Taking food from buffets?

[sasset]

Thats odd, I have never seen any such signs....buffet food ends up all over the open deck areas, pools etc, not to mention to staterooms...and find it quite odd that you find it odd! :rolleyes:

 

I think it's in the dailies.

 

Regards

[SusieV]

We have never taken food ashore, in deference to the local rules, but we do occasionally grab lunch from the poolside grill or buffet and bring it to eat on our balcony.

 

Room service doesn't have Fraisier on the menu!

[Shirley and Les]

...they just request you do not fill a tray with food (and yes I've seen this) in your bathrobe and slippers and carry it back to your cabin...

Let me get this right.....Celebrity prefers you to show up without your robe and slippers to get carryout food? ;) ;) ;) I guess it must be one of those "NO SHOES......NO SHIRT.......SERVE YOURSELF" type of places. :rolleyes:

 

 

Sorry, I just couldn't resist this! :o

[Veronica13]

I think it's in the dailies.

 

Regards

 

Thank you for confirming that. Yes it is. It is also posted in the buffet area "please do not remove food from the buffet area". I don't bother responding to the "eyerollers". Waste of time.

 

Frankly, with all the available seating, I have never felt the urge to take food in an elevator and eat in my cabin. If I want to eat in my cabin, I order room service off the interactive television. I don't think taking your wine (or whatever) from place to place is rude. If you're not done your wine, and you want to go to another venue, by all means take it. You're paying for it.

 

I feel when on a ship, you are their guest, and should behave as such. I watch when the crew winces and gives dirty looks to the people (almost always Americans) who ignore protocol and do as they darn well please.

 

And no, of course they don't say anything. They are trained to be polite and clean up after those who aren't.

 

Cie la vie!

[dkjretired]

Thank you for confirming that. Yes it is. It is also posted in the buffet area "please do not remove food from the buffet area". I don't bother responding to the "eyerollers". Waste of time.

 

Frankly, with all the available seating, I have never felt the urge to take food in an elevator and eat in my cabin. If I want to eat in my cabin, I order room service off the interactive television. I don't think taking your wine (or whatever) from place to place is rude. If you're not done your wine, and you want to go to another venue, by all means take it. You're paying for it.

 

I feel when on a ship, you are their guest, and should behave as such. I watch when the crew winces and gives dirty looks to the people (almost always Americans) who ignore protocol and do as they darn well please.

 

And no, of course they don't say anything. They are trained to be polite and clean up after those who aren't.

 

Cie la vie!

 

Wow, I wonder how you know they are mostly American and what that statement means anyway. ...

[texancruzer]

Wow, I wonder how you know they are mostly American and what that statement means anyway. ...

 

Two things.

 

1) I am a proud American - but when some of them travel they are loud, rude, presume that they are always right, are distrustful of "foreigners" although they are now the foreigners, and are known to have a "it's my vacation - I can do what I want" attitude. That is wrong. Unfortunately most of the world has a view of us that way since the bad ones stand out so much over the good ones.

 

Case in point: (just one ;)) While on a 5 hr layover in Paris airport we were standing in line for a snack. An elderly AMERICAN lady in front of us was yelling at the counter clerk. She just KNEW the clerk had given her the wrong change. The more the clerk tried to explain the louder, ruder and more obnoxious the lady got. Finally my husband could stand no more - he tapped her on the back and said very quietly and nicely " The clerk has actually given you the correct change. You must remember the euro does not convert equally to the dollar" Well the lady looked at him like he was spitting fire......then her face softened as she realized what an a** she had made of herself. Then she pulled the biggie - no apology to the clerk - no reference of an error on her part at all.....she just shoved her change in her pocket and walked off mad.

 

2) I have only taken food from the buffet once. It was a really rough day....the Windjammer Cafe was on one of the top decks all the way forward. Not exactly the best place to be on a rough day. I had managed to get my tray all fixed, find a seat and sat down only to take one look at the food staring at me and saying " Nu Uh !!! No way .... if I had taken one bite it would have been really bad :eek: So I took the tray and went down to my cabin mid-ship 3rd deck - laid down for 10 minutes and then got up and ate my breakfast.

