Coco Cay buffet- yikes!

[kayguz]

We just returned from the 5 day Grandeur sailing which was wonderful. However, I want to give warning to those going to the BBQ on Coco Cay.... The published and announced times for the BBQ was from 12-2pm. We headed over to the buffet at 1:30 only to be surprised with a very long line, one station, and EVERYTHING picked up. There was one tray left of burgers, hot dogs, a few ribs, a handful of buns, and a bit of rice. There were also a handful of ketchup packets and a few utensil packs, too. There was no toppings (lettuce, tomato, etc..), no sides, no fruit (oh, wait, a couple of old bananas and apples), no cookies or desserts. It was totally cleared out- they were even taking down the sign labels as we were standing there. My understanding is that they would have the buffet until 2pm-- however, it was slim pickin' leftovers and scraps! I'm not a complainer, but this was really ridiculous! (and not that we were starving on the cruise, but I did have 5 hungry kids that needed lunch!)

We were rather surprised to say the least! It was a beautiful afternoon- so wasn't like they were packing up quick because a storm was coming or anything of that nature. So, just a heads up-- if you think you want to eat at the Coco Cay BBQ, better go at 12 or forget it!!

[John Henry on CC]

That happened to me once, several years ago, on Labadee.

 

It comes as a bit of a shock, doesn't it, Kay? ;)

[AF-1]

You are correct. Happened to us in Labadee; when the buffet opens you better be there, whether you are hungry or not. If you snooze you lose.

[kayguz]

Yes, it is definitely a shock to be hungry on a cruise:eek: We had a late breakfast due to thunderstorms and delays in leaving for the island-- so when we got there we went straight to the Aqua Park for a session. Do that for an hour or so and you have hungry kids-- not when you first get there! Out of all our cruises (on many different lines), we have never had that experience of an EMPTY buffet! It was sort of a pathetic comedy-- all these cruisers lined up at an empty buffet.....

 

Lesson learned-- "kids, get off the tender and go straight to the buffet.... they may run out.... and we might be hungry for an hour or two...."

 

Seriously, though, if you aren't prepared for that, it could get ugly with hungry kids! And it really had never crossed my mind that they would run out or close early!!

[YOWmom]

The same thing happened when we were there in March on Majesty... not good. By comparsion, we were also late to the buffet on Half Moon Cay in January but found it was much better stocked, much larger and open later...

[Broken07]

In Labadee,

 

My dad and husband were super hungry, they got to the buffet in a hurry. Their food was amazing looking. Mom and I went much later; slim pickin's is right. I had a cookie and a hot dog. Mom got a picture with the sexy bartender charater and a hot dog bun, the meat was gone. I did share, but it was disappointing.

[lovesublime]

Same thing happened to us on Coco Cay. There was literally nothing left and there was supposedly another hour left for lunch.

[cb at sea]

You can always head back to the ship, eat, then return to the island...not a huge deal! I bet they brought more food out a few minutes later....

We've NEVER gone hungry at the private beach buffet...maybe a new crew???? Odd!

[monoptn]

They had all the food out around 11:15, mine all ate early because it was their "breakfast" too as they slept late. I wish I had some of those oatmeal cookies right now!!

Lori

[ImmortalxKiss]

That's so odd, lol

 

I've been to HMC twice on Carnival ..and we've always gone over an hour after it started and there was EVERYTHING still out and available.

 

Going to Coco in September ..will definitely keep this in mind now! lol

[BND]

It drives my DH crazy but I always go early to everything. I'd rather be first and get a decent meal, plus we eat breakfast before 8 am all the time so I'm hungry by 11.

[jmraggs]

I know what you're talking about Kay as we have also had that same experience ONCE, and then we learned!:D We went late to the BBQ that one time because we ate a late breakfast, never again and it's now an early breakfast and a very light one at that.

 

It's almost like they stop re-stocking the food at a certain time and then they just let it run out until the 2pm deadline when they close the gates!:D

 

I know they are probably doing that so they don't have an extreme amount of leftover food waste, but IMO its poorly run. Towards the end of the buffet when food stock is low amongst the buffet stands, I don't see why they can't at least consolidate the buffet stands into one and have everything in small quantities so people have complete access to everything until 2pm.

 

If they say that the buffet is open until 2pm, then they should definitely have everything available until 2pm for late eaters and if you come at 2pm then you can't complain when it's closed with no food left.

