Anyone refuse to go to the buffet for any meal?

[Treven]

I do the buffet for breakfast and lunch, and a couple times for dinner - depending on what their "theme" is for that evening. I'll have dinner in the speciality restaurants a couple nights, and the main dining rooms a few times.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

We hate the buffet for dinner ..

[RoofingPrincess]

I don't refuse to go to the buffet, but I prefer eating in the Main Dining Room.

On rare occasion, upon returning from a shore excursion, I may go to the buffet and pick up a few tidbits to tide me over until dinner time, especially if I have late seating for traditional dining.

I just don't like wandering around, plate in hand, searching for an available seat, and then losing that seat if I want to go back for dessert.

[luddite]

If you and I should ever happen to be tablemates, I promise to comb my hair before dinner, and not talk about road kill or foot fungus while we're eating. Okay?:D

:) I hear ya. My problem is when I go to a restroom and upon entering, I hear sounds like Cap'n Stubing's ship leaving port that are coming from a stall, accompanied by a smell that'd make Mike Rowe quit his day job, then seeing that guy exit the room without a sideways glance at a sink that has soap and make a beeline for the buffet.

 

That's just nasty. There is no other description that won't cause problems here on CC. If anyone wonders where norovirus comes from? Now you know.

 

I'm a fine tablemate. I'm almost as good a conversationalist as Peter Ustinov. There are things I ain't chattin' up at dinner: surgery,bowel movements(good or bad), eating one's placenta after childbirth,which was the biggest lie Bill Clinton ever told,whether NASCAR races are fixed......

Well, anyway, buffets are scary places.

 

FWIW, roadkill ain't so bad----you grille it, I'll grill it! :D

[PennyAgain]

The older we get the less we eat. We like to have choices for meals and sometimes just want a little bit for our supper and not a full service MDR meal.

 

We appreciate choices for meals when traveling.

[OCruisers]

I am not sure about other lines, but Princess now does not open the MDR for lunch on port days.

 

:( Yes, we hate that Princess is no longer open for lunch on port days. Mostly, we don't stay on the ship on port days ... but, when we do, it's so much more pleasant to sit down and be served.

[Dayenu]

My husband's English and hearing are limited, so when we are in a restaurant he asks me to order for him. He prefers buffets - it's easier for him to see the food and to get what he wants.

 

I like some "pampering" :p So we compromise, dinner always in a restaurant unless we are late from a tour, one lunch in the restaurant on embarkation day, other lunches and breakfasts in the buffet.

 

This works for me too, as I don't like to have the same menu for breakfast and lunch every day.

[paul929207]

My husband's English and hearing are limited, so when we are in a restaurant he asks me to order for him. He prefers buffets - it's easier for him to see the food and to get what he wants.

 

I like some "pampering" :p So we compromise, dinner always in a restaurant unless we are late from a tour, one lunch in the restaurant on embarkation day, other lunches and breakfasts in the buffet.

 

This works for me too, as I don't like to have the same menu for breakfast and lunch every day.

I don't know the line you sail with, but on Princess, there is some variation in the menu for breakfast each morning and a different lunch menu every day

[panoramaofthepast]

On my last cruise, I noticed that whatever the meal the main fancy dining room was always crowded. My wife and I tried the main dining room a few times but did not like the stuffy atmosphere, over eager service, the numerous attempts at difficult small talk by our assigned table mates and waiters and the slow service. As of a result, we ate most of our meals at the buffet.

 

On the other hand, we talked to a number of couples during our shore excursions that said they absolutely refused to eat at the buffet. They considered it a warmed over version of Old Country Buffet (A chain in America), and said if they paid for it they wanted high style, attentive service, chef inspired entrees, and a slow low key dining experience only available at the main dining room. They also loved visiting with the wait staff and fascinating conversations with their assigned table mates.

 

So...Anyone refuse to go to the buffet for any meal? Or are you like us and prefer the buffet for ease and variety?

 

As a general rule, I do not like buffets on land, so choosing them on a cruise ship would be odd! On vacation, I prefer to be served. We go to the dining room for breakfast and dinner; however, the compromise is lunching from the buffet, which my husband loves! I'll grab a quick snack from the buffet as well, but never for evening dinner.

