Late Night Buffet?? Do you care About It?

[Scrumpy]

[quote name='gizmo']Scrumpy,

Why were you disappointed ?

I just thought of something. ;) By any chance have you only cruised on a Vista ship ? If so, that might be the answer. I have seen magnificent displays on the other ships.[/quote]

No, we were on Maasdam when we went to the Chocolate Extravaganza. I remember it looked pretty, but there weren't a lot of edible choices. Visually, it was extremely appealing. I don't remember if we went to the one on Zuiderdam, which I guess was a "Dessert Extravaganza"??? We have some nice photos of the spread on Maasdam. I guess I expected every possible chocolate delight and since DH and MIL are so into chocolate, we all had expectations that were too high. I'm sure it was quite good and people enjoyed it.

[Scrumpy]

Oh - I have a photo of a chocolate dragon from Maasdam. Just read that in your post. Yes, it was very cool!

[SANDY BEACH]

We went on our first cruise to take pictures. As far as the food, it was beautiful but no desire to eat at that hour. It felt like we had just finished dinner. Too, too, too much food.

[Flyingfish]

NO, I don't care if they do away with the late night buffet. The last thing I want to do is eat anything after dinner. Ugh.

[Curly57]

Hi,
Our first cruise is coming up in 33 days (Westerdam to Seattle). We are looking forward to a lot of things on this cruise to Alaska and one of them is looking at the Midnight buffet /Dessert Extravaganza.

I hate for food to get wasted at home and am OK with HAL doing away with the buffet if it is truly going to waste, BUT we are looking forward to the clever, artistic creations and ice sculptures. Other newbies might want to experience it once or twice just for the sheer magnificence.

-Sue

[Guest Celestia]

Sorry to break up your perfect score BUT I would miss the midnight buffet IMMENSELY if it were discontinued (yes, it would make me look at other cruise lines, which I realize would make some of you happy as all get out!).

We eat at early sitting due to my companions' preference (which I do not share but do go along with) and by the late hours I am in need of an additional snack as I eat lightly at dinner, it being much too early for a full meal for me.

As I have so far found HAL Room Service to be nasty, and cold when it finally arrives (plus you are stuck waiting in your cabin for it, and my roommate is often in bed asleep so it would be an intrusion), I rely on the Late Buffet for my evening meal.

I would not like to eat 'bites' in a lounge, the lounges are usually nasty with smoke (yes, there's non-smoking section, but unless it is actually walled off, I can still smell and taste it and would not want to consume food in the same room).

So here's a vote for keeping the Midnight Buffet.

C

[Aussie Gal]

We have never been to the late night buffet for two reasons. The first is that we always have either of the two late seatings at dinner and therefore are not hungry and the second is that after a full day on board ship we are exhausted around 11pm and just want to go to sleep.

When we were a lot younger we went on one of the P&O liners. Around 10pm each night they served silver service coffee or tea in one of the lounges together with lovely bite size sandwiches and small cakes. They were delicious and we do enjoy that supper. I think we were on a 7pm dinner which meant we could partake of the delicious supper.

Jennie

[ejbmorr]

The Midnight Buffet is beautiful to look at, but I always feel sad when the attending chefs are pleading with folks to try a bit of this and that. There are so many gorgeous desserts and very few of them are eaten. Hopefully that is what is offered in the dessert section of the Lido the next day. I think it is a waste of their efforts to be up at midnight for this presentation and then on the job in the morning for their regular duties.
I think I remember a time when there were not so many shore excursions and activities on board. The Midnight Buffet was an exciting event then.

[RustaRoo]

I have sailed exclusively HAL and would not miss it in the least. Have never partaken.

[the2ofus]

Celestia, your post sounds as though you think you are unwelcome on this board. I am sure that is not the case. Each of us is a participant, and although we may not always agree, we are free to have, and express, our opinions.

Although many of us may not find the late night buffet to be essential to our enjoyment of the cruise, I can't see HAL doing away with it. The staff still has to have a dinner meal on their shift. The Lido is where that meal is served. I can't see HAL making the Lido off limits to pax during that meal time, so the food is there for anyone who wants to partake. No one is twisting our arms to go there.

[nobbync]

I also enjoy the late night buffet on some nights. When I am by myself I don't care too much for breakfast. I plan to go on Oosterdam in the fall and if I can get the early seating for dinner I plan to sleep late daily and eat my meals at lunch, early dinner and midnight buffet. Then I'll have a nice walk on deck and enjoy the stars and hopefully moon before heading off to a nice sleep....

I am also a bit surprised at a couple of the comments made on here "judging" people because they are overweight.

Nobby

[elmorejj]

Light bites served in the lounges has been mentioned in a few of these posts, but no one has described them, . I would love to know what they serve.......any comments?.........jean:cool:

[MikeT718]

[quote name='nobbync']I also enjoy the late night buffet on some nights. When I am by myself I don't care too much for breakfast. I plan to go on Oosterdam in the fall and if I can get the early seating for dinner I plan to sleep late daily and eat my meals at lunch, early dinner and midnight buffet. Then I'll have a nice walk on deck and enjoy the stars and hopefully moon before heading off to a nice sleep....

I am also a bit surprised at a couple of the comments made on here "judging" people because they are overweight.

Nobby[/quote]

Sorry to say but we just got off the O'Dam and the only late night thing they did was one night at 10:15 was a Chocolate Extravaganza. Now I could be wrong and I am sure those who were on this cruise with me will correct me

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[nobbync]

[quote name='MikeT718']Sorry to say but we just got off the O'Dam and the only late night thing they did was one night at 10:15 was a Chocolate Extravaganza. Now I could be wrong and I am sure those who were on this cruise with me will correct me

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When I went last year they had the late night buffet every night at 11:30. It was not anything special but they still had food. Many of the crew eat then and it was not crowded but people were there. They also have pizza till late every night. I hope they didn't stop this but I had friends that were just on the O'Dam and they said it was still there. As others pointed out I'm sure it'll never go away because some of the staff eat there at that time.

Nobby

[bruce-r]

[quote name='sail7seas']Do many people even go to the Buffets?[/QUOTE] Neither Princess or RCI have them.


[quote name='sail7seas']Do you care if they discontinue it?[/QUOTE] I'd actually be happy to see them end. I would prefer that HAL spend the money to provide a little wider range of menu choices for the main meals.

[gizmo]

[quote name='elmorejj']Light bites served in the lounges has been mentioned in a few of these posts, but no one has described them, . I would love to know what they serve.......any comments?.........jean:cool:[/quote]

I am curious also. What did they serve ?

That one time 9 or 10 years ago, we had small sandwichs in the Crows Nest but I don't think that had anything to do with Lite Bites.