15 Complementary Dining Options You Can Eat at for Free on the Icon of the Seas
I recently returned from a trip on Royal Caribbean’s first Icon class ship, Icon of the Seas. This ship has so many complimentary dining options it was hard to try them all but I did try most of them on my 7 day cruise. I am excited to share my thoughts about each one of these. First off, let’s look at a list of each complementary restaurant and then I’ll share more about each one. These options aboard the Icon the Seas include…
Pearl Cafe
Park Cafe
Sorrento’s
Surfside Bites
Surfside Eatery
Sprinkles – Ice cream
El Loco Fresh
Basecamp
Aquadome Market – Creme de la crepe, GNGR, MAC’S, FETA, Toast and Garden
Windjammer – Buffet
Dining Room
Let’s start off with the Pearl Cafe!
Pearl Cafe
Pearl Cafe is one of the few places to grab food late at night as it’s open 24/7. Here you can grab sandwiches, veggies and hummus, different salads and varying deserts. Its a great place to grab a quick snack or light meal anytime throughout the day. My favorite thing to stop by and get was the veggies with ranch and hummus. It was a great healthy snack. You can find the Pearl Cafe up on deck 6.
Park Cafe
Park Cafe is located in Central Park on deck 8 and is a great place to stop for a quick breakfast or lunch. For Breakfast they have a small bagel bar along with quick grab items like yogurt cups. I had them make a bagel one morning and I really enjoyed it. I wasn’t quite as thrilled with the yogurt I got but it wasn’t bad. For lunch, the Park Cafe has sandwiches as well.
Sorrento’s
If you are craving pizza this is the place to be. Located one deck below the Pearl Cafe on deck 5 you will find Sorrento’s. This restaurant has cheese, pepperoni and supreme pizzas. Sorrento’s has a decent amount of seating out front as well. While I didn’t try the pizza several members of my family did and they thought it was good.
Surfside Bites
Surfside is a great place to be if you want to hang out at the pool all day. While you’re spending your day at the pool you can grab food at Surfside bites whenever you get hungry. Surfside Bites has pizza toasties, popcorn chicken, cheeseburgers and some neat fruit skewers that were delicious. And don’t forget to grab some churros for desert. I really liked the popcorn chicken when I tried it and the fruit skewers can be refreshing (especially if you are in the heat all day). Surfside Bites can be found on deck 7.
Surfside Eatery
If you want a break from the heat, you can find Surfside Eatery right beside Surfside Bites and this restaurant has indoor and outdoor seating. To make it more fun, you can sit at one of the cute tables shaped like a surfboard. The menu at Surfside Eatery is buffet style and changes throughout the trip. The day I visited they had sandwiches, mashed potatoes, coleslaw and other items as well.
Sprinkles (Ice cream)
There are a couple ice cream stands aboard the Icon of the Seas. One is found in Surfside on deck 7 and the other on deck 15. When you walk up to the stand, a crew member will make you a chocolate, vanilla or swirl cone based on what you request. Grabbing ice cream cones throughout the day is one of the perks of cruising! Of course I grabbed one on the first day of our cruise!
El Loco Fresh
Up on deck 15 in Chill Island you can find Mexican cuisine at El Loco Fresh. This restaurant offered burritos, quesadillas and build your own nachos. I enjoyed eating at this restaurant and ate here a couple of times during my trip. When I ate here I chose the nachos and I have to share my nacho “hack” with you. When I was in line, I saw the person in front of me grab a plate and a bowl of chips. They then put their chips on the plate and piled the nacho ingredients on top. I thought this was a great idea and did the same thing. While this was a good idea in theory, I found that the chips got fairly soggy by the time I went to eat them. The next time I went to El Loco Fresh, I had my own great idea, I grab the chips (left them in the bowl) and put the nacho ingredients on the plate. I made myself a layered dip. It was great!
