Carnival cruisers reveal their favorite meal on the ship – and it’s not even close

There’s a Carnival specialty restaurant that is a clear favorite, according to a recent poll.

Mar 25, 2025 - 14:08

Carnival cruisers reveal their favorite meal on the ship – and it’s not even close

When it comes to eating dinner on a Carnival cruise ship, there are several choices. On the newer ships, there are even more.

All Carnival ships offer dinner on the Lido deck, which is served buffet style. There’s also the main dining room, which serves a different menu of appetizers, entrees, and desserts every night of the cruise.

In most cases, there is one or more specialty (read: additional charge) restaurants to pick from. Most ships have one of Carnival’s Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouses. Bonsai Teppanyaki, which is Carnival’s version of a Japanese hibachi restaurant, and its Bonsai Sushi counterpart are present on quite a few ships as well.

There’s also the Cucina Del Capitano upscale Italian eatery, which was created as a tribute to Carnival’s ship captains (who generally come from Italy). Then there’s JiJi Asian Kitchen, the family-style authentic Asian restaurant, which in full disclosure, is where my favorite meal I’ve ever enjoyed on a cruise ship came from. The cruise line’s Italian-themed ships, Venezia and Firenze, offer a specialty venue called Il Viaggio.

There are also Guy’s Pig & Anchor Bar-B-Que, which is mostly free, but charges for some items. And depending on the ship, there may be some grab-and-go choices open for dinner, such as Big Chicken, which was developed in partnership with Shaquille O’Neal.

Finally, Carnival’s newest Excel-class ships – Mardi Gras, Celebration, and Jubilee – have some new dining options of their own. There’s the ChiBang Mexican-Asian fusion restaurant, which is actually free for the first visit but costs extra beyond that, and Rudi’s Sea Grill, a new seafood concept.

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Lido deck buffet on a Carnival ship.
Image source: Carnival Cruise Line

Carnival cruisers reveal their favorite

Carnival brand ambassador John Heald recently ran an informal poll on his highly popular Facebook page, where he asked a simple question: “If I gave you a meal for two at any of the specialty restaurants, which would you choose?”

There were a total of eight choices listed on the poll: Il Viaggio, Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse, JiJi Asian Kitchen, Bonsai Teppanyaki, Bonsai Sushi, Cucina Del Capitano, ChiBang, and Rudi’s Sea Grill.

It might surprise you to learn that one choice got 58% of the roughly 23,000 votes – more than all of the other specialty restaurants combined. The overwhelming favorite was Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse.

Here’s a rundown of the full poll results (as of March 22), in order of most votes to least:

Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse (58%)
Bonsai Teppanyaki (16%)
Rudi’s Sea Grill (9%)
Cucina Del Capitano (5%)
JiJi Asian Kitchen (4%)
Il Viaggio (3%)
Bonsai Sushi (3%)
ChiBang (2%)

To be fair, the steakhouse was at a bit of an advantage, simply because out of the restaurants on this list, it is the one that appears on the greatest number of ships in Carnival’s fleet. But that’s still a big margin of victory.

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Why was Fahrenheit 555 the big winner?

Hundreds of people who voted on the poll left comments explaining their choice, and as you might expect, many of them had to do with why they chose the steakhouse.

Many simply said that they always have a great meal at the Steakhouse. “Went to Fahrenheit 555 last cruise! Absolutely the best steak I have ever had!” commented Mary Kober. Rhonda Swadener-Russ agreed, “One of the best meals I ever had was at Fahrenheit!!”

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In some cases, it was because Fahrenheit 555 serves arguably the least adventurous food on the list. As Heald follower Donna Foster commented, “I selected the steakhouse because husband has a limited pallet and wouldn't like any of the other restaurants.”

Not everyone thinks the steakhouse is the clear winner. At least a few commenters agreed with me that JiJi Asian Kitchen is a hidden treasure on some Carnival ships. As Janelle Nadine McClelland said, and I agree, “JiJi’s hands down the best specialty restaurant Carnival has. Just wish it was on more ships.”

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