Windjammer closing early now?

[Joseph Wahoski]

My family and I recently cruised onboard Symphony of the Seas from March 26th-April 2nd, 2022. This is our first cruise post-COVID and we were shocked to see many changes that we did not know about beforehand. A big example of one of these changes is the Windjammer closing throughout the day. It seems that the wind jammer was only open for breakfast and dinner while onboard, and it was closed between the times of 1:00 P.M. and 4:00 P.M., and 9:00 P.M. and 6:00 A.M. This is very odd as the Windjammer is supposed to be the “24 hour” buffet where you can get what you want at pretty much any time. It made us kind of sad that we were not able to grab a late night snack or a quick lunch in the Windjammer as it’s one of the classic spots onboard that we enjoy. Anyone know why this is STILL going on even after things have sort of returned to normal?

[Pooch]

I don’t remember Windjammer ever being open 24 hours.  It was open for breakfast lunch and dinner on Harmony last month but, as it always has, closed for a period of time between each meal.  And it’s always closed at 9.  Cafe Promenade is the 24 hour snack location not Windjammer.

[Lexster]

I do not believe the Windjammer was ever 24 hours. It's generally closed at like 9 or 9:30. The only place that's really open 24 hours is Cafe Promenade. As for being closed for lunch, it's probably for cleaning protocols. Even though lots of things are lifted, I would imagine they still close for a few hours to do a deep clean in between meal times.

[Lexster]

6 minutes ago, Pooch said:

I don’t remember Windjammer ever being open 24 hours.  It was open for breakfast lunch and dinner on Harmony last month but, as it always has, closed for a period of time between each meal.  And it’s always closed at 9.  Cafe Promenade is the 24 hour snack location not Windjammer.

Jinx!

[twangster]

Windjammers have never been 24 hours on Royal.  Perhaps you are thinking of another cruise line?  If you go back a decade or more there was a midnight buffet however those were not 24 hours a day but for a few hours in the late evening.  Those stopped a long time ago, like 15 or 20 years ago.

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compass

Here you'll find Cruise Compasses for many years that can give some historical reference.  

 

[Pooch]

Weren’t you also commenting on pools closing early too?  

[Moby Dick]

25 minutes ago, Pooch said:

Weren’t you also commenting on pools closing early too?  

Yes, yesterday at 5:45 PM. 

[Moby Dick]

7 minutes ago, jay1021 said:

Yes, yesterday at 5:45 PM. 

[Joseph Wahoski]

32 minutes ago, Pooch said:

Weren’t you also commenting on pools closing early too?  

Yep. Been a while since I’ve cruised. We’ve only ever cruise on Royal Caribbean and have done 8 or 9 with them. Last cruise was pre covid.

[Joseph Wahoski]

55 minutes ago, twangster said:

Windjammers have never been 24 hours on Royal.  Perhaps you are thinking of another cruise line?  If you go back a decade or more there was a midnight buffet however those were not 24 hours a day but for a few hours in the late evening.  Those stopped a long time ago, like 15 or 20 years ago.

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compass

Here you'll find Cruise Compasses for many years that can give some historical reference.  

 

Weird. For some reason I feel like I remember being able to eat in the windjammer at a relatively late time of night, like 10 or 11. My last cruise was a couple years ago on Freedom.

[Pooch]

Nope, Windjammer is not open 24 hrs not even on my first cruise 20 years ago.

[KristiZ]

1 hour ago, Joseph Wahoski said:

Weird. For some reason I feel like I remember being able to eat in the windjammer at a relatively late time of night, like 10 or 11. My last cruise was a couple years ago on Freedom.

Maybe you're remembering Sorrento's? Late night pizza!

[Va4fam]

1 hour ago, Joseph Wahoski said:

Weird. For some reason I feel like I remember being able to eat in the windjammer at a relatively late time of night, like 10 or 11. My last cruise was a couple years ago on Freedom.

I also recall going to WJ later in the evening about 5 years ago on a smaller nonamplified Royal ship.   Maybe 9 or 10 pm "ish".

As far as Symphony being closed for lunch, on the Oasis ships they have 2 entrances and frequently one side may be closed at times.  We made that mistake thinking the WJ was closed before realizing we could walk to the other side.

 

 

[Moby Dick]

8 minutes ago, Va4fam said:

I also recall going to WJ later in the evening about 5 years ago on a smaller nonamplified Royal ship.   Maybe 9 or 10 pm "ish".

As far as Symphony being closed for lunch, on the Oasis ships they have 2 entrances and frequently one side may be closed at times.  We made that mistake thinking the WJ was closed before realizing we could walk to the other side.

 

 

Is it possible that on the smaller ships back in the day, Royal had a small portion of the Windjammer open to give out Pizza or other late night snacks?  I know that on Brand X, we would go to the buffet late night to get Fish N Chips and other things.  

[Joseph Wahoski]

2 hours ago, Joseph Wahoski said:

My family and I recently cruised onboard Symphony of the Seas from March 26th-April 2nd, 2022. This is our first cruise post-COVID and we were shocked to see many changes that we did not know about beforehand. A big example of one of these changes is the Windjammer closing throughout the day. It seems that the wind jammer was only open for breakfast and dinner while onboard, and it was closed between the times of 1:00 P.M. and 4:00 P.M., and 9:00 P.M. and 6:00 A.M. This is very odd as the Windjammer is supposed to be the “24 hour” buffet where you can get what you want at pretty much any time. It made us kind of sad that we were not able to grab a late night snack or a quick lunch in the Windjammer as it’s one of the classic spots onboard that we enjoy. Anyone know why this is STILL going on even after things have sort of returned to normal?

To clarify: I know that the Windjammer has never completely been 24 hours, that’s why I put “24 hours” in quotation marks. I just seem to remember it being open a little bit later than it currently is. When I say 24 hours, I just mean open during most of the time that people are awake.

[Joseph Wahoski]

11 minutes ago, jay1021 said:

Is it possible that on the smaller ships back in the day, Royal had a small portion of the Windjammer open to give out Pizza or other late night snacks?  I know that on Brand X, we would go to the buffet late night to get Fish N Chips and other things.  

I think this is what I am recalling. I was a lot younger than I am now (just turned 18 on the Symphony sailing in question), but I feel like you’re right. I think they had only a specific part open.

[Matt]

As others said, Windjammer was never 24 hours.

The fact it closes now and then as you mentioned is pretty normal.