taking buffet food out of buffet restaurant

[expectthebest]

On our last cruise my extended family and I were enjoying a wonderful dinner in one of the main dining rooms. We witnessed an older gentleman at the table next to us ( they were a party of 6) take a Pringle’s can out of a very wrinkled and worn dollar general plastic bag.
Our 6 year old was the first to notice and said “look dad, he brought potato chips to dinner”..to me that seemed a bit odd but to each his own.. then the gentleman proceeded to sneakily open the top of the pringles can while slowly looking to his left and then to his right. 
 

It immediately became apparent that the can of Pringles was empty..he then reached for the warm basket of bread and proceeded to load about 6 rolls methodically one at a time in said Pringle’s can. We watched in awe at this well oiled operation that was done with such precision he also filled the remaining space in the can with at least 5 butter packets. He secured the top on the can.. placed it back in the well traveled plastic bag and continued conversation and dinner with his family.

We have never seen anything quite like it. Upon leaving the restaurant our 6 year old turned to me and said.. “dad, do you think the butter packets are gonna melt in the pringles can???

 We still laugh about what happened but also have so many questions!!!

[roddy good boy]

On 7/17/2024 at 3:42 PM, ontheweb said:

1. You left out gelato in Italy.

 

2. My DW went into a McDonalds in Paris because she wanted decaf coffee. But she was told "only normal". 🤦‍♂️

I’ve taken my children abroad since they were 8 and 11 years old. When in London and Paris we often went to McDonalds. They also loved Euro-Disney outside of Paris. Many co-workers scoffed at both of those choices, however, my kids ( who are now in their 30’s and married with toddlers) still talk about how much they loved those trips! To each their own. Enjoy your trips anyway you want to! 
 

Now that we’re empty nesters we love eating locally, but I’ve been known to go to Hard Rock Cafe’s around the world! Love the one in Venice! On a land vaca there’s plenty of opportunity to experience it all.

[ontheweb]

11 hours ago, roddy good boy said:

I’ve taken my children abroad since they were 8 and 11 years old. When in London and Paris we often went to McDonalds. They also loved Euro-Disney outside of Paris. Many co-workers scoffed at both of those choices, however, my kids ( who are now in their 30’s and married with toddlers) still talk about how much they loved those trips! To each their own. Enjoy your trips anyway you want to! 
 

Now that we’re empty nesters we love eating locally, but I’ve been known to go to Hard Rock Cafe’s around the world! Love the one in Venice! On a land vaca there’s plenty of opportunity to experience it all.

I don't think anyone really has a problem with taking children, especially very young ones to places like that when traveling,

[Distinctive-Destinations]

50 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

I don't think anyone really has a problem with taking children, especially very young ones to places like that when traveling,

Nobody should have a problem with adults going there either.

[Travelling2Some]

12 hours ago, roddy good boy said:

. . .  I’ve been known to go to Hard Rock Cafe’s around the world! Love the one in Venice! On a land vaca there’s plenty of opportunity to experience it all.

Here's another factor some may not consider:  When you have been away traveling in foreign countries for a LONG time you do start to miss some familiar foods from home.  After being in Europe for a month on one trip we wanted the kind of big dinner salads that were (back then) just not available in Italy so we went to the Venice Hard Rock Cafe. 

 

I also stopped into a McDonald's on our first trip to Paris one morning hoping to get an adequate amount of coffee instead of those tiny cups.  I saw they were using the same size coffee cups we have in America so I got excited and went in.  Nope - they gave me a cup that was only half full, lol.  I had to order 3 more cups of coffee to get my usual fix.

[Travelling2Some]

Just making a guess about the older man filling his Pringles can with rolls at dinner.  Looks like an established habit since he came prepared.  I'm guessing he has a medical condition requiring bland food and he may have to eat smaller amounts frequently or need a bit of something bland in the middle of the night.  As for the butter, he could just put it in his cabin fridge.

