- Royal Caribbean's Symphony of the Seas— the world's largest cruise ship— has a whopping 23 eateries.
- More than half are included with the cost of a cruise ticket: There are multiple buffets, cafés, and even a pizzeria, DIY taco bar, and hot dog stand.
- Another 12 spots cost extra. These range from an "Alice in Wonderland"-themed restaurant specializing in molecular gastronomy, to a New England-inspired seafood restaurant with delicious lobster rolls.
- The ship serves 350 different dishes daily, creating anywhere between 25,000 and 35,000 different food items per day, according to a Royal Caribbean representative.
- I recently spent a week on the ship, and tried to eat as many different dishes as I could in that time. While the specialty restaurants were really good, I was personally less impressed by the buffets.
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The Symphony of the Seas is home to 23 dining venues, as well as 42 bars and lounges.
Windjammer Marketplace is where you'll find a standard buffet, serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
As it caters to around 6,000 guests from all corners of the globe, the buffet features a wide array of dishes and cuisines.
The "Americana" corner offers popular breakfast foods like pancakes and waffles to start the day.
At night, meals such as ribs, fried chicken, fries, and pizza, can be found there.
There was also a giant plate of nachos in the American-themed section one night.
Every meal at Windjammer has sections respectively devoted to Chinese and Indian cuisine.
Dinner has a variety of curries ...
... as well as sweet and sour pork.
For breakfast, there's congee, scrambled egg bhurji with Indian spices, and rice pongal.
For dinner, Windjammer also has a made-to-order stir-fry counter ...
... and crepes with all the fixings. Tip: There's Nutella upon request.
Gluten-free and vegetarian options abound ...
... but the star of the show is undoubtedly meat. There's at least a dozen different kinds of meat to choose from, including steak, ribs, fried chicken, and various kebabs.
Even after the cruise, I still have dreams about this giant pile of crispy bacon.
Though like any good millennial, I recommend the avocado and salmon toast for breakfast.
Being on a ship, there's plenty of seafood to choose from like mussels, clams, ceviche, and these little shrimp cocktail cups.
Or this massive pile of crab claws.
And how good does this burrata and tomato salad look?
Honestly, the dessert situation is out of control.
There's not one, but TWO dessert bars, as well as the aforementioned crepe station, and an ice cream counter at Windjammer alone.
Bring your stretchy pants.
The Solarium Bistro is a slightly more upscale buffet, with a Mediterranean touch. While the cost for most dishes here are included with your cruise ticket, reservations are recommended for dinner.
Here, items are mostly pre-plated.
Dinner has everything from a watermelon and feta salad ...
... to a caprese salad ...
... and lamb kofta meatballs.
At breakfast, there's plenty of fruit ...
... as well as granola and yogurt parfaits.
The cruise's main dining room has a whopping three floors of seating.
The main dining area has à la carte dining, and there's a different menu every night, usually with eight or nine entrées to choose from.
I was told that the escargot is super popular, as well as the lobster tail. Apparently, 5,500 lobster tails are consumed on the ship every single day.
But what's the best food included with the cost of a ticket?
In my opinion, it's the pizza at Sorrento's — authentic New York-style pizza, that, as a New Yorker, I approve of. Apparently, the ship's chefs spent years perfecting the recipe.
The DIY taco bar El Loco Fresh, also included in the cruise package, is delicious. There are tons of toppings to choose from to make your own tacos and nacho bowls.
The beef tacos were one of my favorite dishes on the ship.
For a quick hot dog, there's the Dog House.
And soft-serve stations are sprinkled around the ship. The ice cream was another favorite treat of mine.
There are another 12 specialty restaurants that cost extra aboard, like Wonderland, an "Alice in Wonderland"-themed restaurant with its own Mad Hatter.
Appropriately, it features foods that aren't what they seem, like this reconstructed caprese salad shaped like a tomato ...
... and this mushroom that's actually a meringue dessert.
These deviled eggs come in a bowl of smoke. They were another one of my food favorites.
Other specialty spots range from a Starbucks ...
... to a Johnny Rockets ...
... to a New England-themed seafood restaurant with delicious lobster rolls.
No really, the lobster roll was A+.
So was the messy fish sandwich.
Hooked is the only place on board that serves oysters, and yet the ship manages to go through around 2,200 of them on every seven-day cruise.
Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has an outpost on the Symphony of the Seas too, called Jamie's Italian.
I highly recommend the truffle arancini ...
... the truffle pasta ...
... the burrata pasta ...
... and the charcuterie board. I'm biased because I've been a huge Jamie Oliver fan for years, but this was my favorite restaurant on the ship overall.
Playmakers, a sports bar, has awesome nachos, wings, and bar food, but the standout to me was the the Campfire Cookie. Do yourself a favor and get it.
There's also a sushi bar onboard ...
And a hibachi grill.
While everyone told me to pack my stretchy pants, and I truly expected to gain 10 pounds on the trip, the size of the ship made that impossible. I regularly walked 17,000 steps a day, according to my Fitbit.
Ultimately, my favorite things to eat were the lobster roll at Hooked, the truffle pasta at Jamie's Italian, the deviled eggs at Wonderland, the pizza at Sorrento's, and the beef tacos at El Loco Fresh.
However, the buffets overwhelmed me a little, and, in my opinion, left something to be desired. I'd usually end up getting a very bizarre combination of foods because there were simply too many choices for me to handle.
That said, the ship's chefs are feeding over 6,000 guests per meal, creating anywhere between 25,000 and 35,000 different food items per day, and catering to a wide array of people, which is impressive to say the least.
Whatever your budget or taste, you're never far from food on the ship, and there's truly something for everyone. But if you've got money to burn, treat yourself to the specialty restaurants.
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