"There's nothing to eat."
Most parents on a cruise have heard that even as their child looks out at a buffet filled with everything from pasta and hamburgers to Indian food, Mexican choices, a salad station, and countless other offerings. Sometimes that's because the kid is a picky eater and, on other occasions, it's simply because buffets are intimidating.
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Many kids like the familiar. That's why you will see them order pizza or pasta with no sauce every single night in the main dining room.
In many cases, the Lido buffet and other free locations onboard have items that kids like, but. the presentation scares them away. That's a frustration parents understand and it's easy to sympathize with the adult trying to make their kid happy in a situation where there are seemingly endless choices.
This is an issue of which Carnival Cruise Line is very aware. It offers a kids' menu each night in the main dining room that has plenty of all-ages favorites on its buffet. What the cruise line does not do is offer every basic kids' favorite at every venue.
Brand Ambassador John Heal recently had to deal with a passenger complaint on his Facebook page.
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Image source: Carnival Corp.
Carnival's Heald offers nuggets of wisdom
Heald received a message from Cheryl Canter on his Facebook page questioning the cruise line's menu choices for children.
"We were on Carnival Magic the 13th through the 19th and I had this guy with me (she is pictured with a young boy) the only complaint that I have it was very hard to get chicken nuggets. The only place we could get them was the MDR, and We didn't always eat in the MDR," she wrote.
Canter did not want to eat every lunch and dinner in the MDR.
"We ate there three or four times. We're in the buffet and trying to get chicken for this little guy was terrible. The only thing he would eat was french fries. Is there any way that you can put nuggets in the buffet and like have to ask for them? For the kids."
Heald was sympathetic but explained why the cruise line does not offer nuggets everywhere on the ship.
"Thank you, honestly, I think we don’t do this because we do offer them so many other things and we’re trying to offer things that perhaps they don’t eat every day. So we do, of course, have pizza. We have french fries. We have hotdogs. We have hamburgers, and we have other things for children as well," he wrote. "I will pass this to the chef but I do hope that overall you had a wonderful time."
Other parents were understanding as to how picky some kids can be and offered a solution.
"Cheryl Canter my niece only eats chicken nuggets too because of severe allergies and we were able to go to the MDR and place a 'to go' order for them so we could take them anyplace we ate. Love that so far all the Carnival ships have accommodated us this way," wrote Dawn Deewayne Lackey.
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Cathie Reilly offered another solution as well.
"I would be concerned if my kids or grandkids lived on chicken nuggets for sure. I think you can still order chicken tenders from room service," she said.
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