Get rid of the buffets already!...

[wowzz]

7 minutes ago, clo said:

Oceania has no trays and you don't serve yourself. And there are always staff around wanting to carry your plate. Seemed quite 'civilized' to me.

Oceania is in a different (superior) class to P&O, and whilst there are people to help carry your plate, the P&O buffet is still very much a help yourself affair.

[clo]

4 hours ago, wowzz said:

Oceania is in a different (superior) class to P&O, and whilst there are people to help carry your plate, the P&O buffet is still very much a help yourself affair.

I hear ya but I wouldn't think it would be terribly expensive to retrofit the buffets with glass on the front and have staff serving from the back. But I'm sure there are those far more knowledgeable than I.

[davekathy]

8 minutes ago, clo said:

I hear ya but I wouldn't think it would be terribly expensive to retrofit the buffets with glass on the front and have staff serving from the back. But I'm sure there are those far more knowledgeable than I.

No modifications would be required to the buffet stations.  Just as you said, the servers all can be armed with tongs and you request what you want and they plate it. They do that whenever there is a norovirus outbreak. No self service. 

[Pudgesmom]

I hate buffets. None of the food is ever quite the proper temperature. Worse though, I carry all my own food around at home. When I travel, I want it brought to me and cooked as I order it. Despite the precautions, they never seem very sanitary to me. I don't visit restaurants at home with buffets and  don't want to use them on my vacation.

[sail7seas]

57 minutes ago, Pudgesmom said:

I hate buffets. None of the food is ever quite the proper temperature. Worse though, I carry all my own food around at home. When I travel, I want it brought to me and cooked as I order it. Despite the precautions, they never seem very sanitary to me. I don't visit restaurants at home with buffets and  don't want to use them on my vacation.

HAL stopped  providing trays in  Lido (the  buffet) ages go.

 

Just because one (or a few) persons do not like buffet is no reason for them to be eliminated.     If you don't like buffet, don't use it.    I have never  seen nor heard of any cruiser  being required to eat at a buffet.    It is not as though that is the only  choice, on a ship, for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

 

 

 

sail.noordam@gmail.com

Edited February 29, 2020 by sail7seas

[wowzz]

2 hours ago, clo said:

I hear ya but I wouldn't think it would be terribly expensive to retrofit the buffets with glass on the front and have staff serving from the back. But I'm sure there are those far more knowledgeable than I.

Yes, but trying to individually serve 4000 pax can be a lengthy process!

[clo]

5 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Yes, but trying to individually serve 4000 pax can be a lengthy process!

As I said, there are those more knowledgeable than I! I had no idea that 4000 pax show up for one venue for what a couple of hours. Amazing.

[AF-1]

The cruise ships are designed to keep the flow moving.  If you had no buffets onboard it would take over three hours to serve breakfast, lunch, or dinner in a dining room/s.   The buffet allows people to eat at their leisure and their pace.  They can order an omelette on the buffet line; pick up all the other breafast foods and go back for their omelette once its done.  Plus you have other food options.  A certain percentage of people will order room service every morning; certain will skip breakfast, certain will eat in buffet, or int'l cafe, sabitini's for suite guests.  So it spreads the pax flow over the entire ship.  Makes sense to me

[wowzz]

6 minutes ago, clo said:

As I said, there are those more knowledgeable than I! I had no idea that 4000 pax show up for one venue for what a couple of hours. Amazing.

Well, how else do you imagine 4000 pax have breakfast?

[donaldsc]

I just came off the Azamara Journey.  The buffet at breakfast has really really crispy bacon to die for - literally and figuratively.  The best that I have ever had anywhere.  A minor point but it made my breakfast.

 

DON

[clo]

33 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Well, how else do you imagine 4000 pax have breakfast?

So the ships you cruise on only have one venue open for breakfast? That must be rough indeed. Our small Oceania ship had three venues for breakfast and lunch and at least seven for dinner.

[clo]

4 minutes ago, donaldsc said:

I just came off the Azamara Journey.  The buffet at breakfast has really really crispy bacon to die for - literally and figuratively.  The best that I have ever had anywhere.  A minor point but it made my breakfast.

 

DON

Our Oceania ship, Marina, had insanely wonderful crisp bacon also at their buffet. Honestly perhaps the best we've ever had.

[richstowe]

2 hours ago, Pudgesmom said:

I hate buffets. None of the food is ever quite the proper temperature. Worse though, I carry all my own food around at home. When I travel, I want it brought to me and cooked as I order it. Despite the precautions, they never seem very sanitary to me. I don't visit restaurants at home with buffets and  don't want to use them on my vacation.

Are you sure things are as sanitary as you imagine back in the kitchen where they are individually plating your food ? There's a lot more touching of the orders back there .I have  the same confidence in the food safety in the self-serve  as I do the served restaurants . It is a hopeful confidence . 

