Buffet Self Service

[Scotico]

I have not cruised in about 5 years.  Do they still allow self service in the buffets or are cruise staff there to serve you?  I am asking because the last cruise we were on (Celebrity) there were guests just grabbing food instead of using the utensils. 

[OCSC Mike]

Self service.

[DaniDanielle]

Back to self serve

[jamscckmc]

Not sure if I’m ready for a buffet again but even before Covid I would take a napkin to use around the utensils. 

[BirdTravels]

Do it yourself. Royal Caribbean passengers are much more civilized than those on Celebrity. 

 

Tongs for shrimp, clams, mussels, poke, and lobster

 

 

Gotta just grab these

 

 

The crew actually serve the surf and turf at the Windjammer buffet

 

[Yorkvillain]

@BirdTravels I must be going to the wrong Windjammer on the ship. 

[Airbear232]

Self service and back to cross contamination of everything 

[smokeybandit]

1 hour ago, jamscckmc said:

Not sure if I’m ready for a buffet again but even before Covid I would take a napkin to use around the utensils. 

 

With or without rubber gloves?

[Engineroom Snipe]

Very interesting observation. Assume everyone washes their hands before entering the Windjammer. The tongs should not be contaminated. Now, I use the uncontaminated tongs to grab a hamburger to put on a roll which I used tongs. Still good good to go. I then use my hands to eat the hamburger. My hands should be clean but now I go back for more food and use the tongs. Did I lick my fingers after eating the last of the burger?

 

Unfortunately, these very actions occur at any buffet in America such as Golden Corral but they do not request or observe you washing your hands. This also occurs at most wedding events, birthdays, and anniversaries unless you are served sit down plates. In this scenario, you are subject to the good sanitation practices of your servers. Did they wash their hands thoroughly before serving you? Sanitation is at the mercy of the weakest link of storage, preparation, cooking, and serving of the dish.

 

I have been very lucky to not have been the recipient of any type of food problem on board ships. Everyone has to weigh their comfort level when you have very close contact with a large amount of people in a very confined space.

[taglovestocruise]

All things are slowly returning back to normal, new normal a fail.

[sfaaa]

Just got off Serenade of The Seas on Sunday. Many people skipped the hand sanitizer dispener on the way to buffet and MDR. Staff turned a blind eye and said nothing. Hardly anyone wore mask or social distancing. More and more people started coughing around Day 4. Things are definitely returning to pre COVID normal.

[joeyancho]

Most items are self serve.   Occasionally some items are served by the crew such as cakes and smoked salmon (lox) come to mind.  The pandemic is over, Uncle Joe said so.....

 

[Ocean Boy]

Error 

[Engineroom Snipe]

3 hours ago, sfaaa said:

Just got off Serenade of The Seas on Sunday. Many people skipped the hand sanitizer dispener on the way to buffet and MDR. Staff turned a blind eye and said nothing. Hardly anyone wore mask or social distancing. More and more people started coughing around Day 4. Things are definitely returning to pre COVID normal.

I finished a cruise on Sunday also on the Oasis of the Seas. I did not notice people skipping the dispenser and wash station around me but the welcome staff at the entrance seemed to be more focused on counting heads than ensuring hand washing. I saw about 20% wearing mask on-board the ship but they were mostly older cruisers from multiple countries outside the US (I made this assumption when they did not speak English as a primary language). I observed very little social distancing. I did not see or hear much coughing or sneezing, even on the last day of the cruise.

[Brandis]

Or I just go back to wash my hands again before starting to eat. Besides, I normally don't eat with my hand but use utensils 🙂

[OCSC Mike]

41 minutes ago, dada2199cc said:

300 days at sea across 4 cruise lines, never got sick or food poisoning from a buffet.

 

Does stuffing yourself and gaining 10+ lbs in during every 7-night cruise count as sick? 🤣

[Ride-The-Waves]

2 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

Does stuffing yourself and gaining 10+ lbs in during every 7-night cruise count as sick? 🤣

We dine  mostly in buffets on cruises.  Better food, quieter venue than the main dining rooms.  Have never gained weight on a cruise.  Usually lose 3-5 pounds.  Over eating is never healthy.  Try not to do that...especially if you claim to be gaining weight.

[moposh]

15 hours ago, Yorkvillain said:

@BirdTravels I must be going to the wrong Windjammer on the ship. 

That's what I was thinking.  I guess I don't know the secret handshake.

 

On recent cruise, it was like Day 3, a teen was in the WJ going on and on about it and saying he had to tell his mom.  Apparently they didn't know the WJ existed.  I guess they'd just been eating in the MDR.

[OCSC Mike]

46 minutes ago, Ride-The-Waves said:

 Try not to do that...especially if you claim to be gaining weight.

 

Thanks for the concern but indulging in food is one of the reasons I enjoy cruising. I wouldn't go if I had to watch what I ate.

 

I eat especially healthy and lose weight prior to cruising and go back to eating healthy afterwards. Doesn't take long to get back to my normal weight (which is not a lot, I'm not a big big guy nor overweight).

[Tulsacoker]

14 hours ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

Very interesting observation. Assume everyone washes their hands before entering the Windjammer.

 

😄 some use the wash station on Ovation as a pass through 

[rudeney]

2 hours ago, dada2199cc said:

 

We also tend to lose weight on cruises but there's a lot going on there for us!

 

1. We always take the stairs.  100% except the final debarkation as we roll off with our luggage.  We almost always book low floors (decks 2 or 3 inside) so it's a LOT of stairs -- makes a difference!
2. Half hour in the gym, tops, daily.  Always can tell the difference.
3. We eat pretty low carb at home, but on cruise ships we eat super low carb because all that unlimited meat!
4. We walk to a lot of beaches from our favorite ports instead of taking a cab -- sometimes as far as 45-50 minute walks each way!

 

I once lost 9 lbs on a 12 day cruise and it was AWESOME, but it was also a super active cruise and I'm sure some of that was sweat/water weight.

 

No gym and few stairs for me (too much arthritis and a hip overduer for replacement) but like you, I lose a few pounds on a cruise because I can really stick to a low-glycemic diet with all the choices available.  

[rudeney]

3 hours ago, dada2199cc said:

Hand sanitizer is a joke.  Gave me eczema for the first time in my life.

 

 

Back when the pandemic started, I saw several medical professionals who strongly urged people to wash their hands with soap and water and only use sanitizer when there was no other option.  It wasn't because of skin issues, but because soap and water literally washes the germs off of your hands and down the drain.  Sanitizer relies on it coming in contact with every germ in every nook and cranny on your hands to kill them.  Fail to get enough sanitizer around a fingernail and you still have germs.  

 

Even years before the pandemic, I got into the habit of washing my hands before eating, or after I had been out in public touching a lot of common surfaces.  I'm not a germaphobe and I think I have an excellent immune system, but I just feel cleaner when I wash my hands.

[NotPayinExtra]

I keep those individual wet ones with me at all times. Even after washing my hands I still use one before I touch food in a restaurant. Planning on doing same after touching buffet tongs on ship.

[Cigar King]

17 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Royal Caribbean passengers are much more civilized than those on Celebrity. 

Having never cruised on Celebrity, I can only say, based on some of the passengers we see on Royal, especially the kids, Celebrity must cater to Barbarians.

Edited September 20, 2022 by Cigar King

[neverbeenhere]

Now I know it's not proper to sell things on Cruise Critic, but I do have an idea that I might start promoting.

 

Royal Caribbean's Weight Loss Cruises!!!! -  lose 3 pounds per week, waste away to nothing on our 200 day cruise.

(With complimentary all-you-can-eat Chocolate Buffet)