Q – We’ve been asked to join friends on the Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas. They’re wonderful friends, great company, but we’re folks who enjoy fine dining on vacation. So how bad is this going to be?
A – There are specialty restaurants that you will likely find tolerable and perhaps even find dinner cruise to be enjoyable. For the most part, dining aboard the mass market ships is very much a case of institutional catering. Passable, impressive presentation, but nothing to write home about.
There actually is a much-discussed article published by the New Yorker in which writer David Owen examines the inner-workings of the Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas. He points out that the vessel has 23 dining venues including a sushi-and-ishiyaki restaurant, an Italian Trattoria, and a cupcake shop. He was impressed with the on-board butcher shop, twenty galleys and the fact that “virtually everything that I ate had been prepared on the ship using fresh, unprocessed ingredients.” Go with an open attitude and we think you will be fine. Besides, good tablemates are half the battle.
