Very Important Question - Ice Cream :)

[pfleer]

HI all!  We are a long time Carnival cruising family.  We are trying to find alternatives.  We tried Royal Caribbean last year and while some things were nice, it wasn't worth the cost difference vs Carnival.  We get pretty great casino deals with Carnival.  The biggest issue my family had was that RCCL did not have 24 hour soft serve ice cream.  And when the soft serve was open, the lines were extremely long and you were served tiny cones by RCCL staff (if they didn't run out by the time it was your turn).  Needless to say, my family has threatened me that if we ever go on another cruise without 24 hour ice cream, they will throw me overboard.

 

So - does NCL have 24 hour, self serve, ice cream cones?  Specifically looking at Breakaway for Thanksgiving, I think.  Was looking at Joy but the wonky pool deck makes that one a no-go now.

[GirlWriter]

Hello! It is self-serve, in the buffet, and while I have never tried to get any in the middle of the night, I assume it's '24 hour' because during the day it is available even when the buffet itself is closed. Hope that helps!

 

And hope it saves you from being tossed overboard. 😄

[UKstages]

hmmm... i've never tried to get ice cream in the buffet when the buffet was closed. i'm pretty sure they frown upon that. also, the soft serve machine has to be maintained... a human being has to pour in the mix and monitor the temperature and such. i seriously doubt that someone is doing that at 3 am. or 11 pm. whenever i've been at the buffet for breakfast, the soft serve machine has not been operating. my best guess is that the machine would be empty overnight.

 

there is 24 hour ice cream onboard NCL... but only from room service. (delivery fees may apply.)

[laudergayle]

29 minutes ago, UKstages said:

hmmm... i've never tried to get ice cream in the buffet when the buffet was closed. i'm pretty sure they frown upon that. also, the soft serve machine has to be maintained... a human being has to pour in the mix and monitor the temperature and such. i seriously doubt that someone is doing that at 3 am. or 11 pm. whenever i've been at the buffet for breakfast, the soft serve machine has not been operating. my best guess is that the machine would be empty overnight.

 

there is 24 hour ice cream onboard NCL... but only from room service. (delivery fees may apply.)

Agree.

Edited January 9 by laudergayle

[NYcruzzer]

FYI..Carnival no longer offer soft serve ice-cream/fr-yo 24 hours a day. When I was on Venezia in October I think they shut down the machines somewhere between 11:00 pm and midnight.

[tsahall01]

The Local or O'Sheehans would have regular ice cream available 24 hours.  No soft serve, though

[seemoreroyals]

Ice cream is ship dependent.  On Prima for instance soft serve ice cream in buffet is terrible and should be called ice cream headache as it is made with ice instead of cream.  They do make up for if you look around on Prima as they have real ice cream inside Indulge though only open limited hours.  They also have hot fudge sundaes at the Local.   Local while not open 24/7 is open most of the time.

 

So if this thread has legs and hangs around long enough you should get a decent representation of the quality and availability of ice cream on NCL ships and where and when you can find it.

[schmoopie17]

2 minutes ago, seemoreroyals said:

 I have been on several NCL ships with very good soft serve ice cream but cannot recall which ones off the top of my head.  

As has been pointed out in previous threads, NCL does not have soft serve ice cream. They do, however, have tasteless and bland soft serve ice MILK. Huge difference...

[G-DawgMN]

14 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

As has been pointed out in previous threads, NCL does not have soft serve ice cream. They do, however, have tasteless and bland soft serve ice MILK. Huge difference...

 

 Legally they can still call it reduced fat/low fat ice cream though, Ice Milk hasn't been officially used since around 1994. And personally I enjoy the soft serve stuff....I always have to be careful of the hard stuff in the buffet because some of it seems to have been sitting and is covered in ice crystals.

  Anyway, enjoy what you like....it's all bad for you...:)

 

 

[schmoopie17]

4 minutes ago, KSSS2013 said:

 

 Legally they can still call it reduced fat/low fat ice cream though, Ice Milk hasn't been officially used since around 1994.

