Why eat at buffet?

[clo]

10 hours ago, Dixe Lee said:

we can’t do all that we want to do on a cruise

And now you refuse to say what. Okay.

[cruisemom42]

14 hours ago, Dixe Lee said:

DH and I often prefer the buffet because we are busy and have other things to do and don’t want to sit through the courses, don’t have time for a leisurely meal no matter where we are or where we go. Don’t care for tedium unless in the mood and have the time. 

 

Some don't consider it tedium.

 

I find a well-prepared and well-paced evening meal, with several courses, paired with good wine and conversation, to be enjoyable in the extreme. 

[Dixe Lee]

2 hours ago, clo said:

And now you refuse to say what. Okay.

not sure what your point is

[Dixe Lee]

9 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Some don't consider it tedium.

 

I find a well-prepared and well-paced evening meal, with several courses, paired with good wine and conversation, to be enjoyable in the extreme. 

There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.  We have enjoyed some wonderful meals and good company in the MDR, one of our best was to celebrate our 60th birthdays, both DH and mine at the same birthday celebration.  All I am saying as well as some of the other posters is that our cruise does not revolve around meals in the MDR.

[K32682]

13 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Some don't consider it tedium.

 

I find a well-prepared and well-paced evening meal, with several courses, paired with good wine and conversation, to be enjoyable in the extreme. 

 

On a longer cruise the MDR quickly becomes same-old, same-old and if you frequently dine in better restaurants on land you soon realize the typical cruise ship dining room is more show than go.  

[cruisemom42]

Just now, K32682 said:

 

On a longer cruise the MDR quickly becomes same-old, same-old and if you frequently dine in better restaurants on land you soon realize the typical cruise ship dining room is more show than go.  

 

Perhaps it is different on the 350 passenger ship I have mostly sailed on in the last eight years.... 

[clo]

13 hours ago, Dixe Lee said:

we can’t do all that we want to do on a cruise

This. What are some of those things?

[Dixe Lee]

23 minutes ago, clo said:

This. What are some of those things?

The evening shows, the art auctions, Bingo, the trivia contests, the late night entertainment such as the comedy shows, scavenger hunts, shopping, maybe a few rounds in the casino, hanging out by the pool, relaxing in our room, visiting different lounges throughout the ship to enjoy music we like and to have a drink, the list goes on based on what is offered any particular day.  And lets not forget the food 😊 Got to eat! We have found that we have been lucky to meet up with people who we "click" with, maybe close to our age, maybe not but have the same interests as us and tend to frequent the same venues and we often meet up with them and the atrium bar tends to be a particularly friendly spot where the music is what we all like and we will just hang out with them, have a couple of drinks and socialize without the demands of having to be somewhere at a certain time.  Of course, to fully enjoy all that is offered, one has to follow a schedule, either closely or loosely and this is one of the reasons the buffet works for us because we can fit in our meal without having to be somewhere at a certain time just to eat.  Sea days are more relaxed and those would be the days when, if we choose to, we would go to the MDR instead of the buffet and often we do, but more often than not, the buffet fits us and our own schedule.

[K32682]

1 hour ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Perhaps it is different on the 350 passenger ship I have mostly sailed on in the last eight years.... 

 

The smallest ship I've cruised on is 800 passengers and it was with Princess.  Meals in the MDRs on mass market cruise lines are more in keeping with the dining fare at a hotel convention or political fundraiser and they don't call it the rubber chicken circuit for no good reason. 

[Aquahound]

18 hours ago, mom says said:

I don't want to put words in that posters mouth, but I think he's making the distinction between dining and just eating. There are times when one doesn't want a slowly paced multicourse meal, but just wants something quick. And the buffet certainly can provide that. 

 

Bingo.

 

I do happen to enjoy eating in the MDR but there are times I just don't feel like it.  DW and I enjoy active shore excursions and sometimes we're just too tired to get dressed up and deal with the MDR routine.  Evening dining in the buffet can be very relaxing and its at our pace. 

[c-boy]

On 11/17/2019 at 1:48 PM, Firepath said:

I am a new cruiser having only been on one in the past 15 yrs. We tried the buffet and it was not very good. On the other hand, the MDR was very good. We didn’t try any specialties. Even though the buffet on our cruise was poor, it will still busy most of the time. My question is, why do some people eat there mostly? Is the buffet good on most cruise lines? Do people not know there are other free options? Is it faster, more choices, do you like to see what you’re getting before you order? 

Buffets are great, and we will do them for breakfast and non port days. Dinner for us in an occasion, where we set and relax enjoy company and conversation. 

[SRF]

23 hours ago, K32682 said:

 

Well, er, if you are young and in love there are more exciting things on the evening agenda than anything going on in the MDR. 😉

 

You don't need to be THAT young. 😄

 

[Dixe Lee]

27 minutes ago, SRF said:

 

You don't need to be THAT young. 😄

 

Exactly 👍

[crzndeb]

9 hours ago, clo said:

This. What are some of those things?

Why can’t other posters just make a statement? Why do you always have to question what they do, and why?  Many have answered what the OP asked, and that should be it. 

[ldubs]

On 12/6/2019 at 3:11 PM, mom says said:

There are times when one doesn't want a slowly paced multicourse meal, but just wants something quick. And the buffet certainly can provide that. 

