Zamgwar's Explorer Cruise- The Food & restaurants

Hello Lovers of the Waves,

First the usual intro-skip past the stars if you read it before
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To set a base line, we set out with a total of 35 old and a few new friends,
with most relationships going back 25 years. There is no greater joy than
vacationing with friends who know you well enough to tell you your breath
stinks. Rather than being a vacation, it always is more of a seven day party,
that moves around the globe.

It is important to note that due to our schedules we only travel as peak week
touristos, at a time when virtually the entire United States (except for New
Hampshire-go figure) is off from school for February break. This was our third
group cruise together, and my personal forth cruise. It was our first
experience with Royal Caribbean, having sailed NCL and Princess previously.

Depending on when you sail, your mileage may vary.

Because of the enormous size of the ship, it has it strong and weak suits. You
will find my impressions posted separately under the subject heading "Zamgwar's
Explorer". They will pop up here over the next two weeks and will include
impressions of "The Ship", "The Cabins", The Food & Restaurants", "The Staff"
, "The Entertainment", "The Kids view", "The little things" and "my last
2cnts". When I'm done, I will, as always, post the entire review in condensed
version on the standard review sites.
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Here is part three –The Food and The restaurants

On a previous cruise review I wrote in regard to a balcony, had I never had
one, I never would have wanted one. Now I can’t cruise without one. To turn
that around, if I had not had spectacular meals on three previous cruises, I
never would have missed them on this cruise and this ship.

I have been known to eat meat on a stick in New York City and enjoy it. I used
to gobble up airline food, when there used to be airline food, and enjoy it.
That is not to say that the dining experience is akin to airline food or meat
on a stick. In those instances, I knew what to expect, and enjoyed them for
what they were. I had expected dining to at least approach the level of my past
experiences. It didn’t

Food is not a strong suit of this megaship. Perhaps it was the week. Perhaps it
was just this ship. Maybe the head chef had a 7 day hangover. Maybe my taste
buds had a seven day hangover. I had after all been soaking them in gin all
week.

The three tiered main restaurant on Explorer, adds to the list of truly
spectacular spaces on the ship. There was always dinner music being played on
the balcony. The room is done in lavish red black and gold. There are elegant
soaring golden cloths mimicking columns, a grand staircase, wonderful
furnishings and the gold “compass� logo set against a blue starlit ceiling,
the room is breathtaking.

The meals weren’t.

They weren’t bad. Heck I’ve eaten much worse stuff (see above). They were
just average. A few items were excellent, but for the most part no meal as a
whole was a stand out. It was the same opinion of my 21 of fellow adult
cruisers, 4 of which who had never been on a cruise. 3 thought the food was
downright awful. I don’t agree with them.

The 8 kids thought all the *free* food everywhere great!!!

No one went hungry or died from anything they ate, and we all indeed gained the
proper amount of weight in seven days. Not having great dining experiences,
however, was a blemish on the ship, though not on our fun.

The bartenders on deck made sure of that.

In addition, the service at all four of our tables, each being served by
different wait staff, was very spotty. It was not at all what we had seen in
the past. Some from our group did however, on the third night, speak to guest
services, and the service and timing of the meals improved considerably. It
still didn’t come near our previous cruises, but it was much better than the
first two days.

Our headwaiter came up and apologized and told us we should have spoken to him
directly on the first night. He was right. We learned a lesson.

Remember, it’s always better to speak up while ON a vacation, than to speak
up afterwards on the internet. The former holds a better chance it will improve
your vacation, than the latter.

I actually think the dining room is understaffed and overworked. This is the
first ship I’ve been on that didn’t have wine stewards, and the task had to
be handled by the waiter and assistant waiter. The result always ended up with
those who ordered wine having to wait. On one evening it took 20 minutes to get
a bottle of wine uncorked.

Nothing gets scarier than a woman having to wait for her wine. It’s like a
tiger having to stare 20 minutes a piece of meat outside of a cage. The tiger
can get very angry and its handler has a good chance of getting bit.

My tiger was angry and I have the bites I have are still healing.

