What are the best cruise breakfast secrets? — featuring Life Well Cruised

0:00 Cruise dining is one of the best parts of cruising, but breakfast might be underrated in good part because most cruisers aren't aware of the best options, less you're known tips and hacks that will improve the first meal of the day. >> [music] >> Hi there, I'm Ilana from the website

0:20 lifewellcruise.com. Welcome or welcome back to my channel. Now, I have a little confession to make. At home, I never eat breakfast. And yet, somehow on a cruise, I am eating breakfast I think every single day. >> [gasps] >> And sometimes some people would say twice, but I am going to explain. Now,

0:37 in this video, I'm going to share the breakfast cruise secrets that most cruisers don't know. Now, if you're a first-time cruiser, this is absolutely a must-watch video. But even if you're an experienced cruiser, there might just be a few new tips, tricks, and hacks that you'll pick up on as well. Now, before I

0:55 get started, I wanted to mention two things. First, leave your comments below so that we can make this video a great resource for other people. And secondly, if you like this video, if you find it helpful, informative, or enjoyable in any way, then please do give this video a big thumbs up. I really do appreciate

1:10 it, and please subscribe to the channel if you haven't done so already. Let's get started. Number one, check out the alternative restaurants on board your cruise ship that offer breakfast that are not the buffet and not the main dining room. Now, I am going to talk about some tips and tricks and things

1:27 that can actually make your breakfast even better in those venues, but I did want to talk about the alternative casual restaurants as they're not only underrated, but they will be less crowded as well. So, many cruise ships do offer casual venues where you can pick up breakfast, and oftentimes this

1:43 is going to be even a little bit of an express or fast service. Now, on Carnival cruise ships, many of them have Blue Iguana. That is an amazing place to get a pretty fabulous breakfast burrito. Now, I'm telling you, they've got fresh cilantro, fresh pico de gallo. That is a very good breakfast burrito. Now, on

2:02 other cruise ships, you have different dining options. When you're on Royal Caribbean cruise ships, check out Johnny Rockets, which normally does have an extra fee, but is usually open for breakfast with a diner style menu, and it is included. On Norwegian Cruise Line ships, check out their 24-hour

2:20 restaurant called Oceans or The Local. It will depend on each cruise ship, but they've got a pretty nice breakfast menu. And the good thing is, this is a pretty express breakfast, so even though it is sit-down, you will get pretty quick service. Now, the only thing is, their menu items typically can't be

2:38 customized, but if you do want a quick sit-down breakfast, this is definitely a place to go. If you're sailing on Princess, do check out the International Cafe. Now, this is one of my absolute favorite places to have breakfast on a Princess cruise. They have Egg McMuffin-style sandwiches, they have

2:56 oatmeal, they have some really good pastries and donuts. And by the way, many of their donuts actually change up in terms of flavors every day. So, even if it is for a wonderful fresh-baked snack, do check out there. Oh, and by the way, they also serve fruit cups. On Celebrity, you have Cafe al Bacio. Now,

3:15 while they do not have any fruit cups, they have some pretty fabulous croissants, pain au chocolat, and muffins. Sailing with Holland America, do not overlook the Grand Dutch Cafe. Now, this is only available on their Pinnacle Class ships, but Holland America is doing a refurbishment on some

3:33 of their other cruise ships, where they are going to be adding this wonderful cafe. Now, beyond the coffee, which does have an additional charge, their wonderful Dutch pastries, many of them with names that I cannot pronounce, and their absolutely fabulous crepe and pancakes are included. Head to the main

3:51 dining room for breakfast. Now, a lot of people aren't aware that the main dining room serves a full breakfast and this breakfast is going to be different than many of the items that are in the buffet. So, if you are craving freshly made eggs Benedict or a stack of blueberry pancakes or a bagel with a

4:11 nice rosette of smoked salmon, all of that is available in the main dining room. Now, one of the things that I really like about going to the main dining room is you're going to be served your coffee, you're going to be served your juice. And if you do want to make any customizations to your order, you

4:27 can do that here. In fact, a lot of people aren't aware that if you see pancakes on the menu, but you are craving blueberry pancakes or chocolate chip pancakes or you want a mix of them on your plate, you can just ask. And do you want extra bacon? You can have this, too. Now, beyond the fact that the food

4:43 is quite good, sometimes you do want to get away from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the cruise ship, which is what we did on a Disney cruise a little while ago. While we went to the buffet one day, the other day we went to the main dining room and not only was the food delicious, the service was

5:03 wonderful, but we had the cutest Mickey-shaped waffles, fruit plates, coffee, and more all with a really nice ocean view. Order room service breakfast and I am going to tell you a little extra hack as to why you might want to do this. So, first, when it comes to room service, many cruise lines do

5:22 charge an extra fee now for their room service. Not all, but many do. However, a lot of people aren't aware that continental room service breakfast is available on most cruise lines for free or included. Now, what you do need to do is fill in a little card that will be placed in your cabin. You can choose to

