Eating while getting food in the buffet 😖

[basil1]

I have, unfortunately, witnessed this extremely rude and crude behavior. I guess some people grew up in a barn, lol. 

And for any finger lickers... E coli, C diff, Noro.... enjoy 🙂 

Edited April 15, 2019 by basil1

[GastroGnome]

I don't think its entirely (or even at all) about it being unsanitary.  As others have said the world is not a clean place.  Noro on ships (or anywhere else) is horrible. Absolutely take sufficient and suitable care - without resorting to full body condoms etc.  But eating in line is just Rude.  You are on holiday.  You can't either be starving or particularly rushed.  Get your food and sit down.  Don't make the rest of us watch you eat....

[richsea]

Sometimes you have to wonder how the human race managed to survive all these centuries without becoming extinct. Perhaps it’s because that by being exposed to germs (ew!!), our bodies build tolerance?

[dkjretired]

14 minutes ago, GastroGnome said:

I don't think its entirely (or even at all) about it being unsanitary.  As others have said the world is not a clean place.  Noro on ships (or anywhere else) is horrible. Absolutely take sufficient and suitable care - without resorting to full body condoms etc.  But eating in line is just Rude.  You are on holiday.  You can't either be starving or particularly rushed.  Get your food and sit down.  Don't make the rest of us watch you eat....

 

I don't condone eating on line or any of the other things mentioned on this thread, I would however warn those complaining to never go to a buffet in a casino.  The people on cruise ships are multiple times more disease conscious than in typical casino buffet. 

 

Although I agree that Noro is horrible for the person who gets it, it is not horrible on ships.  According to the CDC somewhere between 4 and 5 thousand people will get Noro on cruise ships and about 35 million will get it in the US population.  I've been on cruise ships that were cleaner than hospitals.  Problem with Noro on cruise ships is the media uses one of their favorite adages when reporting it, "if it bleeds, it leads."

[DebInAntigua]

3 hours ago, cheeseheads4ever said:

.....Seen many times people enter buffet and MDR without using sanitizers....

We use ZooNo sanitizer every day before leaving our cabin, and most of the time once again before going to dinner. ZooNo lasts up to 24 hours and only loses effectiveness due to the natural exfoliation of the skin.

So while we may look like those careless people refusing to use hand sanitizer offered by the crew, but it's only because we already have our own (much better) hand sanitizer in place. We don't want to hasten the exfoliation by drying out our hands with alcohol-laden sanitizers that only work until you touch the next contaminated surface.

 

However, we have no problem washing our hands again if there is a wash station at the entrance - always a good idea!

[Sascol]

People are gross and I try hard not to think about what happens at a buffet.  For us, before we go in we wash.  It's a fact of life that if there are 100s of people eating, a good chunk of them have licked their fingers while eating and then return to the buffet and use the tongs.  Many people don't even realize they are doing it.  For this specific reason ANY time we touch the tongs we re-sanitize before we eat. 

[Sascol]

36 minutes ago, richsea said:

Sometimes you have to wonder how the human race managed to survive all these centuries without becoming extinct. Perhaps it’s because that by being exposed to germs (ew!!), our bodies build tolerance?

 

We do need germs to build up tolerance, agreed BUT we do not want someone else's nasty saliva (or worse) on our hands while eating as a result of touching the shared tongs. 

[Rob the Cruiser]

37 minutes ago, richsea said:

Sometimes you have to wonder how the human race managed to survive all these centuries without becoming extinct. Perhaps it’s because that by being exposed to germs (ew!!), our bodies build tolerance?

 

In my experience from having noro, becoming extinct would have been a blessing. 

[fragilek]

Always hated that (and eating while shopping in a supermarket) until --- My daughter took a major Hypo while we were on holiday in a line at a buffet I can assure you  I grabbed the first sweet thing I could see and got it down her there and then - Also had to get a man to jump over a counter at the slowest macdonalds in Orlando one to get a coke for her.   These were the old days of Mixatard Insulin (she had a15 min meals window to eat before going out cold) -luckily now a rare occurrence on the insulin pump.  So you can't always judge why someone does what they do.

