I found a way to make combine two of the included restaurants on Royal Caribbean's Star of the Seas to create my new favorite cruise snack.
While aboard the newest Royal Caribbean ship, I was given an idea by one of our writers to try a food hack out to see if it was as good as it sounded.
There are two restaurants on the pool deck of an Icon Class cruise ship within steps of each other: Basecamp and El Loco Fresh.
On their own, there is tasty food at each, but what if we took something from both to create a super snack?
In the name of research, I decided to give it a try.
Mexican loaded tater tots
The idea was simple: grab a basket full of freshly made tater tots at Basecamp, and then top them off.
I went to Basecamp, which is located in the Thrill Island area of the ship.
This restaurant has grab-and-go quick service food for anyone that's busy enjoying all the fun of the Category 6 waterpark, mini golf, sports court, or Flowrider.
Originally some of the menu items here cost money, but Royal Caribbean changed it to be completely included later.
I ordered tater tots, and asked for enough to essentially create a base at the bottom of the basket.
I then took a short walk out of Basecamp, past the rock climbing wall, and down the stairs to El Loco Fresh.
El Loco Fresh is another included restaurant that has Mexican food for a quick meal.
I bypassed all the tacos, burritos, and quesadillas on the buffet and instead went to the toppings bar.
The genius of this hack is I topped the tater tots off with anything from here that I liked.
I went with salsa, hot sauce, guacamole, and jalapenos. As you can tell, I like a kick to my food.
I was a bit concerned about making the tots too soggy, but eating them quickly, it was amazing how much better the tots tasted.
No matter which toppings you choose, it really takes the monotony of plain fried potatoes to offer a terrific flavor combination.
I probably could have just added hot sauce and been good, but I really liked how the the taco toppings elevated it all together.
Without a doubt, you want to grab the tater tots down as soon as you can. The warmer they are, the better it all tastes.
My dessert hack
I felt so good about my food hack experimented, I had to go and try my other favorite cruise pool deck food hack.
This idea is simple, but it's so much better!
Grab a plastic water cup at El Loco Fresh, and then walk across Chill Island to Sprinkles.
At Sprinkles, you can enjoy soft serve ice cream. Usually, it's served in a small sugar cone.
The problem with the cone is it's a small serving, and it all melts so quickly.
Hand them the cup and you get a less messy, yet significantly bigger ice cream serving.
If you really want something fun, take your cup of ice cream back to El Loco Fresh and get a shot of rum to pour into the cup at the Cantina!
Either way, dessert is better when it's not messy and there's plenty of it!
