Are midnight buffets and lobster on 5 night cruises being dropped

[engineer24]

We have heard that recently on a 5 day cruise that the Enchantment of the Seas no longer serves lobster on the last night and that the midnight buffets are gone to cut costs. Is this true? If so RCCL is going to hurt themselves as people have come to expect these on a cruise. We have been on Enchantment twice and are going again on May 31.

[Ocean Boy]

I don't know about the lobster but since there was no traditional midnight buffet on my recent 7 cruise aboard Adventure I would imagine that there will be no midnight buffet on a 5 night cruise either. We did have a late night pool party with a buffet set up though.

[wolfcathorse]

lobster has never been offered on cruises less than 7 days. Yes, the Gala buffet has been replaced with the midnight pool party

[The Viking]

lobster has never been offered on cruises less than 7 days. Yes, the Gala buffet has been replaced with the midnight pool party

 

Sorry, but we had lobster on Splendour our of Galveston last year.

[12vman]

lobster has never been offered on cruises less than 7 days. Yes, the Gala buffet has been replaced with the midnight pool party

 

Hoooold on....

The "Gala Buffet"? or the midnight buffets? dont tell me they dropped the "Gala Buffet"?? the ONE buffet where they parade all their talents?

[Sue L]

lobster has never been offered on cruises less than 7 days. Yes, the Gala buffet has been replaced with the midnight pool party

 

 

We had it on the 5 day of the Explorer last year, the cutback of lobster (Fisherman's platter) on the cruises less then 7 days is a recent occurrence.

[pmfan]

Sad to say but midnight buffets are a thing of the past.

[12vman]

so again...

What about the Gala buffet?

i understand the midnight buffets are gone but the gala?

[Ocean Boy]

so again...

What about the Gala buffet?

i understand the midnight buffets are gone but the gala?

 

Yes, it is the gala midnight buffet that used to be held in the dining room that is now a part of cruise history.

[12vman]

Yes, it is the gala midnight buffet that used to be held in the dining room that is now a part of cruise history.

wow. is this recent? October 2005 they had a huge one as usual.

[Ocean Boy]

wow. is this recent? October 2005 they had a huge one as usual.

 

They had on on Serenade when we were aboard in 2006. I am not sure if they had on on Adventure last year or not. If they did we were too busy and never went. They definitely did not have one on Adventure last week when we were aboard.

[12vman]

They had on on Serenade when we were aboard in 2006. I am not sure if they had on on Adventure last year or not. If they did we were too busy and never went. They definitely did not have one on Adventure last week when we were aboard.

 

could it be possible that a 9 night...MAY still have one?

last was a 9 and next is a 9. i wonder.

[engineer24]

We were on enchantment on a 5 day cruise in June of 2007 and they had lobster on the last night.

[FL_Cruiser64]

We have heard that recently on a 5 day cruise that the Enchantment of the Seas no longer serves lobster on the last night and that the midnight buffets are gone to cut costs. Is this true? If so RCCL is going to hurt themselves as people have come to expect these on a cruise. We have been on Enchantment twice and are going again on May 31.

 

On our recent Navigator cruise (March 1) lobster was not served (only 7 Nights and longer) but the Midnight Buffet was available.

[12vman]

On our recent Navigator cruise (March 1) lobster was not served (only 7 Nights and longer) but the Midnight Buffet was available.

 

the Gala buffet?

[Brad1185]

They have always had the midnight pool party buffet, the gala has not been replaced by the pool party.

[Ocean Boy]

could it be possible that a 9 night...MAY still have one?

last was a 9 and next is a 9. i wonder.

 

It is possible. However, from previous threads that I have read I believe they are being phased out fleet wide. I don't know if it will happen on every ship and every lenght cruise at the same time or not. There is a very large Explorer of the Seas thread that you could post to and ask recent cruisers if they had the buffet or not. Explorer is running longer itineraries from New Jersey down to the Caribbean.

 

Here is the link to the thread.....

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=13807175#post13807175

[raina*faith]

lobster has never been offered on cruises less than 7 days. Yes, the Gala buffet has been replaced with the midnight pool party

 

Just got off the Navigator of the seas 12/07 and we had lobster night. Maybe they are being phased out, but we just had lobster and the midnight pool party. Maybe it depends on the ship?

[atgatari]

We have heard that recently on a 5 day cruise that the Enchantment of the Seas no longer serves lobster on the last night and that the midnight buffets are gone to cut costs. Is this true? If so RCCL is going to hurt themselves as people have come to expect these on a cruise. We have been on Enchantment twice and are going again on May 31.

I was on the Grandeur of the Seas five night on 2/4/08. Sadly we did not have lobster or the gala buffet. Both have been eliminated fleet wide for any cruise 5 nights or less. The gala buffet has been eliminated for all cruises of any length fleetwide. Unfortunately I was very dissapointed with the food on this cruise.

[tbear2762]

Ok so let me get this straight. No Lobster unless you cruise more than 5 nights. No Gala/midnight buffet period. And formal is no longer formal. So a cruise is a waste. It is same as going to the beach in an overprice motel. These are the things that made cruising special. After all you can go to a resort and get all the other stuff and probably cheaper. Hello what gives.

[DEIx15x8]

The Liberty had a Gala Buffet in June but there was no one there. It was incredible and stretched all the way around the Windjammer but not many people went. I didn't eat anything because it was late and all deserts, fruits, and vegetables. I would have gone for a pizza sculpture, lol. I don't blame them for dropping it. Attendance truly has dropped and it has become a waste of food. The sculptures were incredible and i'm glad to see they have been moved to the pool party which has a better variety of food and gets a much higher attendance.

[yogimax]

Rhapsody five night - no lobster and no midnight buffet.

 

Frankly, after our first two cruises, the midnight buffet lost its attraction. Despite the name, you were never allowed in until after 12:30 and often had to wait on a line. It's no big loss. I'd rather they took the money they would save on the midnight buffet and use it to improve the overall quality of the food, especially in the Windjammer.

[mstea]

Feb. 2007 Brilliance we had both Lobster Night & the Gala Buffet , It was a 12 night cruise....

[12vman]

i agree...however

 

instead of removing the traditional midnight Gala buffet (entering at 12:30).

I suggest they remove all midnight buffets. If no one is attending...its a waste. but instead of just making a gala buffet tradition vanish completely, why don't they just alter how they go about it?

 

suggestion...

 

lose the final dinner night (or the night before the final night) and have the wonderful spread showing off their talents in the late afternoon. after it has been shown for a couple hours, Then, have the one gala buffett in its place at 6 & 9 pm? split the food up into 2 and have whats left from them go to the midnight dance party that evening. this seems to make sense to me.

 

i mean, if no one is going, they should ask them selves ...why? an adapt. rather than just make it vanish.

[laseiber]

Same here the reason we didn't go was the line was so long, because first everyone had to take pictures of it, and it was really late. I also agree put money from it on shorter cruises towards better quality food thru out. If I was going on a longer cruise, I probably would enjoy it more.