More Late Night Food Cuts

[DallasGuy75219]

I hadn't seen this announced or posted anywhere... on the Valor last week the late night buffet had been completely cut. 

 

The Fun Times said Pizza Pirate was serving pasta and sandwiches from 11:30 pm to 1:00 am.  Pizza Pirate was already a cluster late at night with a single employee and a long line of passengers when it is the only food venue open, so I didn't bother to see how much more of a cluster it became with this change.

 

And for grins and giggles, here's Carnival closing the Deli early at 10:48 pm...

[coevan]

The only time we saw a midnight buffet was on a Journey's cruise. Have not seen a midnight brunch in years, maybe we were too busy in the casino

Edited August 25, 2019 by coevan

[Jamman54]

Just back from the Ecstasy and they had late night snacks at the Lido every night from 11:30 until 1:00 am. It was separate from the Pizza Pirate. Mostly hot dogs, fries, and little sandwiches. 

Edited August 25, 2019 by Jamman54

[coevan]

buffet? I know about the snacks.

[DallasGuy75219]

27 minutes ago, coevan said:

The only time we saw a midnight buffet was on a Journey's cruise. Have not seen a midnight brunch in years, maybe we were too busy in the casino

I'm not referring to the gala midnight buffets in the MDR that Carnival cut years ago (and brought back on the Journeys cruises). 

 

I'm referring to late night snacks served at the Lido buffet.  This menu is from the last incarnation I'm aware of.

[coevan]

40 minutes ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

on the Valor last week the late night buffet had been completely cut. 

 

 

not really what you said, the Gala on the Journey's cruise had an ice carver and you seriously could not get near the buffet

[sanmarcosman]

35 minutes ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

I'm not referring to the gala midnight buffets in the MDR that Carnival cut years ago (and brought back on the Journeys cruises). 

 

I'm referring to late night snacks served at the Lido buffet.  This menu is from the last incarnation I'm aware of.

 

That's a shame you experienced this and I hope Carnival rethinks any plans they may have to go fleet wide with adding anything to the already overworked pizza venue late night. 

[shof515]

When i was on the sunrise a few months ago, i also noticed a worker on the deli line around 10:45pm with that buffet closed sign and telling people the deli was closing. After 11pm, the only food option was pizza that was always crowded with a very slow moving line. There was no buffet like what i remember on older ships that had a similar menu posted

[bitemyfly]

On the paradise last week they had a late night buffet open. They served hot dogs, fried chicken sandwich, hot pressed ham and cheese sandwiches along with cookies and brownies. Naturally the pizza place was opened too.

[Pellaz]

7 hours ago, bitemyfly said:

On the paradise last week they had a late night buffet open. They served hot dogs, fried chicken sandwich, hot pressed ham and cheese sandwiches along with cookies and brownies. Naturally the pizza place was opened too.

 

That was our experience on the Magic and also the Vista (with minor variations on the items).   

Prior to that on Conquest-class ships we saw the "Pizza Pirate Plus" menu from 11 pm until 1am or 2 am, with lasagna every night and a rotating entree (like sausage-and-pepper, chicken parm, etc.) each night.  

[Frank12]

12 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

Just back from the Ecstasy and they had late night snacks at the Lido every night from 11:30 until 1:00 am. It was separate from the Pizza Pirate. Mostly hot dogs, fries, and little sandwiches. 

Paradise had the same thing last month.

[lottiegreen56]

I can confirm that the midnight snacks was missing from the Deli, tried to get pizza one night with my pregnant daughter in law and the line was 30 deep! She was hhhhooooooonggggggrrrraaaaaaaaaayyyyyyy and we just ordered pizza and steak sandwiches to the room for the markup. 

 

I think the pizza was the same as the pirate without the line with a few more toppings. The philly steak was not authentic but very good. For $12 - it was probably worth the money to skip the line, probably what they were hoping people would say.

[Joebucks]

52 minutes ago, lottiegreen56 said:

I think the pizza was the same as the pirate without the line with a few more toppings. The philly steak was not authentic but very good. For $12 - it was probably worth the money to skip the line, probably what they were hoping people would say.

 

I tried the philly a few cruise ago, and it was soooo good. People will spend $3000 on a vacation and LOSE THEIR MIND over a $6 charge. If the fare was $50 higher, they wouldn't care.

