Symphony of Seas Restaurants

[lv2cruisgrl]

We will be sailing on Symphony in October and would like to know the good or the bad about the restaurants.  Is Hooked good?  Is Chops or any of the others worth the extra money?  We have sailed all the other Oasis ships but have been doing Celebrity the last few years.  Wondered how these restaurants are.  Which would you recommend?

 

Thank you,

[Clarea]

Don't miss this fantastic Symphony review:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2648744-the-symphony-the-key-two-teens-and-me/

 

[cruisegirl1]

On a  recent Symphony cruise, we decided to give Hooked a try since it was specific to Symphony and we had already been to many of the RCCL specialty restaurants.  We were pleased.   On that same cruise we also had a good lunch at Jamie's Italian.  We've never had a bad meal in  any  RCCL specialty restaurant.   

 

enjoy

M

[nelblu]

57 minutes ago, lovrccl said:

We will be sailing on Symphony in October and would like to know the good or the bad about the restaurants.  Is Hooked good?  Is Chops or any of the others worth the extra money?  We have sailed all the other Oasis ships but have been doing Celebrity the last few years.  Wondered how these restaurants are.  Which would you recommend?

 

Thank you,

 

If you like seafood, Hooked is the place to go.   Had a wonderful and filling meal on our Feb. 2 sail.  Could not finish our cobbler with ice cream dessert.

[Ourusualbeach]

The $10 happy hour special at hooked was delicious.  It varies by night but we went when it was a lobster roll and a pint.  Next time I’ll just order 2 of the specials and that will be dinner.  

[proggieus]

we thought Hooked was Ok. I can say it was certainly the fasted specialty dinner we have ever had on a RCCL ship.

 

in and out in less then an hour. actually felt rushed

 

the other frustrating part was I went to hooked to make a reservation for dinner, OK. All set there. then one of our aqua shows got moved because of wind so I went back to see if I could move the original reservation-

 

 

they didn't have one for us, and not only did they not have room for us when we wanted to move It to,they didn't have the original time open either.  So after making a big deal about how they will try to fit us in and making it seem like they were being incredibly generous we got in at the new time.

 

 

when we showed up the place was nearly empty, I cant believe they had that many no shows, literally 3/4 of the tables were empty the entire time we were in the restaurant.

 

the Lobster Mac had sat under a warming lamp for far too long. one of the other apps was lukewarm.

 

the lobster roll was really good and my wife's salmon was really good, but overall we were both just unimpressed.

 

 

Chops on the other hand was the best service and food we got on the entire trip.

[BNBR]

I would note that Royal has really fair prices on their dining packages.  For $169 - $199 you can have specialty dining every night and even sea day lunches with the ultimate dining package.  If you are considering the specialty restaurants, just grab the package and enjoy yourself!  I tend to think specialty dining is well worth the upcharge, but I do prefer traditional dining when we are with larger groups.

[Pat'sSeaHag]

We were on the Symphony last month. We had the Ultimate dining package, so ate at all the specialty restaurants.

         Hooked - We enjoyed a lot. The drunken mussels were amazing! Grilled cod was wonderful.

         CP 150 - The tenderloin for two was maybe the best beef I've ever had. Phenomenal !!

         Chops - Dinner was very good, but preferred 150. Lunch was good. Roasted chicken was fantastic.

         Wonderland - Great experience. Food was good. Different presentation, but fun. Try once for the experience!

         Jamie's Italian - Good, but not our favorite. Probably wouldn't pay full price.

         Izumi - Hibachi dinner, Fantastic! Sushi lunch, Very very good. (and I'm not a huge sushi person!)

 

We had wonderful service everywhere we went. 

 

We generally only do one (or maybe two) specialty restaurants per cruise, so this was a different experience for us. We never even entered the MDR. Unfortunately, I think I'm now spoiled and will have to get the UDP every time! (first world problems!)

 

Hope this helps! 😎 

 

 

[nelblu]

29 minutes ago, proggieus said:

when we showed up the place was nearly empty, I cant believe they had that many no shows, literally 3/4 of the tables were empty the entire time we were in the restaurant.

 

the Lobster Mac had sat under a warming lamp for far too long. one of the other apps was lukewarm.

 

the lobster roll was really good and my wife's salmon was really good, but overall we were both just unimpressed.

 

 

 

It reminds me of the time we sailed the Serenade over Valentine's day and went to Portofino to make reservations for that day for 6PM.  The Maitre D then were very rigid and did not give a s--t.  I was told that that time was not available.  So I chose a 5PM.  Complete dinner at that time took at least 2 hours to complete.  During that time frame there must have been some 6-7 tables empty.  I was really annoyed.

 

On our Symphony cruise, we began with Crab Cakes, New England Clam Chowder, Surf & Turf and fried clams as a side and completed it with Blueberry Cobbler with Vanilla Ice Cream.  Boy, was I stuffed.  Only downside was the lack of Clams on the Half Shell.

Edited April 3, 2019 by nelblu

[proggieus]

all of our group thought the overall food service on Symphony was just a bit lacking when compared to our other cruises.

 

I wouldn't go so far as to call it poor but just not that great

 

another example-

 

We had dinner at Jaimie's with a large Group, 12 of us. they brought out like one small serving of each app to share, I am talking like a total 4 of the little bread things. then we order and the salads and everybody's ordered apps start coming and then they bring the large table apps.so between the planks, the ordered apps and salads plus the table apps there was no room for anything on the table. we were a little surprised when they took orders for the apps since every other time we have gone to a specialty with a group that size they just serve them family style,  there was just no communication between anybody. and drink service took 20 minutes to get the first round and we were never offered a second. 

[mouseRD]

We really loved Wonderland and would highly recommend.  We liked Hooked; a bit too much food for us, especially with the rocking of the ship that was taking place when we dined there.  

[37645]

For us we could any go to Jaimes as we gavel with people who don’t eat meat or seafood and only Jaimes has options for them to eat. There isn’t currently anything available on any of the other specialty restaurants to justify paying for it when they can’t have any entrees. Hoping that this changes as I would love to try Hooked,CP 150 and Wonderland. But unfortunately can’t try it until they offer non meat/seafood entrees. 

 

So so I vote for Jaimes. 

[BekkaW]

On Symphony we ate at Chops, 150CP and Wonderland. They were all really good. I think my favourite was 150CP - you have to try the fried cheesecake dessert! 

[SAmome]

Does anyone know the current HH specials going on for which days on Symphony for Hooked and Wonderland?