[Fishkillbill]

26 minutes ago, fragilek said:

Always hated that (and eating while shopping in a supermarket) until --- My daughter took a major Hypo while we were on holiday in a line at a buffet I can assure you  I grabbed the first sweet thing I could see and got it down her there and then - Also had to get a man to jump over a counter at the slowest macdonalds in Orlando one to get a coke for her.   These were the old days of Mixatard Insulin (she had a15 min meals window to eat before going out cold) -luckily now a rare occurrence on the insulin pump.  So you can't always judge why someone does what they do.

 

I can relate to that.

[davekathy]

29 minutes ago, fragilek said:

Always hated that (and eating while shopping in a supermarket) until --- My daughter took a major Hypo while we were on holiday in a line at a buffet I can assure you  I grabbed the first sweet thing I could see and got it down her there and then - Also had to get a man to jump over a counter at the slowest macdonalds in Orlando one to get a coke for her.   These were the old days of Mixatard Insulin (she had a15 min meals window to eat before going out cold) -luckily now a rare occurrence on the insulin pump.  So you can't always judge why someone does what they do.

I believe most of us can tell the difference between someone grazing in the buffet line compared to what you were doing to help your daughter deal with her hypoglycaemia . 

Edited April 15, 2019 by davekathy

[Fishkillbill]

It is funny, when I was 14 years old, I worked in a bagel bakery in Queens, NY. On occasion, people would come and ask for the bagels that fell on the floor. Claiming they wanted them for their dog. All the employees would laugh and laugh.  

[fragilek]

2 minutes ago, davekathy said:

I believe most of us can tell the difference between someone grazing in the buffet line compared to what you were doing to help your daughter deal with her hypoglycaemia . 

yes but I have also allowed her to eat a biscuit out of a pack I was buying in a supermarket once- something I would have previously rolled my eyes at - I know the buffet thing is usually different but you can't always judge someone.

[dkjretired]

1 hour ago, DebInAntigua said:

So while we may look like those careless people refusing to use hand sanitizer offered by the crew, but it's only because we already have our own (much better) hand sanitizer in place.

 

Please don't characterize people who refuse to use hand sanitizers as careless because you don't know the circumstances.  There are many including myself who break out with the use of many of the hand sanitizers on the market.  I mean this respectfully as I have seen ignorant people (not you) on this board use pretty rotten language towards those who don't use it.

[davekathy]

25 minutes ago, fragilek said:

yes but I have also allowed her to eat a biscuit out of a pack I was buying in a supermarket once- something I would have previously rolled my eyes at - I know the buffet thing is usually different but you can't always judge someone.

There are a few exceptions to every rule. This thread is one of them. Some are posting their opinions about those that admit graze while in line at the buffet. 

[GeorgesGal]

14 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Those same folks then touch the serving utensils and transfer their nasty bugs.  It is a very easy way to spread Norovirus and other bugs to many other passengers.  That is one reason why some lines (HAL comes quickly to mind) are now limiting self-serve in their Lido buffet.  On that line most buffet items that are not pre-plated can only be served by staff.   On other lines, at the first sign of a Noro outbreak they will institute special measures in the Lido (such as limiting self-service).

 

Hank

 

Of course, this is one reason I prefer Oceania - one gives their plate to the server behind the counter who will place the food directly to your plate, then you move on to the next station and repeat.  (Only wish I could sail Oceania exclusively for this reason, but my wallet always fails me!)

[little miss chatterbox]

I have to agree with you. Got back two weeks ago and said the same thing, I saw a person dip her finger into her mango chutney(that was in her plate) and lick her finger. She then used the tongs to pick up some papdoms, once they were on her plate she proceeded to pick the papdom up and dip it in the chutney and place it in her mouth...licking her fingers again!!!! This happened a few times as she walked around the buffet!!!

And yes I did watch her, I couldn’t believe an adult would do that!!! 

