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

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

Oasis Lite: Review of Navigator of the Seas

Okay, perhaps it’s a bit of a stretch to call Royal Caribbean’s Navigator of the Seas “Oasis Lite.” But, particularly after the 2014 refurb, this Voyager class ship does share some of the same features that make it an alternative to its can-be-overwhelming Oasis of the Seas sibling. 

Here’s a bit of the similarities and differences:

On the spot. Oasis has three “neighborhoods” to Navigator’s one. What they both have in common is the Promenade, the ship’s hub and site for parades, the '70s theme party and other events. It’s also is the home of the only 24-hour nosh spot, the Promenade Café, with its free sandwiches and sweets.

On our Navigator trip, we admit to missing Oasis’ greeny oasis, Central Park. Also absent was the kids-friendly Boardwalk, with its full-size carousel, fun-house mirrors and candy shop.

On the move. Navigator emerged from its month-long dry dock with a FlowRider, the popular surf-making machine on Oasis. And like the bigger ship, Navigator has a rock-climbing wall, ice skating rink and miniature golf.

On your plate. The main dining room and Windjammer buffet fare is pretty much the same on both ships, and both have the Brasserie 30 and “Tutti” salad bar in the MDR on sea days. The bread stuffs on both ships were great—from the pumpkin seed-studded rolls to the breakfast breads with dried fruit and sugar sprinkles.

Navigator’s Windjammer had some surprises, such as a featured dish served up (somewhat oddly) front and center in the buffet’s entrance. One day it was bagels with flavored cream cheeses. Another, it was a massive fruit cobbler in just about the biggest pan you’ll ever see. The last night—I suppose to make parting less painful—the buffet sprouted fresh raspberries, blackberries and blueberries.

Oasis has some extra specialty restaurants. The for-a-fee eateries they share: Chops Grille (steak), Giovanni’s Table (Italian), Sabor (Mexican) and Izumi (Japanese). Both have a Ben and Jerry’s, and Starbucks, but on Navigator, they’re so small that you’ll miss them if you blink.

On the stage. No comparison here, sad to say. The one spectacular show they do both offer is the ice 
show, and what a show it is! (Though the actual production is different.) Continuously changing sets, elaborate costumes, and with many of the same jumps, twirls and whirls you’d see on land. On Oasis, you sign up online before the trip. On Navigator, you’re assigned a show by your muster station.

Beyond the ice show, only Oasis class ships have the eye-popping aqua shows and Broadway-quality musicals. Navigator has the typical cruise ship entertainment—comedian, singers and two production shows. As with most, the production shows were entertaining, but not memorable.

In the Plus Column

What else can you look forward to on Navigator? In the Windjammer, the wait staff roam, offering water/juice/ice tea at lunch and dinner, and sometimes, cookies, too…Because it’s smaller, finding a table in the buffet is easier, so is getting on and off the ship…its size allows it to go to more ports…it’s faster to learn your way around…balcony chairs recline, the night table has a closed drawer and the closet has a few shelves (you’ll find none of these on Oasis).

So, in short, if you’re not ready, willing or able for a trip on an Oasis ship, Navigator of the Seas is a good choice.

Musing’s Top Tip for Crown and Anchor Diamond Club members: Since the refurb, Royal has added a nice lounge to deck 14, behind a sea pass-required door to the right of the Cosmopolitan Club. During happy hours (4:30-8 p.m.), the lounge has hot and cold munchies, and many complimentary alcoholic and non-alcoholic offerings. A particularly nice feature is that part of the lounge is outdoors with view of the sea (but, alas, also of the basketball course that’s in non-stop use).

Some of the Best in Cruising

On the surface, it may seem that one mass market cruise ship is pretty much like another. But there are differences. One cruise line puts its money on entertainment. Another builds better itineraries. Yet another forks out more on food.

Of course, any “best of” is going to be subjective and you might not agree. But, here for your consideration, are some musings on Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Princess, and who does what best:

Pre-cruise prep: Princess. Princess wins in sharing info and spurring excitement before the trip. The other lines send only a few emails, which are designed solely to get you to lay out more for drink packages, restaurants, excursions and the spa. Princess does this too, but also provides messages from senior officers, videos of the ship, and other useful info like the specific entertainment you can expect on your trip. See “Pre-Cruise Prep: Who Does it Better?”

Keeping you entertained: Royal Caribbean. Hands down, the winner is Royal Caribbean on its Oasis class ships. Full-run musicals Cats on Oasis of the Seas and Chicago on Allure of the Seas were outstanding, Broadway-quality shows. Get to the theater early for seats that would cost nearly $300 in New York City.

Splish Splash is just one of the aqua shows on board the Oasis. Just don't sit in the front row.

