When Carnival Cruise Line overhauled its menu last year with the help of newly appointed Chief Culinary Officer Emeril Lagasse, it was trying to create a more popular main dining room lineup.
Unlike Royal Caribbean, which shortened its menu and got rid of daily recurring favorites to speed up service time, Carnival's menu did not get smaller.
In fact, Lagasse added a signature appetizer, entree and dessert each night from his personal arsenal. Carnival (CCL) even kept the basics — like chicken, salmon, steak and pasta — which are on the menu every night. Royal Caribbean dropped all those and moved to a theme-night menu.
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You could argue that, while Royal Caribbean (RCL) used the cover story of speeding up service and cutting waste, the real motive was saving money. The cruise line has pushed back against that argument, reiterating that service speed and food waste are the real reasons. It's fair to say, however, that Royal Caribbean's menus got smaller while Carnival's did not.
That does not mean that Carnival kept every dish it had offered. Some cuts were made in favor of new additions.
Image source: Carnival Corp.
Carnival and Royal Caribbean need to play the hits
Most restaurants change their menus a few times a year, if not more. They remove the least popular dishes in hopes of replacing them with ones that sell better.
But no matter how unpopular a dish is, chances are it was someone's favorite. That's a fact made even worse on cruise ships where people may have spent a year or longer dreaming about their favorite menu item.
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Carnival and Royal Caribbean are both aware that they have recurring customer bases that may have spent the past months, or longer, really wanting to try their favorite dish. Both know that any cuts are not going to be received well and they're careful about making them.
Even with Royal Caribbean's massive menu overhaul, many favorite items don't appear as often, but they are still offered. Escargot, for example, used to be an every-night appetizer, but now it's offered only on select nights. Still, even on a 3-night cruise, the dish will appear once.
Through it all, cuts get made, and passengers get angry.
Carnival listened to its passengers
A Carnival passenger, Zachary Wright, wrote to Brand Ambassador John Heald and his associate, Jacinta, asking about one of his favorite menu items.
"Hello John/Jacinta I have a question/request. I love the new dinner menus and the fact that we have more options, but I miss the strawberry bisque from embarkation day," he wrote.
"It was an absolute must-have. I would order two sometimes three, because I knew it was only available on night one. Is there any way we can bring this menu item back? Or would Carnival be kind enough to share the recipe? Thanks a lot."
Jacinta had some bad news and some good news for Wright.
"Hello, unfortunately, I don’t have the recipe to share, but this item is back on the [menu. However,] I’m not sure on which evening it is served," she answered.
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The strawberry bisque is a cold soup – an area where Carnival has been innovative — that seemed like a popular menu item. Others commented on their love for the now-reinstated soup as well.
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"Zachary Wright I love that soup! On the Horizon now and it was available our second formal night," Maureen Williams Estarellas said.
That likely means it's served only on longer trips and might not be offered on 3-to 5-night sailings.
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