Off to the Windjammer

Windjammer Marketplace, Royal Caribbean's buffet, was our first stop once we boarded the Quantum of the Seas, partially because I was really, really hungry (didn't eat enough for breakfast, apparently) and partially because our cabins weren't going to be ready for over an hour. We couldn't start exploring the ship while lugging our duffel bags around, so why not kick off the trip with some lunch? [As a side note, I know in our last Quantum post we said we were going to talk about each venue in a single post instead of recapping chronologically, but we tried it, it was too unwieldy, and we've decided to go back to telling our story in order, repeating places as needed.]

Source: my parents' camera because I can't find my own picture of the buffet

Our first lunch is almost always at the buffet, since options are limited on day 1. Apparently there were other venues open for lunch when we boarded (like the smaller cafes), but we didn't know anything about that. Unless you've researched this in advance, I'm not sure how you're supposed to know this, since they didn't give out any list of venues or operating hours or anything like that. (It's on the schedule (which they call the Cruise Compass, since I'm sure we'll mention that in the future) in the cabins, but almost all the cabin floors were still closed, so we didn't have a copy.) So we just went to the buffet.

The Windjammer was packed when we got there, as apparently everyone had decided it was time for lunch. People were rushing everywhere. Almost every table was taken. The only available tables we found were outside on the back deck. Luckily it wasn't absurdly cold for December, but it still was cold enough for down coats and hoods while eating. The view was nice though, as you could see from Staten Island and the Bayonne Bridge clear across the river and over to the Lower Manhattan skyline.

At least the outdoor deck had a nice view of Bayonne, even if we had to eat in our down coats

A and I, pre-cruise, had been pretty excited for the Windjammer. Even though the buffet is not usually our favorite dining venue on a cruise, this one looked great in the photos we had seen. So many different islands of food, so many different categories on all the signs, so many options! After seeing all that, it was a bit of a surprise to me that I ended up wandering around for a long time trying to find enough to fill up a plate to eat. Lines were long, people were pushing everywhere, some of the food looked a little blah and uninspiring. On top of that, there wasn't really that much variety there and the dishes were repeated across islands and sections. I hoped that this was only because it was the first day and they were trying to feed the masses as simply as possible.

While searching for food, I found the strangest looking tzatziki I've ever seen

What helped with the hunger while searching for food was that the first place I went was the cookie section. We had heard so much about the freshly baked cookies that would be made all day on the Quantum and were so excited for soft, warm cookies all day long. I ended up munching on a coconut cookie while getting lunch and waiting in lines. It was a little crispier than I prefer and very buttery, but it served its purpose.

My first plate, which took surprisingly long to put together

I eventually ended up getting a small sandwich (tuna, if I remember correctly, which was fine), rice (nothing special), Spanish rice (fine), Mexican corn salad (pretty good), Indian fried fish (fine), Chettinad chicken curry (pretty good but needed more spices), and tilapia (good). We didn't take any pictures of A's plates at lunch (not sure why not) but he got quite a bit of the same things (like I said, not a ton of options) but also some salmon (dry). On the second go-around, I finally found the taco bar (fine), as well as the chicken shawarma (good), and got an oatmeal cookie (way too crispy). I just couldn't find enough things to eat while dealing with the crowds and gave up. There would be plenty of food to eat later.

My second plate at lunch, where I finally found the taco bar

Overall, our first visit to the Windjammer was fine, but nothing special. Although it's always crowded at cruise buffets and people always act like they haven't eaten in weeks, I can usually still manage to navigate the crowds and find plenty of things I want to eat, but not this time. We hoped that our unimpressed feelings were the result of first day issues - too many people and a rush on the food might make things less than stellar. But the Windjammer served its purpose, to fuel us for the afternoon, so we could explore the ship and try to figure out everything Quantum would have to offer over the next 2 weeks. As for the food, we were really looking forward to kicking off the real dining experience at Silk that night. It would be our first taste of Dynamic Dining and we couldn't wait to try it!