Lido Trays Are Gone ????

[Jsipes]

Am surprised after my 6th HAL Cruise, can you beleive there were no trays in the Lido to put your Plates and Glasses on. This resulted in having to go back to the buffet lines several times to get drinks, dessert, salads, etc. No easy task if you are eating out by the pool....We were on the Oosterdam. Last year the Oosterdam did have trays, and so have the other HAL ships I've been on. Was told by a fellow pax that the trays are gone. Seems a little strange, and makes it difficult to carry your food items. And it makes it difficult for the table clears also, trying to carry plates etc, with no tray.

 

SO heads up everyone. Next cruise take a tray in your suitcase !!! The good news is trays ARE still used for room service delivery.

 

Any ideas from you old timers in cruising as to why the trays have disappeared ??? I heard HAL might be trying to get more attendance in the main dining rooms ....

[mudscraper]

Popcorn.

 

 

Rich

[Jemima]

There is a long thread on the trays. The Zaandam had them on our 2/5 cruise. It might be because the Zaandam is doing 15 day Hawaiian cruises which sometimes have rought sea days.

[twinkletoes4445]

We had trays on our January Noordam cruise. They were scarce at times, but they had them.

[Sundagger]

There is a long thread on the trays. The Zaandam had them on our 2/5 cruise. It might be because the Zaandam is doing 15 day Hawaiian cruises which sometimes have rought sea days.

 

Here is a link to that thread - caution:eek:, there are 495 posts in the thread!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=880024&highlight=trays

 

Personally, I'd like to hear from others just off various ships to find out if the no-tray policy is now fleetwide.

[Copper10-8]

Here is a link to that thread - caution:eek:, there are 495 posts in the thread!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=880024&highlight=trays

 

Personally, I'd like to hear from others just off various ships to find out if the no-tray policy is now fleetwide.

 

Plenty of trays on Ryndam as of one week ago

[hammybee]

Here is a link to that thread - caution:eek:, there are 495 posts in the thread!

 

.

 

And thus, a total of 495 trays left in the HAL fleet. :D

[brucory]

For those who have been on cruises without trays...

 

Is there less congestion at the buffet?

 

Is there noticably more breakage/people dropping plates?

 

Is there more traffic with people going to and from their tables?

 

What sort of looks do the people who bring their own trays get?

[Krazy Kruizers]

There were plenty of trays on our Noordam cruises.

But I do know that when we sail on the Westerdam there will not be any trays on that ship.

We practiced on the Noordam not using trays. As we entered the Lido we each picked up our glasses of iced water and then went to a table. Left our things there to indicate that the table was taken. Then went to the buffet to get our lunch -- didn't have any trouble handling a plate of food or a salad. Now we don't eat a lot. After lunch we went for our dessert IF we felt like one -- most days we do not eat dessert.

[Boytjie]

Just off the Eurodam February 21-28 and there were plenty of trays in the Lido.

[Tamaracboy]

Here is a link to that thread - caution:eek:, there are 495 posts in the thread!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=880024&highlight=trays

Personally, I'd like to hear from others just off various ships to find out if the no-tray policy is now fleetwide.

 

Just off the Eurodam.

And since it it the newest, it supposedly reflects the most recent policy.

There were so many trays at all ends of every Lido station on both sides, there was almost not enough room to stack them.

I hope HAL has read all 500 of the posts on the other thread.

There is a lot to be learned from one's own customers.

Will be on the Westerdam this Summer and let y'all know the situation there.

Especially if trays are provided on request.

r.

[jtl513]

We had trays on our January Noordam cruise. They were scarce at times, but they had them.

 

Personally, I'd like to hear from others just off various ships to find out if the no-tray policy is now fleetwide.

I asked in Dec on our Noordam cruise, and they said they would be eliminating trays also, but didn't know when. I'm betting that Zuiderdam and Eurodam will soon follow the Westerdam and Oosterdam, but I don't know if they would do it on the R&S class ships that are not set up with as many smaller stations.

[R&CCruisers]

Maasdam had trays last week.

[Nutrioso]

Although we are HAL fans, we have been on Oceania and Azamara over the past couple of years as well. Neither had trays and it was pretty disorganized because people would go through the line several times to complete their food selections for their meal. I did not like it at all. Made negative comments on both lines' disembarkation questionaire forms about it. ----Penny

[twinkletoes4445]

And thus, a total of 495 trays left in the HAL fleet. :D

 

LOL...You are cracking me up! :)

[twinkletoes4445]

I asked in Dec on our Noordam cruise, and they said they would be eliminating trays also, but didn't know when. I'm betting that Zuiderdam and Eurodam will soon follow the Westerdam and Oosterdam, but I don't know if they would do it on the R&S class ships that are not set up with as many smaller stations.

 

Interesting. Thanks for this info. :)

[smileycruiser2007]

The locations of certain types of food and the selection at the stations has been thought out very carefully so that there never seemed to be a lot of either congestion or confusion. Doing what the KrazyKruizers described works very well.

 

If I had a choice, I would still rather have trays, as the plates and bowls haven't changed and I sometimes felt like a juggling act. The only breakage I heard was on the non-passenger sides of the Lido. I think it would be a real pain to not have trays if you are a parent selecting both your own food and some for your child or children who are not big enough to carry their own. I did hear complaints, but really very few.

 

Not having trays is a minor annoyance to me, but it would be interesting to see what parents of small children have to say, or someone trying to manage a walker and drinks/food.

[RuthC]

...I don't know if they would do it on the R&S class ships that are not set up with as many smaller stations.

By 2/15/09 they were gone on the Veendam.

[jtl513]

By 2/15/09 they were gone on the Veendam.

later I saw that you said that on the other tray thread. Did you see that Laffnvegas said it will be fleet-wide by May 1st? I think I'm going to first walk around the drink stations and see if there's any nearly-empty trays that they are using to stack glasses that I scarf up! :)

[RuthC]

later I saw that you said that on the other tray thread. Did you see that Laffnvegas said it will be fleet-wide by May 1st? I think I'm going to first walk around the drink stations and see if there's any nearly-empty trays that they are using to stack glasses that I scarf up! :)

There will still be trays the stewards use to clean up. Just ask someone for one, and you will probably get one easily.

I kept mine in the closet and brought it with me to the Lido. The big trick was remembering not to let it get collected!

[twinkletoes4445]

later I saw that you said that on the other tray thread. Did you see that Laffnvegas said it will be fleet-wide by May 1st? I think I'm going to first walk around the drink stations and see if there's any nearly-empty trays that they are using to stack glasses that I scarf up! :)

 

I do think that HAL is going to find that removing the trays isn't going to sit well with many of their passengers. Many of the trays we used I snagged from the drink glass station.

[markf]

there were trays on the Zuiderdam a month ago--

 

Not having trays is ridiculous --unless they will have extra staff serving drinks --

bringing a tray from home is even more ridiculous--maybe we should bring food from home as well

[rnnyce]

Go to the dining room. No need for trays there!!!

[mrsltg]

 

Not having trays is a minor annoyance to me, but it would be interesting to see what parents of small children have to say, or someone trying to manage a walker and drinks/food.

 

Without the kids I don't care so much. With the 8 year old it would be fine. With the 3 and 1 year old it would get tiring and likely, messy!

[jtl513]

but I heard HAL did it to save money - not just on the trays, but the wasted food ...

There's also a big savings on not having to heat water to wash all those trays after a very short use.