You’re Hungry. It’s Late. Where You Gonna Go?

It’s midnight—a whole three, four, five or more hours since you’ve last eaten. You’re itching to nosh again. So, where you gonna go?

One thing the ships know is food and you can count on them to keep you fed, no matter when you want to consume. Here’s a sample of what’s around way after the sun’s gone down*:

Princess

International Café. You can’t beat the International Café in the piazza, the hub of the Princess ships. It’s all it’s rumored to be—good variety, good quality, always open and ready to serve you. There are great sandwiches, quiches, salads and desserts. And did I mention, they’re all free?

The sandwiches are always changing in the International Cafe

Horizon Court. I’m adding Princess’ buffet to the list because it stays open long after the ones on Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Carnival close. Horizon Court serves full dinner up to 11 p.m. Which means you can eat in the main dining room at 6 and have a second dinner in Horizon Court at 10. Or a cookie or two.

 

A Regal spread

Room service: You can get free ‘round the clock chow delivered to your door, but note there’s a fee for some menu items.

Royal Caribbean

Promenade Café. Royal Caribbean’s café in the Promenade neighborhood is the place to go for free sandwiches and sweets when the restaurants have shuttered. The quality isn’t as good as the International Café, but what it loses in cuisine it gains in entertainment. Sit at a “sidewalk” table in the front and watch the cruise crowd go by. And it’s open 24/7.

 

Some of the free offerings at the Promenade Cafe 

Pizza for your pleasure.  Also along the Promenade is Sorrento’s, where you can get pizza by the slice—cheese, pepperoni, the style of the day or one custom made. That beer, though, will cost you extra. It’s open until 3 a.m., so you can grab a slice—and then breakfast just three and a half hours later at Windjammer.

Pizza and people watching on the Allure of the Seas

Room service:  There’s a service charge of $7.95 (and 18 percent tip) for any room service other than continental breakfast. RCI has upgraded their menu selections and it now includes items like hamburger, Philly cheesesteak and salmon. Available 24 hours.

Celebrity

The only free choice on Celebrity after the dinner hours is the Oceanview buffet, which has pizza, pasta and salad until midnight, and Café al Bacio with pastries and cookies, also to midnight.

Room service: Late night munchies off the menu will cost you a $4.95 fee. Any other time, it’s free.

Carnival

Pizza, pizza, who wants pizza? You can always be sure to find pizza on a Carni ship, as both Pizzeria Del Capitano and Pizza Pirate do them all day and night. You can finish off your off-hours meal with soft-serve ice cream or frozen yogurt on Lido deck, which runs as long as you do.

Room service: Room service from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. will cost on Carnival, with prices for menu items ranging from $2 to $6. Choices include grilled cheese, turkey wrap and brownies.

Musing’s Top Tip: Don’t like any of the late night options? Take back nibbles from the buffet and you can have just what you want, when you want it. The crew doesn’t mind—they even give you a frig to make it easier.

* Restaurants and hours vary by ship; verify with your onboard newsletter.

The Good Ship Lollipop

"It's a sweet trip to a candy shop"...
at Candy Beach on Allure of the Seas

“On the Good Ship Lollipop 
It’s a night trip into bed you hop 
And dream away 
On the Good Ship Lollipop.” 

– “The Good Ship Lollipop” by R. Whiting and S. Clare

When chocolates started disappearing from our pillows, was that the end of our candy on cruises?

Nah! Those little silver-coated bedtime treats may be gone, but there’s still “good & plenty” of sweets on your next Good Ship Lollipop.

Why, you many wonder, with all the food onboard, do we really need candy too?

Well, the kids want it. And sometimes, we do too. So, while our pillows no longer come sugar-coated, the cruise lines still find ways to deliver the goods:

Onboard shops

Princess: The Celebration shop on Regal and Royal Princess – Visibly planted in the atrium, the store’s shelves are lined with boxes of creamy Norman Love chocolates and Godiva. Some are in just-for-cruisers packaging and make great gifts.

"Happy landing on a chocolate bar"...on the Regal Princess

Royal Caribbean (RCI): Candy Beach Sweets – The Boardwalk neighborhood shop on Oasis class ships is chock-full of penny-candy-ish and carnival-style colorful sweets.

 

"On the sunny beach of Peppermint Bay"...on Allure of the Seas

Disney: Vanellope’s Sweets and Treats – The Disney Dream features a dessert shop with gelato, baked treats, chocolate lollipops and other confections.

The convenience stores

Craving a Snickers? A bag of Gummy Bears? You might just find one in the convenience store shop. You know which one I mean—where all the shirts have the ship’s logo and the first aid cream is twice what it costs at Walgreens.

The buffets

Celebrity’s Oceanview Café buffet is legendary for its ice cream bar, where you can get several flavor choices, with M&Ms and other goodies to top off your scoop. In fact, according to Cruise Critic, you can hold the ice cream completely and just get a cup ‘o candy.

