Arcadia - Current Cruise - Buffet Dining

[Son of Anarchy]

The Ole Lady has read elsewhere that the buffet is closed on one side in the evenings for ship's officers' dining.  With the result that there may be insufficient seating for passengers using the buffet.

 

Just wondering if someone currently on board can shed any light on what the reason for this is?

 

Understandable if there is some sort of technical issue in the crew dining facilities and this is a temporary measure whilst those issues are being resolved.  Just intrigued as to why this is.

[daiB]

Not been on Arcadia recently but when we were on there were very few people using the buffet at all. 20 tops.

[CarlaMarie]

1 hour ago, Son of Anarchy said:

The Ole Lady has read elsewhere that the buffet is closed on one side in the evenings for ship's officers' dining.  With the result that there may be insufficient seating for passengers using the buffet.

 

Just wondering if someone currently on board can shed any light on what the reason for this is?

 

Understandable if there is some sort of technical issue in the crew dining facilities and this is a temporary measure whilst those issues are being resolved.  Just intrigued as to why this is.

 

I think this has always been the case on Arcadia. There has always been Officer's (and the entertainments team) dining in the buffet in the evenings when I have sailed on her and they've only had the one side open. There was always plenty of tables so I wouldn't think it would effect any passenger. 

[davecttr]

Yes, those arrangements still apply in the evenings and the port side servery is unavailable. there is an area on the port side reserved for officers but some other staff grades are allowed to use the area allocated to passengers. I found this inconvenient and irritating at times. i like to eat late, soon after 8pm and some staff ate there. For example one evening I fancied beef in black bean sauce, except there was no beef, just sauce. A swarm of locusts, sorry crew had taken the beef. Another evening i decided to try a late night snack. A crew member took the 3 remaining sandwiches and put them on his already full plate. Thanks a lot I said and he looked embarrassed and placed 2 back on the serving dish. The choice of dishes seemed to me to be sometimes designed to appeal to the crews tastes.

 

IMO Arcadia's buffet is the least satisfactory of the P&O ones I have sampled.

[Son of Anarchy]

18 minutes ago, davecttr said:

Yes, those arrangements still apply in the evenings and the port side servery is unavailable. there is an area on the port side reserved for officers but some other staff grades are allowed to use the area allocated to passengers. I found this inconvenient and irritating at times. i like to eat late, soon after 8pm and some staff ate there. For example one evening I fancied beef in black bean sauce, except there was no beef, just sauce. A swarm of locusts, sorry crew had taken the beef. Another evening i decided to try a late night snack. A crew member took the 3 remaining sandwiches and put them on his already full plate. Thanks a lot I said and he looked embarrassed and placed 2 back on the serving dish. The choice of dishes seemed to me to be sometimes designed to appeal to the crews tastes.

 

IMO Arcadia's buffet is the least satisfactory of the P&O ones I have sampled.

Hmm......

 

Officers and entertainment staff using the buffet has always been the norm on the cruises we have done with P & O.  This seems to be a bit different, and not for the better.

[gsmt47471015]

Numerous people on other boards and social media confirm that this is indeed the case , if there are issues with their dining locations then it needs to be rectified as it is general knowledge that passengers pay to cruise and should not be inconvenienced for the benefit of staff , no matter what grade they are, as we are boarding in January and are onboard for 99 nights I suspect we may well use the evening buffet just for a change as alternative eating options are the most severely limited on  Arcadia

[davecttr]

5 hours ago, Son of Anarchy said:

Hmm......

 

Officers and entertainment staff using the buffet has always been the norm on the cruises we have done with P & O.  This seems to be a bit different, and not for the better.

It was not all bad and only my opinion and others opinions may differ. The forward seating area on the port side was available for passengers except access was blocked off by chairs until the starboard seating was heavily occupied, some enterprising passengers just removed the chairs. Maybe they just did not have the staff to tidy up the tables?

[davecttr]

4 hours ago, gsmt47471015 said:

Numerous people on other boards and social media confirm that this is indeed the case , if there are issues with their dining locations then it needs to be rectified as it is general knowledge that passengers pay to cruise and should not be inconvenienced for the benefit of staff , no matter what grade they are, as we are boarding in January and are onboard for 99 nights I suspect we may well use the evening buffet just for a change as alternative eating options are the most severely limited on  Arcadia

Arcadia does not have a Beach House which I used to enjoy but the fare is getting too spicy for my taste anyway . I enjoyed the pop up Glass House in Intermezzo but it was only open on some sea day lunchtimes. They used the Ocean Grill galley but maybe did not have enough ingredients, maybe just an experiment.

 

With the right price and itinerary I would consider Arcadia again.

