Changes in buffet hours - when did this happen?

[JamieLogical]

The end of Late Night Snack in the buffet is another nail in the coffin of my NCL cruising. I was on the MSC Meraviglia and the only two things I felt NCL had over MSC were the Late Night Snack offerings (MSC's are more limited than what NCL used to have) and drinks in the theater. Now, with MSC edging out NCL in the Late Night Snakc department (their pizza is 10x better than NCL's anyway), it seems that all that is left is drinks in the theater giving NCL any sort of edge.

 

BTW, on the Meraviglia, not only did they not close the buffet between breakfast and lunch, they kept one station of the buffet serving breakfast food through lunch. That way, those that wanted more of a "brunch" had that option.

[omahabob]

2 hours ago, SeekingKillerWhales! said:

Well definitely not if you haven't had a hot shower in 3 months! 😁

 

I think I would have bought a new house before that happened.

[CruiseMH]

6 hours ago, JeanKC said:

I've been looking at the dailies posted on the various "live from....." threads recently and there does seem to be a lot of variation in breakfast time. 

 

 

On all my cruises i have been on so far and on all cruise lines the breakfast times varied.

It simply depends on the port schedule.

If ship is in port at lets say 6 am in a port with many 8-9 excursions (e.g. in Italy) then breakfast usually opens earlier and closes earlier and on a sea day the breakfast opens later and closes later.

 

 

[eileeshb]

Another aspect not mentioned so far is folks from varying time zones so your 9am is not the same as mine! I tend to be an early riser on cruises from the USA but that’s because my body clock is set for Ireland, however on a Mediterranean cruise everything’s happening an hour earlier than at home. 
I am one of the post show snack people so I’ll be bringing a stash of sweets with me to satisfy that habit in future. Thankfully I’m staying in a studio cabin and sailing on Bliss next time out which means snacks should be available in both the studio and observation lounges for far more hours than the buffet. 

[omahabob]

There are nine time zones in the US alone, so most everybody has to adjust to some extent. But yes, responses are in the context that ship time is 'normal' time.

[MacGuffin3]

1 hour ago, omahabob said:

There are nine time zones in the US alone

Only one that really counts though. PST baby!

[MacGuffin3]

I hadn't even thought about that, if Alaska is an hour behind Seattle, that gives me an extra hour to sleep in...I mean get to the buffet!

[Cruising Lynne]

6 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

Great catch!

Oops. Did not notice it was day one.

[BirdTravels]

9 hours ago, mking8288 said:

Somewhat off-topic but related.  Talk about food waste ??   Not a chance, "leftovers" can be easily taken down below deck to feed the crew on breaks or between shifts, and, the roasted meat or whatever can be easily & creatively turned into something else by the next day on the planned menu, i.e. end up as ingredients in the soup stock.  Hardly anything wasted and last but not least, the fishes & marine life in the ocean will feed on whatever, as released & discharged from the ships at sea.  In the "old" days, you learn far more doing the longer version of the complimentary behind-the-scene ship tour & get to talk to the executive chef and ask questions when offered.  

While you can do this at home at your own risk, you can't do this on a ship. Once food hits its hold times, it is sent down the grinder. And all food that is not served in the buffet is thrown out and not recycled. That is USDA requirements... I am sure that if NCL could get away with recycled food, they would. 

Edited July 8, 2023 by BirdTravels

[Cruising Lynne]

11 minutes ago, Cruising Lynne said:

Oops. Did not notice it was day one.

The day six daily from the thread by Happycrafter123, lists great breakfast hours. Garden Cafe until 10:30 am and Great Outdoors all the way until 11:30 am 

 

[ChiefMateJRK]

10 minutes ago, Cruising Lynne said:

The day six daily from the thread by Happycrafter123, lists great breakfast hours. Garden Cafe until 10:30 am and Great Outdoors all the way until 11:30 am 

 

Yep.  The rumors of NCL putting the screws to their guests (again) were apparently greatly exaggerated.  Imagine my surprise.

[MacGuffin3]

25 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

That is USDA requirements.

