Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas has 20 restaurants, from a hot dog stand to an "Alice in Wonderland"-themed restaurant.
The namesake ship of the Quantum Class launched in 2014 and is one of the biggest cruise ships in the world sailing to Alaska. The Quantum Class is best known for bringing industry firsts like the North Star observation capsule and SeaPlex, a multipurpose venue that hosts activities like roller skating, bumper cars, and more.
Having never sailed to Alaska or onboard a Quantum Class ship, I was looking forward to this trip for months! Plus, it would mark the first time my dad and I would cruise by ourselves, and nothing beats quality time with your parents.
Though the main appeal of the cruise was visiting Alaska, I couldn't overlook all of the food onboard, as it remains an important aspect of the cruise experience.
Read more: I went on a 7-night Alaska cruise and stayed in a windowless cabin for $1,900
From delicious specialty restaurants to quick meals at Café @ Two70, here's a breakdown of what I ate during my 7-night cruise on Quantum of the Seas.
Jamie's Italian
We started off our 7-night cruise with lunch at Jamie's. We, of course, had to start with the delicious garlic buns. We ate two when they were served and saved the other two to dip in our pasta sauce!
We also got the truffle arancini, as well as the truffle burrata. You can never have too much truffle, right?
Out of the two, we both enjoyed the arancini more— the Béchamel sauce is to die for!
For our main course, my father and I ordered the penne vodka arrabbiata. We both have pretty high spice tolerances, so we didn't find this dish all that spicy; however, the pasta tasted incredibly fresh! Looking back, I should have asked for some extra red pepper flakes.
After some indulgent appetizers and pasta, I figured I should start the cruise with some greens. The rocket salad is delicious. Though simple, the aged balsamic is flavorful enough. It doesn't need a ton of toppings!
The tiramisu was one of the best desserts I had all week, topped only by those at Wonderland at Chops Grille. Truthfully, I don't order the tiramisu in the Main Dining Room anymore because it doesn't compare!
My dad ordered the brownie and said, "You know, a chocolate brownie and ice cream is always good!"
Main Dining Room - Welcome Aboard
Overall, the Main Dining Room was a bit of a disappointment on our Quantum of the Seas cruise. Though nothing was truly horrible, there wasn't anything worth writing home about, either.
I appreciated how chilled the shrimp cocktail was served, but the fried chicken was a letdown. Perhaps I'm just too picky when it comes to fried chicken having been born and raised in the South.
I thought it lacked the crunch that true Southern fried chicken should have. That being said, my father and I thought that the honey Tabasco sauce was quite tasty.
Main Dining Room - French
I was a bit surprised at how much I enjoyed the butternut squash soup. This isn't typically a dish I'd order; however, I wanted to try something new! It was creamy and tasted even better with sourdough bread!
The seafood linguine was even more of a disappointment than the fried chicken. The seafood itself was good; however, the sauce was extremely bland and left much to be desired.
It didn't take long for me to choose a dessert, as I'm a firm believer that you can never go wrong with apple cobbler.
Though crumbles are technically a bit different, they're pretty similar, with the primary difference being that crumbles have a streusel topping, whereas cobblers have biscuit-like toppings. Either way, I love a warm fruity dessert with vanilla ice cream!
Main Dining Room - Breakfast
I've never been a fan of the Windjammer for breakfast. It's too chaotic and, usually, the quality of the food is just okay.
Thankfully, my dad feels the same way I do, so we began most mornings in the Main Dining Room.
When it comes to breakfast, I typically don't order too much; I'd rather have a larger lunch or dinner! My go-to was the "Eggs Your Way," with hashbrowns and fruit. My dad got the hashbrowns a lot, too, and he said they were one of his favorite things on the ship.
One day, I opted for the cheddar cheese grits, which were a bit disappointing. They were pretty bland, and the cheese wasn't shredded finely enough to melt well.
On Mother's Day, we arrived at 9:00am for brunch, which featured an expanded menu compared to breakfast the rest of the week. Having lost my mother a few years ago, it's never an easy day; however, I try to make it special by ordering her favorite foods, one of which was eggs benedict.
The ham wasn't my favorite, as it had a weird texture in my opinion, but the poached eggs and hollandaise sauce were great! I think she would have approved.
