Midnight Buffet

[MissP22]

17 hours ago, geoherb said:

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

 

They had a similar setup on the Enchanted.

It wasn't announced.

[Roberto256]

2 hours ago, majortom10 said:

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.

You wrote:

"...well we are Elite and have never known food service 24hrs in the buffet. "

 

People with long enough memories can recall Princess 24-hour buffet.

 

[latebloomer56]

7 minutes ago, Roberto256 said:

You wrote:

"...well we are Elite and have never known food service 24hrs in the buffet. "

 

People with long enough memories can recall Princess 24-hour buffet.

 

I remember all night buffets, not a full buffet but plenty to snack after a late show or just at the casino or a lounge.

Also remember on another line the Midnight buffet with a theme, Italian night, France, America etc. plus one night with all chocolate beautiful to see every night but didn't eat or just picked at something different of interest.

Our first cruise was on a different line as well and they had an Extravaganza we could walk through and take pictures then later it opened to eat.

I miss the beautiful exhibits, but don't miss the trays of wasted food in the halls. 

We still have diners or international cafes on most ships.

[cruisingrob21]

13 hours ago, Roberto256 said:

 

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

 

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

I recall the HC being open 24 hrs in the early 2010s, but mainly on the ships awaiting the IC upgrade (if they didn't have it already).  When the IC came along the HC would close around midnight it seemed, and now its 11.  

 

The last voyage the IC seemed to have only minor variations from day to day which I recall there used to be a pretty significant variety based on time of day and day to day.

 

I believe HAL ships still do a "late night snack" around 10 to 11 or so with some new things (well, different from dinner) added at that time.  And they have a chocolate parade during the evening hours once per cruise usually.

[cruizergal70]

23 hours ago, memoak said:

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

That was the problem.  The majority of the people just took pictures. They wouldn't actually eat the food. A lot of food waste.

[Roberto256]

2 hours ago, latebloomer56 said:

I remember all night buffets, not a full buffet but plenty to snack after a late show or just at the casino or a lounge.

 

You could get a snack when the casino closed.  (In my case, depression-eating)

 

Or, a continental breakfast at 0400.

 

 

[ldubs]

12 minutes ago, cruizergal70 said:

That was the problem.  The majority of the people just took pictures. They wouldn't actually eat the food. A lot of food waste.

 

Oh my, food waste on a cruise ship!  😀

 

Way back when, a lot of food carvings/decorations were not intended to be consumed.   Not many people actually want to eat a whole pineapple with a monkey face carved into it.  😀   But still, I seriously doubt food waste was among the main reasons for the demise of midnight buffets.   Just like I doubt water conservation is the reason ice carvings are pretty much a thing of the past.  

[cruizergal70]

On 7/1/2022 at 11:19 AM, ldubs said:

 

Oh my, food waste on a cruise ship!  😀

 

Way back when, a lot of food carvings/decorations were not intended to be consumed.   Not many people actually want to eat a whole pineapple with a monkey face carved into it.  😀   But still, I seriously doubt food waste was among the main reasons for the demise of midnight buffets.   Just like I doubt water conservation is the reason ice carvings are pretty much a thing of the past.  

There were way more food items than the fancy garnishes. I've read firsthand accounts from people who pointedly stated they never ate the midnight buffet. 

 

Yes, there were other factors including staffing and food cost. Personally, I think it doesn't make sense to have large buffets so late at night. Having some food available in smaller amounts is fine. 

[Kansas Gal]

As I remember the midnight buffets, they were packed with passengers on the first few nights, then as the cruise went on, fewer and fewer people came.  Since there were no buffets in the daytime, all meals were sit-downs and you weren't hungry anymore and the carvings and decorations tended to be somewhat the same.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

4 minutes ago, Kansas Gal said:

As I remember the midnight buffets, they were packed with passengers on the first few nights, then as the cruise went on, fewer and fewer people came.  Since there were no buffets in the daytime, all meals were sit-downs and you weren't hungry anymore and the carvings and decorations tended to be somewhat the same.

I don’t remember a time when there were no buffets in the daytime.  When was this and what ship? Usually the MDR is only open for lunch on sea days.  

[Kansas Gal]

1 hour ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

I don’t remember a time when there were no buffets in the daytime.  When was this and what ship? Usually the MDR is only open for lunch on sea days.  

