Big Chicken on Carnival Celebration: Menu, Breakfast & Lunch Review
Big Chicken was easily one of my favorite casual dining spots on Carnival Celebration. Created in partnership with basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal, the restaurant serves fried chicken sandwiches, chicken strips, fries and a small breakfast menu—and, most importantly, it is included in the cruise fare.
After trying Big Chicken for both breakfast and lunch, my biggest regret is actually that I didn’t eat there more often. Carnival Celebration has so many restaurants and quick-service options that it’s surprisingly easy to keep telling yourself you’ll go back somewhere and then suddenly realize the cruise is almost over.
For more Carnival information, CruisePrism readers can also explore our Carnival Dining Menus, Carnival Drink Lists, and Carnival Onboard Guides for more information about restaurants, schedules and onboard activities.
What Is Big Chicken on Carnival Celebration?
Big Chicken is Shaquille O’Neal’s chicken restaurant concept, and Carnival offers a cruise-ship version with both breakfast and lunch selections.
The concept is straightforward: crispy chicken sandwiches, chicken strips and fries during the day, along with several breakfast choices earlier in the morning. There are also different sauces and side dishes available.
On Carnival Celebration, the venue has a casual counter-service setup, so there’s no reservation or lengthy sit-down meal involved. You simply get in line, order and take your food.
Big Chicken Menu on Carnival Celebration
The lunch menu includes four crispy chicken sandwiches, and guests can choose dark or white meat. Grilled chicken is also available upon request.
Crispy Chicken Sandwiches
• M.D.E. (The Most Dominant Ever) – Shaq sauce and pickles
• Shaq Attack – pepper jack cheese, jalapeño slaw and spicy chipotle BBQ sauce
• Uncle Jerome – Nashville hot chicken, lettuce, mayo and pickles
• The Big Aristotle – Muenster cheese, crispy fried onions, bacon and sweet & smoky Memphis BBQ sauce
Chicken strips with fries are also available.
Sidekicks
• Potato Salad
• House Made Sweet & Spicy Pickles
• Jalapeño Slaw
Sauces
• BBQ Ranch
• Memphis BBQ
• Shaq Sauce
• Buffalo Hot
Big Chicken Breakfast Menu
Big Chicken also serves breakfast, and the menu is much smaller than the lunch selection.
The breakfast choices shown during our Carnival Celebration cruise were:
• Chicken & Biscuit – chili honey glaze syrup
• Biscuit & Egg – sausage or bacon, egg and cheese
• Three Cheese Omelet – cheddar, Monterey Jack and Swiss
The posted sign listed breakfast hours of 7:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. on port days and 8:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. on sea days, meaning the breakfast selections were available well beyond traditional breakfast hours during this sailing.
The Big Chicken Line Was Surprisingly Fast
One thing I really appreciated about Big Chicken was how easy it was to actually get the food.
The line was never particularly bad when I visited. Usually, I could get through the entire process in roughly three to five minutes, sometimes even faster.
That was noticeably different from my experience at Guy’s Burger Joint, where the line could sometimes approach 20 minutes.
Of course, lines can vary enormously depending on the day, sailing and exact time you visit, but during our Carnival Celebration cruise, Big Chicken was consistently one of the easier casual restaurants to grab something from quickly.
The Big Aristotle Review: Absolutely Delicious
For lunch, I ordered The Big Aristotle.
The standard sandwich comes with Muenster cheese, crispy fried onions, bacon and sweet & smoky Memphis BBQ sauce. Since I’m not particularly fond of heavily sauced sandwiches, I ordered mine without the BBQ sauce and instead added just a little mayonnaise.
It was excellent.
The first thing that worked was the bun. It was soft enough to complement the fried chicken without falling apart, and the chicken itself was crispy on the outside while remaining juicy inside.
Then there was the cheese, which worked exceptionally well with the chicken. Combined with the bacon and crispy fried onions, there was enough going on with the sandwich that I never felt like I was missing anything by removing the BBQ sauce.
This was exactly what I want from a fried chicken sandwich: crispy, juicy, flavorful and substantial without becoming unnecessarily complicated.
My biggest mistake was only eating one during the entire cruise.
I kept telling myself that I was going to return to Big Chicken for another one, but Carnival Celebration has so many dining options that somehow it never happened. Looking back, I genuinely regret not having another Big Aristotle before the cruise ended.
The Big Chicken Fries Are Excellent
The fries deserve considerably more attention than they might get from looking at the menu.
They were excellent.
Big Chicken serves crinkle-cut fries, and during our visit they were crispy, nicely seasoned and easily among my favorite fries aboard Carnival Celebration.
In fact, I preferred the Big Chicken fries by a significant margin over the fries served at Guy’s Burger Joint.
That creates what might be the ultimate Carnival Celebration fast-food combination: a Guy’s Burger Joint burger paired with Big Chicken fries.
I actually saw several passengers doing exactly that.
The problem is convenience. Guy’s Burger Joint and Big Chicken aren’t directly beside each other, and I was never motivated enough to carry food around the ship just to create the combination myself. But if you’re willing to make the trip, I can understand exactly why people do it.
Big Chicken Breakfast Review
Big Chicken isn’t only a lunch destination. I returned for breakfast and tried the Chicken & Biscuit.
The Chicken & Biscuit is exactly what it sounds like: fried chicken served inside a biscuit. The standard menu lists it with chili honey glaze syrup, although I ordered mine without the sauce and instead had it with a little butter.
The chicken itself was fantastic.
It was crispy, juicy and packed with flavor. In fact, I liked the actual chicken enough that I returned for this breakfast more than once during the cruise.
But there is one major problem.
That Biscuit Falls Apart if You Look at It Wrong
The biscuit is incredibly crumbly.
