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Midnight buffet???


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When I first started cruising one night on a 7 day cruise they would have midnight buffet and me and my husband would look forward to it. All the beautiful ice sculptures, butter and fruit carvings. And they would have deserts mixed in amoung the carvings to choose and I think cheese appetizers. I'm sure it was a cost saving measure but it was nice and another sense of elegance that accompanied a cruise.

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I too remember midnight buffets; but there is also a lot of waste. I don't think this was an issue when ships were smaller and carried about 1000, but now with 2000-4000 passengers it probably wasn't financial feasible plus it take lot of man hours that go into making those ice & food sculptures. There's still other food options that maybe not as opulent will fill your belly if you are hungry late at night. I agree it was a nice touch of a bygone era.

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  • 3 months later...

I can speak with some certainty for only HAL ships, but late night food offerings are available in the Lido Restaurant. One needs to check the On Location daily program for the times the food is available. Surely not the old "Midnight Buffet" style, but a limited selection of food is available. Often, I have seen members of the Entertainment Staff dining there after their shows.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Twenty years ago they had midnight buffet every night. It was not only the formal night, which had all the sculptures and fancy desserts. They used to have a different theme every night. Best was Crepes!

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When I was on my first cruise ,on a Cunard ship it was mandatory dress up every night for dinner .There were no specialty restaurants ,just a MDR . There were midnight buffets every evening .

 

In addition every evening had top name entertainment .

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I remember wearing suit and tie every night from the 1970's and I think it stopped about the mid 80's , but that was a different era, people dressed up to get on a plane, yes entertainment was also better, 1st specialty restaurant was I ever saw was late 80's on NCL Seaward , also no ships had balconies back then

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I remember wearing suit and tie every night from the 1970's and I think it stopped about the mid 80's , but that was a different era, people dressed up to get on a plane, yes entertainment was also better, 1st specialty restaurant was I ever saw was late 80's on NCL Seaward , also no ships had balconies back then

 

Our ship only had port holes ,no balconies ,no OV ,no shore excursions ,limited on ship activity:pool ,shuffleboard and skeet shooting.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I remember on our cruise on Carnival's Mardi Gras in 1985, the midnight buffet after leaving Cozumel was handmade tamales! They were so yummy and wonderful. There must have been a lot of Yankees onboard because it seemed like my DH and I were the only ones who knew what they were. We ate so many of them I still feel stuffed from them!

 

I also loved the ice sculptures and the carved fruit. I was disappointed when none of that was onboard when I took my 2 sons in 2014 on Carnival's Legend.

 

 

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I remember on our cruise on Carnival's Mardi Gras in 1985, the midnight buffet after leaving Cozumel was handmade tamales! They were so yummy and wonderful. There must have been a lot of Yankees onboard because it seemed like my DH and I were the only ones who knew what they were. We ate so many of them I still feel stuffed from them!

 

I also loved the ice sculptures and the carved fruit. I was disappointed when none of that was onboard when I took my 2 sons in 2014 on Carnival's Legend.

 

 

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Our first cruise on Carnival's Carnivale in '91 was the same way. Midnight buffet every night, plus a late night buffet around 2 am. So much decadence! Lol

 

So much had changed by the time we cruised again in 2012.

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  • 1 month later...

Our first cruise also had midnight buffet. The sculptures were beautiful. I understand why it stopped, I'm sure it was cost. We were on the Island Princess going to Alaska in May 2017 and instead of having midnight buffet or ice carving at the main pool they had a vegetable/fruit carving contest between two of their chefs. It was fabulous and reminded me of the beautiful sculptures on the midnight buffet and minimal waste. Each chef did 4 veggie/fruit sculptures.

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I also loved the ice sculptures and the carved fruit. I was disappointed when none of that was onboard when I took my 2 sons in 2014 on Carnival's Legend.

 

The Carnival Journeys cruises still have one midnight buffet with the ice and fruit sculptures on the throwback night. They also print a "Carnival Capers" in the old format.

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  • 5 months later...
Our first cruise on Carnival's Carnivale in '91 was the same way. Midnight buffet every night, plus a late night buffet around 2 am. So much decadence! Lol

 

So much had changed by the time we cruised again in 2012.

