Buffet Now Aimed Primarily At Folk Who Don't Like Dining?

[megacruiser]

Maybe it's just me, but the quality of food offered in the buffet seems to have deteriorated. I certainly would not choose to have a full meal there.

I do pop in on embarkation day in the hope of a curry. I have tried bits and pieces of the other offerings and found them to be pretty poor; both in taste and appearance.

Is it any better in the evening? Can anyone say they have really enjoyed a meal there? Or is it aimed at those who have no real enjoyment of good food? Perhaps those who prefer a variety; or to nibble; or to gorge on stodge?

 

I bet the cruise lines love those passengers. When folk say "you can't beat the buffet", they are certainly right in one respect: you will never get your money's worth.

[Florry]

You are absolutely right in my opinion. The last two cruises we have done on Arcadia have had fairly awful buffet offerings in the evening, I used to be an advocate of the evening buffet but no more - better offerings on room service!

 

 

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[insanemagnet]

Whenever I pass through it always seems to be full of people who value quantity over quality.

 

My dislike is the food in the buffet is it always seems to be luke-warm at best. As a result, if I have to eat there, I will take a small sample, taste it, and when it invariably fails, get a hot and fresh plate made up from the kitchen.

[daiB]

That's why I love P&O so much. I don't do the buffet. I have eaten there twice in 16 years first was a whole table visit to the Indian Night and second a night my wife was off colour and I went to the buffet as it was a formal night. I had a pasta and bolognese which was quite pleasant. Never eat in there for lunch either.

 

 

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[redabby]

I was on the same cruise as Florry and am in total agreement about the buffet quality.

This was the worst experience where the buffet was concerned of any cruise I have been on.

[dgs1956]

I would agree about the buffet. It is definitely a place where quantity is the order of the day and sadly I would agree that the standard has slipped slowly over the last few years.

[jh1809]

That's why I love P&O so much. I don't do the buffet. I have eaten there twice in 16 years first was a whole table visit to the Indian Night and second a night my wife was off colour and I went to the buffet as it was a formal night. I had a pasta and bolognese which was quite pleasant. Never eat in there for lunch either.

 

 

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I'm the same. If I go on holiday, I want to be pampered, and that means not serving myself if I can have waiter service.

[Jwugg]

I don't agree. On Aurora a few months ago, the buffet selection was varied, interesting, international & fresh. The formal dining I found sometimes old-fashioned, a bit too British mother-in-law's cooking for my taste.

 

I am absolutely not a quantity over quality person, in fact as a vegetarian with occasional pescatorian lapses, I enjoyed the ability to review the selection before choosing & to pick as much as I would like (often little).

[grapau27]

Maybe it's just me, but the quality of food offered in the buffet seems to have deteriorated. I certainly would not choose to have a full meal there.

I do pop in on embarkation day in the hope of a curry. I have tried bits and pieces of the other offerings and found them to be pretty poor; both in taste and appearance.

Is it any better in the evening? Can anyone say they have really enjoyed a meal there? Or is it aimed at those who have no real enjoyment of good food? Perhaps those who prefer a variety; or to nibble; or to gorge on stodge?

 

I bet the cruise lines love those passengers. When folk say "you can't beat the buffet", they are certainly right in one respect: you will never get your money's worth.

P&O restaurant lunch and afternoon tea are pretty good but the buffet? No choice especially meat where most days they don't even have a joint to carve.

 

We cruise with RCCL and P&O.

[Selbourne]

Like others, I can't see the point of paying for waiter served restaurant meals and then eating in a self service cafeteria. The only time we use it is as we board, simply as there is no other choice.

 

But the biggest issue I have with the buffet is hygiene. It is the prime place where Norovirus spreads, hence the fact that during outbreaks staff serve passengers. I have lost count of the number of guys I have followed out of a gents toilet on board who haven't washed their hands and then head into restaurants or the buffet, where they pick up the tongs, serving spoons etc. Yuck.

 

Furthermore (and this isn't just restricted to us chaps), I have seen loads of people in the buffet accidentally get food on their hands, lick it off and then pick up the serving spoons. They might as well just spit on my plate.

 

So, unless we board early and are first in (which we have managed a number of times), I would rather skip it as the hygiene risks are too great and knowing how a small proportion of people behave is enough to put me off the whole thing I'm afraid.

[kalos]

Just back from the Azura TA and we used we used both venues to eat our meals

and found both really good and also a bit lacking at times.

The buffet and the dining room seemed to have no shortage of carrots and I wish I could say

the same of the other veg's on offer.

We do not bulk up on food for medical reasons so would never use the buffet for that reason.

