Buffet line etiquette?

[ONECRUISER]

He is a doctor, and is trying to give you enlightenment....

 

wasted as usual.

 

JC

No, not sure why you say that. I'm first to admit you learn something new everyday. But guess you really don't know who you are ever talking to on here. I also worked in medical field. 28 yrs as a Combat Medic, EMT & Phlebotomist. 8 yrs as Rest Mgr, 2 of which mine was rated top 25 by the County Health Board. Oldest of 11 kids, have 3 myself, 3 young Grand Kids and 38 Nephews and Nieces. Sailed on Royal for 30 yrs, been on Cruise Critic for 20 yrs since before when it was just AOL.

[john watson]

Last year I was at a local restaurant...not on a ship....and watched a child (roughly 5 year old) continuously LICK the top of the salt shaker! Her parents just sat there and watched her! I immediately went to the manager and quickly/strongly suggested they replace the salt shaker before they seated the next customer at that table! (So they probably just moved it to a different table!)

 

I have seen in a restaurant a person who encountered a pepper shaker which had blocked holes in the lid remove it and put it to their mouth and blow through it to clear them out. What will children learn when they see that done?

 

Regards John

[john watson]

Hey, we're not all hopeless at queuing. The British are really good at it. :D[/quote

 

Yes, the British are world leaders in queuing. Americans are really useless, I am sure most Americans would find out why and what the queue was formed for before even thinking about joining. British people just need to see a couple of people standing in a tandem arrangement and seize the opportunity to get behind them. Very soon a very long and successful line of people exists and discussion could take place about how long it is taking and conversation could take place about the weather.

 

Regards John

[Clarea]

I have seen in a restaurant a person who encountered a pepper shaker which had blocked holes in the lid remove it and put it to their mouth and blow through it to clear them out. What will children learn when they see that done?

 

Regards John

Wow!:eek: Makes me never want to use the pepper shaker again.

[A&L_Ont]

Wow!:eek: Makes me never want to use the pepper shaker again.

 

Yes indeed. It have seen people unscrew the lids and tap it on a hard surface to clean it but never blow through it. Maybe if RC brought back the pepper shaker it would be all good. :'):D

[Milwaukee Eight]

No, not sure why you say that. I'm first to admit you learn something new everyday. But guess you really don't know who you are ever talking to on here. I also worked in medical field. 28 yrs as a Combat Medic, EMT & Phlebotomist. 8 yrs as Rest Mgr, 2 of which mine was rated top 25 by the County Health Board. Oldest of 11 kids, have 3 myself, 3 young Grand Kids and 38 Nephews and Nieces. Sailed on Royal for 30 yrs, been on Cruise Critic for 20 yrs since before when it was just AOL.

 

 

 

Thank you for your service.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[DirtyDawg]

Yes indeed. It have seen people unscrew the lids and tap it on a hard surface to clean it but never blow through it. Maybe if RC brought back the pepper shaker it would be all good. :'):D

 

You don't want to see how some people try to clear a clogged pepper grinder. :eek:

[BillOh]

I have often seen plates upon which to put the utensils. People just don't use them.

 

A half ass attempt then, how hard would be it be educate? It wouldn't be any harder than creating a WASHY WASHY song and producing that.

[BillOh]

No, not sure why you say that. I'm first to admit you learn something new everyday. But guess you really don't know who you are ever talking to on here. I also worked in medical field. 28 yrs as a Combat Medic, EMT & Phlebotomist. 8 yrs as Rest Mgr, 2 of which mine was rated top 25 by the County Health Board. Oldest of 11 kids, have 3 myself, 3 young Grand Kids and 38 Nephews and Nieces. Sailed on Royal for 30 yrs, been on Cruise Critic for 20 yrs since before when it was just AOL.

 

 

Wait, hold the phone, I might actually have learned something in this thread. This forum started on AOL? Just when I thought I had escaped that idiot organization that laid me off and 1500 of my closest friends and dumbed down the internet.

[Ocean Boy]

No, not sure why you say that. I'm first to admit you learn something new everyday. But guess you really don't know who you are ever talking to on here. I also worked in medical field. 28 yrs as a Combat Medic, EMT & Phlebotomist. 8 yrs as Rest Mgr, 2 of which mine was rated top 25 by the County Health Board. Oldest of 11 kids, have 3 myself, 3 young Grand Kids and 38 Nephews and Nieces. Sailed on Royal for 30 yrs, been on Cruise Critic for 20 yrs since before when it was just AOL.

And with that resume you actually actually use a napkin to hold the utensils, then use different napkin to eat with?

[Ocean Boy]

Last year I was at a local restaurant...not on a ship....and watched a child (roughly 5 year old) continuously LICK the top of the salt shaker! Her parents just sat there and watched her! I immediately went to the manager and quickly/strongly suggested they replace the salt shaker before they seated the next customer at that table! (So they probably just moved it to a different table!)

And I bet the kid didn't even become sick from licking that shaker that was probably touched by hundreds of hands so neither he nor his parents learned a thing.

[John&LaLa]

I have seen in a restaurant a person who encountered a pepper shaker which had blocked holes in the lid remove it and put it to their mouth and blow through it to clear them out. What will children learn when they see that done?

 

Regards John

I guess they'll learn how to clean out clogged holes. Remember when kids used to unscrew the top of a salt shaker and put it back. [emoji33]

 

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Forums mobile app

[El Abuelo]

Totally agree with you. Parents who laugh off their kids' misbehavior annoy me to no end. Children are disgusting X|

This whole problem with children began when we passed those pesky child labor laws. Children no longer have to earn their keep and instead have it easy. They just sit around and scrounge off of the hard working earners in their families and society. Misbehaving freeloaders, the lot of them.

