Midnight Buffet

[sjde]

Are the midnight/chocolate buffets a thing of the past? We'll be on Princess soon.

[Mum2Mercury]

Eh, I don't care.  We went to ONE, and it wasn't anything great.  

[pris993]

Haven't seen a Midnight buffet on any ship in years, I cruise Princess a lot.  Princess does have a food service 24 hours at the buffet, so one can get something any time day or night.  Maybe a bit limited after covid, not sure, as I have only taken one cruise since restart.  

[MsSoCalCruiser]

6 minutes ago, sjde said:

Are midnight/chocolate buffets a thing of the past?

Yes, that stopped years ago.  There’s always midnight room service.  😊😊😊

Edited June 30, 2022 by MsSoCalCruiser

[Rick&Jeannie]

Pretty much.  The International Cafe is supposed to have extended hours...but various cruises have reported that they were closing oftentimes about midnight.

[ldubs]

Well, I won't say they are gone, because several already have correctly said that.  Been gone a looong time. 

 

I think the good ones were more about the visual presentation.  I think a lot of folks went to take pics more than for a midnight snack.  

[boltnut55]

Midnight buffets haven't been around for maybe 10-15 years... some replaced with chocolate buffet, but I haven't seen those for 5-10 years now.  This is from my limited experience.

 

I just returned from Ruby.  Buffet is closed from 4:00-5:30 for transition (or rest or lack of staff) and closed at 10:30.  One night, we dashed from the show to the buffet.  They used to let us sit there for as long as we want, but they turned off the lights at midnight (hint, hint, I know).

 

International Cafe closed at midnight.  Room service 24 hours a day, which we ordered about 5 times... we placed orders between 1:00-2:15AM, and service was inconsistent.  We waited between 25-50 minutes after placing the order.  One night, we called every 10-15 minutes (range 5-6 times each) between 1:00-1:50AM.  Finally I called Guest Services, and they had someone call us back w/i 10 mins.

[memoak]

These used to be real fancy and people would line up to take pictures. This stopped a long long time ago

[voljeep]

13 hours ago, ldubs said:

Well, I won't say they are gone, because several already have correctly said that.  Been gone a looong time. 

 

I think the good ones were more about the visual presentation.  I think a lot of folks went to take pics more than for a midnight snack.  

 

5 minutes ago, memoak said:

These used to be real fancy and people would line up to take pictures. This stopped a long long time ago

 

[geoherb]

They had a pastry extravaganza on my Regal cruise in February. It was one afternoon in the buffet. Here are some photos. 

 

[msmoger]

12 hours ago, boltnut55 said:

I just returned from Ruby.  Buffet is closed from 4:00-5:30 for transition (or rest or lack of staff) and closed at 10:30.  One night, we dashed from the show to the buffet.  They used to let us sit there for as long as we want, but they turned off the lights at midnight (hint, hint, I know).

 

International Cafe closed at midnight.  Room service 24 hours a day, which we ordered about 5 times... we placed orders between 1:00-2:15AM, and service was inconsistent.  We waited between 25-50 minutes after placing the order.  One night, we called every 10-15 minutes (range 5-6 times each) between 1:00-1:50AM.  Finally I called Guest Services, and they had someone call us back w/i 10 mins.

I'm guessing this was particular to the Ruby.  We just returned from the Caribbean Princess and the buffet was consistently open until about 11:00 PM.  Also, the IC was open later than midnight.  I can't vouch it was open 24 hours but definitely later than midnight.

[SiliconCruiser]

19 hours ago, sjde said:

Are the midnight/chocolate buffets a thing of the past? We'll be on Princess soon.

Given some of the responses, I don't know how accurate Princess' information might be.  But they do have the dining options and the "supposed" hours of operation at https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/food-and-dining/dining-options.pdf

[skynight]

14 minutes ago, SiliconCruiser said:

Given some of the responses, I don't know how accurate Princess' information might be.  But they do have the dining options and the "supposed" hours of operation at https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/food-and-dining/dining-options.pdf

Mostly accurate. Some hours, for example the International Cafe, may be shortened due to low passenger loads and crew shortages. Some venues may not be operating.

[majortom10]

19 hours ago, pris993 said:

Haven't seen a Midnight buffet on any ship in years, I cruise Princess a lot.  Princess does have a food service 24 hours at the buffet, so one can get something any time day or night.  Maybe a bit limited after covid, not sure, as I have only taken one cruise since restart.  

