Rare Rewind Posted April 16, 2018 #1 Share Posted April 16, 2018 A formal night thread that has nothing to do with dress code! Even after eight Royal cruises, I've only ever eaten at the Windjammer once for dinner and that was just to grab a quick bite. But now that we have experienced the same menus repeating over and over in the MDR, we are thinking of moving the Windjammer up in priority for our dinner venue. I know there is great variety, but I was wondering on the selection of choices on formal nights. Does the Windjammer add some of the "higher end" items like prime rib or lobster or will those be reserved for the MDR? I'm just trying to get a ballpark idea of what to expect, but either way I think we will be checking it out on our next cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarea Posted April 16, 2018 #2 Share Posted April 16, 2018 I have read reports of lobster in Windjammer, but I've never seen it myself. Our experience has been that there are usually one or two items from the MDR menu each night, and a whole lot of other choices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BillOh Posted April 16, 2018 #3 Share Posted April 16, 2018 A formal night thread that has nothing to do with dress code! Even after eight Royal cruises, I've only ever eaten at the Windjammer once for dinner and that was just to grab a quick bite. But now that we have experienced the same menus repeating over and over in the MDR, we are thinking of moving the Windjammer up in priority for our dinner venue. I know there is great variety, but I was wondering on the selection of choices on formal nights. Does the Windjammer add some of the "higher end" items like prime rib or lobster or will those be reserved for the MDR? I'm just trying to get a ballpark idea of what to expect, but either way I think we will be checking it out on our next cruise. Hi neighbor. Good point about the newer repeating menues. What ship are you going on? I've found this varying from ship to ship. I'm about to go back on Jewel, and I've had some very good dinners there while skipping formal night. I've seen a carving station in the evening as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barklee Posted April 16, 2018 #4 Share Posted April 16, 2018 I have read reports of lobster in Windjammer, but I've never seen it myself. Our experience has been that there are usually one or two items from the MDR menu each night, and a whole lot of other choices. I was on Oasis in February and they had lobsters in the Windjammer on lobster night. This is the first time I've seen them in the WJ. They were smaller than what I've had in the MDR, in the shell, but cut in half. I had one and it was over cooked and inedible. There was a server handing them out and people were getting multiple at one time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ValerieJo Posted April 16, 2018 #5 Share Posted April 16, 2018 I have read reports of lobster in Windjammer, but I've never seen it myself. Our experience has been that there are usually one or two items from the MDR menu each night, and a whole lot of other choices. This has been our experience as well. We typically will do a specialty restaurant on Formal nights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Rewind Posted April 16, 2018 Author #6 Share Posted April 16, 2018 Hi neighbor. Good point about the newer repeating menues. What ship are you going on? I've found this varying from ship to ship. I'm about to go back on Jewel, and I've had some very good dinners there while skipping formal night. I've seen a carving station in the evening as well. We are heading out on Rhapsody in two weeks and as Winter just hasn't left Columbus yet, we are looking to take advantage of all the warm weather we can get. Less time in restaurants means more time enjoying the pool or sitting out on the deck. Plus I think we just want to be a bit more casual and free flowing with our schedules this trip. Both of us are not into seafood, but I thought I'd get info for anyone out there with a similar question. A carving station sounds great to us though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ocean Boy Posted April 16, 2018 #7 Share Posted April 16, 2018 I was on Oasis in February and they had lobsters in the Windjammer on lobster night. This is the first time I've seen them in the WJ. They were smaller than what I've had in the MDR, in the shell, but cut in half. I had one and it was over cooked and inedible. There was a server handing them out and people were getting multiple at one time. Once, on either Oasis or Allure, we found lobster tails in the Windjammer. They were in exactly the same condition that you described.... inedible. It didn't matter how much butter I poured on it. This recent cruise that we did on Allure had a seafood night in the Windjammer but there was no lobster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sailor_Sally Posted April 16, 2018 #8 Share Posted April 16, 2018 Last year on the Freedom transatlantic they had all you can eat lobster and shrimp in the Windjammer and it was perfectly cooked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarea Posted April 16, 2018 #9 Share Posted April 16, 2018 Last year on the Freedom transatlantic they had all you can eat lobster and shrimp in the Windjammer and it was perfectly cooked. Was that on the TA from the US to Europe? I'm wondering if they were depleting the stock of lobster since they normally don't serve that in Europe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ONECRUISER Posted April 16, 2018 #10 Share Posted April 16, 2018 Been cruising on Royal over 30 years. Most ships offer the best WindJammer dinners now with more selection, even better on Formal nites... