What Steps Does Royal Caribbean Take To Keep The Buffet Clean?

[thecruiserofships]

Just out of curiosity how clean and sanitized are Royal Caribbean's buffets?

 

I was reading about how people should not act in the cruise ship buffet, which suggested that people should not touch food and contaminate it. If you want to read about how not to act in the buffet you may enjoy this:

http://www.embarkandaway.com/1/post/2014/02/what-you-should-not-do-in-the-cruise-ship-buffet.html

 

Have you ever witnessed anybody make the food or buffet contaminated? Does the crew respond quickly to contaminated buffet food?

 

Thanks!

Edited March 1, 2014 by thecruiserofships

[uksimonusa]

Just out of curiosity how clean and sanitized are Royal Caribbean's buffets?

 

I was reading about how people should not act in the cruise ship buffet, which suggested that people should not touch food and contaminate it. If you want to read about how not to act in the buffet you may enjoy this:

http://www.embarkandaway.com/1/post/2014/02/what-you-should-not-do-in-the-cruise-ship-buffet.html

 

Have you ever witnessed anybody make the food or buffet contaminated? Does the crew respond quickly to contaminated buffet food?

 

Thanks!

 

I remember one instance where a young boy scooped up a handful of French fries and started eating them, the remaining fries were removed immediately and thrown away.

[dacsmom]

I have noticed they are more aware of what is going on than most land based buffets.

[steveru621]

The short answer is no.

 

Most of the food bays have no one monitoring the food. This is especially true at the dessert and fruit counters. I don't consider it necessarily a toxic waste dump! The problem here may be what you consider contaminated? The serving utensils are definitely contaminated by those standards.

 

Everyone has a different tolerance for these things. My maybe wrong headed assumption is my stomach acid will take care of that contaminated food. I'll try not to touch my eyes after touching the serving utensils. :)

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[thecruiserofships]

I remember one instance where a young boy scooped up a handful of French fries and started eating them, the remaining fries were removed immediately and thrown away.

 

Good thing they threw them away! This makes me cringe. What if nobody would have noticed this?

[tidygirl]

Well you just have to hope someone notices. I know I've handed dirty utensils back to the workers if I noticed they were dirty! Kids do crazy things we've seen children at a wedding playing in a drink fountain with dirty cups and putting their fingers under the spout! Needless to say we didn't drink any punch and my daughter decided no fountains at her wedding last June! I think most people atleast sanitize their hands as they are entering the buffets so hopefully that kills the germs!

[Tapi]

I got foo poisoning on our last cruise. Not fun. After the incident, I started noticing things that I hadn't paid attention to before, like workers taking trash bags out and then serving passengers without washing hands or changing sterile gloves. I also noticed slices of pizza sitting under heat lamps and passengers handling slices with their bare hands before finally settling for the "right one". And one worker dumping rice back with her hands in a container after serving a passenger too much.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[thecruiserofships]

I got foo poisoning on our last cruise. Not fun. After the incident, I started noticing things that I hadn't paid attention to before, like workers taking trash bags out and then serving passengers without washing hands or changing sterile gloves. I also noticed slices of pizza sitting under heat lamps and passengers handling slices with their bare hands before finally settling for the "right one". And one worker dumping rice back with her hands in a container after serving a passenger too much.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

This sounds like a buffet horror story... Nasty, just nasty! :eek:

[geocruiser]

I was on Freedom of the Seas in Jan. the lady a head of me in the food line was eating with her fingers ans she went through the line. Licking her finger then taking the serving spoon and serving her self. Yes, I did ask them to change the spoons. Her lickly finger were all over them. She had not a clue what she did.

Edited March 1, 2014 by geocruiser

[thecruiserofships]

I was on Freedom of the Seas in Jan. the lady a head of me in the food line was eating with her fingers ans she went through the line. Licking her finger then taking the serving spoon and serving her self. Yes, I did ask them to change the spoons. Her lickly finger were all over them. She had not a clue what she did.

 

Did they listen to you and change the spoons?

[Brigbound]

Have you ever witnessed anybody make the food or buffet contaminated? Does the crew respond quickly to contaminated buffet food?

 

Most notable was an Asian man ahead of us at the Windjammer prime rib station. They had a 'bank teller-like' window to communicate to the carver and slide your plate under to receive your cut. It was quite obvious he couldn't convey his choice as he proceeded to put his arm underneath the glass and thrust his finger into the steamship of beef! The man directly behind him expressed his displeasure with an expletive and an obligatory 'we all have to eat from that' or something similar. The Asian man was unfazed and honestly oblivious to his mistake. I did not have any either after seeing that.

[cb at sea]

I don't like buffets anywhere.....we do breakfast and dinner in the dining room...just a nicer experience! Yea...sometimes, we'll grab a sandwich for lunch if we're at the pool... but I think buffets are totally gross.

 

My son used to work at a buffet restaurant when he was a teen...the stories would turn your stomach! Thankfully, most of us have good immune systems!

[NYDee]

We don't eat in the Windjammer. We did go there for a glass of ice tea after most dinners had finished lunch. We say a woman drop the tongs on the floor at the dessert counter, pick them up and replace them on the deserts. No staff around to even tell.

[bouhunter]

Have you ever witnessed anybody make the food or buffet contaminated? Does the crew respond quickly to contaminated buffet food?