You say you have cruised with Princess a lot well we are Elite and have never known food service 24hrs in the buffet. The buffet has always closed after evening meal and any food service available after that is either room service or International Cafe which is available 24hrs.

[waltd]

Agree.    Many Many years ago the buffet was open longer although limited  to pickup something to eat.   No longer the case.   Around 10:30 to 11:00 pm they start cleaning up. You would have to order room service or go to the International Court for food.   International Court usually closes around 3 or 4 Am to do cleaning and change out the food. 

[Steelers36]

19 hours ago, sjde said:

Are the midnight/chocolate buffets a thing of the past? We'll be on Princess soon.

I didn't have any gray hair and my daughters were youngsters that last time I witnessed a midnight buffet.  But it was quite the show they put on.  It was on X and before we really started going with PCL.

Edited June 30, 2022 by Steelers36

[stevenr597]

23 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

You say you have cruised with Princess a lot well we are Elite and have never known food service 24hrs in the buffet. The buffet has always closed after evening meal and any food service available after that is either room service or International Cafe which is available 24hrs.

Several years ago, Princess decided to do away with the Midnight Buffet.  In place of the Midnight Buffet, they kept one lane from the food court up 24 hrs. 

They also phased this out several years ago. 

[majortom10]

43 minutes ago, stevenr597 said:

Several years ago, Princess decided to do away with the Midnight Buffet.  In place of the Midnight Buffet, they kept one lane from the food court up 24 hrs. 

They also phased this out several years ago. 

Well that has never happened the years we have been cruising with Princess has always had late night food available at International Cafe.

 

[pris993]

2 hours ago, majortom10 said:

You say you have cruised with Princess a lot well we are Elite and have never known food service 24hrs in the buffet. The buffet has always closed after evening meal and any food service available after that is either room service or International Cafe which is available 24hrs.

The far back section of the buffet area was kept open on a 24-hour basis, primarily for the ships officers who work around the clock but passengers could use it too.   I am sure it offers officers and staff who work during the night hours more options than the International Cafe.  I did not check to see if this was still the case when I was on the Ruby in February.  Going on my 31st Princess cruise over Christmas and New Year holiday this year.  Will check the daily schedule of hours.  Some things have changed since Covid. 

[Dunk]

I think you’d be hard pressed to find a traditional Midnight Buffet on any cruise line these days-and that was the case before COVID as well. 

[pris993]

3 hours ago, SiliconCruiser said:

Given some of the responses, I don't know how accurate Princess' information might be.  But they do have the dining options and the "supposed" hours of operation at https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/food-and-dining/dining-options.pdf

Notice it does list "Ocean Now" open 24 hours.  You can order from the Medallion APP or from your TV screen in your cabin.  I have not used, so no personal experience.  

[Roberto256]

3 hours ago, majortom10 said:

You say you have cruised with Princess a lot well we are Elite and have never known food service 24hrs in the buffet. The buffet has always closed after evening meal and any food service available after that is either room service or International Cafe which is available 24hrs.

 

When grand entered service in 1998, buffet was 24 hours.

 

Maybe your 'a lot' doesn't go back far enough.

[stevenr597]

3 hours ago, majortom10 said:

Well that has never happened the years we have been cruising with Princess has always had late night food available at International Cafe.

 

I believe this might have been before "the "International Cafe"  My wife remembered that they set up one section of the Horizon Court as a "restaurant."  The reason we remembered is that our daughter came with us, and she was studying for exams;  we would see her in the section, eating at 1:00 AM. It might have been on Coral Princess. 

 

[boltnut55]

15 hours ago, msmoger said:

I'm guessing this was particular to the Ruby.  We just returned from the Caribbean Princess and the buffet was consistently open until about 11:00 PM.  Also, the IC was open later than midnight.  I can't vouch it was open 24 hours but definitely later than midnight.

Glad other ship didn't have our hours 😞  We were definitely not starving but just very surprised.  Show ended at 10:15, so we had 15 minutes to check out the buffet.

11 hours ago, SiliconCruiser said:

Given some of the responses, I don't know how accurate Princess' information might be.  But they do have the dining options and the "supposed" hours of operation at https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/food-and-dining/dining-options.pdf

Definitely didn't experience those hours; good to know though 😞

Edited July 1, 2022 by boltnut55

[majortom10]

9 hours ago, Roberto256 said:

 

When grand entered service in 1998, buffet was 24 hours.

 

Maybe your 'a lot' doesn't go back far enough.

On our first cruise on QE2 in 1997 midnight buffet was a lavish affair and also was held on many cruise lines but things have changed since then and very few, if any at all hold them now.