[Napi's Mom]

When My DH was quarantined for 48hrs on our last cruise, I could leave the cabin, and I went to the buffet to get a couple sandwiches (on Mille) and a bowl of soup for him, (limited diet at the time) As I was using a cane, a waiter waiting at the door to the buffet, followed me, showed me where the sandwich station was (we had the bad luck to be confined am hours, day after leaving port and hadn't even seen the buffet before) After helping me order what I wanted...I asked if anyone could carry it to our room, as a tray and cane are hard to handle for such a walk (we did have an aft cabin so not TOO far). He immediately walked to the elevator and off we went. If it was against the rules wouldn't he have refused to carry my tray??

[Veronica13]

Under quarantine, they obviously want to help and are asked to watch you as well (assuming he was quarantined for being sick). They don't want norovirus spread.

 

And as I stated previously, no one is going to physically stop you, they just look the other way and grimace.

 

Sorry your husband had to be quarantined. That's not much fun :(

[cvaty]

I preface this with a plea: please don't flame me. I'm not looking for a morality debate! I genuinely have no idea re: what is expected/OK.

 

First time cruiser here (again!). Is it kosher to take food from buffets, or order some from room service, then bring with me leaving the ship for lunch or snack during excursions? Or is that a no-no rule-wise?

 

I ask this with logistics aside... obviously until I'm on the ship I'm not going to have any idea whether this is realistically feasible, or whether there are even foods that would interest me or my felloow travellers in taking them. But hypothetically if those things are worked out, will I get weird looks if I'm wrapping up a bagel or some fruit in the AM buffet to take with me?

 

On the one hand seems totally reasonable to me to do so - my cruise fare includes B/L/D for the time on the ship, so why would it be wrong to take a bit extra at bkfst to take off the ship with me if I won't be there to eat lunch? On the other hand, it's not like I expect there to be "doggie bags" available to take food with, so perhaps that in and of itself says this is a no-no.

 

Thoughts are welcome. Again, please no flaming. Genuine newbie question here, I'm not trying to scam the system.

 

Oh, and clarification b/c I expect someone to ask... yes, in many ports part of the fun will probably be eating in town anyways. This question is more for some of my fellow friends/fam who are coming with me who are trying to pinch pennies after the economy has bitten them after booking the cruise a while ago. No, they're not trying to scam the system either... just wondering what's "kosher".

I´m not sure if you can take food off the ship., in Europe as long as i recall it was not allowed to take one with you.

[davmik]

Prior to disembarking in Valparaiso, there were plenty of warnings not to remove any food from the ship. Still, during the custom clearance there was more than one incident when the dogs found food in the carry-off baggage. The dogs were very serious and got real excited when they detected the contraband. Kinda seemed like the dogs were brighter than some of the passengers.

[cvaty]

Kinda seemed like the dogs were brighter than some of the passengers.

Some dogs are really brighter than some people, not only passenger and know how to act, if you tech them.

This is very off topic, I´m sorry.

[dkjretired]

Two things.

 

1) I am a proud American - but when some of them travel they are loud, rude, presume that they are always right, are distrustful of "foreigners" although they are now the foreigners, and are known to have a "it's my vacation - I can do what I want" attitude. That is wrong. Unfortunately most of the world has a view of us that way since the bad ones stand out so much over the good ones.

 

Case in point: (just one ;)) While on a 5 hr layover in Paris airport we were standing in line for a snack. An elderly AMERICAN lady in front of us was yelling at the counter clerk. She just KNEW the clerk had given her the wrong change. The more the clerk tried to explain the louder, ruder and more obnoxious the lady got. Finally my husband could stand no more - he tapped her on the back and said very quietly and nicely " The clerk has actually given you the correct change. You must remember the euro does not convert equally to the dollar" Well the lady looked at him like he was spitting fire......then her face softened as she realized what an a** she had made of herself. Then she pulled the biggie - no apology to the clerk - no reference of an error on her part at all.....she just shoved her change in her pocket and walked off mad.

 

2) I have only taken food from the buffet once. It was a really rough day....the Windjammer Cafe was on one of the top decks all the way forward. Not exactly the best place to be on a rough day. I had managed to get my tray all fixed, find a seat and sat down only to take one look at the food staring at me and saying " Nu Uh !!! No way .... if I had taken one bite it would have been really bad :eek: So I took the tray and went down to my cabin mid-ship 3rd deck - laid down for 10 minutes and then got up and ate my breakfast.

