I ate brunch at 3 Royal Caribbean restaurants, and the one you've heard of the least was the best

Brunch isn’t something Royal Caribbean has offered a lot, but it’s great you can find brunch more often now.

On Royal Caribbean’s Wonder of the Seas, there are three restaurants that serve brunch throughout the cruise: the Main Dining Room, Solarium Bistro, and Mason Jar.

Brunch isn’t offered every day, but it’s available on select mornings of the cruise.

During my recent cruise on Wonder of the Seas, I stopped by all three to sample them all.

Only reservation you need is at Mason Jar

Both Solarium Bistro and Main Dining Room require no reservations for brunch, but you will need one at the Mason Jar.

Brunch is offered at Solarium Bistro on sea days (and on the day we docked in St. Thomas at 1pm). Brunch was only offered in the Main Dining Room on our late arrival day into St. Thomas, and the Mason Jar offers brunch on embarkation day and sea days (and St. Thomas day).

You can make a pre-cruise reservation for Mason Jar on the Royal Caribbean website. For the other two restaurants, simply walk up and ask for a table.

I was surprised by the menu choices

When I hear the word “brunch”, I think of scrambled eggs and bacon served alongside spaghetti and a burger. In short, it’s about a lot of choices you can intermix between the two meals.

The Mason Jar’s brunch menu has items from both meals, including fried chicken sandwiches, avocado toast, biscuits, and more.

Being a Southern American styled restaurant, there are a lot of regional favorites here: blueberry johnnycakes, spinach ‘n pimento cheese omelet, and fried chicken ‘n waffles. There’s also scrambled eggs, burger, and a chicken sandwich if you want something a bit more familiar.

At the Main Dining Room, their brunch menu leaned more heavily into the breakfast choices. It felt like their brunch menu was the standard breakfast menu, with a few of their lunch menu items added in.

The Solarium Bistro’s menu was the largest of the menus, with multiple stations to choose from.  Served buffet style, there is no printed menu, but I found much more choices than I expected.

Solarium Bistro’s brunch buffet bonanza

The Solarium Bistro is a complimentary restaurant at the front of the ship that I think many passengers overlook. However, on the day I ate there, it was definitely not uncrowded.

You will find lots of choices spread across multiple buffet stations. There are waffles, burgers, omelets, spaghetti, bacon, and more.

I was impressed by how much choice there was, which is why it felt the most crowded of the buffet spots I visited on Wonder.

The food quality was that of the Windjammer buffet, so it wouldn’t be anything significantly different. But I think the sheer variety and the fact it’s included in your cruise fare stood out a lot.

Southern comfort food at Mason Jar

The Mason Jar is Royal Caribbean’s first specialty restaurant to lean into the brunch trend, and it wont leave you disappointed either.

You’ll find a mix of familiar and maybe not-so-familiar choices (if you don’t live near an SEC college). I’m all for new choices, and I appreciate it’s not just more of the same.

The Sweet-Tooth Cinnamon Roll and the red velvet pancakes caught our eye almost immediately. The cinnamon roll was massive, and probably best suited as something to share with everyone at your table.

In fact, all the dishes were quite large and this is a good restaurant to order one more entree than people in your party and just share everything. 

A basic brunch in the Main Dining Room

The brunch menu in the Main Dining Room is perhaps the least inspired of the three, in the sense it’s the standard breakfast menu they have every day, with a few staples of the lunch menu.

There’s nothing wrong with any of the choices here, but don’t expect to be wowed by anything new or different.

What I love about eating in the Main Dining Room for breakfast or brunch is the relaxed pace, dignified atmosphere, and ocean views (if you’re near a window).

Whereas Solarium Bistro is busy with people, the Main Dining Room is more spread out and has you seated with waiter service.

The French toast and omelet your way are probably the top choices, but you could get a steak or burger here too.

Solarium Bistro is worth a try on your next cruise

Among the three restaurants, I enjoyed Solarium Bistro the most.

Not only is it complimentary, but I thought its variety of menu choices really stood out. It felt like I could mix and match the most of the three, and I thought there were some interesting choices too.

The Mason Jar is a strong contender too, as you’ll find classic and reimaged southern-inspired breakfast dishes. I think being able to go to any specialty restaurant and get something you can’t find elsewhere on the ship is a big selling point of spending extra.

However, there is a lot of bleed over between the Mason Jar’s brunch and dinner menus. Plus, I think the bar scene is better than the restaurant experience, but that’s a different debate.

Compared to Solarium Bistro and Mason Jar, the Main Dining Room’s brunch offering was uninspiring. It wasn’t bad food by any means, just nothing you’re going to walk away from and think that meal really stood out.

Overall, I would recommend the Solarium Bistro for brunch as an easy choice that the entire family will find something they can enjoy. If you have a dining package, make a point to try Mason Jar on another morning.