My husband (Allan), our two sons (AJ and LJ), and I sailed aboard the Carnival Venezia for its U.S. inaugural cruise in June 2023, and we got back onboard with my mom for the Melanin at Sea group cruise in July 2023. With two sailings on this new Carnival ship under our belts, the first to deliver Carnival Fun Italian Style at sea, we want to provide you with information to help you plan your Carnival Venezia sailing or to simply help you learn more about this ship.

Staterooms

We have had the pleasure of staying in four different staterooms aboard the Carnival Venezia:

An interior stateroom on Deck 2;

A deluxe oceanview stateroom on Deck 1;

A balcony stateroom on Deck 9; and

A cove balcony stateroom on Deck 2

For a look inside each of these staterooms, click the links associated with each room category above.

In general, all the rooms appear well-kept and modern with Italian theming through wallpaper and photos in the room, as well as gold decor and marble-like counter space in the bathrooms and main living area. While there are outlets and USB ports in each stateroom, there aren’t many. We found the number of outlets and USB ports to be sufficient for our needs, but keep in mind, we had two staterooms each time, so we had access to more than you would have in one stateroom. Depending on how many devices you intend to use, you may want to invest in and bring along a cruise-safe power strip - NOT a surge-protector.

I love the idea and relaxation of stepping out to our balcony to take in the ocean air and views, and I love the convenience of two bathrooms in the deluxe oceanview stateroom - one bathroom has a shower, toilet, and sink, and the other bathroom has a shower/tub and sink - perfect for families! The interesting thing, though, is that, at the time of booking the inaugural cruise, the deluxe oceanview staterooms available did not accommodate four… hence, the reason we booked two staterooms… but with such a beautiful feature of having two bathrooms, one would think the room would accommodate four. While enjoying our Deck 9 balcony, we realized that we could hear the movement of furniture, etc, one deck above on Deck 10, which is the Lido deck. The movement and sounds from Deck 10 were noticeable, but didn’t bother us much. For more of a comparison of these two categories of rooms, you can tap in, HERE, where you’ll hear our honest feedback from staying in a Deck 9 balcony stateroom and Deck 1 deluxe oceanview stateroom during the Carnival Venezia’s U.S. inaugural cruise.

The least expensive of all the rooms we stayed in was the interior stateroom on Deck 2, which my mom stayed in with AJ and LJ, while Allan and I were directly across the hall in a cove balcony. We highly recommend this configuration if traveling with a family of five because, if the family members assigned to the interior stateroom want to sit out and enjoy the balcony for a bit, they can do so in the other family members’ room, directly across the hall. The interior stateroom for three included two twin beds and a pull-down bed above one of the twins which created a bunkbed effect for the boys and allowed my mom to have the other twin bed for herself. The room included the same beautiful gold decor and marble-like counter space in the bathroom and main living area as all the other rooms we stayed in onboard and provided a suitable space to sleep, shower or otherwise use the bathroom, get dressed, and simply relax. The cove balcony is probably my overall favorite room category of all the rooms we stayed in because of its proximity to the water and how peaceful and private it felt while sitting out there. It was refreshing to feel light splashes of water while on our cove balcony, and my only regret is not sitting out there more during our 4-day cruise. Had it been a longer cruise, we would’ve likely spent more time out on the balcony.

From these descriptions and the videos linked above, which stateroom do you think would be your favorite? Let us know in the comments below.

