I’m in an odd sort of place when it comes to food: unlike the missus, I only eat to live! I do appreciate, occasionally, tasty food. But on that same, I’m just not disposed to spending heaps of money on expensive food or fine dining. I guess this is in good part because my own parents were always thrifty when it came to feeding my two brothers and me when we were growing up. And there were also those three crucial years in Perth as a financially struggling PhD student, and where I had to budget my daily food allowances right down to the dollar.
That is one of the key couple differences I have with the missus: she appreciates and doesn’t mind spending on good food, while I simply cannot enjoy a good meal without, at some conscious level, feeling irresponsible about how much what I’m eating costs.
That disposition is basically at odds I reckon with the very nature of a cruise – since one of the key highlights of any cruise, and even more so if you’re not going to partake in the more sporty and adventure sports type of activities, is going to be the quality of its onboard dining. The Spectrum of the Seas cruise, like many others offered by Royal Caribbean International at least in this region, are full-board types where all three meals are covered in the cruise package. And there are also numerous other specialty restaurants outside the basic package that you can opt for. Still, cards on the table: we didn’t spend on any kind of specialty dining, and stayed only with what was included in the basic package.
That out of the way, these are the key eating places we checked out this sailing, and our notes on each:
Windjammer: I heard the onboard announcer on one occasion refer to this large dining area as Windjammer Marketplace, but the ship signage simply calls it the Windjammer. In any case, the marketplace descriptor is quite apt: there is both a large and varied range of cuisine served there, but dining here can also be a noisy experience! The Windjammer on the Spectrum of the Seas is located on deck 14, and purports to be a more laid back and casual dining experience. The dining area can sit several hundreds of guests, though during peak hours, you might only find a table that’s quite far-in.
I’m assuming that the cuisine types on Windjammer’s buffet menu depends on the region the ship is currently working in. For our cruise, the main cuisine types were Chinese, Indian and international. Windjammer serves all three meals of the day, with some items showing up repeatedly on lunches and dinners across a few days. Beverages were a disappointment though: there were typically just two types of flavored drinks (e.g. lemonade, roast barley) every meal, and the coffee tasted a little diluted. Or maybe we’re just used to thick, aromatic coffee at home? But there is, thankfully, a good range of tea types that you can help yourself to and those were fine.
Main Dining: basically, this area offers the more traditional sit-down restaurant type of dining. Pro tip: you can call RC a day or two before boarding to state your preference for Main Dining: you can request for a suggested dinner time, and also a specific table that you’d go to for dinners (for breakfasts and lunches, you’re assigned tables based on actual and current availability). I don’t think you’re only allowed to have dinner at your specific time though: ours was stated as 5:15PM, but there were a few occasions where we were about 30 minutes, e.g. because we were coming out from other activities. But there were no issues even with that, but we weren’t pushing our luck either. The wait staff is also assigned by area, so we routinely saw the same waiter for dinners.
As far as I could tell, the entrees in the menu changes every day, while the appetisers and desserts less so – several items in the latter get repeated.
There is also a photographer that goes around during dinner time on several evenings to take pictures of guests. The photos are in turn available at the photo gallery if you’d like to buy them. But they were extremely costly (e.g. ~USD25 per digital photo!), and not really well taken either in my opinion. We gave this a wide berth.
Finally, do note that you’d not be able to enter Main Dining unless your party is all present.
Cafe @ Two70: this is a small cafe that serves light eats for breakfast and lunch. Seating is provided at the fabulous Two70 lounge area though. So, if you’re not up to eating heartily, and ambiance and chilling is more important to you, I recommend you at least visit this cafe once during your cruise for a light meal.
Sorrento’s Pizza:what a life saver this was! Just finished watching a performance at the Royal Theater, it’s 10:30PM, and you’re hungry? No problem – just head up to deck 14 for free flow hot beverages and… pizzas! There were three types of pizzas served: pepperoni, cheese, and vegetarian – and queues move along very fast. The pizzas aren’t the thick crust types either, nor are they those ultra thin ones either. And the pizzas, taste-wise, are fairly ordinary. But when it’s midnight, and you’re hungry, these pizzas can taste like heaven! And they are free! Woohoo!!!
SeaPlex Doghouse: this little cafe is accessible from the outside on deck 15, and serves up a variety of hotdogs if these are your fancy. Queues can take a while to move though, since each hot dog needs to be put together – and people do pick up quite a few each time. There’s no real sitting here, but there are plenty of sheltered deck chairs just outside the Doghouse.
Next post – on activities!