Buffet trays

[davecttr]

The 24 hour drinks stations in the Iona buffet were welcome to me. Plus the decaf coffee which was palatable and hot, served from insulated jug dispensers. Better than the Costa stuff which you had to pay for. There were also sachets in the cabin. There was no decaf coffee available in the Quays though.

[zap99]

23 minutes ago, Yorkypete said:

Whilst I do not wish to argue with a seasoned cruiser like yourself both me and my wife have been on Iona and Britannia in the last year. I can honestly say that no drinks, save wine, were served at any table in the buffet within our sight. The drinks machines at four sites in the corridor down the side of the buffet were working at both breakfast and dinner. They had hot water, tea bags and coffee (to make your own which everyone seemed to be doing by the queue lengths) and milk and water machines. In the morning the machines had grapefruit, orange and pineapple drinks to serve yourself. They were the ONLY source of these drinks available..no servers giving drinks out. I have to say that, with all respect to you, those who say this is not true either have their eyes closed or are just being contradictory for the sake of it. 99% of passengers would back me up on this. Of course if the situation has changed since our last cruise in March then I apologise. Majortom agrees with me!

A nice Lady topped our coffee up at the table on Azura.  Can't remember about Britannia as we avoid the buffet.

[Megabear2]

1 hour ago, Yorkypete said:

Whilst I do not wish to argue with a seasoned cruiser like yourself both me and my wife have been on Iona and Britannia in the last year. I can honestly say that no drinks, save wine, were served at any table in the buffet within our sight. The drinks machines at four sites in the corridor down the side of the buffet were working at both breakfast and dinner. They had hot water, tea bags and coffee (to make your own which everyone seemed to be doing by the queue lengths) and milk and water machines. In the morning the machines had grapefruit, orange and pineapple drinks to serve yourself. They were the ONLY source of these drinks available..no servers giving drinks out. I have to say that, with all respect to you, those who say this is not true either have their eyes closed or are just being contradictory for the sake of it. 99% of passengers would back me up on this. Of course if the situation has changed since our last cruise in March then I apologise. Majortom agrees with me!

The tea being served rather than helping yourself was a bone of contention for my husband who will quite easily have four or five refills at breakfast.  As I say on Britannia in December the tea was served by staff wandering round with pots and jugs.  Because he couldn't get his required refills easily we only had one breakfast there in the two weeks.  I didn't imagine it, anymore than you or Majortom didn’t experience it.  I can assure you I am not being contradictory for the sake of it and I most certainly did not have my eyes closed.  Because my husband wanted his extra tea, I had to get up early every morning to ensure we got into MDR breakfast before the 8.00am queues.

 

Perhaps the truth is everyone is right about what they saw/occurred on their particular cruise and really its so trivial it doesn't warrant discussion.  As I said I'm on Arvia Sunday, I'll find out for myself and ensure if anyone wanders my way with a teapot I'll take a quick snap and post it.  At the end of the day as long as I get a cuppa I couldn't care less how it arrives!

[terrierjohn]

7 hours ago, wowzz said:

Princess have served juice, water, tea and coffee in the buffet on every cruise I have been on since 1998. 

Are you sure you were actually on Princess, as your recollections are totally different to the other Princess cruisers on here ?

The coffee on P&O is far too bitter for my taste, so I always add hot water as well as milk when I collect it from the machine. I wonder if the trolley staff will have hot water jugs to dilute it to my taste. However the Celebtity coffee, Lavazza if I remember correctly, tastes far better than P&O rubbish, I wonder if Princess wil be any better?

[wowzz]

11 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

The coffee on P&O is far too bitter for my taste, so I always add hot water as well as milk when I collect it from the machine. I wonder if the trolley staff will have hot water jugs to dilute it to my taste. However the Celebtity coffee, Lavazza if I remember correctly, tastes far better than P&O rubbish, I wonder if Princess wil be any better?

 We never drink coffee in the buffet. On Princess we will go to the International Cafe, and order coffee from there.