14 hours ago, expectthebest said:

On our last cruise my extended family and I were enjoying a wonderful dinner in one of the main dining rooms. We witnessed an older gentleman at the table next to us ( they were a party of 6) take a Pringle’s can out of a very wrinkled and worn dollar general plastic bag.
Our 6 year old was the first to notice and said “look dad, he brought potato chips to dinner”..to me that seemed a bit odd but to each his own.. then the gentleman proceeded to sneakily open the top of the pringles can while slowly looking to his left and then to his right. 
 

It immediately became apparent that the can of Pringles was empty..he then reached for the warm basket of bread and proceeded to load about 6 rolls methodically one at a time in said Pringle’s can. We watched in awe at this well oiled operation that was done with such precision he also filled the remaining space in the can with at least 5 butter packets. He secured the top on the can.. placed it back in the well traveled plastic bag and continued conversation and dinner with his family.

We have never seen anything quite like it. Upon leaving the restaurant our 6 year old turned to me and said.. “dad, do you think the butter packets are gonna melt in the pringles can???

 We still laugh about what happened but also have so many questions!!!

 

Edited July 19 by Travelling2Some

[Distinctive-Destinations]

46 minutes ago, Travelling2Some said:

 

I also stopped into a McDonald's on our first trip to Paris one morning hoping to get an adequate amount of coffee instead of those tiny cups.  I saw they were using the same size coffee cups we have in America so I got excited and went in.  Nope - they gave me a cup that was only half full, lol.  I had to order 3 more cups of coffee to get my usual fix.

My wife and I specifically went to a McDonald’s in Paris for the sole reason of verifying the “royale with cheese” quarter pounder speech from Pulp Fiction.

[Travelling2Some]

28 minutes ago, Distinctive-Destinations said:

My wife and I specifically went to a McDonald’s in Paris for the sole reason of verifying the “royale with cheese” quarter pounder speech from Pulp Fiction.

Since we are now completely off the subject and have somehow landed at McDonalds, I thought I'd ask my "Fellow Travelers" (a la Wotters World) if you are familiar with The Big Mac Index? It's an informal measure of how expensive various countries are to visit.  We've found it pretty accurate.  https://www.statista.com/statistics/274326/big-mac-index-global-prices-for-a-big-mac/

[ontheweb]

3 hours ago, Distinctive-Destinations said:

Nobody should have a problem with adults going there either.

I was not implying they should. I was only responding to the post about bringing your kids to a foreign McDonalds.

[Rib Jig]

1 hour ago, Travelling2Some said:

...if you are familiar with The Big Mac Index? We've found it pretty accurate.

here it is without requiring subscription:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/274326/big-mac-index-global-prices-for-a-big-mac/

you found prices accurate or corresponding cost of living accurate ???

I immediately find it inaccurate for the latter as Japan & South Africa 
have some of lowest priced Big Macs but are NOT lowest cost of living countries...

[ontheweb]

3 hours ago, Travelling2Some said:

Here's another factor some may not consider:  When you have been away traveling in foreign countries for a LONG time you do start to miss some familiar foods from home.  After being in Europe for a month on one trip we wanted the kind of big dinner salads that were (back then) just not available in Italy so we went to the Venice Hard Rock Cafe. 

 

I also stopped into a McDonald's on our first trip to Paris one morning hoping to get an adequate amount of coffee instead of those tiny cups.  I saw they were using the same size coffee cups we have in America so I got excited and went in.  Nope - they gave me a cup that was only half full, lol.  I had to order 3 more cups of coffee to get my usual fix.

Be glad you did not need decaf like my DW did. The cup size would not matter if you cannot put anything in it.

[jrt.mom]

2 hours ago, Distinctive-Destinations said:

My wife and I specifically went to a McDonald’s in Paris for the sole reason of verifying the “royale with cheese” quarter pounder speech from Pulp Fiction.

Well, is it true?

