Day 2 - A Day At Sea and The Chef's Table

Today is a day at sea and, for us on Carnival, that means trivia! No other cruise line does as good a job at onboard entertainment as Carnival and we love their trivia and games. However, before the games begin, I get some blogging and computer work done at Lido Marketplace. I am there early and they are just getting set up for breakfast service.

Breakfast Buffet at Lido Marketplace

The best coffee on the ship is at JavaBlue Cafe, but it comes at a price.

Get Your Coffee Fix At JavaBlue Cafe

Carnival Venezia was brought over from sister brand, Costa. The only remaining identity is the yellow stack with the Costa “C”.

The Stack Tells The Story

Rickee and I did very well at trivia this morning. I won the first trivia contest and Rickee won the second one. Then, we teamed up with other guests to play Wheelie Big Challenge, and our team won that, too!

Wheely Big Challenge

We decided on a light lunch today, so we wanted to try the Sea Day Brunch in Canal Grande dining room, one of the two main dining rooms on Venezia. As you can see from the photo below, the two-top tables are extremely close together, making private conversations difficult.

Sea Day Brunch at Canal Grande (MDR)

We did see a choice of bread on the menu, and we assumed they would place a basket on the table, or at least come around with a tray of bread choices, but I guess you have to order bread.

I ordered the Chicken Caesar Salad, which was just okay.

Chicken Caesar Salad

This evening, we have booked a reservation at The Chef’s Table, which is the ultimate dining experience on Carnival ($99 per person). They limit participation to 14 guests at The Chef’s Table.

We met at 6pm at reception and were escorted into the galley where the meal begins with a glass of champagne and a tasting menu of appetizers presented by Chef Ronie.

Champagne and tasting at Chef’s Table

Several chefs prepare a variety of dishes for our Chef’s Table experience.

In The Galley on Carnival Venezia for Chef’s Table Dinner

Our meal begins with a series of delicious small bites.

Creative Tastings At Chef’s Table

The multi-course meal included seafood, lamb and beef short rib (below).

Braised Beef Short Rib

The plating and creativity of the dishes keeps Carnival at the top of our Chef’s Table rankings.

Petite Harvest Greens Salad

The Chef’s Table on Carnival Venezia was every bit as good as we remembered from Carnival Panorama in 2020. In our opinion, this is still the best Chef’s Table experience of any cruise line we have tried.*

*We have dined at The Chef’s Table on Carnival, Princess, Viking, and Azamara.

Video Review

Our video review of Carnival Venezia