WindStar Cruises

Hands down, we unreservedly choose WindStar Cruises. Smaller ships accommodate a smaller crowd - from 200 to 300 people, which enables the chef to take advantage of the fresh produce and fish available at various food markets along the way.

We sailed on the Wind Surf ship and enjoyed:

Veranda
Indoor and outdoor dining. For breakfast and lunch, a buffet that thinks of everything! Or order from the menu!

FOR BREAKFAST: Eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, croissants, cold meats and fruit, just to mention of few of the items available. Included were coffee specialty drinks, such as mocha lattes!

FOR LUNCH: A variety of hot main dishes, sandwiches, burgers, green salads, pasta salads, fresh fruits, and Oh My! - the desserts, plus two flavors of ice cream every day. The WindStar folks have thought of everything, and the service is absolutely "overboard", excuse the pun, but seriously, the crew are the friendliest group we've experienced, always making us feel comfortable and special.

Amphora Restaurant
The main dining area for dinner every evening, beautifully appointed with comfortable seating. Even though no reservations were required, we were always seated within a matter of minutes.

Every evening, the menu included a handful of choices for Appetizers, Salads, Main Entrees and Desserts, often with local fresh-caught fish or produce purchased from the port that day. Absolutely the most exquisite cuisine we've experienced.

Stella Bistro Restaurant
Featuring French cuisine, this restaurant required reservations. Although the quality of preparation was equally good, frankly, French cuisine is not "our thing".

Candles Restaurant
At night, the Veranda was transformed into indoor dining, and al fresco dining on the deck. Our selections were always impeccably prepared.

The Yacht Club
During the day, we enjoyed coffee drinks and pastries, all included, in this space to relax and socialize.
 

  2ND PLACE for CRUISE CUISINE 

Virgin Voyages

Virgin Voyages was our second choice for Cruise Cuisine, with a Food Court for breakfast and lunch, and several restaurants for dinner.

BREAKFAST & LUNCH
Instead of the usual buffets you'd expect, Virgin offers a Food Court, similar to a food court in a shopping mall. This concept works with different cuisines throughout the court, such as a Burger Bar, specialty coffee bar (extra fee), and a variety of international cuisines. A server at each booth serves your desired selection to you, so no handling of the same serving spoon just handled by a hundred other people that you'd find at a buffet.

For breakfast, all of the booths are transformed to offer breakfast items, so lines are shorter, and diners are spread out in this very large area.

DINNER
Virgin manages dinner on the ship by asking "sailors" to make reservations at the various restaurants 60 days or so ahead of time using their app. You're allowed to make one reservation per restaurant per cruise, which encourages you to try all the different options. (However, once you're on the ship, if you like a particular restaurant and there are tables open, you can dine at a restaurant more than once.) We found that by the time we got on the app to make our reservations, the only times available were either very early or very late, but we made it work.

Pink Agave Upscale Mexican
We ate here the first night, and honestly it was actually our favorite. The Aguachile tuna, avocado & jicama small plate was so good, we ordered a second one! Our main entrees were good, but the Aguachile was memorable! For dessert, the Tacos de Chocolate with Mexican chocolate and dulce de leche were definitely a hit.

Lick Me Till Ice Cream
We were looking forward with anticipation to all the ice cream we could eat on board (that is, it was complementary)! However, I found the flavors to be weak, lacking the intensity in most ice creams, which was probably good in the long run - how much ice cream can you eat and still fit into your cruise clothes.

Razzle Dazzle
We actually ate here three times, a couple of times for Brunch and once for Dinner! Not sure how we managed that.

For Brunch, the Avo Toast was a good starter, followed by the Wild Mushroom Frittata. The Rainbow Churros for dessert, however, were not a winner.

For Dinner, we started with the Avocado Green Goddess Salad which was very tasty. The Ribeye was just okay, and the Fried Chicken didn't wow us either.

Test Kitchen
We thoroughly enjoyed this dining experience of innovative tasting menus, which change seasonally. Several choices of small plates were offered, which results in a relaxed and extended dining experience. Every dish was a revelation, including dessert!

Gunbae Korean BBQ
This experience caught us by surprise! We were unaware that we would be seated with six other strangers in a cozy round booth, and asked to begin the evening with a very fast-paced drinking game. We don't often drink alcohol, so the server allowed us to drink fruit juice, instead of alcohol. The food was brought in courses, which made for a long evening, but overall it was an evening we won't soon forget. 

The Wake Steak & Seafood
We saved this restaurant for the last night. The decor is impressive as you descend a winding staircase to be seated. Expectations are high in the glamorous surroundings. Our steak and seafood choices did not "wow", but when you consider the ship accommodates almost 3,000 people, perhaps our expectations were a little too high.

Norwegian Cruises

In all fairness, we weren't able to fully enjoy the restaurants on this ship, as we caught a "bug" in New Orleans before embarkation. We weren't able to sample any of the "must pay" restaurants, but these are the complimentary restaurants we tried.

Garden Cafe Buffet
As far as buffets go, this one offered a decent variety of cuisines which were adequate. The soft-serve ice cream was a hit!  Again, when feeding 4,000 people, expectations can't be too high.

O'Sheehan's Bar & Grill
The burger and fries for lunch at this grill were good. Enough said.

American Diner
I was disappointed with this restaurant, because I pictured a "burger and biscuits & gravy kind-of-place" where you sit down and order from a menu. But alas, it was a buffet, so I skipped this place.

Savor Main Dining Room
On the last night, feeling somewhat better, we very much enjoyed all of our dishes at Savor, which touts a contemporary take on classic dishes. The recommended dessert was a standout!