5:42 have um some pastries, some fruit, some coffee, tea, juice, and that will be delivered to your cabin. Now, in other cases, so for instance, on Carnival, what you need to do is just use the phone and you can call in the order either the night before or the day of. The only thing to watch is they do have

6:00 certain hours for that breakfast, so make sure that you do order for that window of time. Now, something that we like to do is make our room service breakfast do double duty as a little bit of a wake-up call or an alarm. So, we order our room service breakfast usually for around 7:00 a.m. And this way we get

6:17 a knock on the door, we get our coffee delivered, and as we're waking up and getting ready, we get to enjoy this. And bonus, if you've got a balcony, you've got coffee and a little breakfast with an incredible ocean view. Order hot room service breakfast. Now, I do have to mention this as well. Some cruise lines

6:34 do have hot room service breakfast that is included or has a very small delivery fee. Now, Holland America, for instance, does have hot room service breakfast included. It is a very nice menu. But if you're sailing in a suite or if you've booked into a certain class of cabin, you may have an expanded room service

6:53 menu as well, where you can have omelets, sunny side up eggs, pancakes, and more delivered right to you. The sea day brunch. Many cruise lines do now have a sort of brunch available on sea days, and really this is something very good to look out for. Now, the most well-known is Carnival Cruise Line that

7:13 does have its sea day brunch, and it has combination of breakfast items and lunch items as well. MSC has the tour de brunch. This is very good with a variety of even some international dishes. Now, I'm curious, is brunch something that you really like to have on a cruise? Please let me know down in the comments

7:31 below. The buffet. In the buffet, you can have freshly made omelets, which I think is one of the best things that is available in the cruise ship buffet. But something that a lot of people aren't aware of is first of all that you can customize that omelet to anything you want, sometimes even beyond what they

7:51 have right in front of them. So even if you'd like a little bit of smoked salmon or something like that, you can ask them for that. And by the way, when there is an eggs Benedict station, a lot of times what I like to do is I don't really like ham very much, but I do like eggs Florentine, which is spinach instead of

8:07 the ham. So I usually ask if they can put some spinach instead, and oftentimes they are able to do that. Now speaking of eggs, let's talk about sunny-side-up eggs or even freshly made scrambled eggs. So if the omelet station is not very busy, this is something that you can ask for. But some cruise lines are

8:25 also going to have an alternative egg station as well. Now when you're in the buffet, something that you'll want to do is actually do a good walk around to see the different items that are available. Sometimes a lot of people are not aware that when it comes to your toast bread or your bagels and other bread items

8:43 that need to be toasted, that is in a different section than something else. So have a little bit of a plan when it comes to the buffet so that you don't end up picking up all of your hot items first and then getting your cold ones. You do kind of want to coordinate so that you pick up that omelet as an

9:00 example last. Take food to go back to your cabin. Now it doesn't mean that you can't eat in the buffet, but think about those little cereal boxes and you can bring them back to your cabin, especially if you have children and they may want them later on as a snack. Or maybe take a banana back to your cabin

9:16 for a snack. Sometimes certain fruits are available in the morning time, but they may not be available later. Cartons of milk, cartons of chocolate milk, even a glass of juice, those are all things that are available often times in the breakfast buffet, but they will not be out later on. And if you do like coffee

9:34 and a glass of milk later on in the afternoon or at night, you can just keep that in your little mini fridge in your cabin. Okay, we have to talk about the freshly made bread and pastries and other baked goods. Now, people sometimes say, "Do cruise lines really bake everything from scratch?" Well, I don't

9:51 know if all of them do, but I have definitely been on several cruise ships where they have showed us around the galley, and I can tell you their breads are made fresh. Many of their pastries are made fresh. So, I do believe so, at least from many of the cruise lines that I have been on.

10:09 And you know what? They are apparently working like at 5:00 in the morning. So, I don't think that you have to get to the buffet as early as possible to get that freshly baked donut, croissant, or pain au chocolat, but I will tell you it probably couldn't hurt. Eat breakfast before getting off the cruise ship for

10:26 the day. Now, this one probably goes without saying, but I think sometimes, you know, especially if you have an excursion planned, you might be in a big rush and you get off the cruise ship, but then you get hungry as soon as you're on your excursion. Especially in a cruise when we're eating a little bit more, it

10:41 does seem like we need a little bit more food. So, make sure that you do plan that extra 30 to 45 minutes to have a little bit of breakfast, or like I mentioned, order some room service breakfast in. Now, the other thing that you can do is even from, you know, the evening before is you can even bring a

10:57 little something back to your cabin, leave it in your mini fridge, and have it in the morning. Or take 10 minutes and grab a coffee along with pastry in the atrium to at least have a little something before you go. Eat breakfast outside. Now, often times at the buffet, there are going to be some tables that

11:14 are outside and they may not be obvious. Now, sometimes these tables are in the pool area, but a little bit closer to the buffet, and other times they're in the very back of the buffet. But, if you want a little bit more of a relaxed atmosphere and you like to dine a little bit al fresco, as they say, this is

