Carnival Cruise Line

MS Carnival Destiny

This is a tremendous ship, and she is happy to cater to tremendous crowds of hungry people. They are thirsty, too, and the DESTINY uses enough juice, coffee and tea to fill her swimming pool three times over!!! Carnival Cruise Lines easily spends $230,000 for food on a one week cruise for the population of this floating city. Pity the ship's poor lone resident chicken....CARNIVAL DESTINY's galleys use more than 48,000 eggs a week. Don't let that 3,200 passenger capacity figure scare you. The ship's food department outnumbers total crew on most ships the world over. With 112 cooks, 168 utility and support staff, and 240 dining room personnel, no less than 520 crew members dedicate their working lives to feeding you. Think about it....using a good 7,200 plates per seating, which means there's a plate leaving the galley every half second, CARNIVAL DESTINY's kitchens serve 1800 entrees in under 20 minutes....inch for inch, the ship's galleys cost more than her engine room and also outweighs her machinery. Don't expect caviar....you're not paying for it here, and Carnival is cooking for the broadest base of American and international palates...and while their cuisine does not always thrill, it is impossible to go hungry here, because there will always be something you like...and don't be shy about asking for something else if you didn't like what you got. What might surprise you is how friendly and accommodating Carnival food personnel are, but then again, every time we either sail or visit a Carnival ship,we get the feeling the home office has been passing out rations of happy pills because everyone on board seems to be such nice, friendly people.

That said, let me tell you about where you are going to eat. Behind the Flagship Hall is The entrance to duplex Galaxy Dining Room.You'd never guess that 706 customers can be served in here at a single sitting, because this room has been so cleverly designed and with its entrances at either end on both decks, it's so devoid of crowds waiting to enter or exit, that the room manages to feel intimate...almost cozy. Musicians gather on the bandstand on the upper level and with soft sounds serenade diners during dinner....and other musicians on board play in the spectacular Universe Dining Room, the 1,114 seat restaurant aft on both Deck 3 and 4. Of course, Carnival waiters singing and dancing talents are still part of the show. We don't much like it, but you might. Don't ask me which dining room is better, because they are both great...don't ask me which dining room we would ask to assigned to for dinner...if we tell you, you might all try to grab our favorite table. Don't forget, there' s no point in asking your waiter to bring an ashtray...because Carnival dining rooms are all no smoking. Tables for two are so limited in number that Carnival tries to limit their occupancy to honeymooners only. Carnival really does want you to have fun and to mingle and meet people, and though breaking bread with strangers can be daunting, you won't stay strangers much longer than your first hellos.

Beyond these two impressive dining rooms, the CARNIVAL DESTINY can seat 1,252 people at a time in their version of a lido restaurant. In the duplex Sun and Sea Restaurant, the atmosphere is more casual....and if this alternative to eating in the dining room or chowing down in the solitary confines of your cabin were not enough, the Sun and Sea Restaurant complex goes on to include several serving stations....one of them has pizza (available 24 hours a day), another grilled specialities...but all food is taken from buffets. Sun and Sea is open for all meals, as well as a late supper. Speaking of latesupper, you can eat three times late at night....four if you cal for room service. Because Sun and Sea is located between two of her three swimming pools, and it is just a short flight away from acres of open deck space above, the chances are mighty high that you are going to eat here a lot, if not eat a lot in here.

Still not satisfied? Though there is a nominal charge for it, there are tasty pastries to be had at sidewalk Café on the Way located just off Destiny's Way on Deck 5.