And while it was still early in the morning, we ordered the Royal chocolate cake, which is exactly what my mom would have done! The size was perfect for a small sweet treat to kickstart our final day onboard the ship.
Windjammer
On the first morning of our cruise, we ventured up to the Windjammer for a quick breakfast.
After that, we decided it was best for us to wake up earlier and go to the Main Dining Room. The food itself was okay, but, personally, I don't like starting off my day at a crowded buffet!
Before disembarking in Juneau, we had a quick lunch in the Windjammer, and this was our best meal in the buffet all week!
They served Laksa, a noodle dish that's popular in Southeast Asia. My dad thought it was so delicious that he got a second bowl!
I spiced mine up with a dash of sesame and chili oil.
Though not bland by any means, I prefer for my meals to have a kick, and if there's a way to spice something up, I'm going to! Looking back, I should have added more chili oil than I did.
We ate lunch in the Windjammer on the last day of the cruise, too. Everything was just okay, which is what I expected. We figured it would be a bit hard to mess up roasted vegetables and a salad bar!
The most disappointing meal we had was dinner in the Windjammer. Personally, I thought the Asian dishes were too salty, and the Kung Pao Chicken sauce was too sweet. The stir-fry was alright, but the Laksa was much, much better.
Solarium Bistro
On Day 5 of our cruise, we sailed through Endicott Arms en route to Dawes Glacier. Though we couldn't get extremely close to the glacier due to the abundance of icebergs, sailing through the majestic fjords was quite a site.
We woke up around 5:15am to claim front-row seats in the Solarium by 5:45am and decided it was best to have breakfast at the Solarium Bistro, rather than venturing across the ship to the Windjammer or downstairs to the Main Dining Room and miss the view.
Café @ Two70
Café @ Two70 was our go-to spot for lunch the first couple of days. It's a great place to grab a quick sandwich or salad, as well as take in the amazing views from Two70.
The quality of the food, however, did leave a bit to be desired. When I ordered the Reuben, it was placed under a panini press and still served cold; the cheese wasn't even melted! Similarly, my dad said his sandwich was in the microwave for too long.
The Thai noodle salad was also a bit bland. It would have been a winner with just a little more flavor in the dressing.
The desserts, however, were wonderful. The coffee cream puff had a strong coffee flavor, which I loved, and the red velvet cake was moist with the creamiest buttercream!
Learning from my first experience, I opted to skip the sandwiches and just get some roast beef the next day, which was a much better choice.
Similarly, I crafted my own salad, which tasted fresher than the ones I had in the Windjammer!
Again, the dessert was a home run. I could have eaten an unacceptable amount of these mudslide cookies!
Pub
My dad doesn't cruise as frequently as I do, and while he's been on Freedom and Oasis Class ships, he's never taken time to listen to the live music in the pub!
He ended up loving it, and we enjoyed drinks in the Harp & Horn Pub most evenings. We loved the small food menu they had and tried a couple items during our 7-night cruise!
Between the German pretzels, pulled pork nachos, and fried pickles, our favorite treat was the pretzels.
They were incredibly soft and served with spicy mustard! In my opinion, the fried pickles had too much breading, which made them a bit hard to bite into.
Sorrento's
After returning from our excursion in Juneau, we opted for a quick and easy dinner at Sorrento's. We missed our traditional dining time in the Main Dining Room and weren't in the mood to deal with the crowds at the Windjammer.
Honestly, Sorrento's has never been my favorite. As controversial as it sounds, I think Carnival and MSC Cruises have better pizza. For a quick meal or snack, though, it always hits the spot, especially with some crushed red pepper flakes.
I went with two slices of cheese, whereas my dad wanted the veggie pizza. He said his slices were a bit cold, and after trying the cheese, he said he should have gotten them to begin with!
Splash Away Cafe
Day 6 was spent at sea, and rather than return to the Windjammer or Café @ Two70°, we decided to try the specialty options at Splash Away Cafe. Though they had complimentary chicken tenders, mini hot dogs, and chocolate chip cookies, we were interested in the Asian dishes.
After ordering and receiving our food, we headed inside to sit at the Windjammer because it was too cold to eat on the pool deck! This ended up being quite advantageous, as we were near the soy and hot sauces, which were needed to add an extra kick to the dishes.