Then there are the aqua shows with high diving; ice skating shows with jumps, leaps and colorful costumes; not to mention superior production shows, comedians, and DreamWorks parades with character photo ops for the kiddies.

Working off that weight: Royal Caribbean. The Oasis class ships win again with the longest jogging track at sea—2.4 laps around equals a mile. There’s a lane for joggers and another for walkers, and the signs overhead will make you smile.

Dining in French Caribbean style on St. Barts.

Seeing the Caribbean: Celebrity. The best itineraries belong to Celebrity. A recent trip on the Constellation took us to the sleepy, not-often-visited St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands and ultra-chic French St. Barts.

Loyalty and its rewards: Royal Caribbean. All the lines make efforts to thank cruisers for their repeat business, but some programs are better than others. Once you make it to Royal Caribbean’s Diamond level (80 points), you get the benefit of an elongated happy hour in the Diamond Club lounge* with all the free drinks you could want (from a select menu), as well as three more loaded onto your sea card to use just about anywhere on the ship during that time. A generous program that’s bound to build loyalty.

Basking in the Buffet: Princess. The theme dinners on Princess are great, with specialty foods periodically making an appearance. German night saw all manner of sausages, Black Forest ham, pretzel-style rolls, and linzer and sacher tortes, served alongside an oversized lighted beer stein ice sculpture.

On Italian night, the gondolier-costumed waiters served beverages, while we chowed down on a pasta array, prosciutto, hunks of parmesan and fennel au gratin.

And the breads were a real standout—they varied from sunflower-seed covered to cheese-studded to onion-infused.

What’s more, full dinner is available in the Horizon Court until 11 p.m.; that’s a full two hours beyond Royal Caribbean’s Windjammer and Celebrity’s Oceanview.
 

Cool comfort from Celebrity after a day at port.

A few more at best. Then there’s Celebrity’s welcome glass of champagne on embarkation day and cold towels after a hot day at port…Princess’ decadent chocolate truffle pops at the Captain’s Welcome…its best-at-sea pizza, and salmon every-which-way buffet in Alaska…Royal Caribbean’s pull-out-all-the-stops “tutti” salad bar in the main dining room on sea days… 

Do you have a “best of” to share? Drop us a line!

* Not all Royal Caribbean ships have a Diamond Club lounge; check with the cruise line to see if there’s one on your ship.

When Bigger is Best: a Review of the Oasis

You notice it most when you’re in port. Oasis is big. It commands attention. And it dwarfs every other ship.

But what does big do for the cruiser?

Oasis commands attention

Big means better entertainment. Like its sibling, Allure of the Seas, Oasis of the Seas has top-flight entertainment, starting with the full version of the musical Cats (see tip below). It has a colorful and lively ice show with former championship skaters. An extensive DreamWorks parade.

In short, it has shows and events you just won’t see on any other ship. And some productions, like the aqua show with its mesmerizing high divers, you won’t see on land, either.
 


A dive from above in the Oasis of Dreams aqua show

Big means more activities. Only a ship that’s 1,800 feet long (five football fields!) can have a full-sized carousel (rides are free), wave-making machine for surfing and boogie-boarding, 82-foot long zip line, and two rock-climbing walls with multiple levels of difficulty.

Big means more places to call your own. Of the three “neighborhoods” (Promenade, Boardwalk and Central Park), Central Park was the most underutilized and thus, became our favorite. Nighttime, you pretty much have the place to yourself. A glass of wine at the Trellis Bar, surrounded by the (real) tropical foliage and sparkling restaurant lights, is a great way to get away from the bustle.
 

Central Park at night: cushy chairs with your name on them

Big means more food choices. There are 25 restaurants—some will cost you, but others will not. The complimentary venues begin with three main dining rooms, where the entrees are adequate (thankfully, lobster tails still grace the menu on the second formal night), desserts are good and the rolls are superb (try the pumpkin seed ones). Along with the usual fare, the Windjammer buffet at night has some interesting Asian dishes, such tandoori chicken and curry specialties; brie; and an occasional surprise or two.

Among the other free options are Park Café for breakfast and lunch (paninis and salads assembled to order); Sorrento’s, where pizzas can also be made to your taste; and the 24-hour Café Promenade with sandwiches and desserts (try the wonderful cheesecake pops).

Big means more space to walk off your meals. The covered jogging track on Deck 5 spans the length of the ship and has one lane dedicated to runners and another to walkers. Be sure to check out the cute sayings overhead. One mile is just 2.4 laps. And aside from the occasional crew member using the track as a short cut, you won’t have much competition for foot space.

Ironically, even with its vast size, Oasis still runs out of room. Comedy is relegated to a small theater, forcing the comedians to do show, after show, after show on a seven-day cruise—a fact they never fail to mention. Our Crown and Anchor event was held on the helipad, in the sun, on a hot day.