 

If we put the kids back to work, they'll learn the value of a dollar and also how to behave in polite society. :)

[DirtyDawg]

This whole problem with children began when we passed those pesky child labor laws. Children no longer have to earn their keep and instead have it easy. They just sit around and scrounge off of the hard working earners in their families and society. Misbehaving freeloaders, the lot of them.

 

If we put the kids back to work, they'll learn the value of a dollar and also how to behave in polite society. :)

 

Damn right! Those pesky kids shouldn't be in the buffet in the first place. They should be down in the bowls of the ship manning the oars!

[Ocean Boy]

This whole problem with children began when we passed those pesky child labor laws. Children no longer have to earn their keep and instead have it easy. They just sit around and scrounge off of the hard working earners in their families and society. Misbehaving freeloaders, the lot of them.

 

If we put the kids back to work, they'll learn the value of a dollar and also how to behave in polite society. :)

Plenty of those children grew up to be adults behaving exactly the same way.;)

[squadron]

Protecting your own health on a cruise should always be your main concern however you do it. If wearing gloves looks odd, so what if you are the only one not sick! Cruise in health!

 

Sent from my SM-G935P using Forums mobile app

 

Agreed! For all those so grossed out by a buffet - why do you eat there??? Be served by someone who may have accidently touched the corner of your plate or food. Wearing gloves - really?

[UPNYGuy]

Agreed! For all those so grossed out by a buffet - why do you eat there??? Be served by someone who may have accidently touched the corner of your plate or food. Wearing gloves - really?

 

 

 

You will see that lots of us do not eat in the buffet. Generally DW and I do it only on cruise lines where the attendant serves the guests, like Holland America and Oceania.

 

After witnessing the disgusting buffet behavior on NCL with people picking items up bare handed, I refused to eat there.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Hey Tina]

Agreed! For all those so grossed out by a buffet - why do you eat there??? Be served by someone who may have accidently touched the corner of your plate or food. Wearing gloves - really?

 

When I ate at the buffet it was because I wanted breakfast but I woke up too late to go to the MDR.

[TubbyMrT]

I am usually in such a rush to belly up to the trough that my hands are still slightly wet with hand sanitizer while handling the utensils. Just maybe that will kill a germ or two. Once I reach the table, I will grease up again if I suspect that I have touched something with potential contamination.

[Cruisenouvelle]

Hand washing and sanitizer are your friends. You can also buy " Wet Ones" anti bacterial wipes in individual packets, slip a few in your purse or backpack.

I've told buffeters to use tongs (in a nice way) when I see them grabbing with bare hands and I cannot attest to their hygiene.:p

[Langley Cruisers]

... For all those so grossed out by a buffet - why do you eat there??? Be served by someone who may have accidently touched the corner of your plate or food. Wearing gloves - really?

 

It's not just the buffet. None of us want to know what goes on behind the scenes of a restaurant. I'm sure it's equally disgusting.

 

Once I reach the table, I will grease up again if I suspect that I have touched something with potential contamination.

 

Yeah, I do that too and it sounds good in theory but then you eat with the cutlery that perhaps three crew members have touched before you. Seriously. One removes them from the dishwasher, another moves them to the area where another picks them up and wraps them in the napkin... our heads spin thinking about it, so I try not to anymore. :D

[Doc Rick]

I could write a book on cruise line etiquette, but the only people that would read it are the ones that are already doing their best to make sure that they, and their family, are being polite, courteous, hygienic, and following the rules.

 

I often thought to myself that maybe the cruise lines should put a little sign out in the foyer of the buffet entrance giving some basic guidelines to proper buffet etiquette - like the ones at the pool that say you can't reserve pool chairs... you all know how well that works. Or, the signs that say not to refill your personal water bottles at the drink stations...

 

Buffet utensils are handled by hundreds of people in an average meal, and yes, I see people lick their fingers at the buffet when they get a little French dressing on their hand - then proceed to the next set of tongs. I often feel compelled to say something to these people, but not for the reason you may think...

 

You see, I feel a little bad for these people. These are the people that are taking the biggest risk of bacteria entering their mouth from the hundreds of people handling these utensils prior to them... and yes, chances are that someone licked their fingers and used the tongs before them. Just kiss them and get it over with...

 

After many, many cruises - I have learned to just accept the fact that not all people are going to use proper etiquette. This enables me to relax a little more and enjoy my vacation. I wash my hands often, and always wash my hands after selecting the food at the buffet - just prior to sitting down to eat.

 

Just off the Celebrity Equinox, next cruise is a 9 night Christmas on the Navigator of the Seas !

 

Relax, enjoy your cruise, and wash your hands often....

 

- Rick

[Keith1010]

Unfortunately on all cruise lines you will always have some people who do not show good etiquette.

 

Keith

[bigque]

I must be the only one on here that go to the Windjammer everyday and don't even think about what who was doing what or how they handled the utensils and such before I came in there. I walk through and pick up the utensils and when I get back to the table I use my pocket size sanitizer and then eat. I just can't live my life worried about what germs might be on everything I touch. On a given day I must touch a gazillion things, so nope I won't do it!

[davekathy]

I must be the only one on here that go to the Windjammer everyday and don't even think about what who was doing what or how they handled the utensils and such before I came in there. I walk through and pick up the utensils and when I get back to the table I use my pocket size sanitizer and then eat. I just can't live my life worried about what germs might be on everything I touch. On a given day I must touch a gazillion things, so nope I won't do it!

 

Nope, you're not the only one.