Royal - Horizon Court vs Horizon Bistro, what is the difference?

[Raisinette]

Hello,

 

This will be my first time on a Princess ship, we'll be on the Royal, and I'm not clear on the difference between the Horizon Court vs the Horizon Bistro. I'm guessing it is one very large buffet area with multiple stations, but is there a difference in the hours of operation or the food content overall between these 2 areas?

 

Thank you!

[Pam in CA]

The Horizon Court is the main buffet. It's huge with lots of options and is open from early morning until late at night.

 

The Horizon Bistro is a smaller area that has fewer options for breakfast; an additional salad bar, sandwich station with made-to-order sandwiches, desserts and pastries at lunch and desserts and pastries at dinner. There is a lot of additional seating in the Bistro area if you've gotten food in the Horizon Court.

[rjack22]

I never could tell the difference.

[Mom33]

The Bistro area has bistro style tables too.:D

[satxdiver]

On the Royal the bistro area is a great place to visit as it has the pastry shop with a big selection of delicious pastries. It also has other food being offered. I seem to always gravitate to this area on the lido deck. Seating in this area is open to anyone so if you can't find a table in the HC area check the bistro area.

 

On the other ships like the emerald the bistro is a little different and located at the back of the HC. Royal has it at the front.

[SoCal Cruiser78]

On the Royal the bistro area is a great place to visit as it has the pastry shop with a big selection of delicious pastries. It also has other food being offered. I seem to always gravitate to this area on the lido deck. Seating in this area is open to anyone so if you can't find a table in the HC area check the bistro area...

 

Are the hours of operation different for the two? I guess I'm wondering what the purpose of the bistro is vs. the HC if the are in the same general area on the Royal/Regal?

[Raisinette]

The Horizon Court is the main buffet. It's huge with lots of options and is open from early morning until late at night.

 

The Horizon Bistro is a smaller area that has fewer options for breakfast; an additional salad bar, sandwich station with made-to-order sandwiches, desserts and pastries at lunch and desserts and pastries at dinner. There is a lot of additional seating in the Bistro area if you've gotten food in the Horizon Court.

Thanks for the information - I'm adding it to my 'cheat sheet' of stuff about this ship!

[Pam in CA]

I never could tell the difference.

I'm surprised. There's a huge difference between the Horizon Court and Horizon Bistro. Very different decor, seating, food, etc.

[dmwnc1959]

Horizon Bistro (just outside of the Pastry Shop)

 

 

Other Horizon Bistro seating

 

 

Horizon Court

 

[dmwnc1959]

Horizon Court

 

 

 

Horizon Bistro

 

 

Pastry Shop

[SoCal Cruiser78]

Thanks, dmwnc1959, for the great pics! I don't care for the overall size of the newbuilds, but can see that Princess has definitely improved the layout of the HC/Bistros on them from the Grand-class ships.

Edited April 3, 2015 by Ryndam2002
spelling

[Woobstr112G]

I never could tell the difference.

 

On the Royal (2013 T/A) I often found the Bistro closed when I went into the HC. When I did find it open, I was not overly impressed.....:):):)

 

Bob

Edited April 3, 2015 by Woobstr112G

[dmwnc1959]

I don't think that I have ever been "overly impressed" ;) with the buffets of any of the cruise ships I've ever been on, up to an including the Allure of the Seas, but the layout and offerings of the Royal Princess' main food court and buffet the Horizon Court, the smaller and more intimate Horizon Bistro, and the tasty treats in Pastry Shop easily beat the pants off all the others ships, especially every other ship in the Princess Cruises fleet; the Grand-class with the enclosed claustrophic "cage", one way in, one way out, so very small and always bumping into everyone else.

 

With that said, I've eaten a LOT of my meals in buffets aboard ships over the last seven cruises, and have never really been dissatisfied. Buffets on cruise ships aren't meant to be the end-all gastronomic peak experience of casual dining. It is what it is....a buffet, and not a 5-star restaurant.

 

 

One bit of advice though when eating up in the Lido deck buffets: these combined three areas on the Royal-class cover a lot of real estate, so start at one end and one one side (say for instance, port side forward), and browse your way along until you've reached the other end (port side aft), cross over (to the starboard side), and browse your way all the way back up. Things like pastries, breads, and fruits you can get as you browse, but then get another plate and go back, especially the "hot" or "made to order" items. It may take a few more minutes overall, but at least you won't "miss out" on that one item you really wanted but couldn't find.

 

:D

[SoCal Cruiser78]

...One bit of advice though when eating up in the Lido deck buffets: these combined three areas on the Royal-class cover a lot of real estate, so start at one end and one one side (say for instance, port side forward), and browse your way along until you've reached the other end (port side aft), cross over (to the starboard side), and browse your way all the way back up...

 

Do the offerings on port side mirror starboard, as on some ships, or does one side vary from the other?

[dmwnc1959]

Do the offerings on port side mirror starboard, as on some ships...

 

 

Not that I remember; say for instance in the Horizon Bistro, on one side (starboard) was fruits and cereals, the other side (port) had little hot breakfast burrito things, breads, and other hot breakfast items, and the cross-section between the two had different things like hash browns, corned beef hash, salmon, and eggs sunny side up. Some of the basic items (fruits, breads, cheeses) might be repeated from the Horizon Bistro to the Horizon Court, but other stations were unique to that area: fresh made-to-order waffles were only in the Pastry Shop, Made-to-Order omelets were only done in the Horizon Court (starboard side aft).

 

Same goes for dinner: lots of variety, few areas repeated the food offerings, especially when it was a theme night (Italian Night for instance) where they'd still have a lot of the standard buffet items, but the Italian food would all be in the aft cross-section of the Horizon Court.

 

 

:D

Edited April 3, 2015 by dmwnc1959

[Pam in CA]

Do the offerings on port side mirror starboard, as on some ships, or does one side vary from the other?

Some things are duplicated, some are not. You really have to walk around the whole thing before deciding what you want. The choices can be literally overwhelming and it takes time to remember where the things you prefer are usually available.

[cruisehappy001]

Are both Port and Starboard open at the same time, or does one side close down while the other side is configured for the next meal like on the other Princess ships? Sounds like both are open?!? If both are open at once, that sure makes for a bunch of variety and choice judging from the pictures posted above! I really need to try out one of the Royal class ships!

 

Happy Cruising!

 

Mark

Edited April 3, 2015 by cruisehappy001

[skynight]

I think of the area as one large buffet, with different serving areas and different seating. At busy times you find a table wherever you can, including the Horizon Terrace area.

 

When busy every serving line and seating area is open, with some items being duplicated on different lines. At other times only some lines are open and some seating areas are closed, just like on other Princess ships.

 

I found the selections and varieties on the Royal to be better than other Princess ships. There are places where you can see Rotisserie chickens and beef being cooked. The also had a Brazilian BBQ one evening. It seems that there were substantial Asian selections every day, more than I have seen on other Princess ships.

[caribill]

Are both Port and Starboard open at the same time, or does one side close down while the other side is configured for the next meal like on the other Princess ships? Sounds like both are open?!? If both are open at once, that sure makes for a bunch of variety and choice judging from the pictures posted above! I really need to try out one of the Royal class ships!

 

 

When changing from, for example, to dinner, some parts of the buffet will be shut down while many other remain open. It is not a case of an entire side shutting down, just sections which might be on either side or might be on the passageways between sides.