When big is not the best. Big doesn’t necessarily mean better food. While the food on Oasis is okay, it doesn’t get the same emphasis that you’ll see on some other cruise lines. Royal Caribbean focuses on activities and entertainment and for that reason, perhaps, the crowd on Oasis was decidedly younger than on other cruise line ships.

And big means more people and longer lines. For the most part, Oasis has crowd control down to a science. Getting back onboard after a port visit always involved some kind of line, but it moved swiftly. Amazingly, disembarkation took significantly less time than it did when we sailed on Celebrity’s Constellation, a ship half of Oasis’ size.

Despite the occasional inconveniences and unremarkable food, what you can count on is that Oasis of the Seas is big on fun.

Musing’s Top Tip: The Oasis production of Cats is fabulous and shouldn’t be missed. However, it’s not as easy to follow as traditional musicals like Oklahoma or West Side Story. To ensure you enjoy the show, consider doing some homework before you leave home. We did and it made all the difference:


Courtesy of Wikipedia

See the movie version. We rented the 1998 version of Cats with Elaine Paige and John Mills for free at our library. You can also check out movie clips on YouTube. Once you get familiar with the music, you’ll really be looking forward to seeing it on the ship.

Read the plot summary. You can find it on catsthemusical.com or read the story line in Wikipedia.

Download the lyrics. Some of the lyrics are quite clever but it can be hard to make them out at times during the singing. You can download the lyrics for free at metrolyrics.com or songlyrics.com.

Why Your Best Dinner Could be at the Buffet

Dinner on our first cruise was an affair to remember. All that silverware glinting in the chandelier’s light. A five-course spread, dished out by chatty waiters in tuxes. Our plates, the picture of food magazines. It was a blast.
 
Over the years, as budgets tightened and crew sizes shrunk, the dinner hour has become the dinner hour and a half—or more. Waiters are so harried; they no longer feel like chewing the fat. Courses have gone from five to four. Diners dress down more than ever.
 

Satisfy your sweet tooth in the Windjammer...

With these changes, along with some of the upsides of the buffet experience, we’re finding ourselves there quite a lot. Here are a few reasons why your best dinner could be at the buffet and not in the main dining room (MDR):         
         
Go when you want, come as you are. Working around your assigned MDR time can be a pain, particularly after a long day at port. Or, maybe you were up late the night before and then had your lunch at 3. How do you have dinner at 6? With the buffet, you eat when you feel like it.
 
And you don’t have to rush back to your stateroom and change for dinner. You can come as you are and keep that relaxed vibe right into the night.



...or have shrimp crackers there for the first time.

Pace yourself. Some of our MDR meals have taken close to two hours. That’s a long time to give up on a cruise evening, especially when there are shows to make, slot machines waiting for your money and a piano player anxious to sing to you. The buffet allows you to linger as long as you like—or wolf it down to go on to whatever’s next. 

 You can be choosy. In the old days, when MDR meals didn’t take so long, if you didn’t like your dish, you could ask for another. Today, the prospect of waiting for that other dish isn’t so appealing. What the buffets offer is choice. Your plate can become a virtual tourist with an Italian breadstick here, German sausage there and American fried chicken in the middle. And if you don’t like any of it, you can go back for something else.



Be a virtual tourist with landjager in Horizon Court...

Food for thought, tasting and testing. The buffet is where you’ll find some of the more interesting and pricey foods, like spicy Asian dishes and shrimp crackers in Royal Caribbean’s Windjammer, blue cheese in Celebrity’s Oceanview Café, and landjäger and Black Forest ham in Princess’ Horizon Court. It’s a great chance to try something you’ve never had before.

MDR chow without the MDR. Sometimes, the same entrees from the main dining room show up in the buffet. Granted, they’re not sitting as pretty in a warming tray as sprinkled with parsley on a porcelain plate. But at least you know what it looks like before you choose it .

Make it your way. It may be counter-intuitive, but some buffets will do it your way. In Celebrity’s Oceanview Café, you can point to a steak, salmon or chicken and someone will grill it for you. A stir-fry guy will put in what veggies, meat and level of heat you desire. And the pasta person will toss some up just the way you like it.

...and enjoy your dinner there in peace.

It’s quieter there. One of the biggest reasons I find myself in the buffet at night is that most people are somewhere else. Imagine that: a meal that’s relaxing. The buffet at dinner may just be the cruise industry’s biggest secret. So let’s keep it between the two of us…
 
Musing’s Top Tip: Celebrity and Royal Caribbean serve full dinners until 9 p.m. in their buffets; Princess, until 11.

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?