Better Bring an Unlimited Appetite for this Dining Package

We were intrigued. Royal Caribbean’s new Unlimited Dining Package certainly brought savings over dining in specialty restaurants at their regular price.

And at the specialty restaurants, the food is better, the service is better. And there’s lots of choice.

 

Intimate and gracious 150 Central Park

What’s not to like?

So we sprung for it. Should you? Consider this:

The broader your food taste, the better. You’re going to be in these restaurants every night of your trip. It helps if you want to eat in many of them. Or if you only like a few, that there’s enough variety on the menu for you.

You need to make reservations. But. Sometimes, we couldn’t get the time we wanted. So we chanced it, and showed up at the restaurant without a reservation, and almost each time, we got in.

Lunch may be wishful thinking. The Unlimited Dining Package allows you to eat lunch in the specialty restaurants on sea days for no extra cost. But after the big meal the night before, and a big meal on the evening ahead, somehow, we didn’t feel much like doing a specialty lunch. And never did.

Good for the adventurous. Since you can order multiple dishes, you can afford to experiment. I tried something at Giovanni’s that I would never have tried otherwise—Tonno Crudo, or raw Ahi tuna with garlic chips and a sweet-ish citrusy flavor. I fell so deeply in love that I did the unthinkable (for me)—I had two.

 

Ahhhhh...i Tuna Crudo, a Giovanni's appetizer

Better bring an appetite. But the biggest challenge? It was a lot of food. The specialty meals are big. And you’re going to be doing it every night. After a few days, I started cutting down on the courses. And I never thought I’d say this: I got tired of filet mignon.

 

Filet mignon at Chops Grille

If you’re a big eater, and really enjoy the specialty restaurant food and service, the Unlimited Dining Package may be perfect to you.

For my part, I wish doggie bags were an option. I could sure use some of that filet mignon now…

Musing’s Top Tip: The price for the Unlimited Dining Package went down by $20 a few weeks before our trip. Watch the promotional emails from Royal Caribbean as your cruise gets closer.

Cruising for Chocolate

"Nobody knows the truffles I’ve seen.” – George Lang

If you’re like me, you can’t get enough of the stuff. Even when there’s so much other stuff to be had.

Luckily, the cruise ships oblige. The main dining room, specialty restaurants, buffets and cafés—they’re chock full of chocolate.

Some of the ships even go overboard. There was the chocolate buffet in Harmony of the Seas’ Windjammer at dinner. And the same ship had a chocolate fountain and dessert bar in the main dining room for lunch on sea days. The Regal Princess had the biggest surprise—a chocolate buffet at breakfast in Horizon Court on the last full day.

 

Going overboard? Chocolate buffet on Harmony of the Seas' Windjammer

Then there are the sheet cakes, the layer cakes, the puddings and cookies. Some are so-so, others are good and a few are positively memorable. Among the standouts:

The Bittersweet Chocolate Bourbon Tart at 150 Central Park outshines the Liquid Center Chocolate Cake at Chops Grille—both specialty restaurants on Oasis class ships. The chocolate tart with flaky crust, and cranberries and spiced pecans on top create an explosion of complex flavors.

It's bittersweet when you eat it and bittersweet when you finish it

Of the Norman Love desserts we had on the Regal and Royal Princess, the crème de la crème was the Chocolate Pistachio Dome—as wonderful to eat as it is to look at. Chocolate on the outside, chocolate, pistachio and cookie in the inside. Pure Heaven. Brings to mind Jane Seabrook’s quote:

“If there’s no chocolate in Heaven, I’m not going.”

While the dome is served in the main dining room, Love’s sweet masterpieces are sprinkled throughout Princess’ specialty restaurants, such as the Crown Grill and Sabatini’s.

 

A dome like any other, only on Princess

And while you’re on Princess, in case you haven’t had enough after the sheet cakes, layer cakes, pudding, cookies, breakfast buffet and Norman Love treats, there’s always the chocolate on your pillow.

The Truth About the Food

Let’s face it. A big part of cruising is the food. The joy of eating what you want, when you want. No muss! No fuss! No cooking! No clean up!