 

Still, I would be a bit disappointed if the late snacks went. The actual "buffet" definitely closes early. The snacks reopen later.

[The7Harrisons]

15 hours ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

I hadn't seen this announced or posted anywhere... on the Valor last week the late night buffet had been completely cut. 

I think its the industry not just Carnival that are making cuts where ever they can! Also, I read an article about how much food is thrown away from these buffets it was astounding! The industry sees this and will be moving more to a order when hungry function, instead of putting out hundreds of pounds of unwanted food just to be thrown away!

[coevan]

buffets can have huge waste, midnight buffets were big losers for them, not enough people awake.

[lottiegreen56]

1 hour ago, Joebucks said:

 

I tried the philly a few cruise ago, and it was soooo good. People will spend $3000 on a vacation and LOSE THEIR MIND over a $6 charge. If the fare was $50 higher, they wouldn't care.

 

Still, I would be a bit disappointed if the late snacks went. The actual "buffet" definitely closes early. The snacks reopen later.

 

I bet $25-100 per hand on BJ, believe me, there's a lot dumber things I've done with my money than spend the 10+2 tip on the food. The point of contention is that cruising used to be all-inclusive when we first started and now it's got to the point where I don't think it would be possible to avoid any upsell for a non-gambler or drinker.

 

I'm not complaining about tips, but just as a for instance, the price of tips have increased over 100% since 2003, when we got back into cruising as family. Fares have probably decreased since then along with the all inclusive nature of cruising

[coevan]

1 minute ago, lottiegreen56 said:

The point of contention is that cruising used to be all-inclusive when we first started

 

 

We have been cruising since the 80's it's never been all inclusive

[RandomUser123]

I am not a big late night eater but as long as they have some options which they still do then it's good for me. I am not expecting a full buffet that late. 

[shof515]

1 hour ago, The7Harrisons said:

The industry sees this and will be moving more to a order when hungry function, instead of putting out hundreds of pounds of unwanted food just to be thrown away!

 

would be interesting to see how virgin does with this concept. their ships will not have a buffet 

[coevan]

they will do just fine, completely different concept, especially for what they are charging. Sir Richard does everything first class.

[Doggielover68]

2 hours ago, coevan said:

buffets can have huge waste, midnight buffets were big losers for them, not enough people awake.

Yep. I don't even know how people still manage to eat after dinner. By around 7pm, I am wandering around for the rest of the night, holding onto my bloated gut asking myself why I ate so much.

 

For those who do need food later on, the buffet is open until 9 or 9:30. The deli is still there until 11, and pizza and room service is available after that. 

[lottiegreen56]

7 hours ago, coevan said:

 

 

We have been cruising since the 80's it's never been all inclusive

 

We must have sailed different lines. Other than the booze, pictures and gambling Carnival didn't have food that wasn't included. I don't even think they charged for any of the activities. I tried asking my hubby if they charged for the golf balls or skeet shooting but he said he couldn't remember

[Amadawn1]

There was nothing better than cruising down to the Pizzeria Del Capitano/Pizza Pirate (or whatever it was called on the Freedom last Oct) at 1AM.  Small line that moved fast.  Brought my Quattro Formaggio back to the cabin.  I don't think pizza has ever tasted so good for some reason.  Maybe it was my Cheers pkg?  I don't need a late night buffet. There's also always room service.  Don't usually ever eat that late.  Not usually up that late.  But that pizza was pure heaven sitting on the balcony, while my husband was snoozing!

[sfaaa]

What exactly is the problem? Smart people go at 10:47pm to load up their plates. They never go hungry during the night.

[sanmarcosman]

58 minutes ago, lottiegreen56 said:

 

We must have sailed different lines. Other than the booze, pictures and gambling Carnival didn't have food that wasn't included. I don't even think they charged for any of the activities. I tried asking my hubby if they charged for the golf balls or skeet shooting but he said he couldn't remember

There was a charge for skeet shooting. I paid $5 for 3 pulls. This was about 1988. The shotgun had a good kick and we were supervised throughout by a safety officer and their assistant. 

 

The Late Night snacks menu has been a welcome addition. We're older but can still stomach late night snacks with a few exceptions before bedtime.

Edited August 27, 2019 by sanmarcosman