And when I say crumbly, I don’t mean that a few crumbs fall onto the plate while you’re eating it. I mean trying to hold the Chicken & Biscuit together like a normal breakfast sandwich quickly becomes an exercise in futility.
The biscuit practically disintegrates.
I eventually stopped trying to eat it as a sandwich. Instead, I would take a piece of chicken and pile pieces of the crumbled biscuit on top of it.
Was that elegant? Absolutely not.
Did it still taste delicious? Absolutely.
The texture of the biscuit itself wasn’t the problem. The combination of buttery biscuit and crispy fried chicken tasted great. The problem was simply structural: it was far too delicate to function particularly well as sandwich bread.
Still, considering I went back for it two or possibly three times during the cruise, that clearly wasn’t enough to stop me from enjoying it.
Breakfast or Lunch: Which Was Better?
If I had to choose one, lunch wins.
The Chicken & Biscuit tasted excellent, but the Big Aristotle was the more complete sandwich. The soft bun held together properly, the crispy chicken remained the centerpiece, and the Muenster cheese, bacon and crispy fried onions gave it plenty of flavor.
The Chicken & Biscuit is absolutely worth trying for breakfast, particularly if you like fried chicken and biscuits, but be prepared to eat it somewhat creatively once that biscuit begins falling apart.
Is Big Chicken Free on Carnival Celebration?
Yes. Big Chicken is included in the cruise fare on Carnival Celebration.
That makes the restaurant even easier to recommend.
There is no specialty dining surcharge to worry about and no real commitment involved. If you’re hungry and the line is short, you can simply grab a sandwich or chicken strips and continue with your day.
Given the quality of the food we had, Big Chicken represents excellent value as one of Carnival Celebration’s included dining options.
Big Chicken vs. Guy’s Burger Joint
These two restaurants are inevitably going to be compared because both serve indulgent, complimentary fast food aboard Carnival Celebration.
For the main item, it really comes down to whether you want a burger or fried chicken.
But when it comes specifically to the fries, Big Chicken wins easily for me.
The Big Chicken crinkle-cut fries were considerably better during our sailing. They were crispier, more satisfying and something I would happily order even without the chicken sandwich.
The lines were another advantage. My Big Chicken waits were generally just a few minutes, while Guy’s Burger Joint could sometimes have a roughly 20-minute line.
That doesn’t make Guy’s Burger Joint bad—the burgers themselves are a completely different discussion—but Big Chicken was certainly the easier option when I wanted good food without waiting around.
Is Big Chicken Worth Trying on Carnival Celebration?
Yes. Absolutely.
There are restaurants aboard Carnival Celebration that require planning, reservations or an additional charge. Big Chicken requires none of those things.
You walk up, order and eat.
And the food is genuinely good.
The Big Aristotle was juicy, crispy and delicious. The fries were excellent. The Chicken & Biscuit tasted fantastic despite having a biscuit that seemingly wanted nothing more than to collapse into a pile of crumbs.
The biggest endorsement I can give Big Chicken is that my main complaint after the cruise wasn’t about the restaurant—it was that I didn’t eat there enough.
Big Chicken Carnival Celebration FAQ
Is Big Chicken free on Carnival Celebration?
Yes. Big Chicken is included in the cruise fare, making it one of Carnival Celebration’s complimentary dining options.
Who owns Big Chicken?
Big Chicken was founded by Shaquille O’Neal and partners and has expanded beyond its land-based restaurants to Carnival Cruise Line ships.
Does Big Chicken serve breakfast?
Yes. Big Chicken serves a small breakfast menu in addition to its regular chicken sandwiches and other daytime selections.
What is on the Big Chicken breakfast menu?
During our sailing, the menu included Chicken & Biscuit, Biscuit & Egg and a Three Cheese Omelet.
What is the best Big Chicken sandwich?
Of the lunch sandwiches I personally tried, The Big Aristotle was excellent. It combines fried chicken with Muenster cheese, crispy fried onions, bacon and, normally, sweet & smoky Memphis BBQ sauce.
Can you order Big Chicken without the sauce?
Yes. I ordered my Big Aristotle without its standard BBQ sauce and had a little mayonnaise instead. I also ordered the Chicken & Biscuit without its chili honey glaze syrup.
Can you choose white or dark meat?
Yes. The posted menu states that guests can choose dark or white meat for the crispy chicken sandwiches. Grilled chicken is also available upon request.
Does Big Chicken have chicken strips?
Yes. Chicken strips are available and are served with fries.
Are the Big Chicken fries good?
They were excellent during our Carnival Celebration cruise. I actually preferred them to the fries at Guy’s Burger Joint.
Are the lines long at Big Chicken?
Our experience was generally very good. Most visits took only around three to five minutes, sometimes less. Wait times will naturally vary depending on the sailing and time of day.
Final Verdict: Don’t Make My Mistake—Go Back for Another One
Big Chicken is exactly the kind of restaurant that works incredibly well on a cruise ship.
It’s fast, casual, included in the cruise fare and, most importantly, the food is actually worth going out of your way for.
The Big Aristotle was one of my favorite casual meals aboard Carnival Celebration. The fried chicken was crispy and juicy, the bun was soft, the cheese worked beautifully with the sandwich, and the crinkle-cut fries were excellent.
Breakfast was also very good. The Chicken & Biscuit tasted fantastic, although Carnival and Big Chicken desperately need to find a way to make that biscuit survive long enough to actually hold the chicken.
But that’s a relatively minor complaint about an otherwise excellent venue.
With short lines during our sailing, no additional charge and food this good, Big Chicken is one of the easiest dining recommendations I can make on Carnival Celebration.
And next time, I’m not making the same mistake.
I’m getting another Big Aristotle.
