Carnival Venezia Ship Review

Carnival Cruises' Carnival Venezia Background Information

The 2019 built, Carnival Venezia joined the Carnival Fleet in March 2023. Originally the Costa Venezia, the ship was tranferred between Carnival Corporation Companies - Costa Cruises and Carnival Cruises. The Carnival Venezia completed a refit in Cadiz (March -> May 2023), Spain. The refit combined the best Costa amenities with the amenties that Carnival ships are known for - creating a unique Italian Carnival Cruise experience.

The Carnival Venezia sails from New York year-round through November 2024 to Florida and the Bahamas; Bermuda; New England and Canada; and the Caribbean.

I had the pleasure of sailing on the Carnival Venezia'a maiden voyage from New York City to Bermuda. A 4-day cruises. It was only the second cruise for Carnival on the Venezia and overall the cruise went well and I think the experience will improve as the crew amd Carnival fine tune the onboard experience.

Carnival Venezia - The Ship

The Carnival Venezia is a great ship. Well maintained, clean, modern and fresh from her refit. The ship flows well and it is very easy to navigate around the ship and learn where everything is very fast.

The Carnival Venezia's interior are not like the other Carninval ships in the fleet. The interior is more sophisitcated, stylish and upscale. She is the Italian version of Carnival's Vista Class ship and intentionally tries to provide more initimate spaces - than wide open spaces.

Her interiors are decorated in typical Italian Venecian furnishing. Things to point out is the real gondola boat as the center-piece of the Canale Grande Restaurant; the gold plated Lion with wings on the top of the column in the main Atrium as well as all of the arwork that depicts Venetian masks. The Piazza area by the pool also has a very Venetian feel with it's arched balconies and town square feel. Being of Italian decent I found the decor to be over the top at times, but most passengers I spoke to really praised the decor.

The crew seemed very friendly and willing to help. Always greeted with a smile. Our room stewardess was wonderful and kept our stateroom spotless. Like most cruise lines the stewardess came 1 time per day to tidy the room - which was good enough for me. She also provided her direct phone extension should we need anything at off hours. Nice Touch!

The Carnival Venezia is a high density ship carrying some 4,000+ passenger when full. There were times when the ship felt crowded but probably no differrent than any other ship in the Carnival fleet. Being a person who seeks out the quietest place on the ship, I would definitey recommend reserving a balcony stateroom so you have your own private alone space to enjoy the sea.

If your budget does not support a balcony cabin, there are some quiet spaces on the ship. The front of deck 7 there is a small deck area below the bridge which offers great forward looking views and lounge chairs. There is a similar areas on decks 6 and 5.

The Serentity Area is an adults only area - but I found it to be over-crowded, hard to get a seat since people reserved loungers with towels and many of the patrons were louder and more rowdy than expected.

Carnival Venezia - Dining

The Carnival Venezia offers many dining experiences. There is the any-time dining in the Canale Grande Restaurant as well as assigned dining times in the Marco Polo Restaurants. I was assigned anytime dining and I thought it was great. I used the Carnival App to request a table from my stateroom or on deck and within 10 minutes I received a notice that my table was ready and to proceed to the dining room. 5 Stars for the efficiency of the Anytime Dining and the app.

The ship also has a number of additional free dining establishments. Guy Fieri's Burger Joint; Tomodoro - Mexican/Italian wraps; The Lido Marketplace Buffet; Pizzeria del Capitano and La Strada Grill (Italian Street food).

Dining establishments available at an additional fee include: Farhenheit 555 (Steakhouse); Teppanyaki (Japanese food); Il Viaggio (Italian Restaurant); JavaBlue (Coffee Shop and baked goods); Seafood Shack; and Bonsai Sushi;

Here is my take on each dining establishment I experienced.

• Lido Market Place Buffet - There were some interesting selections and a moderate variety of food. The presentation of the food was good and looked appetizing. Unfortuantely the buffet lines were very long - sometime waiting 20 minutes to get to the food. This may be a product of this being the first full sailing for the ship and the crew was dealing with crowds they had not experenced before. There were a number of additional buffet stations that were closed and if opened could have eleviated some of the lines.

  A side effect of the long lines was that people piled their plates high because if they wanted seconds - they did not want to wait on line again. Breakfast lines were much shorter than lunch.

• The Canale Grande Restaurant - Better quality food than the buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Found the selection and food to be more tasty and much calmer experience than the buffet. I also had Brunch at the restaurant as well and thought the selection was good and the food good.

