If you are taking a cruise with Royal Caribbean, you may be wondering what the food will be like. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks are all included at no extra cost on a Royal Caribbean cruise.
I’ve just disembarked a cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas and in this post we will look at everything I ate in the main dining room, buffet, two70, cafe promenade and Sorrentos Pizza.
This was my second Royal Caribbean cruise.
Buffet – Included
The buffet on Anthem of the Seas was open from early in the morning until around 9 pm.
The buffet area is huge with lots of choice.
We always found the quality of the food in the buffet to be good. The food was hot and there was lots of variety.
The buffet is back to self-service but hand washing was strictly enforced.
The buffet at dinner time consisted of things like:
- A Themed Section
– British food
– American food
– Italian food etc - A Grill Section (Burgers, Hot Dogs, Steaks etc.)
- Salads/Breads
- Tacos/Nachos
- Pasta and Noodles
- Soup
- Desserts
The sections would be different for breakfast and lunch.
Below is a photo of me with the first lunch I found onboard. They had Yorkshire puddings which I LOVE.
The great thing about the buffet is that you can combine anything that you think looks interesting. Cookies and vegetables on the same plate? Sure!
Below is an example lunch that I had one day, I particularly enjoyed the carrots and the bread with dips.
I liked how the dips were prepared on a small plate ready for me to take.
I did end up with some strange combinations, but that’s the fun of a buffet. All of the food is unlimited and there aren’t any rules about what you can put on your plate.
There was waiter service in the buffet which was always very efficient. We had refillable soda cups and usually filled these here.
Royal Caribbean are VERY good at desserts. We had lots of yummy cakes and cookies during the cruise.
The cookies were always available and were always a consistent size and flavour. The cookies were also available in the cafe promenade and two70 cafe.
Below is one of my favourite buffet creations. It was a doughnut which I added sprinkles and chocolate to.
These were all freshly made in front of us.
The below drinks machines were located around the buffet and these are free to use at any time. There is also a coffee and tea machine with lots of types of tea available.
Main Dining Room -Silk – Included
There are multiple main dining rooms onboard Anthem of the Seas. We decided to pick flexible dining and were sat in Silk restaurant each time we went to dinner.
The flexible dining didn’t work well very for us during the cruise as we were never able to get a booking before 8.30 pm.
I didn’t like the restaurant much as it felt very dark and cramped compared to other cruise ship dining rooms.
This is the first cruise I’ve ever taken where we preferred to eat in the buffet than the main dining room. This may have been different if we could eat earlier and were seated in a different section/restaurant.
Menus can be viewed in advance on the Royal Caribbean app.
Dinner #1
| Starter #1 | Corn Fritters |
| Main #1 | Steak and Baked Potato |
| Main #2 | Pesto Pasta |
I am vegetarian and for my starter and main course, I decided to eat from the vegan menu. Royal Caribbean have made great process with vegan dining but I still think it has a way to go.
My pasta was okay but very plain.
My boyfriend Jono said that the steak wasn’t very good and was quite fatty and chewy. I’ve spoken to lots of other people since the cruise who agreed that the main dining room food was disappointing.
There wasn’t anything WRONG with the main dining room food, the portions were always a good size and the food was hot but we preferred the food in other venues.
The staff were always friendly and helpful.
We never had to wait long for anything and they were always available to get us more drinks or anything else that we needed.
The desserts were always good.
| Dessert #1 | Chocolate Cake |
| Dessert #2 | Lemon Meringue Tart |
Dinner #2
| Starter | Korean Pork Steamed Buns |
| Starter #2 | Caesar Salad |
| Main #2 | Vegetable Noodles |
| Dessert | Royal Cheesecake |
Room Service Continental Breakfast – Included
On a lot of cruise lines, there is a charge for room service breakfast. When I saw that the continental breakfast was included we decided to order it.
We ended up ordering room service most days.
We were cruising on the Norwegian Fjords so being able to have breakfast while sailing into a fjord was incredible. Especially if you have a balcony.
I am usually an inside cabin girl but for Norway, I thought it was worth getting a balcony and I’m glad I did.
To learn more about cruising to Norway, check out this post: How Much Does a Norwegian Fjord Cruise ACTUALLY Cost? (16 Examples)
We ordered the room service on our cabin TV and were able to pick a time for delivery.
Almost every time we received a phone call before the food arrived to let us know that the food was on the way.
The food quality was always good. I particularly liked the breakfast doughnuts. I wouldn’t normally eat doughnuts for breakfast but it was on the menu so I decided to.
Note: On the room service menu muffin was spelt as maffin which made me laugh. We ordered a blueberry maffin most days.
Two70 – Included
By the Two70 lounge, there is a cafe where you can pick up sandwiches, wraps, or salads. The food here is cooked freshly in front of you and they have display cases with examples of the food in them.
My personal favourite was a cheese pitta but I also tried the wraps and sandwiches.
There was a drinks section here similar to the buffet where you could get some water, juice or iced tea.
These were all included in the cruise fare.
There was also a small dessert section here which often had cakes and cookies.
The seating area for the two70 cafe is just inside the two70 lounge, here there is bar service.
Sorrentos Pizza – Included
Sorrentos pizza is a restaurant in the middle of the ship that services pizza until 3am.
Pizzas are freshly cooked along with a few other small sides like olives or grilled vegetables.
There was usually a vegetarian option here. I never saw anything marked as vegan but pizzas are available by the slice or as a whole pizza so I’m sure if requested you could order a vegan pizza of some sort.
It was really easy just to pop into Sorrentos to pick up a slice or two.
There are two of the soda refill machines here so we would get a drink to enjoy while we ate.
The pizza was American-style.
Hot Dog Stand – Included
By the sports court Seaplex, there is a hot dog stand. My meat-eating friends tell me that these were tasty but sadly there was no vegetarian option for me.
I would usually just eat at the buffet to grab something to eat.
Hopefully, they’ll add a vegetarian option here soon.
Cafe Promenade – Included
In the middle part of the ship is a small cafe called the cafe promenade. This is open 24 hours a day and serves sandwiches and little snacks.
I would often come here for a sandwich and a cookie.
There’s also a machine here to get water and iced tea.
Iced tea was readily available on our cruise in the buffet, cafe promenade, and two70 cafe.
Did We Enjoy The Food?
We loved the number of food venues included in the cruise fare and we had some great meals in the buffet and other locations. The free room service breakfast was a great perk and we definitely weren’t ever hungry during the cruise.
Royal Caribbean do desserts particularly well and the 24/7 access to cookies was AMAZING.
We were disappointed by the quality of the food in the main dining room, as were many others on the cruise but perhaps our expectations were too high.
I hope that Royal Caribbean will continue to improve their vegetarian options but overall we definitely enjoyed the food on the cruise.
To find out more about my Royal Caribbean cruise onboard Anthem of the Seas, check out this video:
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