But to get this privilege, we have to bend on quality. And settle for quantity instead. Some food for thought when next you dine on the mass market sea:

If you’re feeding an army, how good can it be? If you ever go on a galley tour, you’ll hear how many eggs cruisers consume, how many pounds of potatoes and all the rest. You can’t help but be impressed with the vast quantities of stuff we ingest. In short, when they’re cranking out so many meals, they’re not likely to lovingly and artfully prepare and plate your food.

Ready to load onto your main dining room salad

Forget medium well. Our waiter on Celebrity once told us we have two choices for our Beef Wellington: rare or well done. You can generally get accommodation for special health needs, but want food made to order? Go to a specialty restaurant.

They take shortcuts. Wouldn’t you, with thousands of hungry mouths to feed? On one galley tour, I witnessed a crew member emptying a bag of frozen fries into hot oil.

The galley tour on the Caribbean Princess had some surprises

Some of the best food is at the buffets. Since the main dining room has to cater to average tastes, the food can’t be too seasoned or spicy. What you end up with is bland. But since the buffet offers so many choices, they can include some really different stuff. I’ve had a few dishes that were so terrific on Royal Caribbean, I tried to recreate them (unsuccessfully) at home.

An eye-popping chocolate-lover's dream--in Harmony of the Seas' Windjammer buffet

Want fine dining? You’ll have to pay for it. We resisted the specialty restaurants for years. After all, we reasoned, we’re already paying to be fed in the cost of the cruise. But in the end, our hunger for better food forced us to open our wallets. And what we found is that not only is the food much better, but so is the service.

Melt-in-your-mouth squash soup at Harmony of the Seas' 150 Central Park

The little spot that could—and does. Think Oasis class’ Park Café. Celebrity’s Aqua Spa Café. Princess’ International Café. These alternatives deliver great bang for no extra bucks.

Goodies awaiting your appetite at Regal Princess' International Cafe

In the end, no matter whether we find ourselves served by waiters or serving ourselves, dining dressed up or dressed down, we’re going to be well fed. Few are the folks who can claim they lost weight on a cruise!

Photos by R James Photography

Peak Experiences from Sea Level

Every vacation has its peak experiences—those I-will-always-remember moments. But it seems like cruising has more than most.

In a nostalgic mood, I thought about some of my own from the past year:

Exuberance and song. “Mamma Mia” on Allure of the Seas was nothing short of spectacular. How many shows have you seen where the audience jumps out of their seats in joyous appreciation? The wonderful ABBA music, the fabulous Broadway-quality voices and being on vacation converge for a knock-your-socks-off experience. I haven’t been able to get the songs out of my head ever since.

Savory and sweet on Central Park. On both Allure and Harmony of the Seas, the 150 Central Park specialty restaurants both delivered melt-on-the-tongue short ribs, smooth and silky squash soup with pumpkin seeds and an amazing sweet and salty chocolate tart. It once again confirmed that the specialty restaurants are worth the extra cost.

Nature reigned. The December super moon framed by the clouds over the lights of Harmony's Central Park, and the streaks of gold, rust and plum over the high rises of Ft. Lauderdale were vivid reminders that there’s no better way to see the drama of the skies than from the balcony of a cruise ship.

Techie treats. I was skeptical at first, but after watching the robo bartenders on Harmony, I had to admit, well, they’re kinda cute. Especially when they wiggle their upside-down containers to try and get the last drops of adult beverage into your cup. I can’t wait to see what Royal Caribbean comes up with next. Robo room stewards? Bionic baristas? Whizzy wait staff?  

Lapping it up in Labadee. Once again, it was a toss-up on what was the peak-er experience—bargaining for and buying the beach scene paintings that now grace my home office walls or floating on my back in Haiti’s crystal clear calm waters.

Then there was the day the sea was so still…the burst of cool from the gin and tonic in 

Central Park…discovering we could bring our free Diamond Club wine into the restaurant to drink with dinner…napping on the balcony on Harmony in the reclining chair…

These were my peak cruising moments last year. What were yours?

Photos by RJGreenburg

Menu Driven: Doing the Specialty Dining Package on Allure of the Seas

After 20 Caribbean cruises, including three on Oasis class, we felt we’d done it all—and eaten it all.

So on our recent Allure of the Seas trip, we set out to find something new to do, driven by our longing for appealing food. The answer came in a package—a specialty dining package.