 

This is true to be sure.  But there are times when we spend a lengthy amount of time with a meal in the buffet.  It isn't alway about a quick bite.  Sometimes it is nice to kick back in a relaxed atmosphere.  

[George C]

While I am anti buffet in general, we just got off msc seaside and I could make a meal from there pizza by far best at sea equal to really good nyc. 

[ldubs]

On 12/6/2019 at 4:13 PM, K32682 said:

 

You captured my sentiments very well.  There are times when all I want is sustenance and have no interest in the rigmarole of fine dining.  I have nothing against a fine meal but particularly on a longer cruise the MDR becomes quite tiresome.  

 

What can become tiresome (or tedious) for me to the point of drumming my fingers on the table is waiting for someone to finish their 6th entree and suspecting there are multiple dessert courses to come!   Speaking as a spectator, an eating marathon gets tiresome.

 

[clo]

43 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

What can become tiresome (or tedious) for me to the point of drumming my fingers on the table is waiting for someone to finish their 6th entree and suspecting there are multiple dessert courses to come!   Speaking as a spectator, an eating marathon gets tiresome.

 

So you bring up something I've meant to ask. If you're seated with people that/who you're not a party with, is the whole group served as one? We don't have big appetites so would likely share a couple of apps and a main and a dessert. Does that mean we'd have to sit there while all to course go along? We're on Oceania so I'm going to ask them specfically. Thanks.

[ldubs]

36 minutes ago, clo said:

So you bring up something I've meant to ask. If you're seated with people that/who you're not a party with, is the whole group served as one? We don't have big appetites so would likely share a couple of apps and a main and a dessert. Does that mean we'd have to sit there while all to course go along? We're on Oceania so I'm going to ask them specfically. Thanks.

 

Well, in the case of joining a table in the MDR, I guess if you are seated with them then you are considered a party with them, so to speak. 

 

Anyway, I have no experience with Oceania.  Other cruise lines serve the entire table by course.  It would otherwise be difficult for the table staff as you can imagine.   However, you do not have to sit there.  We have excused ourselves "early" as in still during the entree course of our table mates.  I suppose we were labeled as rude, but that is preferable to being held captive to someone's never ending food fest.  

[Lois R]

On ‎12‎/‎7‎/‎2019 at 8:53 AM, cruisemom42 said:

 

Some don't consider it tedium.

 

I find a well-prepared and well-paced evening meal, with several courses, paired with good wine and conversation, to be enjoyable in the extreme. 

Maybe one day we will finally meet and have that meal together

[pris993]

We have been cruising since the l980s, well over 60 cruises on 9 different lines.  Now day we cruise mostly Princess but have cruised HAL, Celebrity and Cunard in recent years.

 

Until just a few years ago, we always did the MDR traditional dining.  The MDR on most lines we have been on recently are not any better than the buffet.  For that reason, we find it is just as nice for us to go to the buffet, we usually go early before it get busy, stake out a table for two, if early diner we usually have a view  before the sunsets.    We enjoy the Crown Grill special dining area on Princess and are willing to pay extra for a nice meal, on formal nights, we go to the Grill.   In the morning we do room service for breakfast.  Far cry from when we first started cruising, then it was the MDR for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Now many options and we enjoy them more often than the MDR.  

[pacruise804]

On 12/7/2019 at 8:53 AM, cruisemom42 said:

 

Some don't consider it tedium.

 

I find a well-prepared and well-paced evening meal, with several courses, paired with good wine and conversation, to be enjoyable in the extreme. 

 

What you describe is lovely (although even it I might not want every night of a cruise), however that is a different experience than most mainstream cruisers experience 😉 

 

On 12/7/2019 at 9:11 AM, cruisemom42 said:

 

Perhaps it is different on the 350 passenger ship I have mostly sailed on in the last eight years.... 

 

I suspect those cruises are vastly different from most mainstream cruises with 1,000-4,000 passengers on most sailings.

[cruisemom42]

50 minutes ago, pacruise804 said:

 

What you describe is lovely (although even it I might not want every night of a cruise), however that is a different experience than most mainstream cruisers experience 😉 

 

 

I suspect those cruises are vastly different from most mainstream cruises with 1,000-4,000 passengers on most sailings.

 

Perhaps...

 

But I have sailed with my son for the last several years on mass-market New Years Eve cruises (Celebrity Silhouette, Regal Princess). We have never been tempted to eat in the buffet for dinner.  Even if I am not in the midst of a convivial dinner conversation, I enjoy reading and selecting from the menu and dining in courses as opposed to having to stalk the buffet line for choices and serve myself (or at the least get up and stand in line to be served).

[DarrenM]

On 12/8/2019 at 9:37 PM, ldubs said:

 

What can become tiresome (or tedious) for me to the point of drumming my fingers on the table is waiting for someone to finish their 6th entree and suspecting there are multiple dessert courses to come!   Speaking as a spectator, an eating marathon gets tiresome.

 

Surely you would just walk out when you have finished your meal? You dont wait for people you dont even know do you? Alternatively gett hammered drunk sat with them and then just ridcule them.

[ontheweb]

4 hours ago, DarrenM said:

Surely you would just walk out when you have finished your meal? You dont wait for people you dont even know do you? Alternatively gett hammered drunk sat with them and then just ridcule them.

On an NCL ship once when there was still appetizer and soup separate, DW did not order an appetizer. She had to wait for her salad as one of the others at our table ordered every single appetizer and was served them one at a time while she sat with no food yet.