[jocap]

We prefer the buffets, as we eat little in an evening, and so don't have to sit through 5 courses if we only want soup and a roll. We join in the MDR for formal nights, but otherwise find there's an excellent choice in the buffets. The last 3 cruises were on P&O, and each night the buffet has a speciality- the Indian chefs really come into their own on Indian nights, and that's when the buffet can be crowded!

Jo.

[dulcimergirl]

We're with you!

We don't like to eat late, so we have dinner in the Buffet around 4ish. I've been on a couple of cruises, I never stuck my head in the dining room.

I will be the one NOT eating in the dining room on the Oasis, coming up in september.

This does not mean we don't have dessert or a late sandwich in our cabin.. lol Another thing, we do not use the elevators, but I might start on the Oasis, thats a lot of stairs.

[SuitCaseBears]

I don't "refuse" to go to the buffet, but except for on Regent, where the buffet often has incredible sashimi, I prefer the main dining room.

 

As some others have said, for me dinner on a cruise is an EVENT. I like to dress up a little, either have a romantic meal alone with DH or dress up a little and meet new people. As I posted in another thread, dining with others is always fun for me. Either the meal itself will be delightful, or I'll have hours of entertainment later sharing laughs about it with DH. Either way it's a win.

 

I love the service, I love the table settings, I love formal night most. I can't wait!!!!!

 

And also, to be honest, I'm afraid of the buffet. I can overeat so much more easily with all that food parading in front of me. In the MDR all I have to do is manage to get through the menu and placing my order and then I can relax without additional temptation. And yes I know I can order more, but I pretend I can't.

[BlueRiband]

...did not like the stuffy atmosphere, over eager service, the numerous attempts at difficult small talk by our assigned table mates and waiters and the slow service...

 

Precisely why I prefer the main dining room. For me, dining at leisure along with nice conversation is one of life's little pleasures. Given a choice of being served by a waiter versus carrying a cafeteria tray I'll take the former.

[fleckle]

It depends on mood for us, with no set pattern.

For lunch and dinner, we often look at the dining room menu first before deciding.

 

Sometimes room service breakfast on the balcony, sometimes breakfast in the main dining room and sometimes breakfast at the buffet.

 

Lunch can be anywhere, or just snacking, picking up one thing here and something else there.

 

Dinner in the dining room or a specialty restaurant when we feel like having a full, long, drawn out meal.

Dinner on the balcony when cruising through a scenic area at sunset in nice weather.

Dinner at the buffet when we don't feel like changing clothes and just want a quick snack, or return late from a shore excursion.

 

It is nice to have choices.

 

The buffet is great for trying out a variety of new foods with names you can't pronounce, getting to taste a little of this and a little of that. It is nice being able to see unfamiliar food first before deciding whether you want to try some.

 

We like to go to the sections of the buffets with different kinds of international food that we don't usually have at home.

 

Buffets are also easier for portion control as you can take whatever size portion you like of anything.

 

In the main dining room, you are served a standard size portion and (unless you have tremendous willpower) it can be hard to resist finishing off something that tastes delicious when it is sitting on your plate right there in front of you.

 

When you help yourself at the buffet, you can put only a small amount on your plate.

[cb at sea]

Not a buffet fan at all...we will do a quick sandwich for lunch there, but prefer the dining room for breakfast and dinner.

 

We don't find it "stuffy" at all...and we've never had a tablemate that we couldn't get along with....we enjoy talking to others!

[pris993]

On my last cruise, I noticed that whatever the meal the main fancy dining room was always crowded. My wife and I tried the main dining room a few times but did not like the stuffy atmosphere, over eager service, the numerous attempts at difficult small talk by our assigned table mates and waiters and the slow service. As of a result, we ate most of our meals at the buffet.

 

On the other hand, we talked to a number of couples during our shore excursions that said they absolutely refused to eat at the buffet. They considered it a warmed over version of Old Country Buffet (A chain in America), and said if they paid for it they wanted high style, attentive service, chef inspired entrees, and a slow low key dining experience only available at the main dining room. They also loved visiting with the wait staff and fascinating conversations with their assigned table mates.

 

So...Anyone refuse to go to the buffet for any meal? Or are you like us and prefer the buffet for ease and variety?

 

We have been crusing for years, lost count on how many cruises, know we are over 45, in the past 30 years.

 

We have breakfast in our cabin. We supplement what we can order from room service with eggs we pick up at the buffet in the morning, if the cabin menu does not have eggs on it. Some lines do, some don't.

