Wonder Bistro for dinner

[carbon]

What is the Wonder Bistro like for dinner?

[cruisegirl1]

Wonderland restaurant, or Solarium Bistro on Wonder of the Seas?

M

[carbon]

25 minutes ago, cruisegirl1 said:

Wonderland restaurant, or Solarium Bistro on Wonder of the Seas?

M

Solarium Bistro

[orville99]

57 minutes ago, carbon said:

What is the Wonder Bistro like for dinner?

We ate there more evenings than any other venue on our last four Wonder cruises (probably by 2X). Best venue on the ship if you want to pick and choose what you want to eat.

[carbon]

13 minutes ago, orville99 said:

We ate there more evenings than any other venue on our last four Wonder cruises (probably by 2X). Best venue on the ship if you want to pick and choose what you want to eat.

On the Symphony twice and ate several times for breakfast.  Is it buffet at dinner and what is ambiance?

I have read it is nice with the stars overhead. 

[BirdTravels]

4 hours ago, carbon said:

What is the Wonder Bistro like for dinner?

Pretty Bad. Avoid. 

 

The biggest problem in almost all bistros is that there is no quality control. Food is held for the maximum time health regulations allow, not necessarily the maximum time before it just is too over cooked, dry, to eat. It is a pretty consistent problem. 

[island lady]

We would not go there for dinner....it is actually less variety than other Oasis class ships, but we do love it for lunch.  Great salad bar!

[OCSC Mike]

Great example of how subjective food is.

 

One poster says favorite place for dinner, two others say stay away for dinner.

 

Given that it's free, since it must look appealing to you, I would book it on the early side one night. If you don't like it, go to WJ or Playmakers after. We ate there once a long time ago (forget what ship). Knowing my picky wife wouldn't like it, she went for me, we ate early, and already planned to go to WJ after. I liked the apps and the desserts, the entree not so much.

 

We do this with the MDR too since we don't love it and I like to eat. We go to early seating with the plan to check out WJ after. Never know what you'll find (random dessert, whatever) and decent chance picky wife won't have loved her MDR meal and will still be hungry even if not for a full meal.

 

 

[orville99]

13 hours ago, carbon said:

I have read it is nice with the stars overhead. 

On Wonder, you will not see any stars. The Solarium is completely enclosed, and they close off the "outside" Bistro seating for dinner.

[island lady]

45 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

Great example of how subjective food is.

 

One poster says favorite place for dinner, two others say stay away for dinner.

 

Given that it's free, since it must look appealing to you, I would book it on the early side one night. If you don't like it, go to WJ or Playmakers after. We ate there once a long time ago (forget what ship). Knowing my picky wife wouldn't like it, she went for me, we ate early, and already planned to go to WJ after. I liked the apps and the desserts, the entree not so much.

 

We do this with the MDR too since we don't love it and I like to eat. We go to early seating with the plan to check out WJ after. Never know what you'll find (random dessert, whatever) and decent chance picky wife won't have loved her MDR meal and will still be hungry even if not for a full meal.

 

 

 

Mike, the Wonder Bistro is quite different than the other 4 older sisters.  As is most of Wonder anyway, but we did enjoy it for lunch.  Much better salad bar and atmosphere than the WJ, IMHO.  

 

Even has some yummies for picky wife!! 😉 

 

And indeed, rare that we order dessert at dinner, but Bucky will venture into the WJ for a chocolate fix later....or maybe some cookies. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 24, 2023 by island lady

[Starry Eyes]

Several years ago, we enjoyed dinners in Solarium Bistro.  Back then, the service was good and the food options were more plentiful.  Since the restart we have been disappointed in dinners in Solarium Bistro un Wonder and Harmony.  It is now buffet only; menu options disappeared as did some of our old favorites from the buffet selections.  Service also declined on the nights we visited.  Hot dishes were empty in the buffet line.  Beverage glasses were not refilled at the table.   Multiple nearby tables were not bussed.  We probably won’t bother for dinner again.  

[Newcruiser215]

Solarium bistro was probably the worst dinner we had on our July sailing. Almost everything we had was cold. 

[OCSC Mike]

1 minute ago, island lady said:

Mike, the Wonder Bistro is quite different than the other 4 older sisters.

 

I won't find out, lol, but thanks. It was a one and done. Picky wife would go back with me if it was something I loved but it wasn't. We only went way back when b/c I like to try anything once if it's free.

 

Lunch for us usually involves checking out WJ and Bistro. After that, we may or may not wind up at Park Cafe at some point. Then grabbing a taco or two at El Loco Fresh is more of an afternoon snack for me. Wonder almost has too many included options. It will take a serious effort on my part to not get to the end of the cruise and think "I should have eaten more of XYZ."

[cruisegirl1]

For breakfast and lunch solarium bistro has become basically a small windjammer. Years ago, they served healthier options, but more recently we find the breakfast and lunch hot items are often the same as the windjammer buffet. Open seating. 
 

Dinner  is more like a Mediterranean tapas restaurant/ buffet. They seat you. 

 

I believe they like you to reserve a reservation for dinner, although we have done a walk in and we’re seated. 
 

m

 

 

[OCSC Mike]

6 minutes ago, cruisegirl1 said:

For breakfast and lunch solarium bistro has become basically a small windjammer. Years ago, they served healthier options, but more recently we find the breakfast and lunch hot items are often the same as the windjammer buffet. Open seating.

