Carnival’s Seuss Green Eggs and Ham Breakfast: the wackiest experience at sea

Carnival's exclusive partnership with Dr. Seuss Enterprises dates back to 2014 and features dining and entertainment experiences inspired by his work.

The Seuss at Sea program includes activities like the Seuss-a-palooza Parade, Story Time, and character interactions. It also features the popular Green Eggs and Ham Breakfast inspired by the Seuss tale of the same name.

In the tale, Sam-I-Am relentlessly badgers an unnamed character to try his 'Green Eggs and Ham' dish. He is repulsed by the thought. When he finally gives in, the character discovers he in fact loves the meal, imparting a valuable life lesson.

On my recent sailing aboard Carnival Breeze, I was invited to experience the character breakfast, much to the delight of my two year old son who had taken a curious liking to Thing 1 and Thing 2 earlier in the voyage.

Seuss-themed table decorations with lots of reds and blues

The experience takes place in the morning of the final sea day,  and there is a choice of two dining times at the Sapphire restaurant.

Limited to just 90 guests at each seating, the 8.30 am seating attracted far fewer passengers than that. This experience is geared towards families but attracted adult Seuss fans too.

An intricate Cat in the Hat ice sculpture at the entrance to the Sapphire restaurant

An ice sculpture of The Cat in the Hat welcomed guests into the restaurant strewn with The Cat in the Hat-themed decorations. Waiters donned themed t-shirts and blue wigs to perform a song mid-way through breakfast.

A Seuss sing-along with the waiters dressed as 'Things'

The Green Eggs and Ham Breakfast menu was ornately decorated and full of a range of options.

A colourful menu with a bewildering choice of zany options

The food was just as colourful as the table decorations, with the key Carnival brand colours of red and blue used extensively.

Look past the Seussified names, and you will see that the menu consists of classic favourites, albeit with colourful twists.

The signature dish is 'Green Eggs and Ham'. Scoops of vivid green-coloured scrambled eggs top two rounds of griddled ham.

'Horton's Cereal-Crusted French Toast' is the most eye-catching option with a very generous portion of French toast encrusted in brightly coloured cereal hoops.

The 'Truffula Tree Pancakes' are a tower of red-coloured and plain pancakes served with maple syrup.

Truffula Tree Pancakes - a stack of pancakes served with maple syrup

The 'From There to Here, From Here to There, Funny Belgian Waffles are Everywhere' dish sees waffles filled with red and blue coloured creams served with maple syrup and whipped cream.

From There to Here, From Here to There, Funny Belgian Waffles are Everywhere - colourful cream-filled waffles served with whipped cream and maple syrup

While it looked wacky and peculiar, the food tasted no different to that was normally served in the dining room for breakfast - a relief to some.

Parting gifts of individually wrapped heart-shaped cookies decorated with The Grinch's head in icing sugar were given out at the end.

Heart-shaped cookies decorated with The Grinch's head in icing sugar

The Cat in the Hat, Sam-I-Am, The Grinch, and the double act of Thing 1 and Thing 2 made star appearances at the breakfast. Each made their way down a set of stairs, posed for individual photos, before heading out of sight upstairs.

The characters did not walk around tables, meaning photos could only be taken in one central location.

A professional photographer snapped away at the character interactions. Photos were taken adjacent to the staircase without a themed backdrop. Given the ship had several Seuss themed backgrounds, this decision was disappointing.

Time was extremely limited, and the experience felt rushed. Time pressures began to show when, after a waiter dropped a tray of desserts in the photography area, staff just placed a chair over the spillage and the photoshoots continued, despite the risk to children of the broken glass scattered across the floor.

My experience prematurely ended too. Upon returning to my table following the final round of photographs, I discovered my table had been cleared away in preparation for the next seating, despite the fact my son was only halfway through his breakfast.

Book a breakfast experience

This experience is surprisingly cheap and at just $5 (≈ £4) per person, irrespective of age. For the joy on my son's face during the character appearances, I would have happily paid more than this.

Photos are entirely optional, so you can enjoy the experience without having your photograph taken. There is no obligation to buy any of the professionally taken photos either.

I did end up purchasing one of the professionally taken photos from the breakfast, and I was not the only one to do this, so it is worth bearing this cost in mind. Four photo prints (one of each character) totalled $59.96 (≈ £48) during my sailing.

Is this an experience you would tuck into or does the sheer quantities of sugar put you off? Let me know in the comments below.

Disclosure: Carnival Cruise Line kindly supplied one return adult economy airfare, overseas transfers, one night in a Miami hotel, a full board cruise for two adults and an infant, and Seuss at Sea Green Eggs and Ham Breakfast fees. I paid for one return adult and child airfare, meals ashore, private excursions, and domestic travel to and from Heathrow airport. My opinions are my own.

Upcoming mini cruises