016

After watching a spectacular 6:20AM sunrise amongst clouds, seeing a straight up & down rainbow, and a school of jumping dolphins, we headed for the breakfast buffet on Lido Deck 10. Buffet did not open until 7:30AM, so we had a little wait time to people watch. There is a variety of traditional and non-traditional items to choose from for a filling breakfast. The longest lines are for the made to order omelet station.

Sunrise with a straight rainbow

Lunch at Guy's Burger Bar

Lunch at Guy's Burger Bar became routine for us for the rest of the cruise. On the first day we tried the burgers there was a long line, however, the line moved quickly. The rest of the week when we ate the burgers the line of people was short or nonexistent. Patties of ground beef did not taste like the pre-made, frozen type. The grillers did a great job of cooking them. There are several types of burgers to choose from. Burgers come with some good fries. Toppings such as grilled onions, mushrooms, and shoe string potatoes are available to create a burger to your own preference.

Guy's Burger ****

A Guy's Burger

Guy's Burger Bar located on Lido Deck 10
in front of buffet area entrance

Guy's Burger Bar choices

We attended Tea Time again at 3PM. Since we decided to watch the 7:30PM Dive In movie, "Jungle Book'" we ate dinner at the marketplace buffet. The items we ate were okay, not worth rating.
NOTE:
The soft serve ice cream machines are operational 24 hours. While the Pirates Pizza says it is a 24 hour operation, it does not always have pizza. Lemonade, coffee and water are also available 24 hours. Popcorn is available during Dive In movies which are usually 2 a night.

September 19, 2016 Elegant Dinner

Elegant Dinner Evening: Monday, September 19, 2016

Waiters entertained us with their moves to the song "Celebration."

Appetizers:

1. Mushroom Cream Soup ** (too bland, tasted like gravy, not impressive)
2. Tart with Braised Kale, Blackened Pork Tenderloin with Citrus Cream *** (interesting blend of flavors & textures)
3. Baby Spinach Salad with Blue Cheese *** (wilted spinach leaves)
4. Fried Oysters with Chipotle lime sauce ***1/2 ( flavorful, good sauce, little spicy,  favorite of everyone)

Tart with Braised kale, blackened pork tenderloin

Fried Oysters with Chipotle sauce

Baby Spinach Salad

Entrees:

1. Broiled Maine Lobster Tail with Toasted Orzo with shrimp *** (cooked just right, orzo with shrimp-good)
2. Seared Striped Bass with lemon, creamy savoy cabbage, sour dough fried potatoes *** (good sauce, outstanding sour dough potatoes)

Menu

Lobster and shrimp

Seared Striped Bass

Desserts:

1. Vanilla Creme Brûlée ***
2. Malted Chocolate Hazelnut **** (nice mixture of different chocolates)
3. Cheese Plate ** ( cheeses good, lack of good fruit, stale bread)

Dessert Menu

Malted Chocolate Hazelnut

Vanilla Creme Brûlée

September 19, 2016: Brunch and Afternoon Tea

On sea days the Blush Dining Room on deck 3 aft serves a brunch from 8:30AM until 1:00PM. Atmosphere is causal and relaxing. We were able to have a table for four and not share a table. Offerings for brunch range from eggs to steak. What we ate was good, but nothing stood out as impressive or unworthy.

Brunch: Bagel and Smoked Salmon

Afternoon Tea Time is served from 3-4 PM in the Blush Dining Room deck 4 aft on sea days. Locating the information about tea on the daily schedule is listed in the Fun Times on the back under food extras. Attendance on the first sea day was light and grew each sea day so by Saturday the area was full.
One change we noted was that premium teas now incur a charge of $1.95 plus gratuity. The tea for no charge is either a Lipton black tea or a Bigelow green tea. Available for eating were cucumber cream cheese finger sandwiches, salmon cream cheese finger sandwiches, cakes, scones, and macaroons. The scones were our favorite. There was a fruit tart with a chocolate filling that we thought was a little odd. We enjoyed all three tea times during our cruise.
The first and third day we were treated to relaxing violin music by a trio of musicians.

