Did someone mention a Chocolate Buffet?!?!

[buccikulju]

Do all RCCL cruises have a chocolate buffet? Tell me more.....:D

 

Patty, chocaholic (first cruise, Feb 19 on SOS with DH, DS 14 and DD 11)

[madforcruising]

I can´t asnwer if ALL RCCL ships / cruises have it, but yes my past cruises had it.

[JJ2sail]

My Monarch 4 night cruise had it!;)

[EllieBB]

Do all RCCL cruises have a chocolate buffet? Tell me more.....:D

 

Patty, chocaholic (first cruise, Feb 19 on SOS with DH, DS 14 and DD 11)

 

Oh that sounds yummy! I just bought a chocolate fountain, Target has the large Rival ones on clearance! So very exciting!

[alphakitty]

I went to the chocolate buffet on my last cruise on Sovereign. I got there about 10 minutes after the start of the buffet and to my surprise, there was hardly anything left! I was annoyed to see people with 3 and 4 plates of food mounded high and walking back to the stateroom with it. No one could possibly eat as much chocolate as some of the passengers took! Does this happen on every cruise or did I just hit it at bad time?

[critterchick]

Kitty, Kitty, Kitty! You'd be amazed at what people can pack away, especially on a cruise!

 

We had a chocolate buffet on Radiance, but it looked far better than it tasted, IMHO. We may have had them on Jewel, but just don't have the appetite for it after late seating, so we didn't investigate.

[wraithe]

I went to the chocolate buffet on my last cruise on Sovereign. I got there about 10 minutes after the start of the buffet and to my surprise, there was hardly anything left! I was annoyed to see people with 3 and 4 plates of food mounded high and walking back to the stateroom with it. No one could possibly eat as much chocolate as some of the passengers took! Does this happen on every cruise or did I just hit it at bad time?

 

Every time, that's why you have to be the alpha dog :D and try to get as close to the front of the line as you can. We never take stuff back to the room, just what we can eat in the DR right then, so not a lot. The most annoying thing is when you come out the next morning, and 1/2 the stuff people took is laying out in the hallway where people couldn't eat it. Oh well.

[crazy 4 cruising]

Every time, that's why you have to be the alpha dog :D and try to get as close to the front of the line as you can. We never take stuff back to the room, just what we can eat in the DR right then, so not a lot. The most annoying thing is when you come out the next morning, and 1/2 the stuff people took is laying out in the hallway where people couldn't eat it. Oh well.

 

know what you mean about the stuff in plates in the hallway the next morning--really a shame.

 

we always do the walk through and take pictures & then go out and get in line --usually front of it--to go back in to eat. you have to stay and wait a bit, but... the last time, we didn't even eat:eek: guess the newness is wearing off--not that we starve on a cruise anyway!!! last Sept, the best part was the chocolate martini in the chocolate coated glass--YUMMY & I am not even a chocaholic!!!

[buccikulju]

Okay, so every cruise seems to have one...but are they part of the Midnight Buffet? (stupid question here) Is the Chocolate Buffet the same thing as the Midnight Buffet? By the way, is the Midnight Buffet really at midnight? And there's just the one? Or is it every night? What kinds of things are offered?

 

Sorry for all the questions but I have to plan, right? :p

 

Patty

[MGilly]

Patty, I'm so glad you asked! I've seen one midnight buffet on each cruise we've been on, but never a specific chocolate buffet. I, too, was wondering if they are one and the same. I DO know that you can take photos of the midnight buffet starting at about 11:30, and after that, they allow folks to come back in and eat. We've always been too tired to eat but not too tired to take the photos. :)

[Langley Cruisers]

Okay, so every cruise seems to have one...but are they part of the Midnight Buffet? (stupid question here) Is the Chocolate Buffet the same thing as the Midnight Buffet? By the way, is the Midnight Buffet really at midnight? And there's just the one? Or is it every night? What kinds of things are offered?

 

Hi Patty,

 

Actually, not every cruise has a Chocolate Buffet. Our Alaska cruise did but our recent Caribbean cruise did not. The Chocolate Buffet is different than the midnight buffet, in that, obviously, all things chocolate are featured (cakes, pies, tortes, desserts, chocolate-dipped strawberries, etc.). The Midnight Buffet (sometimes called the Gala Buffet) is a buffet showcasing all types of food and desserts, as well as fruit carvings, lard carvings, ice carvings, and baked bread masterpieces. It is usually opened to the viewing public at around 11:45 pm (check the time in your Crusie Compass) and the passengers do a walk-through, taking pictures only (no eating allowed yet). Then, you get back in line again for the feasting. By the time that begins, it is well past midnight.

 

On our most recent cruise (and others, now that I think about it), there were two late night buffets; the first one was a pool party/buffet, and the second was the Gala Buffet a few nights later. There isn't a midnight buffet every night... it just isn't feasible or possible as so much work goes into the presentation.

 

The Chocolate Buffet is decadent, and I think that many passengers find that out half way through their feasting. So much is wasted, and it really is a shame. On our last couple of cruises, hubby and I have gone through and taken pics, but were just not into eating any of it.

 

Have fun!

[Alexis]

When we did the Navigator there was no chocolate buffet on the Navigator Eastern or Western Caribbean itinerary.