 

At lunch, we prefer to check out the buffet again. We make a plate of what we select and take it back to our cabin. Actually find we can make a very healthy lunch looking for the healthiest items to select on the buffet. We have also learned if we don't find something we want, we ask if it is available. Staff will get what you want if it is available. We call room service again for drinks.

 

If we have a good lunch, sometimes we skip dinner entirely. We may get a snack - dessert and coffee later in the evening either from the buffet or other venue depending on the ship/cruise line.

 

If we are looking for some thing special for dinner we may go to one of the special diningrooms, if we find something we like on the menu.

 

We actually find the buffet area less noisy and more enjoyable in the evening than the MDR on most ships. The special diningrooms that you pay extra for are quiet and more enjoyable to the MDR generally too.

 

For example, we spent a week on the Ruby Princess, never went to the MDR, did go to Sabatini's two times for dinner and once for lunch. Never missed the MDR at all.

[FawnRiver]

We eat at the buffet twice, once on embarkation day and once on disembarkation day. That's more than enough for us. All of our cruises have been on Princess so if we're on board on a port day for lunch, we go to the international cafe, not the buffet - its so much nicer. Either that or we hit the barbecue or pizza spot on the pool deck - that's the great thing about cruising, plenty of choices for everyone.

[luddite]

Precisely why I prefer the main dining room. For me, dining at leisure along with nice conversation is one of life's little pleasures. Given a choice of being served by a waiter versus carrying a cafeteria tray I'll take the former.

 

It's the difference between dining and gittin' fed.

[marco]

Depending on which meal, at which time of day, what other dining options are and how much time we want to devote to a meal determines where we eat and when. Sometimes we "prefer" the MDR, sometimes we "prefer" a surcharge dining venue and sometimes we "prefer" the buffet, but we've never "refused" to dine anywhere.

[sail7seas]

We usually have lunch in Lido if we aren't ashore at lunch time but breakfast in Pinnacle on HAL ships and dinner in MDR or specialty restaurant.

 

We have never had dinner in Lido on a 'regular' cruise night.

We like the atmosphere, sit down service, lovely table setting and crisp white cloths. I like a well set table with stemware and flatware all polished and shiny. :o

 

[cruising cockroach]

Only had very few buffet experiences on cruises ships recently but the Horizons on the Island Princess really puts one off. Not very good food other than for the green salads. Buffet stability is something that hasn't been thought of. Not to mention the nasty Tang-like beverage passed off as orange juice. Only went because we missed MDR breakfast (closed early because it was a port day) and no other lunch venue open that day.

[zacc]

Breakfast....never

Lunch......maybe once per cruise

Dinner....never

Snacks for the balcony and late afternoon martinis....every evening!

[jamessemaj]

The big issue with the buffet for me is the crowd and finding a table. The choice and quality of food is excellent, but the push of the crowd often makes it unpleasant. Getting food, finding a table, getting a drink can be a hassle.

 

One thing I know is that the crowd hassle is much less or none during the evening dinner when most go to the MDR.

 

I go back and forth depending on what I don't know. Just how I feel. And usually I skip one meal a day, either breakfast or lunch, because even with 2 meals it's more than I am used to. I often have brunch and the evening meal.

[Cruisin' Chick]

We don't mind going to the buffet (the Horizon Court on Princess). But we're not foodies at all and often eat about half of what others may. Normally we would go to the MDR for dinner unless we're not feeling up to it (a couple of cruises ago we ate 14 out of 15 dinners at our assigned table). But last cruise, we were stuck with anytime dining and hated it. So about half of the dinners we ended up eating in the buffet.

 

Breakfasts are usually in the buffet (hubby will often get up early on sea days and get his made to order omelet and then make up a tray for his "girls" of waffles, fruit, pastries and OJ -- though not enough OJ for my taste as that's my only breakfast beverage and the glasses are tiny). Lunch may be in the buffet or at the outside grill.

 

My beef with the Horizon is that often the dishes aren't always labelled, especially for those of us with allergies. I once got a stir fry, sat down, and realized I couldn't eat it as it had shrimp.

[Taxguy77]

On HAL, we noticed people who were going to the MDR come into the buffet to see what was being served that night. A good idea, as a couple of times I picked something from the menu then found out something else looked a lot better when I got to it.

Like the white tablecloths at dinner, and the bar service was FAR superior.