Why go specialty? For desserts like this from 150 Central Park

You might ask:

Why go specialty at all? In short, the food’s better than the main dining room (MDR). Way better. So is the service. And the ambience.

Is it right for me? Specialty dining is especially great for:

•          Veteran cruisers hungry to spice up their next trip
•          Foodies in search of better quality
•          Romantics looking for more intimate dining
•          Celebrants who want to commemorate an event

Why package it up? If you dine out one time, you pay top dollar. Chops Grille is now $49 a person. A dining package brings the price per meal down a lot. On Oasis class, you can get a three-, four- or five-night package. We did the five night at $115 a person, which brought the per meal price to $23.

How the package works:

Signing up

You can do it with your travel agent, or with Royal Caribbean on the phone or online before you leave or once you’re on the ship. Note: You’ll set a time for each meal, but you’re not locked in to it.

Plan your shows first. The cruise line won’t let you select a dining time that’s within two hours of your show. (Fyi, several of our meals went a full two hours.)

Chops Grille for steak on the Allure's Central Park

Making your dining choices

Once onboard, it’s like on land. There's actually quite a lot of flexibility. You choose where you want to eat on what day, in any of the restaurants and as many times as you want. You can even change the time if they have openings. (We were able to get just about any time, any place on any day.)  

You can make reservations on the same day you’re dining or in advance. They can be made at any restaurant in person, by phone or your stateroom TV. Note: One of your meals must be on night 1 or 2 of the trip.

A little bit of Italy at Giovanni's Table

There's even some flexibility with the menu. At Chops, diners next to us loaded up on multiple appetizers. At 150 Central Park, though there was no ice cream on the menu, the waiter brought us some from Chops.

Few more tidbits

•          Tips – They’re included in your overall trip gratuities
•          Drinks – What cost extra in the MDR cost extra in the restaurant
•          Dress – “Smart casual” (although diners tend to get more dressed up)

What’s the food really like?

Note first that taste is a subjective thing, and that quality can vary by who’s doing the cooking and by what you choose. That being said, here was my experience:

Chops Grille – The onion soup was very good. The 9 oz. filet mignon was cooked just right, and we were offered a choice of three flavorful sauces, as well as a number of potato and veggie side dish options. The “liquid center chocolate cake” was a small satisfying delicate cake, sort of like a sponge cake, but with deep chocolate flavor, and a mellow chocolate sauce poured over it with a scoop of ice cream and caramelized bananas on the side.

 

The filet mignon was hearty and tasty at Chops Grille

Giovanni’s Table – The osso buco was wonderful with a great taste and fork-tender. The filet mignon rivaled the one at Chops, and the meaty lasagna was also quite good. Desserts are typical Italian restaurant fare—tiramisu, cannelloni—as well as a few others. (If you’re a chocoholic, you’ll need to get dessert somewhere else.)

 

150 Central Park: intimate, romantic with stellar service too

150 Central Park – The food is continental-meets-nouvelle cuisine, but more continental than nouvelle. The squash soup was so velvety and sweet that I wanted to lick the bowl. The lobster gnocchi and short rib were also great, but the pièce de résistance was the chocolate bourbon tart. The fudgy inside was topped with spiced pecans, cranberry chutney and whipped cream, creating a bittersweet/sweet/spicy explosion of flavors. The place was also library-quiet and uber romantic, with its plush high back chairs and couches.

 

Smooth as silk, sweet as squash at 150 Central Park

Other specialty restaurants on Allure: Samba Grill (Brazilian steak house) Izumi (hibachi and sushi) and Sabor (Mexican).

The bottom line

If you want an overall better dining experience at the cost of—say, one excursion—consider a specialty dining package. It “beefed” up our cruise and will most likely do the same for you. 

Musing’s Top Tips: If you're thinking about a specialty dining package on an Oasis class cruise, check out Musing About Cruising's YouTube video to help you decide if it's right for you. Just click below and play:

Here’s another: For more easy planning and keeping track of your busy schedule, before leaving home, make a chart with separate columns for the shows, and where you’re dining and when. Also factor in the days in port and the hours you'll be there.

Note: All restaurant menus and prices are subject to change.