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nessa1dc Posted April 16, 2018 #11 Share Posted April 16, 2018 On 2 of our cruises, we went to the windjammer on Lobster night (also formal) and were pleasantly pleased to see they had lobster, steak, and salmon (cooked to order)....it was wonderful.. However, it doesn't happen like that on all the ships. You never know. Depends on the ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rala Posted April 16, 2018 #12 Share Posted April 16, 2018 A formal night thread that has nothing to do with dress code! Even after eight Royal cruises, I've only ever eaten at the Windjammer once for dinner and that was just to grab a quick bite. But now that we have experienced the same menus repeating over and over in the MDR, we are thinking of moving the Windjammer up in priority for our dinner venue. I know there is great variety, but I was wondering on the selection of choices on formal nights. Does the Windjammer add some of the "higher end" items like prime rib or lobster or will those be reserved for the MDR? I'm just trying to get a ballpark idea of what to expect, but either way I think we will be checking it out on our next cruise. I've never seen prime rib, but they have had a pretty good roast beef carving station on occasion in the WJ. Also, have had hand-scooped hard ice cream with dessert sauces for dessert in the WJ. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Rewind Posted May 18, 2018 Author #13 Share Posted May 18, 2018 Just reporting back - we went with the Windjammer for every night except for one of the formal nights. We were always able to find something to eat but didn't seem to find anything special on the formal night we did do the buffet. Best dish of the entire cruise, they had a Strawberry Tart that was amazing. My DW thinks it was a frangipane base with the strawberries on top - out of this world! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zach1213 Posted May 18, 2018 #14 Share Posted May 18, 2018 Last year on the Freedom transatlantic they had all you can eat lobster and shrimp in the Windjammer and it was perfectly cooked. Last week on Freedom they had lobster either the same night or (I think) the night after formal night. It was dry and absolutely awful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare OCSC Mike Posted May 18, 2018 #15 Share Posted May 18, 2018 Had WJ lobster on the 2nd formal night in July on Oasis and again on the last night. One of them was a full seafood night with many other options. I also had lobster in the MDR on Oasis 4 weeks earlier. I'm not picky and definitely not a lobster connoisseur but I found very little difference (neither version was great, both were perfectly edible)... other than the fact that I could help myself to as much as I wanted in the WJ (they were pre-cut in half making it easy) without having to dress up. To each his own though and YMMV. I'd prefer as many people stay away from the WJ for dinner as possible. :) Looking forward to eating there every night in Alaska next month other than one night at Giovanni's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zach1213 Posted May 18, 2018 #16 Share Posted May 18, 2018 To each his own though and YMMV. I'd prefer as many people stay away from the WJ for dinner as possible. :) Looking forward to eating there every night in Alaska next month other than one night at Giovanni's. Agreed. Last week was only my second cruise, but we did three of the six nights in Windjammer. In my opinion is was vastly superior in every way - quiet, quick, relaxed, tons of choices, some of it was actually shockingly good. Having a full, quick bar doesn't hurt either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vawalkers Posted May 19, 2018 #17 Share Posted May 19, 2018 While I can't say that I know if they have Lobster in the Windjammer on Lobster Night, I CAN say that my husband and I totally loved eating in the Windjammer a couple nights on the Jewel. We sat outside at the back of the ship. The strategically placed lights and the sails in the ceiling gave the illusion of eating at an over the water restaurant....it was even better. The stars, the ocean breeze, very few people at adjoining tables.....think that is where we will visit a little more often....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SevenSeas1492 Posted May 19, 2018 #18 Share Posted May 19, 2018 It’s been a few years since we have gone on a Royal cruise, and don’t particularly want to dress up on formal nights. Celebrity spoiled us with their no formal nights. Are shorts permitted in the Windjammer at night? Going on the Allure in October. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare OCSC Mike Posted May 19, 2018 #19 Share Posted May 19, 2018 Are shorts permitted in the Windjammer at night? Absolutely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SevenSeas1492 Posted May 19, 2018 #20 Share Posted May 19, 2018 Yeah to not having to dress up! My husband will be delighted! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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