 

Most notable was an Asian man ahead of us at the Windjammer prime rib station. They had a 'bank teller-like' window to communicate to the carver and slide your plate under to receive your cut. It was quite obvious he couldn't convey his choice as he proceeded to put his arm underneath the glass and thrust his finger into the steamship of beef! The man directly behind him expressed his displeasure with an expletive and an obligatory 'we all have to eat from that' or something similar. The Asian man was unfazed and honestly oblivious to his mistake. I did not have any either after seeing that.

 

If it had been a "white man" would you have specifically stated so twice in your post?????:rolleyes:

Edited March 1, 2014 by bouhunter

[Paulxyz2004]

Good thing they threw them away! This makes me cringe. What if nobody would have noticed this?

 

 

I guess mankind would still have survived:rolleyes:

[Paulxyz2004]

I got foo poisoning on our last cruise. Not fun. After the incident, I started noticing things that I hadn't paid attention to before, like workers taking trash bags out and then serving passengers without washing hands or changing sterile gloves. I also noticed slices of pizza sitting under heat lamps and passengers handling slices with their bare hands before finally settling for the "right one". And one worker dumping rice back with her hands in a container after serving a passenger too much.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

Sterile gloves? I doubt there are any sterile gloves at the buffet, at least I´ve never seen some. Gloves yes, but they are not sterile and it wouldn´t make any sense to have sterile gloves anyway, because when working in a non-sterile Environment like a buffet line there´s no Need to put on sterile stuff. Keep them in the medical Environment like a surgery room where they make sense.

[S.A.M.J.R.]

I guess mankind would still have survived:rolleyes:

I'm not sure. Maybe the kid was "Patient 0" for a massive ebola outbreak, he infects everyone on the cruise, they leave the boat and fly home, infecting everyone in the airports & hotels, and it spreads like wildfire and it's the end of mankind.:D It's a good thing those fries got replaced!

[Sat1]

Geo, enjoyed your animations, :-)

[Brigbound]

If it had been a "white man" would you have specifically stated so twice in your post?????:rolleyes:

 

Sounds like you have some racial issues you should address first; if you can ignore the story and jump onto an absurd tangent as you did. You need to let go of your hate, friend. :(

[thecruiserofships]

I'm not sure. Maybe the kid was "Patient 0" for a massive ebola outbreak, he infects everyone on the cruise, they leave the boat and fly home, infecting everyone in the airports & hotels, and it spreads like wildfire and it's the end of mankind.:D It's a good thing those fries got replaced!

 

Highly unlikely ( I hope!) ... but you truly never know until after the kid shows symptoms. The kid would probably sooner have strep throat or the stomach bug. :)

[travelplus]

I remember one instance where a young boy scooped up a handful of French fries and started eating them, the remaining fries were removed immediately and thrown away.

 

Ewww Gross:( I wish Royal Caribbean would enforce that if you are a kid you must have your parents with you. Lets say your son or daughter had a food allergy and ate something they were not supposed to. Or if they would just scoop up the fries as this kid did.

 

I could never imagine letting my kid go to the buffet alone if I knew even for a second he would use his hands to eat the food.

 

Glad Royal was on the ball and replaced the fries. What if the kid had Noro Virus or a Cold?

 

Why do Parents let their kids go alone if they don't even use the proper serving tongs?

[travelplus]

The short answer is no.

 

Most of the food bays have no one monitoring the food. This is especially true at the dessert and fruit counters. I don't consider it necessarily a toxic waste dump! The problem here may be what you consider contaminated? The serving utensils are definitely contaminated by those standards.

 

Everyone has a different tolerance for these things. My maybe wrong headed assumption is my stomach acid will take care of that contaminated food. I'll try not to touch my eyes after touching the serving utensils. :)

 

Enjoy your cruise.

 

Wait a minute with the recent Noro Virus outbreaks wouldn't they want someone monitoring the food bays? I mean just think of the kids and some adults who don't even use the tongs provided to get their food.

 

I've seen someone pick up a cookie with their hands and put it back. What if you had a cold or other virus?

 

What I do is look around the buffet first then go back and take what I want. I don't just pick up a cookie and put it back if I don't want it.

 

Makes me wonder if the Main Dining Room/Park Cafe/Boardwalk Dog House are the best place for meals.

 

I wish they would have the MDR open on embarkation day.

[seeshore]

Once I saw a crew member who was refilling a drink dispenser drop the lid into the drink then fish it out of the liquid with his hands. Yes, his hands were in the drink-totally gross and disgusting.

 

By the way, I now wear gloves when serving myself at a cruise buffet. I won't subject myself to illness from hundreds of people serving themselves with the same utensils.

 

I shudder to think what goes on behind the scenes on any dining venue onboard. When serving masses of people, corners need to be cut and I'm sure sanitary policies suffer too.

[silentbob007]

Simply, there is not generally enough man-power to consistently watch the buffet, and employees are put in an awkward situation where they are to be polite and also rebuff passengers. I am very conscious of "finger lickers" too and hate when people eat in line, though once they go to their seat and eat, most again return to for more food without washing hands again, so it is the same effect without it even being visible.

[JF - retired RRT]

I think most people at least sanitize their hands as they are entering the buffets so hopefully that kills the germs!

 

Doesn't help with the one that counts (Noro).