 

On Wonder there were a few unique breakfast items I didn't notice in WJ (pre-made smoothies which I've always enjoyed, avocado toast, a somewhat nicer looking type of sausage) but I agree they have definitely become more similar over the years.

[orville99]

18 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

On Wonder there were a few unique breakfast items I didn't notice in WJ (pre-made smoothies which I've always enjoyed, avocado toast, a somewhat nicer looking type of sausage) but I agree they have definitely become more similar over the years.

One nice add to the WJ breakfast menu (seems to be fleet wide) is made to order eggs benedict.

[OCSC Mike]

7 minutes ago, orville99 said:

One nice add to the WJ breakfast menu (seems to be fleet wide) is made to order eggs benedict.

 

I didn't actually get to fully explore the WJ in June since we were taking advantage of a rare suite stay with extended family and they wanted CK every morning and evening. I just wandered through a few times. It's back to mostly standard included venues for the next several cruises.

[cruisegirl1]

5 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

On Wonder there were a few unique breakfast items I didn't notice in WJ (pre-made smoothies which I've always enjoyed, avocado toast, a somewhat nicer looking type of sausage) but I agree they have definitely become more similar over the years.

On a recent walk through WJ, (can't recall the ship) there were small cups of pre-made smoothies at breakfast.  They seemed popular.  

M

[RFerrington]

We’ll be going to the Bistro for dinner tonite (Wonder) for the first time EVER.  We have eaten breakfast there many times but never dinner.  Looking forward to trying it out for dinner.

[JustUs275]

On 8/24/2023 at 3:34 PM, RFerrington said:

We’ll be going to the Bistro for dinner tonite (Wonder) for the first time EVER.  We have eaten breakfast there many times but never dinner.  Looking forward to trying it out for dinner.

I'm looking forward to hearing about tonight's dinner experience! We, along with our friends, plan to have a dinner in the Bistro during our October cruise. I think we've only eaten lunch there.

[RFerrington]

2 hours ago, JustUs275 said:

I'm looking forward to hearing about tonight's dinner experience! We, along with our friends, plan to have a dinner in the Bistro during our October cruise. I think we've only eaten lunch there.

It was a mixed bag.  Mostly, it’s just a slightly more organized and less hectic version of the windjammer.  I had been under the [mistaken] impression that the main courses would be served and only the side dishes were self serve but I was wrong.  It’s all self-serve and the food quality is no better (or worse) than the jammer.  Go with an open mind.  It wasn’t horrible but I will definitely not bother with going again.  I guess the most positive thing I will say is that you were assigned a table vs having to scavenge for one yourself.  Other than that, it was full buffet execution.  

 

The thing that surprised me the most was seeing people dining there in their swimsuits.  There were many people who made no attempt to “dress” for dinner !  Ladies were in the swimsuits with wet towels wrapped around their waists !  I wasn’t offended, I was just surprised.  

[lovesthebeach2]

6 hours ago, RFerrington said:

It was a mixed bag.  Mostly, it’s just a slightly more organized and less hectic version of the windjammer.  I had been under the [mistaken] impression that the main courses would be served and only the side dishes were self serve but I was wrong.  It’s all self-serve and the food quality is no better (or worse) than the jammer.  Go with an open mind.  It wasn’t horrible but I will definitely not bother with going again.  I guess the most positive thing I will say is that you were assigned a table vs having to scavenge for one yourself.  Other than that, it was full buffet execution.  

 

The thing that surprised me the most was seeing people dining there in their swimsuits.  There were many people who made no attempt to “dress” for dinner !  Ladies were in the swimsuits with wet towels wrapped around their waists !  I wasn’t offended, I was just surprised.  

I’m sorry to read this, we only went to the Solarium Bistro once years ago when the main courses were ordered as you said, but even back then I wasn’t impressed . We planned to try them again and I made us a dinner reservation on our Odyssey TA in October. We’ll keep the reservation.

 

I too am surprised to hear swimsuits being allowed inside for dinner. 

[cruiseboy89130]

10 hours ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

I too am surprised to hear swimsuits being allowed inside for dinner. 

Love it!👍

Only long dressy swimsuits or any kind?

Speedos?

[JustUs275]

On 8/25/2023 at 11:03 PM, RFerrington said:

It was a mixed bag.  Mostly, it’s just a slightly more organized and less hectic version of the windjammer.  I had been under the [mistaken] impression that the main courses would be served and only the side dishes were self serve but I was wrong.  It’s all self-serve and the food quality is no better (or worse) than the jammer.  Go with an open mind.  It wasn’t horrible but I will definitely not bother with going again.  I guess the most positive thing I will say is that you were assigned a table vs having to scavenge for one yourself.  Other than that, it was full buffet execution.  

 

The thing that surprised me the most was seeing people dining there in their swimsuits.  There were many people who made no attempt to “dress” for dinner !  Ladies were in the swimsuits with wet towels wrapped around their waists !  I wasn’t offended, I was just surprised.  

Thank you for the review! I thought I had read recently that the main courses were ordered/served but maybe that was old information. We will keep our reservation, but it's good to have a reasonable expectation based on a recent visit. 

 

[nimbex1970]

I ate at the solarium bistro for dinner once in May.  It was weird, you were seated, but it was just like the windjammer (get your own food and drinks((rare refilling of a glass of water)) with limited options). From memory, the food choices were different than the windjammer, but cheap Mediterranean ones.  I was not pleased and ordered room service after. (I was on grandma duty with the kiddos for the evening). I left hungry and irritable with my choice. To each their own, why not try it once?