Terrace Cafe

[Classiccruiser777]

 

I hope this doesn’t mean the end of the Terrace Cafe:

 

From the linked article: 

 

“Buffets, for example, long a staple of ships from contemporary to luxury, will “probably” be eliminated on NCLH ships, Del Rio said.”

 

Full article here: https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Sailing-full-redefined-in-cruising-new-reality-coronavirus?fbclid=IwAR1ylfi0YGt9I2NJnpoVf4crO2Ai40q5WGkdurq3YmOm-2rp9vha-h38V5Q

 

[LHT28]

well Oceania  was more Cafeteria style   anyway  unlike  Regent & NCL  where it was self serve

Maybe now they will put the glass  down to the counter to keep fingers  out  of trying to grab food

Time will tell

[clo]

2 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

to keep fingers  out  of trying to grab food

Or keep people reaching under the glass to point. I think some of it was unintentional. And hopefully consciousness-es have been mightily raised these last few months.

[pinotlover]

I believe the self service buffet is gone. Uniworld has already put that out in writing. As Lyn suggests, I believe the cafeteria line service will continue. Too many people to serve at breakfast, for example, over a short time frame to completely forego.

 

clo;

 

I have never understood the habit of some to point, peck on the glass, and grunt. Especially the case when realizing both the cruiser and the waiter speak perfectly fine English. For me “ may I have 2 pieces of sausage please” is both simple and polite. Why some prefer a peck and ugg , shake their heads and ugg again has always amazed me!

[clo]

1 hour ago, pinotlover said:

I have never understood the habit of some to point, peck on the glass, and grunt. Especially the case when realizing both the cruiser and the waiter speak perfectly fine English. For me “ may I have 2 pieces of sausage please” is both simple and polite. Why some prefer a peck and ugg , shake their heads and ugg again has always amazed me!

Chortling 🙂 Nor I. Great description.

[bigmjh]

2 hours ago, pinotlover said:

I believe the self service buffet is gone. Uniworld has already put that out in writing. As Lyn suggests, I believe the cafeteria line service will continue. Too many people to serve at breakfast, for example, over a short time frame to completely forego.

 

clo;

 

I have never understood the habit of some to point, peck on the glass, and grunt. Especially the case when realizing both the cruiser and the waiter speak perfectly fine English. For me “ may I have 2 pieces of sausage please” is both simple and polite. Why some prefer a peck and ugg , shake their heads and ugg again has always amazed me!

Some people are polite ... others - well, let's just say I would prefer not to sail with.  😉

[Ladys Mom]

I won't feel bad if they get rid of the self-service buffet.  It is much more sanitary if a waiter or waitress walks your plate down the buffet and you tell them what to put on it.  It also eliminates putting too much food on the plate at once.  You can always go back.  Personally, one of the things I have enjoyed about luxury cruising is having someone serve me my meal.  I do enough cooking and plating at home.  On vacation, let someone else have the job.

[clo]

1 minute ago, Ladys Mom said:

I won't feel bad if they get rid of the self-service buffet.  It is much more sanitary if a waiter or waitress walks your plate down the buffet and you tell them what to put on it.  It also eliminates putting too much food on the plate at once.  You can always go back.  Personally, one of the things I have enjoyed about luxury cruising is having someone serve me my meal.  I do enough cooking and plating at home.  On vacation, let someone else have the job.

On Oceania I didn't see any servers walking through the line with anyone but always there to carry your plate to your table.

[RJB]

2 minutes ago, Ladys Mom said:

I won't feel bad if they get rid of the self-service buffet.  It is much more sanitary if a waiter or waitress walks your plate down the buffet and you tell them what to put on it.  It also eliminates putting too much food on the plate at once.  You can always go back.  Personally, one of the things I have enjoyed about luxury cruising is having someone serve me my meal.  I do enough cooking and plating at home.  On vacation, let someone else have the job.

On Oceania most of it is served to you anyway.  If you want more just ask for it and they will give it to you. A pretty good system that will not need much change.

[clo]

23 minutes ago, RJB said:

On Oceania most of it is served to you anyway.  If you want more just ask for it and they will give it to you. A pretty good system that will not need much change.

I found that I generally had to ask for less. Not a bad problem to have 🙂

[LHT28]

30 minutes ago, Ladys Mom said:

I won't feel bad if they get rid of the self-service buffet.  It is much more sanitary if a waiter or waitress walks your plate down the buffet and you tell them what to put on it.  It also eliminates putting too much food on the plate at once.  You can always go back.  Personally, one of the things I have enjoyed about luxury cruising is having someone serve me my meal.  I do enough cooking and plating at home.  On vacation, let someone else have the job.

Have you sailed on Oceania??

  On  Crystal the buffet was self serve ..so much for  a Luxury line  where  people are handling the utensils

[Ladys Mom]

It has been several years since we have been on an Oceania ship.  Truth be told, we virtually never go to the buffet on a ship for the reason I said —I like to sit down, choose from the menu, and have my food served.  I plate enough food at home.  If I misspoke about how Oceania handles their buffet, I am sorry.  We will be taking a 34 day Oceania cruise in December if all goes well.

[LHT28]

4 minutes ago, Ladys Mom said:

It has been several years since we have been on an Oceania ship.  Truth be told, we virtually never go to the buffet on a ship for the reason I said —I like to sit down, choose from the menu, and have my food served.  I plate enough food at home.  If I misspoke about how Oceania handles their buffet, I am sorry.  We will be taking a 34 day Oceania cruise in December if all goes well.

i prefer to sit & be served  but sometimes we will do the Terrace or Waves for Breakfast & lunch

 

AFAIK  The only self serve is  Barristas & the Concierge/Executive lounges  but I guess that will be changing  when they start sailing again

[pinotlover]

1 hour ago, RJB said:

On Oceania most of it is served to you anyway.  If you want more just ask for it and they will give it to you. A pretty good system that will not need much change.