 

 

The Beach house was the one that did not meet our expectations ...

 

Baked Mushroom Alfredo .Came out looking like a bowl of mushroom soup that had been microwaved to hell, so much it was baking itself to the side of the bowl as it sat on our table.

 

We then had the sizzling chicken dish which the waitress said was a little spicy which turned out to be too spicy for us ,again for medical and medication reasons we have to avoid very spicy foods.

So I asked our server "could we have our meals cooled with a bit of yogurt" ?

 

She told us no as the food we ordered comes pre packed and is only heated up in the kitchen .

 

So we were eating ready meals .

 

Too late for the MDR that night but the buffet came to the rescue that night and was more enjoyable than what we had just left , so the buffet does have it's moments as do the mdr's.

[tartanexile81]

I've done a fair number of cruises and have never eaten in the buffet for dinner. If I'm getting dressed up I want it to be more of an occasion that eating off a tray. I used to eat there at lunch time but over the past few years the quality of food has deteriorated significantly and even the salad bar has gone downhill. I also thought the afternoon tea in the buffet was dreadful on our last cruise. The sandwich filling was unrecognisable and consisted of mush. I give feedback on the lunchtime buffet at the end of every cruise but think it's the main place where cost-cutting is very obvious. We don't use it fro breakfast anymore. The MDR is so much calmer and the food better cooked and hotter

 

IMO it's worth paying a bit more for a civilised lunch in The Glasshouse, or sending for a room service sandwich to eat on the balcony. I also quite like the pizza bar for a late lunch and my OH is happy with something from the grill. Don't see any reason to use the buffet these days

[Florry]

I'm hoping it was just an Arcadia issue and the buffet on Britannia in October will be as it should be. I like the flexibility of the buffet and tire of formal dining every night. I know there is a greater risk regarding hygiene but we try to get there early.

 

 

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[Tom Baker]

I found Britannia self serve "Food on the Go" to be ideal for lunch with wraps, yoghurt and fruit packaged up to avoid grubby hands. The grill seemed to cook fresh to order on most occasions which was a pleasant change. The buffet after 10pm was however dire, slops and deep fried, fatty and unidentifiable mush in terrines. It made Costas late night buffet look good.

[terrierjohn]

Although I do prefer to dine in the MDR we did eat in the buffet a few nights on our Ventura Caribbean 28nt cruise last January. Passenger services had a spreadsheet showing the buffet menus for the entire cruise, and we chose a couple of Asian themed nights as well as one Italian and thoroughly enjoyed the change.

But maybe we would not bother on a 14 night cruise.

[Florry]

I found Britannia self serve "Food on the Go" to be ideal for lunch with wraps, yoghurt and fruit packaged up to avoid grubby hands. The grill seemed to cook fresh to order on most occasions which was a pleasant change. The buffet after 10pm was however dire, slops and deep fried, fatty and unidentifiable mush in terrines. It made Costas late night buffet look good.

 

 

Yes the 'after 10' choice has always been poor on all ships, but we found the Britannia early evening buffet great a couple of years back. I had forgotten about the 'grab and go' place, I do recall that was good too. I do love all the choices Britannia has to offer. I'm quite looking forward to the new ship being ready too with more venues and choices, although we would avoid the maiden and let things bed down a bit before sailing on her. I hope she has a MPW!

 

 

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[Scriv]

I don't like the buffet at all. I hate eating off a tray and hate having to either bring it all back to the table at once or alternate trips to the counter with my husband to keep our seats. I hate the battle for tables and the hassle in the queues at busy times. I like a relaxed environment for my meals that doesn't remind me of school or a motorway service station. I know this is personal, but it is what I would have to get over before I even look at what food is on offer lol......... But I do like the Pizza and the Grill and occasionally the Grab'n Go.

[annieuk]

I loathe the buffet. As others have said I don't go on holiday to queue with a tray and then have to wander round trying to find somewhere to sit. On our last cruise on Ventura in January the food in the buffet I would say was among the worst I have sampled - and I love P&O as a cruise line so don't say this lightly. If I am forced to eat in the buffet for lunch (the problem being that my husband would much rather eat in the buffet than the main restaurant or The Glasshouse for example) I will usually go to the salad selection. On Ventura the cold offering was very poor. Why can't they serve decent lettuce, like Romaine or Cos or even Iceberg, in stead of frissee and radacchio. The selection of cold meats and fish was poor. Then I tried to find some Mayonnaise - not in the salad dressings on offer and in the thing that holds the sachets of ketchup, mustard, tartare sauce etc. no mayo. I eventually found a crew member and asked him and even then he had to go to the nether regions to find any. The puddings were all very similar - some sort of mousse thing. I don't usually look at the hot dishes as I don't want a heavy mid-day meal and I don't want to be tempted by chips!

