Buffet on Equinox

[tinaclose]

We have never been fans of buffets and eat at the OV Cafe as little as possible. Although the food looks great there you just can’t trust people to have clean hands when they handle serving utensils. I’ve also seen plenty of people touch food directly and put it back. On a couple of cruises, when Noro or flu was rampant, staff served everything from the buffet. Can anyone who is on Equinox now tell me if that is the case now?  If not I guess we will only get food served from made to order food stations in the OV and eat most meals in the MDR or use room service. Thanks!!

[pasta1]

6 minutes ago, tinaclose said:

We have never been fans of buffets and eat at the OV Cafe as little as possible. Although the food looks great there you just can’t trust people to have clean hands when they handle serving utensils. I’ve also seen plenty of people touch food directly and put it back. On a couple of cruises, when Noro or flu was rampant, staff served everything from the buffet. Can anyone who is on Equinox now tell me if that is the case now?  If not I guess we will only get food served from made to order food stations in the OV and eat most meals in the MDR or use room service. Thanks!!

 

6 minutes ago, tinaclose said:

We have never been fans of buffets and eat at the OV Cafe as little as possible. Although the food looks great there you just can’t trust people to have clean hands when they handle serving utensils. I’ve also seen plenty of people touch food directly and put it back. On a couple of cruises, when Noro or flu was rampant, staff served everything from the buffet. Can anyone who is on Equinox now tell me if that is the case now?  If not I guess we will only get food served from made to order food stations in the OV and eat most meals in the MDR or use room service. Thanks!!

 

[keesar]

3 minutes ago, tinaclose said:

We have never been fans of buffets and eat at the OV Cafe as little as possible. Although the food looks great there you just can’t trust people to have clean hands when they handle serving utensils. I’ve also seen plenty of people touch food directly and put it back. On a couple of cruises, when Noro or flu was rampant, staff served everything from the buffet. Can anyone who is on Equinox now tell me if that is the case now?  If not I guess we will only get food served from made to order food stations in the OV and eat most meals in the MDR or use room service. Thanks!!

Just got off the ship.  It is self-serve except for meat carvings, ordering sandwiches, pasta station,  omelet station and ice cream.  I washed my hands with soap and warm water.  Then had to touch serving items handled by others.  I just made sure not to use my fingers to eat.  I used my  knife, fork and spoon.  

[pasta1]

When we went on our Volendam cruise there was no self service as well on previous Holland line cruises. We are going on the Summit and Equinox this year.

[Jim_Iain]

I'm usually not a germaphobe but considering bringing some disposable medical gloves.    I think many are starting to take corona virus seriously.    I just got back from Kaiser Medical for a Shingles Shot and a good 60% of nurses and staff had masks on.   If I worked in a medical center I think I might also -  probably more for Flu than other infectious diseases.    I did use the alcohol cleanser after touching hand rails.

[Rominesh]

The nice thing about Celebrity is the abundance of hand sanitizer. They had both people and stands for dispensing it practically everywhere. Between making sure to use it whenever encountered, and washing hands and wrists thoroughly, I don't feel too concerned. I will say, I was a fan of HAL's approach of only having staff serve food, but they also weren't offering the Purell to the same extent as Celebrity.

[lola2013]

I am not a fan of hand sanitizer.  I do, however, wash my hands about a zillion times a day, both at home and on the ship.  I did love the giant sink (looked more like a trough) that was at both entrances to the OVC on Edge.  And I saw more people using that than had previously seen people using the hand sanitizer that is usually dispensed at the entrances.

[tinaclose]

Thanks for your replies.  I will do my best to avoid germs on the ship.   I think it won’t be long before The CoronaVirus goes global. The stock market thinks so too. We can only do our best with frequent hand washing and keep our hands away from our faces. There is no proof that hand sanitizer kills viruses. 

[blueboro]

On the ship now and nothing has changed...you continue to serve yourself on most items.

[Bill Miller]

My young friends who write the travel blog, Roaming Around the World, recommend you use the hand sanitize as you enter the buffet, and then again, when you sit down after using the utensils, before eating.

I highly recommend their blog which is on FB and their own web site of the same name. A cute young couple with seven years of travel. Living large on a beer budget.  Plenty of good travel material for my friends who enjoy the travel stories.