I must point out, I never had that problem. I ordered Martini’s from the
Beverage hostess. She was there in a flash when I arrived, and on several
occasions had my drink in my hand before I ordered it. All those who ordered
from the beverage hostess had the same service. She only had one job and did it
well.

It is also important to note, that we had late seating. Children were PROMPTLY
served, lest they start wining and pass out in their chicken fingers, which was
a plus for parents. Young “Joey� who sat at my table always had a large
platter of French fries put in front of him immediately after sitting down.

Johnny Rockets on deck twelve is however a good thing. The space is a stylized
50’s dinner tucked aft on the starboard side, with indoor and outdoor vinyl
booths. There is a takeout window which makes for quick poolside snacks. Its
burgers were great. Its onion rings pleasantly greasy and its shakes thick
enough to burst a blood vessel while attempting to suck them through a straw.
The burgers are indeed the thing here, everything else is just average.

It is also the ONLY venue on the ship with outside dining. No outside dining is
definitely a large design flaw of the ship. It is the first ship I’ve been on
with no readily accessible way to eat outdoors.

Another good thing was the Promenade Café on the Royal Promenade. It is
brightly appointed traditional café full of intimate groupings of tables and
chairs. Fresh flowers are clustered around the room in vases. There are once
again large portholes to the sea.

There is also an “al fresco� area on the Royal Promenade that is perfect
for people watching.

The Seattle’s Best coffee was the best coffee on the ship. The variety of
snack sandwiches were very good, the daily specialty pizza (number three on the
daily pizza list) was great. The chocolate chip cookies were scrumptious.

The Windjammer and the Island grill are two more delightful spaces. They are
done in bright yellows and greens with wicker seats, plenty of live plants and
spectacular ocean views throughout. They offer a very wide variety of foods for
lunch, though breakfast was always the same.

Once again the food was average. A few things at lunch were good. The desserts
at lunch were EXCELLENT, but most of the food was just average. The breakfast
buffet DOES have an omelet and egg station in the Island grill. Being able to
get eggs over easy and fresh made omelets is a big, big, plus. One of our group
didn’t realize this was there until the last day, and was sorry he missed it.

A standout on the ship, is the extra charge Portofino restaurant. We initially
weren’t going to eat there, but caught up in the embarkation excitement,
booked a dinner for adults only there. We are glad we did. The food and service
was as good as we have ever had on a ship.

The room is a small setting, second only in intimacy to the Connoisseurs Club.
There are wonderful floral bouquets throughout, and more table attendants that
you can shake a stick at. Salads are prepared table side. Food is cooked to
perfection. Everything is flavorful. There were no senseless injuries due to
wine waiting.

I could not however order two entres in this space. You can do so in the main
dining rooms.

There were also two midnight buffets. One on deck, and one in the main dining
room. Having just finished dinner at 10:30pm, it would have been suicide to
attend one.

Once again, the less than great experience may come from sailing a peak week,
but then again all of our “great dining experiences� were all on peak
weeks. I tend to think 3600 passengers is just too much to handle in two
seatings. Royal Caribbean should certainly consider the free style dining of
NCL or the personal choice dining of Princess for this size vessel. It seems to
fare well for the food quality of other lines.

Next up- Part four- The Entertainment.

That’s my2cnts. What’s yours?

John
Office of Meat on a stick
The Zamgwar Institute

Zamgwar wrote:


A standout on the ship, is the extra charge Portofino restaurant. We initially
weren’t going to eat there, but caught up in the embarkation excitement,
booked a dinner for adults only there. We are glad we did. The food and service
was as good as we have ever had on a ship.

The room is a small setting, second only in intimacy to the Connoisseurs Club.
There are wonderful floral bouquets throughout, and more table attendants that
you can shake a stick at. Salads are prepared table side. Food is cooked to
perfection. Everything is flavorful. There were no senseless injuries due to
wine waiting.

I could not however order two entres in this space. You can do so in the main
dining rooms.

This is really interesting John. When we were on Navigator and had dinner in
Chops, you could order every entree on the menu (if you chose to do so). I wonder
whether the single entree rule is for Portofinos only, or if it's just on Explorer.

Arlene