 

My husband likes going to the buffet for breakfast as he likes to choose a mixture of cereals, compotes, yoghurts etc. Last cruise we tended to go to the main restaurant for breakfast as I was waiting for a knee replacement and didn't want to have to go round the buffet with a tray and a walking stick. Next year we are on the Aurora 65 nights round South America cruise and I can see problems ahead. The only way out of the breakfast problem is to have a suite and then there's a different venue for breakfast. We have done this on other ships but not Aurora and I'm afraid the price of a suite for that particular cruise is eyewatering. So I think we will either have to take it in turns to choose where to go for breakfast or each go to our preferred venue. I think I would almost prefer to be on my own in the main restuarant than have to go to the buffet with my husband - we'll see.

 

The other side of the coin, we thought the Main Restaurant in the evening was excellent - both on Ventura and particularly on Aurora where we were last December for the Christmas Markets cruise. We liked the new menus, particularly the desserts, although the Chef's interpretation of these was better on Aurora than on Ventura. One thing we did learn from the Hotel Manager who hosted our table at the Caribbean lunch on Aurora was that the next thing to be updated was the Room Service Menu and I hope this happens before our cruise on Aurora next year. It would be good to have a few more interesting dishes, the Room Service Menu seems to have been the same since we first went on P&O in 2003.

[Cathygh]

Having just returned from Azura I think the buffet has deteriorated since our last cruise on her in late 2015. If you are not there early the food is dried up and luke warm. I am no fan of buffets and only went there for snacks. And why can't P&O provide sandwiches, toasties or baguettes at lunch? Having to wait until 3 for the tasteless afternoon tea sandwiches is a pain.

[davenew]

Like others, I can't see the point of paying for waiter served restaurant meals and then eating in a self service cafeteria. The only time we use it is as we board, simply as there is no other choice.

 

But the biggest issue I have with the buffet is hygiene. It is the prime place where Norovirus spreads, hence the fact that during outbreaks staff serve passengers. I have lost count of the number of guys I have followed out of a gents toilet on board who haven't washed their hands and then head into restaurants or the buffet, where they pick up the tongs, serving spoons etc. Yuck.

 

Furthermore (and this isn't just restricted to us chaps), I have seen loads of people in the buffet accidentally get food on their hands, lick it off and then pick up the serving spoons. They might as well just spit on my plate.

 

So, unless we board early and are first in (which we have managed a number of times), I would rather skip it as the hygiene risks are too great and knowing how a small proportion of people behave is enough to put me off the whole thing I'm afraid.

I can second all of the above (and seen it) . I cannot believe what people do, and then kick off at the slightest hint of a jippy tummy. I have actually seen an adult drop the tongues on the floor, pick them up ad then place them on the food. I brought it to the attention of the cook, who removed it all and put fresh on.

Personally, I don't want 3 full meals a day so I am quite happy to be served breakfast and diner in the full service restaurants.

[Tikka234]

Oh dear I think with my husband's taste in food we will be in the buffet restaurant most of the time

he like very basic food no frills at all, I like more flavours, so whether I will get to try any where else I don't know, were on the Arcadia

[daiB]

Oh dear I think with my husband's taste in food we will be in the buffet restaurant most of the time

he like very basic food no frills at all, I like more flavours, so whether I will get to try any where else I don't know, were on the Arcadia

 

 

The MDR is the place to go as there is always a always on plain choice.

 

Chicken, steak, salmon for example.

 

 

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[john watson]

When people book a cruise with P&O they are eventually, ALL allocated a Club Dining or Freedom Dining slot. If people do not wish to take up their allocated option and go to the Buffet on any or all evenings this is fine. Realistically why would P&O put in a great deal of effort to provide a fantastic Buffet given the circumstances?

 

Regards John

[GlasgowGuy]

We've noticed a decline in food onboard not just in the buffet but in all venues. Ventura being the worst by far, they would be as well not bothering with the late snacks as they were dire.

 

Hoping for improvements on future cruises :(

[daiB]

We've noticed a decline in food onboard not just in the buffet but in all venues. Ventura being the worst by far, they would be as well not bothering with the late snacks as they were dire.

 

 

 

Hoping for improvements on future cruises :(

 

 

Last time we were on Ventura last Jan 28 nights the food was some of the best we have had.

 

Interestingly I pay particular attention to what my table companions say about food on all my cruises. I hear little in the way of complaint at all.

 

Which is odd knowing how much P&O cruisers like to moan.

 

 

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