Frequency Of Dinner In The Buffet

[CHEZMARYLOU]

This is one of the hottest threads on CC right now so I'm curious.  How often do passengers eat dinner in the buffet on the average 7 day sailing.

[drowelf]

First we don't do many 7 day cruises, 90% of ours are 10 days or more. But for us its totally variable, based on the following factors, in priority order. 

 

1. What is being served in the MDR that night 
2. Sea Day vs Port Day 
3. On Port Days, how we feel once we get back on the ship. Sometimes we are just not up for getting cleaned up and dressed. We just want some quick food and onto the evening activities. 

[Jobeth66]

Just now, drowelf said:

First we don't do many 7 day cruises, 90% of ours are 10 days or more. But for us its totally variable, based on the following factors, in priority order. 

 

1. What is being served in the MDR that night 
2. Sea Day vs Port Day 
3. On Port Days, how we feel once we get back on the ship. Sometimes we are just not up for getting cleaned up and dressed. We just want some quick food and onto the evening activities. 

 

Agreed on all.  And cutting back choices in the MDR (like getting rid of the every day options) means I'd be /more/ likely to eat in the buffet for dinner, not less.

[stellarose]

it depends on if we have a late excursion as we have early dining. It depends if we want to spend more time at the pool/ bars/ etc.

[NutsAboutGolf]

Where's 7 days?  (kidding)...You probably meant 7 NIGHT sailing

[LGW59]

9 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Where's 7 days?  (kidding)...You probably meant 7 NIGHT sailing

🙄

[bEwAbG]

Better poll would be have you eaten in the buffet for dinner or not and then maybe how often if you have.  However, this is a self-selected population of cruisers so not likely too relevant overall. 

 

I trust that X has run the numbers specific to the buffet, but whether or not to have an expanded dinner buffet is not the real issue that I'm seeing.  It's the drastic cuts in quality that have people most concerned. Those who say "well I don't ever eat in the buffet for dinner" are missing the bigger point.  It's the dinner buffet (and MDR) this month but what's next?

[Baron Barracuda]

We usually take late traditional dining so often stop at OVC for a snack before the show.  DW loves the made to order pasta while I grab something fresh off the grill.   In days gone by before previous LLP cuts we used to enjoy some sushi as well.

[Arizona Wildcat]

Have only been on 1 7 day sailing so question again doesn't fit well for us. 30+ cruises.

We eat in OV is:

Arriving late after a long day ashore

Rough seas - as in very rough

Simply are tired and want an easy and fast meal.

We do go by OV around 5pm for a lite bite.  Used to get sushi.

Edited January 18, 2023 by Arizona Wildcat

[NutsAboutGolf]

4 minutes ago, bEwAbG said:

Better poll would be have you eaten in the buffet for dinner or not and then maybe how often if you have.  However, this is a self-selected population of cruisers so not likely too relevant overall. 

 

I trust that X has run the numbers specific to the buffet, but whether or not to have an expanded dinner buffet is not the real issue that I'm seeing.  It's the drastic cuts in quality that have people most concerned. Those who say "well I don't ever eat in the buffet for dinner" are missing the bigger point.  It's the dinner buffet (and MDR) this month but what's next?

 

They need your seapass/room # in all dining rooms, they know who is there.  They can only guess who's eating in the buffet because they could be having an early dinner at the Mast Grill which is open until 6pm   The other dynamic is when pax eat dinner at the buffet but they eat mainly pizza  

[RichYak]

56 minutes ago, drowelf said:

First we don't do many 7 day cruises, 90% of ours are 10 days or more. But for us its totally variable, based on the following factors, in priority order. 

 

1. What is being served in the MDR that night 
2. Sea Day vs Port Day 
3. On Port Days, how we feel once we get back on the ship. Sometimes we are just not up for getting cleaned up and dressed. We just want some quick food and onto the evening activities. 

 

43 minutes ago, stellarose said:

it depends on if we have a late excursion as we have early dining. It depends if we want to spend more time at the pool/ bars/ etc.