[Yorkypete]

1 hour ago, Megabear2 said:

The tea being served rather than helping yourself was a bone of contention for my husband who will quite easily have four or five refills at breakfast.  As I say on Britannia in December the tea was served by staff wandering round with pots and jugs.  Because he couldn't get his required refills easily we only had one breakfast there in the two weeks.  I didn't imagine it, anymore than you or Majortom didn’t experience it.  I can assure you I am not being contradictory for the sake of it and I most certainly did not have my eyes closed.  Because my husband wanted his extra tea, I had to get up early every morning to ensure we got into MDR breakfast before the 8.00am queues.

 

Perhaps the truth is everyone is right about what they saw/occurred on their particular cruise and really its so trivial it doesn't warrant discussion.  As I said I'm on Arvia Sunday, I'll find out for myself and ensure if anyone wanders my way with a teapot I'll take a quick snap and post it.  At the end of the day as long as I get a cuppa I couldn't care less how it arrives!

I must apologise as we have been at cross purposes. I have been referring to the buffet not the MDRs. As you say about your husband and getting into the MDRs early for breakfast. I have no idea what they do there as we have never used it.

[Haljo1935]

On 5/8/2023 at 1:37 PM, Cloudyrain said:

They are being removed. From the fleet. They were there, and soon they won’t be there. 
 

unless everyone complains and stops cruising, in which case P&O may retract their plans.

P&O is only cruise line I've heard of that has had them in years...they were removed a looooong time ago. And yet food waste continues.

Edited May 10, 2023 by Haljo1935
Typo

[Haljo1935]

9 hours ago, davecttr said:

There were trays on Arvia a couple of weeks ago but I will adapt to a tray less universe. I wonder what they do with the trays. Maybe sell them to passengers, a P&O tray for a quid.

Hospital industry buys them - you'll be served jello and oatmeal on one when you have your gall bladder removed next year, lol.

[davecttr]

4 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

Hospital industry buys them - you'll be served jello and oatmeal on one when you have your gall bladder removed next year, lol.

Whats jello 😉 Would ex cruise ship trays meet NHS standards? 

Edited May 10, 2023 by davecttr

[Harry Peterson]

What exactly IS that brown stuff served as coffee in the MDR and elsewhere?

Edited May 10, 2023 by Harry Peterson

[Vampiress88]

The plates are damn hot. Hubby can manage but I can not. I had to use my sleeve the other week just to transfer it onto the tray. Good job my cardigan was clean. 
Also I go round with two plates. My kids don’t carry their own, I ask them what they want and plate it for them. Or sometimes they sit at the table while I get it for them. 
 

looks like ill be asking for trays. 

[kalos]

41 minutes ago, Vampiress88 said:

The plates are damn hot. Hubby can manage but I can not. I had to use my sleeve the other week just to transfer it onto the tray. Good job my cardigan was clean. 
Also I go round with two plates. My kids don’t carry their own, I ask them what they want and plate it for them. Or sometimes they sit at the table while I get it for them. 
 

looks like ill be asking for trays. 

 

On entering the buffet ,we used to ask for or pick up a paper serviette if the plate was hot .

This came in handy if your plate was on a tray as now you could use it for handling the 

serving utensils avoiding hand contact .

As a last resort we could pick up a plate from the salad area if a hot plate was not required .

[Yorkypete]

7 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

Hospital industry buys them - you'll be served jello and oatmeal on one when you have your gall bladder removed next year, lol.

Had mine removed about 7 months ago...given a normal meal about three hours later. I was told to eat as normal whilst other people said avoid spicy foods!

I thought I might weigh less but no..it hardly made a difference. Maybe as some on here suggest, if I had my brain removed I would still weigh the same.lol.

[Denarius]

12 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

The tea being served rather than helping yourself was a bone of contention for my husband who will quite easily have four or five refills at breakfast.  As I say on Britannia in December the tea was served by staff wandering round with pots and jugs.  Because he couldn't get his required refills easily we only had one breakfast there in the two weeks.  I didn't imagine it, anymore than you or Majortom didn’t experience it.  I can assure you I am not being contradictory for the sake of it and I most certainly did not have my eyes closed.  Because my husband wanted his extra tea, I had to get up early every morning to ensure we got into MDR breakfast before the 8.00am queues.