Edited October 11, 2023 by davecttr

[Britboys]

There was a section of the Horizon on Aurora in August set aside every evening for Officer dining. Never ate in the buffet in the evening so don't know the servery arrangements.

[tring]

We were on Arcadia in June and plenty of space in the one side open for passengers as not many use it then, though we did on a fair few evenings.

 

Also, on our recent Aurora cruise, we used the buffet on a number of evenings and there was plenty of space, despite a large area used for the Beach House as well as an area for ship's staff on the pool end of the side passengers use.  Again not a lot of passengers using it then, but the buffet did make for some nice relaxed meals at our own pace, when we were onboard for 37 nights.  

 

I do not think this is anything that is unusual on those ships.  The side used by officers was not overly used either, but it was used.  I think some have always eaten in the buffet, though there must be other crew eating facilities as they will not all be eating at that time, because of their shifts.  I suspect it is a hang over from covid, when they were keeping the staff well away from the passengers in case of infection being passed on.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 12, 2023 by tring

[CarlaMarie]

8 hours ago, gsmt47471015 said:

Numerous people on other boards and social media confirm that this is indeed the case , if there are issues with their dining locations then it needs to be rectified as it is general knowledge that passengers pay to cruise and should not be inconvenienced for the benefit of staff , no matter what grade they are, as we are boarding in January and are onboard for 99 nights I suspect we may well use the evening buffet just for a change as alternative eating options are the most severely limited on  Arcadia

 

As I posted above, on Arcadia the Officers, entertainments, shore excursions team etc... have always used the buffet in the evenings. They are allowed to eat there, so there isn't any actual issue with their dining arrangements (I know this as friends/family have worked onboard). The buffet isn't usually that busy in the evenings, so I do not think you will be inconvenienced. If it had been a big problem over the years for passengers then I am sure it would have been spoken about before now. 

 

I hope you have a wonderful time!

[gsmt47471015]

4 hours ago, CarlaMarie said:

 

As I posted above, on Arcadia the Officers, entertainments, shore excursions team etc... have always used the buffet in the evenings. They are allowed to eat there, so there isn't any actual issue with their dining arrangements (I know this as friends/family have worked onboard). The buffet isn't usually that busy in the evenings, so I do not think you will be inconvenienced. If it had been a big problem over the years for passengers then I am sure it would have been spoken about before now. 

 

I hope you have a wonderful time!

Thanks for all the updated information , I have no problem with staff using the buffet area as long as its not at the expense of fare paying passengers , it was more a question of why as its something we've only noticed in the last few years, in all our cruises we have only eaten in the buffet on an evening a handful of times but feel we will be doing so a little more on this cruise if only for a change 🍴 

[david63]

5 hours ago, CarlaMarie said:

on Arcadia the Officers, entertainments, shore excursions team etc... have always used the buffet in the evenings.

Not just Arcadia nor evenings but all ships for all meals - as far as I am aware the only stipulations is that they remove their own plates from the table.

[zap99]

19 hours ago, Son of Anarchy said:

The Ole Lady has read elsewhere that the buffet is closed on one side in the evenings for ship's officers' dining.  With the result that there may be insufficient seating for passengers using the buffet.

 

Just wondering if someone currently on board can shed any light on what the reason for this is?

 

Understandable if there is some sort of technical issue in the crew dining facilities and this is a temporary measure whilst those issues are being resolved.  Just intrigued as to why this is.

A bit ironic really.  Folk look forward to the opportunity to dine with the Officers, but it seems they are avoiding eating with the passengers.🤣

[LondonLad60]

My last cruises on Arcadia were before the main Covid lockdown, but as I recall, one side of the buffet was always closed to passengers in the evening and was solely for the use of officers and entertainment staff. The only servery open was on the passengers side, which led to long queues, shortages of some items and frayed tempers. Of course, things may now be different.

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, gsmt47471015 said:

Thanks for all the updated information , I have no problem with staff using the buffet area as long as its not at the expense of fare paying passengers , it was more a question of why as its something we've only noticed in the last few years, in all our cruises we have only eaten in the buffet on an evening a handful of times but feel we will be doing so a little more on this cruise if only for a change 🍴 

As others have said, officers and entertainment staff have always used the buffet, we have seen them on all the ships we have been on over the last 20 years. They normally use the aft end of the buffet, furthest from the severies, which is generally empty of passengers.

[tring]

1 hour ago, LondonLad60 said:

My last cruises on Arcadia were before the main Covid lockdown, but as I recall, one side of the buffet was always closed to passengers in the evening and was solely for the use of officers and entertainment staff. The only servery open was on the passengers side, which led to long queues, shortages of some items and frayed tempers. Of course, things may now be different.

 

The servery on the side used by staff was indeed open in June, so no conflict whatsoever regards acces to the servery for passengers.  Nothing at all like breakfast or lunch times when the buffet is very busy.