 

That was the first cruise ship I was on, it was New Years Eve 1979, brings back many good memories.

Allan

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  • 4 weeks later...

DO YOU REMEMBER...

We have seen some spectacular Midnight buffets over the years. Things were different years ago. A lot of pax would dine in the MDR then dance all night long after dinner. It was not unusual to stop by the Midnight buffet for a snack before heading back to more dancing and partying. One of the best was on the German Line Hapag Lloyd. They would serve a small buffet each night with a different theme each night. Then they would have one night with a gala buffet that was over the top. They had giant shrimp, Beluga caviar, real lobster, giant crab legs, etc etc. the Italian Line did something similar with one gala buffet but they served pizza at 2:00 AM and it was the best pizza I ever had anywhere in the world. The French Line actually had a snack bar that you could sneak into after Midnight. I say sneak into because the bar was in First Class but there was a passageway they would open at night so you could go up to First Class and sit at that bar. There were many different Midnight buffets that were spectacular...those were the days!!

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Back in the 1990s Royal Caribbean had a midnight buffet every night. The food was very ornate every night, but the Grand Gala buffet toward the end of the cruise was especially so. They would have the photo opp time before it was open for eating. I only went to a few of them and I don't really remember ever actually eating anything. I was always still full from the late dining which we seemed to finish around 10 PM. I can remember being in the cabin ready to sleep and my wife would go down to see the buffet. It did take a lot of effort to put them on and there was probably a lot of waste which contributed to the demise. It seems that at first they just cut back to the single gala buffet and maybe a special chocolate buffet but eventually it was all replaced with the pool party and barbecue on the pool deck. We are not really late nighters so we don't miss it all that much but they were a part of the old school cruise experience. We do miss the chocolates on the pillows. It was a nice touch that went by the wayside due to cost cutting. I am really glad to save that 78 cents on the cruise cost though. :-)

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  • 4 months later...
When I first started cruising one night on a 7 day cruise they would have midnight buffet and me and my husband would look forward to it. All the beautiful ice sculptures, butter and fruit carvings. And they would have deserts mixed in amoung the carvings to choose and I think cheese appetizers. I'm sure it was a cost saving measure but it was nice and another sense of elegance that accompanied a cruise.

 

I started cruising in the late 80's and LOVED the midnight buffets. Ice sculptures, fruit sculptures and marzipan.

 

It was also a great way to catch up with your cruise mates and discuss our day's activities.

 

We always looked forward to it.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...
Back in the 1990s Royal Caribbean had a midnight buffet every night. The food was very ornate every night, but the Grand Gala buffet toward the end of the cruise was especially so. They would have the photo opp time before it was open for eating. I only went to a few of them and I don't really remember ever actually eating anything. I was always still full from the late dining which we seemed to finish around 10 PM. I can remember being in the cabin ready to sleep and my wife would go down to see the buffet. It did take a lot of effort to put them on and there was probably a lot of waste which contributed to the demise. It seems that at first they just cut back to the single gala buffet and maybe a special chocolate buffet but eventually it was all replaced with the pool party and barbecue on the pool deck. We are not really late nighters so we don't miss it all that much but they were a part of the old school cruise experience. We do miss the chocolates on the pillows. It was a nice touch that went by the wayside due to cost cutting. I am really glad to save that 78 cents on the cruise cost though. :-)

Those were the days, but as you said, it's hard to stay up that late any more! One thing on HAL ships was the Chocolate Extravaganza on the last formal night. It was open early for picture-taking, and what a grand array of desserts. BUT what always disappointed me was that they looked way better than they tasted! The European chefs do not cater to our American sweet, sweet tooth.

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The truth of the matter is that we all got older and our diets changed. Years ago cruising was different. Passengers would gather in one central ball room and dance all night to a live band. By Midnight they would be in the mood for something to eat. They even served sandwich’s, snacks or pizza at 2:00 AM...after the Midnight buffet...and you could dance until dawn. Now most of us are in bed by 11:00 PM and our medical problems prohibit us from eating.:')

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