Between the Kung Pao Chicken and Cantonese Shrimp Wonton Noodle Soup, we'd skip the chicken and just order the soup. Though far better than the Kung Pao Chicken my dad tried in the Windjammer, it still wasn't quite what you'd expect at a land-based Chinese restaurant.
Wonderland
Having tried Wonderland on Symphony of the Seas last year, I was curious to see what my dad would think of this unique dining experience. He went into the meal with a few appetizers in mind, not knowing that the culinary guide would choose them for us!
We were brought The Bird's Nest, Mad Hatter's Purple Potted Shrimp, Crispy Crab Cones, Liquid Lobster, Tomato Water, and Baby Vegetables in the Garden.
The Crispy Crab Cones, Baby Vegetables in the Garden, and Tomato Water were new to me, and out of the three, I preferred the vegetables. The sauce drizzled on top was delicious, and each vegetable was perfectly tender. We finished just about everything on the plate, including the "dirt."
For our entrée, my dad and I ordered The Rib "I" Luscious Short Rib, which, like the vegetables, was incredibly tender in its own way.
The mashed potatoes were mouthwatering, too, with the tomatoes being some of the juiciest I've ever had. The only quarrel I had with the short rib was that the cut of meat contained a lot of fat that I had to cut around.
The star of the entire meal, however, was dessert. When we sat down, my dad saw the table next to us being served desserts and wanted to skip to the end of the meal! To be fair, he's a man who loves his sweet treats.
He wasn't disappointed, either. In fact, he loved the salted caramel ice cream so much that he asked for more! Our culinary guide even offered to bring him another chocolate orb because he could tell that he enjoyed it so much.
Chops Grille
In addition to Jamie's and Wonderland, we ate at Chops Grille, Royal Caribbean's signature steakhouse. Since we were docked in Victoria, British Columbia on the last night of the cruise, this was our final dinner onboard Quantum of the Seas— we saved the best for last!
I started with the jumbo shrimp cocktail, which was indeed jumbo. I appreciated that it was served over a bed of ice, so the shrimp were perfectly chilled.
I was stuck between ordering the lobster bisque and goat cheese salad for my second course.
In the end, I went with the bisque, mostly because I wanted to compare it to the bisque I had at The Porch on Celebrity Reflection a few weeks ago! Overall, they were pretty similar; however, I think the one at Chops was creamier with a stronger lobster flavor.
I appreciate that they offered a petit filet, as I don't think I would have been able to finish a 9oz cut of meat. My dad and I ordered our steaks medium; however, his came out slightly more cooked— it was definitely closer to medium well.
When thinking about the steak I had at Tuscan Grille on Celebrity Reflection, the one on Celebrity was the clear winner. However, the filet at Chops was still delicious and juicy.
For our sides, we split the mashed potatoes and asparagus.
While I loved both, I preferred the potatoes served with my short rib at Wonderland. The asparagus, however, were so tender! I could have eaten more than two of them.
My dad ordered the warm chocolate cake for dessert, and while it sounded tempting, I went with the warm apple pie à la mode. He thought the cake was good, but he was a bigger fan of the orb served in Wonderland.
My dessert was wonderful and the best I had on the ship! It wasn't served too warm, and the scoop of vanilla ice cream was the perfect size to complete the slice of pie.
We pre-purchased our three specialty meals through Royal Caribbean's Cruise Planner, paying $137.42 per person for two dinners and one lunch
In addition, we spent close to $35 on snacks in the pub, as well as lunch at Splash Away Cafe.
Though there was plenty of complimentary dining onboard Quantum of the Seas, we found it well worth the price to pay for a few specialty meals, especially Wonderland and Chops.
Those sailing to Alaska will want to have some meals off the ship, too, especially if you love fresh seafood.
We had some of the best crab legs of our lives at the Skagway Brewing Company (pictured above), though we'd skip the Crab House in Icy Strait Point. My dad loved the restaurant in Skagway so much that he purchased a t-shirt in the downstairs gift shop!
Read more: Local’s guide of what to do in Skagway, Alaska
We had a wonderful dinner in Victoria, British Columbia, too. We disembarked the ship with no true plan in mind— we were going to wander the downtown area and see what we happened to stumble into.
After my dad admired a large tree near the Parliament building, we continued to walk until we came across Bard & Banker. Not only was the building itself beautiful, but the food was delicious!, especially the parmesan brussel sprouts and prawn pesto linguine.
