Currently on Pearl and as of lunch time

[xkritter]

the buffet is no longer self serve.  They now have crew serving everyone. We also got a call that the Haven VIP party with the Captain tonight has been cancelled.

[oteixeira]

They started that on the Escape and Bliss on 2/1.  I am shocked any ship has allowed anyone to serve themselves from a buffet lately.  I honestly think that buffets are were most of the sick get's spread the easiest.  JMHO.

Edited March 9, 2020 by oteixeira

[Vyhanek]

Which is ironic because I think the sick people on the Pearl are the crew.   Not the passengers!    Its the crew, the one's serving the food, stacking the plates, making the drinks, living in even tighter quarters than the passengers and the one's coming back from their homes in Asia that are the sick.    

 

I just got back from the Pearl.   There was a lot of coughing crew.   I think it's just a matter of time.   

[seaman11]

well that makes sense, no need passengers touching the same utensils 

[julig22]

Outbreaks of norovirus and the flu are very common.  So it might not be anything unusual.  Or it could be a sign of much bigger problems.

 

[cincicruisers]

We just sailed on Escape.  Buffet was self serve.

[All-ready2cruise]

I don't use the buffet at all but I'm glad it's not self serve when pertaining to the spread of disease, Noro or Covid19.

 

Hope all goes well for your cruise. Enjoy, Pearl is a lovely ship. 

[tweety33]

3 hours ago, xkritter said:

the buffet is no longer self serve.  They now have crew serving everyone. We also got a call that the Haven VIP party with the Captain tonight has been cancelled.

Thank you for any updates. We sail on the Pearl next month.  I am so looking forward to it but, Still deciding to cancel or not due to underlying health conditions.

Curious if your cruise is full or if you notice a lot had cancelled?

[kevink1955]

We were on the Bliss 2/23 to 3/1 and the buffet was self serve

[george323]

4 hours ago, xkritter said:

the buffet is no longer self serve.  They now have crew serving everyone. We also got a call that the Haven VIP party with the Captain tonight has been cancelled.

Please keep us updated. We are booked on the Pearl 3/15 seriously considering cancelling. Hope your trip is good.

[xkritter]

The cruise seems full and we are having a great time. We ate at Le Bistro last night and they are also using paper disposable menus. And as diners finished eating and before the next group was sat the edges of the chairs were sprayed with disinfectant and wiped down as was the tabletop.  

 

We are loving the Pearl and have not seen signs of any sick crew...as mentioned above.

[zippydo1]

I’m on the Breakaway now and as on yesterday morning no more self serve and increased sanitation efforts everywhere.  The captain made an announcement that the new measures were fleet wide due to corona. 

[lolajeff]

I’m on this sailing. The party for Latitude members was canceled at the last moment yesterday. Paper menus in the morning. Today we are enjoying Costa Maya. No sign of sick crew. 

[SlipperyP]

On 3/9/2020 at 6:08 PM, Vyhanek said:

and the one's coming back from their homes in Asia that are the sick.

Wow.  Just, wow.

[marktwothousand]

Self serve encore last week. Not sure about this week. It’s true the buffet represents a large risk of transmission but if everyone would just wash their hands after placing their plates onto their tables but before eating, we’d be much better off. Unfortunately because the only wash stations are at the entrance, people don’t want to go get up and go all that way. They really need wash stations in at the front, middle and back of the buffets to make self-serve healthy. 

[julig22]

2 minutes ago, marktwothousand said:

Self serve encore last week. Not sure about this week. It’s true the buffet represents a large risk of transmission but if everyone would just wash their hands after placing their plates onto their tables but before eating, we’d be much better off. Unfortunately because the only wash stations are at the entrance, people don’t want to go get up and go all that way. They really need wash stations in at the front, middle and back of the buffets to make self-serve healthy. 

They need to create some sort of signal so that the waiters don't take your plate while you are washing your hands!

[marktwothousand]

Usually a rolled-up unused napkin with utensils in it beside the plate is a good signal, as is sunglasses or a full glass of juice/water. I’ve actually never had my uneaten plate snatched. And I usually eat in the buffet alone. has anyone else had that happen??!

[ziggyuk]

On 3/9/2020 at 10:08 PM, Vyhanek said:

Which is ironic because I think the sick people on the Pearl are the crew.   Not the passengers!    Its the crew, the one's serving the food, stacking the plates, making the drinks, living in even tighter quarters than the passengers and the one's coming back from their homes in Asia that are the sick.    

 

I just got back from the Pearl.   There was a lot of coughing crew.   I think it's just a matter of time.   

 

Wow, and your evidence is a lot of crew were coughing.... wow 

 

 

[Cutesydani]

On 3/9/2020 at 5:47 PM, xkritter said:

the buffet is no longer self serve.  They now have crew serving everyone. We also got a call that the Haven VIP party with the Captain tonight has been cancelled.

Any pearl dailies or guppy dailies? 

[Travelling2Some]

I think its a good precaution under the circumstances to have the crew serve in the buffet.  Much better than hundreds of different passengers all handling the same serving spoons.

[MoniMommy]

I read a while back (not sure what ship or line) that food was put on small plates. Passengers got a tray and took as many small plates of food. I always thought that was a good idea.