Tea Time: Relaxing Violin music

Tea Time: Premium tea, scone,
finger sandwiches, scone, macaroon

Tea Time: Fruit and cream between tea biscuits

Tea Time is enjoyable!

September 18, 2016 Dinner in Sapphire Restaurant

Day One Dinner

We enjoyed the choice of "Your Time" dining which afforded the opportunity to eat between 5:45PM and 9:30PM. The choice meant we could fit shows or activities we wanted to do without worry.

The "Your Time" dining was in the Sapphire Dining Room on Deck 3 by the Breeze Atrium.

Our dinner meals always started with a bread basket. The cranberry bread roll was our favorite. There were usually four different types of breads to choose from and many nights the varieties changed.

Menu: Entree

Appetizers:
1. Calamari * ( so,so; rubbery, overcooked)
2. Rare Fine: Cured Salmon- candied tomato ****
3. Vietnamese Spring Rolls **** ( good peanut sauce, nice blend of textures, refreshing)
4. Lychee Bisque with lemongrass *** ( refreshing, creamy, like sweet milk)

Calamari

Cured Salmon

Vietnamese spring rolls

Entrees:

1. Fried Shrimp with Fried Rice, side order of Bacon Macaroni  & Cheese *** (liked fried rice)
2. Grilled Mahi Mahi over white rice with pineapple sauce ** 1/2 (sauce good, fish dry)
3. Honey Glazed Pork Loin with carrot cinnamon puree ** ( This was a dish the four of us ordered to share just to try, flavorful but dry, overcooked, good glaze, carrot puree tasty)
4. Side order of Ratatouille ****

Fried Shrimp, Fried Rice, Bacon Macaroni & Cheese

Mahi Mahi

Desserts:

1. Apple Pie a la Mode ***
2. Nutella Tiramisu ***

Dessert Menu

Apple Pie a la Mode

Embarkation Lunch September 18, 2016

First meal on board: Lunch @ 12:30 Deck 10

Lido Deck 10: Buffet

Surprisingly it was easy to move around with all the guests boarding. The dining area was spacious and there were various stations of food to select from.

The selections we tried from the MarketPlace line were:

1. Grilled fish  **
2. Rosemary Potatoes ***
3. Shrimp & Chorizo rice **
4. Eggplant Mozzarella ****
5. Roast Top Round **1/2
6. Lemon tart **1/2
7. Strawberry Cake Pop ***
8. Onion Bread ***

Roast Top Round, Shrimp & Chorizo Rice,
Rosemary Potatoes, Eggplant Mozzarella

Strawberry Cake Pop, Lemon Tart

The selections from the Comfort Food line were:

1. Crunchy Fried Fish ***
2. Crunchy Chicken tenders **
3. Corn Fritters *
4. Chicken Pie **
5. Mushroom Pudding ***

Crunchy Fried Fish, Crunchy Chicken Tenders,
Corn Fritters, Chicken Pie, Mushroom Pudding

The selections from the Tandoor (no line to wait in):

1. Veg Biryani **1/2
2. Tempered Lentil Stew **
3. Flat Bread-Mint Garlic ***
4. Tangy n' Spicy Sweet Potato **
5. Lentil Fritters 'n Yogurt *

Tandoor choices

Prelude

Prelude

On September 18, 2016, the four of us sailed on the Carnival Breeze from Galveston, Texas.

Cruising and eating are synonymous. Cruise ship food just seems to be prepared differently even though some items are common like fried chicken.

Our Warning: Your eyes will see more than your stomach can hold! The cruise 5 is real. You will need to climb a few flights of stairs or walk  4 or 5 laps around the ship just to keep the digestive juices working.

Our rating system:

**** Impressive dish, tasty, good flavors, so glad we tried it and if we hadn’t ordered so much we
           would have had seconds. Good wow factor.   

*** Good flavoring, decent tasting

**   Fair flavoring, just okay in taste
*     Didn’t need to order, one or two bits were enough