  Please note that the Marco Polo and Canale Grande Restaurants both have the same menu. The Canale Grande Restaurant is the Anytime Dining Room and the Marco Polo is the assigned dining room (early and late seating).

• Guy Fieri's Burger Joint - Had a burgers here twice - Had an italian Burger with Peperoni on it and a fried mozerella patti. Second time has a cheeseburger with an onion ring on it and BBQ sauce. There is a fixings bar nearby with anything and everything you could put on a hamburger. The carmelized onions are amazing and you must try them. The burgers were good/ok but unfortunately there was always 15 minute line to get a burger.
• La Strada Grill - There were allot of food items that looked very appealing including Mac N' Cheese, pre-made grilled chicken sandwiches, sausage and pepers to name a few. This dining establishment had significantly shorter lines since it is hidden on the side of the ship on the promenade. The food quality was on par with the Lido Buffet but a much smaller selection.
• Tomodorro - Had the fish tacos and really enjoyed them - the Mexican wraps looked delicious but I did not try those. Also has a fixings bar near-by to add your favorite Mexican toppings. One of the better free dining quick venues. Note that Tomodorro also served breakfast / breakfast burritos.
• Pizzeria del Captano - Pizza was good - plain, peperoni or white slices were the choices - had to try them all - like the plain best. Unfortuantely there was a 15-30 minute wait for pizza most days. Again people were stocking up on slices because no one wanted to get in line a second time for an additional slice. This just added to the long line - since the crew working behind the counter couldn't make the pizza fast enough to reduce the line.
• Speciality Dining - Il Viaggio (Italian Restaurant)- The food was excellent! - Enjoyed the Sea Bass in bean raghu. It was exceptional. There was a varied selection of entrees and appetizers and all restaurant patrons were very pleased with the food and dining experience. The Il Viaggio dining room was very intimate and decorated in warm beige and brown tones.
• Speciality Dining - Tepanyakki (Japanese Restaurant). The food is prepared right at your table. You get both a dinner and a show as the chef prepares the meal right at the table in front of you. You have the choice of vegetarian, chicken, beef or shrimp (or any combination of these items). The meal was very tasty and the chef was entertaining providing a full dining experience. The dessert box - featuring 6 Japanese desserts was an unexpected surprise.
• Seciality Dining - Farhenheit 555 (Steakhouse) - The Farhenheit 555 dining room is decorated in dark, rich, cherry tones providing a great dining atmosphere for a steak or steak and lobster meal. The restaurant features a wide selection of sides you can order to compliment your meat including vegetables, onion rings, mashed potatoes, french fries and mac n cheese to name a few. I had the stuffed mushrooms as an appetizer and thoroughly enjoyed them. For desert - I had carmelized apples on a puff pastry - exquisite. T his meal was also delicious and delicately prepared. Another winner in my book.

Ranking of the Dining Experiences.

Here are my ranking of the dining experiences onboard the Carnival Venezia.

The Seciality Restaurants are superior to all the other dining experiences but they come at a hefty surcharge with some costing an addition $42 per person. If you can afford only one - I would recommend the Farhenheit 555 Steakhouse (if you like beef and seafood). Next Il Viaggio and then Tempanyakki. (Unfortunately I did not eat the Sushi restaurant so cannot comment on that dining establishment).

If a speciality restaurant is not in the budget - I would next recommend either the Marco Polo or Canale Grande Restaurants - both have the same menu. Better quality than the buffet; food made to order and no line. These two dining establishments are open most days for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Next Tomodorro's Mexican and Italian Station - Fish Tacos were exceptional. Fresh selection of enchiladas, burritos, and other dishes made to order and limited wait.

Finally lumped together: the Lido Marketplace Buffet, Pizza del Captano, La Strada Grill, Deli and Guy's Burger Joint. All acceptable dining experiences but the longer lines (expect for the La Strada Grill) takes away from the experience. The Lido Marketplace has a decent selection but needs to open more serving stations and provide additional items.

One surprising item missing from the buffet is a pasta station. One would think an Italian themed ship would have a made to order pasta station - featuring various pastas, sauces, vegetables and meats to make a custom pasta dish. Maybe this is coming in the future?

I feel bad pointing out the lines at the buffet and various dining establishment but I think potential passengers need to know but I am hopeful that Carnival is just going through some growing pains with the new ship and will address these issues on future sailings.