237K and Counting

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Do you want to return to the sea on your favorite Carnival Cruise ship or perhaps experience their brand new Mardi Gras?  Would you want to have one of those yummy Guy Fieri Burgers?

If the answer to any of the above questions is yes, you aren't alone.

Today, Carnival Cruise line President Christine Duffy sent an update to their travel partners reporting on the three month period since cruises resumed on July 3, 2021.  Carnival Vista was the first to return to service out of Galveston.  Since then 10 additional ships resumed operations including the brand new Mardi Gras which is a remake of one of their legacy ships.  Of course, she's nothing like her namesake with modern attractions including BOLT, the first roller-coaster at sea.

Guy's Burger Joint

There have been 98 voyages with 237,000 passengers enjoying one of the Carnival FunShips.  Without looking at the infographic, can you take a guess at how many Guy Fieri Burgers they consumed?   Well, it looks like most passengers had at least two of them since 499k burgers were served.

Christine Duffy Commented:

*Our resumption of service has provided much-needed vacations to hundreds of thousands of loyal guests, a boost to the economies in its homeport and port-of-call communities and opportunities for its shipboard team members to support their families in 120 countries around the world. 

We announced plans to have 17 ships back in guest service by the end of 2021, with additional ships returning in January and February and the entire U.S. fleet back in guest operations by spring 2022."

What's It Like Onboard?    Check out this video (click here)  

It looks like 8,000 people have partially paid for their vacation by taking home $1000 jackpots from the casino.    If you are yearning to get back on a cruise (or perhaps you've never been on one before), this is the time to book while the crew to passenger ratio is low, everyone is vaccinated (keeping you healthy) and prices are at an all time low.    

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Experience The Salty Dog

SALTY DOG GASTROPUB EXPERIENCE

Princess Cruises has partnered with award-winning chef Ernesto Uchimura—inaugural chef of the original Umami Burger restaurant and founding chef of Plan Check Kitchen + Bar in Los Angeles to bring The Salty Dog Gastropub experience to the Wheelhouse Bar on board select ships. The Salty Dog Gastropub is now available on Crown Princess, Emerald Princess and Ruby Princess.

click to enlarge image

Your meal includes Ernesto's "Dip Sticks", a savory new appetizer from Chef Uchimura, plus three gourmet plates chosen from a menu featuring selections such as Pale Ale Pork Cheeks, Wild Mushroom Saute, Beef Short Rib Poutine and a variety of other small bites inspired by pub favorites.

Meet "The Ernesto"

The Salty Dog Gastropub introduces "The Ernesto," a uniquely crafted rib eye burger created exclusively for Princess by burger expert Chef Uchimura. Ingredients: Fresh ground rib eye and short rib patty, grilled pork belly, cave aged gruyere, caramelized kimchi, beer battered jalapeno, charred onion aioli, smoked salt & pepper brioche bun.

You can exclude any items that you don't want to make it a custom burger. Cruise Critic awarded The Ernesto the Best Burger at Sea. We haven't tried them all, so we still have to keep trying burgers at sea before we decide.

And of course you’ll find Princess Cruises signature Seawitch craft beers, international beers and ciders, plus wines by the glass and classic cocktails prepared with premium spirits to quench your thirst.

In addition to our quest for penguins and the best burger at sea, we are also seeking the best Chocolate Martini at sea.   The one pictured here was excellent.   Notice the artistic design of the chocolate on the glass as well.

The cost to dine at The Salty Dog was $12 per person on this particular sailing on Crown Princess.  The price my vary on other ships, but it was worth it for the experience.  Our waiter was very attentive. There was music and dancing in the adjacent dance floor of the Wheelhouse Bar.

Editor Note:  As of March, 2023 the cost has increased to $18 but it is worth it for the experience.

 

Click on the image to the right for more Blog posts about this trip.

Related Album:

Salty Dog Gastropub

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Gather your travel and food pics and join us Wednesday night for the latest installment of #FoodTravelChat 

National Beef Day - Burgers at Sea

May 28th

National Beef Day

It's embarkation day, you've just gotten on a Carnival cruise ship, you are looking for something quick to eat before exploring the ship ...

What Comes to Mind?

 Guy's Burger Joint

It's all about choices...