Do those even apply at sea? Let alone enforced.  In a hotel where I worked on land years ago food would go from the restaurant, to catering, to the bar, all the time, wherever it was needed. It was mostly harmless things like bread turned into croutons, old food going to staff, but I saw sketchier "recycling" on occasion.

[omahabob]

17 minutes ago, MacGuffin3 said:

Do those even apply at sea?

 

Yes. It's covered under food import/export rules if the ships provisions in or uses a US port. Never underestimate the power of the government to extend themselves as far into your lives as possible.

 

17 minutes ago, MacGuffin3 said:

...Let alone enforced....

 

Ummmm... Schmaybe??

[smillerholmes]

4 hours ago, omahabob said:

There are nine time zones in the US alone, so most everybody has to adjust to some extent. But yes, responses are in the context that ship time is 'normal' time.

Love it when I learn something on these boards.  If someone asked me this out of the blue I would probably have hit 6.  Yay for trivia facts.

[UKstages]

well, the continental USA only has four (some might argue five) time zones.

 

so listen carefully to that trivia question before you answer.

[RB9643]

1 minute ago, UKstages said:

well, the continental USA only has four (some might argue five) time zones.

 

so listen carefully to that trivia question before you answer.

 

Some might also argue there are 12 for the US in its entirety, if you include the theoretical AoE.

 

 

[omahabob]

Even more if we claim Atlantis.

[blueslily]

On 7/6/2023 at 11:09 AM, bkrickles1 said:

I just saw a daily from June 17th on Joy, and while it's cut off a little, I could see buffet hours for morning and afternoon. They were 7:00 - 11:00am and 12:00 - 3:00pm

I'm not sure why there's such a discrepancy between ships, but I saw this on Facebook.

 

I wonder if those times were different based on a Sea Day compared to a Port Day. 

[Snate]

I am on currently on the Prima (Day 3) and this is my first NCL cruise.  My biggest gripe about the buffet is it closes at 3pm-5pm and isn’t open late 9pm-midnight as an example.  The food hall also closes around 3-5pm along with everything else except The Local meaning if any of the 3K people want something to eat it has to be at The Local which becomes a total zoo.  Also, for late night snacks (9pm to midnight) everything is closed so my kid said all the teens are complaining that you can’t even get a slice of pizza during that time which I find kind of strange.  I get that people should not have to eat all day long on a cruise but based on excursions and getting back on the ship without lunch there have been a few days where we wanted to get a snack or something around 3-4pm and the choices were limited and incredibly crowded since they are so limited.  For late night I am surprised they don’t have some of the desserts out at the buffet so you can grab a cookie or something along with some pizza or something for the kids or adults who are hungry at night.    

[RB9643]

1 hour ago, Snate said:

I am on currently on the Prima (Day 3) and this is my first NCL cruise.  My biggest gripe about the buffet is it closes at 3pm-5pm and isn’t open late 9pm-midnight s an example.  The food hall also closes around 3-5pm along with everything else except The Local

 

 

The Observation Lounge has a decent spread from 3-5, and also check the Surfside Grill in the far back of the buffet. I believe, but am not certain, that it is open between lunch and dinner.

 

 

[MacGuffin3]

Does anybody have a recent typical schedule for the Encore buffet?

[LoungerOnBalcony55]

C'mon NCL, Royal at least has Sorrento's available late. This is actually a bigger cruise-quality-of-life change than you all might realize, even if the change was made for our convenience. 

[GORDONCHICK]

1 hour ago, MacGuffin3 said:

Does anybody have a recent typical schedule for the Encore buffet?

I don't think "typical" exists.  I think it depends more on the itinerary and the homeport than the ship specifically.

[MacGuffin3]

1 hour ago, GORDONCHICK said:

I don't think "typical" exists. 

K*I*S*S, just do 24 hours with limited and/or transition choices at off hours and everyone wins.

[nferr]

Wow. I rarely get up before 9:30, especially on a cruise vacation. I usually hit the buffet late for breakfast, although I've been known to miss it entirely so I have an early brunch type meal at the buffet. I guess it will be O'Sheehans or the Local for me.