THE BUFFET

[adjustman]

Carnival's decision to let their customers serve themselves at the buffet is just another reason why i will not cruise Carnival line. This decision is another example where the Micky Arrison owned cruise line  has a flagrant disregard for the health and safety of its customers. The health of their customers should be their number one priority,  The arrogance of the cruise line not to enforce safety protocols boggles my mind after 15 months of lockdowns and deaths on Carnival owned ships.. Carnival gives cruise companies a bad name. I ask that Carnival look out fort the well being of their customers by enforcing safety protocols! Tom  

[pogoism9]

Just now, adjustman said:

The arrogance of the cruise line not to enforce safety protocols

 

So i'm not sure I understand. They have done a 180 and changed course on their vaccination policy from out of nowhere. The CDC more or less has abandoned any form of limitation for vaccinated cruisers. I'd feel MUCH better cruising on a Carnival ship right now versus say RCL due to the vaccination requirement alone. On the upside, us Carnival fans probably don't want you on our ships anyway 🙂

[firefly333]

Maybe it's based on hard for covid to spread on surfaces. Idk. I admit I was surprised but I'm going with the flow. Once onboard I can choose which venues to eat at.

[AtSeaWithChris]

I don't rely on anyone to keep me from getting sick. I have been to Mexico 4 times in the last 12 months. I have eaten at buffets where we served ourself. Simple, sanitize before and after the buffet. It doesn't take the CDC or the cruiseline to tell you that. But we ARE in a generation that eats tide pods and does fire challenges.

[stellarose]

its all good. I just want to cruise. 

[Jasonsterling]

Okay. Well,  I'm vaccinated so I'm not worried about it. Pfizer is very nearly 100 percent effective and even if I get Covid it'll just be a mild case. Trust me a server passing out food to everybody who is unknowingly infected is a far greater risk on a cruise ship then a self serve buffet- you can use a napkin to grab the utensils or take and wear a disposable glove then wash your hands before you eat with them or you know stay home, either way you'll be fine. 

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, adjustman said:

Carnival's decision to let their customers serve themselves at the buffet is just another reason why i will not cruise Carnival line. This decision is another example where the Micky Arrison owned cruise line  has a flagrant disregard for the health and safety of its customers. The health of their customers should be their number one priority,  The arrogance of the cruise line not to enforce safety protocols boggles my mind after 15 months of lockdowns and deaths on Carnival owned ships.. Carnival gives cruise companies a bad name. I ask that Carnival look out fort the well being of their customers by enforcing safety protocols! Tom  

On our last HAL (also owned by the Carnival Corporation) back in the summer of 2018, the buffet was not self serve so I don't think you can generalize to all cruise lines owned by them.

[BlerkOne]

1 hour ago, adjustman said:

Carnival's decision to let their customers serve themselves at the buffet is just another reason why i will not cruise Carnival line. This decision is another example where the Micky Arrison owned cruise line  has a flagrant disregard for the health and safety of its customers. The health of their customers should be their number one priority,  The arrogance of the cruise line not to enforce safety protocols boggles my mind after 15 months of lockdowns and deaths on Carnival owned ships.. Carnival gives cruise companies a bad name. I ask that Carnival look out fort the well being of their customers by enforcing safety protocols! Tom  

Sounds like you have never cruised on Carnival before. Unlike some other cruise lines, Carnival is requiring vaccinations. Not requiring vaccinations  trumps everything else for flagrant disregard for safety.

[kelkel2]

3 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Sounds like you have never cruised on Carnival before. Unlike some other cruise lines, Carnival is requiring vaccinations. Not requiring vaccinations  trumps everything else for flagrant disregard for safety.

I couldn’t agree more. And honestly I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. I’m assuming they’ll have a hand sanitizer station at the start of the buffet. If everyone uses it before touching anything on the buffet it should be fine. 

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

2 hours ago, adjustman said:

Carnival's decision to let their customers serve themselves at the buffet is just another reason why i will not cruise Carnival line. This decision is another example where the Micky Arrison owned cruise line  has a flagrant disregard for the health and safety of its customers. The health of their customers should be their number one priority,  The arrogance of the cruise line not to enforce safety protocols boggles my mind after 15 months of lockdowns and deaths on Carnival owned ships.. Carnival gives cruise companies a bad name. I ask that Carnival look out fort the well being of their customers by enforcing safety protocols! Tom  

Worried, wear gloves. Killing a cruise makes no sense at all over the buffet or do not go to the buffet.

What's the big deal?

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

2 hours ago, Cowboys4ever said:

Silly argument honestly.  If I take responsibility for my own health and wash my hands before and after and or wear gloves, how is that any more dangerous than someone else putting food on my plate?  It's not.  

 

But it's not like the buffet is the only place to eat on the ship,  so again, if going to to a self serve buffet scares you to much, don't go there to eat.  Or if you are really that scared, you should prob stay home, locked in a closet or something, there are bogymen all around. 

I totally agree. I still have a major problem with Carnival ONLY. Mashed potatoes in the buffet maybe one evening only. Sick of the baked potatoes and or rice every day. Yes, we always go to the buffet. Fast and a nice choice of food. Haven't went to the MDR in many years. Once they degraded the food, that was it. Same as the buffet now.