 

Perhaps the truth is everyone is right about what they saw/occurred on their particular cruise and really its so trivial it doesn't warrant discussion.  As I said I'm on Arvia Sunday, I'll find out for myself and ensure if anyone wanders my way with a teapot I'll take a quick snap and post it.  At the end of the day as long as I get a cuppa I couldn't care less how it arrives!

Agree with your last paragraph.

The only time I have been served coffee at table in a P&O buffet was on the first of my two cruises on Britannia. But it was not served so on my second cruise. So maybe it depends on the restaurant manager and the availability of staff, and different people on different cruises may have different experiences.

At one time however there used to be a wine waiter taking orders for drinks at lunch and dinner; did not work particularly well as you had often finished your meal before your drink arrived and had to remain at your table until it did so. This was then replaced by self service machines which dispensed wine by the glass.

[kalos]

8 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

Hospital industry buys them - you'll be served jello and oatmeal on one when you have your gall bladder removed next year, lol.

 

Made of tough stuff over here , as Pete said normal food apart from spicy things .

A couple of weeks avoiding lifting , so someone would have to carry a food tray for us.🙂

[Yorkypete]

26 minutes ago, kalos said:

 

Made of tough stuff over here , as Pete said normal food apart from spicy things .

A couple of weeks avoiding lifting , so someone would have to carry a food tray for us.🙂

Its a good excuse for avoiding any work as even lifting an iron I regarded as heavy work!.

[Bill Y]

16 hours ago, majortom10 said:

Only been on Iona in March first time with P&O since 2019 and they never served drinks in buffet. It was hard enough to get a waiter to serve you with purchased alcohol/soft drinks. With reference to Princess they have always served tea/coffee and lemonade in the buffet at lunch time and I have been cruising with them for many years.

Yes the lemonade in the buffet, Have been told off for being impatient and pouring myself.

[solentsam]

There was trays in buffet on Britannia last month april 16th cruise also saw tea and coffee trolley waitress but she was manly helping disabled passengers. We used her once as my wife is wheel chair user, I usually get hers and mine, but as they were out of cups at the station, I asked her for teas as she had about a dozen on the trolley so I did not have to wait for cups. I think if they stop the trays I will be up and down more often then my usually 3.

[davecttr]

4 hours ago, kalos said:

 

On entering the buffet ,we used to ask for or pick up a paper serviette if the plate was hot .

This came in handy if your plate was on a tray as now you could use it for handling the 

serving utensils avoiding hand contact .

As a last resort we could pick up a plate from the salad area if a hot plate was not required .

I now take lots of kitchen roll sheets for handling the utensils but it does not always work

[Fionboard]

Try the MDR for breakfast and lunch. Much more civilised and no trays needed! 

[zap99]

46 minutes ago, Fionboard said:

Try the MDR for breakfast and lunch. Much more civilised and no trays needed! 

We have been using the MDR more often for breakfast. Queeet civilised. If we are in a rush to get off the ship, up to the trough.

[Harry Peterson]

2 hours ago, Fionboard said:

Try the MDR for breakfast and lunch. Much more civilised and no trays needed! 

Absolutely - no contest. One's tolerably civilised (though still below the standard of most decent hotels) and the other's a free for all.

[davecttr]

2 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

Absolutely - no contest. One's tolerably civilised (though still below the standard of most decent hotels) and the other's a free for all.

Not at 6.30 am it isn't, they even brought toast to my table 🙂

[Harry Peterson]

Just now, davecttr said:

Not at 6.30 am it isn't, they even brought toast to my table 🙂

A fair point, Dave - hadn't thought of that!

[davecttr]

Just now, Harry Peterson said:

A fair point, Dave - hadn't thought of that!

I am an early riser at home as well, usually about 6am so why not at sea, breakfast followed by a stroll around the prom deck