[bluegirlum]

That's crazy! I'm always hungry by 11:30 anyway, so I'm the first in line, but I would've been really mad. And it's not so easy at Coco Cay to just hop back on over to the ship--you have to wait for the tender and IIRC, the WJ wasn't even open for lunch when we were docked at Coco Cay. Bottom line, if the posted times are 12-2, that's what they should be.

 

When we were on Oasis, we liked that plenty of dining venues were open on board even during the bbq. Do they do that with other ships now at Labadee?

[Cajun Gal]

Okay, so, if you don't get off the ship and go to the island to eat, what's available for lunch on the ship??? Someone stated that the WJ was closed.

[luvsun22]

Thanks for the heads up, we'll be there in less than 2 weeks. We have parasailing at 11am, but will head to the buffet right after that!

[bluegirlum]

Okay, so, if you don't get off the ship and go to the island to eat, what's available for lunch on the ship??? Someone stated that the WJ was closed.

 

The WJ was closed on Majesty, which is a much smaller ship. Liberty has many more options, but I don't know what's open when you're at Coco Cay. Maybe stuff in the Royal Promenade? I'm sure someone will know.

[Aquahound]

I HATE the Coco Cay buffet. It's not the food or the set-up I dislike, it's the people. Buffets bring out the worst in people and Coco Cay is no exception. On top of the general disarray and rudeness in the buffet line, some people just can not resist feeding the seagulls. Then you have a hundred pooping birds dive bombing you for your cookie.

 

They built a second buffet area near the jet-ski area. I wish they would open that one also for the smaller ships.

[PrincesScuba]

Okay, so, if you don't get off the ship and go to the island to eat, what's available for lunch on the ship??? Someone stated that the WJ was closed.

The main dining room should be open.

 

The private stops - CoCoCay and Labadee - are backwards from most other port days.

 

Windjammer is closed and MDR is open. That's because of all the staff that gets off the ship and sets up and serves lunch on the private "islands".

 

It's the other way around in other ports. MDR is closed and WJ is open for lunch.

[Havingfun2010]

At what point should they stop cooking? Should they restock at 1:45, and than throw it out at 2:00? A island buffet won't be full in the last hour, and should not be expected. It's not a restaruant, but a picnic. I'm surprised no questioned how much they should waste for the last minute folks.....

[bluegirlum]

I HATE the Coco Cay buffet. It's not the food or the set-up I dislike, it's the people. Buffets bring out the worst in people and Coco Cay is no exception. On top of the general disarray and rudeness in the buffet line, some people just can not resist feeding the seagulls. Then you have a hundred pooping birds dive bombing you for your cookie.

 

They built a second buffet area near the jet-ski area. I wish they would open that one also for the smaller ships.

 

I totally agree about the people feeding the seagulls. When did people decide that that was ok? Do they not realize how disgusting that is? Ick!

[katiel53]

At what point should they stop cooking? Should they restock at 1:45, and than throw it out at 2:00? A island buffet won't be full in the last hour, and should not be expected. It's not a restaruant, but a picnic. I'm surprised no questioned how much they should waste for the last minute folks.....

 

I totally agree with you. I also think that so many people fill their plates full and end up throwing away half of what they take. Look at the food left on plates in the regular buffet. It's no different on the private islands.

 

I know I don't ever eat at the private islands as I don't like to eat food that has been sitting out in the hot sun for any period of time. To me, it's not a big deal to go back to the ship to eat or, it won't hurt me or a lot of others to miss a meal or two, lol.:)

[golfer1966]

You can always head back to the ship, eat, then return to the island...not a huge deal! I bet they brought more food out a few minutes later....

We've NEVER gone hungry at the private beach buffet...maybe a new crew???? Odd!

 

 

Why do that and waste time off Coco Cay. If they say 12-2, they should have food there from 12-2... no question.

[Aquahound]

You can always head back to the ship, eat, then return to the island...not a huge deal!

 

Not a huge deal? Most people on Coco Cay are wearing bathing suits and are doing typical beach day stuff. Waiting in line to board a tender, sitting on the tender for 10 minutes waiting for everyone to board, getting back to the ship, going to the room to rinse the sand off and change in to something appropriate for the dining room, then reversing everything to get back to the island for only another couple hours of beach time sounds like quite a hassle to me.