Someone had to touch all the tongs she had used (with her dirty hands). 🤮🤢🤮🤢😪

[NLH Arizona]

12 minutes ago, little miss chatterbox said:

I have to agree with you. Got back two weeks ago and said the same thing, I saw a person dip her finger into her mango chutney(that was in her plate) and lick her finger. She then used the tongs to pick up some papdoms, once they were on her plate she proceeded to pick the papdom up and dip it in the chutney and place it in her mouth...licking her fingers again!!!! This happened a few times as she walked around the buffet!!!

And yes I did watch her, I couldn’t believe an adult would do that!!! 

Someone had to touch all the tongs she had used (with her dirty hands). 🤮🤢🤮🤢😪

On one of my cruises, I was standing in the buffet line and these two women were in front of me and having a discussion as to what was in a dish.  One woman stuck her finger in the dish, at which time I yelled for a crew member and told them what happened, so they could take the dish away.  The woman said that she did not, while licking the remainder of the dish off her finger.  When I see someone using their hands for getting food, I will call out for a crew member and tell them loudly what happened in hopes the offending person will get a hint that they are disgusting.

[gold1953]

28 minutes ago, NLH Arizona said:

On one of my cruises, I was standing in the buffet line and these two women were in front of me and having a discussion as to what was in a dish.  One woman stuck her finger in the dish, at which time I yelled for a crew member and told them what happened, so they could take the dish away.  The woman said that she did not, while licking the remainder of the dish off her finger.  When I see someone using their hands for getting food, I will call out for a crew member and tell them loudly what happened in hopes the offending person will get a hint that they are disgusting.

I have on several occasions called a crew member over when a person has put fingers in food. One guy licked the cream off the handle of a dessert ladle and his hand with it

[clskinsfan]

It never ceases to amaze me just how disgusting some human beings can be. Others have mentioned just about every reason why our hands are filthy on a cruise. We go through hand sanitizer like water on a cruise. And for a very good reason.

[Von & John]

A big part of the challenge is unconscious behavior &/or lack of simple common sense...

 

A number of years ago, I repeatedly saw a Dr. in a Hospital Dining Room use his hands to pick-up ham from the salad bar. 

Each time this happened, the remainder of the ham was tossed. 

It took involving his Supervisor to resolve the issue...

The Dr. simply did not have the common sense to appreciate what he was doing was wrong...

[Quo Vadis?]

On 4/14/2019 at 12:53 PM, Marelaine said:

 

OMG! I've never seen behavior that bad on Celebrity. The crew will step in if someone doesn't use tongs or moves tongs from one food item to another.

I brought this to the attention to the head chef and restaurant operations manager on a recent cruise while observing pax in the oceanview cafe... I got a shrug.  What the OP stated is the norm for a very large number of regular cruisers and, obviously, posters.  I get to the buffet early before the grazers get to my choice.

 

[varoo]

2 hours ago, Von & John said:

A big part of the challenge is unconscious behavior &/or lack of simple common sense...

 

Or differences in backgrounds and cultures.

What you or I consider to be  unsanitary or even disgusting may be normal behavior to someone else.

 

That is why we prefer buffets where everything is either pre-plated or else plated for you by a server behind the counter.

 

I never use those help-yourself soft-serve machines anywhere anymore after seeing what some children do at them. 😲 

     

[Von & John]

4 hours ago, varoo said:

 

Or differences in backgrounds and cultures.

What you or I consider to be  unsanitary or even disgusting may be normal behavior to someone else.

 

That is why we prefer buffets where everything is either pre-plated or else plated for you by a server behind the counter.

 

I never use those help-yourself soft-serve machines anywhere anymore after seeing what some children do at them. 😲 

     

 

Varoo  --  you are absolutely correct...  It could also be differing cultural norms...

[jan-n-john]

Would it make sense to first go over to the soup area and pick up two or three soup spoons and then use those rather than the provided utensils to serve oneself?  With a bit a deft maneuvering it should be possible to get most things on one's plate that way.  Also might have the side benefit of helping one to not take so much!