 

8 minutes ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Have only been on 1 7 day sailing so question again doesn't fit well for us. 30+ cruises.

We eat in OV is:

Arriving late after a long day ashore

Rough seas - as in very rough

Simply are tired and want an easy and fast meal.

We do go by OV around 5pm for a lite bite.  Used to get sushi.

 

This shouldn't be so hard folks. Just use your best guess and take an average. An average doesn't "depend." It just is what you've done on all your cruises. Assume these are the options (which they probably should have been):

 

Option A is all of the time

Option B is more than half of the time

Option C is less than half of the time

Option D is never.

[NCteacherlovescruising]

We rarely eat the dinner buffet unless exhausted from a long excursion and don’t feel like getting cleaned up for the dining room. However, we have been known to grab a little snack from there before getting ready for dinner, perhaps a salad or slice of pizza. 

[C4HCG]

Blinking ummer ( a Yorkshire phrase) cant people just answer if they want to on a hypothetical basis rather than saying that they dont do 7 day (or night) cruises 🙈

[Georgia_Peaches]

I'm in the "never" category and we primarily do 7 night cruises bc that's all DH can comfortably take away from work at a given time.  We're branching out to a 10 night next year and I still don't anticipate a dinnertime visit to the OVC.  Having said that, I completely appreciate those who do and I am in no way in support of the recent changes to the food offerings.  We do enjoy a visit to the OVC for breakfast and/or lunch. 

[LGW59]

38 minutes ago, C4HCG said:

Blinking ummer ( a Yorkshire phrase) cant people just answer if they want to on a hypothetical basis rather than saying that they dont do 7 day (or night) cruises 🙈

but if they have taken 40+ cruises and the sun isn't shining or the moon is not full and there is a 50% chance of rain...where do they eat then?

[Bo1953]

44 minutes ago, C4HCG said:

Blinking ummer ( a Yorkshire phrase) cant people just answer if they want to on a hypothetical basis rather than saying that they dont do 7 day (or night) cruises 🙈

Mainly us Americans, generally, dice and slice (a/k/a parse) questions until they are not recognizable in lieu of just saying 'not applicable to me'... LOL

 

bon appetit and bon voyage

[jwlane]

48 minutes ago, C4HCG said:

Blinking ummer

EXACTLY!  Where in the poll did it ask for your personal experience?  Click a freaking button!!!

[bnurick]

Currently on The Edge. The dinner buffet does not have the numbers to support a 100% open buffet. It seems there is more demand for main dining at this time. I do not feel they are cutting back, simply aligning supply/demand. The breakfast and lunch is at full operations. We ate pizza today, very good. 

[Bo1953]

7 minutes ago, jwlane said:

EXACTLY!  Where in the poll did it ask for your personal experience?  Click a freaking button!!!

j did you not mean "Click a Blinking ummer button"???

 

bon appetit and bon voyage

[jwlane]

21 minutes ago, Bo1953 said:

j did you not mean "Click a Blinking ummer button"???

I'd actually choose a different eff word.  😂

[Algebralovr]

We often stroll through the buffet, but we frequently grab very little from there in the evening.

I don't see an issue in downsizing the evening buffet....

I do think they need a cook to order protein station in the evening buffet.  

 

On a B2B, I'm MUCH more likely to eat in the buffet. 

[Bo1953]

5 minutes ago, jwlane said:

I'd actually choose a different eff word.  😂

Well, to be sure, it showed up on my screen... 😆

 

I know it might not have shown up on others screens, so I just inserted the original text of C4... LOL

 

bon voyage

Edited January 18, 2023 by Bo1953

[RichYak]

44 minutes ago, bnurick said:

I do not feel they are cutting back, simply aligning supply/demand

The made to order station organically aligns to supply/demand. All reports indicate that Celebrity closed it. To me they are clearly cutting back.

[bnurick]

No worries @Bo1953 I voted three times. 😉 

[LGW59]

5 minutes ago, bnurick said:

No worries @Bo1953 I voted three times. 😉 

Are you from Boston too?