Have you heard? Carnival Cruise Lines offers new onboard activities called Carnival Kitchen, on select ships. I’ll share with you everything you need to know about these fun cooking classes. Important details like what is it, how to book it, and why you should book it.
What is Carnival Kitchen
Carnival Kitchen is a purpose-built cooking studio where amateur chefs and wanna-be foodies can try their hand at making some of Carnival’s most famous and loved recipes with the guidance of a highly skilled chef and culinary team.
In this teaching space, you will find nine identical kitchen stations, equipped with a countertop, stovetop, and sink.
If you’ve ever watched cooking shows like Food Network’s Chopped, then you will recognize the setup. Modern kitchens with everything you need are at your disposal.
Just like cooking competitions, you will also have access to a pantry and refrigerator, as well as additional pots and pans.
There is also a dining area with a white table and retro red chairs. The class will be and end here.
Unlike episodes of Hell’s Kitchen, you should not expect to hear any F-bombs being dropped by your instructor.
Fellow cooks will be following along with the host chef who is will guide them through making the dish.
At each station, a tablet will be live streaming the cook as he performs each step. You might wonder why you would need to watch this skilled professional cook on a small video screen.
With nine stations spread out, some participants may have a hard time seeing important details.
Not to worry, every step is displayed on the screen.
Just like your smartphone, you can touch the video screen with your fingers, pinch and zoom in if you need to see more details.
Your instructor also is wired for sound so that he can be heard even at the furthest workstations.
Is the class fun?
The general opinion of the class was that everyone had a good time. We had fun!
What it is not
Carnival Kitchen is not a cooking show. It is not a cooking competition. It’s not for professional cooks, although they are welcome to join the fun.
Who is this activity for?
This cooking activity is for anyone who enjoys cooking, who wants to learn to make one of Carnival’s famous dishes, or who wants to experience what it might be like to cook in a professional kitchen environment.
Cruisers looking for a fun activity on a sea day who are willing to give up some of their free time in return to learn hands-on cooking techniques and have fun.
How this concept came to be
The history behind the kitchen concept. Since food is a big part of cruising, guests have always been curious about the dishes they eat during their cruise. For many years CCL has offered Cooking Demonstrations as part of the onboard activities.
We have seen these cooking shows in the big theater for years where a chef from the main kitchen demonstrates how to make some of Carnival’s favorite recipes such as Warm Chocolate Melting Cake and other recipes.
The cooking demos are now generally offered on the last sea day in the Steakhouse. Four steakhouse recipes were made and shared: Soup, salad, main dish, and dessert. You also got to sample each dish. Check the HUB app or Fun times for day/time.
Location: Steakhouse
Cost: included
- Mushroom Cappuccino Soup
- Baby leaf spinach & fresh mushrooms
- Broiled Supreme of free-range chicken
- Tiramisu
We take the joy of cooking and transform it into a delightful hour-long presentation of kitchen skill and ingenuity… where taste tests are always included.
Carnival Cruise Line activities
Cooking demonstrations have always been one of the most popular onboard activities, filled, bringing new and experienced cruisers out. Fun with cooking is good entertainment.
(I wonder if Carnival thought, people, love this. How can we make money off it?) With cooking shows and entire channels devoted to cooking, this is a great idea.
What ships offer Carnival Kitchen
The Carnival Kitchen cooking experience is currently available on two ships and plans for two more coming soon as ships are built and sailing. We did our cooking class on Carnival Panorama, but your experience should be similar.
- Carnival Panorama
- Carnival Mardi Gras
- Carnival Celebration
- Carnival Jubilee (coming soon)
What culinary classes can I choose from
Twelve different cooking classes are currently available and may vary by sailing. Classes may include:
Pasta Master
Sushi Making 101
It’s an ice cream kind of day
Cake workshop
Pit & grill smokehouse
Tailgate party
Pizza master
Morning hustle
Cupcake academy
Bakeshop & pie town
How to book your cooking class
From your cruise personalizer (your account on carnival.com). Click on Speciality Dining. Scroll until you see Carnival Kitchen and the cooking classes you want to book.
If you are interested in taking a cooking class make sure to book ahead of time. Nine stations can hold 2 cooks each.
As soon as the spots fill up, the class will close. There may be a repeat of popular classes. If you attended a class and would like to schedule another class, ask the chef if there are any openings. Sometimes would-be participants cancel. The bookings are handled through the steakhouse manager.
Is there an age requirement for Carnival Kitchen? Each chef in training must be twelve years or older to participate.
What is the charge for Carnival Kitchen?
These cooking experiences (currently) run $30 to $59 per person plus an 18% gratuity.
Full meal classes may cost more.
Each class runs from one to two hours depending on how involved your class is.
Do I get to eat the food I prepared?
After your dish is complete you will get to eat it, but for dishes that require more time than is scheduled during your class, your dish will be cooked or baked and delivered to your table in whatever dining room you plan on eating that night, even if you plan on eating at a specialty restaurant, your food can be delivered there too.
If you enjoy cooking classes but are having a hard time with the idea of paying for an onboard activity, consider that you will walk away with new cooking skills that are achievable at home and that you get a dish or meal to eat at the end of the presentation. This class is considered Speciality Dining and has a cost, but also a value. Only you can decide if the small fee is with the memories you will make on this excursion.
How long is each class
Classes typically run from one to two hours depending on what you are making. Longer classes creating full meals may be available.
The Pasta Master class was about one hour to 90 minutes, including eating pasta creation.
