Royal Caribbean offers an unlimited dining package that allows guests to enjoy multiple specialty restaurants for lunch and dinner. The question is should you get it?
I was with Royal Caribbean in September this year and signed up for the unlimited dining package before onboarding. It has a great promotion, selling at about SGD 150 per person for the 5 days of sailing.
Now, how many meals do I eat in specialty restaurants? Total is 7 Meal.
The first meal happened on the first day of sailing, it was dinner.
Ok, now, let’s find out what you need to know about unlimited dining. During my sailing in September 2021 with Quantum of the Seas cruise to nowhere, there are 4 specialty restaurants available for my 5 days sailing.
1. Izumi – the Japanese
2. Jamie – the Italian
3. Chops Grille – Western
4. Wonderland – Wonderland is an interesting restaurant, the cuisine is beautifully designed and presents a visual feast.
Izumi – Japanese
We had Izumi on the first night of our sailing.
Izumi is located on deck 5 midsection, where the Royal Esplanade is. It is located between the Schooner Bar and Wonderland restaurant.
Izumi is an open floor concept restaurant meaning, the restaurant is actually quite exposed and sits through a walkway. Meaning there are always people who walk by you so don’t go expecting an intimate dining experience. For me, I don’t mind that at all.
Japanese always start with edamame as their appetizer, it is a great protein sauce. Yes, it goes well with the kosher salt.
In Izumi, you will find delicious sushi rolls to fresh sashimi and nigiri. Izumi serves up an exotic Asian-inspired dining experience. We started with the izakaya-style appetizer such as karage chicken and gyoza dumpling. Then next is the shrimp, and vegetable tempura, served golden-fried to perfection and paired with savory tentsuyu bonito stock for dipping.
The yaki udon is one of my favorite. Yaki means fried in Japanese, Yaki udon means fried udon noodles. The noodles topped with tender grill chicken, beef, shrimp, or tofu. I have chosen the beef Yaki udon as I love beef. You can tell that the beef used in the yaki udon is good grade as it is tender when you chew it with the noodles.
The sushi rolls portion in Izumi is big. One of the chef’s signature rolls is the baked snow crab and salmon dynamite roll which fuses cool cream cheese and cucumber with spicy mayo. Now when I talked about ‘spicy’, it isn’t that hot, just a little kick. What makes it even more unique is the garlic-chili oil, citrus, and decadent champagne sauce.
Who said you can’t find rice in Royal Caribbean cruise ship. You certainly can still taste the rice if you are a die-hard rice fan.
There are a few choices of ramen and I have chosen the tonkotsu ramen spicy hot miso ramen. Tonkotsu soup base broth is made from big pork bones cooked at a rolling boil for at least 12 hours.
Sashimi is another dish I loved and you simply can’t miss it. We have ordered the sashimi moriawase platter which included all types of raw fish, squid, and shrimp.
If you can’t finish what you have ordered, you can always ask for a takeaway. The staff is more than happy to help you pack and place them nicely in a bento container for you with soya sauce and chopstick. You can eat it as supper later.
Jamie – Italian
Jamie’s Italian by celebrity chef Jamie Olive, sit down to Tuscan-inspired cuisine crafted by one of Britain’s most famous chefs. It is one of the most popular specialty restaurants on Quantum of the Seas. It may not be very authentic Italian cuisine but it is done in a way that other people around the world would love it too.
Jamie’s is also located on Deck 5 on the promenade. The restaurant is bigger than Izumi. The decor in the restaurant is kind of cool I find because it displays garlic and vegetables hanging in one corner, together with some of the Italian spice and other ingredients and some cookbooks.
The atmosphere in Jamie’s seems quite casual as the tables are quite bare.
The three-course menu includes starters, pasta, risotto, and main courses.
Garlic bread as a starter for sure, it was served with fragrance garlic butter, veggie parmesan, and a touch of rosemary.
If you love mushrooms, try their mozzarella mushrooms which were lain on a bed of crispy thin bread. Something quite unique I find.
One of the starters we had was Tuscan bean and Single Estate Italian olive oil bruschetta, tomato, and mozzarella risotto rice balls. Who said you can’t find rice on Royal Caribbean cruise ship? Yes, you can in Jamies and also Izumi. LOL. The olive served are huge and top grades, which I don’t get to taste often in Singapore.
Lasagne is also a must to have in Jamies, I love beef so I ordered the beef lasagne. Well, the portion is kind of big for me. It serves hot and in fact, you have to let it cool down a little, before you start to dig into those lasagne, else you may burn your tongue. One bite, you won’t find the meat in the lasagne because the meats have been blended together with the sauce. Smooth and tasty.