Basecamp
One deck above El Loco Fresh you will find Basecamp. If you are looking for classic American favorites this is the place to go. Here you will find burgers, chicken fingers and hotdogs. The food that drew us to this restaurant was the pretzel bites with cheese sauce. Not only was this a good place to eat but it was also shaded. The one downfall to eating here though is that the music on the deck was really loud so it was hard to carry on a conversation with others. There’s no reason you can’t grab your food and take it somewhere else a little more quiet though!
Aquadome Market
The Aquadome Market can also be found on deck 15 right beside the Aquadome theater. What makes this area unique is that there are 5 different small restaurants within the area. Let’s start with one of my favorites, Creme De La Crepe.
Creme De La Crepe: Here you will find several crepe options that are made when you step up and order. My favorite was the strawberry nutella crepe. I got one of these several times throughout the trip. In addition to the strawberry nutella, they also have a lemon zested, salted caramel and hazelnut and banana.
GNGR: If you are looking for an Asian dish, this is where you will head. At GNGR, you will choose a base of noodles or rice and then top it with an entree. I tried the chicken teriyaki and ginger beef when I went. I will have to say though, this was probably my least favorite meal I got the whole cruise. That being said, I would be willing to give it another try if I visited again. On a side note, I did like the spring rolls they served with sweet and sour sauce.
MAC’S: Calling all Mac and cheese lovers. Not only does MAC’s make regular classic Mac and cheese, they also have different varieties like pepperoni pizza Mac, broccoli Mac, chili Mac and bacon Mac. I tried the classic and pepperoni pizza Mac. I liked the classic but wasn’t a big fan of the pepperoni pizza version.
FETA: FETA is the mediterranean restaurant on the ship. Here you pick a base of either rice, lettuce or pita and then add any proteins, toppings and sauce you would like. This was my favorite meal I had at the Aquadome Market. I wish I had gone back another day and tried different things.
Toast & Garden: This restaurant is a great place to grab a quick sandwich or salad. While I didn’t eat here, my dad did and he said he didn’t love it. If I ever travel on the Icon of the Seas again, I would love to give one of these sandwiches or salads a try.
Dining Room
My families favorite place to eat for dinner is the main dining room. There is something special about dressing a little nicer, getting served a three course meal and getting to know the wait staff. It really makes the dining experience neat. The waiters we had on this trip were wonderful. Not only were they friendly but they memorized our preferences and had the things we liked at dinner prepared and ready ahead of time. My sister also had to eat meals with no dairy and the staff went out of their way to accommodate her dietary needs. The dining room is open for breakfast and lunch as well but you will want to check the schedule as these may only be offered on certain days.
Windjammer
We can’t finish this article without mentioning the buffet! Aboard Royal Caribbean ships, the buffet is called the Windjammer. The Windjammer is open throughout the day and has so many different food options making it a great place to go for any meal. They have common staples each day like mashed potatoes and gravy (my favorite), chicken strips, burgers and more. Along with these they also switch out varying other types of food throughout the trip. This is also a good place to grab different deserts if you want something sweet or grab a snack in between meals.
Besides the places mentioned above, I also found out there were a couple other complementary restaurants called Coastal Kitchen and The Grove. These two restaurants are only available to those guests who book suites. If that’s you, feel free to leave a comment and let us know how those are!
I thoroughly enjoyed the food on this trip and would gladly go back and try these things again! Let us know in the comments what food was your favorite! – Pepper and Passports
If you are trying to decide between “your time” dining or eating dinner at the same time each night, check out the differences between the two options here – https://pepperandpassports.com/cruise-dining-options-pros-and-cons-what-to-choose/
And if you find yourself in the Gatlinburg Tennessee area, here are some wonderful restaurant suggestions for you to try – https://suitcasesandsalt.com/10-restaurants-you-cant-miss-in-gatlinburg-tennessee/
You can also grab a FREE bucket list maker or daily trip planner here:
Bucket list maker: https://seasonedtravel.kit.com/793556e6a0
Daily trip planner: https://seasonedtravel.kit.com/4b7cb43380
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