11:32 something that you can often do and then you can make that buffet experience feel even better. If you have the drink package, order specialty coffee. Now, when you're in the main dining room, your server is going to come around with the regular pot of coffee, and that's great if that's what you want. But if

11:47 you like to have a little cappuccino or something else, ask the waiter for it, and when you do have the package, that is included. Now, I do have a few hacks for you that some people like to use. So, if you do not have the specialty coffee package, but you want to make your coffee taste a little bit more

12:02 special. A lot of cruisers will bring some little creamers with them that are flavored so that they can take the regular coffee and make it taste a little bit more special. Make your own mimosas. Now, again, if you do not have the drink package, but you like a little mimosa for breakfast, especially maybe

12:19 on a sea day, what you can do is you can bring on many cruise lines your own sparkling champagne or your own Prosecco. And then you can open that bottle up in your cabin. You can order juice from room service and keep some champagne glasses in your cabin, and there you go, you've got your own DIY

12:37 mimosas, and it didn't cost a thing. Heading to the buffet, but you want to eat like it's room service. Well, what you can do is you can bring food back from the buffet to your cabin. Now, there's a little bit of a hack or a trick that some cruisers use. What some people do is they bring a tray with

12:53 them, maybe from the dollar store or something like that. And this way, rather than having several plates to bring back with you, you then have your tray. Now, another thing you could do is just bring back your plate, but if you don't want to have your plate uncovered when you're walking in the stairs or

13:08 maybe in the elevator and people might be sneezing or coughing on it. Probably won't happen, but you never know. If you want to cover that, what you can do is bring either those food covers that you can find like in the dollar store or even a plastic shower cap instead. Bring Ziploc baggies with you. Now, you can

13:25 use Ziploc baggies for a variety of things on a cruise and when you travel, but one of the ways is that you can actually pick up some slices of cheese, some slices of charcuterie meat, put them in your little mini fridge with some bread. If you want to bring back crackers and fruits, you can do that as

13:43 well. And if you don't mind the extra room it takes, you can bring small Rubbermaid style containers as well. Use a drink caddy to bring back several coffees to your cabin. So, if you are in charge of bringing the coffee back to your cabin, what you can do is use the drink caddy, which is becoming a little

14:00 bit of a cruise travel essential. You definitely don't need it, but I would say if you're bringing back like two or more coffees and you're just one person, it might be handy. Now, let's talk about when you should head for breakfast. Should you head there early? Should you head there late? Now, I have seen some

14:17 people say to head to breakfast later, but I completely disagree with that. They are not bringing out extra items in my experience as you get towards the end of breakfast time. They are replenishing though the entire time um from the time that breakfast opens in the buffet up until I'd say the last 30 minutes or so.

14:37 And of course, if you want to beat the crowds, you do want to head there early and you want to avoid that midway time. But there will always be enough food. Try to take different breakfast items every day and even vary the different restaurants that you go to. There can be a little bit of monotony, it seems like

14:55 when it does come to cruise food, but I think it's just because a lot of times what people do is they try to try everything in a day or two. So, don't do that. Spread it all out. You could do one restaurant one day, another restaurant another day. This way you do have variety, but even when it comes to

15:12 the buffet, instead of having pancakes and an omelet and the hash browns and bagel and cream cheese all in one day, have eggs benedict one day, have bagel and cream cheese and lox another with some fruit and some yogurt and vary it up. So, every day feels like you're having something new in a different

15:32 restaurant. Try the crepes. Now, if there is a crepe station on your cruise ship, this is in my opinion a must. They are so good. And I guess it does feel a little bit decadent. Let's face it. How much would you pay to go out for crepes at your local restaurant at home? And many cruise ships do have a crepe

15:51 station where you can have Nutella crepes or crepes filled with strawberries and whipped cream or even savory ones instead. Do not skip breakfast on disembarkation day. Now, we've actually made this mistake over the years. Sometimes we were in such a rush to leave the ship that we just got off without eating

16:08 breakfast. And then what happened is we were driving home maybe and then we'd have to stop somewhere like a Starbucks or something like that or a McDonald's to have breakfast. And honestly, it wasn't as good even as on the cruise ship. Or we'd head straight to the airport and have breakfast there. But

16:22 why not take that extra time unless you're really in a rush and have to catch a flight soon after. Take the time, enjoy a more leisurely breakfast. You can have this in the buffet, but a lot of people don't know that many cruise ships have the dining room open on disembarkation day. So, why not enjoy

16:39 one last sit-down meal on your cruise ship before you go. Now, I'd love to hear from you. Please let me know, where is your favorite place to have breakfast on a cruise? And any cruise tips that you have as well, please let me know down in the comments below. Now, by the way, if you would like to be on our

16:56 email list, I send out emails every time I put out a new video, share cruise news and cruise deals. So, I will leave a link down below in the description to that as well as well as a QR code. Now, I hope that you enjoyed this video. If you did, please do give it a big thumbs up. I really do appreciate it. And

17:13 please subscribe to the channel if you haven't done so already. Bye for now and happy cruising.