Eating onboard (More than lava cake)

Thanks @GeminiTwisted for this topic idea!

What's my number one concern wherever I go? Eating. Not just because I really love food, but because I'm a vegetarian and I like to make sure I will actually have something to eat. If you're vegan, you might have more trouble, but I ate very well onboard.

Here's my rundown of the dining options on the Imagination.

Breakfast:

With the drinking and all-night parties, nothing beats scheduled room service. Hang your order on your door at night, and you can get coffee, cereal, fruit, toast, or yogurt delivered at the time of your choice. However, I seem to remember the latest time being around 9:30, so you can't sleep in too long. We did this every morning to get coffee and juice. Otherwise it would have been difficult to get out of bed.

After we showered and dressed, we went upstairs to hit the breakfast buffet next to the pool. Breakfast buffets are my favorite kind of buffets. Scrambled eggs, pancakes, french toast, fruit, potatoes . . . I'm getting hungry writing about it. Of course they also had bacon and sausage if you're into that kind of thing. I believe this lasted until 11 a.m.

Inside near the shops there was a coffee bar that offered lattes and cappuccinos, but those were an additional cost.

Lunch:

We didn't get around to eating lunch until after 3 p.m. both days. There are two buffets: one next to the pool and a larger one inside. The one next to the pool offered hamburgers and chicken sandwiches. Not much for vegetarians.

The larger buffet had a full salad bar, a hot bar with various meats, sides, and apps, the pizzeria, a dessert table, and an ice cream machine. I was a big fan of the salad bar. I seem to remember some kind of broccoli slaw that was particularly good.

From room service, you could order deli sandwiches or salads. There was also a sushi bar near the casino, but I never saw it open.

Dinner:

If you managed to stay on schedule and eat at either 6 or 8 p.m. you could go to the dining room for multi-course waiter service. The portions were tiny, but you could order as much as you wanted. You get a choice of six starters, a couple of salads, and six or seven main courses.

Here is a list of sample dinner entrees: http://www.unofficialcarnivalwiki.com/wiki/Dinner_Main_Courses

The inside, large buffet was also reset for dinner. They seemed to have most of the same dishes as what was in the dining room, but in buffet form. They also had the pizza and ice cream. Unless you really hate getting up in the middle of your meal, I think the buffet is the better option. For one, when you're getting a fruit salad, you can give yourself more than half a strawberry. And the dessert table has the same chocolate lava cake you get in the main dining room. This was available until 9 p.m.

Room service was limited for dinner. Same sandwiches and salads they had at lunch. Still, if you're in your room getting ready for the night, it could be the way to go.

Late Night:

At midnight, they'd reopen the buffet near the pool. I remember Friday night was Mexican night. I don't know if the other nights had themes. Since I didn't get around to eating dinner till around 9 p.m., I never hit this buffet. The pizzeria and room service were available 24 hours a day.

The only problem with eating onboard is finding time to do it. You may find yourself stuck in line during meal times, and staying up all night tends to throw off your schedule. Still, the food is there and decent when you can get to it. Worst case, you eat pizza and ice cream for three days, and there's nothing wrong with that!