Food & Drinks

There are two main dining rooms aboard the Carnival Venezia: Canal Grande and Marco Polo. If you select “Your Time Dining” for dinner, then you will be assigned to Canal Grande, and if you select a specific dining time for dinner, then you will be assigned to Marco Polo. The menus are the same in both restaurants, but what is different is the decor. The decor in Canal Grande is more desired than that at Marco Polo. While Marco Polo gives the feel of a traditional cruise ship main dining room, Canal Grande has a huge gondola displayed in the middle of the dining room, and the lighting and entire atmosphere in this restaurant gives the feel of dining by a canal in Venice. Canal Grande is the main dining room to which we were assigned on both cruises. If, however, you are assigned to Marco Polo for dinner, you CAN experience Canal Grande for Sea Day Brunch, Sea Day Lunch (if offered), and Disembarkation Breakfast, so pay special attention to the Carnival Hub app to grab your spot at Canal Grande. If you’re assigned to Canal Grande and want to dine in Marco Polo, you may consider booking the Green Eggs & Ham Breakfast that took place at Marco Polo during both our June and July sailings.

In all honesty, our overall impression of the food in the main dining room was that it was just ok. During the U.S. inaugural sailing, we found the sit-down lunch in Canal Grande to be the tastiest of the meals we had there. Allan and I both had quesadillas as appetizers; then, for entrées, Allan had steak tacos, and I had spiced roasted chicken; and, for dessert, we both had churros! Delicious! The other meals were ok. During our July cruise aboard the Venezia, each time LJ ordered a hamburger in the main dining room, he received what initially looked like a burger, but given a closer look, the meat was pale, and regardless of the look, LJ repeatedly said it did not taste like a hamburger. We’re not sure what that mystery meat was, but we’re convinced that wasn’t hamburger meat.

Thankfully, there are lots more places to eat that are included as standard with cruising aboard the Venezia. The Lido Marketplace buffet provided a good spread for breakfast during both our Venezia cruises, and we also enjoyed breakfast burritos from Tomodoro. With regard to lunch, we enjoyed burritos from Tomodoro, burgers and fries from Guy’s Burger Joint, Chinese Food from the Seafood Shack on sea days, and chicken, corn, and other small bites from La Strada Grill on embarkation day. We also enjoyed the variety available at the Lido Marketplace buffet during lunch time. Throughout the days and nights, we all enjoyed pizza from Pizzeria del Capitano.

In addition to those included restaurants, we purchased lobster and crab legs from the Seafood Shack for lunch on our Bermuda port day, and while the line was ridiculously long, and the wait to order and get our food tried our patience, the food was absolutely delicious! We also enjoyed a sit-down lunch at Bonsai Sushi where we feasted on ramen, shrimp tempura, and California rolls while enjoying our sips from the nearby Amari Bar - Allan sipped on a Martini Seduction while I sipped on The Remedy - YUM! We also enjoyed dinner at the new Italian restaurant, Il Viaggio, which includes Limoncello shots at the end of dinner, and we enjoyed embarkation dinner at Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse, which includes a free bottle of wine on embarkation day only. The specialty restaurants that we experienced were all excellent! We didn’t dine at Bonsai Teppanyaki, which is another specialty restaurant onboard. Truth be told, we tried to grab a reservation after getting onboard, but it was already booked to capacity for all possible days and times. Had we booked Bonsai Teppanyaki ahead of time on the Carnival Hub App, like we did with Il Viaggo and Fahrenheit 555, we would have experienced it because I recall seeing some availability for it then. So, please learn from this, and book all your specialty dining before your cruise.

We carried cases of soda onboard, as is allowed by Carnival, and we pre-purchased bottles of water to be in our staterooms before we got onboard. We opted not to purchase a drink package, but bought our alcoholic beverages à la carte. The drink options are overflowing aboard the Venezia starting as soon as you enter the ship… from the bar in the main atrium/Piazza San Marco on Deck 3, to Rococo, Java Blue, and Burano Pool Bar on the Lido deck, to the Pergola Bar on Deck 11 overlooking the Lido, to the Carnevale Bar & Lounge, Gondola Bar, Piano Bar, Amari Bar, and my fave bar onboard, Frizzante, all on Deck 5… all the drinks we had onboard were delicious, with my favorites being The Remedy from Amari and the Ginger Spritz from Frizzante… CHEERS!

