Buffet meals

[Potstech]

And you can show all these "many people" are doing this how?

[brisalta]

11 hours ago, skynight said:

Those at the pools or other activities may enjoy those activities and time spent there rather than an hour plus for lunch at a DR table. The buffet, grill, pizza and I.C. offer alternatives. For approximately the last ten years we have been booking b2b cruises lasting 30 to 40 days. We tire of dining every evening in the DR, and like to plan our evening meals around our entertainment and activity plans, not the other way around. Many evenings we option for a small quicker meal at the buffet, grill, pizza or International Cafe.   For breakfast we also enjoy a doughnut and coffee at the I.C. or carry out to the promenade or maybe a bowl of cereal or made to order omelette on the Horizon Terrace, rather than an hour long indoor DR breakfast. These are our preferences. No gulping going on, just a simple one course meal. Others have different preferences. That is why the cruise lines offer all the different options, not one size fits all. 

 

Woosh...

What I wrote seems to have gone right over your head.

[pris993]

44 minutes ago, brisalta said:

 

If you are taking the time to view the sunset while eating you are not gulping down your food. You are having a relaxing meal which is actually the healthy way to eat.

It just seems a shame that too many people seem to want to shove food down as quickly as possible and not even bother to sit and relax and chew their food.

Yes, we are taking time to relax and enjoy a meal.  My DH is from Paris, there people spend up to 3 hours over a meal, so a difference way to live.  Our world today is very rush rush, luckily we have been retired for 20 years so we are no longer in this busy world.  For some it hard to slow down. 

[brisalta]

3 minutes ago, pris993 said:

Yes, we are taking time to relax and enjoy a meal.  My DH is from Paris, there people spend up to 3 hours over a meal, so a difference way to live.  Our world today is very rush rush, luckily we have been retired for 20 years so we are no longer in this busy world.  For some it hard to slow down. 

 

The interesting thing is if you are relaxed and well rested you are more productive in all aspects of your life.

[KruzPrincess]

Delete. 

Edited September 7, 2020 by KruzPrincess

[Lucky TGO]

On 9/4/2020 at 8:11 PM, stoneharborlady said:

Do you expect that the buffet will no longer exist, or that buffet meals will be served by staff (no longer serve yourself)?

I think buffet meals will be served by the staff. I really don’t care because I avoid them as much as possible. I have seen people do some things that turn my stomach. I’m sorry I know some people love them. 
Tony

[Hlitner]

19 hours ago, brisalta said:

 

So you have not bothered to search any of the science citation web sites.

I would not want to and have avoided using serving utensils that have been picked up by people picking their noses, licking their fingers, etc. In future that is even more problematic as that is an intermediary transfer mechanism for sars2-corona virus as the time between handling would be too short for the particles to denature.

Perhaps you can point me towards such a site and info about buffets and COVID.

 

Hank

[caribill]

On 9/6/2020 at 2:03 PM, satxdiver said:

We hope that Princess adopts the HAL buffet practice where the food is served as you move down the counter.  This is a lot more sanitary and could also stop some noro outbreaks. 

 

Not a real solution in the age of maintaining social distancing.

 

The HAL buffet stations are about 6-8 feet wide (salad area is longer) as sections of a long counter.

 

The only people at a station are those who want something from that station. At meal times, there may be 4 or 5 people waiting to be served at each station. If you do not want something from a station, you bypass it and move on to a station that appeals to you. Social distancing would require 24 linear feet if there are five people waiting at a station. At the salad station where often 8 or more people could be lined up, at least 42 linear feet would be required.

 

Serving without social distancing is quite practical. Serving with social distancing presents a problem.

 

Also, even HAL has parts of the buffet where people serve themselves. For example picking your own fruit (apples, bananas, etc.) or beverages in cartons (milk, for example). Those areas would need to be changed to require servers also.

[gmjc2]

The answer is to have a number system so that only 4- 6 people at a time can go up to the buffet. Of course that is a huge logistics problem at a busy breakfast or lunch. The answer is to STRICTLY enforce the hand washing on entry. Not letting anyone in without cleaning hands--with an officer to enforce it. Having washing stations as on some ships is a great idea as some skin cannot tolerate constant hand sanitizer. With reduced capacity and masks it should work. 

[MissP22]

1 hour ago, gmjc2 said:

The answer is to have a number system so that only 4- 6 people at a time can go up to the buffet.

Now I know you're living in a dream world. 

They might as well shut down the buffet since it would take hours to get through the line, especially at lunch time.

Why not just eliminate the buffet altogether and have another sit down AT restaurant?

[Thrak]

3 hours ago, gmjc2 said:

The answer is to STRICTLY enforce the hand washing on entry.