"See the sugar roll do the tootsie roll"...in Celebrity's Oceanview Cafe

Our last trip on RCI’s Allure of the Seas surprised us with a chocolate breakfast bar in the Windjammer, complete with chocolate fountain and chocolate-covered strawberries.

Sweets in a package

RCI, Princess and Disney all feature celebration packages* you can order online to enjoy onboard to celebrate an event, a romance or add something special to your trip. Here’s just a sampling of what they offer:

Princess

Anniversary package – Dinner for two at a specialty restaurant, champagne, framed photo, roses and a box of Norman Love chocolates.

“Kid’s Party Package” – Stanley the Stowaway Bear, inflatable Princess ship and a pack of Gummy Bears.

Royal Caribbean

“Decadent Romance Package – Champagne, chocolate-covered strawberries, Belgian truffle collection and a bouquet of roses.

Disney

“Romance for 2” – Two Disney Cruise Line robes, a bottle of sparkling wine, a box of chocolate and a rose.

“Ahoy Matey” – Edible dark chocolate treasure chest filled with candy coins, an edible Mickey pirate head, chocolate bark treasure map and more.

Still not convinced that cruising and candy go together like chocolate and peanut butter? Consider this: the new Symphony of the Seas will not only still feature the Boardwalk candy store, but like the ship itself, it will be bigger than ever.

* Not available on all ships

The Best and Worst of the Buffets

I have to admit, I love cruise ship buffets. But, I also hate them.
 
Or rather, I hate what they do to my self-control. But my spouse reassures me that anything I gain will come off in no time when we get home. So, we both leave the buffet stuffed and happy, and I always know he’s right.


Horizon Court

Whether you love or hate the buffets, they come in handy when you don’t want to dedicate up to two hours to the main dining room, get out of your shorts or rush back from port. So, here’s my take on the best and worst of some of them and why:
 
Food. Maybe not always the hottest and maybe not always the most appealing, but you can’t beat the variety. Overall, the buffet food isn’t hugely different from one cruise line to another. But there are the occasional surprises.
 
Often at dinner, you’ll see the same dishes as what’s in the main dining room. And while the presentation leaves much to be desired (think stainless steel steam tables vs. parsley garnishes and sauce swirls), you do get to see what the food looks like before getting it. Which is something you can’t do in the dining room.  


Windjammer's shrimp crackers

There are also many additional choices, and some of these can be damn good. In the Emerald and Caribbean Princess’ Horizon Court, for example, on Bavarian night, we feasted on Black Forest ham and landjaeger sausage, which is hard to find even on land. And other treats kept cropping up, like dried apricots and pine nuts. Or fresh papaya and smoked mackerel. One night, a crew member manned a table with an array of wonderful cheeses.

We’ve also had some dynamite Asian dishes in the Windjammer on Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas that rival any neighborhood Chinese or Indian restaurant. Some of the desserts are terrific (and even better enhanced with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream), and brie makes a nightly appearance.

Celebrity’s Oceanview Café has a treat no one else has—hard ice cream in several flavors that change every day, complete with a choice of candy toppings.

Windjammer's carrot cake--before
the whipped cream

 
If with all the choices you still can’t find something to eat, there’s always the bread. From Princess’ chocolate croissants to RCI’s pumpkin seed rolls and sugar-sprinkled breakfast loaf to Celebrity’s multigrains, the breads on the mass market ships are more than adequate—they’re outstanding.  

Layout. While some of you might not agree, I think Celebrity’s Solstice Class ships have the best layout. Their food station kiosks are nicely spaced, reducing the gridlock you see on other ships, say, around the bacon. RCI’s Windjammer in the Oasis Class ships has a similar layout. 


Oceanview's ice cream bar

Probably the worst I’ve seen is on the Caribbean and Emerald Princess. The food is dished out from one very small area, and there’s only one way in and one way out, with a crew member monitoring the flow at both ends.
 
Recently on the Allure, during the peak lunchtime, we experienced a new concept in buffet crowd control. A line had formed just to get into the Windjammer. A crew member stood in front of the line and seated people as tables became available. This actually worked quite well. Few things are likely to spark spats between cruisers more than vying for a seat in the buffet.
 
Service. Princess is best when it comes to buffet service. It’s well staffed and the crew regularly brings drinks to the tables, as well as coffee refills. Contrast this with RCI’s Windjammer, where drinks are pre-filled and laid out cafeteria-style at the beverage counter. Want one without ice? You’ll have to ask for it.
 
Musing’s Top Tip: Like to late-night nosh? Princess keeps the buffet going on the Emerald and Caribbean until midnight. To know what theme night it is, check the Princess Patter.

Your Chance to Weigh In

Celebrity’s experimenting with some already-plated options in the buffet on one of its ships. Good idea or not—what do you think?
 
And, what’s the best food you’ve found in a buffet?