Eggplant is another highlight in Jamies. The eggplant was soft and covered with their special made sauce, which seems to have some sort of tomato sauce and cheese in it.
Jamies pasta is made fresh every day as it was stated somewhere in the menu. Well, we had the seafood pasta and the noodle pasta tasted great and chewy.
We take away the burger as we were too full. You can always ask for a takeaway if you can’t finish the food you have ordered.
Jamie’s dessert is one of the best I have to admit. There are about 4 choices of dessert and we ordered 3 of them. It ends well for the course.
Chops Grille – American steakhouse
If you want some good steak, you have come to the right place. the American Steakhouse Chops Grille serves hand-cut steaks with their exceptional prime meat.
I find that the ambiance in Chops Grille is slightly posher than Jamies and Izumi. The ground is carpeted and upon entering the restaurant, you feel quite dark that is because the steakhouse uses dark woods for their furniture. Luckily with the beautiful lightings, the restaurant seems to have some romantic and classy vibes.
Well, you have to taste their steak when you dine here, lunch and dinner menu includes several cuts of steaks, as well as lamb, fish, pork, and chicken dishes. The steak in lunch offers a smaller portion and in dinner, you get the huge slice of steak which can be shared among 3 people.
I also love their selection of appetizers such as shrimp cocktails, crab cakes, lobster bisque, and salads. You still get a lot of seafood choices in this steakhouse.
We saw lobster on the menu and we wanted to try so we asked if we could order one of those. Well, we could but there is an additional charge of USD 10-20 dollars.
And yes, don’t forget to save room for the dessert. We ordered lime meringue pie, classic New York cheesecake, served with raspberries, and lemon confit. Very appetizing, a touch and sour and sweet. There are about 4 types of dessert on the menu and we ordered 3.
Wonderland
You will love Wonderland as it provides a fairytale theme. The whole dining experience provides strong visual effects, using colors and interesting plates decoration. Dishes are also designed to tantalize your taste buds and present a visual feast.
First, when you step into the restaurant, the first impression you would relate to is Alice in Wonderland. Well, of course, it is so obvious. The furniture used is also adopted the fairy theme, the grand queen chairs and the crystal wine goblets do stand out.
The interesting part comes when the waiter hand you the menu. It was a blank paper framed in a nice silvery frame. Next, the waiter handed you a painting brush. You dip the brush in the water in the glass then start to paint the menu frame and then magic appeared. Slowly, the menu appeared.
You will find 5 themes, Sun, Ice, Fire, Sea, and Earth. The waiter has helped me to order as we have no idea what is it like.
Anyway, first come the Liquid Lobster. It was a thick chunk of lobster in lobster bisque and topped with caviar. It is placed on a silver spoon. The portion may look small but trust me, you will still be full after the whole course. Good thing you don’t need to eat too much.
Tomato Water in test tube, the test tubes are lined up nicely in the test tube rack. The color is transparent as the tomato water is cold-pressed tomato juice extracted over 2 days according to the waiter. There is a way to drink tomato water. The waiter will tell you but I still have difficultly sucking the water out from the little test tube because on top there is cream.
This dish is paired with crispy crab cones and smooth avocado mousse topping. Also only a small portion, one bite only.
Buffalo eggs came in a glass dome and get your camera ready before the glass dome opens. Smoke comes out like some magic and you feel the warmth and smoky aroma fly around the table.
Baby Vegetables is cute as all the veggies are midget only. So cute and you seem don’t mind eating veggie now.
The Oceanic Citrus – this is quite appetizing as it uses yuzu and lemon to go with the spicy tuna. The taste blends well together.
Main, we have pork belly, beef, and seafood I think. Can’t remember too well.
Dessert is one of my favorites!
The forbidden apple and mushroom look super pretty. You wouldn’t want to cut that red apple into half as it looks super pretty. Inside is a mixture between pudding and mousse.
The Mushroom has more things to go with, you find mango sorbet and red velvet, and chocolate crumbs. You eat it together and the taste is amazing and never get bored. The dessert is in big portions but with so many little combinations of flavor and texture, you can go on and on with it and finish it slowly.
Final tips
Please go to Level 5 near the guest service area to make reservations for your dining for the 5 days of sailing. You have to make the reservation manually with the staff and not book through Royal apps. Please do it immediately onboard.
If you ask me if it is worth getting the unlimited dining package? I have to say, yes. As I mentioned we had 7 meals for my 5 days of sailing. I experience lunch and dinner for Jamies, Izumi, and Chops Grille. The Wonderland only opens for dinner. Menu for both lunch and dinner are different for Jamie and Ghops Grille so if you booked lunch and dinner, you got to taste a lot of different variety of things.
Hope my unlimited dining package has given you some insight. Enjoy your cruise holiday with Royal Caribbean.