 

I would happily have eaten there most nights, rather than just the 20% or so of the time we actually did, because it was so  peaceful and pleasant with a choice of what to eat after seeing the options.  We prefer The MDR at lunch times on sea days though, if we want to eat at peak times, since the buffet can be chaotic then. 

 

Even if staff were not using the other side of the buffet, I do not believe it would have be open to passengers as there was just not the need for it.  Sections of buffets are always closed at quiet times on all ships and all cruise lines.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 12, 2023 by tring

[Cruising Nomads]

Arcadia was built without an officers crew mess this is why they use the buffet in the evening.

[Son of Anarchy]

11 hours ago, tring said:

Also, on our recent Aurora cruise, we used the buffet on a number of evenings and there was plenty of space, despite a large area used for the Beach House as well as an area for ship's staff on the pool end of the side passengers use.  Again not a lot of passengers using it then, but the buffet did make for some nice relaxed meals at our own pace, when we were onboard for 37 nights.  

 

I do not think this is anything that is unusual on those ships.  The side used by officers was not overly used either, but it was used.  I think some have always eaten in the buffet, though there must be other crew eating facilities as they will not all be eating at that time, because of their shifts.  I suspect it is a hang over from covid, when they were keeping the staff well away from the passengers in case of infection being passed on.

We were on the same cruise.  Used Beach House and the evening buffet a few times.  Never even noticed the area for ship's staff by the pool.

[tring]

39 minutes ago, Son of Anarchy said:

We were on the same cruise.  Used Beach House and the evening buffet a few times.  Never even noticed the area for ship's staff by the pool.

 

As you enter the self service from the mid ship doors (on the port side) there is a separate seating section to the right, which you pass before you come to the open seating part to the right of the servery - it is visible from the pool deck as there are windows from there out to the pool deck.  It had a board at the entrance in the evenings saying it was reserved seating area for ship's staff and possibly some other times.  It was used by passengers for breakfast on the disembarkation day and we had also seen the chefs having meetings there when the restaurant was not open.  Possibly for passenger use that space at other busy times, but not sure of that.  Some people may not have thought to go back to that area, which is not clearly visible as you come out of the servery area on the port side. 

 

if you went through the doors to the Beach House side from the pool area, you would not see that section at all.

 

Edited October 12, 2023 by tring

[davecttr]

8 hours ago, LondonLad60 said:

My last cruises on Arcadia were before the main Covid lockdown, but as I recall, one side of the buffet was always closed to passengers in the evening and was solely for the use of officers and entertainment staff. The only servery open was on the passengers side, which led to long queues, shortages of some items and frayed tempers. Of course, things may now be different.

It is just the same now

[davecttr]

7 hours ago, tring said:

 

The servery on the side used by staff was indeed open in June, so no conflict whatsoever regards acces to the servery for passengers.  Nothing at all like breakfast or lunch times when the buffet is very busy.

 

I would happily have eaten there most nights, rather than just the 20% or so of the time we actually did, because it was so  peaceful and pleasant with a choice of what to eat after seeing the options.  We prefer The MDR at lunch times on sea days though, if we want to eat at peak times, since the buffet can be chaotic then. 

 

Even if staff were not using the other side of the buffet, I do not believe it would have be open to passengers as there was just not the need for it.  Sections of buffets are always closed at quiet times on all ships and all cruise lines.

 

 

 

 

It was not for 3 weeks in August!

Red area reserved for officers

Green area sometimes 'fenced off' in the evenings

Blue serveries are vegan etc

Yellow is hot food servery

The remaining area is available to non officer crew and can stress the single hot servery, they take all the best stuff. I also wonder if the daily budget is lower in the buffet because crew are allowed to eat there and their daily budget is lower?

 

Aurora buffet red area crew evening dining blue area Beach House

 

Edited October 12, 2023 by davecttr

[tring]

3 hours ago, davecttr said:

It was not for 3 weeks in August!

Red area reserved for officers

Green area sometimes 'fenced off' in the evenings

Blue serveries are vegan etc

Yellow is hot food servery

The remaining area is available to non officer crew and can stress the single hot servery, they take all the best stuff. I also wonder if the daily budget is lower in the buffet because crew are allowed to eat there and their daily budget is lower?

 

Aurora buffet red area crew evening dining blue area Beach House

 

 

On Arcadia the serveries were a mirror image on both sides, so there is a servery for hot and cold food within the area you have marked up as red and it was definitely open to them for our 16 night Norway/Baltic cruise in June as it could be seen from the rear entrance to their area around the cordoning off sheet.  The staff kept within that red area and did not come through to the passenger area on the other side of the ship to get their food, which as you said was cordoned off from the area allocated to staff.  I can only speak for that one 16 night cruise on Arcadia.  I cannot recall the area further along on the staff side, by your green markings and one of your blue markings as we did not go that side and do not recall any other passengers going there in the evenings.  We  always entered from the rear deck then, as it was glorious weather throughout, so we spent a lot of evenings out on the rear deck and ate in the buffet later on especially when scenic cruising.

