POLL: Served or Self-Served

[SeattleAl]

I know that we are more germ conscious than we were before Covid-19, but two things to mention:

 

1) While there have been outbreaks of Norovirus on ships before, people have been self-serving on ships, and at countless restaurants for at least a century. This has been done with only rare and occasional problems (and mostly due to food temperature issues).

 

2) If having someone touch or breath on your food in some minor way is a problem for you, never visit the average restaurant kitchen (or perhaps, even your friend's) and never eat out again. 

[luckyinpa]

purely based on what ive seen first hand, im happy to let others serve everyone even if it means more slowly. at a local supermarket i saw a woman at the salad bar take off the lid of the salad dressing bottle, put her finger in then lick it to see if it was good. ive also seen kids play with lower level self serve things like bagels. 

 

one trick for those worried about germs. use your one hand to hold your plate and the other to use the utensils then if you need to use your hands for a burger etc, just use your plate hand. never use your utensil hand 

[BillHoo]

On 3/29/2022 at 2:27 PM, luckyinpa said:

........ at a local supermarket i saw a woman at the salad bar take off the lid of the salad dressing bottle, put her finger in then lick it to see if it was good. .......

Eeeeeewwwwww!

[BillHoo]

Return of self-service with adjustments.

https://www.thestreet.com/investing/royal-caribbean-brings-back-the-self-serve-buffet-windjammer?puc=yahoo&cm_ven=YAHOO

Royal Caribbean Brings Back the Self-Serve Buffet - TheStreet

 

 

Kind of a hybrid approach

 

"On cruises departing on or after April 2, 2022, Royal Caribbean International will bring back self-service dining in guest-favorite venues on board, including the Windjammer Marketplace, Solarium Bistro, and at private destinations," the company told the Royal Caribbean Blog. "Grab-and-go dishes and single-serving portions will continue as a permanent offering – they have become popular options, and keeping them is among the top requests from our guests."

 

 

Edited April 5, 2022 by BillHoo

[luckyinpa]

what will the employees who served us now be doing? wonder what jobs got neglected before

[not-enough-cruising]

2 minutes ago, luckyinpa said:

what will the employees who served us now be doing? wonder what jobs got neglected before

Nothing was neglected; nut as passenger counts rise, there is more work for those folks to do elsewhere.

 

Self-serve has been back everywhere (including the hospitals I am on staff at) for quite some time, this move should come as no surprise, nor should it be looked upon with any concern).

[Biker19]

2 hours ago, not-enough-cruising said:

nor should it be looked upon with any concern

The germaphobes seem to disagree with you.

[tillyboy]

As mentioned before in other posts, a simple solution to self serve buffets would be to bring your own supply of thin plastic gloves, thus no worries about touching utensils, etc. I agree that no matter where you go these days, personal hygiene is severely lacking. Those salt and pepper shakers, along with condiment containers, can also be riddled with germs, and don't forget the TV remotes! Wouldn't it be nice if everyone practiced proper hygiene???😟

[dgramling]

4 hours ago, luckyinpa said:

what will the employees who served us now be doing? wonder what jobs got neglected before

Areas I noticed were pool deck drink attendants, On CocoCay all the drink attendants disappeared between 11 and 2, when we went to the buffet we saw the one that had been serving our section dishing out food at one of the stations.  I know we also saw one of our servers from the specialty restaurants serving at the windjammer, so I'm thinking this also is impacting specialty restaurant capacity.

[bonsai3s]

Taking another survey: Would you like a self-bar? 😎😉😇

[BillHoo]

On 4/5/2022 at 1:34 PM, bonsai3s said:

Taking another survey: Would you like a self-bar? 😎😉😇

There's a YouTube video of a guy who buys first class tickets with full refund policy so he can use the airline VIP lounges.  (pricey ticket)

 

He arrives like 12 hours before the flight and spends all day eating and drinking.  Brings his laptop to do remote work.   Even brings a water bottle to the bar that is self-serve with Top Shelf liquor and fills it up with his scotch of choice.

 

Then, maybe an hour or so before the flight, he cancels, calls customer service and demands a full refund.

 

People like that ruins the services for the rest of us.  Sooner or later, the airlines / lounges will adjust their policy.

Edited April 8, 2022 by BillHoo

[BillHoo]

On 4/5/2022 at 12:43 PM, tillyboy said:

As mentioned before in other posts, a simple solution to self serve buffets would be to bring your own supply of thin plastic gloves, thus no worries about touching utensils, etc. I agree that no matter where you go these days, personal hygiene is severely lacking. Those salt and pepper shakers, along with condiment containers, can also be riddled with germs, and don't forget the TV remotes! Wouldn't it be nice if everyone practiced proper hygiene???😟

Good idea on the gloves!

 

I'll throw a pack or two into my luggage.