Can’t speak for all the ships, but in the Terrace last summer on the Nautica, I was greatly surprised at the number of items they were allowing self serve which had traditionally been plated for you.

 

I would guess now they’ll take a reverse course and plate it all. I believe this is a good thing. 
 

We agree with Lady’s Mom. We typically like to be served and except for occasional breakfast, rarely choose to eat in the Terrace.

 

To clo’s remark; It’s great they were providing assistance for you on your Marina cruise. On that same Nautica cruise mentioned above, rarely did any staff assist by carrying a passenger’s plate, and some really needed that help! Staffing levels seem to change creating different conditions aboard the ships. 

[clo]

1 hour ago, pinotlover said:

I was greatly surprised at the number of items they were allowing self serve which had traditionally been plated for you.

I'm mentally running through the areas and can't remember anything that was self serve.

 

I always declined having my plate carried but it was nice to have the offer for some.

[pinotlover]

53 minutes ago, clo said:

I'm mentally running through the areas and can't remember anything that was self servedI

On that cruise for breakfast:

 

1. prepared meats such as salamis, speck,  mortadella, etc.

 

2. next to it, salt fish such as lox, various herring, smoked white fish, etc.

 

3. various breads and pastries including croissants, donuts, and various pastries.

 

On our singular dinner in the Terrace, sushi and sashimi was also self serve.

 

On previous cruises, none of these items had been self service. I doubt they will be in the future.

[clo]

23 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

On that cruise for breakfast:

 

1. prepared meats such as salamis, speck,  mortadella, etc.

 

2. next to it, salt fish such as lox, various herring, smoked white fish, etc.

 

3. various breads and pastries including croissants, donuts, and various pastries.

 

On our singular dinner in the Terrace, sushi and sashimi was also self serve.

 

On previous cruises, none of these items had been self service. I doubt they will be in the future.

Interesting. Not on that ship and that cruise. But regardless, not going forward.

[Mura]

1 hour ago, clo said:

I'm mentally running through the areas and can't remember anything that was self serve.

 

I always declined having my plate carried but it was nice to have the offer for some.

I tried declining -- one time I was only five feet away from our table -- but they have always insisted.

 

I must look older than I used to ...

 

I should add that they don't ALWAYS offer to carry my plate to the table, but when they do they won't take no for an answer!

 

Mura

[clo]

1 minute ago, Mura said:

I tried declining -- one time I was only five feet away from our table -- but they have always insisted.

 

I must look older than I used to ...

 

I should add that they don't ALWAYS offer to carry my plate to the table, but when they do they won't take no for an answer!

 

Mura

LOL. We were on THE most popular bus line through Chinatown in SF in late December. Always SRO. I knew my hair color needed 'refreshing' when an 'older' Chinese lady offered me her seat 🙂

[Noxequifans]

I’ll miss the Terrace as it was. Sometimes I am not sure what I want to eat ... a walk around the Terrace helps me decide rather than looking at a menu description of choices. Occasionally I spot something that I otherwise might not have chosen. 

[pinotlover]

8 minutes ago, Noxequifans said:

I’ll miss the Terrace as it was. Sometimes I am not sure what I want to eat ... a walk around the Terrace helps me decide rather than looking at a menu description of choices. Occasionally I spot something that I otherwise might not have chosen. 

I believe the Terrace will still be there, it just won’t be self serve. 
 

To me, this isn’t a big deal, probably happier not having any self service. The really really big deal is if physical distancing is mandated.

How many people will be allowed in the Terrace at one time?

 

How will time slots be allocated ?

 

How long will your slot

be allocated for?

 

What should expectations for room service be, if a third to a quarter go that route? 
 

These are the big deals, not whether you can grab your own croissant or have it plated!

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, Noxequifans said:

I’ll miss the Terrace as it was. Sometimes I am not sure what I want to eat ... a walk around the Terrace helps me decide rather than looking at a menu description of choices. Occasionally I spot something that I otherwise might not have chosen. 

Do you think they will do away with the serving stations?

 not much was self serve there anyway

[susiesan]

Are we going to have to BYOS&P (bring your own salt & pepper)? If salt and pepper are removed from tables, how will that work? I just don't see the staff running around with shakers and hovering over people's shoulders adding salt and pepper. I can just see it: "Can I have some salt? Okay, a little more. Okay, a little more. Okay, that's good." Then 30 seconds later, "can you come back, it's not enough". O will have to hire people whose job is condiment patrol.🤪

[clo]

21 minutes ago, susiesan said:

Are we going to have to BYOS&P (bring your own salt & pepper)? If salt and pepper are removed from tables, how will that work? I just don't see the staff running around with shakers and hovering over people's shoulders adding salt and pepper. I can just see it: "Can I have some salt? Okay, a little more. Okay, a little more. Okay, that's good." Then 30 seconds later, "can you come back, it's not enough". O will have to hire people whose job is condiment patrol.🤪

Individual packets?

[KS&JW]

27 minutes ago, susiesan said:

Are we going to have to BYOS&P (bring your own salt & pepper)? If salt and pepper are removed from tables, how will that work? I just don't see the staff running around with shakers and hovering over people's shoulders adding salt and pepper. I can just see it: "Can I have some salt? Okay, a little more. Okay, a little more. Okay, that's good." Then 30 seconds later, "can you come back, it's not enough". O will have to hire people whose job is condiment patrol.🤪

 

I assume they put down a clean/sanitized set of shakers when you sit down then they are picked up when you leave to be cleaned.    I have never been on a cruise with Noro,  but isn't that what they do then?