How do you like your burger?

On Carnival Cruise Lines, if you are on a ship that has gone through Fun Ship 2.0 upgrades, like Carnival Conquest or Carnival Breeze to name a couple, you can grab lunch from Guy's Burger Joint, the cool poolside spot for hot burgers and hand-cut fries.   If you watch cable TV, you know who "Guy" is ...   Guy Fieri entered into an agreement with Carnival Corporation to introduce his burgers at sea.  

You can select from the Plain Jane or several common options.  Why not customize your burger by adding your favorite toppings at the Toppings Bar?   This is a fun place to enjoy National Beef Day or any day.   The best news - it is included in your dining options at no additional cost.

What's Your Favorite Burger at Sea

Many cruise lines have "burger bars" poolside as well as in their buffets.   Do you have a different favorite?  We'd love to hear from you about what you think is the best burger at sea.

National Beef Day - Burgers at Sea

May 30th

National Beef Day

It's embarkation day, you've just gotten on a Carnival cruise ship, you are looking for something quick to eat before exploring the ship ...

What Comes to Mind?

 Guy's Burger Joint

It's all about choices...

How do you like your burger?

On Carnival Cruise Lines, if you are on a ship that has gone through Fun Ship 2.0 upgrades, like Carnival Conquest or Carnival Breeze to name a couple, you can grab lunch from Guy's Burger Joint, the cool poolside spot for hot burgers and hand-cut fries.   If you watch cable TV, you know who "Guy" is ...   Guy Fieri entered into an agreement with Carnival Corporation to introduce his burgers at sea.  

You can select from the Plain Jane or several common options.  Why not customize your burger by adding your favorite toppings at the Toppings Bar?   This is a fun place to enjoy National Beef Day or any day.   The best news - it is included in your dining options at no additional cost.

What's Your Favorite Burger at Sea

Many cruise lines have "burger bars" poolside as well as in their buffets.   Do you have a different favorite?  We'd love to hear from you about what you think is the best burger at sea.

Embarkation Lunch Guy's Burger Joint

Click for more Guy's Burger Joint pics

Just On Board 

Carnival Conquest

Already Experiencing

Fun Ship 2.0 

Recall that we selected this particular sailing of Carnival Conquest because of the itinerary and also to get an opportunity to compare with our last cruise on the ship.  Since that time, Conquest went into dry-dock for a major face-lift which included adding the Fun Ship 2.0 enhancements.

See our previous article: Introducing Fun Ship 2.0

Welcome Aboard Lunch

Since the cabins were still being prepared when we got on the ship, the logical decision was to head up to Lido Deck (deck 9) for some lunch.   I know we just had breakfast at the hotel, but after all, this is a cruise ship and "All you do is eat - right?"

We didn't get too far on Deck 9 before finding several of the Fun Ship 2.0 improvements. Of course, we also started taking some pictures with our camera phones to capture our first moments on board. 
When we were asked if we wanted to try the burgers, we had to agree.

Guy's Burger Joint

Carnival has teamed up with best-selling author, restaurateur and Food Network personality Guy Fieri to bring all the appetizing appeal of a roadside burger to Guy’s Burger Joint, the cool poolside spot for hot burgers and hand-cut fries.

As you can see in the pictures, there is a menu posted with several options.  You can have the "Plane Jane" which is simply the burger, bun, and cheese or you can pick one of the ready-made favorites.  Either way, there's a complete topping bar with things like mushrooms, grilled onions, lettuce, tomato, pickles, and various sauces that you can mix and match to your heart's content.

How are the burgers you ask?   Food taste and quality is always a very subjective subject so we can only tell you that we definitely enjoyed the burger and had several during the week.   Whether this is the best burger you've ever tasted we'll leave as an exercise for you to determine on a future cruise.   We can tell you that for us they were definitely among the best burgers we've had at sea and will definitely include Guy's Burger Joint on future Carnival cruises.

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There are other options on Deck 9 for lunch when you get on board.  We will talk about one more in our next article.   We never made it to the welcome aboard buffet lunch, but other passengers seemed to be enjoying that as well.

If you are just joining us, we are reviewing every aspect of our cruise on the refurbished Carnival Conquest so be sure to come back for updates.