 

On the Aurora plan, you have the Beach House area correct, but that plan is not a good representation of the ship around the servery rotunda.  There is a lot more space on the port side between the rotunda and the side of the ship, so there was a wide area of seating that side, c.f. a very narrow part on the Starboard (Beach House) side.  On the port side there is also four sections of seating areas which are separated by walls and there was sink for hand washing between the pool entrance section (that was used for the ship's company to use the exact wording on the notice at the entrance to that), and the section to the side of the servery.  On a real scale diagram, I believe the distance from the pool entrance and begining of the servery is actually further than it looks on the deck plans.  We always sat on the port side, in one of the two sections further aft, which were all tables for two and quieter than the rest of the buffet area.  So your red markings are in the correct general.location, but it does not extend to alongside the begining of the servery area, or the seating to the side of that servery  The staff used the same servery on Aurora, but just had a separate seating area.

 

We left Aurora on 3rd Oct after 37 nights and also had 28 nights onboard last November, so we have a very clear memory of her buffet as we used it a lot.

 

We found the buffet food quality to be good in our opinion at all times, but food opinion can of course be very subjective.  

Edited October 12, 2023 by tring

[davecttr]

1 hour ago, tring said:

 

On Arcadia the serveries were a mirror image on both sides, so there is a servery for hot and cold food within the area you have marked up as red and it was definitely open to them for our 16 night Norway/Baltic cruise in June as it could be seen from the rear entrance to their area around the cordoning off sheet.  The staff kept within that red area and did not come through to the passenger area on the other side of the ship to get their food, which as you said was cordoned off from the area allocated to staff.  I can only speak for that one 16 night cruise on Arcadia.  I cannot recall the area further along on the staff side, by your green markings and one of your blue markings as we did not go that side and do not recall any other passengers going there in the evenings.  We  always entered from the rear deck then, as it was glorious weather throughout, so we spent a lot of evenings out on the rear deck and ate in the buffet later on especially when scenic cruising.

 

On the Aurora plan, you have the Beach House area correct, but that plan is not a good representation of the ship around the servery rotunda.  There is a lot more space on the port side between the rotunda and the side of the ship, so there was a wide area of seating that side, c.f. a very narrow part on the Starboard (Beach House) side.  On the port side there is also four sections of seating areas which are separated by walls and there was sink for hand washing between the pool entrance section (that was used for the ship's company to use the exact wording on the notice at the entrance to that), and the section to the side of the servery.  On a real scale diagram, I believe the distance from the pool entrance and begining of the servery is actually further than it looks on the deck plans.  We always sat on the port side, in one of the two sections further aft, which were all tables for two and quieter than the rest of the buffet area.  So your red markings are in the correct general.location, but it does not extend to alongside the begining of the servery area, or the seating to the side of that servery  The staff used the same servery on Aurora, but just had a separate seating area.

 

We left Aurora on 3rd Oct after 37 nights and also had 28 nights onboard last November, so we have a very clear memory of her buffet as we used it a lot.

 

We found the buffet food quality to be good in our opinion at all times, but food opinion can of course be very subjective.  

The red enclosed area is for officers and other staff grades share the one servery with passengers. Spa,Retail, Casino, Entertainment etc. This stresses the one servery if numbers of them arrive at the same time.

 

I agree that part of the servery on Aurora was used for the Beach House but I found the buffet there a better experience than Aurora. I am cruising on Ventura next month and hope things are OK in the buffet. Iona's buffet was good and Arvia's was good except sometimes on formal nights when the lack of 4 dining rooms had part of the buffet as the Chefs Table.

[tring]

40 minutes ago, davecttr said:

The red enclosed area is for officers and other staff grades share the one servery with passengers. Spa,Retail, Casino, Entertainment etc. This stresses the one servery if numbers of them arrive at the same time.

 

 

So in August had they closed the serveries which are on the side of the ship reserved for staff, so they had to walk around onto the passenger side to get their food and return to their seats on the other side?  That does indeed sound odd. 

 

It was much better in June as the full range of serveries on the passenger side was open and was solely available for the few passengers who used the buffet at night.  I wonder if there was illness among the kitchen staff at the time, or if they do have that system at times.  The freedom dining MDR on Arcadia was pretty chaotic at times as it was very badly run.  People who did not want to go into their allocated set sittings were allowed to use the freedom dining restaurant, which was ridiculous as it meant it was totally overstretched.