 

You and I can both give anecdotal evidence of just about anything, that doesn't prove the point. Remember that on most cruises the large majority of people cruising are Americans. What does a statement like that promote, absolutely nothing....I have seen comments on these boards about groups, nationalities and just about every variation.

[dkjretired]

Last week got off a ship in Port Canaveral and there were numerous warnings about bringing food off the ship and three dogs checking everything to ensure you didn't bring anything on land. You could have opened a fruit market for everything that was in bins on the side and they were stopping everyone.

[Wine-O]

Last week got off a ship in Port Canaveral and there were numerous warnings about bringing food off the ship and three dogs checking everything to ensure you didn't bring anything on land. You could have opened a fruit market for everything that was in bins on the side and they were stopping everyone.

 

You can't take fruits/vegetables, meat products, soft cheese, and the like back into the U.S. Same applies flying into the U.S. from a foreign country. It says so right on the customs cards. I guess people just want to snack on that orange/apple while waiting for their flight and ignore the warning.

[dkjretired]

You can't take fruits/vegetables, meat products, soft cheese, and the like back into the U.S. Same applies flying into the U.S. from a foreign country. It says so right on the customs cards. I guess people just want to snack on that orange/apple while waiting for their flight and ignore the warning.

 

You are absolutely correct but I should have mentioned in my post that Port Canaveral was a port stop and not our departure point. Sorry for the misunderstanding...

[gopherhockey]

I guess I'm guilty. I took breakfast buffet to my room almost every day on the Solstice and not once did I see a sign (was watching too closely so I didn't get run over by others in the area I guess) or was I winced at or confronted by anyone on the ship. The greeter at the front of the area always said "have a good breakfast" as I walked toward my stateroom.

I will watch for signs but I think its a questionable rule if it does exist, especially when you have to order breakfast room service the night before. (sometimes I just don't want to schedule my wakeup... it is, after all, my vacation).

Breakfast on my balcony is part of my cruise enjoyment.

[texancruzer]

[quote name='dkjretired']You and I can both give anecdotal evidence of just about anything, that doesn't prove the point. Remember that on most cruises the large majority of people cruising are Americans. What does a statement like that promote, absolutely nothing....I have seen comments on these boards about groups, nationalities and just about every variation.[/quote]

I was not promoting anything, rather I was responding to your post asking how the crew knew they were Americans. My point was that when we (Americans) travel, the locals know us immediately. I have been told this pretty much everywhere I have ever been.
The bit about the incident in Paris was just to give an example of some behavior we have witnessed personally. I cringe when I see people acting that way and know that this is the impression that we leave.

[Veronica13]

[quote name='texancruzer']Two things.

1) I am a proud American - but when some of them travel they are loud, rude, presume that they are always right, are distrustful of "foreigners" although they are now the foreigners, and are known to have a "it's my vacation - I can do what I want" attitude. That is wrong. Unfortunately most of the world has a view of us that way since the bad ones stand out so much over the good ones.

Case in point: (just one ;)) While on a 5 hr layover in Paris airport we were standing in line for a snack. An elderly AMERICAN lady in front of us was yelling at the counter clerk. She just KNEW the clerk had given her the wrong change. The more the clerk tried to explain the louder, ruder and more obnoxious the lady got. Finally my husband could stand no more - he tapped her on the back and said very quietly and nicely " The clerk has actually given you the correct change. You must remember the euro does not convert equally to the dollar" Well the lady looked at him like he was spitting fire......then her face softened as she realized what an a** she had made of herself. Then she pulled the biggie - no apology to the clerk - no reference of an error on her part at all.....she just shoved her change in her pocket and walked off mad.
[/quote]

BEAUTIFULLY PUT. I often distance myself from fellow Americans out of sheer embarrassment when traveling to other countries. There's a good reason for the term "Ugly American". And you are correct, it's all about the attitude and not understanding you are a guest in their country or their SHIP.

