Boarding day is always filled with anticipation and excitement, and if you can snag an early boarding time, there is even more time for food! Our most recent trip was a quick 3 night cruise leaving from Miami visiting Nassau and Cococay, Bahamas aboard Freedom of the Seas. Thankfully we were able to board between 11 and 11:30am giving us plenty of time to explore before our rooms became available around 1pm.

Windjammer (all you can eat buffet) is never my favorite place to go for lunch as it is often extremely crowded and chaotic. Boarding day is the one exception if you can make it in early. We were in a group of 5 and didn’t have any trouble finding a seat before noon. It started to get more crowded as we left but still was manageable.

As far as the selection of food, they had most of the stations open with pasta, burgers, salad, soup (potato leek looked delicious), and Indian inspired cuisine. They even had chicken nuggets which is something we hadn’t seen on other ships in the past.

The buttered chicken and rice from the international flavors station was a highlight amongst our group. I am not ashamed to admit that I went back for seconds when I was scoping out the dessert. The chicken was moist, and the flavor of the sauce was on the sweeter side but with a slow spice mild enough for those that do not like heat.

Of course I couldn’t finish off the buffet without at least tasting the dessert. They had a nice spread including a Welcome Aboard cake, coconut cream puff (pictured above), bread pudding, and assorted cakes. The coconut cream puff was better than those I have had in the past as the pastry wasn’t as dry. While I didn’t taste it myself, the regular bread pudding (they also had chocolate) was rated highly by one of our traveling companions.

Of course, embarkation day wouldn’t be complete with several cocktails while awaiting room opening. Most bars were open including the Solarium and Lime and Coconut on the pool deck. If you didn’t want to head to Windjammer for lunch El Loco Fresh (on the pool deck) offered a selection of tacos, burritos, nachos, and quesadillas. This is one of my favorite stops on any ship that has one.

If none of those options interest you or you need an afternoon snack before dinner there is the always reliable and delicious Sorrento’s pizza. Open 11:30am-2am each day it is a favorite stop for us when we have the late dinner seating or if we manage to stay up for the late night parties.

Overall embarkation day is one of the best times to wander the ship and scope out the food and drinks. There will be plenty of staff trying to sell you packages for specialty dinner and if you haven’t pre-booked you can sometimes get some good deals, but just know there are plenty of dining options fully included with your cruise fare.