They had incorporated it into the Grand Buffet.

Yes, I was slightly disappointed. :(

[alphakitty]

Every time, that's why you have to be the alpha dog :D and try to get as close to the front of the line as you can. We never take stuff back to the room, just what we can eat in the DR right then, so not a lot. The most annoying thing is when you come out the next morning, and 1/2 the stuff people took is laying out in the hallway where people couldn't eat it. Oh well.

 

Exactly! Oh well, guess I'll get there early next time to check it out. :)

 

BTW.....I'm a cat person, no dogs allowed. LOL

 

GO PATRIOTS! :)

[Sun Lover]

Alphakitty,

 

The same thing happened to us -- we got there about 15 minutes after it opened and there was hardly anything left. People are such pigs. Some of them had so much food they could barely carry it. I think I got one little piece of something chocolate. I couldn't believe it. Next time I guess I'll get there earlier. It's too bad there wasn't a way to monitor it and limit the amount that each person could take,

[ladylawyer]

I don't know if the Sovereign works the same way as the Monarch, but on the Monarch, the 3-day cruise has a Mexican buffet (why ... I do not know, since it's the night we leave Ensenada) and the 4-day has the Chocolate buffet. I usually give up, because the line is so long and who wants more food so soon after our late seating dinner. However, I did it, once, with a couple of my CC buddies. We scooted to the end and filled our plate with fruit and a bowl of chocolate syrup ... then did the fondue-thing. Yummy.

[buccikulju]

Thank you guys so much! :) With our first cruise just on the horizon I seem to be obsesssing about silly little things, but somehow it makes me delighted to anticipate a whole table full of chocolate. If it occurs at midnight, it's likely that I will just look and not sample, but still...it makes me happy just to envision it! I may have to wake up the kids to see it too. My DD, now 11, came up to me once when she was about 2 1/2 and said "Mommy, let's go store and buy chocolate!" :p

 

Thanks a lot for the info.

 

Patty

[cybernetmame2]

on the four night cruise where and when is it.

[maggieworkman]

We had a chocolate buffet when we went on the 4 night Sovereign.

 

We had a midnight buffet when we went on the 4 night Enchantment.

 

Maggie

[kingsgirl]

I had both on 4 Night Majesty cruise.

 

1 night it was chocolate buffet

 

Another night it was like ribs, hamburgers and desserts.

[Suzanne74]

Honestly, I can not believe something that has so much set up is allowed to be taken down by only 10 minutes of people with 3 plates each. Why can't they say 1 plate per person? :mad:

[LoriGloria]

I was on it last week and yes they have the MIDNIGHT BUFFET at MIDNIGHT, but the chocolate buffet was another night in the dining room in which they called it the chocolate gala. I missed it because I fell asleep. I heard it was GRAND. They had it starting at MIDNIGHT and having pictures taken at the GRAND staircase at 12:30am ! I could'nt stay awake for that.

 

Lori

[ColeandAbby]

I went to it on the SOS. It was alright. Too crowded for me. People were pushing and shoving. I'll skip it next time. Besides...I'm not a big chocolate fan!

[cme]

There has not been a chocolate buffet on any of my cruises since my Brilliance cruise in 03.:eek:

 

Carrie

[mollyeilis]

Our Alaska cruise on Radiance had the midnight chocolate buffet around halfway through the trip.

 

They opened it at 11 for PICTURES only. Then at midnight they opened it back up for eating.

 

My hubby was one of those carrying several plates. But here's why! I was brand-newly pregnant and already passing out cold around 8pm (very very weird for me, I am the original nightowl). He tried repeatedly to wake me up, but I just wouldn't wake up. He was in and out of the cabin; he went to a show, came back. Gambled and won, came back. Went to take pictures at 11 (they didn't come out, he's an awful photographer), came back. Then got back AT midnight, but the line to get in was incredibly long, and so by the time he got to the buffet it was decimated.

 

He knew I wanted chocolate, so he piled what he could onto plates, and brought it back to the room. Next morning I had my nice little buffet, but couldn't eat it all. So we kept it in our little fridge, and I had chocolate snacks, yay for hubby! He didn't bring ALL that much, either. But it's amazing how the amount of food you'll eat if sitting at a buffet seems to be SO much more, if you can bring it back "home". :)

 

He did good though, even scrounged a few strawberries, as he knows I love a good chocolate-covered berry! I was bummed enough that I passed out and couldn't be woken for the buffet, let alone if I hadn't gotten anything!

 

Point? You never know the real reason people are piling plates high; it might be to escape the wrath of a newly pregnant woman! ;)

[windjamming]

He did good though, even scrounged a few strawberries, as he knows I love a good chocolate-covered berry!

 

Mollyeilis, your husband sounds like a doll! Congrats to both of you on your child!

 

We had a chocolate buffet on the 12-night Baltics cruise on the Jewel. It was in the Windjammer, and there were large platters of cakes, cookies, fondue, and fruit. I only took a small plate (belonging to the clean plate club I knew the potential damage), and when our DR waiter spotted me (he was working the buffet shift that night) he chastised me for being such a lightweight. And forced me to get another plate. What a meanie.

 

On that ship, we had 4 midnight buffets - chocolate, Russian, seafood, and the big Gala one. Don't get me started on the seafood buffet......