Of all the restaurants on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, the buffet is still one of my favorite places to eat.
I love the mix of food variety, how easy it is to get in and out, and the fact there's something for everyone. I love that I can enjoy Indian curry, customized salads, or an overloaded burger while my kids can get chicken fingers or pizza. It's win-win for everyone.
While I'll primarily eat at the Main Dining Room or specialty restaurants, I like going to the Windjammer on embarkation day for welcome aboard lunch or hit it up for dinner after a long day in port.
When I pick the Windjammer to go eat, I always do four important things at every meal. I think these really make the meal more enjoyable from start to finish.
Wash my hands, even if i just did
It may sound clichéd to talk about how important it is wash your hands, but I'll do it every single time I walk in or out of the restaurant.
Quite frankly, I'm astounded how many people don't do this. Stand near the Windjammer entrance for 30 seconds and you'll witness it yourself.
Cruise ship or not, washing your hands before you eat is a smart idea to mitigate the chances of getting sick while eating. It's not foolproof, but I'll do whatever I can to stay healthy on a cruise.
Most ships have handwashing stations at the entrance now, but on older ships there is a crew member that offers hand sanitizer.
Anytime I walk in, I'll take the time to wash my hands because it's too easy to become complacent.
Get a seat first, then go to the buffet
It's so tempting to grab a plate and hit the first buffet station you see, but that's a mistake.
It's usually very busy at the Windjammer, especially for breakfast. You really ought to find a seat and then get food.
Early on when I cruised, I'd get my food and then do the awkward walk trying to find a table with two hands full of food. Not only is it cumbersome, but the chances of accidentally spilling the food while looking for a table is quite high.
This strategy is not only a good idea to ensure you have somewhere to sit, but works well with families too. Kids needs to know where you're going to be, and if they're young, you probably need to take shifts going up with the kids and then go back for yourself.
Usually the further you're willing to sit from the actual buffet stations, the higher the likelihood of finding an open table.
Be sure to prioritize outdoor seating if your ship has an outdoor area of the Windjammer. It's so nice to dine al fresco when possible on a cruise!
Check out all the stations before taking any food
The next thing I'll do is survey the food options because this is a lesson I learned the hard way.
It's so tempting to grab a plate and fill it up with the first options you see, but inevitably I see there's something else I would have rather have gotten.
Of course I can discord my plate of food and get a new plate with what I wanted instead, but I feel bad being quite that wasteful. There's no penalty or anything like that, but I try not to waste food when possible.
Instead, I'll do a quick walk around the buffet stations to quickly see what's around.
Keep in mind in most Windjammers, one side is usually a mirror of the other, so you don't have to necessarily check out both sides of the buffet.
This strategy is especially helpful with the next thing I always do in the Windjammer.
Prioritize the cooking stations
My favorite thing about the Windjammer are the cooking stations, and I'll look to these first.
These cooking stations custom cook a specific type of cuisine the way you want it, and it really hits the spot for me every time.
The Asian stir fry is my absolute favorite, followed by the pasta station. I think we all prefer our food prepared with one ingredient over another, and there might be something we'd rather have left out of it.
Plus, because it's cooked on the spot, it just tastes better.
There's no cost to the cooking stations, so take advantage of them whenever you can.