[TNcruising02]

36 minutes ago, ALWAYS CRUZIN said:

I totally agree. I still have a major problem with Carnival ONLY. Mashed potatoes in the buffet maybe one evening only. Sick of the baked potatoes and or rice every day. Yes, we always go to the buffet. Fast and a nice choice of food. Haven't went to the MDR in many years. Once they degraded the food, that was it. Same as the buffet now.

My husband agrees. haha.  He has mentioned several times that he doesn't understand why they don't ever serve mashed potatoes.

[Don Kehote]

Have a great day not touching anything ever, I guess.

[Saint Greg]

4 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Maybe it's based on hard for covid to spread on surfaces. Idk. I admit I was surprised but I'm going with the flow. Once onboard I can choose which venues to eat at.

 

Exactly. I didn't eat at the buffet before and I won't eat at it now. No big deal.

[firefly333]

7 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

 

Exactly. I didn't eat at the buffet before and I won't eat at it now. No big deal.

I ate salads. And watermelon. Man cant exist on guys burgers alone a wise man once said.

 

Though I intend to have salads in a taco bowl from the cantina on vista, cant remember my choices on breeze, but I want my salad and fruit. If I catch covid from eating salad. .. I'm just not that afraid of eating on a cruise ship. I'll eat your share. 

 

Next cruise I'll do pay restaurants every night if I can get in. Not sure how that's safer. I cant wait especially for JiJis..I'm so so on steak, but I'll try it one night.

Edited July 2, 2021 by firefly333

[Saint Greg]

2 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I ate salads. And watermelon. Man cant exist on guys burgers alone a wise man once said.

 

MDR

[FSHLOT]

Just seems like another step towards normalcy. Which (I hope) is what everyone wants.

[BTromboneFrack]

My wife and I are both vaccinated.   If everyone is vaccinated, Carnival may be the safest place on Earth to be.   Can you imagine the protocols for the cleaning crew nowadays?   It is in the cruise line's BEST interest to be ULTRA safe.    Before the pandemic, studies proved that cruise ships were actually SAFER than hotels in respect to spending disease.   No worries on any of these cruises.

 

[TooManyWakeUpsTilWeSail]

3 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

 

Exactly. I didn't eat at the buffet before and I won't eat at it now. No big deal.

If all Carnival had was the buffet for lunch/dinner I would have cruises another line long ago.  Luckily there are a lot of other free and pay options so I refuse to strap on the feed bag except for ice cream.

[jordanaire]

My wife and I will take plastic gloves when we eat at the buffet

[Saint Greg]

9 minutes ago, TooManyWakeUpsTilWeSail said:

If all Carnival had was the buffet for lunch/dinner I would have cruises another line long ago.  Luckily there are a lot of other free and pay options so I refuse to strap on the feed bag except for ice cream.

I will get a piece of cake or gelato…both served by crew. Or an omelet. That’s about it. 

[Purvis1231]

23 minutes ago, jordanaire said:

My wife and I will take plastic gloves when we eat at the buffet

I will bring some also I will make sure not let any gloves go overboard- save the turtles. 

[sanmarcosman]

38 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

I will get a piece of cake or gelato…both served by crew. Or an omelet. That’s about it. 

We know what's good when it comes to those freshly churned gelatos. There wasn't a flavor they served that I didn't like and the smooth texture was consistent from batch to batch each day that gelato was served. If they served it in the MDR I would order a big bowl of it 🙂 

[DGP1111]

11 hours ago, MamallamaAndDaddy said:

I don't rely on anyone to keep me from getting sick. . .

 

I do get the gist of this comment within your post.  I truly do, but I also strongly disagree with it as a blanket statement. We, as consumers, absolutely must rely on the safety protocols of others for our own health, whether it be the things we can easily see, or those 'behind the scenes' we choose to trust.

 

I have a few cruises booked for the remainder of 2021, and will probably eat some items from the buffet on each one.  I hope to enjoy them as I have many times in the past, but if I see see a flagrant food service error on the other side of the glass, I will make a strong pass on it no matter if it eventually becomes self-serve or crew-serve.

For many years I've used this process: Serve with my right hand.  Eat with my left hand.

 

During the early height of [what I call] Cooties Season, there were a few very active online 'think tank' groups who discussed elements of bringing cruise vacations back to reality with an adjusted view based on what was going on.  I know that, at least, one included members from several cruise lines, as well one government agency, and some frequent cruisers, who gathered weekly for quite a while.  Very eye-opening.

 

One particular cruise line was thrown under the bus (with multiple pictures and videos) for a situation that routinely occurred in their buffet area for years.  It raised many eyebrows.  After a particular organization said it could/would become an additional part of their unannounced sanitation inspections, I personally imagine that becomes a necessary change being made that most passengers wouldn't even notice.  It had absolutely nothing to do specifically with COVID, but the timing offered a chance to request change for something that could greatly impact passenger health. 

In this instance, I rely on that cruise line to keep me from getting sick.

 

.

[AtSeaWithChris]

@DGP1111I agree with you and my point was narrow, basically covid and or noro type sanitary practices.