Mason Jar Review: Royal Caribbean’s Wonder of the Seas
We are just back from a 7-night cruise onboard the amazing Wonder of the Sea. During our Wonder of the Seas Preview, we discussed going on a kid-free cruise and wanting to try some new to us dining venues.
When Wonder of the Seas debut in March of 2022, we were excited to see a restaurant and bar with Southern-inspired dishes onboard.
We decided to book the Mason Jar Brunch for our Embarkation Day lunch – crazy, I know. We always hit up the Windjammer Buffet on Embarkation Day, but we decided to switch it up this time.
Prior to setting sail, we saw mixed reviews about the Mason Jar, so we were excited to give it a try ourselves. Check out our full experience and review of Mason Jar below.
Cost
We snagged a reservation for brunch on the Royal Caribbean App during a 40% off sale for $20.99 per person – not a bad price at all in our eyes.
The Menu
The Mason Jar Brunch menu features a menu full of comfort food staples with a modern twist. These include fried chicken and waffles, stuffed French toast, biscuits and gravy, various handhelds, and classic cocktails.
We should note that if the brunch menu is not something that intrigues you, they have a completely different menu for dinner.
The Atmosphere
The Mason Jar onboard the Wonder of the Seas is located on the aft of the ship. You can find it on deck 15, right by the Windjammer Buffet.
From the minute we walked into the venue, we were impressed with the floor to ceiling windows. They spanned the length of the restaurant and overlooked the ocean. These views could not be beat!
As we walked in, there was a bar and lounge area on the left, with a stage that offered up live country music throughout the cruise.
As we turned to the right, we found the main seating area for the sit-down meal.
The overall design of the venue incorporates elements like mason jars, wooden tables, and a charming farmhouse feel, making it a unique and welcoming spot on the ship. Overall, we’d give the atmosphere at Mason Jar a 10/10.
Our Brunch Experience
We arrived for our reservation on Embarkation Day a little early and were immediately greeted and seated. Our waiter introduced the menu and gave us a few minutes to review it.
Drinks
As soon as we saw the Mississippi Moonlight, we both knew we had to try it. Made with Ole Smokey Blackberry Moonshine, muddled blackberries, and topped with lemonade, it was absolutely delicious!
Doohickies for Y’all
While we were browsing the menu, our waiter brought us both regular and jalapeno cornbread, along with honey butter and Cajun butter. He also served up some pimento cheese with saltine crackers.
The pimento cheese was bursting with flavor and definitely the standout on the plate. As for the cornbread, we both preferred the jalapeno version with the honey butter. We gave the Cajun butter a try but weren’t fans of it.
Eggs n’ More
There were so many options that looked tasty on this menu, we decided to order several of them and share.
For the Eggs n’ More, we kicked things off with the Breakfast Biscuits—biscuits topped with bacon onion jam, cheddar cheese, sausage gravy, and eggs. The overall flavor was decent, but the sausage gravy seemed to be missing something.
Next up we tried the Blueberry Johnnycakes. These were cornmeal blueberry flatbreads slathered with BBQ pulled pork and topped with crispy chicken skin. A unique combination of flavors, and overall, I thought these were the best starter we tried. Leah thought otherwise, and didn’t care for the flavor combination.
Our final starter was the Smokey Deviled Eggs. They were topped with pickles, peppers, crispy capers, fried chicken skin, and a sprinkle of paprika. Overall, they were good, but once again, we felt like they were missing something.
Somethin’ Sweet
Next, we moved on to the Somethin’ Sweet section of the menu. Let me tell you, some of these items looked like a serious sugar overload!
For those who know me, you know I’m a huge fan of peanut butter and chocolate, so I was immediately drawn to the Stuffed French Toast.
It was filled with banana slices, creamy peanut butter, chocolate, and candied bacon. This French toast was massive! I really wanted to enjoy it, but it turned out to be just too much peanut butter and was way too sweet for my taste. I couldn’t even finish it.
Handhelds
There was another section on the menu, and even though we were already full, we couldn’t resist trying something else. Under the Handhelds section, we spotted the Southern Burger—a quarter-pound Angus patty piled high with sharp cheddar, crispy bacon, chicken skins, BBQ sauce, and remoulade, all on a toasted bun.
It came with a side of Cajun fries. This ended up being the highlight of the meal. The burger was absolutely delicious, and the Cajun fries with dipping sauce were fantastic. It’s just a shame we were already so stuffed from everything else!
Dessert
Then it was time for dessert, but unfortunately, we were so full that we couldn’t manage another bite. It was such a shame because the Mason Jar offered some tempting desserts, like Cherry Pie, Warm Bread Puddin’, Chocolate Pecan Pie, Twice-Fried Oreos, and Gone Bananas. They also had a variety of ice cream flavors, including Georgia Peach, Maple-Candied Bacon, and Bourbon Butter Pecan.
The Bar
Although we weren’t particularly wowed by the food at brunch, we definitely fell in love with the bar area at Mason Jar.
The drinks were unique and delicious, and we thoroughly enjoyed relaxing in the rocking chairs while taking in the ocean view.
The Mississippi Moonlight and Pretty as a Peach Tea were our standout favorites. We ended up visiting the bar at Mason Jar for drinks several times throughout our cruise.
The Wrap Up: Mason Jar Review
So, after hearing mixed reviews about the Mason Jar’s brunch and giving it a try ourselves, the final verdict is in!
We had high hopes for the Mason Jar, and unfortunately, we would not be able to recommend the restaurant for brunch. The food was lacking flavor, and it was very heavy. We left feeling unsatisfied and uncomfortably full.
With all of that being said, we would try the Mason Jar for dinner on a future cruise, just to say that we tried it. It would also give us something to compare our brunch experience with.
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