From these descriptions and the videos linked in this article, do you think you would be satisfied with the included restaurants or would you likely book specialty dining? Let us know in the comments below.

Itineraries:

Both of our Carnival Venezia 4-day sailings had one port stop in Bermuda in between two sea days, so not the most exciting itinerary option, but that is what fit in our schedules at the time, and we hadn’t been to Bermuda before, so it was a win for us, as I love venturing into new countries. Being that the Venezia leaves from our homeport in New York City, we have looked extensively at the itineraries offered and think that this ship has the most diverse, reasonably priced, itinerary offerings for a new ship sailing from Manhattan right now… from the quick 4-day cruises like ours, to and from Bermuda, to 6-day Bermuda sailings that allow for an overnight experience in port, to 7-day Canada and New England sailings, to 8-day, 11-day, 12-day, and 14-day Caribbean sailings… Carnival Venezia has an exciting option for just about any schedule.

The Venezia is sailing from New York right now but will be sailing from Port Canaveral in the winter/spring 2025 seasons, at which time, it will continue to offer Caribbean sailings and will also offer a 14-day Panama Canal sailing. We definitely recommend this ship to our fellow New Yorkers while it’s sailing from Manhattan because, for families of four and five, like ours, this can save a lot of money as there’s no need to purchase airfare for four or five in addition to the cruise fare when you live in New York and sail from New York, and this gorgeous ship gets out to some really beautiful destinations!

Entertainment

The deck parties we experienced include the sailaway party, White Hot Party, and the 80’s Rock and Glow Party, and while we stayed at some of these events longer than others, we enjoyed them all. There was even a fun Father’s Day event on the Lido deck that Allan and I enjoyed as we celebrated him and all the fathers onboard on Father’s Day. Live music in the atrium/Piazza San Marco, as well as Family Feud Live, comedy shows, karaoke, the nightclub, and Carnival’s Fun Squad kept the entertainment going throughout our 4-day sailing, and I have no doubt that the fun continues throughout the ship’s longer sailings as well. At the time this blog article is posted, we are still weeks away from the Carnival Jubilee’s inaugural sailing, so right now, I can say that Carnival Venezia is still the newest FunShip, and it does not disappoint in bringing the fun!

The Ship

We find the ship easy to comfortably navigate from deck to deck. Carnival Venezia is not a small ship, but she is not so large that guests feel like we’re working out just to walk to a show. During our June and July sailings, there were some areas onboard that were much warmer than we are accustomed to experiencing on a cruise ship. We are accustomed to public areas on cruise ships generally being very well air-conditioned and somewhat chilly, so we are not sure what was going on aboard the Venezia in those warm spots, which included the Carnevale Bar and Lounge, and the elevators. That said, it didn’t ruin our cruise… this is just something to note… and, hopefully, Carnival has fixed that issue.

Our overall takeaway from this ship is that it is a gorgeous ship! If you’ve been following My Cruising Family for a while, then you’ll probably know that we think MSC has the most gorgeous cruise ships at sea. Well, that hasn’t changed, but the Carnival Venezia appears to be the most gorgeous Carnival cruise ship to date. The regal look of the Piazza San Marco and the sky-like details on the ceiling as guests enter that area are classier than the other Carnival ships on which we’ve sailed. The stunning details don’t stop there, but carry through to various venues onboard, including Frizzante - my favorite Carnival Venezia bar and seating area with gorgeous decor that evokes the feeling of being surrounded by champagne bubbles - and Canal Grande - a main dining room that, as mentioned earlier, evokes the feeling of dining alongside a canal in Venice. The Carnival Venezia is GORGEOUS!

While this article has provided an overview of some key areas onboard the Carnival Venezia, there is no way to fully capture both of our cruises aboard this ship in the words of a blog article, so we invite you to watch our YouTube vlog series from both of our sailings, and, if you have questions afterwards, please feel free to ask them in the comments here on the blog or on our YouTube vlogs. Happy cruising!