 

Call it what you like...a rose by any other name. In any case, I find it tasteless and bland. YMMV. Although I do end up trying it on every cruise, hoping for improvement. So far, it hasn't happened.

 

Edited January 9 by schmoopie17

[zqvol]

Never had a bad tasting soft serve cone on NCL

[seemoreroyals]

5 minutes ago, zqvol said:

Never had a bad tasting soft serve cone on NCL

Have you been n the Prima yet?

[MCMC100]

On the Joy is September I did the Behind the Scenes tour.  Here is a picture of the soft serve mix used on board. I’ve had it many times on a ship. It always tasted fine to me. I have no idea if Frostline is “good, bad or ugly” in the world of soft serve ice cream. I share this in the “for what it’s worth” category ……

 

[MCMC100]

Ok, I’m bored and the weather outside is frightful, so I researched Frostline Soft serve ingredients…..not sure what it is, but I know what’s in it….

 

[julig22]

3 hours ago, pfleer said:

So - does NCL have 24 hour, self serve, ice cream cones?  Specifically looking at Breakaway for Thanksgiving, I think.  Was looking at Joy but the wonky pool deck makes that one a no-go now.

Can't speak specifically for the Breakaway but I haven't seen 24-hr availability recently on the ships that do have self serve.  Thought I'd try on my last cruise, it was shortly after the buffet closed, and there was the machine, completely cleaned our, resting for the nite.😒

[JillK]

On the Jade this past November they were offering "dairy free ice cream" at the soft serve machines. We saw a lot of people eating it but we personally didn't find it to be very good. That was the first time on an NCL ship that we didn't like the soft serve so I would have to agree with the poster above who suggested that the quality/caliber of the soft serve might vary by ship. 

 

In any case, the answer to OP's question has been answered... available when the buffet is open though on the Jade, the machines did not appear to be operational during the breakfast hours.

[MCMC100]

The quality/type should not vary by ship. NCL uses the same products on board all their ships. Almost all consumables are purchased centrally and stored in warehouses in Miami. Cargo containers or trucks transfer the products from Miami to the various ports around the world. A ship must order products 90 days in advance in order to receive it in a port in time for embarkation.
 

Only fresh produce, eggs and some alcohol is purchased locally (I think they said this about alcohol but not 100% - centralized Miami purchasing and storage would explain why every District Brewhouse has a Florida feel to beer selection and every bar has NCL branded liquor).  Everything comes from Miami…. I have learned this from the different Behind the Scenes tours I have taken. Both ships stores managers (Joy and Getaway) have stated same thing. 

[bkrickles1]

1 hour ago, zqvol said:

Never had a bad tasting soft serve cone on NCL

I agree!

Was on Joy this past July and had the soft serve a couple of times and it was fine.

Was it Carvel good? No! But it wasn't watery or icy and it hit the spot, as they say.

[moto_italia]

Softserve: Frozen diabetes in a cup

[luv2kroooz]

This is why I come on here. Today, I am getting a lesson in soft serve, something I know nothing about. Thanks everyone!!

[yakcruiser]

Gelato over ice cream any day!

[cruiseny4life]

10 minutes ago, moto_italia said:

Softserve: Frozen diabetes in a cup

I already have diabetes, so it's ok! More ice cream please.

[ChiefMateJRK]

4 hours ago, pfleer said:

Needless to say, my family has threatened me that if we ever go on another cruise without 24 hour ice cream, they will throw me overboard.

Leave them at home and enjoy your cruise.  Solved! 😎

[schmoopie17]

After reading that list of ingredients...YIKES!! (And I don't often use exclamation marks).

Looks like it's not ice cream OR ice milk. Don't know what you'd call it.

YIKES AGAIN!!

I just knew it tasted bad and the ingredients confirm it.

 

Edited January 9 by schmoopie17

[julig22]

6 hours ago, pfleer said:

Needless to say, my family has threatened me that if we ever go on another cruise without 24 hour ice cream, they will throw me overboard.