Many of these threads are based on the same problem with the American Attitude - whether it be tipping, smoking, lounge chairs, taking food to your room, you name it. The idea of following proper etiquette, learning to be tolerant of other people and following protocol simply doesn't compute to many Americans.

I guess it boils down to how you are brought up and how much exposure you've had to other cultures when growing up. Manners were important in my family as were respecting other people's customs.

BRAVO to you for having the politically incorrect, but obvious observation.

[Veronica13]

[quote name='gopherhockey']I guess I'm guilty. I took breakfast buffet to my room almost every day on the Solstice and not once did I see a sign (was watching too closely so I didn't get run over by others in the area I guess) or was I winced at or confronted by anyone on the ship. The greeter at the front of the area always said "have a good breakfast" as I walked toward my stateroom.

I will watch for signs but I think its a questionable rule if it does exist, especially when you have to order breakfast room service the night before. (sometimes I just don't want to schedule my wakeup... it is, after all, my vacation).

Breakfast on my balcony is part of my cruise enjoyment.[/quote]

LOL, case in point. BTW, the "greeter" as you call him/her probably assumes you are walking out to the pool deck area to dine alfresco. Yes, it "is your vacation", but that shouldn't mean disregarding policies and protocol. Not attacking you personally, (there are unfortunately many passengers who feel as you do) but you made a great example of what I was trying to get across.

[CathyCruises]

Let me just point out that there is a big difference between taking food from the buffet to enjoy in your cabin, and taking a "boxed lunch" off the ship to enjoy in ports of call! That was the crux of the question of the OP, IIRC.

[gopherhockey]

[quote name='Veronica13']LOL, case in point. BTW, the "greeter" as you call him/her probably assumes you are walking out to the pool deck area to dine alfresco. Yes, it "is your vacation", but that shouldn't mean disregarding policies and protocol. Not attacking you personally, (there are unfortunately many passengers who feel as you do) but you made a great example of what I was trying to get across.[/quote]

Wait... you can't bring food out of the buffet but its ok by the pool deck? Sorry, its not much of a policy if thats the case, and you point out exactly why its apparently not so black and white. In my case I would head straight down the stairs right in plain sight of the greeter.

My comment about my vacation was in no way to suggest I could make up my own rules but that I could decide when I could wake up or sleep in. (or maybe there is a rule about that too) Please don't twist around what I said.

[gopherhockey]

[quote name='Veronica13']BEAUTIFULLY PUT. I often distance myself from fellow Americans out of sheer embarrassment when traveling to other countries. There's a good reason for the term "Ugly American". [/quote]

This might be true, but lets not pretend that Americans are the only ones making fools of themselves out there. I've been around the world enough to know its not just us. There are a whole lot of other that stick out (sometimes as much or more than we do). Its just not "in" to point out anything but the faults of America... :rolleyes:

Anyway, thats getting way off topic IMHO.

[Veronica13]

[quote name='CathyCruises']Let me just point out that there is a big difference between taking food from the buffet to enjoy in your cabin, and taking a "boxed lunch" off the ship to enjoy in ports of call! That was the crux of the question of the OP, IIRC.[/quote]

Actually, a lot of resorts have that service (boxed lunches). I guess the cruises can't because of local customs. With the "patriot act" (oxymoron):rolleyes:, and drug smugglers (yup, they use cruise ships now), they don't want you taking anything on or off that they can't easily identify in the x-ray scanner. Hey, that apple could be stuffed with heroin!

[dkjretired]

[quote name='Veronica13']Actually, a lot of resorts have that service (boxed lunches). I guess the cruises can't because of local customs. With the "patriot act" (oxymoron):rolleyes:, and drug smugglers (yup, they use cruise ships now), they don't want you taking anything on or off that they can't easily identify in the x-ray scanner. Hey, that apple could be stuffed with heroin![/QUOTE]

Totally incorrect....

This goes back long before 9-ll or the Patriot Act. They don't want that apple taken off which might have a small bug or infestation which is not native to the country you are entering and possible cause a severe agricultural blight or other occurrence...That is only once example of what they are trying to prevent...

This applies also to flying and leaving countries by other means. I remember one time flying back from some foreign country and they sprayed to plane after everyone was on it. That was disgusting.

[Veronica13]

Quite correct.