Passengers are spoiled for choice when it comes to dining options aboard the Anthem of the Seas. For many, food is the best part of any cruise, and the selection of complimentary dining and specialty restaurants on the Anthem do not disappoint. I learned that no matter how many times you hit the gym on a cruise, putting on extra weight is inevitable so just deal with it! Here is my Anthem of the Seas dining experience.
The 4 Complimentary Dining Rooms
Grande Restaurant
The Grande is the fanciest restaurant onboard where formal attire is required every night, so go ahead and wear that tux or gown! The decor has a Titanic vibe with its gold accents and mirrors. Classic dishes like escargots, duck a l’orange, and soufflé are served and lobster is on the menu every night. Live a little and order as many lobsters as you’d like – nobody’s judging and all food here is complementary anyway!
Silk
At Silk, you’ll notice the theatrical decor of vivid red walls, gold accents, lanterns, and velvet chairs. A pan-Asian restaurant, the cuisine includes Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, and Indian flavours – albeit Americanized versions of it!
Chic
This dining room has a hip and cosmopolitan atmosphere. The contemporary American cuisine includes crab cakes, sea bass, and rack of lamb. On our sailing, Chic and Grande were the two restaurants offering a sit-down breakfast service, as an alternative to the breakfast buffet.
American Icon
The room dividers at American Icon feature iconic U.S. sights. Here, you can sample some good ol’ American comfort food with a twist, such as fried chicken and mac & cheese. The four main complementary restaurants rotate between two versions of their menus to offer you more options so you can revisit each restaurant more than once.
Speciality Restaurants
For the ultimate Anthem of the Seas dining experience where you’ll find more attentive service and higher quality food, be sure to check out the specialty for-fee restaurants. There are 8 specialty restaurants including Jamie’s Italian by Jamie Oliver, Johnny Rockets, Izumi Japanese, and Michael’s Genuine Pub. Guests who stay in suites have access to the exclusive Coastal Kitchen featuring Mediterranean cuisine – talk about VIP treatment!
If you plan on eating at a few speciality restaurants, there are booking packages where you can save 20% when booking 3 restaurants.
Specialty Restaurant: Wonderland
If you only eat at one specialty restaurant, I would highly recommend Wonderland Imaginative Cuisine ($50 dinner only). This is where molecular gastronomy meets Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland resulting in an original dining experience. The Mad Hatter greeted us at the door and we stepped into a whimsical space decked out with king and queen chairs, oversized goblets, and playfully distorted cutlery.
Our journey into a fantasy world began with the six elements on the menu: sun, sea, ice, earth, fire and dreams. After explaining everything on the menu, our waiter made many of the selections for us, which was helpful since there were just too many choices.
Get ready to explore unexpected flavours and dishes that aren’t what they appear to be. The vegetable appetizer with blackened Japanese breadcrumbs representing vegetables growing on a patch of soil had the most imaginative presentation!
The main entree portions were ridiculous – by that, I mean they were huge. Totally fit for a giant. The braised beef on the bone was enough to feed a small village!
A little box with a menu on a queen of heart card signalled the start of dessert. Although we couldn’t eat another bite, we couldn’t resist ordering the Molten Chocolate Cake and Baked Alaska.
Special Dietary Requests
Royal Caribbean takes dietary restrictions and food allergies very seriously. I had a special dietary request so I always got to pre-order my meal the night before. The kitchen received a special slip with my name and dietary request at every meal. Once, the waiter even stopped me from dipping my lobster into melted butter since it went against my dietary restriction!
Dining Reservations
Royal Caribbean did away with their Dynamic Dining program due to numerous complaints about the reservations system. Instead, they reverted back to My Time Dining and Traditional Dining. With My Time Dining restaurants, American Icon and Silk, you have the flexibility of choosing your own dining time. With Traditional Dining you can reserve an early (6pm) or late (8:30pm) seating at Chic and Grande, and sit at the same table every night.
Read why you should cruise Anthem of the Seas here.
Have you cruised with Royal Caribbean? What was your Anthem of the Seas dining experience like?
Safe Travels!
xx Deb
Title image: Royal Caribbean
Jeff says
Very informative! Love the pictures!
Deb Che says
Hi Jeff! Thanks for reading 🙂 Have a great day!