[Distinctive-Destinations]

18 minutes ago, jrt.mom said:

Well, is it true?

Technically no. It is just Royal Cheese on the sign. No “with”

 

But I’d say yes it is true.

[Travelling2Some]

Veering back to the actual subject . . . When we were off the ship at a port stop in Norway (the second most expensive country in the world after Switzerland) we were getting hungry.  Walked by a few restaurants and perused the posted menus outside their doors.  A cheese board with a couple of glasses of ordinary wine would be $90 USD.  We looked at each other and said, "well, I'm not THAT hungry, lol!"  Did we wish we had snagged a couple of sandwiches off the buffet before we left the ship?  YES!  Bear in mind that Scandinavian food is not one of your great cuisines.  Being hungry for a couple of hours never killed anyone so we waited until it was time to go back on the ship and assault the buffet.

[Travelling2Some]

5 hours ago, Rib Jig said:

here it is without requiring subscription:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/274326/big-mac-index-global-prices-for-a-big-mac/

you found prices accurate or corresponding cost of living accurate ???

I immediately find it inaccurate for the latter as Japan & South Africa 
have some of lowest priced Big Macs but are NOT lowest cost of living countries...

We did find it accurate overall.  I think their intention is to give a fix on what tourists would be paying for things, which could differ from "cost of living" if you were a resident?  Agree that Japan is far less expensive than it was years ago.  Have not been to South Africa so can't have an opinion on that.

Edited July 19 by Travelling2Some

[Asawi]

7 hours ago, Travelling2Some said:

Veering back to the actual subject . . . When we were off the ship at a port stop in Norway (the second most expensive country in the world after Switzerland) we were getting hungry.  Walked by a few restaurants and perused the posted menus outside their doors.  A cheese board with a couple of glasses of ordinary wine would be $90 USD.  We looked at each other and said, "well, I'm not THAT hungry, lol!"  Did we wish we had snagged a couple of sandwiches off the buffet before we left the ship?  YES!  Bear in mind that Scandinavian food is not one of your great cuisines.  Being hungry for a couple of hours never killed anyone so we waited until it was time to go back on the ship and assault the buffet.

Well, as someone who lives very near Norway I can only agree: it is expensive there. Especially alcohol. But even in Norway you can pop into a Narvesen or similar and grab a sandwich or a coffee and bun to go for around $5. (Those buns are really nice by the way! So is their brown cheese sandwiches. $3-ish will often get you a paper bag with 3 good sized buns that you can munch on while walking around. Soda can be ridiculously expensive though. Cruise ship expensive...)

[graphicguy]

Just as a general rule of thumb, I've always found eating establishments everywhere to be more expensive the closer they are to a tourist area, an airport, a port, a hotel, etc.  If you walk a little bit into a particular city, you'll usually find better food which is less expensive.

[Travelling2Some]

2 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Just as a general rule of thumb, I've always found eating establishments everywhere to be more expensive the closer they are to a tourist area, an airport, a port, a hotel, etc.  If you walk a little bit into a particular city, you'll usually find better food which is less expensive.

That is what we almost always do too.  The $90 snack I was remembering in my earlier post was a very little town on a Norwegian fjord cruise.  Might have been Flam or Geiranger.  There were very few options and no convenience stores.  (I would be willing to bet the prices were lower on days when there was no ship in port too.)  If we walked a few blocks away in that town we would have been in the forest, lol.  But I totally agree with the point you are making. 

[KasperGutman]

11 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Just as a general rule of thumb, I've always found eating establishments everywhere to be more expensive the closer they are to a tourist area, an airport, a port, a hotel, etc.  If you walk a little bit into a particular city, you'll usually find better food which is less expensive.

When doing land based trips, my operating practice is to pick the big tourist draws in a city, draw a 200 metre radius circle around each, and declare them no go areas for food. The places close to big tourist draws really have very little incentive to offer a worthwhile food experience (and I say this as someone who really isn't a foodie.)