[wowzz]

11 minutes ago, clo said:

So the ships you cruise on only have one venue open for breakfast? That must be rough indeed. Our small Oceania ship had three venues for breakfast and lunch and at least seven for dinner.

I am not as rich as you as Oceania is really expensive. So, on my last cruise, with 2000 pax, there were three venues for breakfast, one of which shut at 9:30, so no use to us.

 

[clo]

2 minutes ago, wowzz said:

one of which shut at 9:30, so no use to us.

Oh my. We're more like breakfast by 8. But, yeah, we had three at breakfast also. Did the buffet every single morning.

[wowzz]

2 minutes ago, clo said:

Oh my. We're more like breakfast by 8. But, yeah, we had three at breakfast also. Did the buffet every single morning.

Breakfast at 10:00 , pre-lunch drinks at 13:00, lunch at 14:00, afternoon tea at 16:00, pre dinner drinks from 18:00 to 20:00, dinner at 20:30, post dinner drinks at 23:00, and repeat .  Never get up at 8.

[Pudgesmom]

4 hours ago, sail7seas said:

HAL stopped  providing trays in  Lido (the  buffet) ages go.

 

Just because one (or a few) persons do not like buffet is no reason for them to be eliminated.     If you don't like buffet, don't use it.    I have never  seen nor heard of any cruiser  being required to eat at a buffet.    It is not as though that is the only  choice, on a ship, for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

 

 

 

And just because you or a few others do like is no reason to keep them. If you don't like my opinion, at least don't try to negate it. I agree that space would be much better used for a plethora of other dining options.

 

 

[clo]

2 hours ago, richstowe said:

Are you sure things are as sanitary as you imagine back in the kitchen where they are individually plating your food ? There's a lot more touching of the orders back there .I have  the same confidence in the food safety in the self-serve  as I do the served restaurants . It is a hopeful confidence . 

That's a really good point.

[lcmortensen]

In New Zealand, we have a chain buffet restaurant called Valentines. I remember frequenting it with my family at its height in the early 2000s... and then everything went downhill. The food became bland and foodborne illness became rife, mostly owing to both the buffet environment but also poor management. Most of the locations have now closed, and I haven't been to one in a good seven years!

Here's a news article on the restaurant and it's decline from February last year: https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/109787913/the-rise-fall-and-rebirth-of-valentines-buffet-restaurants

[travelnap]

There are some cruisers that don't like dining in the MDR because of the time it takes.  Maybe someone should start a thread and poll that asks this.  Shall we get rid of the MDR on all cruise ships because I don't like them?  LOL!!  Different people like different things and dislike different things, so I think the vote results on a poll like that would be similar to the poll on getting rid of the buffet.  

[ducklite]

On 2/20/2020 at 2:37 PM, richstowe said:

Well over 90 % believe the buffets should stay . And that's from a CC crowd that has more experience then the average cruiser . I have found new cruisers love the buffets .

This question should be put to bed . Don't like buffets ? Don't go !

I couldn't agree more.  I'm not a fan of buffets in general, although I like the hybrid at breakfast where you are welcome to take your own items like pastries, fruit, cereals, and yogurts, but you are served the hot foods cooked-to-order fresh from the grill back in the kitchen.  Somehow I don't see Eggs Benedict doing well sitting out on a steam table in a buffet line.  

[ducklite]

12 hours ago, wowzz said:

Breakfast at 10:00 , pre-lunch drinks at 13:00, lunch at 14:00, afternoon tea at 16:00, pre dinner drinks from 18:00 to 20:00, dinner at 20:30, post dinner drinks at 23:00, and repeat .  Never get up at 8.

Wow.  We cruise as a means of transportation to get to places not as easily or well seen by land.  We're typically off the ship as soon as possible--sometimes as early as 8:00--and not back until it's time to freshen up and change for dinner.   We're usually wiped out after a full day of adventures in the ports and sleeping soundly by 22:00!  Are you not getting off the ship at all on the cruise to be eating that many meals on board?

[ducklite]

13 hours ago, clo said:

Our Oceania ship, Marina, had insanely wonderful crisp bacon also at their buffet. Honestly perhaps the best we've ever had.

You can get it that crispy without burning it in an air fryer or deep fryer.  🙂 

[ducklite]

16 hours ago, clo said:

I hear ya but I wouldn't think it would be terribly expensive to retrofit the buffets with glass on the front and have staff serving from the back. But I'm sure there are those far more knowledgeable than I.

Back in the day that's how all buffets were.  It was more like a "cafeteria" where you told them what you wanted and how much and they served you.  

[ducklite]

14 hours ago, wowzz said:

Yes, but trying to individually serve 4000 pax can be a lengthy process!

That assumes that all of them are eating in that venue, at the same time.  I'd suggest it might be 1000 or so at once, which would actually be quite manageable.  Think about going to a posh place with a carving station on a holiday, they handle 1000 guests at a time with no discernible wait.