 

The only problem I have with that is the fact that Princess has things setup so that people often pass through the buffet just to get to where they are going and have no intention of stopping or eating. We always use the hand washing stations when we are entering to eat but, when I have just left my cabin (where I always wash my hands) and simply want to get to the aft pool or something like that, I really don't want to have to stop and wash my hands again just to pass through. Perhaps if they had it setup so that the "through traffic" was routed through the side of the buffet that wasn't currently open for food service it would alleviate that problem.

Edited September 21, 2020 by Thrak

[caribill]

15 hours ago, MissP22 said:

Why not just eliminate the buffet altogether and have another sit down AT restaurant?

 

How long does it typically take to eat a meal at a cruise ship cit down restaurant?

 

How long does it take to eat a meal at a ship's buffet?

 

 

 

[MissP22]

15 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

The only problem I have with that is the fact that Princess has things setup so that people often pass through the buffet just to get to where they are going and have no intention of stopping or eating. We always use the hand washing stations when we are entering to eat but, when I have just left my cabin (where I always wash my hands) and simply want to get to the aft pool or something like that, I really don't want to have to stop and wash my hands again just to pass through. Perhaps if they had it setup so that the "through traffic" was routed through the side of the buffet that wasn't currently open for food service it would alleviate that problem.

 

Although not the majority, there are many people who get to the buffet from the aft doors & don't even have to pass the wash stations on some of the ships.

 

2 hours ago, caribill said:

 

How long does it typically take to eat a meal at a cruise ship cit down restaurant?

 

How long does it take to eat a meal at a ship's buffet?

 

I do agree that the buffet is always a much faster option at any time but if people were to be limited in numbers to go through the line it would take so long they might as well turn it into a sit down restaurant & be done with it.

[Tak8]

Except for grabbing some oatmeal or a yogurt before my morning workout, I tend to avoid the buffet.  I like the seat down service and some passengers have horrible manners at the buffet.

[MaineCruiser243]

Not only the buffet but the International Cafe would be affected. It is already crowded due to the small area allocated to it and the proximity to the plaza and the people watching the entertainment put on there. With social distancing I wonder how that will work. When we went we usually ended up taking our food to our room or to an empty lounge area nearby as there was never any seating at the IC itself, except maybe on a port day when no one was on the ship.

[Potstech]

3 hours ago, Tak8 said:

Except for grabbing some oatmeal or a yogurt before my morning workout, I tend to avoid the buffet.  I like the seat down service and some passengers have horrible manners at the buffet.

As do some in the Main Dining Room.

[voljeep]

11 minutes ago, Potstech said:

As do some in the Main Dining Room.

table for 2 please ... would you like to share a table ( even pre-Covid-19 ) ... no, table for 2 please

 

OK, take a beeper - nada problem - back to Vines - oh, the horrors !!! 🍷 🍷 🍷

[Thrak]

2 hours ago, voljeep said:

table for 2 please ... would you like to share a table ( even pre-Covid-19 ) ... no, table for 2 please

 

OK, take a beeper - nada problem - back to Vines - oh, the horrors !!! 🍷 🍷 🍷

 

With the Sip and Sail or these days Princess Plus taking a beeper is not a problem for us. We aren't in that much of a hurry anyway. Now that Princess has changed the Traditional Dining to times that don't really suit us we've gone to Anytime Dining and had a lot more tables for two on our more recent cruises. We have still shared dining but it's not mandatory by any means. We met some really great folks with Traditional Dining but have also had some "dud" tables.

[sfaaa]

3 hours ago, voljeep said:

table for 2 please ... would you like to share a table ( even pre-Covid-19 ) ... no, table for 2 please

 

OK, take a beeper - nada problem - back to Vines - oh, the horrors !!! 🍷 🍷 🍷

Only sanitized beeper please.

[MissP22]

5 hours ago, MaineCruiser243 said:

Not only the buffet but the International Cafe would be affected. It is already crowded due to the small area allocated to it and the proximity to the plaza and the people watching the entertainment put on there. With social distancing I wonder how that will work. When we went we usually ended up taking our food to our room or to an empty lounge area nearby as there was never any seating at the IC itself, except maybe on a port day when no one was on the ship.

I suspect you won't see much entertainment in the piazza for a while. I't much to cramped to even think about it. 

[Potstech]

6 hours ago, voljeep said:

table for 2 please ... would you like to share a table ( even pre-Covid-19 ) ... no, table for 2 please

 

OK, take a beeper - nada problem - back to Vines - oh, the horrors !!! 🍷 🍷 🍷

Your dinner will be available at about 10 pm if you can still make it to the MDR.