What to expect during your cooking lesson
A day or so before your course you will receive an activity confirmation letter from Carnival Kitchen in your stateroom sharing the details of the class time and meeting location. On Carnival Panorama your location is Mezzanine Deck 4 – midship.
Been there done that tip: The meeting location is next to elevators, not by the LED Tower.
Does each amateur chef get their workstation?
These cooking classes are small-sized, but generally, two cooks are at each station.
Each guest that wishes to participate is charged the fee. This would include anyone wanting to watch or take photos. Any guest inside pays.
There are enough tasks to keep two cooks busy.
It was fun for my husband and me to split up the tasks and work together as a well-oiled team.
If doing the class with a friend you will be paired with them, but If you are sailing solo or have an odd number in your group you may be paired with another sailor. We did have two solos in our pasta-making class.
Upon arriving, your teacher introduces himself and gives you a quick lowdown of how the class works.
You then go sit at the long dining table where he will ask one of you from each pair to take a number. This will determine which station you will be working from.
Just like most ship activities, safety and sanitation are very important, especially since the Pandemic. No one is more vested in keeping cruisers safe and healthy than the cruise lines. You will be asked to wash your hands before heading to your kitchen at one of two hand washing sinks, and told how important it is to keep your station neat.
Do not bring your apron. You will be provided a Carnival Kitchen apron to wear. Aprons and cooking utensils are available to purchase in the Carnival Shops. During our cruise, they even offered a discount on these items.
Cruisers with long hair: Please bring something to secure your hair with, and tie it back without being asked. You are cooking. If folks continue to not take care of long hair, the possibility of hair nets being required could become a reality.
Do I cut up the ingredients?
All the ingredients that are required will be at your station. If anything needs to be chopped, diced, or sliced it will already be cut by the sou chefs and in small bowls in front of you ( at least for the pasta class). Everything is done for safety and the sake of time.
The chef, who has a microphone on, will walk you through the steps. If you have any questions, s/he or one of the culinary team will be walking around making sure no one is having problems.
Following along with your cooking instructor you will have a hands-on experience making your pasta dish.
If making something that takes longer to cook or bake, expect your dish to be delivered to you at your set dining time in the main dining room.
Your workstation
Each of the nine identical workstations has a stove top with two burners, a sink for filling pots, a spotless white granite countertop, and a tablet where the instructor is shown during the lesson.
Although not located at your workstation, you can grab ingredients from the pantry and refrigerator or additional cooking instruments.
All the required ingredients for the recipe that you will be making during your class will be at your kitchen station.
Pantry and Fridge
Just like television cooking shows you have use of all the pantry and refrigerator items. You are asked to make the recipe as written. However, when you eat your dish, you can add additional spices if you like your dish spicy.
During our cooking experience, we learned to make a very simple but tasty sauce, and how easy it was to make pasta from scratch.
I worked together with my partner as a team. It was fun catching the dough as he ran it through the press. I think other cooks thought it was fun too as I heard lots of laughter throughout the classroom.
What you will learn in the Pasta Master Class?
During this class, you will learn how to make pasta dough from scratch. You will learn to use a hand crank pasta machine. You are also educated on how to make pasta without any machine. During the cooking segment of the class, you will learn the simple ingredients that come together to form a classic, tasty, all-purpose pasta sauce. You will be given instructions on what to do in different scenarios if your dough is too wet or too dry. You walk away from this cooking experience with better confidence and hopefully go home and cook homemade pasta for your friends or family.
Our Carnival Kitchen experience
This review is from our Carnival Kitchen experience onboard Carnival Panorama in September 2022. All opinions are my own. This is not a sponsored post.
Between the four members of our group, we had a great time. We all thought the charge to do the class was well worth it. The time went by much too quickly.
The course was well organized and it was very easy to get help or have questions answered. The class size was perfect. Enough to feel like a class but not so many you felt neglected or left behind.
The recipe for both sauce and pasta dough was laid out well enough that the pasta dish could be recreated when back home. Although there were some inconsistencies from the written recipe to what we remember using in the class, we were still able to cook a great bowl of pasta for our family.
After you’ve been on a few cruises, it becomes difficult to find new activities on board. Normally, on sea days, you will find us exploring the ship, taking part in trivia, or sitting around the deck listening to music. It’s great to have one more choice to keep us occupied.
Honest feedback to Carnival
- Some classes such as the BBQ Pit Master class were scheduled only on days the ship is in port. One of our group wanted to do this class, but we had plans in Cabo San Lucas to go parasailing. Carnival, you please consider adding more of these types of classes?
- It would be great to have written instructions available in each kitchen. If Carnival is worried about not being able to sanitize documents in between guests, printed instructions could be laminated for each cooking station and could be wiped down with no problem. This would be a minimal cost and used for many months. Some people are not comfortable with technology, and printed material can be referred back to when the instructor has moved on but the student still has questions.
- Copies of the recipe were emailed as promised, but it was not the same recipe we used during the class.
Everything you need to prepare the dish is provided. This activity was well organized. Assistance is given if necessary, and enough time is given. Carnival sets its amateur cooks up to succeed.
The price point is fair. Most cruisers who would like to participate should be able to do this if it’s of interest to them.
What about children? Is there a kid cooking class? Carnival Kitchen does not have a class yet for kids that I am aware of.
If you think this is something your kid would like to do, make sure to add this to your next post-cruise survey.
Would we do another Carnival Kitchen cooking class? Absolutely! It was a great experience. Choose fun! Be sure to download your free pasta recipe in Google docs format and let me know if you made it and how the dish turned out!
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