Was in the 1970's when I started cruising.  I sailed mostly Costa (was young and single and loved the attention from the Italian crew!) and Sitmar (Which Princess bought later)

Edited July 3, 2022 by Kansas Gal
addition

[MsSoCalCruiser]

2 hours ago, Kansas Gal said:

Was in the 1970's when I started cruising.  I sailed mostly Costa (was young and single and loved the attention from the Italian crew!) and Sitmar (Which Princess bought later)

Sounds wonderful!

[ldubs]

On 7/2/2022 at 6:49 PM, cruizergal70 said:

There were way more food items than the fancy garnishes. I've read firsthand accounts from people who pointedly stated they never ate the midnight buffet. 

 

Yes, there were other factors including staffing and food cost. Personally, I think it doesn't make sense to have large buffets so late at night. Having some food available in smaller amounts is fine. 

 

I can add to your first hand accounts as I've also attended more than one midnight buffet without actually eating anything.  Though, I don't say so pointedly.  Not sure why anyone on a cruise ship would want to say something pointedly about a midnight buffet.  😀.   I suspect returns compared to the expense was a driving factor.  

[caribill]

On 6/29/2022 at 10:48 PM, boltnut55 said:

 

I just returned from Ruby.  Buffet is closed from 4:00-5:30 for transition (or rest or lack of staff) a

 

In the past they kept one side open for light snacks during that time.

 

It was often visited by people returning from a shore excursion.

[caribill]

On 6/29/2022 at 8:14 PM, sjde said:

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

 

It has been a long time since I have seen what had been a tradition on cruise ships, a big dessewrt buffet at Midnight.

 

The last time I saw one was on a Carnival "journeys" cruise which replicated many past events on cruise ships. It actually was held at midnight.

 

Until several years ago Princess would have a dessert buffet one evening around 10:30 on the pool deck. First it was setup so people could take photos. Then people could serve themselves from it. It was usually well attended.

 

I suspect much of the food was not eaten because many people were not hungry enough at that time.

 

It has sort of been replaced on Princess with a dessert extravaganza in the Lido deck buffet at lunch time near the end of the cruise.

[caribill]

Below are some photos from a special lunch buffet on the original Pacific Princess in 2001.

 

[stevenr597]

I do remember that there was a midnight buffet every evening, and one gala midnight buffet in which they opened early for photographs. 

The Gala gave the crew the chance to show off their catering and art work.

Was it crowded....indeed it was.

Did passengers just look and not eat the food...definitely not. 

Why did the lines cancel the buffets.

Simple answer....good way to keep cost down.  I remember that RCCL first substituted  having waiters go around with trays of light snacks during the late evening.  But this was also discontinued. 

[ontheweb]

On 7/4/2022 at 2:36 AM, caribill said:

Below are some photos from a special lunch buffet on the original Pacific Princess in 2001.

 

Great pictures, thanks for posting. (Only way I can give both a like and a thank you.)

[MissP22]

10 hours ago, stevenr597 said:

Why did the lines cancel the buffets.

Can you just imagine the work that went into the prep not to mention the cost of food these days. 😲

[mammajamma2013]

On 6/29/2022 at 7:14 PM, sjde said:

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

I see that you've already been given your answer but have a question. Are you talking about the buffet set up in the pool area on the Lido deck? I've seen two back when I first started crusing about eleven years ago, both on Princess, each on two different cruises. The first was a full buffet, the second a chocolate buffet. Thank you for the opportunity to relive memories!

[sjde]

It wasn’t by the pool. 

[kywildcatfanone]

Never seen that in 15 years of cruising with Princess.

[MissP22]

1 minute ago, kywildcatfanone said:

Never seen that in 15 years of cruising with Princess.

I don't remember which ship it was but they did a luncheon setup by the pool on one afternoon. 

[Lucky TGO]

Midnight buffets are a thing of the past just like the price of $.50 for a gallon gas. 😳😁

Tony

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, Lucky TGO said:

Midnight buffets are a thing of the past just like the price of $.50 for a gallon gas. 😳😁

Tony

Now that is going back a long, long time ago. And I remember when the price of gas was $.50 for a half gallon since they had no way to post the price as high as a dollar, so they priced by the half gallon.