CCL-Carnival Cruise Line has introduced The Next Course, a comprehensive expansion of its food and beverage offering that will bring new restaurants and bars to Carnival Festivale in 2027 and Carnival Tropicale in 2028, while simultaneously introducing a series of culinary enhancements across the existing fleet. The initiative builds on the cruise line's extensive dining operation, which serves more than 100 million meals annually to over 6 million guests, providing the company with significant insight into evolving passenger dining preferences.
The programme was presented during a dedicated event in New Orleans hosted by Carnival's Chief Culinary Officer, Emeril Lagasse, where the cruise line outlined its future direction for onboard dining. Carnival President Christine Duffy indicated that cuisine, combined with the company's service standards, remains a key component of the guest experience and explained that the latest developments are intended to broaden culinary choice throughout the fleet.
Among the principal additions are four new specialty dining concepts. Emeril's Coastal Seafood will showcase seafood dishes inspired by coastal cuisine and developed under the direction of Emeril Lagasse, while Uku Lei Lei will combine Hawaiian specialities with Asian-inspired cuisine. Fetaccine will present Mediterranean dishes drawing on both Italian and Greek culinary traditions. Exclusive to Carnival Festivale, Le Bistro Musicale will offer French cuisine within a Paris-themed setting featuring live music.
Carnival Festivale will also introduce several new beverage venues. The Spark has been designed as an entertainment lounge combining live performances with music-inspired cocktails, Mix will allow guests to customise their own cocktails alongside a curated drinks menu, and Festival Grounds Coffee & Bar will serve specialty coffees by day before transitioning into a cocktail venue during the evening.
Beyond the new ships, Carnival is extending The Next Course throughout its fleet with a series of dining enhancements. These include revised breakfast, brunch and dinner menus in the Main Dining Room, updated offerings at the Lido Marketplace, the introduction of a family-focused menu at Lido, and rotating daily specials at BlueIguana Cantina. Additional concepts include Bagels @ Sea, a redesigned Chef's Table tasting menu featuring regional influences, seasonal food pop-ups, expanded mobile ordering for coffee outlets and an enhanced Express Dining programme intended to provide faster service in the Main Dining Room.
The culinary expansion forms part of Carnival Cruise Line's broader strategy to diversify the onboard experience while introducing new dining concepts alongside its next generation of Excel-class ships. The first of these developments will debut aboard Carnival Festivale upon its entry into service in 2027, followed by Carnival Tropicale in 2028, with many of the fleetwide enhancements already being introduced across existing vessels.